When Nii-sama hugged me and swayed gently, I noticed that the people around us were just watching our reunion. I wiped my tears with my sleeves, and Nii-sama said gently, âThanks, Lei. Now, letâs say hello to everyone who is worried.â Even though he looked gentle, he immediately returned to a face that the Four Marquises would make.
I looked up at Nii-sama, put my hands around his neck, hugged him tightly, then released one hand and looked at everyone. Thus, the two children with bright blonde hair and violet eyes stared at the crowd, and the group caused a commotion as if they were sighing.
Nii-sama and I looked at each other again and waved together. The plaza was filled with applause and cheers.
âOtou-syama wonâth wab.â (Otou-sama wonât wave.)
âOtou-sama would pick Lei up and go straight back to Kingdom without saying anything.â
âAi.â
We both laughed, and Nii-sama hugged me again.
âLei, you remember Otou-sama. Ah, I want to let him know quickly. We were so worried that you would forget about us.â
âNiini, lub. Otou-syama, lub. Wonâth forgeth.â (Niinii, love. Otou-sama, love. Wonât forget)
âLei!â A shocked voice interrupted our moving scene.
âHey, Lei. What about me? Hey, what about me?â It was Gill. I pushed Nii-sama away as he rubbed his face against mine and looked at Gill. He doesnât look like Alistair.
âSthwanger.â (Stranger)
âEh, no way!â Gill was in shock. Such a hopeless person.
âRemember Giww.â
âRight?! Jeez, I canât believe that Lei teased me...â
âGiww woow.â (Gill look)
âMm. What?â
âNiini, down.â
Nii-sama resisted for a moment, but he let me down. When I got down, I looked at Alistair who had been staring at us this whole time. His face was saying, âIâm glad.â
âAwishthair. Giww.â
âEh.â
Alistair had been watching as if it was someone elseâs business, but itâs time to face reality.
âGiww. Awishthair.â
âSo youâre Alistair?â
Gill stopped looking playful and stood properly in front of Alistair. The noisy crowd gradually quietened down again. Then, Gill spoke, âNice to meet you, Uncle.â
I was surprised by the word Uncle and looked at Gill in shock. Heâs older and a noble. His position was a lot better than Alistairâs, but he launched a pre-emptive strike. Alistair also widened his eyes at the word Uncle and froze.
âIâm Gilbert Lisburn. You are not my brother, but my fatherâs brother. Iâm sorry, but my grandfather, your father, has passed away, and my father has always been looking for you. Iâm sorry we were late in finding you.â Gill accepted this situation and explained smoothly. He held out his hand to Alistair. The usual Alistair would refuse to shake hands. Even I, an infant, was amazed at Gillâs childish behaviour, and it was annoying that he only apologised with words.
Alistair, however, didnât smile, held out his hand, and firmly gripped Gillâs.
âIâm Alistair.â He said simply to claim that he wasnât a Lisburn and had nothing to do with Gill. At a glance, they looked as if they were smiling at each other, but they were actually glaring at each other without letting their hands go. Scary.
However, the crowd, who were watching, cheered again. Canât you see the chill between them?
Nii-sama put his hand on top of the two gripped hands.
âCongratulations on reuniting. Weâll talk about it more in the castle.â
Gill is definitely glaring. But he reluctantly let go, and Nii-sama looked at Alistair. The edge of his lips was up, but his eyes werenât smiling.
âYouâre Alistair? Iâm Luke Albans. Leiâs brother. Thank you for taking care of my precious... of my precious Lei this whole time.â
âNo, I just...â
âJust?â
âI just helped her choose how she wanted to live. Thereâs no reason to thank me. Right, Lei?â Alistair looked at me gently. Yes, Alistair had me choose how I wanted to live at the beginning.
âWe were just together the whole time. Always.â
âA-ai.â
Stop it! Stop throwing sparks at each other with a baby in the middle!
âYo, itâs an emotional reunion, isnât it Lei? Iâm so glad. Thank goodness! Haha.â A voice cut in. The owner of the voice patted Alistairâs back, then he crouched down and played with my cheeks.
Itâs obvious who would do something like this.
âMill, you, donât disregard the Prince and move forward!â
ââCause itâs gonna take a long time. Itâs okay since theyâve already met, right?â
âWell, yeah.â
Is it, Bart?! Behind them, Kyaro and Clyde were laughing with their arms crossed. I did my best to explain to Nii-sama, âNiini, everyone shaved Lei. Awwaysh hewped.â (Niinii, everyone saved Lei. Always helped.)
âI see, Lei. These people did?â Nii-sama slowly bowed at the four people when the childish rivalry was extinguished.
âThank you for helping Lei, my sister. Thank you very much.â Nii-sama said with his head still down, and I think his voice was trembling. I clung to Nii-samaâs leg.
âWe said itâs fine. We also had a great time.â
âMill!â Despite Bartâs attempt to restrain him from talking casually, Mill continued, âLei always acts like sheâs fine, and she always does her best without crying. But when she had a fever, she cried out Niini, Otou-syama and Hannah in her sleep.â
I canât believe I sleep talk. Thatâs embarrassing. I clung tighter to Nii-samaâs leg, looked up at him and tears started falling from his closed eyes.
âYou guys... Even though I was doing my best to hold it in.â
Nii-sama roughly wiped his eyes, and slowly raised his head. His eyes were red, but he wasnât crying anymore.
âWell, my existence seems to have been completely forgotten.â
âYour Highness.â
When Gill and Nii-sama saw Huu, they knew that he was the Prince straight away. They corrected their posture and bowed.
âItâs still noon. The playing innocent child, no, pardon me, Leila isnât that tired. Why donât we have a light meal with the people who took care of Leila?â
Food!
âFood.â
âYeah, Leila. The castleâs chefs make delicious food.â
âAi!â
The emotional and heated reunion finished peacefully.