It seems Mei-san had a misunderstanding about me.
"Oh? I thought Lady Hime said that you two were going to get married."
"N-No way! Hime-chan is just saying that on her own. Come on."
Before I could, Hijiri shook his head vigorously.
Of course, I wasn't shocked that he denied it so strongly. What Kiyoshi-san said was true, and it would have been difficult for me to deny it, so I was actually grateful.
"Yohei, did you know that each tier of a wedding cake has a meaning? The first tier is for sharing with the party guests, the second tier is for giving to those who couldn't attend, and the third tier is for celebrating the wedding anniversary and for feeding the unborn child."
Meanwhile, Hime continues to go at her own pace.
He was trying his best to talk to Mei, while ignoring Kiyoshi who was saying various things to her.
Hijiri is taking care of the marriage arrangements, so I think I'll just keep Hime company.
"Even the number of tiers is meaningful... I didn't even know wedding cakes had three tiers."
"Mei-san taught me too."
"To Mei-san...?"
"Yes. I chose which one I wanted when I ordered the wedding cake. I'm glad you chose one with strawberries on it."
Ah, this kid... you knew it from the beginning, right?
I realized why he was so calm. It seemed he even knew that cake was coming out in the first place.
"Hime... is this a surprise?"
"Hehe. What do you mean?"
Hime said laughing and sticking out her tongue.
There's nothing I can do about her adorable nonchalance. I was surprised by the surprise, but I'll forgive her. Well, I wasn't angry to begin with.
"Youhei-kun is going to marry your sister, so I thought it would be good for him to get to know Mei-san now. That's why I asked him to come and pick me up early."
I thought Mei had planned to meet up with me.
However, it seems that was not the case. It seems that Hime had asked for it.
"Of course, it's true that Mei-san also wanted to meet us. So it's not like everything was my instruction. It was Mei-san who suggested ordering the wedding cake, after all."
...Mei has her own intentions, so it's not just Hime's strategy.
This time, it seems that this girl was just assisting Mei-san... which means that she had already done the groundwork regarding me from the beginning.
There was never any possibility that Mei would dislike me from the start.
Because Hime had given Mei a good impression of me.
(...I guess I've grown apart from my kids.)
Sometimes I can really feel how special she is.
It's the same today. Although it's for the innocent reasons of a child, I've been filling in the moat in a way that is not childlike.
To get Sei and me married.
And so that Hime would become my sister-in-law.
When you are not paying attention. When you almost forget about it.
At that moment, Hime brought up the topic as if to remind me, and I couldn't help but think about Hijiri.
Truly a genius little girl.
At the same time, I thought that this child was still a child.
(...Even though he says he wants me to marry his sister, he's always been clingy and won't let go.)
His hands grip my knees tightly.
It's as if they don't want me to go anywhere.
As if insisting that people look at him.
Is this child's feelings still that of "brotherly love"?
I don't know the reason, but I know that pointing it out will only make Hime more troubled... so I just laughed softly and gently patted her head.
It's probably too early to point out this contradiction to an eight-year-old child.