The light vanished, everything returned to normal, the night was still young, and we have found a fun game for us.

It will be fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she asks me, as well as what I ask her.

She gave me this black coin, and I knew the ones that I give her would be pure white.

And this black and white coin thing reminded me of an old fun board game from my past life.

Well, she invented a 'couple game' for us, so I had to reward her, right?

I have to, and there's no need to even think twice about this.

But, well, even if I wanted to give one of these coins to her right now, I would need two days to make it at the very least.

The coin wasn't plain. There was a special pattern she herself made with both our initials on one side and beautiful designs on the other.

The coin looked beautiful, and so were the finely made initials.

[A.R.]

This strangely looked fine~ together.

So, I will need a while to make something similar or maybe better.

But these initials will have the same design as hers. That would be the most appropriate thing.

This was probably some of the best gifts I have received ever...

N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l-B1n.

And she was an amazing friend as well as something else to think about and create something like this..

"You know..."

Her gift was something really good, and I wanted to tell her some things now that we had this whole night for just the two of us.

Zoe was fine with just being by herself tonight, watching the little sleeping Anna.

She also had a gift for me, but she said she would give me that one after everyone else, totally different from Anna.

Anna wanted to be the first one to give her a gift and..

I was reaaaaaaaaaaaaly excited about Anna's gift~!

My first ever gift from my lovely sisters~.

The morning will definitely be fun. But for now...

"When I celebrated my first birthday with my master around three years ago, she prepared a grand banquet hall, a lot of different special delicacies, and played harmonious rare musical instruments that we can't see nowadays.

She didn't know much about how one celebrates birthdays, so she overdid all that and the absurd amount of food she prepared was enough to feed a small army-"

"Ptff. Damn that's... lol. Was your master some ancient lady from old times?"

"She actually was. She was very old. Far older than even headmaster."

"Hmm? Really?"

That sudden surprise on her face was cuter than that smile under this gentle moonlight.

But then, there was confusion on her face that was a really sudden change.

"So? What did you do with all that food?"

Instead of asking about how could she be older than the headmaster, who was more than millennia old, and anything about Zoe, she asked about the food.

Something she would do and something that put a smile on my face, as always.

"What do you do with food, dum dum? We ate that for the enter night and somehow managed to finish that by late morning.

Do you know how divine her cooking is?

You wouldn't dare leave a single thing on the plate-.

Oh, right... you never ate something like that."

My eyes were locked with hers. We both looked into each other's eyes, deep within, and the way I suddenly asked that question... was enough to tell her that I had some of her dishes with me.

And a smile appeared on her face as she knew that I knew what she was thinking.. which was actually true.

"You do have it!" she exclaimed, slamming her hands on the table with her signature ear-piercing loud voice.

What can I do with that loud voice of hers? What will we do in the future? Or will I have to do a thorough soundproofing in our rooms?

Damn, that is some complicated stuff. But, well, she wants to eat her cooking.

Sad...

"Even if I want to give you it right now, it's not time yet, dear. But, well, don't worry.

When the time comes, you will definitely have it and I assure you, the things you will eat at that time will be the best things you might have ever tasted."

There was sadness and happiness in my eyes as I said that, and I really meant what I said.

Not that there was any problem with her eating those wonderful things right now.

It was just that I didn't want her to eat that stuff for now.

It wasn't time yet, and she has to suffer, endure, and harden her resolve for some things.

It was better for her and it will be good to build up her mental fortitude even further.

So, she could tell from the rare helpless look in my eyes that there was no way in hell I was giving her the delicacies my master made like my special ice cream she had tasted twice.

"Alright..."

Now, the sudden excitement was replaced by some hope and disappointment.

She looked even cuter in this sad look, just like some child who didn't get the toy she was hoping for. And at the same time, she was promised she would have it sometime later.

A smile appeared on my face and my hand just moved on its own as I patted her head.

Her hair was straight, smooth, and silky. And as they were short, just neck long and braided in some ponytails and then intertwined in a fine design, they were cute to play with.

She naturally accepted my touch without hesitation, moving her head to move my hand to her favorite spots.

I already know every one of the soft spots on her head and hand, maybe feet too, but yes, this girl loved my head pats.

"Hmmm~. Yes... nice darling. You are thhhhhhhhe oh~. Best~~."

These weird moans of hers.. definitely reminded me of a particular big white squirrel. Weird and totally wrong sounding but, cute.

Well, this was cute, and I knew we would be having a long night filled with some of my stories like this, some of her stories, some cuddling, some hand-holding, eating some snacks and coffee, and a lot of flirting.

The night should just pass like this without many special events, from what I can tell.

The night was calm; the sky was cloudy; the moon was smiling down on us, a loving smile not a creepy one. Stars were twinkling, and pre-winter winds were cool and calm. The smell of forest on this rooftop was unique, and this girl, my friend, was beautiful.

So, yes, envy me, you poor souls. But remember that I pray for every one of you. That one day, the heavens shall bless you with a fortunate encounter and a special person, too.

May the ones on my journey be happy and the ones creating this be at least lucky enough to have the right person in their life.

...

That last one should have been the end, but while Rein and I were talking about some 'normal' stuff, Lucy spoke up.

[[ *So master... today is your birthday and I have something for you from my creator.* ]]