Under the weight of his piercing gaze, she couldn’t find an easy answer.

Merria unconsciously loosened her grip on his collar, which she had been about to tug, and spoke.

“It’s just… something I had to do.”

 

Seeing this, Reukis, as if in defiance, took her hand and dragged it roughly over his own shirt. The velvet jacket she had painstakingly chosen for him was ruined in an instant.

Dark in color and now stained with a mix of flour and oil—it wouldn’t be clean anytime soon.
Merria stared at him in dismay.

 

“Were you planning to make me a cake yourself?”

“Yes.”

There was no point hiding it now, so Merria admitted it outright.

 

Reukis wiped away a smudge of cream from her cheek with his thumb and murmured,

“This will have to do instead.”

Lick—

A tongue, tinged with a suggestive hue, flicked over his thumb and vanished.

 

Merria couldn’t accept his response at all. There was no way that could replace the cake she had prepared.

 

As if reading her thoughts, Reukis spoke again, “That’s not a good enough reason to leave me alone.”

At his firm words, Merria’s face twisted in frustration. She didn’t want his birthday to end like this.

In her heart, she had wanted to celebrate him properly, feeding him a cake she’d made with as much care as a professional.

 

“…You know.”

A small, trembling voice escaped Merria’s lips.

The embarrassment and frustration of having to explain every little detail to him welled up inside her, threatening to spill over.

 

When Reukis gently cupped her face, a tear fell from Merria’s eye at the same moment.

“Merria?”

“It’s because you didn’t like my gift, isn’t it?!”

Merria shouted, pouring out all the emotions she had bottled up all day.

“Ugh, seriously….”

 

As hot tears dripped heavily from her tightly clenched fist, Merria hurriedly bowed her head. She didn’t want him to see her crying so pitifully.

 

Reukis instantly dropped to one knee, trying to meet her eye level.

But her loosened hair tie had let strands of Merria’s hair spill free, obscuring her face. When he reached to brush them aside, she raised both hands to block him.

 

“Merria.”

Instead of answering, she pressed her lips tightly together. Her traitorous tear glands refused to listen, stubbornly welling up with more tears.

 

“What do you mean by that?”

How could he dislike Merria’s gift?

She would gladly eat dirt from the roadside if it came from her—let alone something Merria had carefully chosen, tied with a ribbon, and even paired with a heartfelt card, all while thinking of him.

 

From his perspective—someone who had even dedicated a room to storing her gifts—his words were nothing short of unfair and absurd.

But defending his innocence could wait. Stopping Merria’s tears came first.

 

Reukis knelt at her feet and pleaded desperately,

“Merria. Please don’t cry. When you cry, I feel like a helpless fool who doesn’t know what to do.”

 

She wiped uselessly at her streaming tears and bit her lip.

“Ugh….”

In her frustration, she had bitten too hard—a sharp pain lingered on her lips.

 

Whether he understood her feelings or not, Merria was the one being stubborn, yet it was Reukis who ended up apologizing.

 

Deep down, she knew perfectly well.

The one who should be apologizing wasn’t Reukis—it was her. She had boldly promised to make his birthday happy, only to ruin it with her own hands.

 

A birthday without even a cake?

The mere thought was horrifying.

 

The thought of making Reukis light a floating candle in the air made Merria’s stomach churn again.

After a long silence, tears dripping steadily, Merria finally spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

 

With a voice soaked in moisture, she spilled the feelings she had tightly hidden away.

“The fountain pen I gave you, the handkerchief… and, and also… the scented candle and the books—”

Even as she spoke, sorrow welled up, making it hard to form proper sentences.

 

Yet, Reukis waited without interrupting until she finished.

Gently stroking the back of her hand, as if urging her to continue.

“I… I picked them carefully. I—I even wrote letters. But I never got to see you write with them… So I made a cake.”

 

“So you tried to make a cake for me?”

Reukis cupped her warm cheek.

Lifting her head at his touch, Merria wept like a child who had broken her favorite toy.

 

“But I’m so bad… at making cakes—. And, hic—”

“Are you upset?”

At Reukis’ calm question, Merria gave a small nod.

 

“It’s your birthday……! Blowing out candles and making a wish is the best part…!”

‘I’m sorry.’ Merria finally burst into sobs.

Reukis found her pitiful yet endearing, forcing himself not to smile.

 

“I don’t mind,” he said, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

Whether from exhaustion or softened resentment, Merria leaned her head against his chest. But once the tears started, they showed no sign of stopping.

 

Worried her eyes might swell, he dabbed them gently with a soft handkerchief.

“Merria. To think I wouldn’t cherish your gifts is a grave misunderstanding.”

