Chapter 71
When Nina greeted him, Den blinked.
A faint blush spread across his pale cheeks.
“I-I’m glad to meet you too… um, which candy should I give you?”
“Huh? Ah…”
Nina let her gaze drift over the candies displayed on the stand.
They weren’t ordinary hard candies but unique ones shaped like carnival parade floats.
Just then, the other three children came rushing up behind Nina.
“They’re pretty. But… are you sure it’s safe to eat things sold in places like this?”
At Charlotte’s remark, Katya snorted.
“Then maybe you should just go home, young lady.”
“What? Did you just say that to me…?”
“Hey guys, if you fight, you’ll just make Nina uncomfortable.”
With Messi’s half-hearted attempt at mediation, Charlotte pouted with a face that screamed unfairness.
“I wasn’t fighting! Katya suddenly told me to go home.”
“When did I ever tell you to leave? I just meant—if you think this place feels filthy, why are you even here?”
“I didn’t mean filthy! I was just asking because I’ve never been to a place like this before.”
From the look of it, the adults nearby seemed stunned speechless by the sudden quarrel between the two girls.
Nina, about to open her mouth in exasperation, suddenly felt someone clutching tightly at her sleeve. She turned her head.
“Huh?”
What she saw was Den’s silver eyes brimming with tears, his face pitiful.
“W-what’s wrong with them…?”
Den’s small voice trembled.
Nina’s jaw dropped.
‘What’s with this kid…?’
For some reason, Nina found herself oddly refreshed as she stared blankly at Den’s face.
“What, now he’s crying too? Is he even a boy?”
At Katya’s sharp words, Den flinched, his long eyelashes trembling as fat tears began to fall.
That was the last straw for Nina.
Why was everyone acting like this since morning?!
“Katya, what’s your problem? Why are you being so rude to someone you just met? He’s scared because you all suddenly started fighting!”
“Huh? No, I was just—”
“If you keep this up, all of you can just leave! The uncles, the older sisters, and you too—if you’re just going to fight here too, then go away!”
Nina fired off the words without even taking a breath, and the area instantly felt like a ghost town where souls had fled.
The Anubis gang lieutenants, hit by this outburst out of nowhere, turned pale as corpses.
Katya and Charlotte looked at each other in shock, while Messi quietly took out a handkerchief and handed it to Nina.
As Nina dabbed Den’s eyes with the handkerchief, the lynx gang members—including Cheshire—didn’t dare say a word.
“Are you okay? Sorry… everyone’s a bit weird today, but they’re not bad people.”
Den looked at her with tear-filled eyes.
“Yeah… thank you.”
Nina felt her mood turn strange again.
Maybe it was because she’d never met a child like him before.
He seemed a little older than her, yet somehow felt like a younger brother she needed to protect.
“Um, sorry. I was rude. Are you okay?”
Katya, watching Nina’s expression, finally apologized awkwardly.
“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have acted like that at our first meeting…”
Charlotte also joined in with an apology.
Den still looked timid, but he nodded slightly.
“I’m fine… but, I want you to apologize to Uncle Tony instead.”
“Huh?”
Charlotte looked baffled.
Den blinked pitifully, pointing at the burly lynx gang member beside him.
“Uncle Tony made all these candies… saying things like that hurts his feelings.”
“Really? He made all of these?”
Startled, Nina asked, and Tony’s face flushed red from the crown of his head down to his toes.
It was impossible to tell whether he was angry or embarrassed as he shyly nodded.
“That’s amazing…”
Nina whispered in awe, then turned to look at Charlotte.
“I think apologizing would be the right thing.”
Charlotte glanced around for support, but none of the adults dared to step in.
“I-I didn’t know…”
“Honestly, I didn’t either. But it’s not nice to say stuff like that in front of the person who made them. And he’s even friends with Mr. Lavi.”
“…I guess you’re right.”
Messi, standing with arms crossed, quietly backed Nina up.
Charlotte finally blushed slightly and gave an awkward apology.
“I see… um, I’m sorry.”
Tony silently nodded again.
It seemed to mean he forgave her.
Den glanced at Tony once before giving Nina a bright smile.
Nina smiled back, handing Messi his handkerchief.
Messi gave her a mischievous look.
“So, we don’t have to leave now?”
“Huh? Oh, I… I wasn’t talking to you.”
Nina, belatedly embarrassed about her earlier outburst, muttered awkwardly. Katya widened her eyes.
“Then should I leave?”
“No! I didn’t mean it literally—I just blurted it out because you kept fighting.”
“Sweetheart, so I don’t have to leave either, right? But those guys—you did mean them, didn’t you?”
Mira butted in, but before the bickering could continue, a loud cheer erupted nearby.
It came from the amusement park area.
At that moment, Cheshire finally spoke for the first time.
“Nina, do you like skating?”
Meanwhile, back in the imperial capital, Lavi-an had finished his little “rendezvous” with Leopard and returned to the banquet hall to pass the time.
“—The hell?!”
Just as his brothers thought he might finally relax and accept greetings, Lavi-an suddenly cursed and slapped the back of his head, startling Jeffrey and Bentley.
“W-what’s wrong?”
“I didn’t touch anything this time, I swear!”
Bentley even backed away as he protested desperately. If the grand duchess had seen her father looking so pitiful, she might not have spoken to him for days.
Lavi-an rubbed the back of his head, grumbling darkly.
“I don’t know, I suddenly felt a chill. What was that?”
“…”
His brothers were at a loss when, just then, someone approached them.
It was their uncle—Arnold Frank, Marquis of Frank and father of Diete.
“Lavi, I’m glad to see you here. And it’s been a while, Your Grace, Lord Jeffrey.”
Arnold spoke with dignified calm, entirely unlike his eldest son.
If not for their identical looks, no one would have believed he and Diete were father and son.
“It’s been a while, Uncle.”
Bentley and Jeffrey greeted him respectfully.
Though their ranks were higher, it was only proper to show respect to an uncle they’d known since childhood.
Arnold looked fondly at his nephews before turning to Lavi-an.
“If you were coming to the capital, you should have let us know. Your aunt would have been delighted to see you.”
Lavi-an replied with his usual biting tone.
“I’ve been busy. Honestly, I was worried Diete would insist on tagging along if he knew.”
“Hah, yes… that would have been a problem.”
“But what about Aunt? Why are you wandering around alone?”
“Truth is, I was abandoned. She met some old friends and seems to be enjoying herself.”
“I see.”
“By the way, have you met our Valery yet?”
Valery was Arnold’s second son, right below Diete.
Lavi-an thought of his younger cousin, who had married the only daughter of the Neuer family at a young age, and shook his head.
“I didn’t even know that arrogant brat was here.”
Arnold’s expression suddenly darkened, and he let out a low sigh.
