Chapter 24
Chaotic Entrance Ceremony (2)
A small event at the entrance ceremony.
While the parents were listening to the instructions, the children, who had been assigned to their classes, went out to a small garden to introduce themselves to each other.
In the four prepared areas, characters symbolizing each class were drawn, and chairs were arranged in a circle to match the number of people.
Fortunately, Cezar, Ivanne, and Nia, who were all in the Sparrow Class together, sat nicely on the chairs, huddled together like cute chicks.
"Now, who wants to introduce themselves first?"
A seasoned middle-aged teacher gazed at the children, and someone who made eye contact shouted loudly and ran to the center.
"I'm Ivanne! Our Baron family makes desserts. You know? Fausett Pepperone. I'm the granddaughter of that bakery! Ivanne is going to win first place at the big dessert-making festival when I grow up!"
When Ivanne shouted, the children cheered.
"Wow, does that mean we can eat lots of cake and cookies? I'm so jealous!"
"Yeah! Mom said the cookies earlier were from Fausett Pepperone!"
The friendly children quickly clapped and welcomed Ivanne, who slightly gathered her dress and accepted the greetings like any noble lady.
"Okay. Our new friend is a very energetic friend, isn't she?"
The teacher smiled brightly at Ivanne's energetic greeting and patted the child's head as if praising her.
"Then, let's continue the introductions from the side."
Cezar, who was sitting next to Ivanne, hesitated slightly, then stepped out with a brave stride and greeted in the center.
"I am Cezar Chepley. I am the grandson of the Chepley Baron family."
Cezar bowed slightly, giving a textbook greeting.
A five-year-old giving a greeting without missing a single pronunciation.
How thoroughly he must have been educated.
At this concise introduction, the teacher restrained the hands that were about to clap in admiration and said,
"Cezar. You can introduce yourself a little more like Ivanne."
At the teacher's kind words, Cezar pondered for a moment, then,
"...My father is a professor at the Academy, but I want to be someone who protects the empire magnificently like Commander Leon!"
"Oh my, a professor. No wonder you've grown up so smart. What a wonderful dream. I'm so touched. Everyone, applause!"
At the sound of the children's applause, Cezar bowed his head shyly and sat quietly in his seat.
And, automatically, the child sitting next to Cezar came out.
A mischievous-looking boy with freckled orange hair, swaggered and spoke with his hands in his pockets.
"I'm Gedarin! The leader of the Horni Trading Company is my dad! My dad bought a Baron title recently. So Gedarin is the son of a Baron. And..."
"What does it mean to be a son because you bought a title? Teacher?"
"Can you buy a title with money? I want to buy a Count title too. How much is it?"
"Ge... Gedarin. Stop, you'll learn that gradually. Okay. Stop, stop. Next person."
The teacher was flustered because she had never encountered such a difficult situation during her teaching career.
For a long time, the children's questions flooded in response to Gedarin's words, but the seasoned middle-aged teacher quickly stood up the next child to smooth things over.
But Gedarin was sulking.
He was upset that he couldn't fully introduce himself, and his already mischievous expression looked even more sullen.
And finally, it was Nia's turn, who was next to Ivanne.
"Shall we come out and introduce ourselves?"
Nia rolled her eyes, then carefully came out and stood in the middle of the children.
Having already decided to adapt, she kept brainwashing herself that this was nothing.
But as the focused gazes poured in, she shrank back again.
"...I'm Nia."
It took a long time for the child to say this one word, but for Nia, it was the first passionate courage she had shown to reach out to the children first.
The teacher encouraged her to say more for the child's sake.
"Nia, you can talk about your dreams like Cezar. Tell us more about yourself."
"...My mom is a very pretty and cool knight...!"
Nia's heart was pounding.
She had neither a family nor anything else to introduce at the teacher's suggestion, but Nia was happier than anything else to have a mother to introduce.
Lucia is Nia's dream.
Nia drew and dreamed of her mother in that miserable life.
So, the place to proudly introduce such a dream was a very, very precious moment.
"Haha! A knight! Where does someone with such a low title get off dreaming!! My father said so. Knights are below Barons. You need a high title to be great!"
"......"
Nia felt like she was about to cry as she looked at Gedarin, who was laughing at her.
Should she not have said it after all?
Nia, who didn't even know what a title was, only understood that her mother was a knight and couldn't have a dream, but even a child could tell that it wasn't a good thing.
The teacher quickly ran to Gedarin and grabbed his shoulder.
"Gedarin, you shouldn't say such things to a friend. Apologize."
"No! My father said I don't have to apologize if I have money! My family has a lot of money! I won't!!"
"Gedarin. Apologize right now..."
As the teacher was trying to calmly persuade him, one child shouted.
"Hey!!!!!!"
The loud voice of pent-up resentment was enough to scare away the birds gathered in the small garden, and the protagonist was none other than Ivanne.
"I've been listening, I've been listening, but what kind of commoner nonsense is that?!"
She looked like an angry baby wild boar about to run out at any moment.
The teacher was shocked by the language Ivanne had uttered.
She turned to Ivanne this time and calmly persuaded her.
"Ivanne. That's a very bad word that lowers your dignity. You shouldn't say that to a friend."
"Why? Isn't he a commoner's son because he's the son of a trading company?"
It was a fair argument from a five-year-old.
"Ah, no, that's... that's not how you use it..."
The seasoned kindergarten teacher was speechless at Ivanne's unexpected logic.
"Hey. Commoner. Apologize to Nia. Nia is a much better kid than you uneducated kids!"
"Ugh... You!"
