Arinne grabbed the hand Lawrence had stretched toward the man and pulled it down, pressing herself close against him.

“Stop dodging me.”

“I, I can’t. There are too many people watching……”

Lawrence’s lips trembled.

“And did the person who knows that walk around holding my hand? That is something you did. You should know I can do the same.”

The more he resisted, the closer she leaned in, pushing her face toward his.

Long lashes. Soft violet eyes. Lips tinged red, like crushed pale pink roses pressed onto them, wheat-colored hair drifting on the occasional breeze, and a scent that was sometimes as soft and gentle as the breaking of dawn and sometimes as deep and rich as autumn……

Lawrence turned his head away in a rush and squeezed his eyes shut.

“I was, wrong……”

Lawrence apologized in a voice barely above a whisper. Only then did she straighten her upper body away from him and let go of his hand.

The moment she released his hand, Lawrence scooted far away and turned aside, pressing a hand to his startled chest. His heart was still pounding.

“You should have done that from the start.”

Only after teasing him did her mood improve, and with a considerably lighter heart, she settled in to wait for Jade’s turn.

“Your mother has quite the presence.”

“She’s not my mom.”

Meanwhile, Ray sat on the man’s knee and watched Lawrence and Arinne bicker together.

“She’s not your mom?”

“Nope. She’s big sister.”

Ray nodded, splitting the cookie the man had given him in half and popping one half into the man’s mouth.

“But she might become mom. Ray prays for it every day!”

Ray popped the remaining half into his own mouth and smiled happily.

“It’s still Ray’s secret. Shh!”

Ray raised a short index finger to his lips, which were covered in cookie crumbs.

“Got it. I’ll keep it a secret.”

“And it’s also a secret that I had another snack. You know, right?”

Ray grinned. Waiting for Jade’s match was dull and tiring and irritating, but getting snacks from all directions was its own kind of happiness.

* * *

By the time Jade returned from receiving his second-round briefing, the match between numbers 13 and 14 had already ended.

Apparently, number 13 had beaten number 14 with her sword and been disqualified, and number 14, hurt and upset from being hit, had burst into tears and forfeited, saying he could not continue the remaining matches.

In Jade’s estimation, number 13 was unusual in her words and actions, but she was not the type to pull a cheap move. The idea of deliberately breaking the rules and getting disqualified was something Jade could not even imagine doing himself.

He wanted to hear directly from number 13 what had happened.

“Hey, has anyone seen number 13?”

Jade worked up the courage to speak to the other children. They all shook their heads.

“You’re number 12, right?”

One child called out to Jade.

“She left right after it ended. But before she left, number 13 said she would share her energy with everyone. Here, take it.”

“……It’s alright. You have it.”

Jade carefully declined the candy the child held out.

Whatever the circumstances, the fact that number 13 had been disqualified was real, and there was nothing to be gained from accepting energy from someone who had been disqualified.

“Hey. Jade.”

“Aaah!”

Jade startled and spun around. Number 13, who had supposedly left right after the match, was standing behind him.

“You hadn’t left?!”

“I came back to say goodbye.”

Tarsa smiled brightly at Jade. She had thought she should at least say goodbye to her first friend, so she had turned the carriage around on her way out.

Her plan was to quickly say goodbye to Jade and leave before the Marquis found out she had turned the carriage around.

“I took revenge for you.”

“Huh?”

“Make sure you come to my house with your father next time.”

“How do you know my father?”

“Of course I know him. He is an adult close to me.”

“……”

Jade found it unreasonable that number 13 acted familiar about everything while giving away nothing about herself.

She spouted incomprehensible things, never answered what she was asked, and only said what she wanted to say. It was entirely her own way.

“Oh, right. Bring your mother along when you come. You have the same prim expression, so I can tell you’ll grow up to be a beauty too.”

Number 13 gave Jade a thumbs up as she walked out of the waiting room. Jade watched her with a sour look, then tilted his head to one side.

‘When did she ever see my mother’s face to say something like that? Saying our expressions look alike……’

Jade’s expression shifted into something uncertain. Realizing belatedly who number 13 had meant by ‘mother,’ Jade sucked in a sharp breath.

