Chapter 17
When he opened the card, he saw a familiar handwriting.
[Happy birthday. Richard.]
Only then, Richard remembered his forgotten birthday. A week ago, when the butler asked him about the preparation for his birthday party, he just dismissed it because he didn’t want to have a party ahead of the war and told the butler to not prepare anything.
But Elisha remembered his forgotten birthday and waited for him.
[But most knights who will join the war would prefer spending time with someone precious rather than training.]
‘……’
[Because even if we don’t die, we can’t predict how long we’ll be away.]
Next to the cake, there was a tiny music box that was smaller than his palm. Richard stared at it blankly for a while then held it dearly. He was too focused on making efforts to survive the war and unknowingly neglected the time left to be with Elisha. Maybe this would be the last time he could spend with her.
“……”
Richard put the musical box aside and hugged Elisha, who was asleep.
Elisha opened her eyes when she felt his presence. “…Richard?” Elisha, who was mumbling while rubbing her sleepy eyes, opened her eyes wide as she remembered something. “Oh, right, your birthday~! It’s not past midnight yet, is it?”
Richard answered while tucking Elisha, who was struggling to stay awake, in bed. “Today is not my birthday.”
“Oh really? Grayson said that your birthday is today…”
“I don’t know when my real birthday is, so I just chose a random date.”
His maternal uncle didn’t celebrate his birthday. Thus, naturally, Richard grew up without knowing his actual birthday. He didn’t even try to find it out since he thought that it was meaningless to know anyway. But now, it became an important day for him.
“Go to bed now and choose the date for my birthday tomorrow.”
“You want me to choose it? Can I really do that?”
“If it bothers you, just choose another date tomorrow.”
“Oh, no. Your birthday only comes once per year, so let’s choose a good day!” Elisha said as she shook her head as if she would be in big trouble if she chose the date for his birthday carelessly.
Richard left Elisha, who was murmuring, “I need to look for a good date,” behind, and looked back as if he had thought of something. “I’ll show you around the annex tomorrow.”
At his words, Elisha turned her gaze toward Richard, who was looking for a book on a bookcase at one side of the bedroom.
“You don’t have to train tomorrow?”
“No, I’m going to take a rest.”
As he said that, his countenance softened. A gentle smile appeared on his handsome face, though it couldn’t be seen by Elisha who only saw his broad back.
*****
Time flew by, and before Elisha realized it, Richard’s departure date would come tomorrow. That night, when Richard entered the bedroom, Elisha ran toward him as if she had been waiting for him. “Richard!”
Richard froze at the sight of her running toward him. Elisha, who came close, wrapped her hands around his neck. In an instant, Richard’s ears turned red.
As soon as the stunned Richard raised his arms and tried to hug her back, she backed away. Elisha, who didn’t realize that she had set Richard’s heart on fire, asked him with an innocent face. “How is it?”
“…How is what?”
“The pendant.”
“Ah.” Only then, Richard realized that Elisha had put a pendant around his neck. The pendant had a small red gemstone at its center. Surprised, his hanging hands fell down awkwardly. “What’s this?”
“An amulet. This gemstone absorbs all the bad luck and prevents the owner from unfortunate things. So, never take it off.”
In the original story, he came back safely from the war. So, Elisha knew that he would definitely survive and came back alive later. Nevertheless, she still felt anxious if she sent him without praying for his victory.
‘Because you need to come back alive to prevent me from being kicked out of the mansion until I become an adult!’ Looking at the pendant around Richard’s neck made her feel reassured. The red gemstone matched the color of his eyes perfectly.
“Then, let’s go to bed now. I have to wake up early tomorrow morning.” Elisha said as she lay down on the bed. “I want to see you off tomorrow, so please wake me up early, okay?” Even if it wouldn’t be too long, she probably couldn’t see him for about a year or two. So, she really wanted to see him off properly.
“Okay.”
As soon as Elisha heard Richard’s answer, she fell asleep.
*****
Quite some time had passed. Elisha, who was wandering in her dreams, heard a faint voice.
“…Goodbye, Elisha.”
It was a familiar voice, but somehow, she felt that she really missed it. She wanted to open her eyes, but her eyelids were too heavy. Eventually, after a long dream, Elisha managed to open her eyes.
