’How did this happen?’

Was the thought that repeated itself in Adrian’s mind as a little boy with white hair and grey eyes sat on his shoulders.

According to the kid, he thought Adrian was his papa, whom he had somehow gotten separated from in the crowd, since they were dressed the same.

And now, the two of them were helping the kid search for his papa and, somehow, his big sister as well.

The reason for all of this?

Renelle thought he was cute.

Though for some reason, Adrian was certain that the kid somehow knew of this information and was currently using it to his advantage.

Given that no one who resembled this kid ever appeared in the manhwa, he was sure that he might truly just be a background character.

The idea of the kid’s current form being a disguise was immediately discarded thanks to Noctis.

Though the cat did say it sensed a familiar mana coming from the kid, it never elaborated.

So for now, the butler just filed the kid’s behavior as him being genuinely cute, which worked well against her.

"What was your name again?" Renelle asked as she handed a candy to the kid currently on Adrian’s shoulder.

"Ad–" the kid paused as he accepted the candy before answering, "Ren."

"Ren?" Renelle repeated the question.

"Mm," the boy nodded seriously before finally focusing on the candy he had in hand, and Renelle was looking at her with a small smile.

"How old are you?" she asked the boy again.

"Five," he said, then, after a moment of apparent reconsideration, "and a half."

The half seemed so important to be added, and it successfully got a chuckle out of Renelle.

Even Adrian, who was a bit annoyed at the fact that the kid had just intruded on his date, couldn’t help but smile at that.

"And your sister’s name?" Renelle asked.

"Nel," the boy answered.

"She looks like mama," Ren said helpfully, pointing ahead as if his sister might be in the direction he was gesturing, "but her hair is like papa’s."

"I see," Adrian muttered.

"And papa looks like you," Ren continued, looking down at him from his perch on Adrian’s shoulders, "but taller and prettier."

"...." the butler, speechless, looked at the kid leaning towards his face and looking directly into his eyes.

Should he be upset that he was less pretty than another man? Was what Adrian wondered.

Renelle, on the other hand, could only laugh as she teased, "I guess my butler had to work harder to become prettier."

"..."

Adrian turned to her with a blank expression, wondering if the two were suddenly ganging up on him.

"Butler?" Ren curiously let out before leaning back towards Adrian’s face, "I thought you were her boyfriend."

It was Renelle’s turn to go speechless as she looked at the kid, and a blush appeared on her cheeks again.

"I even saw you two kiss," the kid continued, "does she not like you?"

"I think she does," Adrian muttered, playing along as he enjoyed the blush spreading to her neck.

"Hmm," Ren nodded, a serious expression appearing on his face before suggesting, "Maybe you should do what Papa does."

"And what does papa do?" Adrian asked, genuinely curious despite himself.

Ren thought about it very seriously.

"He makes her favorite food when she’s tired," he said, counting on his fingers, "and he takes her on dates, he also gives her a lot of gifts, even when she tells him to stop.

"She tells him to stop," Adrian asked, seemingly interested in the kid’s wise advice.

"Mm," Ren nodded, "but she smiles when he does it. Nel says, " Mama only pretends to be annoyed."

He paused, seemingly considering something before adding, "Nel is very smart. Almost as smart as me."

"Almost?" Adrian said.

"She’s older, so she knows more things," Ren said fairly, "but I’m smarter."

"Of course," Adrian agreed, "then I’ll follow your smart advice, Ren."

He then turned towards Renelle, who had decided to say nothing lest they tease her more, "My lady wouldn’t mind, right?"

Fortunately for her, before she could respond to them, Ren suddenly pointed in a direction ahead of them, "There!"

The two looked ahead to see a crowd gathered, seemingly forming half a circle around something.

But before they could ask, Ren spoke up again.

"The fire puppets," he said, "Nel likes them, she’ll probably be there."

With a nod, the trio walked towards the crowd and found their way to the front.

Though there was no Nel, they finally had a chance to see what the people were circling.

Before them was what seemed to be a stage formed from some type of black rocks, but that wasn’t the fascinating part.

The fascinating part was the puppets.

Instead of wooden dolls on strings, the puppets were formed from literal fire, and they somehow seemed more expressive than normal puppets.

The one controlling them seemed to be behind the stage, but the crowd was paying them no mind.

Instead, they looked at the show that was just about to start.

Adrian frowned at the scene.

From what he could recall, a festival like this had never happened in the manhwa.

Renelle also thought the same, but the two somehow found themselves enjoying the puppet show without overthinking it.

***

Meanwhile, in a location unknown to none..

Mostly because it existed everywhere and nowhere at once.

The cult master looked ahead of him with a pleased expression.

He was currently in one of his labs that had managed to survive that cursed anomaly’s attack, and before him was their latest creation.

A monster.

Not the kind born from corruption or mana imbalance or even natural beasts.

It was one quite similar to the Spirit King, but this one a lot more terrifying.

From the bits and pieces of memories he had received, he hadn’t even achieved this in the previous timeline.

Perhaps, this time around his goal will be achieved.

With a smile, he said,

"Let’s crash a festival, shall we?"