Chapter 72

Chapter 72

'I have to tell him when it's twelve o'clock.'

Aria gave a long yawn and got her body up.

She had a hard time waking up late into the night because she was young. But after desperately persevering, the time was approaching.

She went to Lloyd's room with a box of cake, candles, and matches.

'Well, about three minutes left.'

Aria checked the wall clock near Lloyd's room. And it was when she lit the fire with matches.

Suddenly the door swung open.

"......what are you doing.""

"....."

Why did he open the door?

Lloyd felt the presence standing in front of the door, and as he opened the door, he was bewildered to see Aria burning a match.

"Playing with fire?"

Looks like that. Aria was stunned by the conclusion Lloyd had reached.

Why is the wife playing with fire in front of her husband's bedroom?

'The surprise is gone.......'

Aria looked at the grandfather clock. It was still two minutes ahead of the hour.

Although she was caught, she stubbornly took the cake out of the box and lit the candle.

And she held it towards Lloyd.

- Happy Birthday!

Birthday.

Then Lloyd remembered that New Year's Day was the day he was born.

He gently wrinkled his brow. Even if it was the birthday that Aria and no one else, took care of, he couldn't pretend to be happy.

His lips hardened.

Because he never thought that it was never a curse that he was born in this world.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be happy."

Lloyd told Aria, who would probably be disappointed with his reaction.

But as if she knew how to react, she said as she placed the cake in his arms.

- At least for me, you're a blessing.

"......"

- I want to say, I will try my best to make Lloyd feel like a blessing too. Because you said you didn't want to burden me.

What should she say?

Aria, who had been thinking for a while, rounded her eyes and smiled naturally.

- Let's make it together. As a blessing.

The bell rang announcing the hour.

Ring, ring, ring.

It was the moment Lloyd first recognized his own birthday since he was born.

***

Spring Summer Fall Winter.

After several seasons, spring has come again.

Aria welcomed spring at the age of 14.

***

"He's starting not to get in touch..."

Veronica tilted her head. Then, her fine blonde hair flowed down like a wave.

She tapped the communication device on her desk with her finger.

"It's amazing. There must be something in the Devil's Castle that made you lose your mind."

She thought she was enough to captivate him.

Veronica smirked at the vain laughter, then she smashed the communication tool by throwing it against the wall.

"This punk!"

Originally made unbreakable, the magic ball bounced off the wall and rolled over the floor back to her feet.

She couldn't stand her anger and let out a wheezing breath.

'I made a mistake.'

It would be the end of the story when she picked up a dog that had been wandering around unsettled and put him into perfect obedience.

Such a simple task.

"Damn it, I shouldn't have sent you to Valentine."

Gabriel should have felt a deeper sense of loneliness, despair and disillusionment in the Devil's Castle. In total isolation, he should have considered only Veronica as his savior.

But in the last step, someone dared to intercept her loyal dog.

"Without that dog, my plan is..."

Does it completely fail?

Should she rebuild it?

Was this a goal that can be achieved without the dog?

Nervously biting her nails, Veronica stopped doing what she was doing.

"No."

This is how life was with its original will.

Not moving as she wished. Not knowing when and where its going, and it's easy to get upset if they don't manage it consistently.

'There is nothing to be agitated about.'

It's just a natural process.

Dogs also forget their previous owners when they change owners and serve the new owner who gives them food without hesitation.

'Hmm.'

Veronica looked around.

She then found several plaques of appreciation lined up in a row at the top of her bookshelf.

It was a plaque of appreciation given to the priests and saints who performed the most volunteer work that year in the Papal Palace.

Veronica never missed a plaque of appreciation since she became a saint.

'That's right.'

She picked up one of the crystal plaques of appreciation and slammed it in her face.

Many times, many times.

"Phuh."

Veronica spat the pool of blood out of her mouth and then rubbed it roughly with her hand, spreading it across her lips.

Then, after picking up the communication sphere that had fallen on the floor, she immediately contacted Gabriel.

