Chapter 6: Every day joy. Edited*

It was not safe to stay too late away from the village, hunters and woodcutters had a habit of leaving very early in the morning to return early before sunset began to invoke dangerous shadows in the forest. That time of day, when the woodcutters and hunters began their journey back from the outskirts of town and the sun started to despair from the sky. The sign that Alice had worked very late with no sunlight, was probably the time to return home.

Some of them carried significant amounts of freshly cut wood, while others carried with them some rabbits, quails, and other small newly hunted animals. The quality of the wood and skin of certain animals was perhaps one of the few resources that had a decent trade value, so many of the inhabitants were dedicated to it.

Being a small town, Alice recognized all the faces she saw returning, so she always received them with a soft and natural smile, giving a little joy to anyone who looked at her. For most, this was fine, as they just looked at Alice for what she was, a cute and adorable girl. However, there were two faces that lit up more than they should at the sight of that smile. The youngest of the group were respectively a hunter's apprentice and a woodcutter's apprentice. Eager to get the attention of the girl of their dreams. 

At first glance, one might notice that these young people did not differ much in age from each other and Alice. Besides that, in such a small town where everyone knows each other, it was safe to assume that they had lived together since they were very young. However, their joint upbringing did not exempt them from perceiving how beautiful Alice became over the years and how close she was to the age of marriage. 

Thomas, the apprentice hunter, approached Alice to show off his hunt for the day. 3 partridges and 3 rabbits, of which he gave her a pick.  Even if it was an offering from the one she considered her friend; her mother had taught her long ago that she shouldn't take things from others just because she could, only hard work would give her rewards that would bring her satisfaction. She rejected them all with an apologetic expression. 

Seeing the hunter's apprentice defeated, Raul, the woodcutter's apprentice, feeling smarter than his predecessor, did not try to give gifts. On the contrary, he attempted a display of strength and dominance, striking some odd poses while attempting to demonstrate all the wood he could carry.

Alice only laughed lightly when she found the way her friends greeted her funny. She began to wonder why they behaved more and more peculiarly over the years. She even wondered if she was the odd one. 

As it had become a pattern in the last year, Ana turned a blind eye to these precocious boys, chasing Alice. Since her daughter didn't seem even a little interested, Ana was not in a hurry to bring up the subject, she wanted to enjoy her daughter as much as possible before she reached the age of marriage.

Little did Ana knew that Alice would probably remain single for much longer. This was evident mostly from the fact that she would turn fifteen the next day, only two years away from the age considered suitable for marriage in the empire, but she still lacked the slightest interest in romance. As obvious as it turned out that those guys were trying to woo her, she didn't seem to notice at all. 

Fortunately, marriage rituals and courtship etiquette were quite distinct in the countryside, compared to big cities. There was not a great deal of pressure or gossip surrounding the topic of Alice's marriage once she reached the right age.

Ana just smiled with a little embarrassment, seeing the antics of young people and how dense her own daughter was. 

"Tell me we weren't like that/" A hoarse voice positioned itself beside Ana. A visibly burly man, carrying considerably large pieces of wood. One of the older lumberjacks, Ricardo, Raul's father, and a friend of Alice's late father.

Ricardo was in charge of telling stories about her father to Alice. It was thanks to him that she had heard that his father used to be a hunter, so she was always curious about the officiation, and although he tried to answer her doubts as much as possible, her mother never liked the idea, so she did not allow Alice to really get involved in it.

As expected, Alice came over to talk about the bed she wanted to order for herself and her mother, a request Ricardo was more than happy to fulfill. However, years of experience had taught him that there was no way either Alice or Ana would accept it as a gift, even with the young woman's birthday so close, so he didn't even argue when Alice mentioned the payment. 

Very sure that the bed was not a suitable way to offer a gift for Alice's birthday, Ricardo did something else instead. He approached the day's hunting pile and took the largest animal he could find, a wild boar, and handed it to Ana. "It's not a gift, it's a commission for the start of the festival tomorrow, and in return, you can keep the skin and other parts that don't go in the stew." With all the intention of giving them a fighting chance, Ricardo sent Thomas to help transport the boar, and meanwhile, he stayed behind to instruct Raul on how to make the bed and give him some advice to stop making a fool of himself. 

Unfortunately, Alice was too happy thinking about how she could now do things to take care of her mother, as to pay attention to the boy walking behind them with a huge wild boar on his back. Alice followed her mother home with a slightly more cheerful expression than usual. Completely oblivious to the suffering she caused her friends because of how dense she was. When she got home, she just said goodbye to her friend, thanking him for the help and nothing more.