The dawn light had filled the room. Elisha, who blinked absentmindedly, felt that something was amiss and looked around. She held the pillow that Richard had been using in her arms. But the owner of the pillow was nowhere to be seen in the room. Elisha sat bolt upright and anxiously looked around. “…Richard?”
However, there was no answer. Instead, the blanket that had been covering her shoulders slid down. Elisha stared blankly at the empty room. She hugged the pillow next to her and buried her head in it. There was a familiar scent that she would look for every night.
*****
More than a month has passed since Richard left. The early summer heat could be felt in the wind that seeped through the window. After having her breakfast, Elisha was informed that Albert was looking for her.
“Huh?” Ann tilted her head as she looked for the hair accessories in the dresser for Elisha.
Looking at her, Elisha asked, “What’s wrong, Ann?”
“The hairband with pink flowers has disappeared.”
“Really? Maybe you misplaced it somewhere.”
“I couldn’t have put it somewhere else… Nevermind, I’ll look for it again later.”
With a ribbon tied on her hair, Elisha left the room. A sigh leaked from her mouth as she walked toward Albert’s office. It was never a good thing when Albert called her directly. And today, it seemed like that as well. When Elisha arrived at the door and knocked, the answer came as if he had been waiting.
“Come in.”
Before opening the door, Elisha took a deep breath. As soon as she entered, the strong smell of a cigarette attacked her nose. It was a smell that described Albert’s mood perfectly, as he was looking at her with cold eyes.
Albert’s aide, Aaron, who was in his office, excused himself out when he saw Elisha. Meanwhile, Albert, as always, went straight to the point. “I heard that you didn’t attend the tea party organized by the Young Miss of Marquis Felice a few days ago.”
Elisha realized the reason why Albert called her with just one sentence.
A few days before the Emperor’s birthday, the belongings of the fallen warriors returned after some time had passed since they departed. They were the belongings of the fallen royal army who went with Richard but died before arriving on the battlefield.
Even before the full-fledged war began, the nobles saw the returned belongings and realized that the royal army was on the losing side. Therefore, the nobles, who inclined toward Rubelin’s side after the incident at the royal hunting ground, flocked toward the Emperor’s side again.
It was a war in which the well-trained knights and soldiers died easily. Although Richard inherited the exceptional ability of the Rubelins, he was just a 15-years-old boy. They probably thought that it would be difficult for him to survive the war and come back alive.
Thus, Albert was always in a bad mood lately. Consequently, Elisha’s absence from the tea party would irritate him more since he valued the family’s prestige highly.
Elisha explained herself calmly. “I had a financial class. I already postponed it once before, so it’ll be inappropriate to put it off again.”
“You missed the tea party just because of that stupid class?”
“It was a prior engagement, and I thought it’s a high virtue to keep my word.”
Albert clicked his tongue at Elisha’s answer. “Foolish. If two events overlap, you should choose according to their significance. Is learning more important to you than the prestige of your family? To you, who’s just a lady of this family?”
He meant that it was pointless for a girl to study. As Albert made a biased remark about the gender difference, Elisha unknowingly bit her lips.
“Or did you purposely avoid it even though you knew the significance of the tea party? Because you were afraid that they’ll make fun of you?”
Elisha, who was touched at her sore spot, felt sick inside. Actually, it was true that she didn’t want to attend the tea party. Rose Felice, who invited her to the tea party, was the fiancée of the Crown Prince Christian and the one who expressed hostility openly toward her at Count Arden’s banquet.
Rose, who never invited her to a tea party when Richard was present, suddenly did that as if she had been waiting for Richard’s departure. Her hidden intention was too obvious.
‘I guess she wants to ridicule me, who is in a precarious position after Richard left.’ Fortunately, she happened to have a class on that day and decided to use it as an excuse for not attending. But it wasn’t the real reason to skip the tea party.
“Yes, that was why I didn’t want to go.”
“You should’ve gone and shown them that Rubelin is still thriving! How can you let those scoundrels label us as cowards?!”
“I thought it would be more practical to show it by studying rather than attending the tea party.” Elisha answered while looking Albert in the eye despite his disapproving look.
Although his red eyes began to fill with anger, she added without hesitation, “Because the prestige established based on words won’t last long.”
It was also a remark directed toward Albert, who was obsessed with the false prestige.