Chapter 121: Happy Birthday
It was a bit past eleven on Tuesday night, and there was less than an hour left until Roswiser’s 218th birthday came to an end.
However, the birthday girl was still not back.
Leon originally intended to invite Moon to join in, thinking it would be a delightful surprise for the mother and daughter duo, making up for the shameful absence of their dad at last year’s celebration when Roswiser woke up late.
But at this late hour, Moon was already fast asleep.
Noia had returned to Saint His Academy the previous morning.
So when Moon woke up tomorrow, he would bet he’d be able to bounce around and tell her, “Guess what, sweetheart? Dad made it for Mom’s birthday this year!”
She would surely be delighted.
But the pressing question remained:
What to do tonight?
Leon initially agreed to plan Roswiser’s birthday largely because she mentioned their daughters.
But with the girls busy with school and sleep, it felt as if he was throwing this extravagant birthday bash just for Roswiser.
Sitting on Roswiser’s room couch, Leon sniffed, “Sneaky Mother Dragon! I’m definitely not doing this for you next year!”
But for this year, he thought he could make do.
Yeah, just make do.
……
Meanwhile, Roswiser was carrying several gift boxes toward her room.
Though dragons only celebrated their birthdays every ten years after reaching adulthood, inviting friends and family to the gala;
It didn’t mean they didn’t receive small, thoughtful gifts on their actual birthdays.
In the boxes Roswiser held were presents from her sister Isar, Head Maid Anna, and a few classmates she got along with back in her school days.
She just wrapped up some work this evening, which was why she was arriving home so late.
She thought about checking in on her daughters, but by this hour, Moon was already asleep, so Roswiser decided to let it go.
Also… throughout the day, aside from their dinner table, Roswiser hadn’t seen Leon once.
Was he hiding because the birthday bash wasn’t up to par?
Roswiser shook her head, deciding not to speculate further; it seemed this was how the night would end.
Nothing especially exciting.
When she arrived at her bedroom door and reached to open it, she found the door ajar.
Peeking through the crack, she noticed the lights were off inside.
Holding her arms full of gifts, Roswiser blinked, contemplated for a moment, then sidled over and gently pushed the door open with her shoulder, “Leon, is that you in my ro—”
BAM!
Just as she stepped inside, the lights flicked on, and a loud noise came from somewhere, with colorful streamers floating down onto Roswiser’s silver hair.
Roswiser was taken aback by the suddenness. Before she could react, someone had covered her eyes from behind.
It was Leon.
She was all too familiar with that touch.
Moreover, in the entire Silver Dragon Temple, no one dared to trespass into her room and cover her eyes—except for him.
How rude! This was hardly how a prisoner should be treated!
Oh well, at least no one was making her celebrate her birthday as a prisoner. With that thought, Roswiser felt a bit better.
“Happy birthday, Mother Dragon.” The familiar voice behind her chimed in.
Roswiser didn’t struggle, just stood there quietly, holding her gifts.
Wow, the Dog Man actually managed to pull off a surprise birthday party without her noticing?
After a brief moment of glee, Roswiser teased, “Wouldn’t it be better if you replaced ‘Mother Dragon’ with my name?”
“Next time for sure.”
Roswiser chuckled, “So covering my eyes and saying ‘Happy birthday’ is a habit of you humans?”
Leon pondered, “Not exactly. Now, move slowly into the living room. There’s another surprise waiting for you.”
Roswiser shrugged and started to walk forward.
Leon stayed close by, watching her feet carefully.
“Lift your feet a bit; there’s a step at the entrance.”
“Okay.”
The couple, one in front of the other, slowly made their way into the living room.
Roswiser sniffed the air; it smelled faintly of burning candles.
The queen was puzzled. Was lighting candles a birthday thing too? Just another one of those human habits?
Just as she was about to ask, she caught a whiff of something else…
“Is that… cream?!”
Cream.
Oh no.
Just the thought of cream sent chills down Roswiser’s spine, recalling her unfortunate encounter with cream puffs during the sports meet, leaving her wanting to run whenever she smelled it.
“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not what you think it is.”
Leon, still covering her eyes, continued, “So, are you ready? I’m about to let go.”
“Okay.” She was mentally preparing to mess up Leon’s face with cream puffs if that’s what she saw upon opening her eyes.
