She lifted her eyes slowly to see a pair of golden eyes staring down at her.

Startled, she opened her mouth to let out a scream. As if reading her mind, the boy covered her mouth with his hand, with his other hand raising a finger to his lips.

"I'm not anyone suspicious, trust me."

Are you sure? she deadpanned. That's exactly what a suspicious person would say.

Adelina could tell he carried himself in a confident manner as he stared at her calmly, his unkempt dark violet hair framing his round-like face.

Even without someone to tell her, she knew the boy in front of her was a rather good-looking kid. With his visual, she got the feeling that he could easily pass for one of those child actors seen on TV dramas and shows.

When he grows up, he's gonna be a heartbreaker.

Had she matched the mentality of a normal six-year-old girl, she might have fangirled over him, or worse, bullied him like how kids do it when they have a crush on someone.

In actual reality, she sees herself as a twenty-year-old woman being approached by a kid, who's extremely adorable in her eyes. Yup, it feels like she has been thrown back to the time when she temporarily worked at the tuition center. She missed those kids and especially those chubby little cheeks. 

"I think its best if you don't touch my cheeks." Adelina froze, returning to reality when she saw her hand pinching his cheek.

She flushed slightly, releasing her hand. Why did she do that?

"I'm sorry. That was definitely not my intention."

"It's okay," he answered breezily, removing his hand from her, "I'm sure you didn't mean to." Part of him wanted to ask why the girl was sleeping on the ground, but he decided it was better not to question other's hobbies. People can be strange sometimes.

She ignored his comment and sat in a more comfortable position. "Anyway, I still don't know who you are. What is your business at the Corbet House? Are you perhaps a guest of mother's?" 

From the corner of her eye, she noticed a crest resembling the outline of a pegasus stitched on his shirt. Although the crest is used to indicate which family they belong to, she didn't retain memories of this particular design and brushed it off, deeming it as one of the nobles.

"Yeah," he nodded, "my mother wanted to visit a friend, so I tagged along for a change of scenery."

She hummed in reply. It's been a while since she met anyone from outside the mansion. While Fiona made sure to visit every now and then, she suddenly began taking sewing classes (despite her protests), so her visits were less frequent. Adelina suspected the one behind this was her butler, who is often troubled by his lady's carefree behavior.

"Hello?"

She snapped out from her thoughts and smiled politely, "Sorry, what were you saying?"

He gestured the flowering shrubs near them, "The roses are really beautiful. I could tell they're loved and well taken care of."

--------

The moment he said those words, he caught the sight of a growing smile lighting up her face and pondered why she looked extremely happy. It was just a simple compliment, an act of courtesy to the people who invited them. Nothing more, nothing less.

"You can thank Daisy for that, she knows everything about flowers. She can even tell which flower it will grow into just by looking at the seed," she replied with a smile, her green eyes twinkling, "it's amazing."

"Daisy?" He didn't recall anyone from that name in the Corbet House. 

"She works as a maid in our house, but it's her dream to be a florist one day. If you're interested in flowers..." her words trailed off, "I can introduce you to her. I'm sure she would be happy to teach you!"

He didn't know how to react to the sudden turn of events. He'd hate to bring her hopes up, yet rejecting the offer would seem too rude.

"If I am free...I'll come again to visit and meet her."

"Okay, it's a promise."

There it is again. He mentally noted, counting the number of times she smiled in front of him. That smile.

--------

That night, just before she headed off to sleep, Adelina realized something.

She didn't ask for the boy's name.