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"Nana, look at this?" Haji, crouching in front of the flower bed, turned and showed Himari a flower. His mouth stretched wide, keeping the small insect between his fingers.
"It’s a bee, isn’t it?"
Himari chuckled as she shook her head. "Haha, did I not tell you that is a ladybug?"
"But it looks like one." He scoffed as he eyed the very ladybug in his hand, his face twisting. "Bugs look the sa."
"Oh, dear," Himari sighed heavily. "Let it go, Haha."
"Tch." Haji clicked his tongue and released the bug, snapping his eyes at his grandmother.
Himari busily arranged the flowers and carefully put them in a basket, seated on the chair with a vase ready to hold a flower arrangent. The hat over her head to shield her from the sunlight suited her more than he thought.
"Heh." He rubbed his nose, enough to make her turn to him.
"What is it, Haha?"
"Nana." Haji rose from his spot and went to join her, sitting across from her. "It’s nice in here, huh?"
Himari paused and smiled at her grandson. Haji folded his arms over the table, leaning forward.
"Nana," he called. "Thank you."
She tilted her head slightly before reaching out to ruffle his already ssy hair. "Why are you thanking ?"
"Nothing," he chuckled. "I just... just felt like it."
He cleared his throat and perked up a little. "Nana, what do you think of the outside world? You know there’s a market in the main town. Do you want to visit there? They sell all sorts of things that you wouldn’t see in Ravah!"
Himari listened to his proposal to take her outside the mansion with a smile. As she did so, she studied the bright look on his face.
Surely, he had grown into a man, but he’s still my boy.
Her eyes softened, reminded of Scarlet’s words when the latter had confronted her and refused to take no for an answer when bringing her with them.
[What about your duty to him, then? Himari, Ravah has fallen... and along with it is the curse that stuck to you. You can stop blaming yourself for what has beco of this territory. However, you’d be blad for the rest of your life if he had to live with regret by choosing to uphold your decision.]
[I... will bla you for it until the day of my last breath. So, just this ti, choose him.]
Even now that Himari was in the Order, Scarlet’s words resurfaced in her mory every once in a while. Especially now that she could see the happiness on her grandson’s face.
I’m glad that the young woman ca that night.
"Shall we do all that, then?" she humd. "However, we have to do those things one day at a ti. Your nana is not young anymore."
And yet, his smile stretched wider as he nodded.
"Of course," he laughed. "One day at a ti. We have a lot of ti together, right, Nana?"
She humd and nodded, withdrawing her hand from him. "For now, help arrange these flowers. I’d like to give them to your friend."
"Who?" His smile instantly disappeared as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You an... Lola?"
"Yes, her! She’s a great help, and even now, she and the master of this place are taking care of ," she said sincerely. "This may not be enough, but I’d like to arrange a vase for her."
Haji’s face twisted. "Nana, that woman will not appreciate that."
"What do you think she would like to receive, then?"
"Money."
"Hmm?"
"That woman?" he waved his fingers before his face, then pointed at his eye. "If you look closely, the shape of her eyes looks like currency. She likes money, and that’s the only ti you’d make her jump at you."
"But I do not have money," she chuckled. "I’ll work hard, but for now, I hope these flowers will suffice."
Haji scrunched up his nose, but before he could say anything, his entire body shivered from his spine to the top of his head. In the next second, he heard faint calls from a distance.
"Uncle Haji~!"
He winced as he instinctively covered his ears, whispering in dread, "No way."
"Hmm?" Himari, unaware of her grandson’s dread, turned around to see two children running in their direction.
Deep lines appeared on her face as she studied the adorable little ones. "And those little children were...?"
"Grandma, they’re not little children," he gasped, pushing himself up from his chair to flee. But before he could shout, "Grandma, distract them for ," he froze.
Behind him, a black panther sauntered to his seat. When he looked back, his breath hitched as the panther dropped onto its stomach just inches from his seat, eyes still on Haji.
Haji knew that look. This was how a predator watched its prey before devouring it! And this look from the black panther was telling him Haji would surely be its next al if he ran.
Damn!
"Uncle Haji~!" Soon, the twins ca close until their steps skidded near the garden table.
Chacha and Second then stopped, standing close to the table, eyes on Himari.
"Who are you?" Chacha asked, her voice adorable even when she blinked. Curiosity was also clear in Second’s eyes.
Himari smiled at the children, who looked even more adorable up close.
"I am his grandmother," she answered gently. "My na’s Himari. And the two of you are?"
The twins’ mouths ford into round shapes, their eyes shifting to where Haji stood. Then, for a brief mont, Haji caught the mischievous smile that appeared on Chacha’s face.
It made his heart skip a beat in dread as he took just one step before rembering the beast behind him.
"Grandma, my na is Second, and she’s my twin sister, Chacha!" Second introduced politely. "We are Mommy’s children, her real children whom she promised to love every day!"
"Oh." Himari chuckled. "So, that’s the two of you? The ones she told she treasures the most?"
"Yes!" Chacha chid in, then snapped her arm up, pointing at Haji. The latter almost jumped, finding it scarier than a gun pointed at him. "And Uncle Haji promised us that he will play with us forever!"
"Nana, I never—"
"Grandma, can we play with Uncle Haji?" Second cut in, eyes twinkling in a way no one could refuse.
"Of course," Himari chuckled and nodded, then turned to Haji. "Haha, do not make the little master and miss cry, alright?"
"Haha?" the twins repeated in confusion, making the old woman chuckle.
"That is what I call him from when he was just as small as you are."
"Ohh..." The twins nodded, and sohow, that gave Haji a bad premonition. When they turned, he knew right away this was bad.
"Haha!" Chacha intoned, followed by Second, "Haha!"
"Haha!"
"Hahaha!"
"Uncle Hahaha~! Let’s play~!"
Chacha and Second laughed, clearly saying "Uncle" before laughing again. But that wasn’t even the worst part as they jumped and circled him, grabbing his hands and dragging him away to play nearby.
As for Himari, she chuckled as she watched the bubbly children drag the reluctant Haji.
"I guess... he has found playmates now," she whispered, just watching the scene, relieved to see her grandson living a better life than he ever had.
*****
At the sa ti, Scarlet stopped on the zzanine of the second floor in the other wing. She approached the window and saw Chacha, Second, and Haji. When she shifted her gaze, she caught Himari seated at the table near the trio.
A subtle smile appeared on her face before she noticed sothing else in another direction. Moving her gaze, her brows knitted upon spotting Slater with a few mbers of the Order leaving the manor.
"Are they on the move already?" She wondered to herself. But Atlas hadn’t called them. If there was any developnt with the Bellemonte, they would’ve known.
She stayed quiet, eyes narrowing. "They’re headed for the main island? What’s going on now?"
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