Ch.165Family Outing (2)

Irene had not planned for everyone to be scattered like this when she organized the picnic.

They had come out for a family outing, so what was the point if everyone just gathered in their own little groups?

After Rose fell asleep in her arms, she gently placed her in the cradle and looked at the gathered people.

“Does anyone remember why we came here?”

“Isn’t it a family outing?”

When Evan answered, Irene glared at him and clicked her tongue. Did he really know that and still choose to stay apart?

Scarlet glanced at Kaisel after seeing Irene’s reaction.

Since Kaisel also seemed equally clueless, Scarlet frowned slightly before letting out a small sigh.

“How can everyone be so separated? This doesn’t feel like a family outing—it just feels like we all happened to come to the same place.”

Levi just stood there blankly as he listened to Irene’s words.

Come to think of it, he was the only one who didn’t really belong in this family gathering, so he wondered how he had ended up here.

He had come because the Duke asked him to, but if it was like this… shouldn’t he just excuse himself?

As time passed, he felt increasingly awkward, and the thought that he should leave began to creep into his mind.

Arthur beside him remained silent, and with no one giving him any indication of what to do, he felt completely isolated.

‘Maybe I should just walk back.’

As Levi stood there blankly, he suddenly felt someone poke his side. When he turned his head, he saw familiar blue eyes.

“Arthur, what is it?”

“Mom probably thought it was fine to invite you, that’s why she did. You don’t need to be so stiff.”

“Oh… was it that obvious?”

“No, I just noticed because I’ve been watching you.”

If it had been anyone else, they might not have noticed, but Arthur, who had been standing next to Levi, could easily tell what he was thinking.

For someone a year older than him, Levi was far from mature.

Arthur had guessed that Levi would feel awkward about the “family outing” comment, and seeing his prediction come true, he couldn’t help but smile.

Of course, Levi blushed at the comment about being watched, but as usual, Arthur didn’t pay much attention to it. Perhaps he was too used to seeing that reaction and had grown tired of it.

“Since we’re all gathered here… hmm.”

After talking for a while, Irene suddenly realized that she hadn’t actually prepared anything.

She just wanted everyone to be together; she hadn’t come with any specific activities in mind.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t prepare anything?”

“I didn’t. People don’t usually prepare activities for outings, do they?”

“…Then maybe just walking around wouldn’t be a bad idea, or is that not good either?”

When Kaisel carefully suggested this, Irene and Scarlet looked at each other. It didn’t seem like a bad idea, so the suggestion was quickly approved.

#

The square was familiar to Evan and Irene.

Before they confessed to each other, when they weren’t yet adults, this square and street was where they first spent time alone together.

Arthur and Robelia had only heard about it but had never been here before, so their eyes sparkled as they looked at the statue standing tall in the middle of the square.

“That’s Dad, right?”

“…I don’t think this was here before. When did this appear?”

“I gave permission for it to be built. You’re the symbol of Yuris, after all.”

With a statue of Evan standing in the middle of the square, sword drawn toward the sky, Kaisel nudged Evan and chuckled.

He hadn’t visited this place often enough to know about it, but to see such a large statue…

There were even people sitting in front of it offering prayers, which made Evan’s face flush red as he quickly turned away.

No matter what, having a statue of himself was just embarrassing—perhaps after his death it would be different, but seeing it while still alive was simply mortifying.

Evan quietly lifted Robelia from his shoulder to his neck and rubbed his heated cheeks.

The children might find it fascinating, but Scarlet and Kaisel had expressions full of teasing intent.

Since he couldn’t say anything to Irene about it, Evan quietly covered Arthur’s eyes and looked at an empty space in the square as he slowly opened his mouth.

That empty space where a tent once stood was something both Evan and Irene remembered vividly.

Perhaps the prophecy-like words they heard in that purple tent were what led them to where they are now.

Irene also looked at that empty space, recalling the memory, and meeting Evan’s gaze, she gave a small shrug.

It had been painful as predicted, and there had been much bloodshed, but in the end, they had met and even married.

They had children who resembled them both, and they were so satisfied with their current life that Evan didn’t think badly of the prophecy they had heard back then.

Suddenly, Irene remembered that the fortune teller had actually been the mage Azest.

He must have come to Yuris to research dragon blood at that time.

But remembering that she had heard he later became indebted to Evan, she moved closer to him and carefully spoke.

“By the way, how did you meet Mr. Azest? When we first met him as a fortune teller, we didn’t know he was Azest.”

“Ah, I met him briefly later while hunting down a dark mage. After that, things got quite busy.”

That would have been when Evan was occupied with exterminating the Extinction. While working as Irene’s knight,

he would go to hunt down the Extinction whenever the Crown Prince requested, then return.

He remembered how much he disliked Kaisel back then, and the thought made him smile briefly before recalling his meeting with Azest.

Perhaps Azest could have died in that situation.

A dark mage specialized in curses and traps had targeted Azest specifically, and if Evan had been even a little late, Azest would have died.

If he hadn’t intervened, they would have lost a mage. If Azest had died then…

‘We probably wouldn’t be here like this now.’

Azest had played a major role in the large-scale operation against the Extinction.

If he hadn’t saved him then, they might still be dealing with the remnants of the Extinction now.

The mere thought was chilling, so Evan pushed it away and quietly looked at an alley in the street.

“Hey, do you remember that alley?”

“Which alley? Oh. How could I forget that place? It’s where we had our first date.”

The once old alley had been completely renovated.

The road was neatly paved, and broken bricks had been replaced with new ones.

Back then, they hadn’t even thought of it as a date, but now the word came naturally.

It was an alley they had walked through together. They didn’t know what their feelings for each other were, and Irene didn’t have any particular feelings for Evan at the time.

Was it one-sided love back then? But now, it was simply amazing to have children by their side.

From 15 to 30—so much had changed in those 15 years.

“Dad, when did you start liking Mom?”

Evan couldn’t easily answer Robelia’s question from his shoulder.

He wondered if there was even a specific time when he started liking her. Wasn’t it something he realized he had been feeling all along?

When Evan couldn’t answer, Irene narrowed her eyes and glanced at him.

“Why can’t you answer? You said you liked me since you were young.”

“Well… to be precise, I think I first became aware of my feelings when we came here together. It was shortly after the first snow.”

“Mom and Dad came here together?”

“We ate together at that restaurant over there.”

Since it was lunchtime, Evan and Irene called over Kaisel and his wife and entered the restaurant.

Despite the renovated exterior of the street, this place remained completely unchanged.

The floor still creaked, and cobwebs hung at the entrance.

Scarlet was horrified at the sight, but despite her elegant appearance, Irene naturally sat down and took her seat.

“How is it that nothing has changed here? It was like this back then too.”

“It would feel strange if it changed. It’s a good place for reminiscing.”

“…But I’m curious about one thing. Why did you bring me here back then? You knew plenty of fancy restaurants. Don’t people usually want to take someone they like to nice places?”

If she was asking if there was a reason, there certainly was.

Money wasn’t particularly abundant at the time, and hadn’t he spent a lot to buy Irene a birthday present?

“I spent a lot of money on getting you a necklace.”

At the mention of a necklace, Irene thought for a moment before starting in surprise and touching the necklace around her neck.

The one Evan had bought her back then had broken, but the one he bought later was still there.

To think that was the reason—all her various speculations over the years now seemed quite amusing.

But isn’t that what makes memories enjoyable?

Now when she remembered those times, all that remained was joy, allowing Irene to smile quite happily.