Chapter 38: It’s Your Birthday

Ordinary days continuing is nothing short of a blessing.

Of course, that ordinariness shines beautifully in everyone’s eyes.

“Mana! Let’s do origami!”

“Yes, Young Lady~”

Autumn is slowly ripening.

The leaves that were slowly changing color are now all yellow and red, and the mountain animals are plump, perfectly preparing for the coming winter.

And as we pass the middle of autumn…

“Mana, you fold a paper crane too!”

“Yes~”

October 11th, tomorrow is the young lady’s birthday.

I don’t know if the young lady remembers…

“Now, like this here~”

“Wow!”

..Seeing how innocent she is, I think she probably forgot her birthday completely.

Hmm… maybe that’s a good thing.

Her previous birthdays weren’t very good.

From this year on, I’ll throw her a wonderful birthday party, Young Lady?

“Mana! I folded it too!”

“Wow! You did a great job, Young Lady~”

“Hehe.”

I gently stroke the young lady’s head, and she closes her eyes and enjoys my touch.

…Isn’t she too cute, Young Lady?

“Good night, Young Lady?”

“Yes! Good night, Mana!”

Today, too, we end the day happily with a goodnight kiss.

“Fuaaaa… Hehe, I love you Mana~”

“Yes, yes, I love you too, Young Lady?”

The young lady snuggles into my arms, rubs her face for a moment, and then closes her eyes with a smile.

I hug the young lady tightly so that she can fall asleep immediately, and then close my eyes…

– Sniff… sniff…

Very slowly, I can hear the young lady breathing at a constant pace.

Pat.. pat.. I pat the young lady’s back, and she quickly falls asleep.

Now, then..!

Slither…

Like a snake, I carefully get out of bed.

Haha, you can look forward to it?

I prepare for the young lady’s birthday party as stealthily and quickly as possible.

This goes here, that goes there..!

I hope it will be a birthday party that will surprise the young lady!

The morning of October 11th.

I wait for the young lady in my arms to wake up.

Phew, how many hours did I squeeze and twist over the past month and a half to deceive the young lady’s eyes for this one day..!

As much as the young lady is happy today, my hardships of the past month and a half will melt away.

I hope she wakes up soon so we can have fun together.

“Mmm…”

“Are you awake, Young Lady?”

“Hmm… Mana… good morning…”

Wiggle, wiggle, the young lady moves.

“It’s morning, you know?”

“Yes…”

I carefully steal a kiss from the lips of the young lady, who is still half asleep.

– Smooch…

“Mmm…”

Sleepyheads should wake up quickly, you know?

When I steal a kiss from her soft lips, she opens her eyes wide and smiles bashfully.

I smile back at her and then part my lips.

“Phew!”

“Did you have a good dream?”

“Yes! I dreamed of eating clouds with Mana!”

“Clouds?”

“Yes! It tasted fluffy!”

..That’s a very young lady-like dream.

“Now, let’s go wash up quickly?”

“Yes!”

I leave the bedroom with the young lady.

“Now, would you like to open the door, Young Lady?”

“Huh?”

“Me?”

“Okay~”

The young lady grabs the door and opens it with a heave..! and the mansion that I decorated last night is revealed.

“Wow..!”

The ceiling is full of colorful balloons,

And on the hallway walls are pictures of the memories of the past 8 months with the young lady.

“Wh, what is all this, Mana?”

Now, and for today’s protagonist, I’ll put a fancy party hat on her head~

“Happy birthday, Young Lady~”

“Birthday??!”

“Yes~ Today is the day you were born!”

“So I decorated the mansion like this~ Now, come this way?”

“Wow! Wow! Wow!”

Seeing the young lady jumping up and down in place, the hardships of the past days melt away.

This is why I prepare surprise events!

“Did Mana prepare all of this?”

“Yes~ I prepared it secretly without the young lady knowing?”

“Wow..! The pictures are so pretty!!”

“This is a picture of when I first met you, Young Lady?”

“Ah… when I pushed Mana.”

“Hey, it’s when I fell.”

In addition to balloons and pictures, various small decorations make the mansion a fun and bright atmosphere.

“Now, if you follow these pictures, you’ll be fine.”

“Wow… is this us taking a shower together?”

“Yes~”

“Why is there steam?”

“Well, there’s always steam in the bathroom, right?”

“That’s true!”

The young lady holds my hand and we slowly move along, looking at the realistic pictures I drew.

“Mana is kissing my forehead..!”

“How is it?”

“If others saw it in real life, wouldn’t it look just like that?”

“H, hwaaaaa..!”

Ah, her face turned red.

We’ve had so many daily routines like this, Young Lady.

Now it’s so familiar that it seems like a part of life.

But in the past, each of those things was new, right?

The reason I drew those pictures is to let the young lady know that the daily routines that have become familiar now are all made by accumulating precious first experiences.

“I told you, right?”

“I’ll fill every day with happiness.”

“…Did you remember that?”

“Of course.”

“I’m your exclusive maid, you know?”

“There will be a lot more pictures like that in the future, you know?”

“…I like it so much.”

“There’s the young lady with her tooth missing.”

“Pfft!”

“What, it’s so funny!”

Even now, the young lady with a missing tooth is quite cute.

“That’s when we went to see the sparkly flowers!”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“When I used magic!”

“I was so surprised.”

“I never thought you’d be so good at magic, Young Lady.”

“Vegetable garden!”