- Saint?

"Sir Knight..."

Her tears fell as if it had waited.

***

Swish, swish.

In the silence, the sound of turning the papers at an accurate speed, like a pendulum, echoed.

On the black wooden desk, books and documents were piled up like a mountain.

"...."

Aria didn't read a book, but stared at Lloyd sitting opposite her.

The man sitting with his back against the pouring sunlight seemed to wander between the vague line of a boy and a young man.

'It's dazzling.'

Aria frowned.

Then, his hand, which had been filling the parchment without stopping, stopped abruptly.

Lloyd looked up. His dark eyes, which were deeper than when he was young, were revealed under the long eyelashes.

"What."

Lloyd asked, covering the beam of light that had penetrated the window with his wide back.

Aria, whose glare had improved even more, opened her eyes properly this time.

"It's just that Lloyd suddenly seems to have grown up alone."

"If you're 18, you're an adult."

Although he still had two years left before his coming-of-age ceremony.

The Fineta Empire was particularly strict, but in other countries, he was already of an age that was recognized as an adult.

"But not yet."

Aria said with all her might. She somehow couldn't admit that Lloyd had grown up.

Aria's efforts to grow up quickly were overshadowed, but he also grew so much that he was ahead of her.

"Right, it's not like that."

The boy, no, young man Lloyd answered silently without any reaction.

Compared to the time when he cried 'I'm not a kid!', he has grown so much that she couldn't recognize it.

Aria muttered sullenly.

"You're not cute."

"...sorry about that."

Look at that. He didn't make a fuss like before.

He just turned his back to the light like a halo and smiled a little bit like a frown. His calm and serene demeanor, not as violent as before, made him look decadent again.

'I can't make eye contact for a long time these days.'

She can't even make fun of him. If that's the case, she thought she was going to get beaten up again.

Aria had no choice but to avoid Lloyd's gaze, who was staring at her sternly.

She had never been like this. She was strangely awkward and shy.

"It's strange..."

He murmured.

Aria thought he had just heard her thought, and she was stabbed and trembled.

But Lloyd's eyes were on her papers, not hers.

Embarrassed, she wiggled her fingers for nothing, and asked.

"What?"

"Diamont market price is booming."

Diamont.

It was the only material for mana stones. It was a business almost monopolized by Valentine, who had the purest diamont mine.

It was also the main source of income.

"Suddenly? Did you reduce the supply?"

"No way."

That means external factors acted...

It was not that there was no place other than the Valentine that supplied diamont. However, it could not match the quality or quantity of supply.

"Then the other diamont mine owners have cut supply or there is a problem with the distributor."

"The probability of the former being extremely low. Unless it's a Valentine's diamont, it's not traded at the highest price."

"Then the latter?"

If there was a problem with the distributor, it meant that either the ruling management or one of the families they were dealing with was stealing the diamont.

"It's embezzlement... I couldn't even imagine."

Lloyd whispered lowly. And he smiled.

"I think we need a major change."

It was completely different from the smile that has its freshness towards Aria. It was an arrogant yet fully ripened smile, with a subtle color that spreads like a fragrance.

It's not good for the heart.

Aria turned her gaze away from Lloyd as if on fire.

'It's really unimaginable.'

Who would have known that someone with a gut protruding out of their stomach would dare to rob Valentine's resources?

Aria felt uncomfortable.

'Is there still someone who can go against Valentine's planting?'

Seeing an example of Viscount Cavendy and Count Beaufort? Is there any in both Empires, that even the Emperor and the Pope, won't touch Valentine recklessly?

Valentine, who cleared the gutter and became the number one villain?

If they have the courage to do that, they'll be a warrior, so why are they embezzling?

'It must be either a real idiot or up to something.'

The former is good, but the latter.......

effe's note:

the 'diamont' is not a typo, the raw uses the word 다이몬트 which ends with the t letter, so that's why i'm keeping it as diamont for now and see if there's any change in the future! hehe <3