Chapter 364: The Upcoming Birthday
The soft scratching sound of a pen moving across paper was like natural white noise. In that quiet atmosphere, Rachel fell into an even deeper sleep.
Armand carefully turned the pages of his documents, afraid to wake the little one. Even when he felt tired and wanted to stretch, he held back any sound and only raised his arms silently.
Although Evelia’s earlier “let’s have a baby” talk had passed with just a laugh, she didn’t seem to take it too seriously afterward. Instead, she was now focused on figuring out a gift that would really surprise Armand.
And after learning that Armand, who was born in winter, would have his birthday just a few days after the New Year, Evelia became even more motivated.
If this were one of those over-the-top romance novels, Evelia might say something like, “Then I’ll take over the House of Nightingales and give it to you as your birthday gift!” But unfortunately, this wasn’t that kind of story, and Evelia wasn’t the type to say such dramatic things.
Armand’s birthday wasn’t a secret, but he never held parties or balls for it. He hated fake social events, so it was impossible for him to organize something meaningless like that.
Originally, he didn’t want to trouble the servants either. But since they insisted that this would be Armand’s first birthday celebrated in the manor, their enthusiasm was hard to refuse, and he reluctantly agreed.
To make things simple, the schedule was set like this: on the first night of the new year, he would attend the royal New Year banquet, and the next day, his birthday would be celebrated together with the New Year. This way, there was no need for extra decoration. One big lively meal was easier than arranging two separate events.
Besides, as “Armand,” his birthday was not exactly the same date as when he was “Aegmed.” So the exact date didn’t matter much to him.
On the day itself, Armand decided to make the birthday gathering like the welcome party he had when he first arrived at the manor. There would be no distinction between servants and masters. Everyone could eat and drink freely in the manor, and aside from the usual prohibited things, they could enjoy the day however they liked.
As for the rest of the arrangements, he left that to the old butler, Lug. It saved him the trouble.
Because of that, Armand often had to admit, having authority really was convenient.
“Birthday, huh…”
Even though Armand didn’t seem to care much about his birthday party, deep down, he was actually looking forward to it a little.
The most important thing was that now, he could receive birthday wishes from his own family. After entering the House of Nightingales all those years ago, he never expected to have that again.
Another birthday was coming. He was a year older and a step closer to death, but he could also say he had survived another year.
…Well, at least he was still alive.
Thinking that, he instinctively glanced at the still-sleeping Rachel.
From Armand’s point of view, the little one had just rushed out of the house without fully waking up. But the real reason she was sleeping so deeply was that she hadn’t rested properly for several nights. Even with an alchemic body, her mind still felt tired.
“……”
Armand quietly walked out from behind his desk and sat down next to Rachel.
He lowered his head to look at her sleeping face and couldn’t resist poking her cheek with a finger.
Seeing Rachel frown slightly from the tiny touch, Armand smiled like a mischievous child, proud of his little prank.
Looking at the little girl by his side, she really was cute. But thinking back to Evelia’s talk about having a child… Armand still felt he wasn’t ready.
Still… if it was in the future, maybe it wouldn’t be impossible, though definitely only in the future.
Forget it. For now, he should just focus on staying alive.
The poison in his body shouldn’t be passed down to a child, right?
If he really wanted to have a child in the future, maybe he should get a full check-up first and study a way to completely cure himself.
Knock, knock, knock.
While Armand was still poking Rachel’s cheek and daydreaming about the future, a sudden series of knocks came from the door.
If it had been a knight from the order, the knock would have been neat and quick. But this knocking sounded a bit arrogant, like the kind of knock a street thug or a high-ranking official would make when they came to cause trouble.
“Come in—”
“Good day, Captain.”
Before Armand could even fix his clothes and properly say “please come in,” an old man had already stepped inside. He wore a stiff, fake smile and walked into Armand’s office with a cheerful tone that didn’t feel sincere at all.
“......”
Armand felt a little annoyed. A man who clearly had experience in politics shouldn’t be ignorant of basic manners. That fake smile wasn’t convincing at all, it looked like he wasn’t even trying to pretend seriously.
Still, Armand was already used to this. After all, his public image was still that of a “dumb knight who doesn’t understand anything.” In the eyes of those old politicians, he was nothing but a strong man with the title of Knight Commander.
Armand didn’t understand how they dared to treat someone who held both military power and execution authority so casually, but he never bothered to make trouble for them. He had no interest in getting dragged into messy political games for no reason.
