I couldn’t understand why things suddenly turned out like this. As Doctor Frosch looked at Larisa, William quickly hugged her and stepped back.

Guinevere’s presence filled the space.

“Doctor Frosch. Who are you?”

“Y-Yes?”

“I asked who you are.”

Doctor Frosch was no fool. He knew this wasn’t a philosophical question. Moreover, he knew what answer would satisfy Guinevere.

“I am the Rodante family’s physician.”

“But isn’t William a Rodante? Are you denying my son?”

“H-How could I ever do that…”

Seeing Doctor Frosch tremble and turn pale, it seemed he didn’t take Guinevere lightly.

‘He must have thought I didn’t care about William.’

Guinevere watched Doctor Frosch’s face with a cold expression for a moment, then said icily:

“I’ll be watching you.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am.”

Doctor Frosch, sweating profusely, glanced at Larisa. The little girl munching on chocolate seemed oblivious to everything.

‘I should have been more careful with my words in front of the child.’

He berated his past self. But he failed to notice that as Larisa left his room in William’s arms, she stuck her tongue out at him.

After leaving Doctor Frosch’s room, Larisa chattered in William’s arms.

“Mother, do I really have to get health check-ups?”

“Yes. From now on, you must have one every month.”

“Waaah, again?!”

“Every month?”

William asked in surprise. Even he didn’t have health check-ups that frequently.

“If we draw blood so often, Lara might get scared…”

“This is non-negotiable. I promised Marina as well.”

At the mention of the promise to Marina, Larisa held back her tears.

“It’s to check if you’re healthy, so crying won’t help.”

Guinevere said in a stern voice.

“Sniff, okay…”

William was a bit surprised too, but he had no intention of opposing his mother’s thoughts. After all, Larisa did look rather thin and unhealthy.

“Well then, I’ll be heading to my lab now.”

William quickly called out before Guinevere left.

“Mother, what about the test results?”

“They should be ready by tomorrow. Come to my lab if you’re curious.”

‘As expected, it’s fate.’

Seeing how he was already taking care of Larisa’s health, the signs were already there. The way he held her arm to prevent her from moving and possibly hurting herself on the needle was almost like an older brother, no, more like a father.

His love was already profound, though he seemed unaware of it himself. Guinevere inwardly sighed. As long as he held onto Larisa tightly, William wouldn’t run away or commit suicide.

“Anything else to say?”

“No.”

As soon as William answered, Guinevere disappeared through teleportation.

“William, put me down now. Isn’t your arm hurting?”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“Still, put me down.”

William, who had been consistently doing strength training, had become fit enough to carry Larisa and walk for as long as she wanted.

But if Larisa wanted to be put down, he had to oblige. Before William could lower her to the ground, Larisa jumped down and exclaimed energetically.

“Now, let’s prepare for the birthday party!”

“Birthday? Whose birthday?”

“Whose else? It’s William’s birthday, of course!”

Larisa was momentarily flustered. Did I get the birthday wrong? Didn’t sister Daisy tell me? While she was thinking such thoughts, William calmly replied.

“We don’t do birthday parties in our house.”

“Why?”

“Well, because Mother doesn’t…”

No one knew Guinevere Rodante’s exact age. They only guessed that she was over 100 years old.

Larisa was shocked by William’s answer.

“Why don’t you have birthday parties? Then you can’t make wishes!”

“Wishes?”

“You have to make wishes while blowing out the candles!”

“I’ve never done anything like that.”

Larisa paused for a moment, unable to recall a word she had recently learned. Then, with an “Ah!” she clapped her hands and said:

“William, you’ve been missing out!”

“Haha, what have I been missing out on…”

“You’ll be turning 14 soon, right? It’s okay. You can make 14 wishes all at once.”

’14 wishes?’

William thought to himself while smiling.

‘I wish Larisa would be healthy.’

He wasn’t sure why that was the first wish that came to mind. Not his own health, not his mother’s health, but the health of a little girl he had only recently met.

‘Is it because we just did Larisa’s health check-up?’

William dismissed it casually and thought of his next wish.

‘Later, when I become an alchemist, I want to travel with Larisa and help people…’

Larisa appeared in his second wish too. It must be because of the future dream he had recently started to have under Larisa’s influence.

‘Wait, I shouldn’t think any further.’

William, who had been trying to rationalize, broke out in a cold sweat.

“William? Willie-willie?”

“Yes?”

“Are you feeling sick? You don’t look well.”

“Ah, no. I just had a bad thought for a moment.”

“What kind of thought?”

“I didn’t think anything.”

