Chapter 56

"M, sorry…"

I apologized in a voice as small as an ant's and carefully got up.

Cheshire got up as well.

"…Are you hurt?"

"Uh, no…. Are you?"

"Me too."

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

I kissed… I kissed another man who wasn't my dad… on the lips….

When I glanced at him, Cheshire also seemed quite embarrassed. He avoided my eyes and said nothing.

I felt wronged.

Is it my fault that it turned out this way?

"It's because you keep avoiding me! This flower, this!"

I pointed to the flower Cheshire was holding tightly in his hand amidst the scene of the disaster.

"Didn't you buy it to give to me?"

"…Yeah."

"Then give it to me!"

Cheshire, hesitating as he brushed his lips, handed me the flower.

A single flower with small purple petals, each like a fairy's wing, attached in several places.

My heart melted instantly.

"It's so pretty. What kind of flower is it?"

"…Aristata."

"What, what? This is Aristata?"

I was taken aback.

The original content flashed through my mind.

'On a day in May, a bunch of Aristata was always placed in the vase on Enoch Rubinstein's desk.

"What does this flower mean?"

On the fourth year of seeing the Aristata, Cheshire suddenly asked out of curiosity.

"It's my daughter's birthday today."

"…Oh."

"Aristata is a birth flower."'

The scene where the protagonist Enoch Rubinstein, who misses his daughter, was heart-wrenching.

When I read it, I didn't know exactly which day in May it was….

'Aristata Day is May 19th.'

My birth flower.

My heart ached anew.

Cheshire knows how to impress a woman….

"Thank you so much…. This is the best gift I've ever received."

Cheshire stared at me intently.

The awkwardness had disappeared. I quickly clung to his arm, afraid he might run away again.

"Let's go together. Okay? Sing me a birthday song."

* * *

A small birthday party set up in the dining room.

I looked at each family member singing for me, sitting around the round table.

I didn't want to have a birthday party, but Grandpa eventually came.

Aunt, who looked 100 times prettier after Theo's recovery…

The twin brothers who gifted me a newly made Princess Lala dress and tiara with their capital…

And Cheshire,

"Princess, let's blow out the candles now!"

My beloved dad.

"Okay!"

I held the Aristata Cheshire gave me and blew out the seven candles on the cake.

"Wow! Happy birthday, our princess!"

"Happy birthday, Lilius."

"Congratulations, kid!"

"Happy birthday, Lilius! Don't cry, why are you crying?"

"Sniff, thank you all…."

Thud!

Clunk!

At that moment, Grandpa and Aunt simultaneously placed something on the table and glared at each other.

'What, what?'

Under Grandpa's large hand was a rolled-up piece of paper.

Aunt placed a blue velvet jewelry box.

"Give it first."

Aunt opened the jewelry box as Grandpa spoke.

The light poured out simultaneously!

It was so blinding that I had to raise my arm to shield my eyes.

"Oh, no…."

I thought it was a blindness spell, but it turned out to be a diamond as big as a king's ring.

A 100