It was my birthday and Clara seemed more excited than I was.
For breakfast, there were two sunny-side-up fried eggs next to the toast for my birthday.
âWell, I like this.â
Usually, I have one egg, but Itâs two now. In addition, it was brilliant to see the yolk in a perfectly semi-boiled state come up in a circle.
Iâm not so poor that I regret a single fried egg, but somehow, such a small change in my daily life just makes me feel good.
With that thought in mind, I popped the egg yolk, ignoring the heart-shaped ketchup. Two fries gave me a very satisfying meal.
As soon as I put down the napkin after eating, Clara quickly came to my side.
âItâs such a nice day today, would you like to go to the beach in front of you?â
âI donât like the weather?â
I looked out the window and saw the cloudy sky. The sky was full of gray clouds.
âItâs your birthday, so itâs good to go outside and play.â
âWellâŚnot really.â
I said so, then changed my words again as I saw Claraâs eyes twinkle with anticipation.
âOk, fine.â
Thereâs something. If it was a walk, it was a trick the previous nanny had used for me.
Come to think of it, Stefan hasnât been seen since morning. What the hell are they up to?
It was an obvious masterpiece, but the plan was quite sincere, so I decided to follow Clara.
I put on a light cardigan and went out with Clara to the beach in front of the villa.
It was a cloudy day, and the wind from the beach was cool and salty. A gray sea resembling a cloudy sky on a dimmer sandy beach than usual. I felt the end of the world in the waves crashing wildly.
This is great weather for a walk. Itâs the perfect weather for my birthday.
âOh! Princess Dorothy! Look at the seashells over there. So pretty!â
Clara, that line is too contrived.
Clara said, pointing to the white sandy beach.
The sandy beach, which was usually dazzling in the sunlight, was covered with a murky and dirty gray color.
In the meantime, shells that signaled the clamâs death were scattered. I wasnât really interested in seashells.
When I saw a person who liked seashells, I was so emotionally dry that I wanted to ask if I wanted to pick them up because I liked human bones so much.
But, as a good child, I didnât ask, knowing that such a question would be offensive to the other person.
Instead, I obeyed Claraâs words pointing to the floor, and picked up the clams.
âIsnât it something like that I picked up a shellfish and buried a gift
underneath it?â
Itâs nothing special, but just picking up shells made me nervous.
However, even after picking up a lot of seashells, there was no gift.
Itâs not disappointing, but somehow I felt like I was in vain.so I became lazy.
How long do I have to pick it up?
âClara.â
I grabbed the clam in both hands and looked back.
But Clara didnât have to be behind me.
âClara?â
I looked around and did not find her.
Where are you going to hide after making me look away?
Just as I was about to disintegrate that I had just been tricked by Clara, a huge thing approached me from afar.
I took a step or two back, looking at a strange and huge object.
That giant thing approaching me with a wacky walk, dressed in a strange mask and dressed with a brown tailâŚ
âItâs Stefan.â
Even if he was wearing a mask and a lionâs robe, he looked like Stephan from here and there.
What the hell did you ever make those weird clothes again?
I endured the twitching of my brow and looked at Stefanâs clothes.
A mask that looks stuffy, a fluffy mane made of wool, brown clothes that cover the whole body, brown gloves and large doll shoes made to imitate a lionâs paws.
âIsnât it hotâŚ?â
Although the weather was cloudy, it was not a pleasant and cool day to walk on the sandy beach wearing such thick doll clothes.
There was only one person who could make a giant lion costume the size of Stephan.
âClara is a complete accomplice. No, sheâs the mastermind.â
Because Stefan wouldnât have come forward and said heâd be a lion.
âDid you think I would be deceived by something like that? What do you see me as?â
Stefan, dressed in a lionâs robe, crossed the sand and stopped in front of me, then bowed his head and looked at me.
I didnât like this childish prank, so I opened my mouth.
âThere you areâŚâ
âGroarrr!â
As I was about to call out Stefanâs name, I froze at the sound of his roar.
âStephan said it was a jokeâŚ?â
That blunt knight Stefan? I canât believe heâs wearing that lionâs suit, huh?
âIâm braveâŚLion warrior Leo.â
ahâŚ! Donât do that, Stefan.
I had goosebumps all over my body.
