In a situation where there was no room for anger or doubt on this side, he casually extended a helping hand. Neris greeted him with surprise.

Claudewen spoke with a slightly smiling face.

“It’s a birthday present.”

Birthday?

‘Ah.’

Come to think of it, today was her birthday.

Her birthday had long turned into an awkward day rather than an anticipated one because she hadn’t received ordinary congratulations for so long. The Eldrandria family didn’t even properly know Neris’s birthday, and when she was the crown princess, her birthday was just an excuse for the royal family to receive bribes from the nobles under the pretext of gifts for the crown princess.

She had never received a sincere birthday wish or even a gift that seemed carefully chosen for her.
When her mother was alive, she was the only person who truly celebrated Neris’s birthday, but as her birthday fell during the school semester, she couldn’t receive direct congratulations.

So Neris had lived almost 20 years without really being conscious of her own birthday.

But he knew about it.

She couldn’t figure out how to react. Neris was certain that she had forgotten even how to express gratitude when congratulated.

“Thank you for your congratulations.”

Just three simple words, repeated countless times before nobles, so why weren’t they coming out of her mouth now?

As if something was caught in her throat.

Neris acknowledged, after a while, that it was a kind of moving emotion.

Perhaps for Claudewen, it was just a casual remark. What did it matter if he knew her birthday or not?

And whatever he gave today, even if he had given it a week ago, could have been called a birthday present given in advance.

But because it had been so long since she received something that made her happy on her birthday.

Because it had been so long since someone remembered her birthday without any political necessity.

The familiar smell of books filling the library gave Neris a little space.

To take off the mask of ‘Strong and flawless Neris Trued’ that she always wore and to recall, if only for a moment, the appearance of ‘Fragile and trusting Neris Trued’ that hadn’t been revealed since childhood.

That was why. Just for a moment, ignoring the thirty-year-old crown princess Neris who shouted that this couldn’t be done and she would be taken advantage of.

Neris showed a soft smile to Claudewen. And with a meaning similar to before but slightly different, she greeted him.

“Thank you.”

Anyway, what did it matter to smile once?

It was a coincidence that the clear sunlight touched Neris’s face as she smiled.

Books were weak to sunlight. So the amount of light entering the library was limited. But there had to be windows in the building for saving candles and ventilation.

The sunlight coming through a small and distant window sparkled in gold, illuminating Neris’s face.

Claudewen thought her smiling face was like a small flower.

How amazing was the vitality of a wildflower that bloomed anywhere, piercing through storms and even rocks. The flower that produced dazzlingly white and heart-tinglingly blue petals even without anyone raising it.

But who could say, ‘Originally, it could happen because it was strong. It wouldn’t have been difficult for a flower’?

In fact, any individual that failed to bloom a flower had died. There was no choice for the specimens that bloomed flowers.

Because they had to survive somehow. Otherwise, they would die.
They find beauty in simply living as a result of human egocentric aesthetics, but isn’t the freedom to feel that beauty given to everyone?

Claudewin knew why he was here. Since he saved the life of the only member of the Ducal family, she deserved compensation.

As she didn’t ask for it first, he brought what might be needed. It wasn’t a big deal to extend a simple favor to the emotional Parisha Viscountess.

Yes, it was just a common reward until she looked like she might cry for a moment.

Receiving a few simple documents, her eyes widened, and her surprised face was quite cute. Since Neris usually hid her emotions well, Claudewin could tell that she liked the gift.

Now that it was done, he thought she might put up another unnecessary guard. So, Claudewin added the words “birthday present.”

Look, there’s a reason to give a gift, right? Anyway, since he found out during the previous investigation that today is her birthday, pretending not to know is strange…

Then her small face twisted as if she was thinking about something.

As if a rock or a tree realized for the first time in a very long time that they were also alive, and that fact felt very awkward.

Although this face was distant from the dignity and ladylike expression that Neris usually showed, Claudewin thought that this side suited her better. A slightly vacant smile that came to mind a moment later.

Unfortunately—why that was unfortunate, even the smart Claudewin wouldn’t know—the ‘such’ expression soon disappeared. Neris spoke with her usual calm expression.

“Thanks to you, I think I can spend this summer well. If you make a good impression on Viscountess, our mother might find a way to make money every summer from now on. What should I do if I need to contact you this summer?”

“First, make sure there’s a way to contact you.”

In the quiet Parisha, there would be plenty of time to think. Time to plan and time to execute the plans.

Looking forward to the upcoming summer vacation with a relaxed mind, Neris nodded her head.