Being Loved for the First Time Chapter 20

I had thoroughly prepared myself.

Twelve months had already passed since I’d been born into this family.

I was determined not to be surprised, no matter what kind of party awaited me.

‘…This family really exceeds all expectations.’

I’d even experienced my sister’s birthday party back in May, so I was truly confident that nothing would surprise me this time.

Yet the largest hall in the mansion had been decorated with red as its accent color.

“Because our Anastasia’s eyes are so beautiful.”

Despite the summer heat outside at the beginning of July, the decorations had been arranged so skillfully that the hall almost felt refreshingly cool.

There were tapestries woven by the maids and tassel ornaments made from beautiful fabrics.

On top of that, an ice sculpture had been created around an enormous ruby that looked extremely familiar.

It was probably the very ruby Mikhail had been trying to give me all this time.

While I stared at the sculpture in disbelief at his persistence, the young lord looked quietly proud of himself.

He had clearly mistaken my exasperated stare for admiration.

In any case, it seemed that a first birthday was considered special in this world too.

‘The cake is… unbelievably enormous.’

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much effort the chef had put into it.

For my sister’s birthday in May, he’d prepared a three-tier cake.

But because this was my first birthday, he’d made a five-tier cake.

‘Wow, how did he make it so pretty?’

There was even a little figure of a black-haired girl standing at the very top.

The tiny red eyes painted on its face made it obvious that the figure was supposed to represent me.

‘I really feel like I’m in a dream.’

It was my birthday, and the entire room was filled with so many beautiful things.

I could barely even remember the last time I’d celebrated a birthday.

When Father placed me in the very center of the hall, in a position that was obviously meant for the guest of honor, cheers and applause erupted.

“Happy first birthday, Your Ladyship!”

“It’s already been a year! You have no idea how happy we are that you’ve allowed us to stay by your side all this time.”

“Please allow us to continue taking responsibility for your safety, my liege!”

The maids who regularly attended to my room, the knights assigned to guard me, and even the other servants I rarely had the chance to meet all wore genuinely delighted expressions.

‘Father probably gave everyone another bonus, didn’t he?’

But by now, I knew I didn’t need to look at everything so cynically.

Their heartfelt congratulations weren’t simply because my parents paid them generously.

They truly felt affection for this ducal family.

Laughter filled the party from beginning to end.

There was music performed by an orchestra, countless gifts from nobles whose names I didn’t know, and various fruits prepared especially so that I could taste them.

Every single thing was fascinating and special.

But what I liked most was the proposal Father made to me.

“Our youngest, our Anastasia. May Daddy have the honor of asking his daughter for her first dance?”

A dance?

How exactly did he intend to dance with a twelve-month-old baby?

I was puzzled, but I answered nonetheless.

“Uuh.”

“Thank you, my daughter.”

With those words, Father knelt down and took both my hands.

When the orchestra began playing, Father shuffled sideways on his knees to match my movements to the rhythm, then turned us in a little circle.

After that, he lifted me high into his arms and began dancing properly, stepping in time with the music.

“As expected of my daughter! How can you be so good at dancing too?”

From any reasonable perspective, I’m just dangling in the air, you know?

But—

“Of course she’s good at dancing. She’s our daughter.”

“Lara too! Lara wants to dance with Shasha too!”

“Father, I’d also like to dance with our youngest, so please don’t monopolize her.”

Seeing my family react like that, I decided it didn’t really matter.

Everyone was having so much fun.

Even Mikhail joined in.

“I’d very much like to request a dance with the youngest princess as well.”

Perhaps he was simply being swept up in everyone’s enthusiasm.

But when he started trying to join in too, I decided it really didn’t matter whether this counted as dancing or merely letting my legs dangle around.

“I’d really like to keep our youngest’s hands all to myself.”

Even after our first dance ended, Father spoke as though he was seriously considering doing just that.

Mother chuckled softly.

“Oh my. Does my husband not intend to hold my hand tonight? Then perhaps I should find someone else to dance with?”

“What? No, my lady! You must hold my hand!”

As expected of Mother.

Once Father obediently put me down, my sister and brother each took one of my hands.

“You like dancing with Sister, right?”

The moment the music began, my sister started hopping and spinning excitedly.

“Laurencia, you need to turn a little more slowly. Anastasia is still a baby.”

“Uh-huh! Lara’s the big sister, so Lara can go slowly!”

