Chapter 82
Eleanor walked cautiously towards Kaidel with the cake.
“Make a wish and blow out the candles.”
He hesitated for a moment and then blew out the candles. The cheers of the knights echoed throughout the hall.
“Happy birthday, Kaidel.”
Eleanor bent her eyes and smiled.
Kaidel looked around at the people gathered at that place with a bewildered expression on his face.
From the knights to the kids, Jonathan, Dwight, and…
“Your Highness? Young Marquis?”
Even Izmel and Adrian, who had scary faces. It was a completely unexpected combination.
Eleanor handed Kaidel the cake and spoke.
“Everyone is here to congratulate you. Please say something.”
Kaidel stared down at the cake for a moment before opening her mouth.
“First, thanks, Eleanor.”
Eleanor, who was looking for her seat, slightly nodded her head in response.
“Thank you too, Your Highness.”
Even though I don’t know why you came.
“…Thank you everyone. Have a good time.”
Kaidel gave a brief greeting and headed towards the table. Someone grabbed Kaidel’s wrist as he naturally tried to sit down next to Eleanor.
It was Izmel.
“Where. The main character should sit at the head of the table.”
Adrian added, pulling out the chair next to him.
“Sit down, Your Grace.”
It was only then that Kaidel realized why the two people had come. It was to separate him from Eleanor.
Normally, he would have pretended not to hear and sat next to Eleanor. But now he was guilty. He sat down slowly.
As Kaidel placed the cake on the table, Izmel and Adrian’s attention was focused.
“It’s a unique cake.”
Izmel shared an appreciation of the cake. Half of it was plausible, but the other half was strangely clumsy.
Eleanor answered.
“I decorated half with Demi.”
Izmel nodded as if she finally understood. He said, pointing to one side.
“It looks like the ones sold. You’re good with your hands.”
Then he pointed to the other side and said.
“I don’t know what this is, but it’s abstract. For a nine-year-old, he did really well.”
Kaidel, who was next to him, also nodded in agreement. It was crooked, but it seemed to add to its childlike cuteness.
At that time, Adrian, who was watching the two people from the side, burst into laughter. Izmel and Kaidel’s eyes turned to Adrian.
“I think here is Demian and here is Eleanor.”
Adrian said, pointing in turn to the neat side and the sloppy side.
“Am I right, Ellen?”
Eleanor, pouting, turned her head. Izmel and Kaidel widened their eyes in embarrassment.
Izmel opened her mouth to try to figure things out.
“Eleanor, that…”
“Enough. It’s late.”
“I only gave compliments. It’s abstract and very wonderful.”
Kaidel also quickly joined in.
“I didn’t say anything, Eleanor.”
“Didn’t you agree with what I said? You’re the worst person here.”
Izmel scolded Kaidel. Adrian also nodded his head as if it made sense.
Sienna, who was craning her neck to look at the cake, asked.
“But what on earth was that made from?”
Although everyone was curious, they just kept swallowing it to themselves. After hesitating for a moment, Eleanor answered in a low voice.
“…Kaidel’s face.”
Only then did ‘ahh’ sounds come out from all over the place. It seemed like the blueberries were the eyes and the strawberries were the mouth.
“When I heard it, it looked similar. Same.”
Izmel quickly gave Eleanor thumbs up.
Eleanor chuckled and shook her head. There was no way to counter his shamelessness.
“No more empty words. Let’s go ahead and eat it up.”
***
After the noisy birthday party, Kaidel returned to his room and opened the presents one by one.
“It’s a birthday present.”
Kaidel, who was staring at the shiny packaging boxes, buried his face in his hands. He still couldn’t fully understand what had just happened.
“These guys…”
Most of them were gifts prepared by knights. Perhaps because they prepared in a hurry, all kinds of miscellaneous things came out.
Kaidel clicked his tongue lightly. But his expression was softened.
Next was a thin envelope. He roughly ripped open the thing sealed with the Imperial seal, and found a letter written in half-heartedly scrawled handwriting.
[I will overlook the madness of that day. That’s my gift.
Izmel Biden Pontius de Bellium.
P.S. Eleanor gave me a handkerchief. It wasn’t even my birthday. She even kicked someone in the shin to protect me. I’m sure Eleanor likes me more.]
Kaidel’s brows furrowed as he read a postscript that was longer than the main text. He threw the letter in the corner and opened the well-wrapped box.
[Happy birthday.
Dwight Everett.]
There was a nice pocket watch included along with a short card. Kaidel carefully placed it in the top drawer of his desk. It felt good to feel some acceptance from Eleanor’s family.
Of all the gifts, it was Lucas’ gift that confused Kaidel the most.
“…Hairpin?”
Kaidel, who was looking around at the pearl-studded pin, burst into laughter.
“Should I say he has no prejudice?”
