--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A, an, a lover?! Where did that come from all of a sudden, Chloe!"
His face was so red, it wouldn't be surprising if he fainted soon.
The boys who had been watching approached and stood in front of us.
Among them, a boy with glasses glared at Mikael with sharp eyes.
"But you've never brought a woman here before, teacher."
"That's, I haven't had a lover until now... No, anyway! It's not like that, kids."
"...Really?"
"See, I told you. He doesn't have a lover."
The tallest boy, who was holding a ball, chimed in, explaining the situation to his two younger companions.
"Teacher Irene left the orphanage a while ago when she got married. So, Chloe and Robin are worried. They're afraid you'll leave if you get married too."
Looking at them, I could tell how much the children liked Mikael.
Both their stories and the way he knelt down to meet the little ones at eye level.
'Come to think of it, Idris was also kind to children.'
It might be a prejudice, but I believed that people who were kind to children were good people.
'Hmm, the children still seem doubtful, should I help a little?'
I subtly joined Mikael and the children's conversation.
"It seems like there's a misunderstanding, I'm not Mikael's lover."
Three pairs of eyes that had been fixed on Mikael turned to me.
Then what are you to him?
It felt like the three children's eyes were asking that.
"You know that the Empress gave you a library and saved your teacher, right?"
At the mention of the Empress's title, a hint of wariness in the children's eyes, which had been looking at me with unfamiliarity, crumbled.
"I'm someone sent by the Empress. I came to ask you for a favor on her behalf."
"A favor?"
"Yes. You need to help so that more friends can study together."
The children's eyes sparkled at the word 'help'.
"How can we help?"
"Eat well, sleep well, and study hard to become great people. Simple, right?"
"Really, that's all we have to do?"
"Yes. Then the Empress, knowing that everyone is studying hard, will provide a bigger library and more classrooms. So that more friends can study."
"And to do that, first of all, you have to be exemplary students who diligently do their homework."
Mikael, who had figured out a way to divert the children's attention with my help, changed the subject.
"Have you guys finished your homework?"
"W, we're going to do it now. By borrowing books from the library!"
The children, feeling a twinge of guilt at the mention of homework, disappeared into the library as if fleeing.
Watching them, I turned to Mikael and asked.
"Shall we head back to the Imperial Palace now?"
Inside the carriage, silence lingered.
Mikael looked at Leticia, then lowered his gaze thinking it was impolite to stare too much.
But in the end, he couldn't resist the urge and raised his head to look at her again.
But Leticia, who had been admiring the passing scenery outside the window until just now, was looking at him.
He hadn't done anything special, but just meeting her blue eyes made his heart feel like it was sinking.
"Sir Hildes, could you stop the carriage for a moment?"
"Ah, yes!"
The place where Leticia stopped the carriage was a shopping street, specifically in front of a toy store.
Mikael looked back and forth between the store and Leticia with puzzled eyes.
"But why here all of a sudden...?"
"I should have bought something before visiting the orphanage, but I forgot because I was so distracted."
"To buy for the children?"
"Yes. It's a good thing, isn't it? Thanks to meeting the children first, I have a better idea of their tastes and what they need."
Starting with the toy store, Leticia began to visit bookstores and jewelry stores, buying things that each child would like.
A teddy bear for Chloe, eyeglass cords for Robin, a ball for Jake, and so on.
"Just buying them snacks would be enough..."
"If possible, it's better to give a gift that the recipient needs and likes, right?"
Mikael tried to dissuade her from her efforts, but Leticia didn't think much of it.
Suddenly, a memory of a certain time flashed across her figure.
The person who found him, who had no presence at the banquet, and reached out to him first.
'...She's still the same.'
Leticia said her kindness was nothing special, but.
Recognizing him first and reaching out to him, remembering the tastes of the children she had only seen briefly.
Those were actions that couldn't be done without affection for the other person.
To her, that affection, that kindness, was so natural that she seemed to have completely forgotten the kindness of that day.
But that was why he liked her.
Because she was a person who was indifferent to her own kindness.
A person who didn't expect anything in return for her kindness.
Knowing that heart, he ended up helping Leticia choose gifts more actively than anyone else.
"Ah, I'll carry these."
Mikael carried the gifts that Leticia had bought in both hands.
Finally, the two people who came out of the confectionery store headed to the carriage that had been parked in the alley for passage.
Leticia, who was fanning herself due to the increasingly hot weather, discovered something and her eyes sparkled.
"Sir Hildes, shall we eat that?"
Looking in the direction she was pointing, there was a street vendor selling ice cream.
But seeing her expectant eyes, it seemed that Mikael's opinion didn't matter at all.
Mikael suppressed a burst of laughter and nodded.
"Yes, that would be good."
"I'll buy it quickly, so wait in the carriage first."
"Ah, that's what I...!"
He was going to buy ice cream for her, who had been so thoughtful for the children, but Leticia had already gone to the street vendor.
A moment later, Leticia returned with an ice cream in each hand.
She was a flawless businesswoman when she was working, but with ice cream in her hand, she looked like a young girl.
"Here, this is Sir Hildes's."
However, Mikael's hands were full of paper bags, so he had no hand to receive the ice cream.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I'll carry these now. Give them to me."
Leticia took the paper bags with her fingers and handed the ice cream she was holding to Mikael.
At that moment, as the soft texture brushed against his firm, straight hand, Mikael flinched involuntarily and clenched his hand.
As a result, the ice cream fell to the ground with a plop!
Along with his heart.
Mikael and Leticia both looked at the ice cream with surprised eyes.
"Ah...! I, I'm sorry!"
It was the first thing Leticia had bought for him!
Mikael felt the urge to cut off his hand that had dropped the ice cream.
'She must think I'm clumsy...'
But.
"Pfft."
Far from being displeased, Leticia burst into laughter. With a very happy expression, too.
"I think I know why the noble ladies adore you."
"Yes...?"
"Now, receive it well this time without dropping it."
Leticia properly handed her ice cream to Mikael's hand.
Feeling her slightly cool but soft hand brush against his, Mikael felt a tingling sensation in his fingertips.
At the same time, his heart, which had been beating faster than usual since meeting Leticia, began to beat even harder.
'Please, stop doing stupid things.'
His fingertips clenched and trembled at the feeling, but this time he held on to his sanity and received the ice cream properly.
Contrary to his fear that she would hear the sound of his heart beating so hard it hurt, he regretted her hand moving away.
"Then what about your ice cream, milady?"
"I can just go and buy another one, it's not a difficult thing to do."
Leticia said she would be right back and went back to the street vendor.
Mikael, who was about to follow her, saw Leticia still smiling brightly and forgot to walk, staring blankly at her.
Comments
Post a Comment