CH 56

“I, I’m sorry….”

I apologized in a voice the size of an ant and raised myself carefully.

Cheshire followed and stood up.

“…Do you get hurt?”

“I, I don’t… you?”

“Me too.”

In an instant, the atmosphere became strange.

A kiss…A kiss on the lips…I did it with a guy other than my Dad, I…..

Looking at it, it seemed that even Cheshire was not embarrassed at all. He tried to avoid my eyes and said nothing. 

I felt wronged.

Is it my fault that this happened?

“I, it’s because you keep avoiding me! This flower, this!”

I pointed to the flower Cheshire was holding tightly in his hand, even in the middle of the disaster.

“Isn’t that what you bought for me?”

“…That’s right.”

“Then give it to me!”

Cheshire hesitated as he looked at the lips and then gave the flowers to her.

A single flower with many small purple petals attached like fairy wings.

My heart melted quickly.

“It’s so pretty. What flower is it?”

“…Aristata.”

“W, what? Is this Aristata?”

I was surprised. 

The original story came to mind like lightning.

「One day in May, a bunch of Aristata was placed on the vase at Enoch Rubinstein’s desk. 

“What’s the meaning of that flower?”

As always, Cheshire asked out of curiosity when he saw Aristata for the fourth time.

“Today is my daughter’s birthday.”

“…Ah.”

“Aristata is the birth flower.” 」

The scene that broke my heart was the image of the main character, Enoch Rubinstein, missing his daughter.

I didn’t know exactly when I read it because it was one day in May.

‘Aristata’s Day was May 19th.’

My birth flower.

My heart sank again.

Cheshire was a man who knew how to impress a woman—.

“Thank you very much… This is the best gift I’ve ever received.”

Cheshire stared at me.

The embarrassment disappeared before I knew it. I quickly clung to his arm to see if Cheshire would run away again.

“Let’s go together. Huh? Sing my birthday song, too.”

*****

A small birthday party in the dining room.

I sat around the round table and looked at each family singing.

I was reluctant to have a birthday party like this, but in the end, my Grandfather came—.

And after Theo got better, her worries disappeared, and Aunt became 100 times prettier than before… 

The twin brothers who presented the new Princess Lara dress and tiara made with the power of capital—.

And Cheshire.

“Princess, let’s blow out the candles now!”

My dear Dad.

“Ung!”

I held the Aristata Cheshire gave me in my hand and blew on the seven candles on the cake. 

“Whoaa! Happy birthday, my Princess!”

“Happy birthday, Lilith.”

“Congratulations, kid!”

“Happy birthday, Lilith! Don’t cry. Why are you crying?”

“Sniff, thank you everyone….”

Tak!

Ting—.

Then, Grandfather and Aunt put something on the table at the same time.

Then they glared at each other solemnly.

‘W, what is it?’

A piece of rolled paper was laid under Grandfather’s big hand.

And what Aunt put on was a blue velvet jewelry box.

“Open it first.”

After Grandfather said, Aunt opened the jewelry box.

Light pouring out at the same time!

It was blinding, so I raised my arm to cover my eyes.

“N, no…”

I thought it was blinding magic, but it turned out to be a shining crown-sized diamond.

In the center is a diamond that appears to weigh 100 carats. And in the middle, large and small waterdrop-shaped diamonds are hanging in clusters—.

What a three-tier chain necklace!

It looked like it would be displayed in a museum with an explanation like ‘a luxury item of medieval royalty’.

“Phew. How can the princess wear that right now, sister? Her neck is about to fall.”

Dad shook his head while cutting the cake.

“It’s 100 carats, Lilith.”

“That, that, it seems….”

“I was thinking of ordering one for you to wear now, but then it’s going to have less jewels and a lot of design choices. Keep it with you and wear it to your socialite debutante ball. Everyone will envy you.” 

No matter how much I thought about it, it wasn’t a gift that a seven-year-old would receive.

I accepted the jewelry box with cloudy eyes, unable to disappoint my Aunt’s expectations of my reaction.

“Thank you, Auntie! It’s so pretty! I will keep it well and use it when I grow taller later!”

“Hoho, yeah.”

At this point, I became afraid of my Grandfather’s gift.

It was a piece of paper that looked relatively shabby, but surely the contents would never be shabby—.

‘I hope it’s not like a land document.’

“It’s a land document.”

God, my grandfather cruelly trampled on my expectations.

“I bought the Parman River valley in the east and it came out about 100 acres.”

“Ugh, the land price would be enormous if it was along the Parman River.”

Dad shook his head again, handing out cakes to his family’s plates. 

This… This isn’t right.

I broke out in a cold sweat and shook my hand.

“Grandpa, this is a little….”

“It’s a perfect place for horseback riding. After all, the Capital is narrow. Wouldn’t it be nice to go out with Cheshire often?” 

