“Ria.”

-……

“Ria?”

-……

“……Ria!”

-Ahh! Oh, huh? Adi, did you call me?

“Why are you ignoring everything I say? That’s mean!”

Dawn broke, and I don’t know how that day passed.

Lost in thought staring blankly into space, Aeli suddenly lowered her head, startled by a voice coming from beside her.

A child with a very disgruntled expression was looking up at her.

-Sorry, I had something on my mind so I didn’t hear properly. What did you say?

Aeli hastily matched the child’s eye level and asked with an awkward smile. Even so, she wasn’t sure if her thoughts were functioning normally.

Ever since that incident at dawn yesterday, she couldn’t seem to get her head straight.

Is this what it would feel like if someone cut out your time completely?

‘Even acting like this in front of the child, I’ve really gone crazy.’

Slightly tense, wondering if the perceptive child might have sensed something odd, Aeli stared straight ahead.

Though the white, soft cheeks kept twitching as if to prove the bad mood, fortunately the child opened their mouth without any particular sign.

“You were like this yesterday too, sheesh……”

-……Hmm?

Although those words were mixed with whining, adding a spoonful of resentment.

Hearing the child’s mumbling, Aeli blinked rapidly.

‘Yesterday too…… I see.’

Come to think of it, it seems that might have been the case.

Aeli’s eyes rolled away somewhere to the corner, subtly avoiding the piercing gaze.

In fact, even thinking about it didn’t bring back memories of how she had been over the past day.

Her skull, no, her head had become empty as if she’d turned into an idiot.

‘Well, just looking at how I’ve been caught spacing out by Adi now, I can roughly guess how it must have been……’

Look at that aloof attitude, turning her head away sharply when their eyes meet, with cheeks puffed up as if about to fly off to the sky at any moment.

It was clear to anyone that there was a lot built up.

Aeli had no choice but to apologize to the child in a humble manner. Pleading, oh baby, please forgive this sight.

-Um, sorry. Could you say it one more time? I’ll focus on Adi now!

“……”

-It really wasn’t on purpose. Look into my eyes, do these look like the eyes of someone who’s lying?

“……”

Ehh. Was it just her imagination if she seemed to hear a small sigh?

Somehow, it didn’t seem like it was just her imagination.

But Aeli, pretending to have a clear gaze, opened her eyes wide.

Already a ghost, what’s left to preserve dignity in front of one’s child?

They say that sincerity moves hearts, don’t they?

In the end, the child, defeated in the battle of wills, obediently brought up the main point. Even to herself, it couldn’t help but seem truly ugly and childish.

“……which …… better?”

-Huh?

“Which of these is better?”

The child asked, stretching out both hands that had been fidgeting into the air.

A yellow ribbon with white embroidery and a white ribbon with purple lace densely attached.

-……Where did these come from?

When she tilted her head and asked, the answer came that Mari had brought them when the child said they wanted to decorate the flowerpot.

Flowerpot.

That damn flowerpot.

-Even on your actual birthday, it still comes to this……

“Hmm?”

-……It’s nothing. I think the yellow one looks prettier.

“Heheh. Me too.”

Aeli could only laugh helplessly as the child chuckled, saying their tastes were similar too.

As long as you like it, that’s fine……

[This is the timeline separator]

-That’s right. Now shall we try putting it into the round loop?

“I don’t think this is right……”

-No! If you let go of the other end, the loop will come undone. You have to hold it while you put it in.

“……It’s hard……”

What kind of situation is this now? To explain that, there was a rather deep story behind it.

Aeli opened her mouth with a raised tone towards the child who was feeling dejected after just failing to tie the ribbon for the fifteenth time.

-But it’s much prettier than when you first started, isn’t it? My goodness, our Adi is so skilled with their hands!

“……Really?”

-Of course. I can’t believe a five-year-old tied this today!

Aeli showered the child with praise, even clapping her hands.

It was true that for a five-year-old tying a ribbon for the first time in their life, their fingertips were quite deft.

‘This isn’t cheating.’

Anyway, that’s how it was.

Since casting magic also requires the process of imagining its range and formulas in one’s head, she had some idea.

‘A child who can self-study and even apply such magic couldn’t possibly not understand this.’

Aeli inwardly sighed in relief as she saw the slightly crooked, crumpled ribbon proudly take its place in the center of the flowerpot.

She thought they might end up tying ribbons until dawn at this rate.

[I don’t wanna do it anymore……] [Then should we go ask Mari to do it for us instead?] [But this is something I have to do myself!] [Can’t you ask for just a little, teeny tiny bit of help?] [Nuh-uh.] [……Alright. Then I’ll explain it more slowly this time, so let’s try again]

Apart from following instructions well, it wasn’t easy for the still unripe hands of a young child to tie a ribbon neatly.

Sometimes due to poor control of strength. Other times, not withdrawing the hand in time.

The shape would become uneven, fingers would get tied up with it, and they’d have to undo it all over again.

‘But insisting that they absolutely must do it themselves no matter what-‘

What’s the big deal about one ribbon? The child kept calling for another try until the day was almost over, while Mari repeatedly came to plead for them to please come to the dining room before retreating.