“She is not my mother!!”

Face flushing hot, Jade chased after number 13.

“Really? What a relief! Then I’ll make my great-uncle the groom and her the bride!! I’ll have to go back and ask her to wait ten years. Haha!”

Muttering to herself in words that made no sense at all, number 13 hopped up and down on the spot with a delighted expression.

And she was the one who had been disqualified for a foul!!

“It is not a relief!!”

Jade shouted louder. Whether she could not hear him or simply did not care, number 13 walked out with a light step and disappeared entirely.

“And here I thought she wasn’t a bad kid!”

Even after number 13 was gone, Jade’s feelings had not settled, and he grumbled and kicked the floor for no good reason.

“What exactly is so relieving about Lady Arinne not being my mother?”

He had no idea why that word ‘relief’ had rubbed him the wrong way.

Number 13 was truly a strange one. He did not know who she was, but even if an invitation came through his father, he would absolutely never go to her house.

‘She was just an idiot. An idiot who got disqualified for not knowing the rules! Ah! N, no.’

Even though it was only a thought in his head, Jade startled at his own unkind words and went wide-eyed.

It was only a thought, only said inside his own mind, yet the feeling of having done something wrong made him glance around guiltily.

Meanwhile, the words that should have startled him far more had just come out of his mouth aloud, and Jade had not even noticed.

‘Good. Looks like no one heard.’

Jade let out a breath of relief. Everyone was busy preparing for the second round and paid him no attention. He was glad no one had caught his bad thought.

What a relief…….

Relief?

Jade felt a sudden sense of deja vu at that word.

Right, ‘relief’ was a word meant for moments like this. The reason he had shouted back at number 13′s words just now was simply that her words had rubbed him the wrong way. It was because what she said did not fit the situation, and it had grated on him and annoyed him.

With that question resolved, Jade exhaled with a clear head and checked the second-round bracket.

“Number 9?”

Jade’s second-round quarterfinal opponent was number 9.

Jade quietly looked over the numbers of the children remaining in the waiting room. They all looked tall and strong.

He himself was nine years old, and compared to them he was so small that the unworthy thought crept back in again.

It was because he had started to envy number 16, the winner of the eighth and final first-round match.

Number 13 had been disqualified and number 14 had forfeited, so no one advanced from the seventh match. With no opponent, number 16 advanced directly to the semifinals by walkover.

He had thought number 13′s foul was unfair, yet here he was envying number 16, who had benefited from it. Jade felt ashamed.

He shook his head hard to clear the thought, and even slapped both hands against his own cheeks with a sharp smack.

The sting in his cheeks snapped him back to his senses.

“It’s only natural to still be weak.”

Jade accepted his own weakness. His father had told him that just making it to the main tournament at nine years old was something to be proud of.

When he turned ten, and then eleven, he would surely grow into a child as tall and impressive as any of them.

Jade felt his heart trembling and steadied himself. The second round still had stronger and bigger children, but it was not as frightening as the first round had been.

Outside, his father and Ray were there. And Lady Arinne was there. They were his people, who had come to this place for no other reason than to watch and cheer for him.

Jade also knew that Calon and Formington had not been able to come in person today, but they were surely cheering for him and hoping to see him do well.

Jade wanted to finish Evershine well. If not for anything else, then for the people who cared for him.

He would brag to Calon about how well he had done. He would think of the snacks and advice Formington had prepared for him and tell him the news that he had made a friend.

He would create the conditions to turn what was unfavorable into what was favorable. Like in the match earlier. Like his father had said.

How happy would Ray be if he won? Lady Arinne would be surprised too.

She would definitely think he was impressive.

Jade let himself imagine the thrilling possibility of winning the second round, advancing through the third and fourth rounds, and ultimately becoming the champion.

‘I can do well. I can do this.’

He had wanted to do well, and he had driven himself with the thought that he had to do well, across more days than he could count.

‘But……’

That no longer mattered.

“I tried my hardest.”

Jade had learned that there was something more important, and more remarkable, than doing well.

‘So even if I lose, it’s alright.’