Chapter 36

"Lucia?"

"Um, I think these children might be Phil's niece and nephew."

"Phil's...?"

The moment he heard this, Brother Albes stiffened his face.

He slowly turned to look at the children, swallowed hard, and then knelt down in front of us, staring intently at both of their faces.

"Lucia, have you heard their names?"

"Huh? Al and Rida."

"Al... Rida... So it's true...!"

Brother Albes, still crouching, clutched his head.

...What on earth is going on?

As I was wondering what to say, I was pulled by the hand again.

Al was looking up at me.

"Hey, Lucia. Who is this person?"

"He's my brother, Albes. He's a friend of Phil's."

"Hmm."

Al was looking back and forth between me and Brother Albes.

I wondered if he thought we didn't look much alike. Then Rida, with great interest, approached Brother Albes.

"Hey, is Albes a knight?"

"...A former knight."

"Oh, you know about us, but it's still a secret from Lucia!"

"Right, right. Phil said not to say anything unnecessary!"

The children seemed to have taken a liking to Brother Albes.

Brother Albes is tall and well-built, and children of this age usually get scared when they first meet him.

...No, it's more like they are used to knights?

And Brother Albes' reaction is... the same as when the topic of Phil's family came up.

"...So, where did Phil go?"

"Well, he found these kids climbing a tree, caught them when they were about to fall, and went to look for the people searching for them..."

I thought it would be best to explain, so I briefly recounted the events, but Brother Albes froze again.

"Did you just say something strange? Climbing a tree? About to fall?"

"Yeah, while we were peeking at the ball, the branch Al was on was about to break."

"...What...?"

"I had no choice, but Rida jumped down on her own and Phil caught her."

"......Wow! I didn't want to hear that!"

Brother Albes groaned low.

But he quickly raised his head and stood up.

"Lucia, you should go now. I'll keep an eye on these kids."

"Huh, but..."

I hesitated, remembering the serious look on Phil's face when he entrusted the children to me. Then, from the other side of the courtyard, I heard the sound of multiple people approaching.

It seemed to be Phil, three women, and a few knights. Among the women, the older one looked relieved when she saw the children with me.

"Master Al, Master Rida, I was so worried!"

The person who ran over hugged the children tightly.

She didn't look like a mother, so she was probably a caretaker.

"Lucia, it seems everything is fine now, so let's go back."

"Y-Yes."

Urged by Brother Albes, I nodded.

In response, the children, who were still holding my hands, squeezed them tightly.

"Are you leaving already?"

"We still want to stay with you!"

"...Hey, you brats. Lucia didn't come here to play with you. She came to the ball. So, give up."

Phil roughly picked up both of them.

Surprised, they let go of my hands, and Phil smiled at me.

"Sorry, Albes, can you go back to the ball with her? I'll bring these kids back as soon as I can..."

Phil's words trailed off.

His gaze passed over me. A moment later, I heard footsteps approaching from behind.

"Phil! Did you catch them? Well done!"

It was a man's voice.

Someone seemed to have come from the ballroom.

Just as I was about to turn around, Brother Albes grabbed my shoulder firmly.

"B-Brother?"

"...Albes, take Lucia and run."

"It's too late. If we run now, it will be seen as suspicious behavior and we'll be caught. Damn, why didn't I notice!"

While I was confused, unable to turn around, Phil and Brother Albes were whispering to each other.

Meanwhile, the footsteps behind us grew closer and stopped in front of Phil, who had stopped moving while holding the children.

"...Why is my brother still at the ball at this hour?"

"It's because these kids went missing. If I made a big scene looking for them, it would cause problems. So, I stayed at the ball and pretended to be on guard, increasing the number of people searching for them!"

The man speaking to Phil sounded very cheerful.

Then, as if noticing the children's gaze, he turned around. Since the children were looking at me, the man automatically turned to look at me as well.