William, who had turned pale, desperately denied it.

‘I’m not thinking anything. I’m not thinking anything.’

William, who had regained his composure through self-hypnosis, smiled and said:

“Instead of planning a birthday party, shall we plan a wholesome runaway?”

“No. We’re planning the birthday party first.”

“Who’s going to come to a birthday party. Let’s just not do it.”

“I’ll write invitations. I’ll help you. Should we invite Mother, Uncle Hedel, and Sister Daisy too?”

“They’re all busy people…”

“But they’ll come for a birthday party. It’s not just anyone’s birthday, it’s William’s!”

‘That’s not likely.’

But William couldn’t bring himself to object any further. He didn’t want to extinguish the sparkle of anticipation in Larisa’s eyes.

*

Guinevere received an invitation.

She muttered stupidly, looking at the crooked handwriting and the two children standing shyly.

“Birthday… party?”

Pointing at the writing on the invitation, Larisa exclaimed:

“Mother, I wrote the letters!”

Seeing her sparkling eyes, it seemed she was hoping for praise. Guinevere nodded unconsciously.

“You wrote well.”

Then Larisa started to wiggle her body.

‘I thought he disliked such things.’

She had assumed that William, who always had a lukewarm expression, didn’t like parties either since she herself didn’t particularly enjoy them. But…

Seeing him standing there with a flushed face, it seemed that wasn’t the case. Guinevere inwardly sighed.

She realized through Larisa how indifferent she had been all this time. Larisa, who they had only met recently, was trying to celebrate William’s birthday, while to others, Guinevere must have seemed so indifferent all these years.

And that was indeed true. Guinevere, who had been silent for a moment with her eyelashes lowered, said:

“This birthday is special. So let’s make it grand.”

“What?”

William exclaimed in surprise.

“You’ll be leaving home for a while when you enter the academy. We should have a memorable birthday party.”

William was horrified.

“Th-There’s no need for that.”

A grand party would be embarrassing.

“Why?”

“It’s just a party because Lara wants to eat cake. There’s no need to do anything extravagant.”

She knew that William had a shy personality. In the past, she had let William do as he wished with all matters except magic.

But sometimes, even if the child doesn’t want it, events to show others might be necessary.

‘That way, fools like Doctor Frosch won’t look down on us again.’

Guinevere said shamelessly:

“I want to have a party too.”

“What?”

“I said I want to have one too. Your birthday party.”

“But, I…”

“Who gave birth to you?”

William was at a loss for words.

“I want to grandly celebrate the day I gave birth to you.”

William could no longer protest.

And so, his grand 14th birthday party began.

“Wow, William! It’s a 14-tier cake! It’s taller than you!”

Larisa exclaimed in surprise, looking at the huge cake stacked like a tower in the center of the party hall. William had been unable to lift his head from embarrassment since earlier.

“Look, William. The ladies are dancing!”

In the direction Larisa was pointing, dancers were performing. Even the Emperor’s birthday party wouldn’t be more splendid than this. William wanted to hide.

“William, William!”

“Stop, stop it, Larisa. Please.”

“But aren’t you grateful that Mother prepared all this for you?”

“I’m dying of embarrassment…”

William buried his face in his hands.

“Willie-willie, Mother will be upset. That’s not right. Even if my mom always made tasteless cakes, I pretended to be overjoyed.”

“Why?”

Larisa spoke as if asking about something obvious:

“Because that makes mom happy.”

It was only after coming to the Rodante mansion that she learned that cakes are supposed to be fluffy and sweet. And to make such things requires precious eggs and a ton of sugar.

There was no way they had such ingredients at home. So her mother’s cakes were always her best effort.

If Marina had money and a big house like this, she probably would have thrown such a grand party for Larisa too. So Larisa wanted William to understand that sentiment.

“Look. I’ve never seen a birthday party like this in my life. Mother must have wanted to do everything she could for you.”

“…”

“Don’t you think so?”

“…Yeah.”

William was still embarrassed, but he felt a strange emotion. He knew she was a thoughtful child, but…

Without realizing it, William glanced at Guinevere sitting in the place of honor. He saw Guinevere sitting with her legs crossed like a queen, holding a glass of wine.

‘She seems to be enjoying herself.’

Guinevere appeared to be in a good mood for once. Come to think of it, even though it was his birthday, it was also the day his mother had gone through hardship. His mother deserved to enjoy herself.

‘I’ll have to endure the embarrassment…’

Is there nowhere to hide? As he was thinking this, Guinevere tapped her wine glass and said:

“Everyone, thank you for coming.”