The next moment, the hands covering her eyes lifted.
As Roswiser’s eyes adjusted to the light in the room, she looked down and was astounded to see an enormous cake in the middle of the living room!
This cake was at least as big as a coffee table—no wonder there was such a strong smell of cream wafting around!
It was adorned with small pieces of fruit, primarily oranges, with strawberries and mangoes for decoration.
Additionally, atop the cake, there was a message written in fruit jam:
“Happy Birthday, Roswiser.”
Roswiser gazed at the “spectacle” in front of her, momentarily stunned.
She had seen plenty of cakes and birthday wishes before.
But to combine the two and make such an extravagant size? This was a first for her.
Setting her gifts aside, she asked, “Do humans eat cake on their birthdays?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of a tradition,” Leon replied.
Roswiser nodded thoughtfully, “Are they all this big?”
“No, not always. This is what I meant when I told you that while the birthday activities tend to be the same old routine, the details can vary.”
“I only see a cake bigger than my coffee table. What’s your ‘detail’?”
“The candles! Count ‘em—there are 218 candles in total, perfectly matching your age.”
Sure, there were a lot of candles, but Roswiser didn’t bother counting them.
It was no wonder Leon went for a cake this size; two hundred plus candles wouldn’t fit on a smaller one!
She stepped closer, gazing at the giant cake, the flickering candlelight reflected in her silver eyes.
Though she couldn’t quite wrap her head around why humans have such traditions for birthdays, the novelty of it all satisfied Roswiser.
It’s impressive that Leon managed to pull off a cake this huge in just a few days without anyone catching wind of it.
What can I say? The strongest Dragon Slayer really knows how to lay low!
Even Roswiser believed he was trying to sneak by unnoticed.
Roswiser reached out, using her delicate finger to scrape some cream off the cake, then brought it to her lips to taste.
Sweet, and not at all sickening.
Way better than cream puffs.
Sweet flavors could lighten her mood, and Roswiser smiled, turning around to rare praise Leon, “Not too shabby! Human birthdays… are quite interesting.”
“Hold on, it’s not over yet,” Leon said.
Roswiser’s eyes lit up, “What else is there?”
Strange as it was, she found herself looking forward to what other shenanigans humans could pull.
Leon flashed a mischievous smile, leaning in beside Roswiser and pointing to the candles on the cake, “Blow out the candles, then make a wish.”
“Huh? Why blow out the candles to make a wish? And… do wishes made on birthdays actually come true?”
“Not always. It’s more about the luck of it. But blowing out the candles is a must; otherwise, you can’t touch the cake.”
Roswiser stared at the 218 candles, gulping, “Do I really have to? Can’t I skip the blowing part?”
“No way! You’re the one who insisted on sticking to human customs!”
With a grin that said he had an agenda, Leon insisted, “Your Majesty, please blow.”
Roswiser narrowed her eyes while sizing this guy up, the flickers of joy and gratitude she felt earlier washing away.
Typical Dog Man—he wasn’t going to let her off easy for her birthday.
Fine, she would blow them out; who was scared of what?
But… if he wanted to mess with her, he’d better not think he’d have an easy time either.
Roswiser pulled Leon over, and the couple crouched together by the candles of the cake, “Blow together with me!”
“Why would I blow out candles for your birthday?” Leon protested, his heart racing slightly.
“Isn’t it an honor for a prisoner to blow out the candles with the queen?”
“……”
“Come on!”
Roswiser tugged on his sleeve, clearly demanding that he either blow or wouldn’t get free from her grip.
Great, he dug his own grave.
The pair shared a look, then both inhaled deeply, filling their lungs to the brim, and blew towards the 218 candles.
WHOOSH—WHOOSH—cough cough cough!
One by one, the candles extinguished until the dynamic duo was left gasping for air from oxygen deprivation, managing to put out the last flickering candle.
They leaned against each other, panting for fresh air.
After recovering a bit, Roswiser shot him a glare, “You humans are so boring! Why on earth do you have such customs?!”
“Come on, normally it’s just a few candles, not like you guys where it’s hundreds of years!”
Roswiser scoffed, straightening up, “And then what? Make a wish over the cake?”
“Yup.”
“Any wish I want?”
Leon nodded, “Sure. But it’s just for luck; there’s no scientific guarantee, so don’t blame me if it doesn’t come true.”
