48
“Now everyone, today is a celebration. Drink, eat and have a lot of fun!”
Hearing Retana’s words, cheers erupted, and the clerk, who couldn’t wait, immediately carried the feast to the platter.
“Retana-san, is the shop okay?”
“Don’t worry about that, Yaquel. we’ve been contacting our customers for two or three days to say we’re temporarily closed today.”
“So that was the case… I had no idea.”
“Of course. Aria instructed that it’s a secret from you so she privately conveyed it to everyone.”
They expended so much effort just for him but he felt guilty because of it. Alongside it, gratefulness bubbles up inside him.
Yaquel turned to Aria, who was staring coldly at the head clerk who was frantically chewing on the meat.
“Aria-san.”
“Oh, Yaquel.”
“Aria-san, thank so much for today.”
“It’s nothing. How was it? Were you surprised?”
“Yes, I was. But it’s very enjoyable.”
“Okay, I see, I see.”
Aria’s plan was a great success and Yaquel was happy, so she laughed with joy.
“And it looks like you prepared a lot of things… Thank you so much.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I also had fun.”
She stuck out her tongue as her eyes lit up from the excitement of sneaking around in secret like a spy.
“Hey~, isn’t this our main character, Yaquel-sama?”
The clerk comes with a plate full of delicious food and distributes it to Yaquel’s plate.
“Oh, thank you very much”
“Okay, eat, eat. Today is a happy celebration. Eat a lot, okay?”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
“No problem.”
Here, he tears a bite-sized portion of pyanki and puts it in his(Y) mouth, “It’s delicious.” Yaquel eats it happily.
“You’re eating too much. Please control yourself a little.”
Aria warned the clerk but he only laughed, he seemed to have no intention to listen at all.
“She’s right. I hope that you don’t stick too close to Yaquel either.”
“Exactly, I agree with him.”
Yaquel turned around when he heard the familiar voices from behind.
Guinn is wearing a knight’s uniform, and Sajis is wearing a white suit with gold embroidery. They’re wearing formal attires instead of their usual casual clothes. He thinks that the two are amazing since the place turned out to look like a royal banquet when the brilliant duo appeared.
“Guinn-sama, Sajis-sama… why are you here?”
“Hm? The proprietress contacted us.”
“She said they’re going to have a birthday party for you.”
“She said she wanted us to celebrate it together.”
“Retana-san did…”
When he turned his gaze to Retana, she was smiling gently. Yaquel gave such a Retana a light bow.
“Yaquel, happy birthday.”
“Happy birthday, Yaquel.”
Sajis handed a bright red bouquet with a sweet scent to Yaquel, and Guinn handed him a pure white bouquet with a refreshing scent.
“Wow. These beautiful bouquets are for me? Is it okay?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Please accept it.”
“Thank you very much.”
Yaquel thanked the two for their kindness after smelling each of the flowers.
“Also, this is a present from me.”
Guinn hands Yaquel a large bag that is one meter long.
“A present!? Oh my goodness! I can’t accept it.”
“Please don’t say such a sad thing. This is my feeling of gratitude towards you.”
“Grateful…?”
“That’s right. I am very happy to have met you from the bottom of my heart. And even if I meet you, even just for a moment like this, the pressure and fatigue of work will be blown away and I will feel very relaxed.”
“Guinn-sama…”
“So please accept it, Yaquel.”
Guinn looks into Yaquel’s eyes heartfeltly.
There’s actually more that he wants to tell him. That’s not the only reason why he’s thankful that he met him. Meeting such a precious and lovely existence, just thinking of Yaquel already makes his day shine brightly, filling him with the desire to have him by his side forever. However, it will surely only trouble Yaquel, who is working hard towards his goal, if he tells him that.
I like you, I love you.
How nice it would be to be told that.
Guinn gritted his molars and stopped himself from saying the words he spun.
“…Thank you very much, Guinn-sama.”
Yaquel wasn’t such a man who was so dense that he’d reject the present from Guinn who told him that he’s happy to have met him.
“Can I open it?”
As Yaquel was about to open the bag, Hana-Hana’s employees also leaned forward to look at it curiously.
“Wow, is this an ax?”
He took out the ax from the bag and raised it a little, untying the sturdy cloth wrapped around the blade. The wooden part of the handle fits comfortably in Yaquel’s large hand and is easy to hold.
“This is the same ax used by real craftsmen who are woodcutters. It seems to cut hard wood with half the usual force.”
“Eh, it’s something that amazing!?”
“Yes, I don’t want these hands to get hurt any further.”
Guinn grabbed Yaquel’s hands, brought them to his mouth, and slowly put them to his lips.
Then, as if to block it, a ‘Mhm!’ of someone clearing his throat was heard and Sajis’s pushed Guinn away and stole Yaquel’s hands from him.
“Yaquel, the next one is from me.”
“What, Sajis-sama, you too!?”
Sajis puts an expensive garment case in front of Yaquel and opens it to show him.
“This is…”
“Yes, it’s a tailcoat.”
It was the same as the tailcoat Sajis gave him when he went to the palace.
He was sad when Hylm told him that that tailcoat was lost. When he immediately apologized to Sajis after leaving the palace, he was told the truth and that it wasn’t his fault but, despite that, he still blamed himself for not looking after it properly and reflected on it for a long time.
“I had it made again.”
“Such high-class clothes again…”
“I told you before that taking this off of you is my enjoyment, didn’t I?”
Sajis has noticed that Yaquel has been concerned about the clothes. Yaquel isn’t a man who does not care about wasting someone’s goodwill. He has always wanted to do something about it.
“Sajis-sama…”
Will you accept it? He asked and presented it in front of Yaquel.
Yaquel’s heart was shot down by Sajis’s gentleness and obediently accepted it with a “Thank you very much!”
Aah, I love you so much.
He found the watery-eyed Yaquel so unbearably adorable that he stretched his arms out to hug him.
“Oh noー! They already startedー!”
As if to stop Sajis’s move, the owner of the bright and energetic voice that cut through the atmosphere of the place rushed to Yaquel and hugged him vigorously.
“Eunick.”
“Yaquel, happy birthday~! Love you~! I love you so much!”
Guinn and Sajis were startled by the fact that a beautiful man suddenly appeared and was able to easily convey the words they couldn’t say, and quickly pulled the man away from Yaquel.