“Thank you, Alicia and Sirius,” Sophia told them before looking to her guards. “Please, you’re welcome to have a drink.”
“Of course,” added Vern. “And I’m sure Prince Zeke and Sasha don’t mind their guards having a drink either.”
With their encouragement, the guards thanked the twins and accepted the drinks.
“You two are such good kids, thinking about others,” gushed Milia. She’d been about to do the same, but picked up on their plans and let them take the lead instead.
“Oh… I was too slow…”
Then Noelle came over, looking upset with an armful of drinks. It seemed everyone was thinking the same thing.
“Perfect timing, Noelle. I was just thinking I was thirsty. Thanks,” I smiled.
“A-Arius… Y-You’re welcome…”
Next, we went to the indoor basketball court to play three-on-three basketball. I teamed with Milia and Alicia, and we were playing against Vern, Zeke, and Sirius.
Sophia, Noelle, and Sasha decided to watch us play because they were wearing skirts. Milia had on breeches, and Alicia wore gaucho pants, so they were okay.
Since Alicia and Sirius were playing, we all tried not to get too intense about the game, but they could keep up with an adult once they’d cast Strengthen anyway. We still went easy for them. Except Vern, when he was coming to steal the ball from me, he was serious. I dodged, of course, but he was way too overbearing.
After getting our bodies moving a bit, we went to the billiards tables. Noelle, Alicia, and Sirius had never played, so we gave them a simple explanation of the rules before starting. The twins took up the game quickly, getting good right off the bat. Noelle…well, she seemed to be having fun, so that was what mattered.
It was getting close to six o’clock, so it felt like a good time to go for dinner once we finished billiards.
I went to the bar and snack counter in the billiards room to get a drink. You could drink alcohol in this world even if you weren’t an adult, and that even applied to Alicia and Sirius. Considering the time, though, I wasn’t planning on having any. I ordered my drink and was about to head back to the others with it in hand.
“You… You’re Arius Gilberto, aren’t you?” a voice called out. It belonged to a strong-willed girl with a ponytail. It was the second year, Cecile Chromia, who had fought Sophia and Milia in the tournament. She was with two other girls, both of whom were second-year students at the Academy. I remember meeting them at high society parties. I also memorized the names and faces of all the students in the Academy.
“Did you come to celebrate after the tournament, Cecile?” I asked.
“Something like that. Hey, Arius. That final match of yours against Prince Eric was incredible.”
Most girls called me “Master Arius,” but I had told her not to bother with it when we’d met before. The two girls looked incredibly uncomfortable with it and were probably thinking about how her father, a baron, ranked lower than mine, a marquess.
“Since we happened to bump into each other, do you mind having a chat with me?” Cecile asked. I didn’t hate people as strong-willed as her, but that didn’t mean I cared to be pushed into anything.
“Sorry. I’m here with friends, and you are too,” I said.
“It’s just a little chat. It’s fine.” She turned to the other girls. “You don’t mind, right?”
Likely being considerate of Cecile, the two bowed and then walked away.
“All right. Let’s go sit at the bar and have a drink,” she said, trying to move the conversation along even if I didn’t want it to.
“Cecile, I think you should give it a rest. We have a previous arrangement,” came Milia, barging into the conversation.
Sophia joined her. “Arius would never make concessions, even to someone like you.”
“Milia. And Lady Sophia. Is it really all right for Prince Eric’s fiancée to be spending time with another man?” Cecile expressed, as if trying to get a rise from them.
Sophia responded with a smile. “It is. Arius is my friend, and Prince Eric gave me permission to come.”
Milia also didn’t look like she was going to budge an inch.
“Cecile, Sophia, and Milia are my very important friends. Don’t go implying something you’re making up,” I interrupted.
“Fine. My apologies, Lady Sophia. I also came with my friends, so, if you’ll excuse me,” Cecile huffed and walked off.
“Thanks, you two. I said no right away, but she’s pretty pushy. And it’s not like I wanted to get in a fight with a girl.” I looked at them. For some reason, they were blushing.
“We’re very important to you…? I mean, I knew you thought of us as friends…” trailed Milia.
“I know you don’t mean anything bad by it, but hearing you say it that way isn’t very good for my heart,” muttered Sophia.
I mean, it was true. They were important to me because they were my good friends.
“Anyway. Sirius, Alicia, you did a good job holding yourselves back,” I called to them. I’d noticed them nearby with expressions like they wanted to jump in themselves.
“Because Milia and Sophia said something for us instead,” shot back Alicia.
“Yeah. If they hadn’t, I definitely would’ve said something,” added Sirius.
They probably hadn’t liked someone getting in the way of our fun since we’d come all the way here together. But she’d only invited me to talk; she hadn’t done anything wrong. If the twins had said something, they could’ve ended up with a reputation as sassy brats, which could have hurt them socially. I wouldn’t mind something like that about me, but it was a hindrance for nobles.
“Hey, you two. You kept control of yourselves because you were thinking of House Gilberto, weren’t you? I might’ve still thought of you as kids, but you’re using your heads like mature adults, aren’t you?” I confided as I patted their heads. They turned bright red.
“Stop, you’re embarrassing us!”
“Yeah! We’re not kids anymore!”
The fact that they couldn’t just accept the compliment meant they were still kids.