The boy followed the prince. First, they had to leave the hall. After walking down a wide corridor, still in the same luxurious Gothic style, the prince led Richie into a small hall. Although, it depends on what you compare it to. The hall was about ten meters long and about six meters wide. It was a bit large for a typical cottage, but compared to the palace, it was a model of miniature size.
The room was filled with children, aged between four and fourteen. Not as many as the adults in the ballroom, only about thirty, but they made so much noise that they could drown out the conversations of all the men and women in the main hall.
Five teenagers, aged twelve to fourteen, kept to themselves, studiously ignoring the younger kids. The kids Richie's age stuck closer to their peers.
Four women in formal dark dresses, presumably nannies, were looking after the children. In addition to them, there were several waiters setting a large table and a pair of entertainers: a young blonde in a bright dress embroidered with flowers and a young man in a dark suit.
Children crowded around the entertainers. Apparently, something interesting was going on there. Only the older kids weren't participating in the contests. The rest of the children raised their hands and shouted out something in response to the girl in the flower dress.
Surprisingly, all the children were dressed in whatever they could find. Only Richie sported a tailcoat, and two other boys his age were in black suits: a slightly plump, brown-haired, chubby-cheeked boy with brown eyes and a light-haired, blue-eyed boy.
A four-year-old boy with wheat-colored hair and a white sailor suit broke free from the crowd and ran toward Prince Charles. He joyfully exclaimed:
- Dad! We're playing riddles here. I guessed one!
Prince Charles smiled warmly at his son and said:
- Well done, Harry.
Then another boy, about seven years old, separated from the crowd-the same blond-haired one in the suit. He also approached Prince Charles and addressed him:
- Dad, how much longer do we have to stay here?
"A long time, my son," replied Prince Charles. "Bill, meet," he pointed towards Richard, "Richie, the son of my friend Gerald Rich. Richie, these are my children," the man pointed his palm at the seven-year-old boy, "William," then he pointed to the small child, "and Harry."
"Pleased to meet you," Richie said, plastering the most charming smile he could muster. He shook Harry's hand, then William's.
In fact, the transmigrator was shocked by who he was dealing with. These little guys were actually Britain's elite, the princes. William was the second heir, and Harry was the third. Charles was the first.
"Well, children, I'll leave you," Prince Charles said warmly. "Have fun and remember to behave yourself."
Prince Charles left the children's room.
William looked like a cheerful child. He grabbed Richie's hand and pulled him along.
- Come on, Richie, I'll introduce you to a friend.
- Okay, Bill.
William brought Richard to the eight-year-old brown-haired man in a suit and immediately addressed him:
- Look, Jas, it's Richie. Richie, it's Justin.
"Nice to meet you," Richard said.
The transmigrator found it difficult to interact with children, but he understood that there were no ordinary kids here. They were children now, but in a little while, they would soon become princes, dukes, lords. In short, the elite, best befriended from childhood. So Richard diligently played the role of an eight-year-old and, unlike his classmates at school, tried to interact with these children as equals and wanted to befriend them. Yes, his motives were selfish, but a boy with the consciousness of an adult couldn't do otherwise.
Justin, unlike the active and sociable William, turned out to be a shy boy.
"Hello," he muttered.
Richie remembered his father mentioning a lord's son who was expected to attend the event. So the boy said:
- Guys, do you know Finch-Fletchley?
"Um..." Justin became even more embarrassed and muttered quietly, "That's my last name. Why?"
"Oh!" Richard said happily. "My dad told me your dad was in his hunting club. He mentioned you'd be at the event, and I wanted to be friends with you."
"Um..." Justin was confused. "You want to be friends with me?"
"Yeah," Richard nodded seriously. "And I want to be friends with you too, Bill."
"Excellent!" William rejoiced. "Let's go to my room, I'll show you my toys..."
Richard expected different, more mature behavior from the children of the elite. Having been a commoner in his past life and not interacting with people from high society, he thought that the children of aristocrats were hounded by tutors, drilled, and thought they were smarter and more sensible than their peers. This was confirmed by his predecessor's life before entering the world. But it turned out they were no different from ordinary kids of the same age. But this was actually a good thing and pleased the transmigrator. With children, it's so simple. Say you want to be friends, and in a minute you're close. On the one hand, the value of such friendships is negligible, but on the other hand, as people grow up, they remember their childhood friends and subconsciously treat them well. And often, childhood bonds develop into real, strong male friendships. For the sake of such connections, Richie was even willing to sincerely pretend to be a child, looking at toys, playing, and doing other easy things.