When the older of the two girls that were sitting next to Steely introduced herself as an “Angel”, the boy was immediately skeptical about that.

  Sure, she has beautiful silver white hair with a single long strip of gold and attractive eyes as the summer sky, but introducing yourself as an “Angel” with the way she first talked to him got him questioning whether this lady was really an angel or not.

  “Who would start a conversation with a stranger in a seemingly teasing manner?” Steely pondered while still keeping the indifferent look on his face.

  “So…” The lady started. “I assume that you’re a regular here?”

  “Why do you ask?” Steely carefully asked with closed eyes.

  “Well, the way that the owner of this establishment talked to you was a dead giveaway. Not to mention the fact that you two seemed to be quite close.”

  “Of course she’d notice that… However, Yamori-san is known for his friendliness towards his customers. It’s best that I drag this conversation elsewhere.”

  Steely opened his left eye and stared at the lady.

  “And what about you? You don’t seem to be of Akane Blood and you don’t seem to be a regular here either. What made you come here in the first place?”

  “Curiosity, let’s say.” The silver white-haired lady said with the purest and smallest of smiles.

  “I heard that there was a popular ramen restaurant that was mostly known in the Akane Clan, so I was curious on how the food here tasted. And since the Nine Fox, Nine Tails Festival was today, I decided that it would be the best time to come.”

  “So Yamori-san’s ramen has already reached outsiders? Well considering the past years, it was only about time to be so.” Steely mused before he dismissed the thought immediately and opened both of his eyes.

  “You came here to eat the ramen of the bossman, so why are you starting a conversation with me? You could’ve just kept quiet and stayed still before ordering.”

  “Like I said, I was curious. With the way you two talked to each other, it’s hard to not dismiss it quickly. You two are so close to each other that he even calls you by a nickname. “Little Steel” was the name, right~?” Her voice seemed to be teasing.

  Steely merely groaned.

  “He called me that when I was but a small child. I’m already seven years old, I don’t want him to keep calling me with that nickname. Now even you know about that nickname.”

  “Why do you hate it? It’s an adorable nickname, you know. And I’m guessing that this little nickname is connected to your real name?”

  “And there it is…” Steely sighed.

  “I won’t tell you my name.”

  “Aw~. Fufu~. Well I guess that’s fair. I haven’t told you about my name either, so I guess it’d be bad manners for me not to introduce myself first.”

  The lady turned her body so that she’d face Steely completely before she crossed her legs together and placed her right hand over her chest.

  “My name is—.”

  “Here you go, Little Steel!” Yamori interrupted as he placed a huge black tray right in front of Steely.

  “Your usual; one of the Akane Specialties—Flame-crisp Chicken Katsu Ramen Set! I hope you enjoy it just like you always do! This one has always been a top seller ever since I added it, so it always sells quickly.”

  Akane Specialties.

  It was a popular menu in Yamori’s restaurant which included nine popular meal sets in the Akane Clan.

  One of them being the Flame-crisp Chicken Katsu Ramen Set, which included; a large bowl of chicken katsu ramen with melted cheese and soft-boiled egg on top, a fruit bowl that included berries of different types, egg fried rice, three tempura shrimps, a small tray of fried sashimi, and a drink of your choice—which would be a sweet matcha milkshake for Steely.

  It was only called “Flame-crisp” because the fried chicken’s sides were burnt to a crisp using fire instead of the usual frying method.

  “Thanks for the meal, bossman.” Steely thanked Yamori before he grabbed a pair of chopsticks.

  “No problem!” The owner grinned.

  Yamori then noticed the small tension in the air and he then turned to the two ladies who now seemed to be looking a bit indifferent now. He noticed the silver white-haired girl and he’d be lying if he said the older one didn’t nearly captivated his heart.

  “Sorry. Was I… interrupting something?” Yamori asked slowly, trying to be respectful.

  “It’s nothing. You don’t need to worry at all, my good sir.” The older lady quickly answered while the little one stayed quiet.

  “I-I see… W-Well, can I take your orders then?”

  The older lady stared at the menu for a while, contemplating about the different dishes and sets written.

  “We’ll take the Cheesy Beef Ramen with three tempuras each as a to-go order, please.” She said before placing down the menu.

  “Coming right up!”