Knock knock.

“Young master, are you still very busy right now……?”

Just like now.

It was a rather timid question, as the child had finally thrown a tantrum when Mari had come up to the attic earlier, while they were in the midst of enthusiastically tying ribbons.

The child didn’t seem to understand why they had to go all the way down to the dining room instead of having meals in their room as usual.

‘At this rate, the birthday will be over, oh my!’

For today at least, Aeli felt the same as Mari.

It wasn’t much different from Mari’s feelings as she prepared a secret surprise birthday party.

Aeli opened her mouth and said to the child.

-We’ve finished tying the ribbon, so shall we go eat now, Adi?

“But…… it still looks a little weird……”

-Well, I think it looks plenty pretty as it is? After all the effort Adi put into tying it like this.

“……”

-The fairy will surely understand because Adi’s heart is so, so beautiful. But if they find out you skipped dinner because of the ribbon, won’t they be sad and blame themselves?

She tried to persuade the child, guessing that the reason for their hesitation was because of the fairy they had been singing about wanting to see so badly.

Aeli tilted her head sideways and made a crying sound. Glancing at the child out of the corner of her eye without being obvious was a bonus.

“Uh, uhhh……”

-And if Adi skips a meal, Mari, who’s been going back and forth to the attic, will be very upset too…….

Oh, what to do? Aeli deliberately dragged out the end of her words and let out a deep sigh. Not a single action was unplanned from start to finish.

“I’ll… I’ll go! I’ll eat!”

-Oh! Really?

And thus, victory was achieved.

When Aeli asked again with a bright smile as if nothing had happened, the child made a face like they’d been caught. But it was already far too late.

Hearing the child’s cry that they would go eat, Mari called out from beyond the door.

The joy in her voice was so evident that her expression was clear even without seeing it.

“Then shall we go down together… Oh, no! I’ll go down first and reheat the food, so please come down slowly! Make sure to!”

Food was just an excuse, and she was probably going to readjust the party poppers.

Just as Aeli was about to open her mouth as Mari noisily clattered down, unlike her usual self.

She had meant to suggest to the child that they go down slowly, but.

-Hmm…..

The jet-black hair that shaggy covered the small, delicate nape came into view.

Soon it would start getting hot, and with that hair that clearly hadn’t been properly managed, it would be quite…

‘Uncomfortable, I think.’

Not just the heat, but the hairstyle that partially obscured vision seemed like it would be inconvenient for daily life.

It also occurred to her that there was a small pair of scissors in the room that Mari had left behind when they were playing paper-cutting games recently.

Aeli opened her mouth, killing two birds with one stone.

-…Adi, shall we cut your hair a little before we go?

It was a pair of scissors with protective covers on all parts except the blade, making it safe even for young children to use.

It would be too much to do it directly, but she could watch from the side, so it wouldn’t be bad to tidy it up a bit while they were at it.

However, hearing Aeli’s suggestion, the child shook their head quickly in horror.

“I want to just grow it out like this.”

-Won’t you be hot in the summer?

“Even so… because it’s black hair, I want to grow it.”

-Well, if that’s the case…

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t disappointed, but that was that.

Aeli clicked her tongue and nodded, not wanting to push further when the child refused so firmly. The reaction was too resolute to insist.

Come to think of it, no matter how safe the scissors were, it wasn’t advisable to have a young child trim their own hair.

‘I don’t quite understand why they specifically mentioned the hair color when refusing, though.’

In any case, if they delayed any longer, Mari would probably come looking with a tearful face again.

Aeli quickly scanned the room and pointed somewhere as she asked.

-…Then how about tying it with that ribbon instead?

If they couldn’t cut it, the bangs couldn’t be helped, but the back could be.

It was a compromise she came up with in a hurry.

As a parent, her conscience couldn’t ignore a state that was clearly uncomfortable at a glance.

“I can’t tie a ribbon in the back by myself…”

-You just need to make a knot first and tie it until it’s tight.

She thought it wasn’t a bad alternative since a pretty ribbon shape wasn’t necessary just to tie the hair.

In the end, the child didn’t tie it themselves, though.

‘Uh… hmm.’

Aeli looked at Mari walking beside her while observing the neatly tied ribbon in the child’s hair.

She probably had no idea that Aeli was here.

Mari, who had come looking for the child when they hadn’t come down after quite some time and ended up tying their hair, was now standing in front of the dining room door, opening her mouth.

“Shall we go in?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Sure enough, the flowerpot that the child had been holding since leaving the attic was still tucked by their side.

The flowerpot with the cute ribbon decoration that they had worked so hard to tie themselves.

Aeli alternately looked at the child staring blankly ahead and the tightly closed brown door.

As Mari, with a subtly flushed expression, pulled the handle she had been holding, she spoke to the child.

“Oh, right, young master.”

“Yes?”

“Happy birthday, from the bottom of my heart.”

At last, the door opened and…

Pop! Pop pop!

“……!”

The firecrackers went off.