A few days had passed, and my birthdays were here.

I still found it weird that both of my birthdays are the same. Cosence 43rd. With no information to rely on, the best reason I could think of was coincidence, but it couldn’t be, right?

Of course, having the same birthdays meant that I was at two birthday parties at the same time. Let’s focus on one at a time though, starting with Feyt’s, since Carine’s birthday was… Uhh… I’ll save it for later.

Feyt’s birthday started with a rough awakening by Fray… Who else?

The door flew open with a bang, and thanks to my sensitive ears, the sound was amplified enough to send me to kingdom come.

“Hey! Hey!!”

“W-Wha?!”

Fray strutted over, completely ignoring the fact that I was still half-asleep, and yanked the thin blanket away in one swift motion, exposing me to the cold.

“How long’re you gonna sleep? The sun’s already up!”

Pot, I would like for you to meet Kettle… Seriously, she’s lecturing me about waking up early? Well, it’s not like I had much reason to stay in bed anyway. From the living room, I could already hear whispers about what my reaction would be when I left the room.

Sorry guys, my ears ruined your surprise party.

…

“Happy birthday Feyt!” Mom clapped, her face beet red. Not from embarrassment, I was sure.

“Happy birthday!” Dad joined in on clapping, he had a wide smile I hadn’t seen in a while.

“Happy birthday, Feyt!” Ricent was there too, thank god, it would be painful for me to have my only friend in this village not show up to my birthday.

“Happy birthday.” Aunt Diane, Ricent’s mom, was there as well. I guessed that she was here either to watch over her son or Mom.

The four of them were standing, circling the wooden table in the middle of the room. A modest plain cake with no candles or decoration was plated up neatly in the middle. It wasn’t that large, but it looked big enough to be cut into six slices.

I wasn’t going to complain about the basic cake, I was actually impressed they even got one.

“Where did we get this cake?” I asked, curiosity over me.

“Apparently, this is what rich people do for their birthdays,” Fray said with a smug grin, leaning on the hallway walls. She had traveled far throughout her life for her job, so I was sure she had quite the experience with this kingdom’s culture.

But still, I didn’t expect that I would get cake as Feyt. I expected maybe a feast cooked up by Mom, heck, I might prefer that actually, but this cake…

“Fray was the one who brought the recipe to me,” Aunt Diane calmly explained. “She got a cookbook from the capital and asked me if I could bake a cake. It was funny seeing her reaction when I joked and said I couldn’t, haha~.” She let out a soft chuckle.

“W-Wha—?! Aunt Diane?!” Fray’s face reddened. She stomped her way to Aunt Diane and whispered, “I thought I told you not to—”

Seeing Fray being the one teased was… surreal. Aunt Diane sure was amazing.

“Haha, sorry, sorry~.” Aunt Diane waved it off. “I couldn’t resist. Anyway, seeing as Fray was devastated by my joke, I decided to give it a try. But even with your Mom’s help, we still spent all night on it. There were many ingredients we had to find ways to substitute. I believe it turned out alright though.”

That explained why Mom said she was staying over at Aunt Diane’s last night. Does that mean she stayed up all night just to bake for me? I looked at her sitting at the table. She was half-drunk, as always, which impressed me. How was she still awake?

“Enough with the talk, let’s dig in!” Dad shouted impatiently with his arms crossed. He grabbed a knife and made the first cut. He carefully placed a hefty slice on a small wooden plate and handed it to me. “Here you go, Feyt! You get the biggest one!”

“T-Thanks.”

“We’ll let you have the first bite,” Aunt Diane said softly.

“Let me know how it tastes!” Mom exclaimed in her usual bubbly way.

With the thin wooden spoon in one hand, and the plate holding the cake on the other, I carefully scooped up a bite. 

The cream seemed thick, but not by too much. The smell itself was slightly that of honey and milk. Overall, it looked good despite how plain it was on the surface.

I plunged the spoon into my mouth and took a bite. The cake itself was soft to the bite with the perfect amount of chewiness.

The taste? It was… actually pretty good. I could taste the sweetness, but it wasn’t overwhelming nor did it grind my teeth. I subconsciously nodded as I took more spoonfuls of the cake.

“How is it?” Mom asked.

With my face still full of cake, I could only give a hearty thumbs up as my kudos. As soon as I did, Dad seemed relieved and began cutting up the cakes again, giving slices to everyone in the room.

All six of us dug in together, everyone began chatting about their lives as we shared the cake. 

—

After we all had our fill, Fray decided that it was time to continue with the next thing on the list. “So, time for presents! Who’s first?”

Without wasting a single beat, Dad pulled out a small, roughly wrapped box from behind his back. “Here’s one from me! Something that’ll help you when you’re training!”

I unwrapped the gift, revealing a sturdy new set of leather gloves. They were soft, thick, and clearly built to last. I couldn’t help but smile a little at that. It wasn’t anything flashy, it was practical, and I appreciate that a lot.