  Yamori then entered the kitchen once more, leaving Steely along with the two ladies alone once more.

  *SLLUUURRPPP!*

  The only sound that can be heard between the two would be Steely slurping on his noodles and the sound of his utensils as he kept eating his meal in peaceful silence.

  “He doesn’t seem to think of anything else other than to eat his meal.” The silver white-haired girl mused.

  “This is the third time that I’ve seen someone not fall head over heels for my looks and actions. Others would’ve already folded for me or have tried to flirt with me, but he isn’t. And to be honest…”

  She smiled softly.

  “It’s a good feeling. Knowing that there’s three now makes me even feel more at ease.”

  “You don’t seem to be annoyed, big sis.” Her little sister commented in a whisper.

  “That’s because there’s finally three that aren’t always going to try and get my attention or try to confess to me. It’s annoying when you’re always the center of attention, little sis, trust my words.” She whispered back.

  The little girl nodded her head slowly.

  The older one of the two kept an eye on Steely, noticing that he wasn’t doing the things that others normally do when they meet her and she let out another smile, happy that he was really different from the rest.

  “Although he seems to be cold, I can tell that he’s a nice person deep down.” She mused as she closed her eyes and waited patiently for Yamori to return.

  “Here you go, little girl! Your takeout orders! Two Cheesy Beef Ramen with three tempuras each!”

  And he returned in just a few seconds later.

  “Thank you.”

  The older one thanked Yamori before she took the plastic bag and bowed. Before she left, she held Steely’s left shoulder with her right hand and whispered in his ear.

  “Let’s meet again sometimes, if we come across each other that is. My little sister and I will be here for a few days, celebrating the festival.”

  She then left with her little sister in tow after she whispered that to the snow white-haired boy.

  Steely stopped eating before he turned around and was about to ask the girl a question but when he did turn around, the two beauties were no longer there as they managed to leave almost like in a blink of an eye.

  “So… Do you know who those two were, Little Steel?” Yamori asked.

  “No… No, I don’t know either one of them. The older one was the one that just started a conversation with me. Something about her being an “Angel” or something.”

  Steely turned his attention back to his meal.

  “I see… Well, no need to get worried about that for now.”

  Yamori left for the kitchen, leaving Steely alone to enjoy his meal in silence.

  A few minutes later…

  Fifteen minutes to be exact, was the amount of time Steely took before he left Talis-Main Dish. Ten minutes of savoring his meal and five minutes of break before he left.

  He was now back wandering around the bustling streets of the Festivity District, looking at different stalls that were all set up yesterday, and buying anything that he finds interest in.

  Which is to say, there wasn’t a lot that he found interesting—but he did bought a fox mask that has a red eight-angled star pattern on the forehead along with three flames designed on both cheeks.

  “Where was the sweets store located again?” He muttered to himself as he glanced side to side.

  “Stella said that she wanted to have some candies before my Blood Transfusion Ritual starts, but I can’t seem to remember where that specific store she said is located…”

  Steely glanced to the left, there were only decoration stores there. He glanced to the right, there were food stalls but not any that sells candy. He sighed as his shoulders’ slumped.

  “Why couldn’t Stella just go and buy them herself…? *SIGH* No use complaining about it now, I guess. I’m already outside of the house, so I might as well bother myself and find that place quickly.”

  And so he did, as Steely walked through different parts of the Festivity District one by one. What he mostly saw was different types of food stalls, restaurants, cafes, and a lot of decoration stores.

  He even thought about going to the “Adult Street” of the Festivity District, which was also known as the “Pleasure Street” where young teens and adults go to quote-on-quote “have fun for the entire night”.

  But he then dismissed this thought immediately because of the fact that this district is usually only open at night when he remembered that quote that some of the adults he knows about told him.

  The other reason why he dismissed this thought was because there was no possibility for a candy store to be there, especially a candy store for a child to visit.

  “I’ve been wandering for about ten whole minutes now! Where is that store?!” He thought, irritably annoyed.

  “This district is way too huge for a place that’s usually mostly active during festivals only. Is it because of the different stalls that are open that’s making it feel huge?”

  Steely then ran forward, his pace quicker than earlier.

  “I’ve wandered around this place for a few times with Stella ever since I was small but I don’t remember it being this huge. Did dad increase the plot area of this place in the past years we weren’t here?”

