Ye He opened the door and peered inside before entering. Ye Muo trailed in behind him.
The lounge was fully stocked and decorated in the style of the Grantz palace. Adlet and the rest of the staff must have had a hand in that.
Yet Ye He would rather err on the side of caution.
He confirmed that they were alone in the lounge, even checking the adjacent cloakroom before relaxing a bit and letting Ye Muo approach.
“Go on.”
Ye He began to methodically stock his portable space with water, blankets, and other items. He even picked up some medications, as he only had the bare necessities in case of emergency on him.
He quickly finished up and waited in the lounge parlor for Ye Muo.
The lounge was very quiet. Ye He’s thoughts began to drift. Ye Muo had been so nervous earlier, but his head snapped around as soon as Ye He mentioned the magic words ‘amusement park’. His interest was palpable.
Ye He knew then that Ye Muo was greatly looking forward to this outing, and he was right. Even Ye Muo’s footsteps just now were lighter than usual.
He really is still just a little kid.
A rustling sound interrupted Ye He’s thoughts. He happened to spot Ye Muo poking his head out as he looked over.
Ye Muo shrank back a bit as they made eye contact before straightening up.
And now he’s feeling embarrassed.
Ye He knew at a glance why Ye Muo was feeling this way. His current outfit, a crisp white shirt with a vest, strapped boots and a small hat, was very different from his usual style.
Ye Muo only wore such intricate outfits under Lady Ye’s care when he was little. He and Ye Yun developed similar tastes in clothes as they grew older, preferring dark, stain-resistant clothes or their school uniforms. Ye He was the same way.
Adlet must have been the one to prepare this outfit.
Ye He’s gaze lingered for a brief moment before he turned around. “Let’s go.”
Ye Muo fell in step with him. “We’re finally going. If only Big Brother Ye Yun was here. He would definitely want to go too.”
Ye He made a sound of acknowledgement, but he believed that might not necessarily be the case. Ye Muo and Ye Yun were similar in this aspect too: they had a habit of projecting their interests onto others.
Ye Yun’s never been to an amusement park before, so his stance on them was clear. He had briefly been interested in a certain cartoon series as a child before moving on to realistic survival shooter games. He didn’t need to visit any amusement park to play those.
Ye Yun often made Ye Muo play those games too. He was quite bossy when sharing things he liked with others.
Unfortunately, there was an 80% chance Ye Muo would be eliminated in the first ten minutes. The other 20% of the time, he would be holed up in some corner for so long that he would doze off.
However, if he was here with them today, Ye Yun would probably tag along.
Ye He too had never been to an amusement park. He grew up adhering to a strict routine. He also detested noisy environments and never bothered to request to visit one.
However, it was rare for Ye Muo to want to go anywhere.
Ye Muo continued excitedly, “I wonder what it’s like. I’ve never been to one before. According to Lin Ze– ah, he’s a classmate to me and Ye Yun. He said even the ice cream served in the amusement park near our school tastes different than anywhere else…”
Ye He’s footsteps paused before resuming. It just occurred to him that Ye Muo might have been looking forward to this for far longer than he had thought.
Ye He wanted to ask Ye Muo why he didn’t go at that time, but he remained silent in the end. After all, he already knew the answer.
Perhaps he should have taken Ye Muo there earlier. Ye He, who always meticulously calculated every aspect, felt a rare pang of regret.
Ye Yun grumbled sometimes about why Ye He seemed more lenient with Ye Muo, always helping him without expecting anything in return while holding Ye Yun to a higher standard. Ye He never responded and probably never would.
If he had to put it into words, it was because all of his few regrets and guilt were related to this child.
Far too sentimental for him to ever admit.
Ye Muo continued, “I don’t know if we can finish exploring today. Did you know the Central Planet has three whole amusement parks?? I’ve read up on them, but they all seem so fun…”
“Then we’ll visit them all.”
Ye Muo quieted down. He kept glancing at Ye He as they kept walking. Ye He expressionlessly said, “Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or any other time…we can go out as long as you’re free.”
……
After a few minutes of deliberation at the station, Ye Muo succumbed and chose the largest of the three amusement parks.
The rest of the Central Planet was emptier than usual while the resource tournament was ongoing.
However, there were still some people at the amusement park. It was lively but not overly crowded.
There was an ice cream parlour right near the entrance.
Ye He gestured to the store. “Do you want to head there first?”
“Yes!”
Ye He headed straight over with Ye Muo. “Pick out what you like.”
Ye Muo glanced at Ye He before eagerly asking for a double scoop. Ye He didn’t comment on it.
Perhaps due to not having many customers, the vendor really filled out the cone and even offered a free piece of chocolate.
As he paid, Ye He noticed a sudden shift in Ye Muo’s demeanour. He stopped beaming with ice cream cone in hand and started shooting worried glances his way.
He wasn’t even looking around in awe like when they just arrived.
Ye He sighed, “What’s wrong?”
He told Ye Muo sincerely, “I’m your big brother. You can tell me anything.”
Ye Muo hesitated for two seconds before admitting, “Do you have enough money, Big Brother? I have a lot of funds.”
