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Chapter 3
Without realizing that Erica’s face was slowly turning red with anger, Petchenik laughed loudly.
“Little maid! How did you know it was my birthday and prepare a candle for me? What a thoughtful little thing you are!”
“……Tsk.”
Erica bit her lips over and over.
With her old, dirty clothes and messy hair, it was understandable that Petchenik had mistaken her for a maid instead of the daughter of the Count.
But blowing out someone else’s birthday candle was simply rude.
This fully grown man had somehow grown up without learning even the most basic manners. He was acting worse than a child.
“……It’s not your birthday, Uncle.”
“Huh?”
But as Erica stared at the candle that had gone out, she couldn’t bring herself to get angry.
In the end, she spoke weakly.
“It’s my birthday.”
She wanted to show her anger, but she wasn’t used to expressing it.
She didn’t know how.
Instead, a deep sadness filled her heart.
“This is my wish… This is the one day of the year when I get to make a wish…”
The small, thin candle, now blackened after being blown out, seemed to whisper to her.
You fool. Today isn’t your birthday.
Erica rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand because she felt like she was about to cry.
Someone else had taken away her birthday candle.
Now she couldn’t make her wish.
“Um… I’m sorry.”
Petchenik scratched his beard.
Even though he was completely drunk, he had not lost his ability to understand things.
This must really be the little maid’s birthday.
“I’ll grant your wish instead of the birthday candle. How about that? I have plenty of money, so I can buy you whatever gift you want.”
Petchenik pointed toward the old teddy bear beside the girl.
“How about a rabbit doll that’s much bigger and cuter than that dirty lump of stuffing?”
Erica didn’t answer.
Petchenik misunderstood her silence as agreement.
“I’ll have it sent to the Count’s mansion tomorrow morning. Which room do you work in? The kitchen? The laundry room? I’ll just give it to the head maid and tell her to give it to you.”
“……”
Erica held the egg tart in her right hand.
She hugged her teddy bear with her left arm.
“I don’t need it. That’s not what I wished for.”
Erica stood up from the fountain.
“You should make a wish instead. You took away my chance to make one.”
“No, no. I don’t have any wishes.”
“That’s a lie. Who in the world doesn’t have a wish?”
“There was someone like that once.”
Drunk Petchenik began talking about his personal life without even being asked.
“You have no idea how many times I wished that I could at least see my cute daughter grow up and get married.”
“……”
“One day, I thought maybe I had been too greedy, so I made my wish smaller.”
“……”
“I only wished that my daughter could live for one more year.”
“……”
“Do you know how much money I gave to the temple when I prayed for her? They could probably build two mansions like this one with all the donations I gave them.”
“You’re… really rich.”
“Of course. There isn’t a poor person among the members of Teneuarha.”
“……”
Teneuarha.
Erica raised her head when she heard the familiar name.
She couldn’t believe that this silly-looking middle-aged man belonged to the same Imperial Palace knight order as her father.
“So, just tell me anything. What should I buy for you?”
Petchenik asked again.
He had stolen the birthday candle of this dirty little maid and even made her cry.
If he simply ignored her and went back to drinking, he probably wouldn’t be able to enjoy himself.
So he thought he would at least promise her a birthday present and then return to the party with a clear conscience.
“……Help me leave the Count’s mansion.”
Erica finally spoke.
“Please help me.”
Her clear eyes looked up at Petchenik.
“That was what I was going to wish for.”
The man was so tall that she had to tilt her head all the way back just to look at him.
Petchenik wasn’t the sort of person who would kneel down for some little maid.
Their eyes met.
Petchenik remained silent for a while.
Only then did he take a proper look at the child.
……The other maids must be bullying her.
There were marks of injuries around her eyes and on her arms.
When he had first seen her, he had simply thought that the Heryce family was rather strict when disciplining its young maids.
But even considering that she was a maid, her appearance was far too shabby.
It would be rude to casually judge the condition of the servants in a noble household.