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought and returned to the matter at hand.

  “No. No. Return to the important matter, Steely! I need to find that candy store already.”

  Seven minutes immediately pass by and he finally found the store he was looking for.

  “There it is!” He shouted mentally.

  “Took a few while, but I finally found it. Hm?” He noticed someone was there already, a little girl.

  And not just any little girl, but the little girl that he saw with the older lady earlier when he was inside and eating at Yamori’s restaurant.

  “Did she came to buy candy too?”

  He thought before walking towards the opening of the store, the store owner immediately noticed him as the man turned to the young noble.

  “Oh? Well if it isn’t the Chief General’s Grandson! Here to buy some candy, kid?” The man said with a grin.

  Steely nodded his head before he grabbed three bronze coins from his right pocket.

  “I’m here to buy some candy on my sister’s behalf. Do you know what she usually buys?”

  “Sure do! Let me see how much cash you’ve got.”

  Steely extended his arm and gave the three bronze coins to the man.

  “Three bronze coins… That should get you about six sweet caramel candies.”

  The owner then grabbed six sweet caramel candies from a jar and handed them over to Steely’s hand.

  “Here you go, young lad.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be taking my leave now, I still have a bit on my schedule so…”

  “No need to tell me, kid. I know how busy a noble family like yours gets. Especially since you’re the grandson of our clan’s Chief General. Run along now, so you won’t be late.”

  Steely bowed before he left. He placed the candies inside his right pocket and was already walking away from the store.

  *TUG!*

  But he stopped when he felt a tug on his haori and then turned around to see the little girl holding onto the fabric of his clothes.

  “Can you… come with me for a minute? I need to tell you something.” The little girl asked.

  “Eh? Why? Are you lost or something?”

  She shook her head when Steely asked that.

  “Just come with me.”

  Before Steely could say anything else, he was dragged by his clothed arm by the little girl. For some reason, the little girl is in a rush, not like he wasn’t either.

  So he just went along with the little girl and followed her for a while until they reached their destination.

  Sun Temple Park…

  The little girl ended up dragging Steely inside the Sun Temple Park, a park where a massive temple was standing still and was heavily guarded.

  It was said that this temple was where the spirits of the cursed are cleansed and those cursed souls can vary from different danger levels. The surrounding ground that the temple didn’t occupy became a popular park where everyone usually relaxes or holds different ceremonies in; the most common being weddings.

  The little girl ended up sitting on one of the park benches while Steely was standing and leaning on the back part of the bench.

  “So… Why did you drag me over here at the Sun Temple Park? Did something happen between you and the other lady? Or is it something else?”

  “I wanted to thank you.” The little girl said.

  “Thank me? For what?” The young boy asked.

  “I wanted to thank you on behalf of my big sister. Among the people we’ve met, you’re the third person that didn’t try to flirt with her or try to lure her with one-sided romantic love confessions. You’re also the third person that she didn’t felt uncomfortable around.”

  Those words surprised Steely a bit.

  He doesn’t know what the older of the two sisters have been through, and he certainly doesn’t want to ask if they didn’t wanted to talk about it, but hearing the little girl’s words made him feel pity towards the older one.

  “There’s no need for you to apologize. My big sister doesn’t like it when someone apologizes to her when she was the one at fault. And quite frankly, the way she attracts other people isn’t really her fault.”

  “She’s been blessed with her looks ever since at birth, so it was only natural for others to try and flock towards her.” She added.

  “But she found the attention annoying and—in a way—suffocating, didn’t she?”

  Steely guessed and the little girl nodded, confirming his thoughts.

  “Being blessed with beauty can also become a curse for the one who was blessed with it, huh…?” He stared at the blue sky when he said that.

  The little girl nodded.

  “Yes… It bothers my big sister a lot whenever she’s at the center of attention. She feels like every single little thing that she does may become something that will be used against her. She’s afraid that she’ll never have any privacy, even in her own room…”

  She trailed off for a while.

  “She… She feels like she’ll always be targeted by others, good or bad… My big sister doesn’t like the attention, she never has, but she just couldn’t stop others from noticing her. So when she noticed that you didn’t notice her at the restaurant earlier—.”

