"It's a Mage Robe, traditional black. I'll give it to you now." Gandalf misheard Emma's exclamation of sudden realization, thinking she wanted to know what the gift was in advance, so he directly handed her the gift box.
As for the earlier delay, the robe had originally been too short. After altering it, he had spent some time adding finishing touches to make it look better.
"Thank you, Teacher." Emma came back to her senses and figured out what had happened earlier. In particular, recalling how Frank had not cared at all that she had rowed away, Emma blushed slightly.
Fortunately, this misunderstanding had been kept from everyone, and nobody knew about it.
"All right, the pre-birthday entertainment is over. The party is about to begin, so let's hurry back and change clothes. By the way, why doesn't Miss Emma call Gandalf 'Grandpa'? Calling him 'Teacher' sounds a little too formal, doesn't it?"
Kerry was soaking wet now. He suggested returning to the castle to change clothes and start the party.
It was quite unusual for a granddaughter to call her grandfather "Teacher," after all.
"Emma, you haven't told Kerry yet?" Gandalf asked strangely. Now that they were family, she should have told him about their relationship. Could it be that she hadn't told him everything?
"Told me what? Oh, I haven't told him that Teacher isn't my grandfather." Emma thought Gandalf was talking about hiding her identity. However, it was obvious that Teacher trusted Kerry, so she decided not to conceal her identity anymore.
Besides, she really had to thank Kerry for saving her life this time. It would be inappropriate to continue hiding her identity. After all, he had even saved her life—what was there left to hide?
It was only after they returned to the castle that Kerry learned Emma was a noble young lady from Faglan who had fled here to escape the disaster.
That was excellent news. Since they had fled here, he could shelter them. Having taken in two mages at once, Kerry felt that he had made an incredible profit.
At seven in the evening, after a series of events, the birthday party finally began—an hour later than originally planned.
Emma had changed into her new Mage Robe. Since she had sprained her ankle, she held onto Gandalf's arm as she entered the castle hall.
At fourteen, she looked youthful and lively yet carried a hint of composure in the traditional black Mage Robe. She was beginning to look like a young woman, and Gandalf couldn't stop sighing with emotion beside her.
"Emma, this is the birthday present I prepared for you. I didn't know what you liked, so I prepared several things." Kerry was the first to step forward and present his gifts.
After the earlier artificial respiration and their candid conversation along the way, Kerry no longer added the title "Miss" every time he called Emma.
On the way back to the castle, Emma had sprained her leg, so Kerry had carried her back on the Beach Buggy. Emma had suddenly become much more talkative along the way, repeatedly calling him "Kerry," so Kerry had begun calling her by her name as well. Their relationship had grown much closer.
"Thank you. Can I open them now?" For some reason, Emma was very much looking forward to the birthday gifts Kerry had prepared for her. Ever since he had rescued her from the shore, she had found him unexpectedly pleasing to the eye and wanted to talk to him more.
"Of course. They're yours, after all." Emma quickly opened the three gifts Kerry had given her.
The first was a book. Judging by its appearance, it was a Magic Book. Emma sighed emotionally. Back when she hadn't studied hard, there had been piles of Magic Books at home.
Now that her family had fallen into decline, she wanted to work hard, study magic diligently, and become a great mage, but she suddenly had no Magic Books to read.
Emma hugged the Magic Book to her chest with great care, then opened the second gift.
Inside the second gift was a small metal rod. She didn't know what it was for, but it was clearly an Alchemical Product, and it was probably very expensive. Emma didn't understand its value, but she still accepted it solemnly.
When she opened the third gift box, Emma's little face suddenly flushed bright red.
Inside was a large, extremely beautiful Magic Gem. In Emma's eyes, Magic Gems were precious items to begin with, and this one was both beautiful and enormous.
It had practical value as well as considerable artistic value. If it had been an ordinary Magic Gem, Emma wouldn't have let her imagination run wild. But this gem was exceptionally beautiful, so she couldn't help thinking about what it meant when a young boy gave a beautiful gem to a young girl.
Could it be that Kerry... Emma suddenly placed all the gifts to one side, covered her face with both hands, and bashfully hid behind Gandalf. She softly said "thank you," then fell silent.
Fortunately, Kerry had used the Gene Enhancement Fluid, which had sharpened his hearing and sight. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to hear Emma saying thank you.
Now that the gifts had been given, it was time to celebrate. Kerry turned around and announced that the party had begun. He wished beautiful Emma a happy birthday, and everyone raised their glasses.
Most of the people attending the party were from the castle. The servants were both guests and waiters, while many fishermen from the fishing team who had free time also came to attend the birthday party.
All in all, it was quite lively. For Kerry, it would have been a perfect birthday party if he hadn't run into Mike.
"Lord, did you know? I was out at sea collecting jellyfish as usual today when, all of a sudden, guess what I found in the sea?" Mike, his face flushed with drunkenness, said mysteriously to Kerry, who had come over to the fishermen's group to exchange toasts.
"What did you find?" Kerry wasn't very interested. He was merely humoring a fisherman who liked to brag.
"I found a nine-tenths-new oak bed! That bed was really huge. I've never slept in such a big bed..." Kerry stopped paying attention to whatever Mike said afterward. Damn it, could that bed be...
"That's right. Later, I spent a tremendous amount of effort dragging the oak bed back to shore. Unfortunately, some creature had apparently made a nest on it. The whole bed was covered in filth. I'll bet ten Silver Coins that none of you have ever smelled anything so stinky..."
What do you mean, "that's right"? That's definitely my bed.
Kerry felt as if his entire world were falling apart, especially after hearing Mike say that he had dragged the bed back to shore.
"What happened to the bed afterward?" Kerry asked impatiently.
"I carried it home. I replaced the sheets and mattress, and it's still usable." Mike looked smug, while Kerry forcibly suppressed the urge to go to Mike's house and burn the bed. He left the fishermen's group.
Kerry was afraid that if he stayed there any longer, he would accidentally expose himself.
Not long afterward, the guests at the party soon discovered that Kerry, the master of the castle, and Emma, the protagonist of the party, had both disappeared.
Seeing that there was nothing for him to do there, Gandalf planned to return to his room and meditate. Emma's room was next to Gandalf's, but when he reached the corridor outside their rooms, he saw Carson and Mrs. Wesley lying at Emma's door and eavesdropping.
"You two..." Gandalf had just begun speaking when Carson and Mrs. Wesley gestured for him to be quiet and invited him to lie against the door and listen with them.
"Ah... ah... You're pressing too hard. I can't take it anymore. Ah... I can't go on. Stop!" That was Emma's voice. It sounded pained yet carried a hint of pleasure. She said she couldn't take it, but she seemed to be enjoying herself quite a lot.
Everyone eavesdropping was an adult, and that voice made it impossible not to imagine all sorts of scenes.
"Just one more time. Bear with it a little longer. I'll be finished soon." That was Kerry's voice. Nobody knew what he was about to finish, but combined with what Emma had said earlier, it seemed the scene could be pieced together...
Thanks to the book friend Lao Haojie for the recommendation vote.
Thank you all very much for your support!
Before you continue