Chapter 121: Happy Birthday

It was past eleven o’clock on Tuesday night, less than an hour before Rosvitha’s 218th birthday came to an end. However, the birthday star had yet to return.

Leon had initially planned to bring Muen along, wanting to surprise the mother and daughter and make up for last year when Muen had missed seeing her father wake up on Rosvitha’s birthday.

But it was already so late, and Muen had long since fallen asleep. Noia had returned to St. Hys Academy yesterday morning.

Tomorrow, when Muen woke up, he could happily tell her, “Guess what, sweetheart? Dad managed to catch Mom’s birthday this year!”

Muen would surely be delighted. But the question remained: what about tonight?

The reason Leon had agreed to organize Rosvitha’s birthday party in the first place was largely due to her mentioning their daughters.

But now, with the daughters busy with school and sleep, it seemed as if he had organized this birthday surprise specifically for Rosvitha.

Leon sat on the sofa in Rosvitha’s room, sniffing, “Crafty Mother Dragon, next year I won’t bother with your birthday!”

For now, he would just make do. Yes, just make do…

Meanwhile, Rosvitha was walking to her room, carrying several gift boxes.

Although dragons only celebrated their birthdays every ten years as adults, inviting friends and family to attend a banquet, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t receive small gifts on the actual day.

The gift boxes she held contained presents from her sister Isabella, from the head maid Anna, and from a few female classmates she had gotten along well with during her earlier years in school.

She had stayed a little longer at work tonight to handle some matters, which was why she was returning so late.

She had wanted to go check on her daughter, but usually by this time Muen would have been asleep, so Rosvitha decided against it.

Besides… she hadn’t seen Leon all day except at the dinner table. Maybe he was hiding because he hadn’t organized the birthday well?

Rosvitha shook her head, deciding not to speculate. It seemed like tonight would just end like this, without anything special.

She returned to her room, about to open the door, only to find it slightly ajar. Through the crack, she could see that the room was dark.

Rosvitha, with her hands full of gift boxes, blinked, pondered for a moment, then gently pushed the door open with her shoulder. “Leon, are you in my room—”

Boom!

As soon as she stepped into the room, the lights suddenly came on, followed by a muffled sound. Several streamers gently fell onto Rosvitha’s silver hair.

Rosvitha was slightly startled by the sudden sound, and before she could react, her eyes were covered from behind. It was Leon. She was very familiar with the feeling of his touch.

And in the entire Silver Dragon Temple, besides him, no one dared to barge into her room and blindfold her.

Damn it, where was the power a captive should have? Oh well, captives weren’t supposed to celebrate their own birthdays anyway. Thinking about this, Rosvitha felt a little relieved.

“Happy birthday, Mother Dragon,” came the familiar voice from behind.

Rosvitha didn’t struggle, just stood quietly in place, holding the gifts.

Huh, the scoundrel. He had actually managed to surprise her without her noticing?

After a brief moment of joy, Rosvitha teased, “Wouldn’t it be better if you replaced ‘Mother Dragon’ with my name?”

“Next time, I promise.”

Rosvitha chuckled, “So, is it a human custom to blindfold someone and wish them a happy birthday?”

Leon thought for a moment. “Not entirely. Now, slowly walk towards the living room. There’s another surprise waiting for you.”

Rosvitha shrugged and began to move slowly, with Leon standing behind her, gently guiding her and watching her steps. “Raise your feet a bit higher. There’s a step at the entrance.”

“Okay.”

Side by side, the couple slowly entered the living room. Rosvitha sniffed the air and detected the scent of burning candles. She was puzzled. Did they also light candles for birthdays? Was this another human custom?

But just as she was about to ask, she caught a faint scent mixed in…

“Creamy scent?!”

Cream.

Damn it.

The moment Rosvitha thought of cream, her entire dragon self felt uneasy.

The scene of being pelted by cream puffs at the school sports day was vivid in her mind, causing her to want to run at the mere scent of cream.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not what you think,” Leon reassured her, still covering her eyes. “Are you ready? I’m going to let go now.”

“Okay,” she replied, preparing herself to smear cream puffs on Leon’s face if that was what awaited her when she opened her eyes.

The next moment, Leon slowly removed his hands from her eyes. After Rosvitha adjusted to the light in the room, she looked down and saw a huge cake in the living room!

