Happy Birthday, Neuvillette!
It's Neuvillette's birthday but Wriothesley came out as the biggest winner in the end.
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Neuvillette's POV
Why is everyone acting so suspiciously today?
Wriothesley actually got out of bed before me and was gonna already by the time I woke up.
The only thing I found was a note left on the table that he had something urgent to handle and he would come pick me up from Palais Mermonia in the evening.
What was worrying was that he even didn't drink his morning tea.
What could have been that urgent?
Sigh...
I really should stop sleeping so deeply.
I've started to sleep more and more deeply lately. With Wriothesley here it feels like home. It feels safe.
But it won't be good if I sleep through something.
What a dilemma.
After getting myself ready for work, I went to look for Sigewinne.
When I asked her about Wrio, she just said she didn't know where he went.
The guards I met on the way out said the same.
He wasn't in his office and I couldn't sense him within Meropide.
Did something cause him to go to the surface?
I met Amalie on the way out.
She giggled softly after hearing about my current problem. She told me that Wrio had gone to solve some problems regarding gardemeks and wouldn't be back for a while.
All throughout this, her giggles didn't stop.
I wonder why?
The next person I met was, surprisingly enough, Claude.
He was coming out of the Opera Epiclese with a stack of boxes in hand.
I had yet to call out to him when he noticed me and ran off without another word like a frightened rabbit.
?
Have I done something to frighten the poor child?
I would have gone after him had he not disappeared out of sight already.
And if this wasn't enough...
I met some of the girls on my way to Palais Mermonia. There were surprisingly few of them. Have some taken a day off on their own? Usually, they ask me to handle it.
As for the few that I met...
They were all incredibly elusive.
They were acting as if they were trying to hide that they were hiding something.
They were quite awful at it too.
I asked if something was wrong, but I couldn't find it in myself to push any further when they all adorably shushed me and said it was a secret.
I truly should be stricter with the girls. What if they are up to no good?
But still, the only thing that I could do was nod and pat them on the head.
Next time.
I will try next time.
I got to my office to find an extra large pile of work to go through.
At least Sedene was behaving normally.
I started my work and quickly discovered that all the paperwork on my desk was time-consuming but essentially useless.
Small things that shouldn't necessarily require my approval.
But...
Sigh...
Now that they are here already, how could I possibly disappoint the poor gestionnaires?
As such I started going through the pile.
Request for replacement keycap.
Request for better quality toilet paper.
Request to get the creaky floor fixed.
Suspicious crack in a wall on the first floor.
Another request for a replacement keycap.
Request for longer lunch breaks.
Request for shorter lunch breaks.
Request for no lunch breaks.
Yet another request for a replacement keycap.
...
This is exactly why I had a box placed by the door.
For requests and ideas that aren't exactly urgent.
Did everyone suddenly decide that instead of using that, a method that was perfectly functional for the past few centuries, they would just send their problems to me directly?
"Sedene." I called out.
Soon afterward the door opened slightly and Sedene appeared through the opening.
"Yes?"
"Did something happen in Palais Mermonia that I am not aware of? Did I perhaps do something to offend the gestionnaires?"
This just feels like some strange plot against me.
"Not that I'm aware of. Should I look into it?" She asked with a smile.
"No, that won't be necessary I apologize for bothering you."
I'm probably overthinking it.
"Anytime. Did you have anything for breakfast, Dad?"
"Sigewinne kindly gave me a milkshake before I left Meropide." I smiled.
I really don't understand why Wriothesley hates them so much.
I can only taste the kindness and goodwill of the one making them. There is no taste of desolation, as he put it.
"That should be enough for now. I will bring you lunch when I get back from my break!"
She didn't give me enough time to argue and I simply slipped out the door.
She really doesn't need to bother bringing me lunch. I will not die from missing a meal or two. Especially not if it is human food.
Still, I couldn't bear to stop her and merely let her do as she wished.
I ate the soup and piece of cake that she brought back for me as I continued my work.
Sigh.
There really is a lot today.
And I was looking forward to spending my evening with Wriothesley.
It appears those plans will have to be put off for a while.
As I went through everything, I finally got to the more important documents. The usual ones. Those were honestly easier to do after all of... that. Whatever that was all about.
It was when I got to the last one that I realized that I needed a file that I had left at our home here in the Court.
Since it wasn't all that far I decided to walk over and use this time to clear my mind a bit.
It was only when I exited my office that I realized how late it was.
Even Sedene had gone home.
Was I too absorbed in my work? I didn't even hear her say goodbye.
I really do need this walk.
