I thought Espin’s brightly smiling face looked very youthful and lovely.

“It’s a 2 vs 2 game with two of us and two of you. The losing side buys dinner! How about it? Doesn’t it sound fun?”

Espin said in a sing-song voice while clapping her hands.

Not only Veronia, but Killian and Onyx also showed rather displeased reactions to her suggestion. It was understandable. Playing a 2 vs 2 game with people they weren’t even close to? It sounded strange.

But Jediel’s reaction was different. The child was clapping along with Espin and hopping up and down.

“Wow! That sounds fun! Our team will win! The losing side treats us to a delicious meal! I’ve never seen anything like this before! It seems so exciting!”

“Right? I’ve never done this before either! Actually, I’ve always wanted to try a game like this at least once in my life!”

“Then is today the day Aunt Espin’s lifelong wish comes true?”

“Huh? Oh! That’s right! It is the day my lifelong wish comes true! I got to eat cotton candy and play a betting game.”

Jediel and Espin giggled as they looked at each other. Despite meeting for the first time today, the two got along surprisingly well. Amazingly so.

The slightly deflated owners perked up and added a word with bright smiles.

“As expected, our aunt knows how to properly enjoy a dart game!”

“That’s right!”

Trying to make up for their earlier mistake, the owners laughed with exaggerated loudness, and Jediel threw a comment at them.

“Espin isn’t our aunt either. She’s just Aunt Espin. Mister, Missus, you don’t seem to know very well.”

As the child spoke with a sulky expression, the owners broke out in a cold sweat and hurried to smooth things over.

“Oh dear… My goodness…!”

“It’s just that you seemed so close. I’m truly sorry, little one.”

Jediel was still wearing a sullen expression when Espin gently hugged the child with an affectionate smile.

“Don’t be like that, Jediel! Can’t I be your real aunt? We seem to get along quite well… You’re so cute, and I’m so pretty, so wouldn’t it be fine?”

“What? A real aunt? That’s….”

“Yes! Instead of Aunt Espin, try calling me Auntie Espin. Come on, hurry!”

“Um… What?”

A whirlwind swept through Jediel’s small mind.

No matter how pretty Espin was and how well they got along, it didn’t seem right to carelessly call her ‘auntie’. Because Aunt Espin wasn’t part of our family.

Jediel, feeling troubled, looked to Veronia for guidance. Veronia felt awkward at the child’s gaze that seemed to ask, ‘Is it okay?’

She didn’t want the child to suddenly call a woman they’d just met today ‘auntie’. Especially if that woman was to be Killian’s fiancée.

Veronia was about to shake her head, turning her creaking neck to the side, when Onyx stepped in as a relief pitcher.

“That won’t do. Absolutely not, Jediel.”

Onyx spoke firmly, looking straight into Espin’s eyes once, and then into Jediel’s eyes.

“Jediel, think about it. It’s been nearly 4 years since I’ve known you. Yet you still call me Uncle Onyx, not Uncle Onyx.”

“…Yes.”

“Then don’t you think it’s not right to call someone you’ve met less than 40 minutes ago auntie? This is a matter of fairness, and if we dig deeper, it could even become an issue of discrimination.”

“…”

Little Jediel, who didn’t know what ‘fairness’ or ‘discrimination’ meant, couldn’t understand a word of what Onyx was saying. The child just felt that if Aunt Espin was called ‘auntie’, Uncle Onyx might feel upset.

In the end, the situation was resolved with Espin glaring sharply at Onyx before turning her head away with a ‘hmph!’

And so, the 2 vs 2 dart game began. Each team would shoot 10 darts, and the team with the higher score would win.

Contrary to Jediel’s expectations, the game proceeded quite dully.

The darts thrown by Veronia and Espin’s slender arms barely made it onto the target. The two were evenly matched in skill.

On the other hand, Killian and Onyx hit the bullseye every single time without fail. They were also evenly matched.

It wasn’t a game that provided nail-biting tension with back-and-forth competition. The result of the game was the same.

“It’s a tie! Everyone!”

The owner, who had been acting as the referee throughout the game, raised his voice in an effort to liven up the atmosphere, noticing Jediel’s bored expression.