The cake was at least as big as a coffee table, explaining the strong smell of cream. There were also small pieces of fruit on the cake, mostly oranges with strawberries and mangoes as decoration.

In addition, on the top layer of the cake, there was a line of words written in jam: “Happy Birthday, Rosvitha.”

Rosvitha looked at the “spectacle” in front of her and couldn’t help but marvel slightly. She had seen many cakes and received many birthday wishes before.

But to combine the two and make the cake so exaggerated in size, she had never seen anything like it before. Rosvitha set aside the gifts she was holding and asked, “Do humans always eat cake on birthdays?”

“Yeah, it’s a kind of tradition,” Leon replied.

Rosvitha nodded thoughtfully. “Are they all this big?”

“No, not all of them. This is what I meant earlier when I said that although birthdays follow a certain pattern, the details can vary.”

“I only see a cake bigger than my coffee table. What details are you talking about?”

“The candles. Count them. There are exactly two hundred and eighteen candles, matching your age.”

There were indeed quite a few candles, but Rosvitha didn’t bother to count them. It was no wonder Leon had gone for such a big cake; there was simply no room for over two hundred candles on a smaller cake.

She approached the oversized cake, the light from the candles reflecting in her silver eyes.

Although she didn’t quite understand why humans had such customs for birthdays, the novelty of it all left Rosvitha quite satisfied. She was impressed by Leon’s ability to prepare such a large cake in just a few days and keep it all a secret.

Was he truly the greatest dragon slayer, capable of hiding his whereabouts so effectively? Even Rosvitha had thought he was trying to deceive her.

Rosvitha extended her delicate fingers and lightly scraped some cream from the cake, then tasted it. It was very sweet, yet not at all overwhelming.

It was a thousand times better than cream puffs. The sweetness lifted her spirits, and she smiled. Turning around, she complimented Leon, “You did a good job. Human birthdays… are quite interesting.”

“It’s not over yet,” Leon said.

Rosvitha’s eyes lit up. “Is there something else?”

Unexpectedly, she found herself looking forward to what else humans might come up with.

Seeing Leon’s sly smile, Rosvitha walked over to the cake with him. He pointed to the candles on the cake and said, “Blow out the candles and make a wish.”

“Huh? Why do I have to blow out the candles to make a wish? And… does making a wish on your birthday really make it come true?”

“It’s not guaranteed to come true, but it’s for good luck. And blowing out the candles is a must, otherwise the cake can’t be moved.”

Rosvitha looked at the two hundred and eighteen candles and couldn’t help swallowing nervously. “Do I really have to blow them all out? Can’t I skip it?”

“No, you said you wanted to strictly follow human customs.”

Leon’s smile became more mischievous. “Your Majesty, please blow.”

Rosvitha squinted at him, any trace of joy or gratitude that had just arisen within her quickly dissipating. *Dog of a man, I knew you wouldn’t honestly celebrate my birthday.*

Fine, she would blow. But if he wanted to play games, he shouldn’t expect an easy time either.

Grabbing Leon’s arm, Rosvitha and her husband leaned down together in front of the candles on the cake. “Let’s blow them out together.”

“Why do I have to blow out the candles with you on your birthday?” Leon’s heart skipped a beat, trying to resist.

“Blowing out candles with the queen should be an honor for a captive like you, shouldn’t it?”

“…”

“Hurry up.”

Rosvitha tugged at his sleeve, showing a kind of determination that she wouldn’t let go until he blew.

Fine, dug a hole for himself and jumped in.

The couple exchanged glances, then took a deep breath simultaneously, filling their lungs to the brim, and then blew towards the 218 candles in front of them.

“Huff—Huff—Cough, cough!”

One candle after another extinguished, until both of these hapless spouses were out of breath, only then were all the candles finally extinguished.

They leaned on each other’s shoulders, breathing in the fresh air.

After a slight relief, Rosvitha glared at him. “Humans are really boring! How could such a custom exist!”

“Come on, under normal circumstances, there are usually just a dozen or two candles, maybe twenty-something. Who’s like your dragon race, with hundreds of candles every time.”

Rosvitha scoffed, straightening up. “And then? Make a wish over the cake?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you wish for anything?”

Leon nodded. “Yes. But it’s just for good luck, there’s no scientific basis, so don’t blame me even if it doesn’t come true.”

