Chapter 29

Diena suddenly spoke as though something had just come to mind.

Carefully pulling a notebook from her arms, she held it out.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a list of items needed for the tea party Lady Bianca will be hosting.”

The notebook she handed over contained a long list of unfamiliar items.

“I need all of them within a week. Please make sure every single one is obtained.”

After reading the entire list, Varkan replied in disbelief.

“I told you to tell me if there was something you wanted.”

“Hm…? Ah, I don’t really have anything I personally want right now. Please prepare these first.”

“Hasen.”

Shaking his head as though he couldn’t help it, Varkan handed the notebook to Hasen.

After checking the contents, Hasen’s face immediately turned troubled.

“Obtaining these items will take quite a long time. They’re currently the most fashionable products in the capital. There’s a high chance they’re already out of stock.”

“If it doesn’t work, then maybe you should consider whether enough money was offered.”

Diena firmly responded to Hasen’s weak protest.

“Well, that’s true.”

“I’ll spend money like water and get them as quickly as possible.”

Having said everything she needed to say, Diena looked at Varkan.

She wondered what he would say next.

But even after a long while, Varkan didn’t open his mouth.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, Diena spoke first.

“Lord Varkan?”

“…Hm?”

“Do you still have something to say? I’ve already finished my business, but you still haven’t told me why you called for me.”

Varkan hesitated for a moment.

His gaze shifted toward the extravagant gift box beside him.

He had prepared the gift after hearing Hasen’s suggestion, but it felt awkward to call that thing a gift himself.

A gift should have a little more sincerity than… something material like that, shouldn’t it?

How could money handed over directly be considered heartfelt?

He liked money too, but even so, he didn’t think something like that could really be called a gift.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

Unable to withstand Diena’s persistent stare, Varkan finally opened his mouth.

“I heard it’s your birthday.”

“Yes. It was.”

“I originally planned to at least prepare a cake. But Bianca already took care of that.”

“…”

“Well, it’s not like there was some special reason. We’re under contract, so I just thought I should acknowledge it. As an employer, I ought to provide proper benefits.”

Varkan kept talking longer and longer.

Realizing that himself, he let out a sigh and pointed beside him.

“Take it.”

“What is it?”

“Money.”

It was a box filled to the brim with gold coins.

It was also Diena’s birthday gift, which Varkan had spent a long time agonizing over.

“…Why are you giving this to me? Because I helped Lady Bianca get better?”

“How would I have known that in advance? I prepared it before that happened.”

Varkan slowly spoke.

“…Ahem. Happy birthday.”

“Ah…”

Diena blankly stared at the box he was indicating.

Varkan internally considered the situation a disaster.

Looking at her reaction, it seemed Hasen’s judgment had been wrong after all.

“So it is kind of weird, isn’t it?”

As he asked that, he suddenly became flustered.

Diena slowly approached the box and gently stroked it.

Then she looked at him with tears gathered in her eyes.

She looked genuinely moved.

It was the most emotional expression Varkan had ever seen from her.

The usually composed Diena was showing an unexpectedly vulnerable side.

Looking directly at him, she answered.

“Thank you, Lord Varkan. I really like gifts like this.”

“Uh… Really?”

“Yes. I’ve actually received something like this a few times before.”

“…That’s kind of surprising. I didn’t think there’d be another idiot who’d come up with the same idea as me.”

Hearing that, Diena couldn’t hold back her laughter.

‘Who else besides Varkan would give a gift like this?’

It was a gift she had received in her previous life from Varkan and the members of the Kardian Mercenary Corps.

Even the wrapping style was identical, making her eyes sting with tears.

‘They said they wanted to give me the most valuable thing they had.’

Back then, the mercenary corps led by Varkan had been poor.

No matter how skilled they were, they always had to stay cautious because Duke Rothwell was hunting them down.

Anything profitable inevitably involved nobles, which meant money was always scarce.

Even so, Varkan had never once allowed Diena to feel deprived.

He had even gifted her a sack of money on her birthday.

Hasen had apparently been the one who came up with the idea.

At the time, Varkan had awkwardly said this.

“This is the most precious thing we have right now. That’s what a gift is.”

The only difference was that compared to that old money sack, the box Varkan was offering now was much larger.

Their blunt way of showing affection hadn’t changed at all.

It filled a corner of Diena’s heart with warmth.

“I was really touched back then too.”

Varkan narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t get emotional over something like this. If you stay with our family, you’ll receive much more in the future. I can give you more than whatever bastard gave you that.”

At those words, Hasen looked at Varkan in shock.

“What? You never said anything like that.”

Varkan answered casually.

“I just did.”

Then he avoided Hasen’s gaze and stood up.

“So you’re accepting it, right?”

“Yes.”

The moment Diena answered, he lifted the box from the floor.

It looked incredibly heavy, but Varkan moved it as easily as if it weighed no more than a feather.

Diena looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Lord Varkan?”

“How are you supposed to carry this? It’s packed full of gold coins. With those skinny arms of yours, you probably couldn’t even lift it.”

“Ah…”

Diena was an Ability User.

Although the side effects of her ability left her physically weak, she was actually much stronger than she looked.

Still, she didn’t bother mentioning that fact and interrupting Varkan.

He looked far too pleased with himself.

Smiling proudly, Varkan said,

“Delivering it to your room is part of the gift.”

* * *

The tea party venue, spread out beside a blue lake, looked like a painting brought to life.

Eshina frowned as she stared at Bianca.

Before attending Bianca’s tea party, Eshina had been full of anticipation.

She had intended to mock Bianca mercilessly for acting tacky as usual.

But there wasn’t a single flaw she could pick apart.

Narrowing her eyes, Eshina glared at the teacup in Bianca’s hand.

‘That teacup… They told me it was sold out when I tried to buy it.’

It had happened only a few days ago.

The teacup hadn’t been in this estate during her previous visit, so Bianca had obviously purchased it specifically for this tea party.

Bianca had managed to obtain something that even she couldn’t buy.

‘Just how much money did she throw around?’

With displeasure written all over her face, Eshina slowly shifted her gaze.