I Need Sponsorship

While Clover finished packing the fabric, I approached Ren. As I put my hand on her shoulder, Ren looked at me in surprise. I chuckled at her reaction and asked her.

“Do you like that fabric?”

Among the children, Ren was the one who couldn’t take her eyes off the fabric. Hearing my question, the hesitant Ren nodded her head.

“Yes, I’ve never seen such beautiful fabric before.”

Thinking about it, Ren had also purchased a children’s embroidery set at the toy store.

‘She was interested in embroidery?’

I had never seen Ren sewing before, so it was unexpected but it seemed quite fitting for her delicate nature. Gazing at Ren, I asked her another question.

“If you had beautiful fabric, what would you want to create?”

Ren pondered for a moment before responding to my question.

“I want to make warm socks for Roddy. I want to make a beautiful handkerchief for eddy, since Chloran falls over a lot, I’d like to make a knee pad for him. And for, jake, I want to make a bookmark. And also…”

Basking in Ren’s delightful story, I curiously looked at her direction, as she tentatively glanced toward me.

“I’d like to make a scented sachet for you, Director.”

“For me too?”

Since I didn’t expect to be included, I asked with a surprised look on my face. Ren then shyly nodded her head.

“Yes, because you provide us with delicious food every day. I’d like to create something for you, too.”

Ren’s rosy eyes were crystal clear. Looking into them, I felt an indescribable feeling of endearment. If we weren’t outside, I might have embraced Ren tightly – that’s how lovable she was. As I didn’t say anything, Ren hesitated a moment. I then smiled warmly at her and replied.

“Alright, I’ll look forward to it.”

Just then, Clover, who had finished packing the materials, handed me a bag.

“The total for the fabric is 17 gold and 3 silver.”

After paying the amount, I looked at Ren. Recognizing the meaning of my earlier response, Ren’s eyes grew round with surprise. After smiling gently at her reaction, I took the children by the hands just as I had when we came. Turning toward Clover, I said.

“Thanks to you we were able to buy wonderful clothes and fabric.”

“I’m grateful too. You are special customers to me. Could you please tell me your name?”

Clover asked politely, to which I nodded and replied.

“Sierra. I’m the director of the .”

“Sierra… I’ll remember it dearly.”

Clover replied resolutely, and I left the alley with the children. The sunset was upon us, the day had seemingly passed in an instant. After looking up at the sky for a moment, I turned to the children and opened my mouth.

“Let’s do this again sometime. Next time we’ll bring a picnic blanket and some food.”

The children looked up at me. I hoped that promising a next time, a future outing, could alleviate some of their anxieties. Letting them know we could go out like this anytime.

There was a short silence. The one who broke the silence was Roddy, the youngest of them all. Roddy clung to my waist with a radiant smile.

“Roddy wants to go too! I want to go on a picnic with Ren, eddy, Chloran, jake, and the Director!”

Roddy’s words initiated responses one by one.

“I’d like that too.”

“M-Me too! I’d like that…”

“Well… If Ren’s okay with it, then I’m too…”

“……”

jake looked at me in silence. As I looked into his eyes, filled with a peculiar color, I softly smiled, nodded, and made a promise to him.
“Sure, absolutely.”

I wished that our day at the market would remain as a wonderful memory for the children. And, as similar memories pile up one by one, out to the point where it feels like a normal daily life. Leaving the regrets of a short outing behind, we returned home. Thus, a week went by.

* * *

Between readying the dress and, just in case, keeping the previous white shoes, I had nothing to do. So, I spent the remaining time reading the herb book I bought from the bookstore. There were more varieties of plants here than I had thought, and I came across many that would be good for brewing teas or for making sachets. After a few more trips to the market to purchase plants, and many trials later, I was able to make decent tea bags and sachets. Finally, the day of the banquet arrived. Because it was difficult to get dressed alone, I took the help of Ren and eddy.

The makeup was simple and only included a lip tint. Thanks to Sierra’s radiant beauty, that was more than enough. And I left the wavy sunset-colored hair as it was. After that, all the preparations were done. I checked the time.

‘It’s about time the carriage arrived.’

Looking again at myself in the mirror after getting dressed, I couldn’t help being amazed. Sierra may be a clear-cut villain, but that aside…

‘She is quite beautiful.’

She seemed to be the most beautiful person among all I had ever seen.

‘Ah, except for Duke Crayman.’

He was… beyond beautiful. He had a peculiar aura all his own. That’s why, once you’ve seen him once, you couldn’t easily forget him.
“It’s so beautiful!”

I snapped out of my reverie at Ren’s voice, and I smiled at the children.

“Really?”

This time, eddy nodded vigorously and said, “Yes, really, really beautiful. Like an angel…”

eddy’s green eyes sparkled as she looked at me. Come to think of it, eddy always had a fascination with dresses and decorations.

“Maybe we can have a party together someday.”

Looking at eddy’s admiring gaze, I thought to myself that it would be nice to dress up and have a party on a special day like New Year’s Eve. Smiling at the children, I checked the bag I had prepared in advance. Inside the bag were a pouch containing runes, a black robe, a golden mask, and a vial of water. With everything in order, I left the office. As soon as I stepped out, Chloran stumbled and fell backward.

“Chloran?”

Startled by Chloran’s sudden fall, I saw his face turn red as he stood up clumsily. In the meantime, Roddy rushed towards me and got her skirt stuck. jake watched from behind.

“Headmistress, you look so beautiful!”

Blushing, Chloran brushed his face and got up with a sheepish expression. Roddy, with sparkling eyes, looked up at me.

“You look beautiful!”

“How beautiful?”

“This much!”

Roddy stretched his arms as wide as he could towards the sky. Overwhelmed by Roddy’s cuteness, I couldn’t resist and hugged her. With my face against her head, I said:

“Roddy, in my eyes, you’re just as beautiful.”
“Hehe.”

“But Chloran, what were you doing? Surely…”

Ren narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Chloran. As if suspecting that he might have been spying on us, Chloran hopped indignantly.

“It’s not like that, Ren! Don’t you trust me?”

“What were you doing then that startled you, causing you to fall backward?”

“Well, that’s… eddy, you explain.”

“…I’m sorry, Chloran. But it was suspicious…”

Even eddy was not taking Chloran’s side, causing him to turn pale. At this point, I would step in to help Chloran, but this time, my curiosity peaked as to what Chloran was actually doing, and I chose to keep silent. After a moment, Chloran muttered in a dying voice with her head low.

“…Because everyone was gathered and seemed fun…”

“You said you’d help the Director with her preparations.”

“But Ren! I wanted to be with you too!”

“Sigh, Chloran, you’re still young. We’re already ten.”

“…shush, that must be nice for you to be so mature.”

In the end, Chloran pouted his lips. In my eyes, all these children having such a conversation was very amusing and cute. Still, I had to hold in my laughter. Laughing now would just bruise Chloran’s ego further. Instead, I tried to console him.

“Okay, I will call you next time, too.”

“Hmph…”

Chloran, who seemed to have calmed down, just nodded to my words. Smiling quietly at him, I looked up at jake.

“He’ll probably come tomorrow morning. Can you stay until then?”

I asked, but jake gave no response. He merely came closer seemingly anxious, and took my hand. jake, who had been looking up at me, cautiously parted his lips.

“Isn’t it… we can’t, if we don’t go?”