Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Cecilia would turn nine today, a girl of her age should be carefree and smile from the bottom of their heart. Circumstances had forced her to become mature far too soon which ended up hurting her in the process.

Simon was genuinely worried about her, if she tried to keep her worries to herself and bottle it up every single day, it would lead to serious psychological issues one day. That is why Simon wanted her to speak her mind out while he just listened to her.

"Is there really nothing bothering you?" He asked in a roundabout manner.

"What is brother saying? I just told you, it's the behaviour of the others that have been badging me" Cecilia answered waltzing a few steps ahead of him.

"I meant other than that.. if there are any worries you can tell me or Irene you know" Simon did not want to be too pushy, that is why he faintly hinted at it.

"T-there is nothing. Haha, big brother is such a worrywart" Cecilia's gaze faltered for a moment and she looked away.

"Is that so… it's good if there is nothing" Simon did not continue probing anymore. He knew that she wasn't ready to open her heart yet.

"Have you been planting new trees and plants in the garden?".

Simon changed the topic. After they started walking west from the palace, they had arrived near the garden. The garden was beautiful and well maintained, it spanned for more than five kilometres and was a relaxing place to stroll in.

The gentle breeze, the winds carrying the aroma of the newly budding flowers and the sight that could calm one's heart.

"Right… I tried to create some of the plants and trees that mom and dad once told me about in stories. According to them, in ancient times the ancestors of our tribe of Forest spring spirits created many powerful trees and plants to serve the primordial demon of pride. Amongst them is a mythical creature that grows out of a tree and is called the caretaker of the forest" Cecilia pointed at a grove of trees that had a very weird structure.

"Hohh..." Simon uttered in admiration, he could tell that the trees were unique just by their appearance but he couldn't have guessed that they were a kind of mythical tree that sprouted into some creature.

"Although I have diverted a portion of the mystical veins and pulled the essence of nature near their soil as per the memories inside me, I'm still not sure when they are going to sprout. It would be wonderful to have someone to take care of the garden all the time".

Cecilia turned towards Simon and boasted, wanting to be praised by him. Simon and Cecilia strolled around the garden for a while and before long he received a message from Irene that everything was done. The preparation was over, now everybody was waiting for the star of the event, Cecilia to arrive.

"Alright, this should be enough walk for today. You told me that you wanted to go to your village right? Let's go then" Simon said halting his steps.

"But grandpa fennel had told me not to come to the village. If I go there I will get a scolding" Cecilia clutched the hem of her skirt and said dejectedly.

"You don't have to worry, I'll be going with you since I have some work there. Also didn't I say that elder Fennel is only concerned about you, he won't be mad" Simon reassured.

The two of them teleported a little distance away from the village.

"Hm? Big brother, why didn't you teleport us inside the village instead of here?" Cecilia asked. They were in the bamboo forest that was on the north side of their village.

"I don't have a reason particularly, I just wanted to take a walk around the woods and have a relaxing time watching the bamboo".

'Strange, even big brother is behaving weirdly' Cecilia muttered under her breath as she silently followed behind Simon.

As they neared the north gate, Cecilia furrowed her brows seeing that there were no villagers walking around the town nor were there any sounds of activities coming from inside. It was as if the entire village was deserted.

"Where is everyone? Uncle Irid, Aunt Dhapny.. where are all of you?" Cecilia ran ahead and checked each and every house. Seeing that they were all empty, the colour from her face started to recede and her heart started beating anxiously.

She ran around the village calling each and every one's name; nevertheless, not a single soul responded to her calls.

"Where is everyone, please come out" Cecilia shouted at the top of her lungs.

"That's weird… did anything happen?" Simon who was following her spoke out.

"Big brother… everybody is gone. They have all left me" tiny tears started appearing at the edges of the little girl making Simon a little guilty.

'I guess that should be enough' he thought internally and suggested to Cecilia that they go searching at the village square. As they arrived at the village square, one could notice that it was decorated beautifully with balloons, lamps, zig-zag streamers and other beautiful decor.