Kaidel tilted his head and stretched out his hand for the final gift. It was easy to tell at a glance whose light pink envelope it belonged to.
Kaidel lightly kissed the envelope and opened it neatly with a paper knife.
When he took out the letter, a small piece of paper fell out.
-Wish ticket (nothing too difficult!)
Kaidel let out a small laugh. There were clearly traces of the hasty addition of parentheses.
He crossed his long legs and was lost in thought. The way he was concentrating on something with his sharp chin was like a statue.
But what he was thinking was really trivial.
‘What is so difficult for Eleanor? A kiss?’
He raised his eyebrows and opened the letter.
[Dear Kaidel
I wanted to make good memories, but I don’t know if I succeeded. Did you enjoy it? It should have been fun…]
“Yeah, it was fun.”
A soft smile appeared on Kaidel’s lips.
[I thought about this while decorating a cake with Demi. I realized that there are more memories between us than I thought. I guess I can really call you my friend now, but that’s fine with you, right?
I enjoy getting to know your new side one by one. You know what? Kaidel, the more I know about you, the more wonderful you become. (Of course, you were very cool at first too!)
Anyway, what I want to say is… Don’t forget that there are many people who care and worry about you. I’m one of them. You’re never alone.
Happy birthday, Kaidel.
Wishing you happiness,
From Eleanor Everett.
P.S. It was a good thing you were born, right? :)」
Kaidel read Eleanor’s letter over and over again. No matter how many times he read it, he never seemed to get tired of it.
“I’m not alone.”
Kaidel muttered softly.
He learned today that that was true. At the same time, Kaidel also realized that he had been extremely lonely. It couldn’t have been more ironic.
Eleanor applied ointment to a wound he didn’t even know was there. She led him to places he could never have imagined and made him look forward to tomorrow.
How can he not love her?
Kaidel’s eyes fell on the postscript added in small letters at the end of the letter.
‘It was a good thing you were born, right? :)’
Kaidel chuckled. He readily nodded his head and acknowledged it.
“I know. It was a good thing I was born.”
***
Eleanor was walking in the garden with Adrian. Adrian suddenly remembered a story he heard from a friend.
“Ellen, that Mozen language business you were talking about. It seems like there are people with similar thoughts.”
“Really?”
Eleanor looked at Adrian with an indifferent expression. There was always someone with similar thoughts.
“There is someone I know a little bit, and I heard that he received a request for supervision. “When I listened carefully, I thought it was interesting because it was similar to what you said.”
Eleanor shook her head and answered.
“It’s fine. We thought it was no business anyway and tried to get out of it.”
“Mmhm. I just said it out of concern.”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“I think your judgment back then was correct. Most people who are interested in the Mözen language are merchants. If we were to have nobles, it would only be a very small portion.”
“That’s right. It’s different from the entrance exam.”
“At the merchants, you can just hire an interpreter, and nobles will just hire a private tutor. There aren’t many tourists…”
Adrian nodded in agreement. He had the same thought. He added.
“Mözen isn’t an easy language to learn. I don’t think there are many people who want to learn it in earnest.”
“That’s right. Let’s not be swayed by such words for no reason.”
Eleanor smiled brightly at Adrian.
Even when Eleanor thought about it again, there were many loopholes in the business plan. It was the right decision to turn over.
But there were definitely some attractive aspects as well. It’s true that there are no good Mözen language textbooks on Bellium, and the Mözen language is clearly gradually gaining attention.
For some reason, Eleanor found it difficult to get the Mözen language out of her mind.
‘There may be few people who want to learn in earnest… What if it’s just a little conversation?’
At that time, a small idea flashed in her mind. She immediately grabbed Adrian’s arm.
“Ah, Rian. How about that kind of thing?”
“What kind of thing?”
“We extract only the sentences needed in business situations and compile them into a book. “Without unnecessary explanation.”
Adrian snapped his fingers cheerfully at Eleanor’s words.
“Ah, like in the tourist brochure?”
“Yeah, exactly. We just include greetings and commonly used expressions along with their pronunciation so that people can read them accordingly. In a light booklet.”
Adrian, who had been tapping the calculator in his head, nodded quickly.
A thin booklet wouldn’t require much effort to make, and would be able to attract even those who are only mildly interested in the Mösen language. It wasn’t a bad idea to make a small profit.
“I think it’s fine. Ellen, are you going to make it yourself?”
Eleanor shook her head at Adrian’s question.
“No, I’m not that skilled.”
“Hmm, then should we find someone…?”
Adrian muttered softly. At that time, Eleanor answered in a cheerful voice.
“What do we need to look for? There are already two of them around.”
They’re skilled enough to assist a princess from Mözen.
Eleanor smiled confidently. Adrian’s expression brightened as he understood her words.
Yes, they had a trump card called Kaidel and Dwight.