What? Werent you mourning for your past master? You were just waiting for him to die? You greedy boomer.

But ever since youve been around, a lot of good things have been happening to us.

Hehehe He laughed, avoiding my eye contact.

Honestly, His Majesty is like a newborn baby to us and the weirdos at the tower. You see, Ive been working at the Tower before His Majesty was even born, and if I had ever gotten married, I would have had a granddaughter just your age as well.

I halted at what he said afterward.

The way he looked at me was genuine as if a grandfather were looking at his granddaughter.

I quickly came to realize that he wasnt so young as he looked on the outside.

So I find it more than relieving that you made it back to the palace safely and am thankful for revitalizing this barren palace.

He bowed down, showing his genuine gratitude.

Watching him bow towards me made me feel gradually awkward.

I barely spoke after I saw his braided hair reaching down to the ground in silence.

N-No. Dont be. Its I that should be tha

No, your highness. You are the true treasure to His Highness and therefore to Obelia.

Uh

In the spirit of being treasured, could you please spare a drop of blood?

Please leave.

I told him immediately as he tried to swindle me.

Argh, what a trickster! Getting the mood set and all

Hehehe. Youve finally made me travel outside the Tower where I usually reside. Ill visit you again, your highness.

Please dont! Youre not gonna get what you want anyway!

Hehehe. If thats the case, please stay safe. Hehehehe

I cant believe the headmaster was more of a weirdo than the already crazy Lucas! Boo-hoo! I want my fantasies back!

* * *

Theyre all crazy boomers.

Claudes remarks on the headmaster were also harsh.

During tea time, he constantly reminded me not to approach the crazy boomer ever again and to report all activities the headmaster does.

I watched him ramble about the headmaster then threw him a question.

Hmmm. You and the headmaster must be friends, right?

Are you mad?

He frowned as if he was doubting his ears but Ive already gotten a grip on the situation.

I didnt know because Ive never heard of Claude talk about the headmaster but what he told me in the Emerald Palace doesnt sound like a trick And the way Claude treats him both physically and verbally was bizarrely indescribable.

Could it be that something flows through them from the fact theyre not just ordinary people?

So thats why hes got connections with the headmaster I started to get curious.

But Claude sounded like he actually was considering my remarks as nonsense.

Soon after, I introduced my plans as I had some cake with Claude.

Im gonna throw a birthday party.

What?

He gave me a shocked look as I unraveled my plans.

Not on my actual birthday, but a few days later.

Which kind of party?

At noon, Im thinking of a simple tea party with the people in Emerald Palace and in the evening, invite some noble children and have a masquerade. Sounds like fun right?

Judging from his facial expression, he took pity on what I just said.

That made me chuckle a bit, reminding me that even though he may have lost his memory, the personality inside him doesnt change.

Didnt Claude hate me both going outside the palace and inviting people in? And didnt he hate me inviting boys into the palace? Thats why all the people whove ever come to my tea parties have all been girls.

But whats the point in unraveling my plans if Im not going to hold the party in the first place? I simply smiled Claudes pity away.

Thinking about it, Ive never held a party at my palace. So I thought why not invite some new people?

I was going nuts on this guy. Hehehe! But it just feels so good to go nuts! If I had known this feeling, I wouldve gone nuts months ago!

Well, it was pretty normal for the invitees to not accept the invitation because there are some things Claude had done to me in front of other people during the last Birthday Banquet.

But rumor has it that Claude scared the living hell out of some nobles during the feast while I was gone who spoke of me lightly to him.

I dont know what they told Claude about me but after that, nobody dared to consider me an actual princess.

It was practically carrying fire in one hand and water in the other but considering that its my fault Claude lost his memory and that hes been preoccupied all the while I was gone

And yesterday Claude and I even appeared on the terrace holding hands combined with the incident that annihilated half the Black Tower in response to the headmaster trying to use me as a test subject, the rumors regarding our relationship have instantly faded away.

Plus, thanks to Claude showing his dire efforts to find me while I was missing, people now think of our past as nothing more than a parent-child argument.

It was a bit too fierce to be an ordinary argument But people seemed to buy it since I was arguing with none other than Claude.

So as the news got around that I had returned, more and more people kept sending me invitations and gifts.

So I thought if I were to invite them over to my birthday, theyd probably attend at least to check if Claude and I have really gotten over our ugly past.

But Claude straight-up gave me a chilly look and disagreed with my proposed party.

Its okay having a party with the palace people and servants but a dress-up ball? Those kinds of complicated parties are not

Well, Im not gonna invite you anyway. Pretty sure its not going to be too loud in Garnet Palace though.

Claudes hands holding the teacup stopped instantaneously. He then asked me, doubting what I just told him.

What?

Come on, dad. Whats there to be surprised about?

I told Claude indifferently as he gave me a shook look.

You didnt come to meet me on any of my birthdays anyway. Arent you going to stay in Garnet Palace for days this time around too?

SobFine. Im small-minded and remember everything. Although I know it was because of Diana that he didnt come over for my birthdays but it still makes me sad.

If I werent on the second phase of my life and had still been a weak little kid, I definitely wouldve been scarred for life.

But Claude couldnt get a word out of his mouth as if he were flattered to hear me tell him that so directly.

His pupils were fixed. I began to feel a wee bit strange seeing him so puzzled in front of me.

A moment later, Claude spoke in relative calm as he put the teacup back on the table.

Did I?

He had the sentence Umm i dONt kNow written all over his face.

Yeah sure. You forgot everything, including my birthdays. Obviously you dont remember not even trying to meet me on my birthdays.

You know what, its whatever.

I kept touching the teacup next to me. Then I picked it up and told Claude while smiling as if nothing was going through my mind.

Ive been having a lot of fun on my birthdays actually. With a party this time around, itll be extra fun. Ill make sure to keep the noise down.

That I never nagged him to come over was my least amount of respect for him.

And me asking Claude to come over scratching his already pained scar was purely out of greed and me just laughing it off like nothing probably wouldve been another nag.

Care for some more tea, dad?

He stayed silent but I filled his empty teacup anyway.

You shall not be full on your first glass of wine, I shouldnt have wished everything at the same time.

[TL Notes: Korean proverb for humility.]

On one side I felt relieved to have said something Ive always wanted but on the other side, I was kind of regretting whether I said something too big of a favor. I held my sigh in as I took a bite out of a scone in front of me.

Speaking of parties, my birthdays just around the corner. Gosh, time flies.

Claude speechlessly stared at my face for some time. Then moments later,

Ill be there.

He spilled out a low tone.

I wont be late for this birthday.

I raised my head after timelessly looking at the tree shadow cast on the grass. The chin resting on the palm was raised subtly.

I gradually opened my mouth.

Really?

Yeah.

Youre not kidding, are you?

Im not.

Uh Im really okay with you not coming. I just asked you

Im not okay.

This time, Claude raised his teacup. His voice was noticeably clearer now.

Ill make sure to come.

It would be a total lie if I told you I didnt expect anything from Claude. But now that I got the response I wanted, my heart started to tingle a bit.

Maybe its because of my obvious nagging that he came to this conclusion.

But I was happy nonetheless.

Hehe.

As I chuckled my delight away, he looked at me with the Heh. Silly child. face. But how could I not be happy? Its going to be the first birthday I get to spend with dad!