“Mm...”
The old man’s voice was loud, and it woke up Rachel, who had been sleeping soundly. She jolted like someone having a nightmare, and Armand instinctively held her tight before she rolled off the sofa.
“Oh, Captain, there’s a child here too?”
Rachel’s movement caught the old man’s attention. He noticed the small figure hidden under the coat and, remembering the knights’ gossip he overheard when coming upstairs, he quickly guessed who she was.
“This must be your adopted daughter, right? I don’t know her name yet.”
The fact that Armand had taken in a child wasn’t really a secret anymore. He hadn’t gone around announcing it, but after the previous “kidnapping incident,” it had become public knowledge.
Because of how Armand reacted during that incident, many people who paid attention to rumors now knew he had adopted a girl, and that he clearly cared about her very much. Even though he called her a “foster daughter” to outsiders, most people preferred to see her as his “beloved daughter.”
“Forget the child for now. Why are you here?”
After the old man noticed Rachel, Armand’s grip on her arm unconsciously tightened. Rachel could feel it. He was also on edge, clearly paying attention to this man’s intentions.
“Ah, I’m from His Majesty’s office. This time, I just came to confirm the knight arrangements for the New Year’s banquet. I also need your signature, and I’d like you to review the documents carefully.”
“Alright.”
Armand didn’t waste words. He took the papers from the old man and began checking them against the documents he already had.
The list of security personnel was considered a type of classified information, so it made sense to have someone deliver it personally. Still, Armand didn’t like these pretentious politicians—it annoyed him.
“Little girl, what’s your name? You’re really cute. Are you the Captain’s daughter?”
The old man acted as if he completely ignored the gloomy expression on Armand’s face and sat down across from Rachel, trying to pry information out of her.
“……”
Rachel was, of course, not the kind of child who could be tricked so easily. But she also couldn’t just tell the old man, who interrupted her nap, to “get lost.” So all she could do was give Armand a helpless, pleading look.
“This isn’t something you should be asking about.”
Armand quickly reviewed the documents, signed his name in all the needed spots, and put them in a new file folder before handing them back to the old man. His tone made it clear that he was one step away from actually saying the word “leave.”
“Oh my, Captain, you really do care about your child. I didn’t know you had such a pretty daughter before. The New Year’s party is coming soon, why not bring her along and let her be seen? His Majesty wants to use this ball as his formal return to the public eye after such a long time. Besides bringing your lady companion, it would be proper to bring this child as well.”
“I see. Goodbye.”
Armand waved his hand casually, pretending not to care. The old man could tell there was no point in continuing, so he left the office with a forced cheerful smile, even remembering to close the door behind him.
Right after, Armand’s expression darkened and his brows furrowed.
Since that old man said all that, it meant he would definitely report back to the King about seeing Armand’s “daughter.” In a few days, Armand would probably receive another invitation letter.
For many reasons, Armand didn’t want Rachel to appear in public. It would be trouble for everyone. But unfortunately, she had been spotted today.
If that old man really was one of the King’s close aides, then Rachel wouldn’t be able to avoid attending that boring party. And according to noble society’s rules, this would mean she would slowly have to start entering the social scene.
Ah… just thinking about it gave Armand a headache. He even had the brief thought that he wanted to kill the man who had just seen Rachel and pretend nothing had happened.
“……”
From their conversation and from Armand’s expression, Rachel had already understood most of the situation.
It seemed her current public identity really was “the daughter of the Knight Commander.” And with the upcoming royal New Year’s party, she could guess what was going to happen.
She also figured that even if the ball was officially hosted by the King, in reality it was going to be a contest between three factions, the King and his two princes.
Thinking about it that way, it might actually be kind of exciting.
Besides, going there wouldn’t be a bad thing. Just imagining the palace’s back garden, Rachel could already think of many rare and valuable plants, materials that were priceless to her.
When she used to work under the Second Prince, she had only been to the royal garden once. At that time, she had desperately wanted to dig the entire place up. But since she still needed to work for the Second Prince back then, she didn’t take anything. She even foolishly thought she would have another chance to come back.
Now, this upcoming ball was probably her best chance to enter the palace again. And this time, without the “employment” restrictions, she was determined to harvest the palace garden as much as she could. Who knows, maybe she could even find something that would help her develop medicine to save Armand.
This opportunity… she had to find a way to seize it.