It was then that I realized that Stefan was copying Leo, the protagonist of my favorite book cover, The lion warrior.
I wanted to shout âStopâ at his acting, which made me embarrassedâŚ
But seeing him, who can speak, even wears such clothes and writes lines, itâs a pity so I couldnât say that.
âYes, this is todayâs good deed. Because Iâm kind.â
I donât know if Iâm really good, but Stephan in the lion warriorâs suit was so pitiful that I felt like crying.
âWowâŚÂ Are you really the lion warrior Leo?â
When I asked with a forced smile, Stefan, no, the lion warrior Leo nodded.
A sense of shame surged in. Maybe Stefan is, too.
At the same time, I realized The fact that everyone will be embarrassed the moment I call him Stefan here.
Sometimes ignorance is a medicine.
ââŚ.â
In the awkward silence, the sound of rushing waves was repeated.
Speak up, Stefan. you started!
âGroarr!â
please! donât do that! Donât roar! You are not allowed to roar!
I got goosebumps and took a step back. Then Stefan came up to me and waved his hand.
âLeo, Iâm afraidâŚâ
Iâm not running away because Iâm afraid!
I continued to take a step backward, but Stefan followed steadily and persistently. Honest, he wasnât about to back down until he completed his mission.
It wasnât until I reached the very end of the beach that I realized I couldnât get out of the lion warriorâs trap.
Okay, then Iâll break through it head-on.
âWould you like to have this?â
I held out the seashell that I had been holding for a long time.
Then Stefan went back and forth and reached out his hand in a brown glove and took the clams I had handed him.
I handed over the shells that were obviously full of my two hands, but not even one of his large hands was full.
Stefan didnât know what to do with the seashell he had received from me.
When I saw that, maybe my embarrassment had become dull or it just felt cute.
âPut it in your pocket.â
I pointed to the open pocket on the belly of the lionâs robe.
Stefan was delighted to find out that he didnât know there was a pocket there and put the clams in it.
âClara, if you were thinking of acting like a lion, you shouldnât have made a pocket there.â
A pocket on the belly of a lion. Not even a kangaroo.
Clara usually has a lot of pockets for practicality when sewing, but that habit came from here as well.
HuhâŚI have no choice but to pretend that I donât know. I had to be the main character leading this skit.
I continued with the next question.
âWhere is your deer friend?â
Stefan didnât expect this question, so he staggered like a broken machine before finally opening his mouth.
âAt home.â
Thatâs the answerâŚ!
âDid you come to see me because itâs my birthday today?â
Yes, this was a birthday event.
So, if you just celebrate your birthday, you probably achieve the main purpose of the event.
Stefan nodded instead of answering my question.
it was the right time to just say âHappy Birthdayâ and disappear, Stefan!
I looked up at him as if to speak quickly.
He could not speak, even if he lacked conversation skills, which he was lacking for a long time. If He only resembles half of Ethan.
âArenât you going to congratulate me on my birthday?â
Then he shook his head and nodded.
âPrincess Dorothea⌠happy birthday Groarr.â
Stefan said.
He leaned over and patted my shoulder awkwardly.
I stopped laughing at how hard he was working through the lion mask. Itâs creepy, but itâs still good. who is working hard for me?
âThank you, Ste⌠the brave Leo.â
I almost said it was Stefan, but luckily, I just skimmed it.
Then Stefan bent his knees and squatted down to my height, and then he stood up again, holding me in his arms.
âOh!â
I was held in his arms and floated in the air.
He started walking along the beach, holding me steady in one arm.
I could sense that Stefan was tall.
The sea looked farther away, the wind somehow seemed to be blowing harder, and the floor was far below.
Stefan walked to the end of the beach. His footprints were lonely on the white sandy beach.
It was the first time I had been so close to Stefan.
I didnât know the day would come when Stefan would say âRoarâ in lion clothes for my birthday.
I never thought Iâd be in Stefanâs arms.
âIt was a knight on Rayâs side.â
I felt restless at the thought of the past.
When I killed him, frankly, I laughed at Stefan, who was willing to die in his own blood to protect Ray.
I also thought that the foolish choice of risking death was a good fit for the ignorant Stefan. I think I looked down on that knight who was a mercenary and had no sociability.
But only now the knight Stefan Greenwall look different.