While the teacher was flustered, Gedarin raised his hand towards Ivanne.
But who was Gedarin about to touch?
-Clack.
The spirited little girl from the continent, Ivanne, grabbed that hand with her small hand.
Gedarin, flustered, swallowed hard as he looked at his captured hand.
"You made a mistake."
In that moment, Ivanne's eyes changed.
It was the spirit that did not yield to her mother, the genius with the rolling pin, her aunt Gillianna of monstrous strength, or even Lucia, the strongest knight in existence.
Gedarin felt a cold sweat run down his back as he realized something was wrong.
-Bbaaah!
Ivanne grabbed Gedarin by the collar and headbutted him in an instant.
"...Ack!!! Ugh, waaaaaah!!"
The child's sharp cry, along with a clean scream, struck the middle-aged teacher's ears.
The entrance ceremony, which had never had an accident since the kindergarten was founded.
In the midst of this chaotic entrance ceremony, the teacher decided to take the sabbatical she had been contemplating for a long time this year.
'Berl. That's what I'm saying. Commander Lucia's child is coming to the entrance ceremony? Cezar is going with Commander Leon. Oh my, but could it be. You're the vice-commander, didn't you hear about it?'
Marien's last words spurred Berl on.
Berl trembled all over at being ostracized once again.
Vernon, Gillianna, Heath... those bad guys.
They didn't even tell him that the commander, who had completed five years of training, had a funeral to attend, nor did they share that he was living with the commander.
And they didn't even tell him that the commander's daughter was entering kindergarten.
'Yes. It's all your fault. I'll ostracize you this time.'
That's right.
He was currently lurking in front of the Academy's affiliated kindergarten with nearly 100 members to celebrate the entrance ceremony of the child of the commander he respected.
In his imagination, he was going to line them up in a row as soon as they came out and perform a sword salute.
Nia and Lucia between the honorable, towering swords.
He was sure that anyone who saw their dignified steps amidst the grand cheers in his mind would be envious.
In his grinning head, he imagined the mother and daughter smiling happily at him in front of a square filled with fluttering balloons.
But if there's a crazy person in every group, there are also a majority of normal people.
Behind the vice-commander's insane appearance, the pupils of the members who had been forcibly dragged along were trembling, and one courageous member began to run towards someone who could save the situation.
While the children were out in the garden introducing themselves, the parents were receiving small notebooks and listening to the list of things they needed to write down.
The notebooks included guides for selecting class times, information about the child's food allergies and illnesses, medications to administer, and so on.
It was quite a list.
Although they didn't have to fill it out right away, the young couples listened intently, fully focused.
Lucia, far away from the now-quiet crowd, glanced over the list and yawned, planning to pass it off to Vernon.
"Are you feeling any better?"
Leon approached while the parents were focused on the speaker.
Lucia had managed to avoid unwanted attention thanks to him earlier, but now she was in trouble because he was talking to her so closely.
"What brings you here?"
Leon asked, concerned about her recent injuries, but the cold Lucia seemed only interested in chasing him away before things got noisy.
"Ah, well, there was some urgent business at the administrative office of our royal guard..."
Leon tried to sound as natural as possible, recalling the excuse Marien had given him.
But it was hard enough to look at the woman he had loved for seven years, let alone lie to her.
When he finally met Lucia's clear, blue eyes head-on, he blushed, averted his gaze, and couldn't continue.
He, who was always so kind and composed, looked so shy and innocent.
If his followers saw this, they would either grind their teeth in jealousy or clutch their hearts and weep tears of blood.
'He came all the way here to fill in for a busy member...'
Why did this man have to live such a meddlesome life?
In fact, his meddling had been a constant occurrence in the past.
He had made a fuss about having a good office location, and he had unnecessarily sent the mages to the Black Knights' training grounds, insisting that they needed to get used to sparring with the knights.
In the end, even when she was in the mountains, he had shown his face under the pretext of managing retired knights.
What was the point of being so loyal to the country, only to live a boring life? Why did he care so much about others?
But as everyone knew, she was unaware that all of it was for the sake of being next door to Lucia, for encounters disguised as coincidences.
"Would you like to join me after the entrance ceremony? I would really like to escort you this time."
His offer reminded her of the infinitely cozy leather from that day.
It was a luxury that Lucia, who didn't know much about such things, had never experienced before.
She hesitated for a moment, thinking of Nia, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, worried about the attention that would be multiplied several times over if she were with him.
"No, thank you."
"......"
Leon couldn't bring himself to say anything in response to Lucia's curt refusal, and his gaze drooped.
His slightly downturned eyes, pale skin, and thick eyelashes made him look like a listless deer, looking pure and innocent.
His appearance made her feel as if she were a hunter who had shot him with an arrow, and even the insensitive Lucia began to feel uneasy.
And she finally came to a conclusion.
'...Is it not enough for him to attract so much attention? But if I accept him any further, it will become a nuisance.'
Poor Leon, being treated like an attention-seeker even with his innocent appearance.
"Commander Leon. I will not be riding in the commander's carriage again. And now, I need to listen to the explanation, so would you please excuse us?"
Lucia gestured for him to stay away, keeping him in check.
"......Ah."
Leon's face turned pale, shocked by her cold behavior.
He had come running, ignoring even his mother, whom he hadn't seen in years, just to see Lucia, on Marien's suggestion.
They had suggested lending Cezar to him so that he could divert people's attention without making Lucia feel burdened, and then wait until things had calmed down before offering her an escort.
But had he misjudged the timing due to his impatience?
In the end, Leon blamed himself and swallowed his tears, consoling himself that he had done all he could for today.
