Chapter 34
Suddenly, four men cut in front of them. To say it simply, they jumped the line.
People waiting started to complain.
“Can’t you see we’re waiting here?”
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
But the three just stayed quiet. They didn’t want to cause any more trouble.
Especially since Theophanes’s beautiful face already caught a lot of attention, even with his hat on.
At that moment, the men turned around. Their faces looked rough and angry.
“What?! Did you get a problem? Huh?!”
They seemed like small-time thugs who came out during festivals.
Theophanes and Daphne didn’t want the situation to get worse, so they just watched quietly.
“But I was taught that cutting in line is wrong…”
If it wasn’t for Jacquette’s clear voice, they might have stayed back even more.
“Look at this little brat, acting tough. Probably out here with the family. Shut up.”
Daphne frowned.
“What did you just say about my kid?”
Did they insult my kid? Daphne felt a cold rush in her head.
“I said shut up. What? Are you his mother?”
“Did you not see I said family outing just now? Or is your eyesight bad? Or maybe your memory’s worse than a chicken’s.”
“Kid or mom, same difference.”
“That’s enough.”
Just as Daphne was about to step forward to hit someone, Theophanes gently pulled her hand to stop her.
She looked up at him, and he shook his head slightly.
Right then, security officers walking nearby came through the crowd.
They must have been patrolling nearby and came because of the noise.
“What’s going on here?”
“These men are causing trouble and starting a fight,” the street vendor quickly explained.
The men glared threateningly but only for a moment.
“Do you want to come with us to the station, or will you stop this now?”
“It’s not a big deal,” the men said, acting like it was nothing, then left.
After the thugs left, the crowd relaxed again. The three felt the same.
“How is it?”
Daphne asked Jacquette, who was happily stuffing a skewer into his mouth. She wiped the sauce off his face with a handkerchief.
“It’s so good!”
It made sense that the kid liked it so much, salty, sweet, exactly like street food.
The spices were strong, maybe even rough, but addictive enough that you’d want to keep eating.
“Looks like the lady likes it too?”
“Well, it’s good enough to eat,” Daphne answered calmly, even though she enjoyed it.
She didn’t want to show how excited she was.
But her tapping feet already gave her away, though Theophanes didn’t say anything.
“Want to try some?”
Since it wasn’t the kid’s food but hers, Daphne asked politely just in case.
“Sure.”
Theophanes nodded gladly, and Daphne tilted the skewer so he could easily eat a piece.
He ate the meat cleanly and then wiped the sauce from Daphne’s mouth with the handkerchief — just like she did for Jacquette.
“You should’ve told me it was messy.”
“I wanted to do it myself.”
Daphne stumbled over her words, thinking she’d never done this before. From then on, she was careful not to get sauce on her mouth.
Theophanes felt a little disappointed but folded the handkerchief and put it away.
Jacquette kept eating, finishing quite a bit before looking around.
He didn’t finish all the food alone, sharing most with Theophanes to avoid getting a stomachache.
Though he looked very neat, Jacquette was surprisingly easygoing.
While eating a strawberry crepe, Jacquette pointed somewhere.
“What’s that?”
It was a stall with all sorts of cheap toys. Looking closer, it was a ring toss game.
“It’s a game.”
“A game?”
“Yes, you play and get a prize if you score high.”
“Shall we go watch?”
“Yes!”
After wiping the whipped cream off Jacquette’s mouth one last time, they moved to the game stall.
There, other families were playing happily.
“Wow! Dad, you’re the best!”
A child asked their dad for help when it wasn’t going well.
“You can take a small toy home. Which one do you want?”
The vendor pointed to a section with small toys after the dad scored high.
The child looked carefully and chose a white dog plushie.
“Then I want the dog!”
“Here you go!”
The vendor handed the dog to the child.
Jacquette watched quietly, looking a bit jealous.
At first, it seemed like he wanted the toy, but looking more carefully, he was watching the happy family faces.
Jacquette knew something families like this could break apart anytime.
Even if the family will one day scatter, he wanted to show that in this moment, Jacquette could have a happy family too.
“Want to try, Jacquette?”
Daphne gently shook the child’s hand.
Jacquette looked at her again. His eyes sparkled more than before.
“Can I?”
“Of course.”
Daphne held Jacquette’s hand and walked up to the stall.
“Welcome! Want to try?”
“I want to try.”
Daphne spoke, but Theophanes quietly took out money.
He watched the two closely.
Since this kind of game was hard for a kid, Theophanes stood behind, ready to help if Jacquette couldn’t do it.
As the rings piled up, Theophanes’s calm face grew serious.
“It’s… over…”
When all the rings were gone, silence fell over the stall.
“…”
“Mom…?”
Theophanes sighed quietly at the surprisingly poor score.
Even though Jacquette was a kid, Daphne’s bad score was a shock.
Theophanes decided she needed to teach them basic strength and reflexes.
Daphne seemed shocked too, unable to say anything.
Even the vendor looked awkward and started cleaning up the rings.
“Want to try one more time?”
