Chapter 51
And on top of that, these adorable children were handing out flowers they had folded themselves—for free!
People left the shop with happy smiles, spreading word of it everywhere.
Thanks to that, the longer time went on, the more customers gathered.
“Marco! More customers came than we expected, and half of the paper flowers are already gone. What should we do?”
One of the children shouted to Marco while refilling the basket with flowers whenever it emptied.
It seemed they hadn’t prepared enough paper flowers after all.
Hearing this, Marco’s face tightened with worry.
But soon he brightened, as if an idea came to him, and asked,
“You brought the extra paper, right?”
“Yeah, we brought all of it.”
“Good. Then let’s split into two teams. Some of you keep handing flowers out to the customers, and the rest start folding more right here. Got it?”
“Got it!”
So much for saying they wouldn’t ask for my help.
The children didn’t even glance my way for advice, and Marco didn’t ask me either.
They discussed it among themselves, thought it through, and found their own solution.
‘What is this? Since when did they grow up this clever?’
I’d always known Marco was sharp, but seeing him shine even brighter in an unexpected situation—it was a first for me.
A new side of a child I’d watched for so long was being revealed, and my chest swelled with pride and joy.
‘Ah, if only I could capture this in a photo or video…’
It would be even better to print it out, make an album, and give copies to the kids.
But unfortunately, this wasn’t the kind of era where cameras were a common thing, unlike my previous life.
Well, technically, there were devices that could capture pictures and record video here too.
But those were magical tools.
Which meant they were unimaginably expensive—and someone like me, a commoner, couldn’t easily obtain one.
You needed a certain level of status and identity to even access them.
‘But to think that just because of that, I can’t leave behind a record of these cute, charming, precious moments…!’
From preparing for the festival, to decorating the stall, to handing out flowers, and now handling a crisis with such smarts—
If only I could record it all.
‘And if they could all wear matching outfits and take a group photo together, that would be absolutely adorable.’
But no.
It really, really was a shame.
I had no choice but to keep the image in my eyes and store it deep in my memory.
So I stared hard, trying to burn the children’s lively figures into my heart.
The first day passed successfully, and soon came the second—the official last day of the festival.
The children were already different from before.
Having had the experience, they now skillfully drew in customers and handed out flowers.
Watching them, I was giving small bits of help here and there—carrying things around, or helping refill baskets.
“Take a paper flower!”
“Paper flower?”
Alongside Mina’s bright, lark-like voice came a deeper, familiar tone.
It was a voice I was sure I’d heard just days ago.
‘This voice… Sir Claude?’
I turned toward it.
“Reina? Ah, so these are your students.”
And sure enough, my guess was right.
I quickly set down the load I was carrying and hurried over to him.
“What brings you here…? Aren’t you busy during the festival? Ah, but first, please take a flower.”
I gestured to the basket Mina was holding.
Her expression was stiff.
She had brightly greeted him, but when she actually saw Claude’s stern face and tall, imposing figure, she looked startled.
Still, maybe because he seemed familiar with me, she relaxed a little compared to the first time she saw him.
“Here you go. It’s a little memory you can keep.”
“Thank you.”
Claude accepted the flower with a faint smile.
At that, Mina’s eyes lit up, staring at his face.
“A-ah, sorry!”
Just for a moment though—
She quickly came back to her senses, flushed bright red, and darted over to hide behind Marco.
“She must be scared.”
More likely embarrassed than scared.
The tips of her ears peeking out from behind Marco gave her away, glowing red.
“Anyway, what brings you here? I thought you’d be busy during the festival.”
“I ended up getting some unexpected time off.”
Oh? Now that I looked properly, his outfit was different too.
He was always in uniform or formal wear, but today he was dressed casually.
“You’re lucky! Everyone would love to have a day off during the festival.”
“Is that so? I can’t really tell if I’m lucky. This is actually my first time at a festival for leisure, not for work. It feels strange.”
Claude glanced around as he spoke.
His words stunned me.
“What did you say?”
His first non-work-related festival?
That meant every single year until now, whenever there was a festival, he’d only worked?
I blinked wide in disbelief.
Then I strode right up close to him and demanded,
“Just now, what were you doing before you came here? Did you visit any other stalls, eat something tasty, try out any of the festival experiences?”
“I… just walked around the area. Why?”
“So in other words, you haven’t visited anything besides our stall, right?”
“That’s correct.”
Unbelievable.
His first-ever festival for fun, and he was spending it in the dullest way possible.
“I actually know a really fun festival course…!”
My whole being wanted to take him around myself.
“But… I can’t leave right now.”
Because unlike my feelings, reality tied me down.
The children were pouring their hearts into this stall, and as their guardian, how could I just abandon them?
And more than that—
‘I still feel awkward around him…’
Even if things had gotten a little better since our last talk, the memory still made me flush.
And if the two of us went wandering around the festival alone together…
I let out a little whimper and frowned.
Then—
“Go, teacher!”
I turned in surprise.
At some point, Marco and Mina had come up behind me.
“See, we just ran out of flowers anyway. And we already used up the extra paper, so we can’t fold any more. I was just about to suggest we wrap things up.”
Marco grinned as he explained, Mina peeking from behind him and nodding rapidly.
“And teacher, you love festivals, don’t you?”
“Yeah, you always ask us to go together, and you’re the one who gets the most excited.”
“Yeah, yeah!”
These kids!
How could they blurt out such embarrassing truths without a filter?
I felt my face go hot and covered it with my hands.
But it wasn’t just embarrassment.
The way they’d handled the earlier crisis, and now how they thought of me like this—
When had they grown so much? My heart swelled warmly.
Still, sentiment aside…
“No. Absolutely not.”
“Huh? Why not?”
Because no matter how much I’d left things in their hands this time, I still had the duty to stay with them until the very end. How could I just leave?
I crossed my arms firmly.
Marco blinked rapidly, stammering.
He must have imagined me saying goodbye and leaving while they wrapped up on their own—never expecting me to outright refuse.
“But thank you for thinking of me. I really am touched.”
I patted his head with a smile, and he finally relaxed, giving a sheepish grin.
“Sir Claude, if you don’t mind waiting just a little while—could you?”
I turned to him.
He nodded, raising one eyebrow at me as if asking me to explain.
“The kids went this far for me. So I’ve decided—I absolutely have to show you. The proper way to enjoy a festival. I promise you’ll like it.”
I gave Claude a bright, confident smile.
