We returned back to Claudia's residence, I was without a present for Hanise. But, one thing I gained in return was the fall of one of Lione's assassins.
"That really was a close one Lia, if it wasn't for my maids, we wouldn't have survived!" Claudia and I walked downstairs, her present in hand while I brought in the cake. It was Claudia's idea for me to do so, so I'd at least have some contribution.
Priscilla conversed with Hanise, taking up his time so that he wouldn't wander anywhere before we finished preparations. The dining area was large, much larger than the one Dad and I was given, the tables shined like it had been cleansed of any speck of dust in sight.
The room itself glittered too, from top to bottom. A set of 12 chairs on both sides of the 3 tables, adjusted to be symmetrically perfect.
"Let's get to work, Lia!" both maids and butlers jumped from behind, immediately setting up ribbons and signs as if they had been waiting for an order. Dad also chipped in too, helping out with decorations, and even setting up party hats.
"How about Lione?" I asked, Lione was nowhere in sight, and neither was Layla.
"Father said he didn't have time for such things." Her shoulders dropped, holding onto her small present. It had a small blue ribbon to with the small blue box. If I had to assume, it was probably something expensive.
"Miss Layla probably doesn't have time either, especially since they act like enemies to each other."
"You were saying?" Layla sprung onto me, making me fall forwards. Luckily, Layla held me up with a small wind spell.
"Miss Layla? Why are you here?"
"What do you mean? I'm here to celebrate Murren's birthday of course hohoho!" Layla grinned, throwing her head back chuckling.
"Lady Claudia, the birthday decorations are complete." One of the maids reported, bowing her head awaiting for orders.
"Yes, now all that's left is to turn off all the lights and get into position." Claudia pointed her finger to the tables, running behind the table to hide. The maids followed in unison, going to spots around objects within the room to hide.
fwoosh
The lights went out and the moonlight was the only thing illuminating the room. I had also hid, being next to my dad.
"I remember doing this when you were just this small Lia!" Dad whispered loudly, using his hands, motioning to show me what he was talking about.
"Shhh! Don't be too loud!" Claudia hissed quietly somewhere around the room.
"You're too loud now Claudia!" I hissed back, my finger went over my mouth, though I didn't know if she could see me.
"Shhh! I can hear them coming!" We kept quiet, the steps of two gradually got closer, and the doors swung open. As soon as the lights brightened the room once more, we all chanted in unison.
"Happy birthday Murren!"
Murren's eyes widened, staggering back. After a few seconds of him stumbling on his words, he took in a deep breath his hands following his breathing to help himself.
"Argh.. Uh, thanks..?" He questioned himself, scratching his hair, and his other hand on his hip.
"Come in, don't just stand there Murren!" Layla hurriedly grabbed his arm, pulling him down to sit. His face was full of shock, he froze in place, while Layla placed the cake, topped with chocolate icing, sprinkles and a small candle. Afterwards, she grabbed the party hat and sat it on his head.
"Alright Murren, I'm going to need you to light the candle and do it gently!" Layla cheekily said, grabbing his finger next to the candle. Hanise glared, jerking his finger away from her grasp. Without even looking back at the candle, fire burst from the candle, almost reaching the ceiling before quietening down.
"There. You happy?"
"Cheer up Murren, it's your birthday!" She pulled his cheeks up, making his lips curve into a smile. Layla's plastered-on smile and her intentions were easily see through by everyone else and I. 'Don't even think about it', we all thought probably.
"Right.." Hanise looked back at the cake, blowing out the small fire. Everyone all clapped, even Priscilla in the corner did too.
"All right, let's all eat!" Claudia licked her lips as she spoke, knife in hand as she looked at Hanise's cake. She was stopped by one of the maids, taking her knife and in the next moment, cleanly cutting it into equal slices.
Some had presents, and the first to give Hanise's present was Claudia, she wasn't able to hold her excitement in, so everyone let her go first. Then the next was Layla and so on. I didn't have a present, but I still went up to Hanise.
To apologize, he shook it off, telling me not to worry and that it was better that I didn't, more so because he felt weirded out. Being given presents at his age, he felt overwhelmed and assured that a celebratory message was all he needed. There was alcohol included, but Priscilla eyed Claudia and I down, specifically Claudia.
Claudia nudged me with her hand, she swayed from side to side, and she had a hint of exhaustion in her drowsy eyes.
"I'm going to head back now, I'm getting.. A little tired, you should.. Too." She fell forward, my arms were ready to catch her but Priscilla had already swooped in.
"As Lady Claudia stated, you too should head back soon Lady Ophelia, you need as much rest as possible." She bowed with her head, Claudia in her arms as she exited with the help of another maid.
"Another bottle please!" In the back, Dad was downing bottles of wine? He was completely out of it, he became a red tomato minutes ago but he was still able to drink whole bottles.
Layla left right after she had her fun bullying Hanise, adding in that she had work to do.
"Hey kid." Hanise grumbled, his face was a little red.
"Yeah?"
"Why are you sitting next to me?"
"Dad is full-blown drunk, Claudia and Miss Layla are also gone, and I'm not great with the other maids or butlers."
"I was like that too, you know."
"Yeah I know, you were an absolute sore loser." I commented. I sipped a bit of the tea I was brought as a substitute, it was a little too sweet.
"Ah ah ah. Says you, I 'was' a sore loser, you 'are' a loser right now."
"No no no. These are grown adults, it's different."
"Yeah right, believe that if you will kid."
"Whatever, at least I didn't say my entire backstory to a random kid."
"You asked for it!" He angrily chided back, his face flushed a little more red, I don't know if it was from embarrassment or from the wine he was drinking. He looked down at his wine glass, his face relaxed, and his shoulders drooped down.
"Hey kid."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks." Drinking the last of what was in his glass, he placed it back onto the table and stood up. "If I could turn back time, I'd have changed everything, for me and for him. Even now, that still hasn't changed. But, for some reason, even though I've experienced more with Murren and had done more with him than I had with you, I find the short time we've had not so bad. You have this strong pull, kid." He massaged his temple, grumbling.
"I don't know what I'm saying anymore, this might be the alcohol. You should head back now, get some rest." He stumbled back, drowsily making his way to my Dad. Many people said the same thing, I too thought the same. From my own perspective, Yuralis, had this presence, maybe because she or I was a queen in my past life.
I left the dining area, returning back to my room and hitting the bed hard. Everything up till now, was confusing. There were too many things I still had yet to solve or understand.