Hugo personally participated in the gem auction and won the Morien, a gem of a value worthy of being a national treasure.

Just to keep the blessed leaf given by his daughter.

Even calling the highest bid twice.

Raising the bid by tens of thousands of libres was not in his nature.

The man paying a sum enough to cover a few years of imperial budget with a single word, had an untouchably goodlooking appearance and momentum.

The nobles felt strange as if they were facing a massive beast.

“Your Highness, may I dare ask where you plan to use this gigantic Morien…?”

His answer tossed to the trembling auctioneer handing over the auction confirmation.

“A box for my daughter’s gift.”

His casual voice made it seem as if he had just bought an accessory from a roadside stall.

Who in the world pays such a huge sum for a ‘gift box’, let alone a ‘gift’, unless they’re insane.

But to Hugo, no matter how much it cost to keep his daughter’s gift safe, it was chump change.

It’s a gift from my daughter.

Isn’t it obvious to keep it in the safest place?

With a satisfied smile, Hugo returned that night.

In the dim bedroom, boasting about his experience at the auction house to Elysia while nibbling on her neck, he ended up getting a hard slap on his back.

“If you keep spending money like this, what kind of financial sense is our child supposed to learn?”

“Our child doesn’t need to learn such things. She has money at her feet.”

“Oh, is that your mindset? So that’s why our child spilled gold coins all over the street on the day of the Blessing Festival!”

Another spicy hand flew towards his back.

Elysia, who received envy mixed praises from the ladies about having a reliable husband.

In reality, she was no different from the animal caretaker of the Duke’s house.

An animal caretaker who raises puppies who just don’t listen no matter how much she pleads. Or a trainer.

A few days later, the secret base.

The light rain signaling the beginning of summer fell.

Despite the pattering rain, she visited the secret base because of her friends.

Aside from the people of the Duke’s house, weren’t there friends who also had to be given gifts?

Evelia defined the ‘Food Thief Boy’ and ‘Blood Thief Demon’ as friends.

Their first meetings weren’t that great, but anyway, they taught her sword skills and showed her the landmarks of the Blessing Festival.

Perhaps this is what friendship is, she thought.

Interestingly enough, her friends had an uncanny ability to know when she was there and came to find her, and for some reason, it seemed like they would do the same today.

“……”

Evelia, who had been looking at the sky for a while as the longawaited drizzle was cool, sat under a large tree instead of going into the hut.

She placed the biggest leaf from the scattered leaves on her head to protect herself from the raindrops falling through the lush leaves.

Like this, about an hour passed.

“Yawn….”

That’s strange, it seemed like they would come.

Surely the sharp intuition was signaling that they would come.

The sound of raindrops still filled the wide field, and a slightly bored Evelia pondered whether to return now and come back tomorrow.

Thud thud.

The moist sound of stepping on wet grass leaves seeped into the sound of rain.

Soon, a coat much larger than the child’s body landed above the delighted Evelia, who turned around.

“You’ll catch a cold.”

Was it a bit cold? The felt warmth was pleasant.

Looking up, the silver hair, slightly holding raindrops, shone brighter than usual, captivating her eyes.

As she raised her head, the large leaf she had placed above her fell off smoothly.

The boy immediately spread out his palms and covered Evelia’s head.

He didn’t care that rainwater was pouring over his own head.

“Why are you outside? It’s cold.”