NIYTR 32

Chapter 32

Happy Birthday

“Uncle, catch me if you can!”

“No, Edel. You can play with my hair or have me read the same fairy tale ten times, but I don’t like running. It makes me sweat.”

“Geez, if you sweat, you can just wash up!”

“Instead, why don’t we play something else?”

Even as a child, he always trailed slowly behind her, saying he hated sweating from running.

So why was he running now?

Getting a little wet from the rain—it wasn’t such a big deal.

Why did he come running with that expression, as if something terrible had happened?

“What’s wrong? What happened at the duke’s residence to make you look like this? Just tell me—did someone hurt you?”

“…”

“I’ll scold them for you. So don’t cry like that, okay?”

Ah.

The same expression.

It was the same face Duke Stern had just shown while looking at Rosemary.

So this is what it feels like.

When someone worries for you with their whole heart, all the tangled threads inside unravel at once.

The fatherly affection she had never received—

It was far sweeter than Edelweiss had ever dreamed.

And with that sweetness came bitterness too.

It was cloying.

The Marquis of Blossomweaver, who wasn’t even related to her by blood, looked at her like this.

So why… why couldn’t Duke Stern?

‘He was the one who should have looked at me this way. Why did he only ever look at Rosemary like that? Why did he never once act like a father to me…?

To that man… what was I, really?’

“Edel?”

“I really must not have been… his daughter. Not even once… he never became my father.”

Her vision collapsed instantly into darkness.

“Edel! My dear! Wake up!”

The last memory was the desperate patting of her cheeks, the frantic calls from the Marquis of Blossomweaver as she lost consciousness in his arms.

When Edelweiss awoke, she was once again inside the Stern estate.

It felt wrong.

She had definitely left that place. So why was she still here?

Just then—

A girl with silver hair tied in twin tails rushed past her, clutching a stuffed rabbit in her arms.

Panting as if something urgent had happened, the girl didn’t stop for a moment.

‘Who is that?’

The girl slid down the banister and patted the lavender frills of her dress once she landed.

Stopping in front of the entrance, she pressed her hands together, unable to hide her excitement.

Edelweiss crept closer to get a good look at her face.

…It was her.

It was herself as a child.

Now that she thought about it, she must have been around eight.

She realized it now:

She was dreaming—reliving her past.

The door opened, and a younger Duke Stern stepped inside, carrying a small child in his arms.

“Rosemary, this is your new home now.”

“Wow, it’s so shiny. But who’s that girl?”

Young Rosemary pointed innocently at the eight-year-old Edelweiss.

It would be easy to think Rosemary had always lived here.

“She’s your sister. Edelweiss. Greet your older sister now.”

“Hi, sis! Daddy, um, but I have something to tell you.”

“Does it have to be now? I need to show Rosemary her room. Tell me later.”

“…Okay.”

Edelweiss looked at her younger self with slumped shoulders and the memory returned.

‘I was going to ask him if I could have the foal from his beloved horse.’

In the end, of course, that foal went to Rosemary.

As soon as Edelweiss made her request, Rosemary said she wanted it too, and Duke Stern made Edelweiss give it up.

At the time, Edelweiss had been praised by her tutor and promised a reward from the Duke himself.

She was so happy about it, she had spent days deciding what to ask for.

And when she finally did—he had said yes.

But now she knew: he hadn’t meant it.

He didn’t really think she was admirable.

He had just said something to appease the tutor.

He had never cared about how well she was doing in her lessons.

But that same man had proudly lifted Rosemary high in the air—despite her messy violin playing after six months of practice.

He had never once held Edelweiss in his arms.

But with Rosemary, everything came so easily.

Through the window, the young Edelweiss watched her father lead the pony as Rosemary rode on its back.

She had looked on with pure envy.

That gaze was so pitiful, so lonely, that the older Edelweiss knelt down and sat beside her past self.

Don’t expect anything. Don’t be disappointed. He was never going to love you.

It was a truth she could never say aloud—but had always carried in her heart.

“It’s my birthday today.”

Right. It was her birthday.

“Brother isn’t here… and Father doesn’t even know it’s my birthday… what is this…”

She gently stroked the back of her younger self’s round head, trembling in sorrow.

The child trudged upstairs with drooped shoulders, sat in front of a single slice of cake, and began to whisper.

“Edelweiss, my daughter, happy birthday. I love you.”

This time, she mimicked a boy’s voice instead.

“Edelweiss. My sister, thank you for being born. Happy birthday. I’m sorry for last time. I didn’t mean it.”

They were impersonations of Duke Stern and Tessen.

Her younger self was willing to go that far just to hear the words she wanted so badly.

“…It’s strange. They said happy birthday, but I don’t feel happy at all.”

Still unable to shake the gloom, the child wiped away her falling tears.

“Maybe… Daddy and Brother don’t love me. Why is it only me? Why doesn’t anyone love me? Is it because I’m a bad kid?”

The tears trailed down her pale, tender cheeks.

“No, that’s not it. I ate all my vegetables, got praised by my teacher again today, and even grew a whole inch…”

Her younger self shook her head, counting on her little fingers.

“And… um, I’ve been a good girl…”

Her words became muddled by sobs.

“But no one likes me. Everyone hates me. Even Mother probably hates me.”

She sniffled and bit her lip hard.

“If it’s going to be like this, I wish birthdays didn’t exist.”

Happy birthday.

Once again, Edelweiss celebrated her birthday all alone.

“Father. Brother Tessen…”

Even as she echoed the words her younger self most longed to hear—

‘If I do even more good things, will you love me then? Will you say happy birthday then?

Please… I’ll try harder. I’ll be even more of a good girl.’

The people she wanted to hear it from… never changed.

It had already been three days. Edelweiss lay unconscious, burning up with fever.

Cesaré watched helplessly by her side, feeling as if someone were clawing at his heart.

He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t eat—he hadn’t left her side since she collapsed.

The Marquis of Blossomweaver and the servants reassured him, saying she would wake up soon…

But what kind of father wouldn’t worry when his daughter was so ill?

He couldn’t even drink a sip of water.

He just stayed with her—because he didn’t want her to be alone when she opened her eyes.

She had probably spent her whole life enduring pain alone. That thought shattered him.

Just a few days ago, the Count of Oberlin—his own older brother—had spoken up.

‘Did he really have to give his title to a niece he hadn’t seen in over ten years?

He wasn’t going to argue about the Blossomweaver inheritance, but wasn’t the Oberlin estate different?’

He couldn’t understand why Cesaré cared so much about a girl with no blood ties to him.

Long ago, Cesaré had once thought the same.

She was simply a child who looked like his beloved wife.

Adorable. Sweet. But he constantly reminded himself not to get too attached.

He subtly kept his distance.

Not because he disliked her.

He respected his wife’s wish not to have children.

But he couldn’t help yearning whenever he saw other families with kids.

He thought if he longed too much for something he couldn’t have, it would only bring more pain.

But Edelweiss…

She was simply impossible not to love.