In a few days, it will be the young master’s birthday.
I’m truly delighted!
This year, the young master’s birthday is being celebrated in the Quilz Castle.
My clever young master, who was sharp-witted from childhood, used to spend his days on the southern island, drinking aronia berries daily while always gazing out to the distant sea, making me wonder what would become of him.
But things have changed now.
Every morning, he undergoes intense training from the big young master and diligently builds knowledge by borrowing books from the Duchess.
I’m so happy these days.
It seems even the elders cherish my young master the most.
Everyone considers Young Master Ranista as the future lord of Quilz Castle, but personally, I hoped my young master would become the next lord leading Rainberg.
Then, perhaps my future will be also bright?
As the young master mentioned, an exceptionally grand birthday party is being prepared.
Because of this, the maids have been incredibly busy with party arrangements.
For the past few days, all sorts of exquisite ingredients have been arriving at Quilz Castle, turning the kitchen into chaos.
Although I am not just a normal housemaid but a splendid personal maid of the young master, I reluctantly agreed to help in the kitchen.
Today, I came to the kitchen again to peel onions.
“Have you heard?”
Oh no, are these new inexperienced maids?
I discreetly moved to a corner to avoid the foolish maids who don’t even know what they’re doing.
The maids peeling onions alongside me couldn’t resist opening their mouths.
“Lena, guess what she saw in the garden…”
The ghost stories of Quilz Castle.
They are quite famous tales.
But I will never share stories that tarnish the reputation of Rainberg.
Wait, I can’t hear well.
I need to get a bit closer.
While peeling onions, I eavesdropped on the conversation of the inexperienced maids.
Gossip is forbidden!
However, there were occasionally interesting stories, like the love affair between the steward of the sub-hall and the kitchen assistant.
“Hehe, did you know the steward is bald?”
“Oh my! Ralshi, I didn’t notice that, you pervert!”
“Young master Ranista is really cool. He’s already known as one of the top ten knights in the empire!”
“Everyone is so impressive. How many young lords from other families can excel like Rainberg’s ‘Child of the Moon’? It’s really something to be proud of being part of the Quilz Castle.”
“The salary is good too.”
“He’s something. But… isn’t Lord Cantavia a bit… you know?”
I stopped laughing at their chatters.
The new maids were starting to do something they shouldn’t.
Daring to speak ill of my young master.
I was angry, but I chose to ignore it.
Duke Libera was too lenient.
To accept such baseless girls as maids is beyond me.
Hoo, since I was brought Rainberg from a young age, I have to endure it.
My arms were shaking with fatigue.
“Girlie.”
Oops, it’s the young master.
“I heard. You had a big fight.”
“Uh, yes…”
It’s embarrassing.
I, the young master’s personal maid, his right hand, had dirtied his face!
“Did you win?”
“Yes?”
But the young master didn’t scold me.
“Did you win?”
Indeed, he is my young master.
“Yes!”
“You fought two of them alone?”
“Yes!”
“At the age of 14, against two grown women?”
“Yes!”
He patted me on the back.
“Good, well done.”
The young master didn’t ask why I fought with the maids.
Instead, he asked me to clean his room.
The steward was hesitant, but he couldn’t disobey the orders of the Young Master.
Haha, what can you do, bald guy.
I had already finished cleaning the room this morning.
The young master is a splendid person.
If Ranista becomes the next lord, Rainberg will surely prosper.
But I still wish that the young master becomes the lord.
Finally, the young master’s birthday arrived.
I, Girlie Sijong, have the privilege of giving the first birthday present of the young master.
I felt sorry for the duchess, but I decided to indulge my greed.
“Young master! Happy 14th… huh?”
It’s just before the morning bell rings, and the young master should be waking up with a grumpy face.
But the young master was nowhere to be seen.
Not in the bathroom.
Not under the bed.
Not in the wardrobe.
Young master Cantavia, was nowhere to be found!
***
“Alcohol, no. Clothes are cliché. Cosmetics… not the type to appreciate them.”
Until the day before our birthday, I couldn’t decide on a gift.
Regardless of the intention, I still learned martial arts from Ranista.
I received a relic from the Azhibita Church, thanks to Melissa.
And Wooshas healing made my body stronger.
So, if I had received something, I should return the same.
But no matter what gift I prepare, it won’t satisfy my siblings.
Damn, suddenly I felt foolish contemplating my siblings’ birthday gift.
It’s like I’m even gauging their reaction to preparing a birthday gift.
“Girlie, bring me some paper and a brush.”
If it won’t work no matter what I prepare, let’s give something with at least some meaning.
The people of the Empire think receiving ‘writing’ as a gift is a special treat.
It’s influenced by the religious doctrines of the Azhibita Church, and while it may not matter to the twins, at least there’s a celebration to the party.
I observed my siblings and wrote down my thoughts on a piece of Quilz Blue paper.
A calligraphy.
* * *
“Cantavia!”
I was lying on the bed and immediately jumped up in surprise as my siblings burst into the room.