Then my sister followed my brother’s calm example, carefully watching over me as she moved at a slower pace.

Even though my brother was practically escorting both of his younger sisters at once, he skillfully guided us to the music, making sure neither of us fell.

When another song ended, the last person to take my hand was Mikhail.

Nearby, my sister laughed happily while holding both of my brother’s hands.

Mother and Father’s faces were filled with happiness.

Looking at them, I felt the corners of my mouth begin to twitch.

“Baby, did you just smile?”

I might actually have smiled naturally if Mikhail hadn’t said that.

“Ai.”

“You say you didn’t, but I’m pretty sure you smiled.”

“Aiya.”

When I denied it firmly, Mikhail looked slightly sulky.

But he soon returned to his familiar, slightly irritating smile and spoke as though issuing a challenge.

“Then I suppose I’ll have to practice even more. If I want to dance well enough to make the youngest princess smile, that is.”

Seriously, this brat didn’t know the meaning of giving up.

But even though his persistence was irritating, I didn’t dislike it.

At least, I liked him enough to hold hands and join in this little imitation of a dance with him after dancing with my family.

My birthday party came to an end in the afternoon.

But throughout the mansion, the atmosphere remained lively and cheerful until late that night.

My parents were quite generous employers, and after the party ended, they happily allowed the servants to enjoy themselves.

For that reason, my family personally took care of me and spent the evening together.

“Here, over here. Daddy’s right here, our youngest.”

Father still seemed fascinated by my ability to walk.

He stood a short distance away and opened his arms toward me.

‘Come to think of it, when I first started practicing walking…’

Whenever Father opened his arms like that, instead of running into his embrace, I would grab one of his arms.

That had left him utterly bewildered.

I simply hadn’t been accustomed to doing something like that.

But now, I had an entire year’s worth of experience being a beloved baby.

So I walked toward Father exactly as he wanted, even wobbling slightly before tumbling into his arms.

“Oh my, our youngest! How are you so good at walking already? You even had your first dance earlier.”

“Shasha can run now!”

Could walking a little faster really be called running?

I was still so wobbly that I couldn’t move particularly quickly.

But Father immediately responded.

“Really? Daddy hasn’t seen that yet.”

When Father looked disappointed, my sister placed her hands on her hips and puffed up proudly.

“Lara’s the big sister, so Lara saw everything! Shasha can run now, and she can walk really well all by herself!”

Then my sister came beside me, grinning happily as she took my hand.

“But Shasha likes walking while holding Sister’s hand, right? And holding Brother’s hand too!”

If I’d been the person I was when I was first born, I would have been flustered by my sister’s friendly question.

But now I knew exactly what the correct answer was.

I wasn’t like Mikhail Leventis.

“Uuh, jo-aa.”

I pronounced the words as carefully as I possibly could.

“Riiight?”

Even though my pronunciation was still little more than babbling, my sister broke into a radiant smile and hugged me tightly.

One year.

Looking back, it had passed much faster than I’d expected.

Of course, I was afraid of how quickly I was becoming accustomed to this warmth.

I couldn’t help feeling that way.

Nevertheless, I’d decided to cherish every little thing that happened here and spend each moment as happily as possible.

I’d come to realize that pushing people away and deliberately giving the wrong answers wasn’t necessarily the best choice.

Even if it hurt later, it would still be a much better choice than making myself unhappy now.

Before long, my sister began rubbing her eyes, and Mother smiled as she gathered her into her arms and soothed her.

“Mother, Father. Good night.”

My brother offered his mature farewell and gave goodnight kisses to our parents, my sister, and me.

Perhaps because it had been so long since I’d celebrated a birthday, I still wasn’t sleepy.

But I didn’t struggle to escape when Father picked me up.

“Daddy will put you to sleep tonight, Anastasia.”

“Uuh…”

At his low, gentle voice, I simply buried my face against his chest.

Father didn’t possess Mother’s mysterious ability to put me to sleep, so I assumed I wouldn’t fall asleep easily.

But strangely enough, it wasn’t long after his enormous hand began gently patting me that my eyelids grew heavy.

I still need to put up a barrier…

But Father’s touch was far too powerful.

And just like that, I allowed my consciousness to slip into sleep.

I knew there was something unsettling about this.

An unpleasant metallic clattering echoed around me.

The moment my vision cleared, I realized that an unwelcome intruder had once again entered my dream.

—Hello.

That bastard I’d encountered around three months earlier had the nerve to greet me.