Love Upon a Time | ENG TRANS |

Chapter 6 - Mental Attachment

It had been almost two weeks since I had come to live in Phraya Phichai Phakdi's house. Phraya and Aunt Ying took great care of me, as if I were a member of their family. Even the arrogant people in the house who didn't like me didn't dare to cross me. It was probably because Klao was aggressive towards everyone. Most of the servants in that house were good to me, and because I didn't behave like their boss, they treated me even better.

You could even say I was lucky to have Klao's body. I didn't even want to think about what it would have been like if I had ended up in that era as a slave. The life of a slave depended entirely on the character and good grace of the master. If you had a good teacher, you were lucky. But if a slave had a capricious master, he was no different than a living punching bag. I often heard gossip from slaves about other slaves being beaten to death or injured. Seriously, even if I had survived, I would have been a cripple. If I had become a slave in such a house, I would probably have chosen to drown myself.

"You are full?" The person eating next to me spoke in a deep voice, while I was lost in my thoughts.

"Yes." I replied as I turned to look at Phop, who was in his uniform, holding up a glass of jasmine water to drink.

From the day people had gossiped about me (I mean, about Klao), when I was walking through the market and Phop had come to protect me, I had started to see him with more kindness and sympathy. In fact, I knew that he wasn't a bad person, that he was reluctant to find fault with me because he had good sense. But that little smile bothered me, so much so that it made me harbor a slight prejudice towards him. But after that day when he defended me, I tried to speak to him more often, with kinder words, at least to express gratitude on behalf of the real Klao.

He protected me at the risk of his reputation. I should be grateful, right?

"Is the food not tasty?" he asked.

"It's delicious."

"So, are you feeling sick?"

"No, I'm fine. P'Phop, why do you think I'm sick?"

"I thought you were sick when I didn't see you ask for more rice or snacks, like you usually do. I would have asked Jom to take a look at you." His sharp eyes shone as he teased me, making me frown in response.

Well, isn't he making fun of my appetite?

"Aunt, can you get me some oranges?" I asked the head servant, who was crouching not far away.

"Yes, Khun Klao. How many would you like?"

"One or two would be enough to reassure people around here that I'm fine." I emphasized the last word as I looked at him, smiling. Then I took an orange from the servant, peeled it, put a segment in my mouth and chewed.

I always became paranoid every time he said something. Maybe it was because I tended to be a biased person, but he was just like that too. I had tried to see him in a positive light and talk to him, but he always got on my nerves like this.

So you don't want us to have a good relationship, do you?I thought.

"Okay, I'm happy to see you have a healthy appetite again." Phop said with a smile before turning to order the servant to bring him an orange too. I paused while chewing and put my hand to my cheek.

Speaking of appetite, I seemed to be eating more since I was there. Even though there was no real MSG in those historic times, they still cooked incredibly delicious foods, whether homemade or store-bought. Perhaps the combination of fresh ingredients, along with traditional craftsmanship, was the reason for the deliciousness of the food. Most of the raw materials were fished by the household servants; they bent down to catch the shrimp and in an instant the basket was full. I learned that Ayutthaya was like a plantation, there was no exaggeration in that.