“It’s our birthday!”
The clock pointed to midnight.
Since my siblings learned about their past lives, I celebrate my first birthday with them.
So, I didn’t know if there was some custom I was unaware of.
Did they swear to congratulate right at midnight?
“It’s our birthday.”
“Happy Birthday!”
“Happy Birthday.”
“…Happy Birthday?”
I was taken aback.
I didn’t anticipate the warm happy birthday from my siblings.
“Well, let’s exchange gifts then.”
Honestly, sticking to the tradition of gift exchange seemed ridiculous.
I shrugged and looked at the three sheets of paper on the desk.
“Now?”
“You prepared in advance, huh? Cantavia, what do you want?”
“Just give me whatever.”
“Okay, let’s go get it then.”
“Get it? Damn.”
Unlike before, I accurately recognized what I needed to do in this situation.
I hastily put on clothes and shoes.
A few days ago, when I asked what they wanted, I felt ominous when they mentioned the sea monster and the thunderbird in the Land of the Ain People.
Sure enough, when Melissa opened the door to my room, a new scene unfolded just like back then.
Is she Doraemon?
“I’ve already figured out the location of the gifts.”
“Preparing in advance reduces the freshness.”
“Cute. Haha!”
A truly impressive flex.
Wealthy people often flaunt unimaginable displays during birthday parties.
And this kind of Flex is what my siblings are.
On our birthday, we slay a monster.
***
I grasped the significance of a gift that emphasizes freshness.
The first place we visited was the Grand Canyon.
A canyon of immeasurable depth, if one were to fall, they would eventually plummet to the edge of the world and, in the end, into the cosmos.
This Grand Canyon stood as a barrier between the land of the Ains and the Empire.
While it prevented the invasion of the Ains, the empire did not station any military forces here.
It was not considered a front line. The reason was simple.
Monsters lived here.
Monsters that neither the Ains nor the empire dared to disturb.
In that Grand Canyon, Ranista moved about energetically.
To the inhabitants of the canyon, Ranista was no different from the wild animals.
Fierce and grotesque monsters with formidable proportions attacked, but Ranista dispatched them all with a single stroke of his sword.
Eventually, he captured a “Thunderbird” in the Grand Canyon.
The powerful monster that breathed lightning through its beak transformed into Ranista’s gift material.
He cut off the beak and presented it to Wooshas.
Since Melissa, possessed magical abilities, the size of the gift didn’t matter.
We immediately went to capture the “Leviathan.” We ventured beyond the eastern continent, even further than the uncharted sea known as the Outer Sea.
In a place called the Corrosive Sea, where all sorts of sea monsters roamed, Ranista engaged in a fierce battle with its king, the “Leviathan.”
Both the Thunderbird and the Leviathan were legendary monsters. In a world where magic existed, the fact that monsters like them became legends meant that even powerful wizards and masters had failed to kill them.
However, Ranista simply enjoyed slaughtering monsters.
The Leviathan was a sea serpent.
The problem was that it was larger than a large warship.
After killing the Leviathan and cutting it into several pieces, Ranista gave it as a gift to his sister Melissa.
He gave me one scale from the Leviathan. It was just one scale, but its size was enough to cover my entire body.
With his face drenched in the blood of the monster, Ranista spoke with a crazed expression.
“Good, isn’t it?”
“Thank you.”
The day-long “gift” hunt was over. By now, the Quilz Castle must be in chaos.
But I had no interest whatsoever happened in the Quilz Castle.
Damn, I was soaked in blood in my own birthday.
As we returned to the castle, the faint sound of a bell announcing midnight echoed.
Melissa promised magical tools made from the Leviathan as a gift.
Wooshas presented artworks, paintings by the most outstanding genius artist in the Empire, said to be priceless.
She claimed she received them as tribute.
One could probably buy a mansion if theh sold them.
Now, it’s my turn.
Damn, damn, damn.
I hesitated as I tied the paper around it.
I didn’t have any particular thoughts, but the level of my gifts was embarrassing.
“Here.”
I handed each of them a piece of paper with words written on it.
Ranista read the words and smirked.
Melissa read the words, then put the paper in her pocket.
And Wooshas…
Today was truly a unique experience. I caught a Thunderbird in the Grand Canyon and a Leviathan in the Outer Sea.
Who else would experience such bizarre and terrifying events twice in one day?
It was an experience I truly didn’t want to go through again.
But.
In response to Wooshas’s reaction, I felt that all the events of today were pointless, trivial, and not that surprising.
I felt a change in this moment, as if everything was turning into a dream. It felt so unreal that even my senses seemed to regress.
Her expression remained unchanged.
But tears flowed from Wooshas’s two eyes.
No matter how much I thought about it, those were tears.
Wooshas shedding tears after receiving my gift?
Why? Why on earth?
I began to tremble with an unknown fear that I couldn’t comprehend.
* * *
Those who covet the lion all meet their demise.
Do not tread on the tail of a fox without care.
The wings of an angel have withered.
Wow just wow 😮