Thud. Cian’s forehead touched Stefan’s shoulder.
Stefan, who’d been shouting and making a fuss, froze solid like a wooden block.
“…Hey, what are you doing right now…?”
“Since you helped already, help a little more. I can’t do this to Countess Rachel… can I?”
He wanted to hold Rachel in his arms. Strongly, very strongly.
‘Rachel. You were worried I might drink the wasp wine.’
His heart swelled greatly. His chest pounded.
Stefan was quick-witted. He realized Rachel was special to Cian before Cian himself did. If it was Stefan, he would understand why Cian was doing this now.
Cian closed his eyes tightly.
As expected, Stefan sighed deeply and patted Cian’s back with his large hand.
“You damn fool. It’s disgusting, but since you worked hard, I’ll let it slide just for today.”
“I’m disgusted too, so keep quiet.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Accepting Cian’s clinginess quietly, Stefan spoke.
“By the way, have you ever heard the saying ‘a thief who learns late works through the night’?”
(T/N This saying is a Korean idiom that means someone who starts late has to work hard to catch up)
“What are you talking about out of the blue?”
“Learning late is fine, but don’t stay up all night.”
“I’ve never stayed up all night.”
Then he released his grip on Stefan’s neck as if brushing him off.
Stefan rubbed the back of his neck where Cian grabbed it and grumbled.
“I understand you’re having a hard time with your first love, but don’t torment me.”
First love.
The short phrase Stefan mentioned lingered in his mind for a long time.
* * *
Meanwhile, Theodore wandered around the dirty townhouse until the sky began to brighten.
Not long ago, their maid, Peanut, had left the townhouse. She hadn’t received proper wages for months, so it was understandable, but Theodore and Berengella thought differently.
Theodore kicked an empty liquor bottle on the floor and fumed.
“Damn it! Mother said she would get money soon, but she couldn’t wait a few more days and just left?”
He watched the bottle roll around, then looked out the window again.
A full day had passed since Berengella left home, saying she would get the money. But let alone money, she hadn’t even contacted him yet.
Berengella spent every day either drunk or asleep. He had no idea where or how she was planning to make money. Not knowing made him hesitant to go looking for her.
“She’s not passed out somewhere drunk again, is she?”
He was worried something bad might’ve happened, but also felt irritated.
“Why did that drunkard say she would get money! What if she gets scammed or something?”
He considered contacting the city guards but quickly abandoned the idea. If he drew too much attention and got caught, he’d be the one to suffer.
The city guards wouldn’t put much effort into finding a drunken woman without a title.
He could hear the neighbors next door starting their day by sweeping the yard.
Theodore bit his lip.
‘Is there any money hidden here? If I had money, I could hire the guild to find mother and buy a piece of veal.’
While wandering around the living room, he lifted the rug on a whim, but of course, there was no money.
* * *
Lylus, Rachel, Graham, and Dolorosa sat together in the drawing room of Countess Fram’s mansion. They huddled over a piece of paper, discussing something for a long time.
Cian also wanted to join, but the four of them unanimously refused.
Today was the day they were preparing Cian’s birthday present!
Graham looked back at Dolorosa as he munched on a cookie. The child lowered his voice like a warrior preparing for a secret mission.
“The princess is amazing! How did you know it was Master’s birthday in ten nights?”
“It’s my dad’s birthday, so of course I should know. It’s okay if you don’t since you don’t know how to read a calendar yet.”
“Calendar?”
“How we count the days.”
Rachel, lowering her voice like the children, spoke.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we’ll be able to prepare the Archduke’s birthday gift in time.”
“My dad doesn’t talk about his birthday. He doesn’t like the fuss. But he would surely be happy with a present!”
Lylus, stroking his silver beard, chimed in.
“By the way, Princess Dolorosa, why have you invited this old man here? I don’t think I’ll be of much help in choosing a gift for the Archduke.”
“Oh my. Bishop, you have to look into the future to see if Dad will be happy with the gift we chose!”
“Haha, well. Using the foresight given by Yenis for something like this…”
Dolorosa widened her eyes at Lylus’s muttering.
“Is it wrong to use Yenis’s foresight for something like this?”
“…If used like this, Yenis will be very pleased. Yenis loves surprises.”
“Wow! That’s a relief!”
