A Replacement Bride

Chapter 190

"What a childish person." Katherine rolled her eyes before she threw the item to Joaquin and walked ahead.

Joaquin looked at her retreating figure before gazing at the item in his hand. When he was about to catch up with her, he saw her returning to snatch the item to throw it away. After that, she continued to walk ahead with a stoic expression, acting as if nothing had happened.

He raised his head in astonishment and noticed that the item that Katherine had randomly thrown was now at a high position on the marriage tree.

There was a sudden warmth flowing through his heart as he couldn't help but smile before he briskly caught up with her.

Katherine continued to walk ahead without a care for what had happened.

The scenery here was lovely with the birds chirping and fragrant flowers, leaving in its wake a faint scent that made people happy and relaxed.

"Can I meet the owner?" she asked Joaquin after walking for a while.

"Sure. He lives in this scenic place, but doesn't usually interact with visitors," he replied with a nod as he quickly glanced at Katherine. Then, he stretched his hand out to gently grab her hand.

She wanted to struggle, but she didn't know what she should think and dismissed her thoughts while allowing Joaquin to guide her.

Now that he had made the first move, he was secretly elated.

It felt like the current him was now back to his studying days when he had a crush on a girl for many years and later found the opportunity to hold hands with her. Such an action filled his heart with indescribable excitement and stimulation.

Both of them had walked slowly along the path that led to the mountains and soon arrived at the top.

There was a church at the top of the mountain. Due to its age, it had a strong aura of sandalwood and loads of historical memories.

Yet, there were no priests around partly because there were no worshippers today, and there were few candles lit.

As both of them entered, Katherine looked up at the statute of Jesus before she withdrew her gaze.

Then, Joaquin took her to the house in the backyard.

The backyard was a quiet area because barely anyone would visit, but there was a wide range of medicinal herbs. She was shocked at the sight because it would have been impossible for those herbs to grow if they did not have a solid foundation. Since the person was able to grow those herbs, it meant that he came from a respected background.

"Sir, are you at home?" Joaquin called out as he stood at the door with Katherine and did not rush in.

It was obvious that he respected the man a lot.

She became more curious about the said person's background.

The door creaked open to reveal someone wearing a blue shirt coming out. He stood at a height of 185 cm and had a slender figure while radiating an aura of someone isolated from the world.

When Katherine looked at him, she was slightly shocked because she somehow felt drawn toward the man in front of her. This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - ©.

He had a clear and gentle expression. After exiting, he looked at Joaquin and nodded before he turned his attention to Katherine again. When he saw Katherine's face, he was just as shocked and it took a long time before he regained his composure and asked, "And you are… Elsie?"

"Huh?" Katherine never expected that she would hear him mentioning her mother's name and subconsciously frowned.

At such a response, he realized that he had been slightly rude and changed his expression.

He also realized that the girl standing in front of him could never be the Elsie Olsen he remembered. Even if it was Elsie, she would be someone in her golden years because he was already in his forties whereas the girl in front of him looked like she was around 23 to 24 years of age.

"Sorry for being rude. Why don't you guys come in and have a seat?" The man quickly regained his composure and never brought up the topic of Elsie again. He merely turned around and led both Joaquin and Katherine inside.

A doubtful Katherine followed the man inside.

Joaquin was still holding Katherine's hand and told her to walk behind the man while introducing the man's identity. "His last name is Grant. He is associated with the Grant Family of Kyoland because he is the son of their current patriarch."

Such a last name was familiar and she quickly remembered Kian Grant.

The young man looked like he was of the same age as her and bore the same birthmark as her.

While she was thinking about it, Katherine had already arrived at the courtyard with Joaquin. There was a pavilion in the area with loads of peony; since it was the time for the flowers to blossom, it left visitors with a refreshing and comfortable feeling.

"Please." Josiah Grant gestured an invitation to encourage Joaquin and Katherine to take a seat.

There was a garden table at the pavilion with chairs surrounding it and a garden accessory of a purple pot. It was obvious that Josiah would swing by this area to have tea whenever he had time on his hands.

Katherine generously sat down while he turned around to boil water to prepare tea.

"Do you know my mother, sir?" she asked as she watched Josiah's back, while the familiar feeling grew even more.

Okay, as far as I can remember, I have met someone like him when I was younger. Back then, I was only a year old, so I have vague memories of this. Even though I only remember his behavior, I'll never remember the wrong person.

He skilfully began to make tea and smiled gently after hearing her question. Then, he raised his head and looked at her while replying, "Nope, I don't know her."

When Katherine heard Josiah's words, she sighed with regret and softly murmured, "Really? I thought you knew her. Before my mom died, she always mentioned a person, but he unfortunately never appeared."

Josiah's hands trembled when he heard her words, which caused the hot tea to spill and scald the back of his hand. As a result, the back of his fair hand suddenly reddened.

However, he felt no pain and continued what he was doing earlier without any pause.

Katherine understood that he knew her mother when she saw his reaction, but he didn't want to admit the truth for some reason.

She also did not continue to probe, and merely enjoyed the tea with Joaquin in leisure.

Josiah had remained silent from the beginning and merely sipped his tea. There was hesitation in his eyes because his mind had already drifted off a long while ago.

"Oh, and since you are living on church grounds, are you a priest by any chance?" Katherine drank her tea and noticed that Josiah looked lost before she asked curiously with a gentle smile.

"I own the land that sits on the mountain, so you can regard me as the caretaker of the church." His hand shook a little, and he spilled a little of his tea before he answered.

"Oh, I see. What's your last name? I treated a patient before with the last name of Grant and you bear strong resemblance to him, so I'm not sure whether you two are related," she said deliberately as she laughed and rolled her eyes.

"It's probably a random dog." Josiah failed to sense Katherine's ruse because there was nothing to hide.

"That's the weirdest part. He has the same birthmark as me and it's even at the same spot. Don't you think it's odd?" She poured herself a cup of tea before she gazed at him with a smile.

It was enough for his hand to tremble once again, and the cup in his hand fell to the ground immediately and shattered into several pieces.