Since it was late, the streets were empty and the sky was mostly dark.
That's why the lights of our home being on were quite obvious.
Did Wrio come here?
That would be nice.
I really want to see him.
For once I felt like complaining to him about my work.
In the 500 years that I have been doing this, not once have I had to deal with so much nonsense.
As I got closer to the house, the fact that it wasn't just Wriothesley here became more and more obvious. Perhaps he wasn't here at all.
I could see the girls' silhouettes running past the window behind the curtain and I prepared myself for the mess I would find.
I opened the door and moved silently to the living room.
...
I found the girls running around with bags of flour throwing handfuls at each other.
Oh dear.
Is it too late to turn around and go back to work?
It took a while for the first one to notice me.
First I locked eyes with Sigewinne who froze in place.
Trow who had been running behind her bumped against her and the two fell together.
This caused something of a domino effect and soon they were all lying on the ground with the bags of flour now completely spilled.
...
Sigh...
Sigh!
"Girls-"
"Is everything alright out there?" Wriothesley's voice came from the kitchen.
His voice was soon followed by the man himself.
Obviously, he had not been expecting the battlefield he had stepped into.
"Archons! Girls, seriously! How old are you?! Did you really have to toss flour all over the living room? I don't even know if we can clean this up before Neuvillette finished with his-"
His words died in his throat as we locked eyes.
"H-hi?" He forced an awkward smile.
"Hello to you too, Your Grace. Care to explain?"
Why does the house look like this?
How did the girls get their hands on so much flour?
Why are they running around with it unsupervised?
And...
I looked past him to the three heads poking out the kitchen door.
Furina, Clorinde and Navia.
Yes.
"I think I'm owed an explanation."
Now, preferably.
And that's how they all ended up sitting in front of me on the floor after I cleaned up the mess.
I couldn't help but glare down at the group.
"What on Teyvat were you thinking?"
Four... Three and a half adults looking after a bunch of children and this is what it leads to?
"I- That- We- We just..." Wrio started.
"You just what?"
"We were going to bake a cake." He spat out eventually.
"And you need over twenty bags of flour for a single cake?" I inquired.
"We were going to bake more than one." He tried.
"Is that so? Can you show me at least one then?"
Just a single one.
But of course, he turned away, avoiding my gaze.
The three women did the same, as such I turned to the girls instead.
"Papa... Papa burned the cake." One of them eventually spat out under the pressure of my gaze.
"Did he now?"
I turned back to Wriothesley.
Before I could address him, Navia spoke up in defense.
"That's why we decided to make macarons instead!"
"Oh?"
"That's right, Neuvillette! We made macarons! They are in the kitchen! You can always look!" Furina spoke up as well.
Even Clornide nodded.
Hmm...
If even she is agreeing then it must be true.
It does smell like something sweet.
"Why were you baking macarons?"
Why were you baking them here, to be precise?
With the girls running around as well.
"So..."
"That..."
"We..."
Since three of them seemed to have lost their ability to speak, I turned to Clorinde.
"We were-"
Her mouth was quickly covered by Wriothesley and I couldn't help but frown for more than one reason.
"Don't you dare say another word, Clorinde."
"At this point just spit it out. Do you think you can still hide it? He is standing right there. Our plan could have only worked if he was busy with all the nonsense we had everyone prepare a while longer-"
Clorinde's words cut off but the damage was already done.
"The nonsense you had everyone prepare? Oh, do tell me about that part." I smiled.
So it really was all nonsense.
It was useless.
I spent my day signing things that existed purely to waste my time.
A silent pressure spread through the room.
"We were trying to surprise you for your birthday." Furnia blurted out after a few moments.
And this caused her to be glared at by the whole room.
"Excuse me?"
They were trying to do what?
Wriothesley sighed in defeat and stood up, grabbing my hand.
"Come with me for a moment, okay?"
I nodded silently and allowed him to lead me to the kitchen where I came face to face with piles upon piles of macarons.
"We were gonna bake some cakes but after burning the first one we came to the conclusion that we were never going to be able to bake enough for everyone so we settled for macarons." He explained.
I let go of his hand to grab a small pastry.
Oh dear.
They were all so adorably misformed.
"The girls wanted to help. Navia made some too. Those should look a bit... better." He chuckled awkwardly.
I barely held back a laugh as I caught sight of the girls looking at the macaron in my hand nervously from the corner of my eye.
Under their watchful eyes, I placed the little thing in my mouth and ate it, smiling at them afterward.
"It is quite delicious. Thank you."
