“What are you going to give me for my birthday?” I asked Lucas one morning while we were coming back home. He was carrying a basket with eggs and I a ceramic pot full of milk. Because Lucas still didn’t know how to properly milk the goats, it was up to me to get it for our breakfast.

Lucas frowned, his eyes upfront. “I don’t know… I don’t really have anything to give you… everything I owned it’s no longer mine...” he sighed.

Like every time he spoke about something related to his past as a noble, his tone became sad. I knew it wasn’t the luxuries he enjoyed while living with his father that he missed, as I think he was actually happier here, with us, with me… But rather, it was the thought of his brother, and how no news of him had reached our ears in months, what worried him.

Because it was dangerous if any member of the nobility knew Lucas was still alive, his presence in our home had been hidden, so even if something happened to Mathias I doubted anyone would inform us, as once the compensations were given it was no longer considered my family’s business. Despite that, I thought there was no way the Duke of Sellan would let anything bad happen to his nephew, his only heir, and so, even if we couldn’t confirm it, it was almost certain he was fine.

Almost, but not quite.

And that was what was bothering poor Lucas.

Not taking into account the two parted in very bad terms. That, too, must be eating at him.

I sighed.

“I wasn’t talking about anything material… come on, you know me better now than to think that.”

We have come to know each other so much better in the past three months of living together. He was the Lucas I remembered from the manga, which made me really happy, but there were plenty of other things I got to know about him that weren’t ever showed.

Not only that he was illegitimate, but small, silly things, like how he looks up when he’s deep in thought, or how he eats the peas mom puts in his plate even though he hates them just not to be rude. Or when Thomas told me he speaks in his sleep and snores softly and LEAVE ME ALONE I AM A FANGIRL OK, HE WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER FROM THE BEGINNING AND NOW I CAN INTERACT WITH HIM IN REAL LIFE.

He was a baby.

EHEM.

“Then… what would you like for your birthday?” he asked, blissfully unaware of my thoughts.

“It doesn’t work like that! You can’t ask me what I want! It has to be a surprise!”

“…You literally just asked what was I going to gift you for your birthday…”

“What I mean is that it has to come from you” I ignored what he said and continued. “It’s not like I get many birthday presents. Mom usually cooks my favorite food, dad gives me a new dress or shoes and Thomas just gathers some flowers and makes a bouquet for me. Something along those lines…”

“…" Lucas thought for a while, before giving a nod. "It must be nice getting presents from your family in your birthday. The viscount never gifted me anything, his wife hated me and Mathias was forbidden of losing his time getting me something, though twice or so he disobeyed the viscount and got some books for me.”

“…”

I’m sorry, ball of fluff, it wasn’t my intention to gloat about the gifts my family got me when you never got birthday presents. I apologize sincerely.

But hey, this is one of the very rare instances where he speaks about his old family. He called his father the viscount and not his dad. Good way to show the emotional distance you had put between the two of you!

Ugh, I’m getting out of track.

“It’s alright. Actually, you don’t need to get me anything. We’re probably going to just have a quiet dinner at home and that will be all.”

“If you say so… when is your birthday, by the way?”

“Day twenty.”

“That’s in a little over a week… Ah, completely unrelated but isn’t the day after tomorrow the harvest festival? I remember your mother asked for extra help to make more bread for it.”

“Yes!” I exclaimed excitedly, not at all annoyed he changed the subject of my birthday. I’m pretty sure he did it just so I would stop pestering him, but since it was one of my favorite celebrations, I can let it pass. “Have you been to a harvest festival before? It’s super fun! All of us in the farming community get together and bring over some of our produce… there’s also animals and there’s a moment when the men teach the younger how to kill them… that’s actually kind of scary… but there’s sausages too! We get to make sausages! Blood sausages!”

“You really like the harvest festival, don’t you?” Lucas asked, bewildered. I get it, I’m not usually so emotional, at least not positively emotional, so he’s obviously surprised, but then again, it’s harvest time!

“Yep! In our community we have some parties here and there, mostly weddings and stuff like that, but harvest it’s the only time besides the religious festivals where we get to dance, and eat, and gather all together! You’re going to have an amazing time, I can assure you that” I smiled at him just as we stepped inside the house.

“Well, seeing you so excited about it I can only believe you.”

“What’s Elaine excited about? Wait, don’t tell me, it’s harvest, no?” Mom was at the table setting down the plates. There was already bread and the smell of vegetable soup was reaching the entrance from the kitchen. “You would think a girl her age would be excited about her birthday, but no, it’s harvest what she wants” she sighed and shook her head. “And she even likes stuffing sausages. She’s a sausage addict. I wonder just where you got the weirdness from.”

“That’s very bold of you to say! If I take after anyone in weirdness, it’s you! Cabbage addict!” I retorted as I handed over the pot of milk. Lucas chuckled at the back and forth between me and my mother, before going to the kitchen to place the eggs there. Mom huffed.

“Stop trying to embarrass me in front of Lucas” she said before following the boy, pot of milk in hand. I gasped.

“Embarrassing you? The heck?! And in front of Lucas! What does Lucas got to do with anything?!”

“You’re going to get him to think I’m a weirdo just like you. If he thinks that, I will cry, and you’ll have to live knowing you made your mother cry.”

See! See what I’m saying?! I wasn’t kidding! One would think Lucas was her child and not me! She even cares what he thinks of her!

…Though it’s true Lucas is pretty easy to love and get attached to. I think I would cry too if he thought me weird.

His number one fangirl wouldn’t be able to take that.