“This, this was intentional, huh?”

“So, you’ve been pretending to be polite since earlier? I tried to pat you on the butt, and you freaked out!”

“Kid, when did you say you wanted to marry me? You quickly changed your mind when there was a pretty and smart girl of your age.”

Even though the mature Heron probably didn’t see Rodrigo as a man, who knows? Maybe Heron has a preference for younger men.

I couldn’t just interfere with the little kids’ date.

“Well then, I’ll ask Heron. Rodrigo, can you host Lord Skitas well?”

“Of course! I’ll take good care of him.”

Rodrigo replied and reached out his hand to Heron, who smiled and gently raised his hand.

“I’ll guide you through the garden.”

“Sure!”

The small couple exchanged eye greetings with us and moved away to the garden.

I watched their cute figures for a while.

Until Idriche suddenly whispered in my ear.

“Now that we’ve greeted Rodrigo, shall we go do what we haven’t done yet?”

I jumped in surprise at the breath near my ear. In the process, I accidentally hit Idriche’s head.

Idriche groaned with a grimace.

“Ouch! What should I do? I’m sorry. Why are you whispering with two people around?”

I diligently rubbed his forehead. Idriche lifted his frowning face, then observed me blowing on his forehead.

“What’s this? Why don’t you feel any pain?”

“Oh, really?”

I touched the bumped area, but it didn’t hurt.

“Is it because I’m a hedgehog?”

“Never mind, now that you can’t escape, figure it out yourself. You have to do your part to hurt your forehead.”

Don’t say things that make me have such evil thoughts. Specify the object as a curse.

Idriche put his arm around my shoulder. The weighty feeling pressed my body heavily. Without giving me a chance to push him away, he pushed me to walk.

“Talking about the curse, can’t we do it outside? The weather is nice.”

Don’t want to be alone in the room!

“In this cold weather?”

“What’s cold? It’s not… sniff.”

I sniffed. A runny nose.

I gave up bothering him and decided to follow Idriche.

The village festival of Skitas approached. Everyone was busy from morning.

Despite the cloudy sky, no one seemed to notice the cold as they worked diligently.

In the middle of the square, a giant barbecue was cooking. As the smell of roasting meat wafted through the village, everyone, young and old, woke up from their sleep and came to the square.

Soon laughter filled the air, and children ran around excitedly. Adults also enjoyed a pleasant time, drinking the alcohol prepared by the Skitas family from midday.

I was more excited than usual. I had attended parties and even larger festivals than this, but at that time, there was always a different purpose.
However, now I didn’t need to hide my identity, and there was no need to save someone in mortal danger.

I was busy chatting with the friends I originally knew and the new friends I had made.

As the crowd grew, Heron stepped up to the platform.

She thanked us, celebrating the recovery of the Night Tree Forest.

The people of Skitas cheered and applauded us. Pride swelled within us.

She also expressed gratitude to the residents and asked them to enjoy this festival.

“Why is she so charming?”

Oh, I said that. It was a comment from an older lady next to me. Everyone around nodded.

It was not just that; everyone was looking at Heron with the eyes of parents, feeling both love and respect for her.

When Heron came down from the platform, the residents, who would become her parents and grandparents, approached her, putting a hand-knit scarf around her and giving her handmade cookies.

Heron tried to refuse with a serious voice, saying, “There’s no need for this. Just knowing that you all are well-fed and warm is enough for me…”

However, her words were drowned out by the night snacks she was handed.

“Idriche, look at Heron. She is so loved by her residents. I hope Idriche will be loved by the Derode people in the future.”

My words made Idriche beside me show a subtle expression.

“Well, I don’t think that’s possible.”

Just then, someone was patting Heron’s butt, so I involuntarily burst into laughter.

“Why? Idriche might also get his butt patted by someone someday.”

“…I absolutely don’t want that.”

I burst into laughter at Idriche’s amusing reaction.

Perhaps because of the festival atmosphere or the crowd, conversations with Idriche had been the most comfortable recently.

After a while, the food contest that I had been eagerly waiting for began. People who claimed to have good cooking skills all came out with their dishes.

Everything looked fancy and beautiful. Thanks to that, I was already discouraged.

Why? Because my acorn jelly… it looked ugly.

Finally, the acorn jelly I made was placed on the table.

A rough and giant brown lump caught people’s attention.

“What is this?”

“Well, it looks like… cow dung, in a way.”

What? Even if it looks plain, the taste is good. Won’t your thoughts change once you taste it?

“Who wants to try it first?”

“Well, my palate is sensitive.”

“Who prepared this dish?”