The Redo of a Novel's Villain: Moira

31 - Winter Showcase II

Crowds of students streamed in and out the courtyard, trying out the variety of games and activities together with friends. The wafting aroma of delicious snacks, the blare of music, chatter, laughs, shouts, and the quirky noises emitted from some of the game stands made it near impossible to hear anything below a speaking voice. Friends hang out hand in hand, arm in arm lest they lose each other in the throng.

A bit of a distance away, underneath a frost-bitten tree stood the second prince of the Kingdom of Ecrelyn. Kade grasped his script without looking at it. He faced the presence-less space before him and rehearsed his lines.

"Why do you insist on pursuing this—no, not right. I need to put emphasis there.." He muttered frustratedly and clicked his tongue. He's supposed to be a minor key role that will greatly provide the siblings an important clue to help solve the chain of cases at a huge expense, not some random villager extra! Kade grabbed his hair in irritation. "I'm not doing it right..!"

The prince muttered curses before readying himself for another go.

"Kade!!" Someone called out. Kade instantly recognized who: the voice could only belong to one girl.

"Celine? Do you need something?" He turned around to see the approaching figure of the blonde. Her short wavy hair bounced with each step.

"What are you doing moping here alone? Let's go join the festivities!" She cheered before linking her arm with his and forcefully dragging him away.

Kade stumbled behind her. How the village girl had such strength was unknown. He pleaded, "Wait, I need to practice for tonight's play."

Celine slowed down a bit for Kade to catch his footing, but she didn't stop moving. "Your acting is amazing, stop fretting and have fun! It's the last day of the Winter Showcase."

"Can't you ask the others?" he began, but instantly pursed his lips when she saw her deadpan.

"If you mean Sorin and Melissa, neither of them know how to have fun. Plus all of them get surrounded by people the moment they're by themselves and there's practically zero chance for me to find them afterwards. They don't tend to do that to you though," She scoffed exasperatedly. Kade had the inkling suspicion she was speaking from prior experience. Celine's face then turned into a faint rosy hue as the grip she had on him tightened. "And I want to spend the end of my first Winter Showcase with you."

Kade's throat clamped up, not sure how to respond. Incidentally, he felt his own face heating up too (much to his annoyance, everyone in his family had a very obvious blush but he was especially bad). The blue haired youth couldn't help but be relieved that Celine was in front of him as he prayed for the cool air to quickly rid him of his complexion.

But still, how should he respond? He opened his mouth and no coherent strings of words were pushed out. So instead he unlinked their arms. Celine now turned around, still a bit flustered but not nearly as much as him. She was confused, until she felt his hand intertwining with hers and now she was behind him. Kade guided the path for them as he brought them closer to the courtyard, evident by the increasing noise.

Neither of them spoke but that didn't mean Celine failed to stifle her giggles when she saw how red the tip of the prince's ears were. They entered one of many gates leading to the courtyard and immediately Celine took the lead again and brought him to a mini game-shop cart.

The person hosting it beamed at them. "Welcome! Would you like to play our game? Prizes are these headbands!" They showcased a displayed arrangement of plant, animal, or food inspired headbands.

Celine clasped her hands excitedly. "We want to play! What are the rules?"

"The rules are simple, you'll roll two dice and if you can guess the result's added amount you win." They explained which earned a furrowed expression from Kade. The prince scowled.