Free Web NovelChapter 579: The Birthday Party [I]
The children arrived around lunchtime. All of them looked battered, but they weren’t showing any injuries, so Elaina felt relieved. Still, she was surprised that the young devil named Arlo went with them hunting, though it looked like the kid had finally cheered up a little, seeing as he was now smiling with the kids compared to the other day when he was crying from time to time.
The kids hunted a big boar, perfect for a spit-roasted hog. She planned to hunt for one, but seeing that the kids did it, she didn’t bother doing it this time. There is no need to cook a lot when the visitors aren’t a whole town. This massive boar is enough to fill the belly of everyone.
Adelaide and Arthur are both aware that they will be celebrating their birthdays, and although they are entitled to at least stop and rest for the day, the two prefer to do something. In their own words, they feel uncomfortable seeing everyone do the work while they just sit down, rest, and do nothing. They prefer to do something even if it is their birthday.
Aside from the spit-roasted hog, Elaina also gathered a few of the fish that she caught the other day in preparation for the celebration. She plans to fry the fish and make it similar to fried chicken with a coating. This will allow her to trick a few of the kids who refuse to eat fish.
Calling it a birthday party is somewhat inaccurate, though, as this isn’t a party where there are parlor games, entertainment, and many other things. This is more like some sort of gathering with friends, with food and drinks, with the pretense of celebrating the birthday. Elaina asked the twins what kind of party they wanted for their birthday, but the two prefer a quiet but fun gathering of friends, relatives, and acquaintances instead of doing a grand thing. They don’t like to be in some sort of spotlight, and at this point, they prefer a less troublesome party. In Adelaide’s defense, "A modest and simple gathering with food will generate less after-work. This works best for us."
Despite Elaina wanting to make a gorgeous party similar to the birthday parties she has attended in the past in Luminiera Kingdom, she ultimately decided to honor her kids’ wishes. And she can definitely agree on the after-work.
The very first thing the kids noticed when they arrived was the sudden youthful looks of the two great grandparents who looks old since the very beginning. Seeing them young again caused the kids to be surprised and confused. Despite the questions lingering in their mind, the two were ready to explain and even answer questions about what was going on.
Still, Adelaide purposely stopped them from explaining and delayed it until the celebration was over. The two agreed and preferred it that way.
During lunchtime, is the busiest time that everyone experienced as the visitors arrived one by one. The first to arrive was Troy, while carrying gifts for the twins.
"Brother! You finally had the time to visit us! It has been a while since your last visit. The kids missed you," Elaina said, hugging Troy, missing each other. After all, he had been busy for months, and he barely visited again despite claiming he would visit regularly. frёewebnoѵēl.com
"Forgive me, Sis. It’s been a hectic time, and I can totally understand why you thought that way. But I can’t squeeze enough time to even visit. Even Dr. Fey noticed this and even urged me to visit you guys, but I really am trying."
"Well, I am not blaming you for being busy. Just make sure you don’t put yourself in too much work, yeah? Try unwinding for some time. Don’t just focus on living your life buried with work. After all, your work is something that you can’t make as your identity."
"I will try, Sis. Anyways, here are the gifts that I got for the kids. Hope they both will like them. Although both are just prototypes designed for the twins."
He hands over two boxes containing the items he intended to give as a gift. It is a grappling hook shooter. Elaina remembered that the twins are actually asking to have them get this tool as something they wanted Troy to make, as this will assist them in the traversal of dungeons and the mines.
"Are these only exclusive for the twins?" Elaina asked. She is worried that only the two get something for themselves and the rest are not even getting any. After all, a tool for dungeon and mine exploration is invaluable in terms of necessity if it can even help save a life or make the exploration a breeze to do.
"No. The other kids also have their share, but they are still under construction, as the whole thing is still hard to create and some of the materials are hard to come by. I only delivered these two for the time being, as they are the first batch I managed to finish so far. No worries though; I won’t be leaving everyone behind. They will get one once the final product is finished. But until then, these two would be the first. Besides, I wanted to know what I can improve on these as well."
Elaina nodded and close the box again before pushing it back to Troy. "You give this to the kids later. They might mistake that as my gift. I have my own set of gifts."
Hearing that, Troy smiled and put the two boxes back to his bag again before looking into the kitchen. "Alright, is the food ready?"
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The next visitor is none other than Princess Margaux alongside Princess Tabatha. Like Troy, it has been a while since she returned home. After becoming busy herself alongside Princess Tabatha, the former left the farmhouse to focus on her duties. Princess Tabatha, on the other hand, is a regular visitor. Although not as frequent as before because she also has her duties, she does come when she has the time, often to train her swordsmanship, which Elaina teaches.
"Miss Elaina!" Princess Margaux is teary-eyed after seeing Elaina again. The two hugged like sisters who have not met for quite some time and just reunited by accident.
"I thought you were still busy, Princess. It has been a while," Elaina smiled as she patted Princess Margaux’s head.
"It has indeed been a while, Miss. I really miss you and the farm. There’s no place like this, no matter how hard I try to adapt again in the palace; the vibes and the place are just totally different."
"You know that you are still free to stay here. Your room remains the same as before and you can go back anytime you wanted to. As long as you are no longer busy, then you can have a rest there anytime," Elaina offered Princess Margaux her room again. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"Very tempting, Miss Elaina, but as much as I wanted to take that, I can’t do that just yet. However, my job will be done soon. I will take that offer, Miss Elaina," Princess Margaux looked upstairs, remembering her old room before.
"Is the job really hard that you have to sacrifice staying in your old room? After all, there’s no problem for the royalty to stay somewhere that is not the castle, yes?"
Princess Tabatha is the one who answered Elaina’s question. "There’s no rule that prohibits someone from doing that. Even I continues to stay in my house near the farm, Master. But compared to me, Margaux’s job is more like in need of her presence most of the time which is why she needed to be able to respond and attend to the matter as fast as possible. Staying here on the farm will make her have a longer time to reach and attend to her business so, its not that she can’t do it, it’s more like she needed to do it with her presence.
Princess Margaux removes herself from Elaina’s embrace and smiled. "Once I am done with my job there, I will stay here again. I will not exchange my second home away for comfort at the castle."
Like Troy, both Princess Margaux and Princess Tabatha brought their own gifts for the twins, but unlike Troy that gave his gift to Elaina, the two didn’t hand them, but straight to Adelaide and Arthur. Whatever they are, it seems to have pleased the two.
The birthday celebration is just the beginning and although they are getting busier as time goes on, Elaina made sure to welcome all the guests with open arms.
Unlike the previous three, the next person who arrived changed Elaina’s attitude completely. As for who it is, it is none other than Alfred Luminiera himself. Alfred also arrived next to Princess Tabatha and Princess Margaux, hoping to celebrate the birthday of his daughter and son.
As much as Elaina doesn’t have any bad feelings or any lingering issues regarding Alfred himself, Elaina prefers not to fully communicate much with him. It is best that he would just interact with their twins, rather than having both of them restore their previous relationship that got ruined in the end. And from the looks of it, the same can be said with Alfred who seems to prefer to maintain the neutral balance that hangs in a tiny thread to keep their relationship intact.
