Party Time

(Light Rods POV)

Octostar, the eighth month of the year, arrives, and in that month, Ryza's eighth birthday takes place.

When the day comes, my family and I go to the kingdom, as it always has been.

The party is at night, and it must have already started.

Arriving in the kingdom, we go to one of the small squares in front of the castle, and there are all the people.

Food stalls, target shooting with bow and arrows, muscular men arm wrestling, a round table surrounded by people sitting with cards in their hands, and other entertainment.

Ryza's party has already become a kind of event in the kingdom, where a big party is held every year. Not even on the king and queen's birthday do they celebrate like this.

Usually they just appear on the balcony and wave to people, nothing else, as far as I know.

At a bow and arrow shooting tent, I see Katerine, she must have arrived early.

She takes out an arrow and prepares to shoot one of the cups.

The cups are stacked in a pyramid.

"Hey." I approach her, placing my hands on her shoulders.

"You took your time!" She says.

"Sorry, I was just looking at what was around here." I respond, scratching my head.

"If you help me win a freebie, I'll accept your apology." She says while aiming at a glass.

When she goes to shoot, some people start to gather and talk louder than usual.

The crowd begins to part, and Ryza appears in the middle, being protected by two knights, one on each side.

"Ah, it's Ryza." Katerine speaks.

The princess looks at me and points in my direction, looking at the guards.

She then comes towards me as Katerine throws one of the arrows, which grazes one of the cups.

"Tsk." Katerine exclaims. "Here. Try to hit a glass." Katerine hands me the bow with three arrows.

The arrowheads are made of fabric, which makes it a little difficult to knock over a glass. But I'll try anyway.

Pulling out the arrow, I prepare to shoot.

"Hi, Light." I hear Ryza's voice to my left.

I shoot the arrow before it can turn, and it ends up hitting the top cup.

The glass fell and shattered at the same time I turned to Ryza.

"Hi..." I reply.

Ryza wears a light blue dress with flower stitching at the end in the same color. She also wears a silver crown on her head, composed of eight silver flowers.

"So..." She says and looks down, a little blushing. "I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk with me..." Your face is completely red.

"Uh, sure. But first, I'm going to help Kate get a freebie." I answer.

"We do not have time!" Ryza takes the bow and arrow from my hand.

What reaction was that!?

She aims at one of the glasses with her gaze focused.

"Hey, geezer, give me another bow, quick!" Katerine speaks to the man standing next to the glasses.

"Eeeh..." The man, bald with a white mustache, doesn't know what to say.

"Fast!" Katerine says, and Ryza shoots, hitting the glass at the top.

The man takes another bow and five arrows and hands them to Katerine.

She quickly takes it and aims at a glass.

"Sir, give me more arrows, please." Ryza says with her hand raised.

The old man takes the countless arrows that were behind the counter and hands them to Ryza.

This is unfair!

Katerine shoots and grazes one of the glasses in the middle.

"Hey, geezer, that's cheating!" Katerine says unsatisfied.

"I agree." I just say.

"Okay." The man speaks and gives dozens of arrows to Katerine.

The two start shooting arrows like crazy!

Most of them make mistakes... But Katerine manages to get more things right!

Katerine, by some stroke of luck, hits three glasses in a row!

"Hahaha." She stops shooting to celebrate.

Before that time, Ryza also starts hitting glasses in a row!

1.

2.

3.

4.

Ryza hits four glasses in a row!

Katerine becomes desperate and starts shooting again.

The man's mouth drops open. Honestly, I am a little too.

Katerine and Ryza get each glass right. Until Kate hits one of the glasses at the base of the pyramid, and everything falls and breaks.

By the end, they are both panting.

Looking back, it seems that some people gathered to watch the duel.

The man behind the counter takes out a stuffed bear toy and hands it to Katerine.

"Okay, you beat me, now can I stay with Light for a while?!" Ryza says.

Katerine looks confused, turning her head a little.

"I thought you wanted to win the freebie." Katerine says. "I don't care about Light. You can have him." That hurt...