What? My ears perked up.

Looking back at Cheshire, he seemed surprised like me. Soon, he slightly blushed his ears and bowed his head.

‘A playground well over 100,000 pyeong in which Zephyr, Cheshire, and Walter can run freely?’

Gulp.

I swallowed dry saliva.

My eyes were blurred.

Am I really going to become the third generation of a chaebol who is tired of capitalism?

“T, thank you. Grandpa. I can go horseback riding next year and win first place!”

In the end, I compromised with greed—.

“By the way, Cheshire, do you have any presents for Lilith?”

Leon asked as he put the strawberry on the cake into his mouth.

I quickly picked up the Aristata flower.

“I got a flower here!”

“Huh. Is that all?”

Leon, you fool! You’re too tactless.

“For me, this….”

“Here.”

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, a box was put out in front of me.

Cheshire was avoiding my gaze, embarrassed.

“Hurry up and open it!”

Theo urged.

I carefully opened the box.

And inside it—.

“…Ah.”

A cute rabbit-shaped coin purse.

And the ‘Princess Lara Magic Wand’ was in it!

“Hahaha! You got the full set of Princess Lara from head to toe!”

“Wow, it must be nice to be my princess.”

How did he get the magic wand? They must have been more expensive than Princess Lara’s shoes.

I took out the present with a trembling hand.

Then, a small card fell out of the bottom.

[Happy birthday]

It’s a short congratulations.

It’s nothing special, but the tip of my nose got cold.

“Thank you, Cheshire….”

And when I accidentally flip the card while sniffing.

A small piece of writing caught my eye.

[Thank you.

It’s like heaven next to you]

“Ugh…”

“What’s wrong, my princess? You look touched. What did Cheshire write in the letter?”

“It’s nothing!”

I hid the card and took a deep breath.

It’s like heaven next to you.

I couldn’t help but get emotional when I saw the one line that he wrote down.

It was more touching than a hundred words.

“Woo…”

“P, princess?”

“Hnng.”

Eventually, I burst into tears.

*****

“Sniff.”

“No, are you really not going to tell me what it says?”

“Yes, I won’t tell you. I’m the only one who will look at it.”

“Tsk.”

After crying for a while and getting swollen eyes, I came out with my Dad’s hand around the time the sun went down.

Dad took me to some corner of the garden to show me a great gift.

“W, whoa…?”

I was surprised.

Hanging firmly on a thick branch—.

It was a swing!

“Ahahaha! That’s what the princess wanted, right?”

“O, oh my!”

I stomped my feet and ran to the swing, where I sat down and held the magic wand that Cheshire had given me.

“No way!”

When I lived in Xenon, the front yard was small, so there were no trees to hang the swings.

How jealous I was of the swing in Jimmy’s yard next door.

I went to play every day and asked to borrow it, but Jimmy, who was greedy, would only let me ride in it for 5 minutes before saying it was his.

I was so sad that I was crying—.

“Do you like it?”

“Ung, ung! I really like it, really!”

It’s twice as big as Jimmy’s swing, so there’s plenty of room for me and Dad to sit side by side.

“Hehehe. Thank you, Dad. It’s really, really the best.”

“Then, kiss.”

I kissed Daddy’s right and left cheeks alternately about ten times, then said.

“Let’s play!”

“Okay.”

Dad rolled it for me because I couldn’t touch the ground yet.

“Whooaa!”

The cold spring breeze scattered my hair at sunset.

“Princess.”

“Ung!”

“Are you happy?”

I looked back at my Dad.

When I saw my Dad’s smiling face, I answered quickly.

“I’m so happy!”

“Ahaha!”

The original work hasn’t even started yet.

There’s a long way to go before everyone’s really happy.

Although I can’t be sure how the terrifying original will change now that I’m alive and by my Dad’s side.

Still, I was just happy at this moment.

“Dad is happy that the princess is happy, too. My princess, Dad will make you happy everyday.”

“…Ung. Hehe, me too.”

Ah, I feel like I cry very easily.

Am I a tear machine?

“Me too, Dad….”

Suddenly, I found a small inscription on the swing armrest.

“Dad…”

Dad… Why did you write this? I’m really crying.

Sniff, I held back my tears and went into my Dad’s arms.

“…I’ll make sure Daddy is happy too. Trust me.”

“Hahaha, Daddy is so happy just to see the princess grow up healthy and well?”

“Ung, I’ll try. I’m sleepy now, so let’s go and sleep.”

“Are you sleepy? Suddenly?”

“Ung.”

Dad got up and hugged me. I secretly wiped the tears from my Dad’s shoulder.

Because I cried a lot today.

I shouldn’t cry again.

[My everything, my world.

No matter how hard the wind blows,

Dad will protect you.]