When I saw him like that, I wondered why he didnât force me to hit him. But if he gave the order to hit him, heâll be a real crazy person.
The shocking second tea time was over. Every time I meet Kirsec, I feel like I am 10 years old. Are we supposed to have a tea time like this every time? Please I hope this is just a vain concern.
Did the tea time with Kirsec go on peacefully after that? It wasnât exactly that.
Because Kirsec has such a selfish personality, there were several tense nerve battles. In the middle, I pat Kirsec, who is worried about his relationship with the Grand Duke, and calm the guy who asks me to hit him, and I manage to endure the tea time.
Is it because of the mental age difference? The more I talked to Kirsec, the more often the feeling that âAm I right to talk to this guy?â got strangely intertwined in the conversation.
Of course, the peak of that feeling was when Kirsec begs to be hit. The thing I heard the most from Kirsec was âWhen will you hit me?â. I felt like I was being brainwashed by getting asked that question so many times. Sometimes, it was to the point that I really wondered if I should slap Kirsec on the cheek.
Today is the 10th tea time. As I entered the parorI was now used to, I greeted Kirsec, who was sitting sullenly at the table.
âHi?â
âHuh. Today is peppermint.â
âThe sweets are sweet, so you can use that tea.â
âYou eat too much sweets.â
Whatever. After glancing at him, I greeted the young knight standing behind Kirsec with a bashful shy smile.
âHello. You are working hard today.â
âGood to see you again, Lady Aide.â
I almost jumped because I liked how the Knight Henry bowed to me and said a noble greeting that would only be given to a lady. Knight Henry was Kirsecâs new escort knight, who recently got changed. Did the Grand Duke take my advice and change all the people around Kirsec into someone who can speak to him directly?
He said he would soon find a new tutor as well. I heard that Mister Hafteri was also offered a job as Kirsecâs tutor, but the teacher refused. I donât know why. But, knowing the person named Kirsec, I admired Mister Hafteryâs wise decision.
Unlike Mister Hafterry, Knight Henry didnât have a handsome face that made people admire him just by looking at him. However, he had a gentle charm because he had a friendly smile on his face. Besides, he has a reliable body like a knight, so it feels like seeing a sports star? I couldnât help but be thrilled to hear that such a person treated me like a noble lady.
Iâm a 7-year-old kid, so we canât date, but his eyes and heart are warm. These days, Knight Henry and Mister Hafterry shed their charms, and my heart raced to and fro like a foal.
âYou look cute today.â
Oh my, you have to return compliments with compliments.
âThe knight is even cooler today.â
When I gave such a timid compliment, Knight Henry responded with a soft smile. The moment I was about to smile too, I heard a particularly loud sound of putting the fork down on the table.
Surprised, I followed the sound and saw Kirsec staring at me with terrifying eyes. His cheeks were swollen like a frog, and his grumpy face was flowing down. Ugh, itâs the start of another fit.
âWhy?â
I asked the question bluntly and grabbed a cookie and put it in my mouth. As I chewed and stared at him as if he had something to say, Kirsec trembled again. Will he explode? Can he stand it? I waited for Kirsecâs reaction.
Fortunately, he took a long breath and spoke calmly, though his voice was suppressed instead of screaming.
âDrink some tea.â
Youâve improved a lot. The guy who joked around whenever he had time has developed quite a bit of patience.
âEven if you donât tell me to, I will drink.â
Well, if thereâs one thing that has changed in my relationship with Kirsec, itâs that I started talking casually to him.
Actually, from the first meeting with him, I really didnât like Kirsecâs way of speaking. Every now and then he shot back, and yelled. At first, I had to endure it because of my status, so I just kept quiet. However, as the day went on, Kirsecâs rude tone became more and more annoying.
I hate to hear his hey, hey, hey, finally, at the 5th teatime, I got up with courage.
âWhy do you keep calling me hey?â
Kirsec didnât react for a moment, as he didnât know I was going to attack him. Kirsecâs two eyes only blinked.
âWhy? Canât I call you hey?â
To his reply that he didnât expect to receive such criticism, I responded softly.
âI have the name Arendine. It feels bad when you keep yelling âheyâ.â
ââ¦..okay.â
Kirsec was unexpectedly accommodating. So does that mean that he wonât call me hey in the future? Even if it doesnât seem like it, I think we can communicate better than when we first met, so I tried a little bit more.
âAnd why are you talking to me so casually?â
This time, Kirsecâs cheeks bulged and fluttered. It seemed that he couldnât hide his anger. He has been living his own way so far, so I guess he was not used to this kind of criticism.
But instead of getting angry, Kirsec clenched his teeth and endured it. I was a little surprised to see that. The impatient kid got patient twice!
Kirsec seemed to ponder as if he was measuring something, then spit it out.
âWhatâs wrong with that?â
Are you really asking because you donât know? Or is it just insisting?
âBecause the listener doesnât feel good.â
I really wanted to pour out countless words, but I resisted it. Just having a child like Kirsec listen to me like this meant a lot of progress. I always thought to myself that way.