Birthday

In the end, Frieren decided not to return the bracelet. Although she knew that claims like "the more expensive the gift, the more sincere it is" were lies unscrupulous merchants had made up to encourage spending, it was still a birthday gift for Fern. Choosing just anything to get it over with simply to save money didn't seem quite right.

And most importantly...

In the moonlight, Frieren looked at the bracelet Lorenzo had imbued with Volumen Hydrargyrum.

For someone as long-lived as her, birthdays had never been days worth paying special attention to.

A year was simply too short.

It was so short that she could miss one if she wasn't paying attention, and she had found it hard to understand why humans took such fleeting moments so seriously.

But now she had begun imagining what expression Fern would wear when she received her gift tomorrow.

Would she be happy?

Would she think the bracelet was pretty?

Or would she first scold me with a straight face for spending money recklessly, then carefully accept the gift?

Just thinking about it made the gold coins she had spent that day seem a little less painful to part with.

So this is probably what preparing a gift for someone else feels like. It isn't so bad.

Early the next morning, Fern woke up early as usual. After a quick wash, she picked up her staff and headed for the courtyard, ready to complete her regular morning mana training.

But just as she stepped out of her room, a sweet aroma drifted up from downstairs. Fern sniffed gently.

Toast, hot milk, cream, fried eggs, and honey...

What's going on today? Why is breakfast so lavish? Could we have a guest?

Puzzled, Fern walked down the stairs.

The closer she got to the dining room, the stronger the aroma of food became. Besides that, she could faintly hear Lord Heiter and Lord Lorenzo speaking in hushed voices, and even Lady Frieren's voice among them!

Fern's steps faltered. She almost wondered if she had misheard or wasn't fully awake yet.

Lady Frieren is already up?

That was even more suspicious than the lavish breakfast.

Even when someone forcibly woke Lady Frieren and dragged her out of bed, she could sit there hugging her blanket and staring into space for more than half an hour. Getting her to leave her bed of her own accord before the sun had fully risen was probably no easier than getting Lord Heiter to face an entire case of fine wine without taking a single sip.

No, it was even harder. At least Fern could keep an eye on him in the latter case; the former depended entirely on Lady Frieren's self-discipline.

But does she really have any of that?

Growing increasingly wary, Fern peered into the dining room.

A long table almost completely covered with food met her eyes.

Bread baked golden and crisp was piled in a basket, with fried eggs, sausages, and sliced fruit beside it. Cream and honey sat in two separate little jars. At the very center of the table stood a modestly sized fruit-and-cream cake, her name written crookedly across it in jam.

Generally speaking, whether it was a birthday surprise or a lavish family meal, it was usually arranged for the evening.

Mornings were too rushed, after all, and people who had just gotten up were often not fully awake, making it hard to create a festive atmosphere. Besides, preparing such a large spread took considerable time, so doing it in the evening would clearly have been much easier.

Lorenzo had originally planned to do just that.

But when they discussed the timing of the celebration the previous night, Heiter had offered a different opinion.

"If we have to wait until evening, can it still count as a surprise?"

Heiter said with a straight face:

"Of course we should let Fern wake up and immediately see everything we've prepared for her. That's what will make it an unforgettable memory."

Frieren had agreed.

And so, with two votes in favor and one against, the birthday celebration had naturally been scheduled for early morning.

"Good morning, Fern."

Heiter was the first to speak.

"Good morning, Lord Heiter."

Fern responded automatically, but her gaze remained fixed on the cake.

"What's this?"

"Happy birthday, Fern!"

Lorenzo produced a party popper from somewhere, pointed it at the ceiling, and gave the string underneath a hard pull.

Bang—!

Multicolored streamers burst from the popper and fluttered down like a colorful rain.

"Happy birthday, Fern."

Frieren and Heiter wished Fern a happy birthday as well.

Fern stood at the foot of the stairs, unable to answer for a moment.

So today is my birthday.

Lately, she had devoted all her energy to magic training, studying magical theory under Lady Frieren during the day and reviewing her lessons at night. In her spare time, she took care of Lord Heiter's daily needs.

Come to think of it, her birthday would once have been a very important day to her.

Her parents had prepared gifts and a cake every year. Back then, she would start looking forward to it long in advance, even counting the days on her fingers.

But after the war, none of it mattered anymore. Birthdays had never been worth looking forward to because the date itself was special, but because there had always been people by her side that day. Once those people were gone, a birthday was no different from any ordinary day.

Then Lord Heiter had brought her back to this home.

The priest who had already given up drinking but still couldn't tear his eyes away from a wine bottle when he saw one, and even tried to fool her by saying "wine is the best of all medicines," remembered her birthday every year.

Even when his health was poor, he still prepared a dinner a little more lavish than usual and gave her a small gift, never letting the day pass unnoticed.

This year, there were two more people at the table. It was livelier and felt more like home.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing that she hadn't responded for a while, Heiter asked tentatively:

"Don't you like it?"

"No."

Fern came back to her senses and shook her head gently.

"I just forgot today was my birthday."

"You actually forgot your own birthday? Fern, have you been working too hard lately? Frieren, your crimes are unforgivable!"

Lorenzo said to Frieren, who was staring at the cake on the table beside him.

"I can't slack off on my magic training."

Before Frieren could say anything, Fern answered earnestly.

"Wouldn't it be fine to take a day off once in a while?"

"No. Once you do it the first time, there'll be a second, and you might end up getting into the habit of sleeping until noon every day."

As she said this, Fern glanced at Frieren without thinking. Frieren happened to look up at the same moment, and their gazes met.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"It's... it's nothing."

Feeling a little guilty, Fern looked away.