“Liar.”

“I treasure everything you’ve given me.”

Even my loyal butler, Harriet, isn’t allowed to touch them.

Reukis whispered softly.

 

“…”

 

“But if that upset Merria so much, then it must be my fault.”

“How does that make any sense?”

 

Merria pushed him away with force in her arms.

Finally, a subtle emotion flickered across Reukis’s face. Through the history of their past, Merria instantly recognized what it was.

 

“…Don’t laugh. I said don’t laugh! I’m here looking like bread dough swollen in water, and you’re the only one who gets to stay fresh?”

 

Pouting, Merria squished his face between her hands, twisting it this way and that.

Reukis, as if amused by her antics, began laughing openly.

 

“You insufferable dark mage.”

 

Eventually, Merria, exhausted, raised both hands in surrender, bringing the situation to a close.

Deflated, she leaned back on the sofa and let out a long sigh—”Phew—”

 

“Then tell me.”

“Ask me anything, and I’ll answer.”

“Why haven’t you used any of the gifts I gave you?”

 

They weren’t so rare or expensive that they needed to be preserved for generations.

And it wasn’t as if he disliked them. When Merria widened her eyes and asked, Reukis hesitated for a moment.

He had known that someday, he would have to explain the truth behind ‘the gifts Merria gave(omitted for brevity).’

But he never expected that day to be today.

 

Still, seeing how much Merria had agonized over making him happy, his hesitation didn’t last long.

 

“Showing you will be quicker than explaining.”

 

As soon as he finished speaking, black smoke began to rise behind Reukis.

 

💫

 

When she opened her eyes again, a familiar sight greeted her.

“Why are we here all of a sudden…?”

 

It was the grand ducal residence in the capital—more specifically, Reukis’s bedroom.

As Merria looked around in confusion, he gave her a faint smile.

 

“There’s something I want to show you.”

 

Reukis led her somewhere.

After leaving the bedroom and crossing the hallway, they arrived at another room on the opposite side.

Leaving the still bewildered Merria behind, Reukis reached out first.

Dark energy flowed from his hand into the doorknob.

It was a security spell, identical to the ones engraved on every display case inside—a measure he had devised to prevent others from touching them.

Cleaning wasn’t an issue either.

To preserve the condition of each gift as if they were brand new, he had cast high-level spells for air purification, dust removal, and humidity control—enough to maintain them with minimal effort.

 

In other words, it was a place only Reukis could enter in this world.

Thus, his ‘Room of Things Given by Merria’ was about to welcome its second visitor in its existence.

 

“I had planned to show you after arranging it a little more…”

Reukis grinned like an elementary school student presenting a clay art project for inspection.

Merria, finding his expression utterly adorable, smiled back without knowing what awaited her.

 

“What is it?”

As the corners of her lips curved upward, Reukis carefully turned the doorknob.

“My treasures.”

 

Though it was already evening, the inside was as bright as midday.

A beam of light from the dim hallway spilled over her face.

Thud—

As the two stepped inside, the large door closed softly behind them.

Merria’s eyes widened as she took in the contents of the room.

 

“I arranged them chronologically for easier reminiscing.”

With a satisfied expression, Reukis began introducing each item in the display cases one by one.

His extremely earnest demeanor, paired with the antique-style cabinets, made the scraps of paper inside seem like genuine works of art.

 

“This book—do you remember? You gave it to me because you said you enjoyed reading it.”

She had given it to him. However, what she had given was nothing more than a spunky coming-of-age story bought from an ordinary bookstore.

It was absolutely not the kind of item meant to be displayed on a gleaming golden stand.

 

As if suddenly remembering something he wanted to say, he hastily continued.

“I tracked down the same book and read it all. The part where Armina reunited with her lost family left the deepest impression on me.”

 

Reukis nodded slightly, as if recalling the book’s contents, then turned and pointed elsewhere.

“And this handkerchief—I made sure to wash it thoroughly to restore it as closely as possible to its original state.”

 

The white handkerchief beside it was also spotless, free of any stains.

‘It looks even whiter than when I tied it for him on the day of the hunting competition.’

 

Merria’s fingertips trembled faintly.

Unfazed, Reukis continued speaking, his charming smile unwavering.

This was the fountain pen he’d given her last time, these were the letters she’d sent, this was, this was, this was…

 

Merria responded in a slightly detached voice.

“You could’ve at least written name tags for them…”

 

<Merria’s Hand-Drawn Doodle> Eriene’s Napkin with Blue Ink, 10x10cm.

Even with such detailed descriptions attached, the display wouldn’t have seemed the least bit out of place.