There were many animals, big and small, in the menagerie that I’d only read about until now. I walked amidst the various enclosures, leading Phil by his hand. Even though I didn’t mean to, I was getting really excited.
“Phil, look! I never thought that it would have such a long tail... Oh, look at how big and fluffy its ears are! It’s adorable!”
“Yeah.”
“And this bird here has such lovely red feathers.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you listening to me?”
“Yeah.”
“You aren’t, are you?”
“Yeah.”
I stared at him in silence, and he simply looked back at me. No matter what I said, Phil only replied with “Yeah” like he was zoning out. I tugged at his hand with a “Sheesh” and he apologized quietly as if startled.
“Is this not very fun for you?” I asked.
Perhaps he was so exhausted that he didn’t even have the energy to enjoy himself?
I stopped walking with that thought in mind and upon seeing me do so, Phil looked a little panicked.
“It is fun for me, truly. Uh, it’s just that...”
“Just that?”
“Viola, you’re so cute when you’re excited that I only have eyes for you. You’re simply too precious. I don’t know what to do with myself.”
The breath caught in my throat with an audible squeak. I didn’t know what to do with myself either, being told with such a strong tone and serious face. I looked down at the ground to hide how hot my cheeks felt. The only thing I could whisper was, “I see.”
The both of us were blushing fiercely and staring downward in front of a cage. Right when an uncomfortable silence started to stretch between us, I heard a conversation sound out near us.
“Hey, look over there. Those two are the same color as that crimson bird.”
“Oh, stop that, Nigel. It’s not polite to say whatever comes to mind.”
“You’re the last person I want to hear that from.”
Phil and I looked up at the familiar voice and name. To our surprise, we saw Lady Natalia and the red-haired boy we’d met in the park in the past.
“Huh? You two are...” the boy said.
“Oh my. If it isn’t Lady Viola and Lord Phillip! What a surprise,” Lady Natalia said.
“I agree,” I said. “I didn’t expect to see you here, Lady Natalia.”
It was a little surprising to see her in a place like this. But Lady Natalia cheerily revealed that she wanted to see the elephants, and I smiled at how cute she was acting. Though Lady Natalia often spoke in a harsh manner, she was a very kind, gentle, and sweet person at heart.
“Do you know these people?” the boy asked.
“Yes, I do. Nigel, I should be asking you that question. How do you know them? You’re not old enough to attend gatherings, are you?”
I had been curious as to why these two were here together. However, upon closer inspection, not only did they share the same hair color, but they also looked very similar. Their big and slanted eyes, in particular, were the same.
Could they be...? A hypothesis started to form in my mind.
“I once invited them to stay at our hotel,” the boy explained. “I heard that they’d ended up staying in one of the suites.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you so much for your hospi—”
“T-The two of you stayed in a hotel together?! How indecent! You two aren’t even married yet!” Lady Natalia exclaimed.
“Huh?! No, wait, we’d honestly only planned on eating at the hotel, but we were forced to stay because—” I tried to finish, but Lady Natalia interrupted me.
“Lord Phillip, I cannot believe you! D-D-D-Don’t tell me you two really slept together...”
“Together?” Phil said with a frown. “All I did was go to sleep with Viola in my arms.”
“W-W-W-Wha...?!”
“Please, wait a second. Seriously this is all just a huge misunderstanding,” I hurriedly said.
It was true that on that day, I ended up falling asleep on the couch and in a way that looked like he was hugging me close to his chest. However, why did he have to describe it like that? It was bound to create a misunderstanding. And lo and behold, Lady Natalia had gotten the wrong idea. Her face was bright red and her entire body was shaking.
“Lady Natalia, really, that’s not what—” I tried to explain, but Lady Natalia shook her head.
“I don’t want to hear your excuses!”
As usual, once Lady Natalia got an idea in her head, even if it wasn’t what happened, there was no stopping her. Next to me, Phil hadn’t noticed what was so wrong about what he said. He tilted his head to the side.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
On my end, I wanted to ask him, “What’s the matter with you?”
“Adults are so gross,” Nigel said before he started to cackle. He seemed like a much more mature person than Lady Natalia.
“It really is a misunderstanding,” I tried again. “The weather was really bad that day.”
“I see. So you used the weather as your excuse...” Nigel said.
“Were you listening to me at all?”
I could feel my head starting to hurt from how the two of them absolutely refused to listen to reason. I didn’t even feel like explaining the truth anymore. So I decided to ask them what I’d been curious about since we ran into each other.
“Um, what’s the relationship between you two?”
“Hmm? We’re cousins,” Nigel said.
“Cousins...”
That would explain why they looked so similar to each other. I never expected the boy that we happened to run into in the past would be the younger cousin of a former classmate, especially a classmate we were quite familiar with.
It sure is a small world.
“The two of you do look alike,” Phil said.
“Right? Their eyes are exactly the same,” I replied.
As we conversed, Nigel stared at us with his large catlike eyes.
“You guys seem a lot more lovey-dovey than the last time we met.”
“Is that so?” Phil asked.
“Yeah. The air around you feels lighter. You two used to feel really awkward.”
When we first met Nigel, I was still pretending to have amnesia. That was when I was unaware of Phil’s feelings for me, or why he chose to lie to me and say that we were madly in love with each other.
A kid’s natural instinct really wasn’t something to underestimate. There was also the possibility that we simply acted so awkward together that even a child who didn’t know us could see through it. Then, I remembered how Phil lied to Nigel during our initial meeting and said we’d already had our first kiss. My face grew hot.
“You two look like a normal, happy couple now,” Nigel concluded.
“I see,” Phil replied.
Nigel’s assessment made me feel happy, yet embarrassed. It was very hard to calm down while feeling this way. When I glanced up at Phil, I saw a similar shy smile on his face as well.
“I-In any case, you two should have a more celibate relationship until the wedding! Let’s go, Nigel,” Lady Natalia said.
“Yeah, see you guys soon!” Nigel exclaimed. “We should have a normal hangout next time.”
“Yes, that sounds lovely,” I replied.
Even though the two of them were like a force of nature, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw them walk away with their hands linked together, chatting and bickering the entire time. For now, I could only pray that Lady Natalia’s wild misunderstanding will clear up sooner rather than later.
“We should get going too,” Phil said.
“I agree.”
We reached out for each other at the same time and walked off again, hand in hand.