Chapter 831

Jane remained completely unaware of the true purpose behind John's visit or the fact that Frederick was already on his way. Together with Mina, she followed the village girls Amery and Bhavia back to their homes to fetch small bamboo baskets before cheerfully heading up the mountain. The hills were dense with oak trees, and the decaying leaves of these broadleaf giants provided the perfect nourishment for mushrooms, making the area abundant with fungi. Amery and Bhavia had been gathering mushrooms with their grandparents since childhood, so they knew exactly which were edible and which were poisonous. They even taught Mina and Jane a simple trick to identify safe mushrooms—checking for insect bites. If bugs had nibbled on them, they were safe to eat. But at the moment, the two little girls weren’t paying much attention to mushroom hunting. Instead, their wide eyes sparkled as they stared at the small bamboo baskets on Amery and Bhavia’s backs. Those baskets were just too adorable! Unab