Free Web NovelChapter 25: Judite’s Birthday
And then came Judite’s birthday.
The little girl was turning five that day.
Judite’s celebration was simple, attended only by family. There were no outside guests, no neighboring nobles or important merchants. Just Aurora, Clavor, Lukas, the oldest servants, who were treated almost like family, and, of course, Judite.
The girl wore a new dress that Aurora had sewn especially for the occasion, light blue with small flowers embroidered along the hem. Her brown hair was tied into two braids, with pink ribbons fastened at the ends.
She was radiant.
"How old are you now, Judite?" Lukas asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"Five!" she shouted, holding up five fingers.
He had prepared a gift.
Days earlier, he had gathered flowers from the inner garden, the prettiest ones, the ones with the brightest colors, and arranged them into a small bouquet, tied together with a piece of string. He had asked Helga, the cook, to give him.
On the morning of her birthday, he handed the bouquet to Judite.
"For you," he said, holding it out.
"Happy birthday."
Judite stared at the flowers.
Her eyes immediately filled with tears, tears of joy, because she always cried easily, and she let out a high-pitched scream that echoed through the mansion corridors.
"LUKAS! IT’S BEAUTIFUL! YOU MADE THIS FOR ME?"
"Yes," he replied, already accustomed to his sister’s outbursts.
She hugged him so tightly that she nearly lifted him off the ground. Lukas felt his feet leave the floor for a moment before she set him back down.
"THIS IS THE BEST PRESENT IN THE WORLD!" Judite declared, clutching the bouquet against her chest.
"THANK YOU, LUKAS!"
Aurora, who was watching from the doorway, wiped away a tear with the tip of her finger.
"He’s so sweet," she murmured to Clavor.
"Yeah," her husband replied with a proud smile.
"But don’t say that too loudly. He’s already getting far too full of himself."
Lukas overheard and mentally rolled his eyes.
’Full of myself? Me?’
...
The day after Judite’s birthday, Aurora entered Lukas’s room with a radiant smile on her face, a smile different from her usual ones, wider, brighter, as though she were keeping a wonderful secret.
Lukas was sitting on the floor with an open book in front of him and Tilbo resting on his shoulder. The ant was now as large as an adult’s palm, a size Lukas had never imagined possible for an apparently ordinary ant.
’She’s not ordinary anymore,’ he thought every time he looked at her.
"What is it?" Lukas asked, closing the book when he saw his mother’s expression. His violet eyes shone with curiosity.
Aurora sat down beside him on the floor, her knees cracking softly.
"We’re going to the city today," she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Lukas felt his heart leap in his chest.
The city.
Finally.
He knew there were villages near the Dmond estate. Clavor mentioned them often while talking about taxes, harvests, and problems involving peasants.
But the city was something else.
The city was where the markets were. The craftsmen. The booksellers. The people.
The city was where he could truly begin to understand this world.
"We really are?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm and failing miserably. Excitement overflowed into his words, making his childish voice even higher.
"We are," Aurora confirmed, laughing at his reaction.
"It’s an important day for Judite. We’ll all go together."
Lukas almost shouted with excitement.
His violet eyes shone brighter than ever, not with their usual calm glow, but with pure, genuine, childlike excitement.
’Finally.’
’I’m finally leaving the mansion for real.’
’I’m finally going to see more of this world.’
He looked at Tilbo on his shoulder. The ant rapidly moved her antennae, as though she were excited too.
"Tilbo," he said.
"Are you coming too?"
The ant climbed down Lukas’s arm and into his hand, nestling between his fingers. He felt her weight, heavier than she looked, more solid.
"Can I bring her?" Lukas asked Aurora.
Aurora hesitated for a moment, looking at the ant.
Tilbo was now large enough to attract attention, and not necessarily the good kind. Ants of that size were not common. Perhaps they did not exist at all. She could easily be mistaken for a small monster.
"She stays in your pocket," Aurora finally decided.
"And she doesn’t come out. Understood? I don’t want anyone getting frightened."
Lukas nodded solemnly.
"She’ll behave."
"Good." Aurora stood up and extended a hand to help him rise.
"Let’s get ready. Your father is already preparing the carriage."
Lukas stood up on his own, without needing help, as he always did now, but he held his mother’s hand anyway because he knew she liked it.
Tilbo climbed back onto Lukas’s shoulder, and the two followed Aurora through the corridor toward the mansion entrance.
The carriage was waiting in front of the mansion. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
It was the same sturdy vehicle that had taken Asmon to the Royal Academy of Rhyne weeks earlier, now empty and ready for a new journey. The Dmond family crest, the Three-Tailed Wolf, was painted on the dark wooden door, its silver details gleaming beneath the morning sunlight. The two horses pulling the carriage pawed impatiently at the ground, snorting warm vapor into the cool air.
Clavor was already mounted on his own horse, Thunder, the black stallion with a long mane.
The horse was large and muscular, with dark, intelligent eyes. Lukas studied him for a long moment, noticing the differences compared to Earth’s horses.
The legs were slightly shorter.
The chest was broader.
Judite was already inside the carriage, her head sticking out of the window as she waved frantically.
"Lukas! Hurry up! Let’s go!"
Helga, the cook, appeared at the mansion entrance carrying a basket filled with bread and fruit.
"For the road," she said, handing the basket to Aurora.
"You shouldn’t travel on an empty stomach."
"Thank you, Helga," Aurora replied.
"Take care of the mansion for us."
"Leave it to me."
Lukas climbed into the carriage with Clavor’s help, even though he could have done it himself. He had learned that accepting help every now and then made his parents happy.
He sat beside Judite, who immediately began pointing at everything she saw through the window.
"Look at the tree! Look at the bird! Look at the cloud that looks like a sheep!"
Lukas looked at each thing she pointed out, but his mind was already farther ahead, in the city, among busy streets, noisy markets, and books he might be able to buy or at least browse through.
Tilbo was in his pocket, the inner pocket of the small coat Aurora had made especially for him.
The ant remained still, but Lukas could feel her weight against his chest, her body warm.
Clavor mounted Thunder and positioned himself beside the carriage.
"Everyone ready?" he called out.
"Yes!" Judite shouted. freēwēbnovel.com
"Yes," Aurora replied, already seated beside her children.
Lukas merely nodded, his violet eyes fixed on the road ahead, winding downhill toward the unknown.
The coachman cracked the whip.
The horses surged forward.
The carriage creaked and began to move, its wooden wheels turning across the packed dirt road.
And the Dmond family set out toward the city.
Lukas looked back, watching the mansion gradually shrink on the horizon, its stone walls, square towers, and windows gleaming beneath the sunlight.
Then he turned forward again.
The world beyond was waiting for him.
