Ethan’s Invitation

"Um? Ethan, what are you doing here?" Kate asked the boy who was seated by her side. She was in the midst of studying for the exams. Ethan visiting her was an unexpected surprise and it gave her a valid reason to take a short break.

"I came here to propose to you," Ethan answered without batting an eye.

"Eh?" Chloe who was busy solving a problem beside Kate raised her head in surprise. Her hands also stopped writing as she stared at Ethan. It never occurred to her that this boy in front of her was so daring.

"Hoho, so you came to propose to me." Kate smirked. "Nice try! Now tell me the real reason why you came here or I'll kick you."

Ethan lightly coughed to hide her embarrassment. He was half serious when he proposed to Kate and wanted to see her reaction. Seeing the confident smirk on her face and her straightforward reply, Ethan had no choice but to tell her the real reason for his visit.

"My Grandmother Emily wants to invite you to visit us in our home," Ethan said with a smile. "I told her that I made some new friends and she wants to meet you, I mean, wants to meet all of you."

The boy nodded his head towards Chloe as well. Claire was holed up in the library so she was not around. Andrea was in the kitchen baking cookies for the two girls as a reward for studying diligently, so the three of them were the only ones in the room.

Ethan's eyes wandered around the room. At first, he thought that this was Kate's room. However, it didn't have a feminine feel to it, so he concluded that this must be a guest room.

Kate propped her chin with the palm of her hand and narrowed her eyes. She has no reason to refuse Ethan's offer. Although they only met a couple of times, she had a very good impression of him. She was also curious what his grandmother was like.

Alice, Ciel's grandmother, was a kind lady. She treated Kate as a granddaughter which made the young girl very happy. Since she didn't know who her grandparents were, she treated Arthur and Alice as her own grandparents.

"Is it ok if I ask Mama Andrea's permission first?" Kate asked.

"Of course," Ethan replied. "I believe my grandfather is already doing that, so let's just wait for their decision."

"Good."

Ethan looked at the test papers that were lined up on the table. He casually picked one of them up and checked its contents. A minute passed and the boy returned the test paper onto the table. He had a grim expression on his face as he looked at Kate who had resumed answering her test questions.

'Almost all of her answers are wrong.' Ethan scratched his head. 'How will she be able to pass the test like this? I think I'll ask Aunt Andrea to get her a private tutor. If this continues, I'm afraid that entering the Academy would be an impossible dream for her.'

While Ethan was thinking of ways to help Kate pass the exam, the girl in question was randomly answering the multiple choice questions on her test paper.

'Mmm, the answer I made for the last question was B, so this time I'll answer D!' Kate twirled the pen over her fingers. 'For the next question, I feel like A is good. Wait! On second thought B sounds better. Un, let's go with B!'

Stella was sighing inside the shared mindscape. She closed her eyes and refused to look at Kate's sloppy way of answering her test questions. She felt that she would have to put in extra effort in order to help this silly girl pass the entrance test.

-----

"Oh, it's very rare for Emily to develop an interest in someone." Arthur was playing with his beard as he eyed Mark who was seated in front of him. "I'll come clean and tell it to you straight. My wife wants to meet Kate."

"I figured it was something like that." Arthur nodded his head in understanding.

Alice smiled wryly from the side. "Emily never changes. She'd rather stay with her plants than to see her old friends. Oh my~ I guess I have no choice but to visit her instead."

"I'd be happy to have you come along Alice," Mark said with a grin. "Someone has to remind her that you guys are still alive and kicking."

"Alright, it's settled then." Alice nodded her head in agreement. "When should we drop by to visit?"

"Tomorrow would be good," Mark answered. "My wife is planning to make a feast to impress that girl Kate and her friends."

"Oh? At least she knows what she's doing."

"Hm? What do you mean my wife knows what she's doing?"

"Our Little Kate is a glutton. If you want to win her heart, you need to conquer her stomach first."

"What an interesting little girl. So you mean to say that Ethan just needs to keep feeding her delicious food and she'll be smitten with him?"

"That will depend on his ability," Arthur interjected. "If he can sweep Kate off her feet then that means he's capable enough."

"Oh? You don't object to it?" Mark asked in an amused tone.

"We trust Kate's judgment," Alice answered before sipping her tea. "Give the children time to grow and they will find the answers themselves. Us old people should just pass our days in a carefree manner, so that we may live long enough to hold our great grandchildren."

"You are right," Mark agreed with Alice. He too wanted to see Ethan's children when he grew up and got married.

"Since we're on the topic about grandchildren, is Ciel not around? When I asked the maid who received us, she said that her young master went to visit his mentor. This mentor, is she referring to that Old Coot?"

Alice and Arthur laughed at Mark's offhand remark.

"Don't let him hear you call him Old Coot." Arthur was trying to hold back his laughter. "You know what he's like. He'd get in a fistfight with you over the mere mention of the world "Old". He's very sensitive about his age you know."

"I'm surprised that he's still alive and kicking. That bastard is one tough cockroach. He beat cancer at his age," Mark said with admiration. "It's possible that he might outlive all of us."

"Well, if my hunch is correct, he might accompany Ciel on his return trip." Arthur chuckled.

Mark's smile disappeared from his face. "Is it about that thing that we talked about a few days ago?"

"Yes, and also a bit of curiosity."

"Curiosity?"

"It's too early to tell. We'll see what happens when he arrives with my grandson."

The three made some small talk before Mark left the Belle Estate with his grandson. He almost never left the countryside, it was rare for him to meet his old buddies from the city. He was looking forward to meeting the Old Coot whom he had once considered a nuisance in the past.