They all let out a breath of relief.
It wasn't just the children either. The other four followed suit.
But...
"What did Furina mean by surprising me for my birthday?"
After all, I don't-
"None of us were sure when exactly your birthday was and Lady Furina told us that you probably didn't know either. So we snuck into the archives and found the document with the date of the day of your appointment as Iudex. We figured that's as close as we get to a day of some significance." He explained.
That explains the mess in the archives then.
Perhaps I should keep the fact that it fell onto my shoulders to clean that up a secret.
"The older the document the closer to the door it is." I pointed out instead.
"Yeah. We figure that much out after going through the rest of it." He grumbled.
There was a short silence before he continued his story.
"Lady Furina said that you never celebrated your birthday so we decided to throw you a party this year. Everyone helped. Amalie and Claude should be returning with some snacks in a bit as well. We also asked the gestionnaires to create some easy work for you as a distraction so you wouldn't accidentally walk in on this. I guess that didn't work out."
That's because I always slow my working speed to match yours so I don't finish before you when we're together.
That and so I can take a longer glance or two at you now and then.
But that is beside the point.
There was no need for me to do that alone in my office as such I finished faster than he anticipated.
Though, I would have expected someone like him to have a backup plan just in case.
"We also had Sedene mix some sleeping pills into your lunch. Not so effective on the Hydro Sovereign, I suppose." He mumbled.
I looked away from him and found Sedene in the crowd outside the kitchen.
She mouthed a quick apology before slipping away, mingling with the rest.
Sigh...
They really went all out, huh?
"We also made a present for you... Kind of... I... You might not like it... That... It might be best for me to just show you."
The groups parted as Wriothesley led me back to the living room to a wall that I had previously noticed had been covered by a large piece of fabric.
He made me stand a few steps away from it and unhooked a corner of the fabric to let it drop, revealing what had been hidden behind it.
I felt a breath get stuck in my throat.
The previously empty wall was now covered by a bunch of colorful handprints.
One that I couldn't instantly recognize as Wriothesley's was in the middle surrounded by I suspect one from each of the girls.
There was also a free space right next to his.
"I couldn't think of anything you would need... Of course, I got you a whole bunch of water from all around Teyvat as well, but I just thought this would be cute-"
I silenced the rest of his words with a kiss.
Oh, my dear Wriothesley...
My little girls...
My precious family.
"It's perfect. Thank you." I smiled.
How could I ever ask for more than this?
Relief flooded his face in an instant.
He buried his face in the crock of my neck, letting out a small laugh.
"I'm glad. I'm so glad." He mumbled.
And then he raised his head slightly to my ear.
"I do have just one more present for you later, my love." He whispered.
??
Later?
Why?
"Look Papa is glowing again!"
"Hey! Stop it!"
"We told you to keep this away from us!"
"Stupid pervert!"
It took a moment before it all clicked somewhat.
And then I blushed.
"Waah!"
"Now Dad is doing it too!"
"Let's just leave! Let's eat all the macarons instead!"
"Great idea!"
"Macarons, here we come!"
The girls quickly escaped followed by a flustered Furina and a confused Clorinde and Navia.
I'm so incredibly glad they didn't question that.
I might have died of embarrassment.
"You should not provoke a dragon, Wriothesley." I warned.
"Oh? But I've been trying to provoke this one for months now." He grinned.
"I noticed. My self-control, however, is limited, so please cease your attempts while you still can."
It already takes up all my self-control not to... blind the children.
He pulled back slightly only to push my head against the crook of his neck where I had left my mark.
I barely held back a growl.
"So... Are my attempts working then?" Wriothesley asked teasingly.
Yes.
Yes, they have been quite effective at chipping away at my wavering self-control.
"Will I finally get to see you stripped of your clothes?" He continued to whisper into my ear.
"If you wanted to, all you had to do was ask."
"So I should have just asked you to strip?" He questioned sarcastically.
"Nothing you haven't done before." I muttered.
"So I did ask you to strip while I was drunk!"
"Did you now? Oh, I wonder."
"Neuvillette!"
After fuming for a few more moments he pulled away and took a few steps back to lean against the wall.
He started speaking as he untied his tie.
"I wonder just how much more it will take for me to shatter the Iudex's famed patience and self-control." He said to no one in particular.
He took his tie and tied it around his neck in the form of a bow.
"I did have some other things prepared, but perhaps this will be enough." He mumbled
He then hooked his finger beneath the box tied around his neck and smirked.
"What do you think of having me as your present, my dear dragon? would that be a gift worthy of a Sovereign?"