“Oh… Can I say my wish out loud?”

“Up to you.”

Rosvitha turned to look at the cake, then closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. “I wish—”

Leon also listened intently, curious about what this mother dragon could wish for.

“That my captive never escapes.”

Leon rolled his eyes, his native language turning into speechlessness.

“Mother Dragon, wishes don’t work like that!”

“You mind your own business. It’s my birthday, and I’ll wish for whatever I want.”

Leon waved his hand, not willing to argue with her. He picked up the large cake knife nearby. “We can eat the cake now. Which piece do you want?”

Rosvitha rubbed her chin, her gaze wandering back and forth on the large cake, finally settling on the words ‘Happy Birthday.’ “This one.”

Leon cut that piece and handed it to Rosvitha. Then he cut out the part of ‘Rosvitha’ from the left side of ‘Happy Birthday’ and placed it in front of himself.

Rosvitha frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Eating Rosvitha,” Leon replied calmly.

“You…!”

He took a bite, the jam inside tart and sweet.

After finishing, he couldn’t help but comment, “Rosvitha tastes really good!”

Rosvitha gritted her teeth inwardly. She swore that when Leon’s birthday came, she would definitely cut out “Leon ” and smear it fiercely on his face, making him eat his share!

The cake-eating session was also over.

Rosvitha placed her hands on her waist, counting off, “Blowing out candles, making a wish, cutting the cake and eating the cake, all done. Hmm…”

Leon tilted his head. “What’s wrong? Not satisfied?”

Earlier, Rosvitha had said that if she wasn’t satisfied, Leon would have to come up with something else for her.

Rosvitha thought for a moment, then nodded. “Not entirely satisfied.”

It was already quite fun, but Rosvitha wanted to tease Leon a bit more, to see if he had any other tricks up his sleeve.

“What’s wrong?” Leon asked.

Rosvitha looked around, her gaze finally landing on the pile of small gifts she had just retrieved, and she asked, “What about my birthday present?”

“When dragons celebrate birthdays, there are no cakes, no wishes, but there is the tradition of giving gifts, right?” Leon couldn’t resist teasing.

Rosvitha snorted lightly. “Forget it if there’s none. This birthday barely qualifies as your job done.”

Barely qualifies?

Sorry, there’s no such thing as “barely qualifies” in Leon Casmode’s life dictionary!

He gestured toward the balcony with a lift of his chin. “Follow me.”

“What for?” Rosvitha asked.

“To see the gift I’ve given you,” Leon replied.

With that, Leon walked toward the balcony, and Rosvitha followed behind him.

The couple stood side by side, gazing up at the deep night sky.

“Where’s the gift?” Rosvitha asked.

Instead of answering, Leon slowly raised his right hand, preparing to snap his fingers.

“What does this mean?” Rosvitha asked, confused.

Snap—

A blue light shot up from the distant woods, piercing the sky.

Rosvitha looked in the direction of the light. “Is that… lightning?”

The dazzling blue light reflected in the eyes of the Silver Dragon Queen. Under her gaze, the light gradually converged, separated, and recombined.

Eventually, it formed into a short sentence in the form of lightning in the night sky:

“Rosvitha, happy birthday.”

On her 218th birthday, just a minute before it ended, Leon Casmode had written this blessing for her in the sky. Unique, fleeting.

It turned out that when he stood on her balcony a few days ago, he was choosing the right angle… This guy… He did put some thought into it.

However, lightning couldn’t exist for a long time, not even with magic. So, this “happy birthday” composed of lightning lasted for less than five seconds, disappearing into the vast night sky.

But that was enough.

“Only things that are fleeting—” Rosvitha murmured softly.

Leon finished the sentence for her, “—have a meaning worth cherishing.”

She turned her head. “Did Anna tell you?”

“Anna told me. From your reaction, I knew you were satisfied,” Leon said.

Rosvitha didn’t argue further. She nodded. “Yes, very satisfied. I didn’t expect you to be so good at organizing birthdays.”

“Of course,” Leon said proudly.

“Oh? How so?”

Leon puffed out his chest proudly. “I’ve always been the one to organize my family’s birthdays. I’m quite skilled at it.”

If it weren’t for the face-saving lightning blessing just now, Rosvitha would have already kicked him off the balcony.