Chapter 126: Celebration, Birthday Breakfast
Translator: LynneSuzuran
---------------------------------------------------------------
Since it was a celebratory breakfast, the menu was already quite splendor from early in the morning. Nah, since it was still early in the morning, it was still quite simple, though.
After feeling refreshed from eating the consomme soup, we had chicken saute and salad, and what followed after them was pastries, but the pastries were more white and softer than usual. They used some nice wheat, huh. The little additional vegetables were glace vegetables.
The omelette was also fluffy, really, I’m so happy-. I mean, these foods were specially made to celebrate my birthday, right? There were more varieties than the usual ones, yup.
“Fufu. Since it’s Seiren’s birthday, I got a little bit too excited.”
“It’s only a family celebration, but I think Seiren prefers it like this.”
“Ah, yes. As expected, it’s best to have my family who lives together with me and my friends to celebrate my birthday.”
When I was still at the other world, since I didn’t know my real birthday, the orphanage director bought me a small cake every April 1st. After I blew out the candles, the cake was divided with everyone else, but I still received the biggest slice.
Speaking of cakes, when I was just thinking about it, it made an appearance as the sweets accompanying the tea after meal. It was a simple cheesecake though, …eh? What is this smell? I think I know it.
As I pondered about it, the head chef who purposely brought the cake out disclosed the thing.
“It’s a cheesecake that we made using the cheese from Gadou’s workshop.”
“Eh, Gadou-san’s?”
Godou-san and Gadou-san took care of me last summer. The two of them made cheese, and if I had to choose between them, I’d say that I preferred Gadou-san’s light cheese. Nah, Godou-san’s flavorful cheese was also delicious, though.
There were times when our meals used either cheese. When we celebrated Saryuu’s birthday at the end of autumn, the head chef made a cake using Godou-san’s cheese. After all, Saryuu preferred Godou-san’s cheese.
“I ordered his cheese since I heard that it was Seiren-sama’s favorite. Please enjoy it.”
“Uwaa, thank you.”
Whoa, it was really for my sake, huh? Yay, I’m so happy! As I thought about it, I realized that I was gripping my fork, and my family and Taiga-san’s gazes were all focused at me. Eh, did I do something?
“Seiren, did you like it that much?”
“Well, well, it’s good that you’re so easy to read.”
“Ane-sama, your eyes are sparkling.”
“I heard that women loved sweet things, so it’s true.”
Everyone, what’s it? Isn’t it fine because it’s delicious? Also, I like sweet things, though.
“Isn’t it fine? I also had sweet tooth even when I was still over there.”
“Oh my. Your preference doesn’t change a lot, huh?”
“That seems to be the case. …It’s fine for me to eat it, right?”
When I asked while still holding the fork, everyone nodded in a fluster. Darn it, as expected, I shouldn’t have waited and asked for their permission! As I was still thinking about it, I took a mouthful bite.
“…Nn, it’s delicious!”
“Thank you very much. It seems it suits Seiren-sama’s taste.”
Wa-, come to think of it, the head chef was still here. Sorry, I only had the cake in my mind. Or rather, really, thanks for making it in accordance to my preference.
Just like that, the cake was in no time eaten up completely. I mean, it couldn’t be helped since it was so delicious, right? As a proof, not only me, but my parents, Saryuu, and Taiga-san also ate everything quickly.
“Now then, Seiren, it’s your birthday present.”
When I took a breath after drinking my tea, Kaa-san clapped her hands. Eh, so they had also finished preparing it… huh? Obviously, right? Nah, not only Saryuu, Tou-san and Kaa-san had also thought and talked about my birthday properly before.
Speaking of which, since Tou-san and Kaa-san’s birthdays were close to each other, it became a habit for us to celebrate their birthdays together. Their birthdays were about a little while after the busy spring ended, actually… I was surprised when I was informed about it. Yup.
Well, leaving that aside. Along with Kaa-san’s signal, Takae-san brought a slightly large bag. The bag was folded on the top, and around the corner, there was a cute laced ribbon that formed a flower.
“My gift for you is a lap blanket.”
“T-thank you very much. Can I see it?”
“Go ahead. You will need it once winter comes, right? It might be quite faraway from now, but please use it.”
What appeared from within the bag was a lap blanket that Kaa-san knitted. The color choice was just like Kaa-san’s taste, with a pale pink as the main color. It was relatively large, and it seemed like I could also use it as a shawl when it’s cold. There were fringes at the edge of it, but I wonder when did she make this? Kaa-san was also knitting when I was learning how to knit, but this wasn’t what she knitted.
After folding the lap blanket and putting it back in the bag, Tou-san sent a signal to Yuzuruha-san next.
“As for my gift, it’s this.”
“Ah.”
The thing that Yuzuruha-san handed over to me with a “Here you go” was a thick book. It was directly enveloped crosswise with a ribbon, and there was no other decoration, but should I say that this was so like Tou-san?
That was why I could see the title right away, but if I wasn’t wrong, this should be an adventure novel that was released quite recently. Kuon-sensei told me before that it seemed to be quite interesting, and I thought that I’d like to read it if I had the chance to.
Books weren’t sold quite much over here, so I wondered if it was quite hard to obtain?
“I thought of giving you some books when you said you wanted to learn the alphabets, so I thought of some books, but sorry for being so late. In the end, I decided to consult about it to Kuon.”
“D-don’t worry about it. Thank you very much.”
So, this was Kuon-sensei’s scheme, huh? Nah, but this really looked interesting, though. I would definitely read it thoroughly.
Then, Saryuu called out to Tokino who was outside the dining room, “Tokino-, bring it in.”
“T-this is a gift from me.”
The thing that Tokino-san brought in was a small… wooden box that was around the size of a college notebook, with its thickness around 5 centimeters. There was a brand on its surface, and it was written there that this was a set of candied flower. Also, a writing to enjoy it with tea.
“Uhm, that… I remembered Nee-sama being so happy when you received this as souvenir.”
“You remembered? That Viola preserved sugar was so delicious when it was combined together with the tea. Thank you.”
“No problem! N-next time, I will also give other sets such as Cheria or other flowers instead of just Viola!”
Saryuu tried very hard to appeal with his bright red face. Really, he remembered how I was so pleased with that candied flower, huh? I was so happy. Before my wedding, let’s drink some tea together again. You’re my cute little brother, after all.
Then, lastly, Taiga-san took out a small box from his pocket.
“As for my gift, I brought it here. Here you go, please accept it.”
“Ah, yes. …What is it?”
Based on its size, it wasn’t a ring. It was longer and narrower, oh well, but it didn’t seem to be a necklace, too.
When I timidly opened it, the content of the box was… whoa, such a pretty wooden comb! If I had to describe it using my other world’s knowledge, its color was like a Japanese box tree’s, or a simple color that felt like it without using any paint, but it was a glossy and polished off comb.
“Please use it to arrange your hair. …That, I actually also gave the same thing to your parents and also Saryuu…”
“Eh, is that so?”
“Yeah. Seiren will be my wife, but even so, it doesn’t change the fact that the Shiiya are also a family.”1
The comb that I obtained seemed to adhere to my hand quite comfortably, and even if this wasn’t painted with any color, I still thought of it as pretty enough. Perhaps this was a nice color to be used everyday.
“Tou-san, Kaa-san, Saryuu, Taiga-san. Everyone, thank you very much. I will definitely treasure the things I received today!”
Such was my real intention from the bottom of my heart. Or should I say that this was my first time being this happy from early in the morning for my birthday?