Louie was staring at the ground as if contemplating the suggestion. It was a very good opportunity for him, one that I could not provide by my own. After a couple of minutes, the golden eyes met with mine again, looking large and round like that of a puppy.
"Um…does that mean that I have to be away from sister?" Louie asked, his voice was slightly shaking that it tugged at my heart.
"Uh…t-that's right," I stammered my answer. Since the academy required their students to board there, we had to be separated.
"I don't want to leave..." Louie withheld his tears, clinging onto my waist.
Looking at his reaction, I felt my own sadness creeping up into my eyes. True, we barely spent time together. Once he became an official student, we could rarely meet with each other. Is this how parents felt like when sending their children to boarding schools? Mom and dad looked pretty much happy when they did to me, though.
But this and that are different!
Not being able to bear the thoughts of leaving the adorable Louie in a boarding academy, I wrapped my arms around the child tightly. "Ughh…. sister don't want you to go, either!" I admitted. "Huaaa, my Louie!"
"I…hic.. I also want to stay with sister!" The child sobbed.
The cries of a newly formed siblings' bond filled Lucius' office. It was almost like a theatre performance for a single audience, who doesn't seem to be so engaged with the show. Louie did most of the crying while I did most of the wailing. A perfectly balanced role for both of us, I'd say.
"The admission date is still far," Lucius interrupted. "You still have time until the next spring."
"Yeah…Louie," I sniffled my cries, wiping the child's tears. "We'll spend the remaining time as much as we can, yeah? Let's do lots and lots of fun things so that we won't regret it later!"
Louie nodded slightly with a pout on his face, still not fully satisfied of what to come. The child will be turning 12 this year. The age range for the academy is 13 to 19 years old, with 13 being the minimum age. I'm glad that I had adopted him earlier than planned, thanks to the dark magic incident.
Lucius's brother is already 16 years old and is currently attending the academy as we speak. I wonder if they could be friends later on? Anyway, spring had just begun this year and we have approximately another year together!
"Louie, let's go to town this evening," I said, stroking his hair. "We'll eat tons of yummy food and tire ourselves out until the sun sets and the moon came out!"
Hearing that, Louie's expression brightened and he's no longer pouting. "I'd like that!" He said, nodding enthusiastically.
"Right? So wait for sister, alright?"
"Mhm!"
From the table, the previously observing Lucius suddenly gave out a suggestion. "We can just go now," he said. "I'll let you off early."
"Really?" I asked. Perhaps he's not as tactless as I had always thought. When I saw him nodding his head as a confirmation, I immediately jumped in joy with Louie in my hands. "Did you hear that, Louie? Let's go now, then!"
The child nodded with a wide smile plastered on his face. He's always very excited whenever we were going for an outing. Besides being slightly sad on thinning my wallet, I'm also happy to go out with him once in a while. Out in the town, I could enjoy the fresh air and the lively atmosphere. Being in Lucius' office every day had sucked the life out of me.
"Is the Marquess following, too?" Louie asked, peeking behind of me.
"Huh? Of course no—" I denied before turning to look back at Lucius. He was already up from his chair, putting his coat on.
"Didn't I say we?" He said, emphasising the 'we'. A smirk was stuck on his face, one that had never failed to irk me somehow.
"Tch, what a hassle." My face auto reacted to frowning from his smug face. "Are you thinking of third-wheeling us? Just stick to your documents, can't you?" I complained, waving him away.
Seeing my reaction, he leaned closer and said rather enticingly, "I'll pay for everything."
It took only a few seconds for me to process his words and finally came to a conclusion. That offer basically changed everything about my thoughts on his unwanted presence. The 'ka-ching' sound had been replaying on my head for quite a while now.
"Ah, yes. The more the merrier," I said. "Right, Louie? Do you mind if the Marquess joins us?"
"I don't mind at all!" Louie shook his head, his little hand grabbing onto my sleeve rather tightly.
"If Louie said so, then let us all go!"
The Santa Butler had already prepared the carriage when we reached the entrance. He really did his job fast. Did he teleport or what? The carriage was a basic wooden one as to not attract much attention. Louie and I both didn't look too eye-catching, either. The problem is the other guy. He already changed into a commoners' outfit but he can't hide his looks with merely that.
"Hey, we want to walk around town to spend time, not going for a show. Can't you do something with your….looks?"
Every time we went for an inspection, he would put on a cloak. However, he didn't do so today.
"It is fine, isn't it? They should get used to seeing me around."
"Huh? Why should they get used to seeing your face?" I looked at him in disbelief, slightly creeped out at the thought from the perspective of the people.
"Who knows that maybe one day they had to see my face everyday."
"Then that would be the start of a nightmare," I replied.
After exchanging a few insulting remarks, we just went through with it and soon arrived at the town. There's a reason as to why I wished to go to the town now. Once spring arrived, there will be the infamous Springtide Festival in the Leonhart march! It was mentioned twice in the novel. However, it was mostly Arthur who enjoyed it.
*Arthur….I'm sure he is doing well now,* I sighed.
After the post-war ball, I had managed to move on from my feelings for him. Why bother holding onto a broken branch of hope anyway? Putting that aside, there's another significance of this event in the book which I seemed to miss.
*What was it?* I pondered, only to snap out of it when Louie tugged onto my sleeve.
"Sister, let's go there," he pointed at a cake shop.
"Ah, sure," I nodded, holding his hand in mine. "Before that, where's my wallet?" My eyes wandered around the crowded street before it landed on Lucius.
Lucius was standing in front of an accessory stall. He seemed to be looking intently at something. Very intently as if he was so captivated by it. When I approached him, I also sneaked a look at the item of his interest.
*Hm? Why is he looking at the bracelet like that?*
He was so focused on it to the point that he didn't even notice my presence. When I looked into his eyes, it was filled with nostalgia and longing. I had never seen that look on him nor had I read about it.
"Lucius," I called, tapping lightly on his shoulder. Surprisingly, he flinched at the gesture and immediately turned my way. I was right, he must've been reminiscing on something. "My brother wants to go to the cake shop. I'll charge you for it later, alright?" I informed him.
"Alright, go ahead," he replied with a light nod.
Throwing a final glance at him while walking away, I decided not to pry and just enjoy the day. With Louie's hand in mine, we skipped gleefully towards the delicately decorated petite shop. We both gawked at the scrumptious looking cakes on display excitedly. Most of the cakes were made based on the theme 'spring' to match with the event. After looking at the cakes for a good while, I finally recalled the missing piece of information.
"Ah, I remember now! It's his birthday!"