“Oh… Can I say my wish out loud?”
“Go for it.”
Turning to the cake, Roswiser closed her eyes and clasped her hands together.
“I wish—”
Leon leaned in to listen, curious about what this Mother Dragon’s wish could be.
“That my prisoner can never escape.”
Leon rolled his eyes till they nearly got stuck in the back of his head.
“Mother Dragon, that’s not how wishes work!”
“Who cares? It’s my birthday! I’ll wish for whatever I want.”
Leon waved his hand, not wanting to argue anymore.
He picked up a big kn*fe for cutting the cake, “Now we can eat! Which piece do you want?”
Roswiser pondered, her eyes hopping around the massive cake, finally settling on the four simple words: “Happy Birthday.”
Leon cut that piece off and handed it to Roswiser.
Then he sliced off the “Roswiser” next to “Happy Birthday” and placed that piece in front of himself.
Roswiser frowned, “What are you doing?”
“Eating Roswiser,” Leon replied nonchalantly.
“You!……”
Taking a big bite, the jam was sweet and tangy.
Afterward, he made sure to give his approval, “Roswiser is delicious!”
Roswiser gritted her teeth; she swore that when Leon’s birthday came around, she would slice off “Leon” and smear it across his face for him to enjoy!
The cake-eating portion came to an end.
Roswiser placed her hands on her hips and counted off on her fingers, “Blow out the candles, make a wish, cut and eat the cake—all done. Hmm…”
Leon tilted his head, “What? Not satisfied?”
At the time, Roswiser had stated that if she wasn’t pleased, Leon would have to deliver more surprises.
Roswiser thought for a moment and nodded, “Not very satisfied.”
It had been quite fun, but she wanted to tease Leon a bit more, to see what other tricks he had up his sleeve.
“What’s wrong?”
Roswiser looked left and right, finally landing her gaze on the pile of small gifts she had just brought in, “What about my birthday gifts?”
“You dragon folks don’t have cake or wishes but you do have the gift-giving part, right?” Leon couldn’t resist teasing.
Roswiser huffed, “If there aren’t any, fine. This birthday will have to suffice!”
“Have to suffice?”
Sorry, but in Leon Casmod’s personal dictionary, “sufficient” simply didn’t exist!
He gestured toward the balcony, “Come with me.”
“What for?”
“To see your gift, of course.”
With that, Leon headed toward the balcony, Roswiser trailing behind.
The couple stood shoulder to shoulder and gazed into the vast night sky.
“And… the gift is where exactly?” Roswiser asked.
Leon didn’t answer, instead slowly raised his right hand, preparing for a snapping gesture.
Roswiser blinked in confusion, “What does this mean?”
SNAP!
With a snap, a stream of blue light shot up into the night sky from the distant woods.
Roswiser followed the light’s direction.
“Is that… lightning?”
The dazzling blue light reflected in the eyes of the Silver Dragon Queen, and as she watched, it began to gather, peel away, and reform, eventually manifesting itself in the shape of lightning in the night sky, forming a short phrase:
“Happy Birthday, Roswiser.”
In the final minute before Leon Casmod’s wife wrapped up her 218th birthday, he had written her this special blessing in the sky.
Unique and fleeting.
So, he had been standing on his balcony all those days, looking for the perfect angle…
This guy… I’ll give him that.
Lightning couldn’t last forever; even magic had its limits.
Thus, these words made of lightning would only exist for less than five seconds before disappearing into the vast night sky.
But that was more than enough.
“Only things that quickly fade away—” Roswiser murmured softly.
Leon completed her thought with the latter half, “Hold true meaning worth remembering.”
She turned her head, “Did Anna tell you this?”
“Noia did. From your reaction, I know you’re satisfied.” Leon replied.
Roswiser ceased to act tough, nodding, “Yes, very satisfied. I didn’t expect you to be so good at throwing parties!”
“Of course!”
“Oh? How so?”
Leon puffed out his chest proudly, “I organize all the birthday parties for my donkey every year. I’m an old pro!”
If it weren’t for his earlier lightning blessing, Roswiser might have kicked him off the balcony by now.
XX
This chapter stretched to 4,000 words; it was originally meant to be split up, but I didn’t want to make you wait till tomorrow to see the sweet bits. So, here you go! Please consider a monthly vote~~