“The young lady playing in the dirt in the vegetable garden is cute too, right?”

“Yes!”

“Mana watching me from the side is cute!”

As expected, even with the same picture, everyone sees it a little differently.

I’m busy looking only at the young lady, but the young lady is busy finding me in every corner of the picture, you know?

“We swam too!”

“That’s right~”

“This is… um…! May!”

“That’s right.”

“It’s May.”

“She said she’s coming in the winter, so she’ll probably come in January.”

“Is this leaf viewing??”

“Yes, do you remember the people we met at the lake?”

“Fairies!”

“Unicorns!”

“That’s right~ They’re drawn here~”

“There’s marshmallows there too!”

We’ve had so many things happen in the past 8 months, right?

So, after passing the pictures, there is only one, a white drawing paper.

“Here?”

“Today, I’ll draw the prettiest drawing while having a birthday party with you, Young Lady.”

“You’ll draw Mana too, right?”

“Of course~ Now, this way!”

“The surprise party isn’t over yet, you know?”

You have to go see the heart of childhood that I carefully prepared for you, Young Lady?

I hold her hand and go down to the 1st floor and head to the dining room.

“Now, close your eyes for a moment~ Enter~”

“Sniff sniff.. it smells sweet!”

“Oh my, you’re quick-witted~ That’s right~ Ta-da~”

“Hwaaaaa…! Gasp, gasp..!”

The young lady sees something in the dining room and is surprised.

This, this, it’s definitely worth preparing!

“It’s a 9-tier birthday cake for you, Young Lady~”

On the table, a huge cake tower that seems to reach the ceiling.

White, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, a total of 9 colors, it’s a rainbow cake, you know?

“…It’s like magic.”

“Surprisingly, it’s real!”

“Of course, it’s like magic though!”

“H, how many tiers is this?”

“Would you like to count?”

“One.. two.. three..four…. eight, nine!”

“That’s right.”

“Do you know why it’s nine tiers?”

“Um… because it’s pretty?”

“You are pretty, Young Lady.”

“Ehehehe..”

I don’t know where our young lady learned to put her hand on her cheek and be shy, but it’s really cute.

“So why is it nine tiers?”

“It’s because today is the day you turn from eight years old to nine years old.”

“The day I turn nine?”

“Yes, that’s what a birthday is, you know?”

“It’s a wonderful day when you get one year older!”

“…I’m nine years old!”

“That’s right!”

“Nine years old!”

Hmm, I’ve decided.

Today’s picture should be of the young lady surprised by the cake.

“This cake is so big and so cool!”

“It’s pretty!”

“The flavors are all different too.”

“Is there a color you’d like to eat?”

“Hmm… pink!”

“Okay~”

I cut a slice of the pink part of the cake and give it to the young lady, who is sparkling her eyes.

“Wow..!”

“It’s strawberry cake~”

“It’s so pretty…”

“Now, ah~~~”

“Ah~~ nom! It’s delicious..!”

Our young lady, how did you get cream on your cheek?

I wipe the cream on the young lady’s cheek with my finger and lick it.

Hmm! It’s fragrant strawberry cream!

“…Mana.”

“Yes, Young Lady?”

The young lady stares blankly at me and then nods her head.

“…I like pink!”

“Pfft, suddenly?”

“Yes!”

“Pink is the best!”

“Then shall we try another slice?”

“Then your thoughts might change?”

“Ugh… okay!”

“But I want to wash up before I eat!”

“Aww~~~ Our young lady, how can you be so admirable?”

“Smooch smooch smooch smooch smooch!”

“Kyaaa~!”

I can’t stand how cute our young lady is, you know?

Here, take a shower of kisses!

“Then shall we wash up, eat cake, and draw together?”

“I’ll make today the best birthday ever!”

“Mana is a fool!”

“Huh?”

The maid suddenly becomes a fool..?

The young lady hugs me tightly!

“I only need Mana!”

“If I have Mana, every day is the best!”

“Kyaaaa..!”

I spin the young lady around a few times and hug her tightly.

“If I have you, Young Lady, every day is the best too!”

“Then give me Mana as a birthday present!”

“If you’re okay with me~~!!”

Oh, our young lady is so cute!

Really, I’m so lucky to be able to serve such a cute young lady!

“Now! Shall we enjoy the best birthday?”

“Yes!!”

So the two of us washed up, ate cake,

And drew the young lady surprised by the cake we saw earlier.

We’re a little hungry, so we eat cake again.

And we repeat the day of playing again.

A day so enjoyable that I played with her instead of playing for her.

So, I played with the young lady all day long, sticking to her, and only managed to lie down in bed at 11 pm.

“Mana is mine!”

“Yes, yes~ I’m yours, Young Lady~”

“Heeheehee…”

Sigh…

It was a really fun day…

I’m a little tired, but I wish days like this would continue…

I hug the young lady tightly in my arms and kiss her.

“Good night, Young Lady.”

“Let’s have fun again tomorrow, okay?”

“Yes!”

“Good night, Mana!!”

So, I hug the young lady tightly and fall asleep, wake up again, and play for a few days, a few weeks.

The leaves fall one by one, and now it’s slowly becoming a season where the cold wind blows.

“Mana! Mana! Look outside!”

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong, Young Lady?”

“It’s snowing!!”

“Oh, it really is!”

“It’s the first snow of the year, Young Lady!”

And so, winter arrived.