But Jediel, who had been looking indifferent until then, turned pale at the word ‘tie’.

“A tie… you say? The scores are the same?”

“Yes, that’s right. Both sides did well, so it’s a tie!”

“Then there’s no winning side or losing side?”

“Yes, that’s right. Since it’s a tie.”

The child’s forehead and eyes, lips and chin gradually twisted, but the owner didn’t notice. He just continued to kindly answer the ongoing questions.

“Then there’s no side that has to treat everyone?”

“Ah, well…”

“Then we don’t get the doll either? What kind of game… is this?”

As the child’s eyes began to moisten, this time it was the adults who turned pale. The four adults crouched down around the small Jediel and began to comfort the child.

“Jediel, don’t worry. Although the game ended in a tie, I’ll treat everyone to a delicious meal. What would you like to eat?”

Killian suggested a solution in a brave voice. But Jediel didn’t seem to like Killian’s proposed solution very much.

“Why is Uncle Killian buying food when he didn’t even lose?”

While Killian was lost for words at Jediel’s question, Onyx’s face brightened. This time, Onyx spoke proudly.

“Jediel, I know this neighborhood like the back of my hand. If you name the food you want, I can guide you there right away. Come on, what would you like to eat?”

“Why is Uncle Onyx buying food when he didn’t lose either?”

“Well…”

This time it was Onyx who was at a loss for words. After that, Killian and Onyx continued to bicker, with Jediel in the middle, each insisting on buying the meal.

Watching this scene, Veronia felt her chest tighten as if a stone had been lodged in it. Meanwhile, Espin kept grinning, her eyes sparkling as if she found the quarrel amusing.

‘This person is… so carefree.’

Veronia stared at Espin.

The princess, who had lived only inside the palace until she became an adult and was finally allowed to go outside, seemed to find everything new and interesting.

Judging by her shadowless face, gentle tone, and enjoyment of conversation with the child, she seemed to be a person with a pure and kind nature.

‘They say she’s the youngest princess who received a lot of love from the king. It seems to be true.’

Suddenly, Veronia’s originally deprived life came to mind, making one corner of her heart ache. She shouldn’t be swayed by emotions that would bring no benefit. Veronia turned her gaze away.

The lady owner made an interesting suggestion to Killian and Onyx, who were arguing about who was right and who was wrong.

“Why don’t you two have another betting game?”

“What…?”

Jediel, who had been wearing a gloomy expression all along, finally reacted to the lady owner’s words. A glimmer of light shone on the child’s face.

“Then the one who loses the game can buy the meal as a penalty.”

“That would work! Lady owner, you’re a genius!”

The tears that had moistened the child’s eyes disappeared in an instant.

Veronia, who was watching from a distance, had the words ‘Jediel, let’s stop now’ on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them. It was an outing after a long time, and she didn’t want to pour cold water on the child’s excited and thrilled appearance that she hadn’t seen in a while.

‘Well… It’s their own fault for unnecessarily asserting their pride over something so trivial. Becoming a spectacle is all self-inflicted.’

Veronia shook her head as she saw people gradually gathering around them.

It had started from when Killian and Onyx had consecutively hit the bullseye during the 2 vs 2 match earlier. That’s when passersby began to stop and watch them.

As a result, now there were many people who had taken up positions without even knowing what was happening, just following others. Expecting the match of the century to come.

Veronia just held her forehead, hoping that this game match would conclude without any incidents or accidents.

“As you saw earlier, if there’s only one target, it’s difficult to gauge the difference in skill. So how about setting up multiple targets for the competition?”

Killian suggested to the owners, crossing his arms and rubbing his chin with one hand. The owners, who had been listening attentively, nodded vigorously.

“Oh, that sounds like a good idea!”

“Let’s hang targets in a line on the wall from here to there. And then throw darts while running.”

Killian said, pointing with his finger to the ends of the wide wooden wall of the street stall. Veronia, who was watching, inwardly clicked her tongue at his serious expression, as if dealing with an important state affair.

‘I always thought that solemnity was cool, but now it’s a bit…’

It looked trivial. Veronia was surprised by the fact that the wonderful and cool male protagonist, her handsome and sexy ex-fiancé, could look so petty at a dart game street stall.