Tables and chairs were lined up around the corners and beautiful phosphorescent crystals lighted up the place. However, the place was empty.

"Where is everyone?" Cecilia dropped her shoulders and spoke in a low tone.

"Cecilia why don't you go and wait there. I'll go and see where everyone is" Simon pointed at a particular chair that was at the centre of other chairs and decorated very prettily.

Probably because she was in a very low spirit, Cecilia did not have the energy to say anything else and simply followed what her big brother had told her. She sat on the seat for a couple of minutes while keeping her down, when all of a sudden…

"SURPRISE!!!" the resounding voices of many people sounded at once. Surprised, Cecilia hurriedly propped her head up only to see her clansmen coming out of one side of the village.

"Everyone.." Seeing her clansmen and the people that she missed, Cecilia's happiness had no bounds.

"Big sister, big brother, Maya, Alice… Aunt Daphne, Grandpa Fennel.. all of you… where did you go?" She asked with a tear-stained face.

Seeing her like that, Daphne hugged her immediately and whispered a few words "Happy birthday Cecilia".

With that, everybody repeated it loudly— "Happy birthday Cecilia!!".

Hearing that, Cecilia's eyes went wide with surprise and a few seconds after, it was as if a dam had burst open, tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

"Cecilia, did you really think these old bones would forget about your birthday?" Fennel came forward and spoke on behalf of everybody. He patted Cecilia's head and personally wished her happy birthday.

After that, one by one everybody wished her happy birthday and finally, after getting teased by many people, the little girl stopped crying.

"Cecilia why don't you go and sit in your seat," Simon asked. They had prepared a big buffet for everybody to celebrate her birthday today. Cakes, foods, drinks.. various kinds of dishes were brought out made specifically for this day.

"But big brother…" Cecilia looked like she had something to say. However, because of everybody pulling her towards the seat of honour she couldn't get the opportunity to speak out.

Seeing Cecilia surrounded by people, Simon smiled and walked beside Irene who was yet to speak a word.

"You haven't wished her birthday yet did you?" he asked.

"You haven't either" Irene replied in an indifferent voice.

"Well… in my case I want her to realise what wrong she committed. I'll do wish but only when she comes out clean" Simon replied glancing at a present box in his hand.

"Is that her gift?" Irene's eyes went towards the present in his hand.

While they were having such a conversation, the party had already started. A huge cake whose recipe and design Simon had provided, made its appearance. It was made by the combined efforts of the Valkyries, Irene and Cecilia's aunt's help.

This would be the first time that the forest spring spirits were celebrating a birthday in this fashion. Usually, they only had a homemade sweet made out of the products of the nature or meat from the monster as celebration.

However, this year thanks to Simon guiding them along the way and providing them wisdom from his previous world, the birthday celebration seemed to have been a great success amongst the forest spring spirits.

"I-I have to blow on the candles?" Cecilia asked Simon who had joined the celebration.

"Don't forget to cut the cake after that" Simon reminded. After the cake was cut, a few forest spring spirits started dividing it into shares and distributing it to everyone.

"How is it?" Irene asked staring straight at Simon.

"Hmm" Simon took a big bite and relished the taste of the cake. Probably because it was their first time making a cake, the cake did not have the quality that he had in his mind. Nevertheless it was still tasty.

When Simon said that, for some reason, Irene's eyes seemed to have become colder, she gave a light snort and walked away.

'Strange' Simon muttered to himslef, he had just complimented the cake, it was tasty; however, why is that she only heard the formehr half of his sentence, forgetting about the compliment he gave to the cake altogether.

Simon laughed helplessly before concentrating on his cake. After a while, when everybody was busy dancing, eating or enjoying the party, Cecilia was finally free to sit next to Simon.

"Big brother…" Cecilia's gaze was elusive, she couldn't look straight at Simon when talking to him.

"What is it?" Simon asked.