“Thanks, Dad! I’ll always use them when I train!”

Next, Aunt Diane stepped forward with a small, folded cloth. “Here you go, I collected these a while ago in case I ever get stressed enough dealing with a certain someone, but I believe you’ll have much more use out of it.” The way she worded it made it sound ominous. 

I carefully unwrapped her gift, revealing a handmade pouch filled to the brim with herbs, calming herbs with a relaxing yet strong smell to them.

“I know training at the capital with all those nobles will be hard. So burn a little bit of these whenever you need to relax and clear your mind.”

“Thanks, Aunt Diane.” I was genuinely touched. The gift was simple, but thoughtful. Just smelling it through the pouch was enough to calm my mind down.

“Me! Me next!” Ricent shouted, practically bouncing in place. Wasn’t he older than me? How was he so childish? Oh well, that was part of his charm. I wondered what gift he would have for me—

—It’s a rock. A shiny, smooth rock.

I stared at the rock he forcefully shoved onto my palm. “…What’s this?”

“A lucky rock! I found it near the lake and thought it would give you good luck, or something!” he said with an innocent genuine warm smile.

“…Really? T-Thanks?”

“You’re welcome!!”

As I was about to pocket the rock, Fray suddenly leaned closer, startling me. Her eyes were glaring at the rock on my palm. 

“R-R-Ricent?! Where did you find this… this rock?!”

“Huh? I said it, didn’t I? At the lake out the north gate.”

“R-Randomly?”

“Yea, I was skipping stones when I found this shiny one. I thought it’d be a good birthday present for Feyt! So I kept it safe!”

“Y-You’re kidding me…”

Fray was weirdly captivated by this seemingly ordinary rock. Curious, I leaned closer to Fray and whispered, “Sis, what’s going on?”

Fray swallowed hard and then whispered back. “Listen carefully, Feyt. If you ever in need of money, get that ‘rock’ to an appraisal, or maybe a rich blacksmith guy.”

“W-what?”

“Just keep it safe, alright?!” Fray was uncharacteristically serious, it was as if the rock I was holding wasn’t some normal rock.

Taking it to an appraisal if I’m ever in need of money… Is this rock… valuable?

“My turn!” Mom shouted, snapping me back to reality. I quickly and carefully stored the rock in my pocket, wrapping it with cloth from Aunt Diane’s present before I did.

Mom leaned in closer as she handed me a package. “Happy birthday, sweetheart!”

I took the package from her, unwrapping it carefully. Inside was a cylinder with several holes in it. It was made with polished dark wood and has a glossy finish. It was well-made, smooth to the touch, and surprisingly light. I stared at it for a moment, utterly confused.

“…A flute?” I looked up at Mom with zero clue as to why she chose this gift for me. 

“Yep! I met a traveling merchant a few days ago, he offered me a discount on this when I asked nicely! It was a bit pricey even with the discount, but I’m happy to give up drinking for three days if it meant I could buy this for you.”

Her words would’ve been really heartwarming if it weren’t for the fact that she took a swig from a beer bottle right after.

“So Mom had the same idea, huh?” I heard Fray mumble to herself. Did she buy something from a traveling merchant too? I thought.

Inspecting the flute again, I ran my fingers along the instrument, feeling a strange, almost instinctive thought. I could play it, my mind was telling me that, even though I had never even touched a flute in my entire life. Not in this life, nor the other two.

“Thanks for the gift, Mom! I’ll give the flute a shot!”

Fray leaned back in her chair, an all too familiar smirk already creeping onto her face. “Alright, last but definitely not least—me!!” She ceremoniously yanked out a small wooden box out of her clothes. She placed the box in front of me at the table and opened the lid with a click.

Inside the box, I find two necklaces inside, each embedded with a different-colored gem acting as its pendant. One red, the other blue. They looked similar in design, only the gem attached at the bottom were different.

“Necklaces?” I asked, glancing at her. “Why two? Am I supposed to give the other one to someone else?”

“I’m glad you catch on quick! Now, here’s the deal: you take one, and you give the other to someone special,” she said, specifically emphasizing the last part while constantly raising her eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not giving it to Carine, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Fray let out a laugh, nudging me with her elbow. “Ha! You said her name, not me! So make sure to give one of ‘em to her, ya’ hear?!”

“I told you already, I’m not interested in her,” I said as I slowly closed the lid of the necklace.

“Oh, you have a girl you like, Feyt?” Mom joined in. “My, my! My son’s growing up so fast!”

“Nice! Way to go, son! Ask your Dad for dating advice anytime, ya’ hear?”

“I said it’s not like that!”

I let out a tired sigh. I considered whether I should tell them about my two-bodied situation to resolve this misunderstanding. But, that might cause more problems than it solves. Still, living with this misunderstanding was a no-go, so I decided to think of an alternate solution later.

I would say that the hard part of my birthday was over, but there was still Carine’s to go through.

Carine’s birthday was… in some ways, a new form of torture.

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