Dolorosa clapped her hands together, dipped a quill pen in ink and started writing on the paper. The bunny-shaped charm on the quill wobbled with each stroke.
[Choosing a birthday present for Dad]
Dolorosa’s handwriting was round and cute.
“Then, let’s each suggest a gift we think Dad would like. We’ll write them all down, and then the Bishop will foresee which one he’ll like best!”
Rachel, thinking for a moment, raised her right hand.
“Before that, princess, could you tell us what the Archduke likes? His favorite color, food, and so on.”
“What Dad likes? There’s a lot!”
Then she started writing down everything Cian liked on the paper.
“First of all, Dad likes sweet food.”
“Sweet food?”
Rachel’s eyes widened. It was surprising to find out that Cian, who looked like he could survive on dew alone, had similar tastes to food as her own.
“Yes! He especially likes strawberry cake and chocolate cake. He also loves ice cream and all kinds of fruits. He likes grape juice and orange juice too!”
“I see.”
“But he hates bitter things. To stay healthy and live long, he should drink herbal juice every day, but he doesn’t because it tastes bad. I have to chase him around for a long time to get him to drink it.”
“Wow, I hate bitter things too! Master is just like me!”
Graham, swinging his legs back and forth in his chair, cheered.
The thought of Cian, who dislikes bitter herbal juice, being nagged by Dolorosa was adorable and lovely.
“Then, we should exclude herbal medicine as a gift for the Archduke.”
“And Dad likes books. Even though he’s always busy, he reads whenever he gets a chance. He likes very thick books! He also likes books with strange drawings in them.”
She wrote on the paper.
“He also likes collecting small and cute things. Not jewels, but strangely he likes stones and seashells. He picked up a bunny-shaped stone last time.”
Dolorosa wrote down everything Cian liked with an innocent face, and Graham nodded in amazement.
Sweet things, picture books, small and cute things, bunnies, summer, blue…
Looking at what was written down, it seemed closer to what Dolorosa liked, not Cian.
‘Maybe his preferences changed while raising the princess. He seemed like a stern, business-like person, but now he feels warm and kind.’
Rachel couldn’t help but smile as she watched Dolorosa enthusiastically writing.
After listing all the things Cian liked, they moved on to choosing the gift.
Graham and Dolorosa’s opinions clashed sharply.
“No way! Master is cool, so chocolate cake suits him better!”
“No! Dad is cute, so we should give him a strawberry cake!”
“I’m going to prepare a huge chocolate cake! Master is big, so he should eat a lot!”
“Dad likes cute things, so we should give him a small, adorable cake!”
Caught in the middle, Rachel mediated their argument.
“Graham, Princess. Don’t fight. We don’t have to give just one gift. Let’s prepare both.”
At Rachel’s suggestion, Graham and Dolorosa’s eyes sparkled.
“Alright! That’s a great idea! Then I’ll make chocolate cake and carrot cake!”
“Dad hates carrot cake! Let’s make chocolate cake, strawberry cake, and cheesecake!”
“Carrot cake is delicious, but Master doesn’t like it… Oh well! I like cheesecake too!”
“Then we’ll make the cakes and decorate them with candies! What shapes should we use?”
“Since the chocolate cake is black, let’s sprinkle small white star candies on it! And put a huge moon-shaped candy on top!”
“Great! Then let’s put two bunnies on top of the crescent moon candy.”
“Are the bunnies’ candies too?”
“No, they’re sugar! Our chef made animal shapes out of sugar once.”
“Wow. The princess’s house is the best.”
The children drew a large three-tiered cake on the paper and decorated it with their favorite toppings. Soon, a splendid cake plan with star candies, bunnies, and cookies was completed.
“Ta-da! It’s done! Now we just need to make it!”
“Grandfather, Grandfather! Look at this quickly! See if Master will be happy with it in the future!”
Lylus, yawning widely nearby, quickly sat up straight.
“Alright, finally it’s this old man’s turn! Let’s see if the Archduke will be happy with this gift, shall we?”
Lylus clasped his hands together and envisioned the future.
‘…Hmm?’
Tilting his head, Lylus checked the future once more. But no matter how many times he checked, the result was the same.
Rachel, Graham, and Dolorosa tensed up.
Lylus slowly opened his eyes and looked at their faces, becoming nervous.
‘This is a big deal.’