Ye He reached over to press Ye Muo’s head down. “I have more than enough to treat you. The salary of a Grantz commander is nothing to scoff at. Feel free to play to your heart’s content, Your Highness.”
Ye Muo finally cheered up again. He looked around and chattered incessantly to Ye He, “Look! There are ducklings over there!”
Ye He slowed down his pace and looked over. A lively clown was leading a group of ducklings away.
Ye Muo couldn’t tear his eyes away. “Are they real ducklings or androids? If they’re real, then where are their parents? How pitiful…”
Ye He surveyed their surroundings. “They’re androids. Merchandise, at that.”
He just saw another duckling following someone around. The footsteps behind him grew increasingly sparse before stopping entirely.
Ye He turned to see Ye Muo still gawking at the ducklings. A few seconds later, he turned back and asked, “Will they also follow me around then?”
A few minutes later, Ye Muo was the conductor of his own fuzzy procession.
Ye He rejoined him after negotiating with the vendor.
Ye Muo was peering down at them. When they started walking again, both of them subconsciously relaxed a little.
Ye Muo had polished off his ice cream a long time ago. Ye He took the garbage and stored it in his portable space.”What do you want to do first?”
“Give me a moment.” Something caught Ye Muo’s eye as he looked around. Ye He followed his gaze to the rest area with seats and umbrellas.
More specifically, the seesaw next to them.
Why was there a seesaw in the rest area? Regardless, Ye He asked Ye Muo, “Do you want to go on it?”
“En.” Ye Muo’s sound of acknowledgement was quieter this time.
Ye He glanced at the empty seesaw.
Although this certainly wasn’t the first attraction he was expecting, he rolled with it, “Let’s go then.”
Ye Muo immediately perked up. “En!”
He made sure to turn and remind the ducklings, “We’re leaving. Don’t fall behind.”
Little duckies.
He mentally added.
……
Grantz was once again trending tonight.
Lakely browsed through the latest headlines with satisfaction.
[The Grantz heir secures victory in the first match.]
[The youngest contestant with odds of 1:1!]
[Detailed evaluation of Xavier’s combat power.]
[After his match in the resource tournament, he headed here right away…]
Lakely barely hesitated before tapping on the last article.
A photo of Ye Muo holding an ice cream cone and talking to someone next to him immediately popped up. He seemed to be at an amusement park judging by the background.
Lakely had an inkling of who the person next to Ye Muo was. If his memory served him correctly, this was Ye He. He was probably a relative considering how Xavier referred to him as ‘Big Brother’, but the specific relationship eluded Lakely for now.
He continued to scroll through the images, one of which featured Ye Muo with a group of little duckling trailing behind him.
Finally, the meat of the article came into view.
[I ran into Xavier, his companion and his ducklings at the amusement park. It had only been about 20 minutes since the end of his match. He probably came over with his friend as soon as it was over.
Ah, I can’t believe I got to stroll around behind them the whole day. We had ice cream, roasted leg of lamb, pineapple rice etc (they finished everything and so did I after I bought virtual indigestion medicine). They bought the ducklings and a bunch of other stuff, rode the seesaw, went to Skate World, explored the Atlantis attraction, and…]
The comments were already flooding in.
[Skate World is super fun. I bet Xavier’s good at that too. There’s too little friction there. I fell over as soon as I went in. Thankfully, my shoes were spared and I just kept tumbling around.]
[Huh? Why the random seesaw session? At least the other ones are all famous attractions. Xavier has good tastes when it comes to attractions and food. Also, the appetite of young people these days is kind of terrifying. I would need two doses of virtual indigestion medicine to keep all that food down.]
[I wanted to buy the same ducklings at first, but they were already sold out when I checked. Hopefully the Alliance will restock soon.]
[What? You can actually buy them?? They aren’t exclusively for the Central Planet? Getting my card ready.]
[How are they selling out so fast? Xavier and his friend probably just left. Is everyone paying attention to this?]
……
It’s been a while since Ye Muo returned to the base. He had dinner with the Grantz before gathering at Norton’s quarters in the evening as was tradition.
Ye Muo was busy handing out gifts to the others.
Bert got his share early on and seized the opportunity to tease Ye Muo about the ducklings he had bought. Clapping his hands, he pointed in a certain direction. “Go over there.”
The ducklings obediently followed his command.
Bert pointed to the other side of the room. “Now there.”
They waddled across the room once more.
Bert discreetly scooped one up, gave it a squish and then set it back down. “Hm, not bad.”
Ye Muo was telling Ano and the others all about his trip, “There’s an artificial sea at the amusement park that you can visit. There was a shark area too, but we didn’t get to go.”
He paused before beaming, “Let’s go there together next time.”
Ano and Helene were the first to respond, “Okay!”
Adrian also chimed in, “Of course! Let’s go after the resource tournament is over.”
Meanwhile, Jacob was staring at the gift Ye Muo had bought him again, even though it hadn’t changed a bit from the last time he looked at it.
Dylan clicked his tongue, causing Aria to slyly glance his way with a smile. “What, do you not want to come along?”
“I suppose one visit won’t hurt.”
