The young man standing next to Vivien, who was sitting down, directed his gaze toward Winfred and the two people with him. He had neatly combed caramel hair to the right, sharp dark mint eyes, and wore a butler's uniform with a rapier sheathed at his left side.
"Ben? What's the matter?"
"We have guests, Young Lady!"
The young man named Ben stroked his long twirling mustache. Vivien then saw three people arriving in front of the gazebo and introduced herself.
"Greetings, esteemed guests. My name is Vivien Frosthale, and this is my escort, Ben. Ah, I know you."
"Tsk! Head Mage of the Emerdine Family, Evan. The little boy behind me and his maid are Winfred and Nina."
Evan's indifferent and cold tone made Ben squint his eyes, and Winfred immediately tried to lighten the mood.
"Ah! Miss Vivien! Thank you for coming to my brothers' celebration party. If I may ask, is there a particular reason you are here?"
"Ahem! Let me explain, Young Master! My Young Lady is here because she wanted to take a short break outside, then Lord Victor told her about this place not far from the party hall!"
"As Ben said, Mister Winfred. Please allow me to rest here for a moment."
"Tsk, that workaholic..."
Evan grumbled as he listened to Ben and Vivien's explanation. It seems this place is one of Evan's favorite spots. Winfred was observant and asked Vivien if he could join them.
"Can we also rest in the gazebo? To be honest, I'm tired of the crowded party and want to get some fresh air."
"By all means, please go ahead, Mister Winfred, Sir Evan. Is that okay, Ben?"
"Of course, Young Lady!"
"Come on, Master Evan! Nina!"
Winfred immediately invited the two people with him to sit and rest at the gazebo. Seeing the boy's innocent smile, Evan could only sigh and follow his invitation. As usual, Nina immediately accompanied her master wholeheartedly and greeted Vivien and Ben.
The atmosphere returned to silence. Vivien closed her eyes while Ben kept watch on his surroundings. Every now and then, the young man glanced at Winfred and Evan. For some reason, Winfred felt that their presence here gave a bad impression.
Seeing that the mood here is becoming increasingly awkward, Winfred tried to break the silence by finding a topic of conversation.
"Today's weather really feels cold, isn't it?"
"...Of course. Because it's winter."
"As Young Lady says! But compared to Duke Frosthale's territory, this weather is-"
"Ben, be quiet."
"Of course, Young Lady!"
It seemed that Winfred's attempt to lighten the mood had failed. Evan just sat silently and stared uncomfortably at the two guests sitting in his favorite gazebo. Winfred sighed and stole a glance at Vivien.
Beautiful is not an understatement, because since the age of 10, Vivien has radiated extraordinary beauty and elegance. Winfred thinks it's only natural that this girl has many fans when her promotional art first appeared. As far as he remembers, Vivien is a "Kuudere" type character in the game.
This silence made Winfred really uncomfortable. He racked his brains for another topic of conversation, looked around, then turned his gaze to the sky.
The moon shines brightly in this winter season with no clouds to block it, accompanied by sparkling stars in outer space. Speaking of outer space, Winfred found a topic of conversation that was worth talking about.
"Did you know that our universe is very vast and huge?"
"Huh? What are you talking about, kid?"
Evan turned to the boy sitting not far from him on his left while Ben and Vivien gave their attention to Winfred.
"Just consider it the ramblings of a child, Master Evan. Back to the topic, have you ever thought about how many worlds similar to ours, Rea, exist right now?"
"Hey, hey. Where did all this come from? Looks like you've been eating too much food, kid."
"I don't know. Maybe thousands?"
"Hm! My answer is the same as Young Lady's!"
Evan, Vivien, and Ben answered in turn. Seeing that their attention was piqued by the topic, Winfred continued.
"Thousands are not even close. It is estimated that there are billions of worlds similar to the one we inhabit right now. To put it into perspective, if every person in the world right now occupied just one world out there, there would still be many worlds left unoccupied!"
Evan raised his eyebrows in disbelief, while Vivien and Ben showed only a normal reaction, but Winfred knew that they were beginning to be interested in the discussion. Nina, who was sitting next to him, smiled slightly, seemingly aware that her master was trying to break the awkward silence.
"Ahem. Let me continue. I take it all of you know the Moon, right?"
The three looked up at the sky. Nina looked at Winfred and their eyes met. Winfred smiled at Nina, who had understood the hidden meaning of his conversation so far. Clearing his throat, Winfred continued his story in a loud voice.
"You might think that the Moon is only useful for providing natural light at night, or as a sign that the time has changed from day to night, but the Moon also has an influence on the ocean tides!"
Evan pondered deeply, then asked Winfred.
"How can you say that, kid? What's your explanation?"
"Well, according to the information I got, the moon can affect the tides based on its position! Especially during a full moon!"
Vivien then responded by expressing her opinion.
"Aren't big waves caused by monsters in the sea?"
"Hmm...not quite, Young Lady. According to some reports, signs of an incoming monster attack are usually followed by sudden calm of sea water!"
"That's right. Because most monsters in the ocean have a natural affinity of Water magic, they can control bodily water to a certain extent. And then? What other nonsense do you have, kid?"
Ben joined the discussion by responding to Vivien's statement, followed by Evan asking Winfred to continue his vague ramblings.
"Hmmm...back to talking about our universe. This may sound absurd, but have you ever imagined how vast outer space is, the place where stars shine every night?"
"Since you said there are thousands of worlds similar to Rea, maybe it's as vast as our empire?"
"Hm! I agree with what the Young Lady just said!"
