“Well, listen. I heard about it yesterday. Yesterday, someone told me, ‘Your statue broke.’ I didn’t know it had caused such an uproar.” “Did Harold tell you?” “Well, yes, more or less.” Yuri reluctantly admitted. “Why did Lord Harold break it?” In Anastasia’s mind, it was already decided that Harold had destroyed the statue. “I told you, he didn’t!” “Oh, maybe he hugged it too tightly, and it broke.” Nanami said something adorably innocent. To Yuri, it was an even more unlikely scenario than Harold kicking the statue. “Oh, maybe.” Yuri said. “That’s definitely not it.” Lakshmi didn’t believe it at all. “Well, it might be, right?” “I think it’s more likely he did it out of frustration,” Ragi added. “Listen. I wouldn’t provoke a god for revenge! Oh, by the way, the statue will be coming back. Harold said he’d have a new one made.” “A new one? What happened to the old one? I feel kind of sorry for it.” Sis still seemed attached to the old statue. “I wonder if the bird died, too?” Anastasia said quietly. “Don’t say it’s dead, Sis!” Sis looked upset. Micheila, who had no interest in the conversation, had long since left the dining room. Roy stayed quiet, but it was unclear if he understood what was going on. “When will the new one arrive?” Lakshmi asked. “I don’t know. But don’t dwell too much on why the old one broke. I’m sad about it too. And I feel bad that it happened because of me.” “That’s true,” Sis said curtly, still in a bad mood. “Sis, you’re being a little scary today…” “Sorry. But now that Mother is back to being her usual self, I guess it’s fine. You’ve been acting strange lately…” “Really? I’m sorry.” “I’m excited for the new statue!” Nanami was bouncing with excitement. “Will it be naked again?” Roy finally spoke up for the first time. “Huh? I asked for it to be clothed, but I’m sure it’ll have clothes.” “That’s boring.” “Why?” “Because we can’t dress it up. That was the fun part.” “Well, in any case, I’m glad the new one will be coming soon.” Lakshmi finally said. “I can’t wait to see it!” “I wonder if it’ll have the same pose.” “I hope the bird comes back to life.” The children finally started to look forward to the new statue. Meanwhile, Yuri was feeling utterly exhausted. I’m so tired… What kind of image do the kids even have of Lord Harold now…? There’s no way I can let him hear about this... Yuri let out a big sigh and finally resumed her lunch.
