Chapter 35

“Hey, I’m not going to bring five of these stones, but dozens or hundreds of them. I’m going to get all the employees of the house together.”

“……. Then I can’t use it. Lord. Why are you so greedy, 5 is enough?”

I immediately advised Cedric because I was worried that Cedric’s employees would suffer. Cedric snorted and bounced the stone.

And Jake…

“I will definitely practice tomorrow. I also want to participate in the gonggi competition, Mir.”

Until the end of kindergarten, he couldn’t complete the 5th stage of gonggi until the end.

It was sad.  I patted Jake who said so with a depressed expression and told him that it would be fine. In fact, it took me a month to learn this too. You are already better than me.

So we split up at the doors of each of our respective carriages.

I really didn’t know then, what the children would look like the next day.

***

It was the next morning.

I got off the carriage, smelling the clear dew of the morning.

Even today, I firmly believe that I will be the winner.

‘Uh……?’

But someone was already there.

I paused there for a moment, seeing a boy reading a book gracefully in a cross-legged position, as always, and a girl sitting with a cushion on the floor.

“Hello, Your Highness!”

After briefly greeting Nicholas, I shouted in a lively voice as I walked toward Nina’s back. But Ninaina didn’t answer as if she was passionately focused on something.

“……Your Highness? What are you doing?”

When I called Ninaina in wonder, Nicholas replied instead.

It was with a strange attitude, as if asking to leave her alone.

“Ninaina probably won’t hear you right now. Since yesterday, she’s been doing it just by holding a ball in her hand. The maids also struggled quite a bit.”

“Ah, she’s doing that because of gonggi.”

I nodded my head and approached Nina.

And the next moment, I almost fell back and hit my behind.

“You, you, Your Highness, Prin-princess…?  Is it a gonggi stone that you are holding in your hand right now ……?”

My hands were trembling without my knowledge.

No, of course it’s that. Those round things that Nina threw into the air and grabbed it with her hand right now. All these stones are well-crafted and shiny and transparent, and they are gems!

Yes. It’s obviously a gem! But she’s dealing with jewels like stones rolling around on some roadside… Oh my God.

“Yes. That’s right. Rather, Emir, I’m practicing hard right now. I hope you don’t talk to me.”

Ninaina was in the process of throwing and catching jewels that looked like rubies, pink sapphires, topaz and so on in the air and she didn’t give me a glance. Somehow I got a little awkward. The pebbles from the small garden in my pocket are mourning!

“……Okay, Your Highness. Then practice hard…”

I turned away in a lonesome way. Carefully patting the stones in my pocket. My precious stones, still I will not abandon you.

Let’s keep going together until the end of our kindergarten life!

“I’m here!”

Just in time, the door of the classroom opened violently and it made a bang, and Cedric entered.

There was also Alice quietly following behind today. Come to think of it, I was worried deep in my heart because Alice didn’t come yesterday. Even when I asked Mrs. Edmons, she said she didn’t know.

“Alice!”

So I ran right past Cedric and ran to Alice.

Alice was watching me come to her with a slightly pale face.

Did you have a cold yesterday and couldn’t come?

“I was worried about Alice not coming yesterday. Did something happen?”

“……That, that’s because…”

“Yes?”

Alice replied in a small voice, fluttering her hand.

I couldn’t hear her, so I took a step forward, and then I heard what Alice was saying.

“……I fell asleep…I couldn’t come because I didn’t have a carriage to ride.”

Alice looked embarrassed. I didn’t even know that she thought it was a bad reason to oversleep.

But what’s bad about oversleeping?  Before I came to kindergarten, I only slept until late until the sun would rise in the middle of the sky almost every day!

Even so, oversleeping means that there was no one to wake up Alice, in time. So it wasn’t Alice’s fault. The only ones that did wrong were Alice’s family and employees in the original…