Ch.158157. Birthday (2)

# 157. Birthday (2)

“Birthday..? Ah~”

Only after hearing those words did I realize what day it was.

December 7th.

Overwhelmed by recent events, I hadn’t noticed, but today was indeed my birthday.

‘I’ve neglected it for so long that I completely forgot…’

I hadn’t properly celebrated my birthday for quite some time, so I didn’t even remember that today was my birthday.

“I didn’t even know myself…”

“I heard it from someone else.”

She was truly thoughtful at times like these.

For some reason, her face flushed as she continued speaking about how she had heard that today was my birthday.

“So I was thinking about what gift would be good for your birthday… but I wasn’t sure. Albert doesn’t really show what he likes normally…”

“That’s true.”

Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t show it—I simply didn’t have anything particular that I liked.

Especially when it came to material things that could be given as gifts.

“So I thought really hard about it by myself, you know? About what Albert might like.”

“And did you find something?”

“Yes, though it was difficult.”

“What is it?”

As soon as she heard my question, she leaned her body toward me.

In an instant, she was right in front of my face.

In that ripened atmosphere, she uttered one sweet sentence.

“At first, I thought about it really hard. I went over things Albert has said and done, and even asked Aelin. But I couldn’t find a good answer.”

She slowly lowered the zipper of her tracksuit while continuing to speak.

“But when I simplified my thinking, the answer came quickly.”

“W-wait, what are you doing…”

She suddenly pushed me down.

Then she gently climbed on top of my lower body as I lay on the floor.

With that single action, the atmosphere instantly changed.

A sensual mood, similar yet different from the previous sweetness, engulfed us.

Since this was likely her first time doing something like this, her face was flushed with embarrassment, and mine was burning hot as well.

‘She’s warm…’

Her figure felt quite explicit, along with the sensation of her touch.

I dare say no man in this world could resist such a feeling.

She asked me with a tense tone and trembling voice.

“Um… is… is myself enough as a birthday present?”

Her seduction was so clumsy and naive.

Yet it was far more enchanting than even a succubus’s [Charm].

Completely falling for her seduction, I immediately got up from the floor and naturally lifted her in that position.

She seemed quite flustered by what people commonly call a princess carry.

“W-wait a moment! Th-this…”

Ignoring her reaction, I headed straight for the bedroom and laid her down on the bed.

Then, taking in her disheveled appearance—something unimaginable under normal circumstances—I continued our conversation.

“Of course it’s enough.”

A sight that would make His Imperial Majesty grab the back of his neck and collapse.

She looked incredibly attractive in that scene.

Cute in one way, seductive in another.

Seeing her like that, I thought:

‘I’m definitely not sleeping tonight.’

It seemed I would have to sleep on tomorrow’s train instead, and I surrendered the current situation to my instincts.

I slowly removed her clothes one by one.

Her bare skin was explicitly revealed.

Covering her body with her hands, she spoke in a barely audible tiny voice.

“Don’t look here… I must look terrible right now…”

A cute reaction that contrasted with her explicitly revealed sensual figure.

I comforted her with a pleased smile.

“Don’t worry, you’re most beautiful right now.”

***

On a cold winter night.

While a couple was spending an intimate time together, two people were outside, stamping their feet anxiously.

Of course, they weren’t the only ones there; quite a few people were present.

But only those two were stamping their feet.

“Did they really go in together?”

“Yes! I saw it clearly!?”

Six girls were present there.

Each showed a different reaction.

Some, like Reina and Eve, didn’t seem particularly interested, while others like Riel and Aelin seemed excited. Then there were those who appeared anxious, like Rachel and Luna.

“You called us just for this?”

“Just for this? This is a huge deal!”

Aelin seemed the most excited of all.

Reina still maintained her disinterested expression.

“I’m sleepy, so I’m going…”

With just those words, she returned to her room, and Eve, who hadn’t said anything, did the same.

However, the remaining four continued to stand their ground.

For some reason, Aelin, with a flushed face, asked:

“By now… they must be doing it, right?”

“Doing what?”

“You know… that thing.”

Aelin was acting embarrassed as if she were the one involved.

Unlike Aelin, Riel was relatively calm, though she couldn’t hide her excitement as she spoke with an unavoidable smile.

“Who knows, I hope they are. But you two seem really anxious?”

“”U-us?””

The two showed reactions that made their anxiety obvious to anyone watching.

Riel looked at them and said:

“But why do you like a guy like him? There are plenty of other guys.”

“No one compares to Albert…”

“He has a girlfriend, and she’s better than you two. Besides, he’ll never leave our princess. You know that, right?”

It would be hard to find women better than Luna and Rachel even if you searched high and low.

They were almost unique within the academy.

And that unique person happened to be Albert’s girlfriend.

Of course, those two didn’t seem to care about such things.

“So what?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“So you’re saying you’d be fine being second or third?”

“It’s not that we don’t care… but what can we do… we’ll have to be satisfied with that.”

“But right now, even that seems impossible…”

Riel sighed deeply at the princesses’ messed-up words.

‘Tch… unnecessarily perfect…’

It was true that she was exceptional, with overflowing strengths and hardly any weaknesses.

From Riel’s perspective, it was irritating.

Clicking her tongue at their words, Riel said this to them before leaving:

“Well… good luck tomorrow, but don’t be too disappointed when it doesn’t work out, which it won’t.”

“Are you trying to encourage us or…”

“It’s better than nothing. Oh! And today is his birthday?”

“What?”

The two, who seemed to know absolutely nothing, were shocked by this sudden information.

“Birthday? Today?”

“Yeah.”

Luna, looking dumbfounded, asked Aelin, who was trying to avoid eye contact:

“Is that true?”

“Yes, today is his birthday.”

“Ah… Don’t tell me they’re doing that because it’s his birthday?”

“Well… it would be a lie to say it has nothing to do with it.”

Of course, the regret of having to part ways soon probably had a bigger impact than the birthday, but the birthday certainly played a role.

Rachel, who had just realized it was Albert’s birthday, said:

“She’s not saying something like ‘I’m your present,’ is she?”

“No way… the princess doesn’t seem like that type…”

“Actually, that’s exactly it. We suggested she do that.”

It seemed that when she was contemplating what gift to give on his birthday, she received help from Riel and Aelin, and that was what the two had proposed.

“You two… are thorough, not even telling us…”

“It’s a surprise. Besides, that guy probably didn’t even know it was his birthday.”

***

That guy who probably didn’t even know it was his birthday.

After that brief, ecstatic time, he was now sharing a bed and blanket with her.

Perhaps due to the influence of what had just happened, neither could look the other in the eye.

“…”

“…”

A moment of silence ensued.

The one who broke that silence was me.

“I’ve never received such an extravagant birthday gift before…”

“I’m glad you seem to like it.”

Even as we continued our conversation normally, we still couldn’t properly face each other.

The atmosphere in the room was too hot, and my heart was beating faster than ever.

‘It’s been… a really long time since I felt like this…’

My heart was pounding almost as much as when I first met her.

Even now, when we had both mentally calmed down a bit, it wasn’t much different.

While the atmosphere of that act still lingered, she brought up an unexpected topic.

“This morning, you seemed in really bad condition.”

“Today…”

“Something must have happened, right?”

Today.

Thinking about what happened on December 7th, my heart calmed down, and I could finally look at her face.

I asked her, who had been looking at me for who knows how long:

“Are you curious?”

“Yes… but if you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.”

To be honest, I didn’t want to talk about it.

It was like the sky had fallen for me.

But precisely because of that, she needed to know about it.

“Even then, it wasn’t much different from usual.”