Although the protagonist, Speranza, knows nothing about it, all the members of our farm, including me, prepared very hard for today.
Just like any other morning, it's breakfast time.
Everyone gathered in the dining room was busy looking at Speranza with meaningful glances. Even Kaneff was subtly observing.
Everyone was so obvious that I was worried Speranza might notice, but fortunately, she was completely focused on her breakfast sandwich.
"Speranza, want more sandwich?"
"Un. I want more."
I cut the sandwich in half and put it on Speranza's plate. Speranza smiled and took the sandwich to her mouth.
She seems to be in a good mood today and her condition looks fine too.
As I watched the cute fox girl chewing her food, I smiled with satisfaction.
"Ahem, ahem!"
The whole dining room quieted at a cough that would usually be ignored.
"Sihyeon. If you are not busy this morning, would you like to visit Elden village together?"
Andras invited me to accompany him to Elden village. I answered as planned, without being flustered.
"Really? I was thinking of going there anyway. Perfect timing."
"Then I'll prepare with that in mind."
This is just the preparation stage.
The important part starts now.
As Speranza finished her meal, I wiped her mouth and casually asked.
"Speranza."
"Hmm?"
"Papa and Teacher Andras are going to Elden village, do you want to come with us?"
The plan was to finish preparing for the party at the farm while the birthday girl, Speranza, was out.
To succeed in this operation, it was necessary to encourage Speranza to go out as naturally as possible.
I thought she would easily agree because she likes going out with me usually, but unexpectedly, Speranza hesitated to answer.
"Umm"
"Why? You don't like going out with Papa?"
"It's not that. I promised to play with Gyuri and my fairy friends today. I shouldn't break a promise."
Uh!
Apparently, she had made some plans we didn't know about.
As the most important part of the plan started to falter, the eyes of the farm members who were watching trembled with anxiety.
I tried to persuade her with a slightly desperate voice.
"Can't you play with the fairies next time? Let's go out with Papa today."
"Uh Gyuri will be disappointed."
Seeing her indecisive, Lia stepped in.
"I'll apologize to your fairy friends on your behalf. I'll even give them lots of candy they like. If you want to go out with Sihyeon, do it."
Perhaps persuaded by her words, Speranza laughed shyly and grabbed my arm.
"Hehe, then I'll go out with Papa."
With Speranza's outing decided, the farm members who had been anxiously watching let out a sigh of relief in secret.
I held Speranza's hand and entered the entrance of Elden village. Andras followed us slowly about half a step behind.
Though we pretended to visit Elden village because of an important matter, it was merely an excuse to keep Speranza away from the farm.
Since we had no particularly important business, we began to stroll around the village leisurely.
Looking around the village after a long time, many buildings I hadn't seen before had sprung up.
When I first came, it was a really small rural village, but now it has become a community that cannot be compared to then.
Of course, the efforts of the Elden villagers must have been the biggest driving force, but I felt a bit proud thinking that my contribution wasn't insignificant either.
With this opportunity. Shall we really take a look around the village?
The answer to my question came from an entirely unexpected place.
Terzan suddenly emerged from the shadows. With her unexpected appearance, both I, Andras, and Locus all jumped.
"Ahh Terzan. Please make some noise when you come out!"
"Sorry. I was in a rush and forgot."
She scratched the back of her head with a blank expression.
"But what did you just say? No, rather, where have you been? You seem to have a lot of dust on you."
Terzan, who usually dresses quite neatly, was now covered in dirt from head to toe.
There were also leaves stuck in her hair, and signs of tears here and there on her clothes.
"Uh. I had somewhere to go for a bit.
"?"
"Here, take this."
She nodded her head, then handed me something wrapped in a white cloth. It was an object that fits perfectly in both hands.
"This is?"
"A gift."
"Excuse me?"
"A birthday gift.
Only then did I realize that Terzan, like Locus, had prepared a gift.
"You didn't get all dirty because of this, did you?"
"I got a bit dirty because I was in a hurry. I'll be clean as soon as I wash.
Terzan said it as if it was nothing, but considering her incredible skills.
Without a doubt, she had prepared a gift that wasn't easy to obtain if she had gotten this dirty.
Following Locus and Kroc, now Terzan also prepared a gift for Speranza
Although I didn't mention it because I didn't want to burden them, it seemed to have turned into an incredibly apologetic situation.
"I'll go now."
"Wait a moment, Terzan!"
"Huh?"
"Please come to the birthday party later, Terzan."
She made a slightly troubled expression.
"I think I need to sleep now. I'm too tired.
"It's okay. Even if it's a bit late, please come. It will be fun."
"Do that. There will be lots of delicious food as well.
"You can come check it out later."
Not only I but Andras and Locus also chimed in. Terzan made a blank expression for a moment, then a faint smile spread across her lips.
"Alright. I'll rest a bit and then go."
And with a wave of her hand, she smoothly disappeared into the shadows.
"Papa!"
"Uh Ah!"
Speranza, who had finished watching the baby birds, was coming down with the help of Kroc. Realizing that I still had the gift in my hand, I hurriedly searched for a place to hide it.
"Sihyeon. Please give me the gift quickly!"
"He here you go!"
I quickly handed the gifts to Andras. He tucked the received gifts into his wide sleeve.
"Papa, what are you doing?"
"Uh, huh? Nothing. Did you enjoy watching the baby birds?"
"Yes! The little ones were so cute. They were covered in fluff, just like cotton candy."
Speranza babbled on about the adorable baby birds that were up in the tree. Relieved that the birthday gift had not been discovered, we sighed in relief.
CH 388-397 (Happy Birthday my dear daughter) $2CH 398-407 (Subduing the Angels) $2CH 408-417 (Farm family, Assemble) $2CH 418-424 (The END) $2