Party
Today was the twelfth month, the fourth week and the day of water. It was Allen and Elena’s birthday.
“Allen, Elena, happy birthday.”
(Happy birthday.)
“”Thank you~… ah!””
Just as everyone thought that Allen and Elena would show a happy expression after being congratulated, they suddenly looked as if they remembered something. Then, for some reason, they straightened their posture—
“Thank you very much for coming today for our sake.”
“We can’t offer you much hospitality, but please make yourselves at home.”
They greeted everyone properly and bowed.
“Whoah~… is this what you taught them, Rebecca-san?”
I asked Rebecca-san, the person who I thought taught them this greeting.
“Fufu, you seem surprised.”
Seeing my surprised face, Rebecca-san smiled as if she had just pulled a prank.
“”Done well~?””
“Yes, you have done it properly~”
“”Yay~””
Allen and Elena checked with Rebecca-san to see how their greetings went and were happy to hear that they have done a good job.
“”Oniichan, Oniichan! How was it?””
Then they went on to ask me what I thought of it.
“That was a very fine greeting you did there. Incredible.”
“”Ehehe~””
Allen and Elena giggled at my praise.
They are now seven years old and have lost a lot of their childishness, but their cuteness is still there.
“Still… I did not expect all the people we invited to show up.”
“Oh my, you thought so, Takumi-san? I knew everyone would come, you know?”
The children’s birthday party was held in one of the rooms at the Ruven residence… and what can I say, the participants are absolutely gorgeous.
The Ruven family, including Matthias-san, Rebecca-san, Velio-san, Almeria-san, Lucario-kun, Wald-san and Rosalie-san, all attended the party.
“Allen-kun, Elena-chan, congratulations.”
“Congratulations~”
Cedric-san, Theodore-kun, and Latis-kun from the Risner family joined us as well. Moreover, Isaac-san came as well.
“Allen, Elena, congratulations.”
I wondered if it would be a good idea to invite the royal family, but I didn’t know what they would say if I didn’t invite them, so I invited them anyway, and Alfried-sama came as the representative.
Even thought he was only escorted by Najack-sama when he went out to the town incognito, he was escorted not only by Najack-sama today, but he also brought Claudio-sama, Kevin-san and Quigg-san with him, which must have been Al-sama’s consideration.
“You are wearing cute outfits~”
“”Right~””
Kevin-san praised them, and Allen and Elena spun around with smiles on their faces.
“”This is from Obaasama.””
“Obaasama? Eh, are you talking about Madam Rebecca!? Takumi, is that okay!?”
“…. Rebecca-san herself told them to call her like that… it’s impossible to correct them now.”
Kevin-san, Claudio-sama and Quigg-san were startled by the children’s “”Obaasama”” remark.
Al-sama and Najack-sama knew all about it, so they looked at the surprised three in amusement.
“They’ve been good to you, haven’t they?”
“That’s for sure. They are treating us as if we were one of their own.”
Yes, today’s attire for Allen and Elena was prepared by Rebecca-san for today, and it was a red outfit made of fluffy fabric. Allen was wearing pants and Elena was wearing a skirt with a cape, with white fluffy fur on the collar, cape hem, pants hem, and skirt hem.
The two of them looked great together… but I couldn’t help but mutter, “… Reminds me of Santa~”
“Santa? Takumi-dono, what is this Santa?”
“Eh? Ah, Richard-sama! Hello, thank you for coming today… erm, Santa is a character from my hometown’s fairy tale. He wears a red costume similar to the children’s.”
“Heeh, is that so?”
I think Richard-sama heard my muttering, and I got a little flustered when he asked me about it.
“Thank you for coming today, Charlotte-sama. How are you feeling? Please don’t overdo it.”
“Fufu, thank you for your consideration, Takumi-sama.”
I sent out invitations to Richard-sama and Charlotte-sama, His Majesty’s younger brother and his wife, and they graciously joined us.
The others were almost all nobles… including Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence and Helena-san, the McPherson couple, Reinhardt-sama, Lilika-sama and the Stanval siblings, and the Vassar and Clark couples, who were friends of Rosalie-san whom we became close just recently.
“”Fufu…””
“What is the matter, Allen, Elena?”
The children suddenly started giggling, so I asked them what was wrong, and they smiled happily.
“”It’s so fun~””
“Fun? I see, that’s good.”
They seemed to be enjoying spending time with so many people in a lively atmosphere.
“It would be nice if we could celebrate like this every year.”
“”Yeah! And also, Oniichan.””
“N?”
“Allen is hungry~”
“Elena too~”
A “guu~” escaped from Allen and Elena’s stomachs, and all at once the heartwarming atmosphere was brought back to reality.
“Hahaha. Ah, look, they just started carrying in the food. Let’s go eat something.”
“”Yeah!””
The meal was a standing buffet style, and I took the initiative in planning the food to be served. I helped with the preparation until the last minute. The final touches were left to the Ruven family cooks.
“”Ohh~ looks delish~””
I asked the children in advance what they wanted to eat, and “”Yummy food!”” was the answer. So, the basic menu was made up of dishes that the children like.
However, since the children eat everything with relish, it is possible that any food is their favorite food.
“This smells good. You must have put a lot of effort in this~”
“Well, it’s Allen and Elena’s birthday, after all. It is a day that requires the most effort.”
“Haha, that is true~”
As if lured by the smell, Wald-san also came for the food early.
“”Ah!””
“Oniichan, waht is this~?”
“Never seen! Is this new?”
“That’s right. Tell me how you feel about it.”
“”Okay!””
Among the many dishes on display, the children were quick to notice a dish they had never tasted before.
“Something new! Allen, Elena, let’s start with that!”
“”Let’s do that!””
Wald-san charged with Allen and Elena toward the servants serving the food to experience it together.