Still, when guests came, even the young maids were usually given clean clothes to wear.
Yet this child looked almost like a beggar from the slums.
This has gone too far.
If a young maid wanted to leave the Count’s mansion badly enough to ask a stranger for help, then something must be seriously wrong.
Petchenik already knew very well that Count Heryce completely neglected his family.
Perhaps there was a problem with how the Countess or the head maid managed the servants, but—
“……I’m afraid that’s difficult.”
Petchenik couldn’t get involved.
There were certain unspoken rules among nobles.
He was very close to Count Heryce, so if he talked to him properly, he might be able to get a single young maid out of the mansion.
But the amount of trouble involved in doing so was too much.
“If you don’t want a present, then I’ll be going.”
“……”
“You really don’t want it? The rabbit doll?”
“……”
“I’ll go, then.”
“……”
Erica never answered.
In the end, Petchenik turned around.
“……”
Erica silently watched his large back as he walked away.
It didn’t mean anything.
But after taking a few steps, Petchenik suddenly stopped.
His broad back, wide like a bear’s, turned around.
“Oh, right. Happy birthday.”
He awkwardly scratched his nose as he said it.
It might already have been past midnight.
“……Mm.”
Erica hugged her teddy bear tightly.
She felt embarrassed.
“Thank you.”
This is the first time I’ve ever heard that.
Actually, yesterday wasn’t my birthday either. And today isn’t really my birthday either. I just chose this day myself.
She kept those thoughts hidden.
“You too, Uncle. Happy birthday!”
Erica smiled for the first time in a while.
Her eyes curved into crescents as she gave him a bright, innocent smile.
It was so childlike and adorable that—
“Happy birthday, Daddy!”
Petchenik felt as if someone had struck him hard on the back of his head.
His dead daughter came to his mind.
“……Yes.”
That was when he realized that he was in serious trouble.
“……Thank you.”
It was a disaster.
A box of memories that he had kept closed for a very long time had been forcibly ripped open.
There was no doubt about it.
How had he managed to live while forgetting them?
His beloved daughter.
When he opened his eyes, he was all alone in this life.
The nightmare that had returned came crashing over Petchenik like the plague that had killed his wife and daughter long ago.
“……”
Even when he returned to the drinking party and stayed drunk until dawn…
Even after he finally passed out and fell asleep…
Even the next morning, when the knight order’s training began as usual and he held his sword…
“……Damn it.”
His longing stabbed straight into his heart with ease.
The people he could never bring back were like the scent from a box that had been opened wide and scattered away in the wind.
Whether he held a sword or stupidly laughed, his life no longer felt enjoyable.
The emptiness that had begun inside him became an endless abyss.
One Year Later
Erica met that strange man again.
Once again, Petchenik held his birthday party at the Heryce mansion.
The Count’s family was nearly driven crazy by it, but from the Countess’s point of view, there was at least one good thing this time.
He had informed them in advance.
“Madam, did you know? The little maid here has the same birthday as me. I happened to find that out last year.”
“Oh my, how interesting. I should tell the head maid to give that child a piece of cake.”
The Countess answered with a kind smile.
She didn’t actually care about the birthday of some maid in the mansion.
But putting on a show of noblesse oblige was easy when necessary.
Of course, the head maid couldn’t figure out which maid was celebrating her birthday that day.
In the end, the cake was never given to anyone.
Meanwhile, Erica, the actual birthday girl, stuck a candle into a small piece of bread she had secretly stolen.
She now knew that she was supposed to put eight candles on it because it was her eighth birthday.
But she couldn’t get that many candles.
Not wanting to miss her chance like last year, she quickly blew out the candle.
Then she made her wish.
Please help me leave the Count’s mansion.
It was a wish she said very quickly.
And then Erica spotted Petchenik in the hallway.
He was the person who had the same birthday as her.
Happy to see a familiar person, Erica ran toward him and spoke first.
“……Uncle.”
