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Evie was confused.
"Whoa! Look at that girl!"
“Looks like he bought her everything. How lucky she is...”
"Dad! I want one like that too!"
All the children who passed her on the way looked at her with eyes full of envy.
This was not surprising.
In Evie's hands now, almost every type of food sold at the festival was piled up:
Glistening fruit skewers dipped in sugar syrup, carefully grilled sausages, and fluffy candy clouds…
One child, when he saw what Evie was carrying, burst into tears as he begged his parents to buy him something like what she had.
Evie, who was never used to being the focus of attention from her peers like this before, was nothing but embarrassed.
But the embarrassment was not due to that alone.
“Professor, I can walk by myself...”
He replied, shaking his head in disapproval:
"No, that's not possible. What if you cum again?"
“But...”
Isn't it enough for him to just hold her hand and walk together? Is it really permissible for her to be carried like this in his arm?
“But I'm heavy... If you keep carrying me like this, your arm will hurt, Professor.”
She said this while lightly hitting her arm with the cloud candy she was holding, pretending to be in pain, and Clowes smiled bitterly.
“Even if I carried you all day, it wouldn't happen.”
It was true that Evie had gained some weight and was a little taller compared to the first time they met, but she remained petite.
It was clear that she needed a lot of food to become as big as her peers.
When she realized he wasn't going to put her down, Evie glanced down.
“Very high.”
She knew that Professor Sian was tall, but being carried on his lap like this made her feel like she was floating on the clouds in the sky.
After they met again at the Lost Children's Shelter, Professor Sian said that he would never let her get lost again.
Iggy thought maybe he would hold her hand and walk together from now on, but he immediately lifted her into his arms.
“If you feel tired, we will return to the academy immediately.”
Evie, shaking her head, responded negatively to his question, her voice carrying concern.
The professor came back to find her again. This alone was enough to dispel the deep fear I felt earlier.
When she told him that she wanted to explore the festival more, he began to take her around the place actively.
He carried her little bag over his shoulder, and whenever he passed a place that sold food that children loved, he bought whatever Evie was interested in, without hesitation, and placed it in her hands.
Even when she said she didn't want or need anything, he stood his ground.
In the end, Evie gave in and took everything he put into her hands.
“If I don't eat it, he'll throw it away unfortunately.”
To throw away food? This is something Evie can never accept.
So, she began to enthusiastically chew everything he gave her.
The street food was delicious.
Especially the cloud candy, which she stuck her fingers into like cotton, and melted in her mouth like snow.
“Really sweet as candy!”
In Cloïs' arms, Evie enjoyed watching the festival freely.
The things that were hidden from her view by the crowd when she walked holding his hand, were now completely clear.
“This appears to be the last event for the day.”
Cloyce kept holding Evie in his arms as he headed towards the river.
There, the festival organizers were preparing kites that would be sent into the sky.
These planes were made of lighter materials than others, and when the time came, their tails were lit with fire and launched into flight.
Dozens of flames rose into the sky at once, and people cheered enthusiastically as they made their wishes.
Evie looked up at the sky in amazement.
In Elram, she had seen something like this before.
At that time, she made wishes with her friends in the orphanage: to eat candy, to have a new dress, not to quarrel with her friends... Everyone wished for what he liked as he pleased.
So did Evie.
To eat two potatoes tomorrow, or to find a pen that someone left in high school...
She was hoping for small things, but she was desperately hoping for them to happen.
When the last glimmer of the planes was fading, she was whispering in her heart her true wish.
“I always wanted to meet my mother and father.”
But why today? It seemed like she wouldn't need to wish that.
“Maybe because I've received so much already...”
Evie felt her eyelids grow heavy as she leaned her head against Clois.
She knew she shouldn't sleep like this. The professor will be tired, and she should get down and walk now...
“Warm.”
Like the magic stone she hugged every night, she felt the most comfortable warmth, and Evie fell asleep in an instant.
"Oh, my God."
Cloyce noticed that it was quiet, and Evie had already fallen asleep. He carefully repositioned her in his lap.
When he eased her into a more comfortable position, Evie hugged his neck tightly.
“It's time to go back.”
The night had deepened. It was curfew time at the academy, and the kids had to go to sleep by now.
Evie wasn't the only one, there were many parents carrying their sleeping children or carrying them on their backs back home.
Cloyce blended seamlessly between them as he walked.
As he headed towards the palace, he noticed street vendors preparing to close their shops, then saw a shop selling children's accessories: hair ties, pins, bracelets and necklaces decorated with dolls in the shape of animals or people.
Clowes unconsciously stopped walking and looked at the items on display.
The store owner approached and said:
“Oh my God, your daughter looks tired?”
“Ah…”
Not his daughter. She's just a little girl he accidentally got involved with.
A child who could never be his daughter...
“It seems so.”
Cloyce replied calmly, patting the sleeping girl on the back.
“Oh, if she were awake, she would have pestered you to buy her everything in my store! She's very nice, isn't she?”
Cloyce laughed unwillingly at the salesman's words. He was not bothered by his exaggerated talk.
The seller picked up a red hairpin from the table, brought it close to Eppie's hair, and said:
"How about you buy her one like this? I'll give it to you for a cheap price. She'll be so happy when she wakes up!"
Then the seller collected other various pins and asked Cloyce:
“What color are little miss’s eyes?”
“Green…”
"So, green would look great on her. They usually choose the same eye color. But lately, blue is the favorite. Because of a new storybook heroine who always wears a blue dress, all the girls in the capital want that color."
Cloyce noticed that most of the girls around him were wearing blue pins or ribbons.
“Give it to me.”
Then he looked at the other pins the seller held.
“And all that too.”
* * *
“Chi chi chi.”
Evie woke up to the sound of birds coming from the window.
“Um…”
She closed her eyes again due to the glare of the sun, then opened them slowly, blinking.
“My room.”
The soft mattress she was used to now, the silky cover, and the heavy smell of wood.
What's more, when she saw the magic stone shining with a dim light next to her, Evie realized that she had woken up in her room.
“Ah…”
She stretched hard and stretched her arms out to get up, but her hand touched something.
"What is this?"
Wiping her sleepy eyes, she looked at what she had grabbed, and suddenly...
“Ah!”
Evie stood up, startled. In her hand, there was a squirrel puppet made of wood.
She knew what this was.
“I went out with the professor...”
I woke up completely in an instant. I remembered yesterday's events clearly.
I went with Professor Sian to see the Festival of Seasons.
They visited the candy store, played a fun game of drag, and then lost it midway.
“But he came back to get me.”
From that moment on, he carried her all the time as they walked around. Her last memory was seeing kites flying.
“He brought me back here.”
She couldn't even thank him for taking her for a walk!
Moreover, he had to carry it all the way here, and it must have been heavy.
“I have to go and thank him now.”
While she was thinking about getting out of bed, she saw something rolling on the covers.
“What…is all this?”
Evie picked up the items on her blanket, her eyes widening.
On the bed, there was a pile of sparkly hairpins, bows, and other assorted toys.
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