Chapter 143: Playing After the Celebration

Sensing someone behind him, Ren turned and saw Simon, the steward, stepping onto the terrace. Simon bowed and spoke discreetly.

“It is nearly time for the closing remarks.”

“Ah, is it already that late?”

Grandfather nodded. Ren was disappointed; he’d wanted to hear more.

“Grandfather, um…”

Grandfather looked at him and softened his expression slightly.

“We still have more to discuss, but today belongs to Yuan and Yona.”

“…Yes.”

“We’ll speak again another time.”

“Yes!”

Ren nodded energetically and watched Grandfather return to the hall.

(Grandfather really listened to me…)

He still wanted to talk more, and that desire stayed with him.

Even after Father ended the celebration with his remarks, the adults continued exchanging greetings and talking. The children, however, began discussing where to go next.

“Shall we play Grid Toss again?”

“No, let’s play the acorn game. Our clothes will get dirty otherwise.”

“Yes, let’s do the acorns.”

“Where should we play?”

“Where would be good?”

They debated not whether to play, but what to play. Patrick was asking Lewis if there was somewhere suitable.

“Ren-kun.”

Eugene called to him as he watched. Ren turned with a smile.

“Oh, Eugene-san.”

“Were you able to speak properly with your grandfather?”

“Yes! I wanted to talk more, but… we spoke properly.”

“That’s good.”

Eugene smiled gently.

“Thank you, Eugene-san.”

“I haven’t done anything that deserves thanks yet.”

“You spoke to Grandmother for me and helped hand out the acorn toys. It made me happy.”

“I see.”

Eugene smiled, though his eyes became slightly serious.

“…We still need to address the matter of your backing.”

Ren’s heart jumped. Talking with Grandfather had lifted his mood, but those words returned him to reality.

“But you don’t need to worry.”

“…Okay…”

Ren looked up at him and nodded.

“Ren!”

Lewis called from behind. Ren turned to see the others gathered at the hall entrance, with Yona waving.

Eugene lightly patted Ren’s back.

“They’re calling you. Go on.”

“Okay!”

Ren bowed, then ran towards the waiting children.

Lewis led everyone to a guest room.

“I got these!”

Scott happily held up a cloth bag.

“What’s that?”

Tina peered inside. Scott teased them for a moment, then pulled out a red magic stone.

“That’s just a fire magic stone.”

Marcus sounded slightly disappointed.

“But it’s pretty.”

Tina held it in her palm and examined it.

“There are water, wind, and earth magic stones too. They’re the kind used in magic tools.”

Scott poured stones of other colours into his palm and rattled them.

“I got them to use as prizes for a game.”

“What game?”

“The acorn one.”

Theo had already placed the box on the table.

“The feathers come in three colours, so let’s make teams of three.”

“Then the team with the highest total score wins.”

They made up the rules as they went along.

“Ren-niisama, let’s play together.”

Yona tugged at his sleeve. Ren smiled and nodded.

“Liese-neeue too.”

Yona called Liese over. House Cream split into two teams: Ren, Yona, and Liese against Lewis, Royce, and Yuan.

Most teams followed family lines. Herman of House Sucre joined Scott and Theo of House Caramel. Marcus and Frank of House Noisette remained a pair, as did James and Jack of House Vanille. On the two-person teams, one member would drop the acorn twice.

“Does the winning team keep the magic stones?”

“…Then what if the winning team gets one stone after each game, and the team with the most stones at the end wins?”

“Good idea!”

The cloth marked with numbers spun around the box. Acorns descended with feathers fluttering. Everyone laughed. It was a peaceful time.

His conversation with Grandfather had ended midway, but Ren didn’t feel only disappointed.

They could speak again. More than anything, Ren was happy to have found someone about whom he could think that.