"As vast and grand as the continent we currently stand on, Neus continent?"
Winfred smiled at each of the audience's answers. Then he looked around for something small and found a tiny leaf under his foot. The leaf was no bigger than his thumb.
"All of your answers are good, but almost right! Do you see this leaf I'm holding? Imagine if this leaf were our world, Rea."
Winfred showed the leaf he found to everyone there, then he slowly placed it on the floor of the gazebo.
"That leaf is Rea, along with everything in it, including us, every continent and every nation. And the snowflakes and grains of sand around it are stars and worlds like Rea. This is the interesting part: it is estimated that the entire universe is from that leaf and its surroundings to the edge of Neus continent!"
"That's..."
"That's too much, kid! Are you saying that the universe is so vast that our world is like a mere leaf out there!?"
Evan responded fervently to Winfred's statement, while Vivien just furrowed her brow in disbelief.
"Hm! Apparently we are just tiny specks compared to the universe..."
"There's more, Sir Ben!"
"Again!?"
"There's more...?"
"What is it, kid?"
Winfred wiped his hands and dusted off the small dirt particles that had stuck after holding the leaf.
"It is theorized that the universe is constantly expanding. Imagine if the continent of Neus continued to grow without stopping, just like our universe!"
"Huh!?"
"That would be...amazing, wouldn't it?"
"Crazy kid!"
Faced with three people who reacted differently, Winfred just smiled slightly and enjoyed the moment. Before he could relax that he had successfully changed the mood, he heard the footsteps of many people approaching. Evan and Ben were the first to notice them.
"Don't tell me-"
Before he could say anything else, those people appeared.
"Hello, Miss Vivien! Fancy meeting you here!"
"Geez, Older Brother! I told you to wait, right? Vivien will be fine since she is with Sir Ben!"
A young man with fluffy golden hair, sparkling golden eyes, and elegant aristocratic clothing with a thick fur jacket appeared in front of him. In his right pocket, there is a gold chain with the NoggenI Empire emblem at the end.
Meanwhile, beside the young man, a girl shorter than him sighed softly with an annoyed expression. She dressed just like the young man she called older brother, except for her eyes and hairstyle. The girl had sparkling ruby eyes and a twin-tail hairstyle.
"This is the worst timing! Why are they here!?"
Winfred groaned inwardly at the arrival of the two unexpected guests. He glanced at Evan, and sure enough, the old man's face looked even more uncomfortable than before. He blamed himself for not activating his abilities, he was too absorbed in the conversation earlier.
"Not good! Old man Evan's face looks like he's about to unleash atomic breath at these two!"
Winfred complained inwardly, wondering why his luck seemed to be so bad tonight.
Before he could compose himself, the young man smiled at those sitting in the gazebo.
"It seems Miss Vivien isn't alone. Winfred and Sir Evan? This is truly a coincidence, right Charlotte?"
"Greetings, you two. Older Brother and I came here to look for my friend Vivien. I heard from Lord Victor that she might be here."
"Your Highness Erick, Your Highness Charlotte. I'm sorry to trouble you both to come here. I just wanted to rest outside for a while, then Lord Victor told me about this place. Later, Mister Winfred and Sir Evan joined me here for the same reason."
Ben and Nina immediately bowed when they saw the imperial family members arrive. Fortunately, they were professional and quickly understood the situation. Evan also stood up and greeted them, but didn't say a word.
Besides the two of them, Winfred also saw Charlotte and Erick's two bodyguards wearing full armor that covered their heads. The armor's shine caught his attention, along with the sheathed swords.
"Don't mind them! They're just doing their job as our bodyguards. About your story earlier, can you continue?"
"Older Brother! You're taking that story seriously!?"
"No, I'm just curious. You can still continue your story, right?"
Erick smiled broadly at Winfred, while Charlotte was shocked by her brother's words, which seemed to believe Winfred's story.
"Charlotte Noggen...one of the heroines in the third game. It's true that she is beautiful and cute, but she is not my favorite heroine. Strangely, she has a large fanbase, just like Vivien…"
Winfred bowed after staring at one of the heroines in the game, then shifted his gaze to Erick. He knew the true nature of this prince. On the outside, he appeared kind and friendly, but in reality, he is cunning, meticulous, and sly. Just like his father, once he showed interest in something, he would try to get it no matter the cost. And his recent words to Winfred were not a request but an order.
"I beg your pardon, Your Highness Erick. Were you and Your Highness Charlotte listening to what I said earlier?"
"Of course! Ever since you explained the analogy about that leaf! Now, you can continue, right?"
"Older Brother?"
"It's fine, Charlotte. Sometimes we need to mingle with our subjects, right?"
"If you wish so, Older Brother..."
Erick and Charlotte quickly sat down in one of the empty spots. Winfred's hands and feet were sweating, but he tried to remain calm.
Winfred cleared his throat and was about to continue his story when he heard someone approaching. Everyone there turned their eyes toward the sound of footsteps.
"There you are, Vivien."
"Oh, Big Brother. And... Your Highness Ethan?"
"Hello, Miss Vivien. I see everyone is gathered here? Even Brother Erick and Sister Charlotte. What's going on?"
Once again, unexpected guests had arrived. Winfred could understand the arrival of Verner, the son of Duke Frosthale, who is searching for his younger sister Vivien, but why was the Second Prince here too?
Winfred looked at old Evan, the old Mage wore a deadpan face yet at the same time the veins around his temple were bulging.
Once again, Winfred must rack his brain to de-escalate the situation.