"Whew—whew—"
At some point, the wind had begun to howl. The window shutters rattled, as if they could barely withstand the sudden gale. Even the candlelight in the room flickered, its golden glow wavering over everyone's faces and making them seem uncertain and shifting.
"Are they all asleep?"
At that moment, soft footsteps sounded in the room, followed by several people sitting down. Then came that hushed question.
"They're all asleep."
After hearing He Yin, who had sat beside Hyuga Yukyō, Chiba lowered his head to look at the six children curled up beside him. A faint smile appeared on his lips as he spoke softly.
"They were thrilled today. I've never seen them work so hard or put so much effort into their evening lessons."
Looking at the six sleeping children, Zong Mi, who was steadily heading in the direction of a muscular brute, also smiled happily and spoke in a low voice.
"What about the other children?"
At this point, after glancing at the six children, Yu Ze looked toward He Yin beside Hyuga Yukyō and asked.
"They've all gone to sleep. In another couple of days, another group of children will be joining the evening lessons. Can you handle them, Zong Mi?"
Hearing Yu Ze's question, He Yin smiled slightly and replied.
Just now, when the wind had started, she and Zong Mi had taken the other children off to rest. After all, it was dark here and there was nothing to play with. Other than the children attending evening lessons, most children would have been asleep by this hour.
Today, it was only because Chiba was such a novelty to the other children. Otherwise, they probably would have gone back to sleep one by one, yawning all the way.
"How could I not handle it? Everyone's