  “She wanted to thank me because I didn’t become attracted to her, romantically or in any other way, like the others did before me.” Steely finished her sentence.

  She nodded her head.

  “Yes. My big sister wanted to thank you and also try to get to know you better because of it, like trying to know your name before she tell hers. But you know what happened before she managed to do so.”

  Steely huffed before a small grin grew on his face.

  “The bossman’s timing couldn’t be more perfect that time.”

  The little girl giggled before a small smile crept her face.

  “Yup. The owner’s timing couldn’t be more perfect.” She then sighed and turned to Steely.

  “Once again, thank you for being the third person to not ever become easily attracted by my big sister. I’m sure that this should remove some of the burden she always had from being beautiful, no matter how small it may be.”

  “No need to thank me. If anything, I didn’t even noticed her presence when I entered in the first place. That is until she went ahead and talked about how she was enjoying and loving the way my smile looked.”

  “I’ll admit, it was a joyful smile. But you seemed to switch to this indifferent personality of yours almost instantly once a person you know is gone.” The little girl informed.

  “So you’ve noticed that much about me, huh?” When Steely asked, she nodded.

  “You’re quite the observer.”

  “I get that sometimes. So why is it like that for you?”

  “I’ve been like this ever since I was small, that’s what my mom told me at least.” Steely informed.

  “I’ve always been indifferent to things that I don’t find interesting, the same can be said to people. If you’re someone I don’t find an interest in, I’ll be cold towards you; but if you’ve managed to warm me up towards you or I’ve warmed up to you, then that’s the time when I’ll show you my other side.”

  “Just like you are right now and back then at the restaurant.” The little girl pondered.

  Steely nodded his head before adding something.

  “That’s all the things that I’ll tell you about me though. We’re not that close yet, so I shouldn’t tell you all about me. The things that I’ve said earlier should be more than enough for you to understand me.”

  The little girl nodded her head right back at him.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t pry into it anymore since we aren’t that close yet, just like you said. Can you at least tell me your real name so that I can relay it to my big sister?”

  “Why? Is my nickname not enough?”

  “You don’t want people to call you that anymore, don’t you?”

  When the little girl said that, Steely was silent. He didn’t like being called by the nickname “Little Steel” anymore since he was no longer little, but telling his real name to others he doesn’t know much about is concerning him.

  In the end, he gave in.

  “It shouldn’t hurt much, right? Besides, this is just that girl’s way of thanks so that she gets to know who she has to thank for.” He sighed at that thought.

  “Steely… My name is Steely Akane, the adopted son of the Noble Akane Family.”

  The little girl nodded her head and replied back.

  “My name is Shiroi Tengoku, and my big sister’s name is Tenshi Tengoku. We’re both daughters of the Noble Tengoku Clan.”

  Shiroi replied before she stood up from her bench and turned to Steely.

  “Once again, I’d like to thank you, Steely Akane, for removing a bit of my big sister’s burden. I hope that we could see each other once more in the near future.” She politely said with a bow.

  “No need to be so polite, Shiroi. It’s a pleasure to know you too.” Steely replied.

  “Let’s get out of the park now. As much as I’d like to stay here, I think we both have a busy schedule between the two of us. I’d rather not waste any of our time with idle chatter.” He added.

  Shiroi nodded her head and walked side by side with Steely out of the park and they managed to reach the northern park gates without much hindrance.

  “Well then, see you around, I guess.” Steely said with a small glance at Shiroi’s direction.

  “Mhm. See you around, Steely. I hope that you’ll have a wonderful time during the festival.” Shiroi replied.

  Steely’s face let a small drop of sweat fall to the floor before he replied with a deadpanned look.

  “Shouldn’t I be the one saying that to you? Considering that the Nine Fox, Nine Tails Festival is a festival celebrated by the Akane Clan, it feels weird hearing that from someone who’s not part of the Akane Clan.”

  “Is it really?” Shiroi cocked her head to the side with a confused face.

  “Wouldn’t you feel the same if an outsider said to you to have a wonderful time during a festival that YOUR clan celebrates?” Steely asked with a small gesture.

  Shiroi processed Steely’s words carefully before she agreed with his statement and the young boy let out a small sigh. Having their small pleasantries done once more, the two went their separate ways with Steely going to the right and Shiroi walking to the left.