“I didn’t know that you were so…popular with the kids,” I said teasingly before I smiled up at him.
Was this what he meant when he told me to ‘save’ him. I found the thought quite funny, and it took me a lot of effort to stop myself from giggling.
“I’m very sorry about that, Knight. It does happen sometime when King comes over. The kids really get excited and they really like playing with King so…” Celine quickly apologized but I could tell that she found the whole affair extremely entertaining.
“It’s fine…” Reiner murmured while looking slightly awkward.
I took Reiner’s hand and squeezed it comfortingly in mine before I smiled up at him sweetly. Reiner looked down at me before he let out another sigh. I thought that we probably should move on now before the kids would attack him again.
“Let’s continue on with our tour,” I suggested to Celine.
“Of course. Please follow me this way,” Celine said as she led the way.
…
After the tour ended, it was roughly time for the children to have lunch. Celine invited us to eat with them and I readily agreed. Reiner didn’t seem too enthusiastic about it, but he did come along with us without making a fuss.
“Please take a seat. We staff eat here with the children as well. I’ll get the cook to serve some food for you soon,” Celine said with a proud smile.
Thankfully, the staff ate here as well so there were normal-sized tables and chairs for adults. I had a big problem imagining Reiner sitting on the low bench and table along with the smaller children. Just the thought made me giggle to myself.
“Why are you laughing like that?” Reiner asked.
I looked up to see him staring at me with a dubious look on his face. He must think that I’m going crazy.
“Do you really want to know?” I asked teasingly.
“I guess…” Reiner replied as he continued staring at my face.
“I was just imagining you sitting down on the bench over there with the kids and…I thought that it was funny…” I confessed honestly while trying not to laugh again at the thought.
“Well, it’s good enough that you’re enjoying yourself,” Reiner said casually as he looked at the children.
This tour made me realize that I didn’t know what Reiner was like with kids. At first, I thought that he might be bad with them but then I wasn’t sure. He seemed very caring and good at reading people that I thought that may make him very good with dealing with kids. All in all, I had to say that I was beyond astonished and impressed at how the children seemed to take interest in him.
I never dreamt that he would be this popular with the kids nor that he could handle them so easily. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that he was naturally comfortable around them but dealing with over ten excited children at the same time was no easy feat for sure. I didn’t think that I could have done something like that.
This trip was starting to make me see Reiner in a new light that I wasn’t used to, and I had to say that I loved what I was seeing. This side of him made me feel very warm and fuzzy inside. I stared at him from across the table as we ate our lunch while many random thoughts ran through my head.
…
Since we had completed the tour and Reiner seemed more than satisfied with what he had seen so far, it seemed like we could leave for the day. After telling me that we should call it a day and head back, Celine turned up and invited us to visit the playground because some of the kids are on break right now.
“The playground is outdoors, and I think that the weather is quite nice right now. Why don’t you to go out and take a look?” Celine suggested warmly.
“That would be nice. Can we?” I turned to ask Reiner.
“Sure. If that’s what you want,” Reiner replied before wrapping an arm around my waist.
We followed Celine out of the building, and we immediately found ourselves in the playground that was located in the garden. There was nothing outstanding or unusual about the playground from other playgrounds that I’ve seen before. There was a field of grass where the children could run. Play structure for them to play on and a sand pit. Many boys ran around, engaged in a game of tag while some of the girls sat around to playing with their toys and laughing along with each other.
“It must be fun to be kids…” I mumbled as I wondered how I felt when I was younger.
Perhaps, my life was as happy and carefree as this before my mother married Lucien. It all seemed a long time ago and I couldn’t remember everything all that clearly. It was strange how good memories seem to fade much faster than the hurtful and bitter ones. I remembered all the bullying that I went through after going to the fancy school for Rosenhall children so clearly that it was ridiculous.
“Were you naughty and mischievous as a kid?” I asked as I suddenly turned to look at Reiner.
My question seemed to have caught him by surprise because his eyes widened before he started laughing a little. What was Reiner like when he was a kid? I should ask Queen about it more if Reiner doesn’t tell me everything.
“I don’t think so…” Reiner replied vaguely.
“Doesn’t that mean that you were?” I asked suspiciously.
“No. I was a well-behaved boy,” Reiner replied firmly.
“Really? I’m going to ask Queen all about it when we get back,” I threatened mockingly with a laugh.
Reiner just shook his head at me as if he couldn’t believe that I was really so serious about finding out about this.
“What were you like?” Reiner asked as he held my hand in his.
–To be continued…