TODAY IS THE day when the youngest princess celebrates her birthday. "happy birthday princess!" the maids greeted athanasia.

"our little princess has already turned fourteen. ah, i'm so emotional."

"go open it."

athanasia opened all the gifts carefully and looked at them. " waah, i love everything!" 

"princess. knowing you have been the greatest joy of my whole life."

"i'll prepare something more special for you on your next birthday."

"i hope you will only be happy for the rest of your life." athy looked at them and were touched by what they said. "thank you everyone…" she said as she smiled and slightly blushed.

"now let's have some cake!" lily said as she took the cake. "this one was specially prepared for today."

"hannah made and lilian helped make it, princess"

"ces did the decorating."

they enjoyed each other's presence till the night before cleaning the room and then going to sleep.

"good night, princess," lily said

"good night to you too, lily."

lilian looked at athanasia as she put her hand on her forehead. "princess, you are a precious gift not only to me but to everyone in obelia. to all of us, you are someone very precious and special."

'she always tells me this on my birthday just like a mom… not that i've ever had one.' athanasia thought as she smiled a little.

"thank you for being here today," lilian said as she kissed athy's forehead.

"thank you for being by my side too, lily," athy said as she smiled at her. lilian got up and slowly left the room. in the end, claude and nas didn't come to my fourteenth birthday either.

"i still had my hopes up a little this time."

'it feels strange every time. of course, it's not like what everyone thinks. it's not that i'm sad because daddy and sister didn't make it. it's just…' athanasia remembers the portrait in her father's room and some of their memories together. 'it makes claude like a normal person. it's a good thing for my survival though, that claude has a human side to him.'

"ah what do i know?!" she said as she turned to the other side of the bed.

"really. what do you know?" 

athanasia got startled as she looked behind.

"what. why are you here so late?" athanasia asked the magician.

"i'm a busy person, don't you know?" lucas said as he rubbed his neck 

'this again… he says that, but he always came to see me for the past 6 years.' she sighed.

"let's go see raven as my birthday gift."

"you never listen to me, do you? i should really just eat that thing."

"whatever, let's go."

lucas looked at her angrily.

"raven! aww, did you miss me, raven baby? look at you, you giant fluff." she said as she hugged her pet.

"what do you think you're doing? it's freezing out here." lucas scolded the princess who was lying down on the ground.

"you can cast a spell to warm us up."

"hurry up and go back to bed, you'll lose consciousness again if you're rolling around with that thing." he said as he cast a spell.

"have you been eating a lot, raven? you got a bit chubby."

"arf!"

"my debutante is coming up soon," athanasia said to the warlock.

"i know."

"you don't think i'll make a mistake, do you?" 

"did your dad say you can't?"

"no." 

"then what's the problem?" athanasia looked at him without saying a word as the warlock continued. "you practiced every day until your feet got raw. you'll be fine unless you're some kind of idiot. stop yapping and go to bed." he said as he sat down in the grass.

"i'm not yapping. take that back!" she shouted at him. "but also… lucas, i'm still kind of curious how you already knew my big sister before you met me…" she said as she hugged raven tightly.

"i just know her i guess…"

"she didn't even come to my party when she promised me that she'll come by." she looked at the warlock again. "you were with her right?"  the warlock looked at the girl in shock. "how did you know?" 

"well, i can smell a bit of her perfume in you so i'm guessing you were with her." she smiled at him. "i'm kind of worried about her… i can also tell that my big sister has been distant from me these past few days. do you know why?" she asked as she felt tears slowly leave her eyes.

'she's hurting because she thinks that your so-called dad will forget about her nothing more.' lucas thought as he rolled his eyes. "no, i don't, why don't you talk about that with your sister about why she's distant from you." 

"i'll try… good night lucas." 

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finally, the day of the debutante ball arrived. "your highness! wake up today is princess athanasia's debutante. we must get you to dress!"  the head maid amana said while shaking the poor first princess.

"hng- amana i'm still tired~" she whined while covering her face with a blanket.

"but your highness we must get going!" she said as she had successfully woken up nas. "it's a big day, there's not a minute to spare." 

'i suddenly want to jump on the roof again because it sure is crowded today.' she thought as she looked at the maids that were dressing her.

"your highness, close your eyes!"

"please loosen up your shoulders!"

"we need to make sure you're perfect, your highness!"

'i thought the one who's going to have a debutante is athy, not me!' she thought as there were imaginary tears left her eyes.

chaos is happening in the sapphire palace and the same goes for the emerald palace. after many hours had passed the maids finally finished dressing up antanasia. "you're beautiful as always, your highness!" the maids said as they felt proud of what they did. 

"now let's get going, your highness! i'm sure sir robane is now waiting for you." amana said as she escorted nas. as they left the room they didn't see felix but instead, it was lucas.

"uh- hello there sir magician may i know what you are doing here?" amana asked the warlock.

"i'll be the one escorting the princess because the knight is in the emerald palace at the moment." he said as he took a glimpse of nas.

"i see… then please take care of princess antanasia." she said as she looked at nas then bowed. "enjoy your day, your highness."

"thank you amana." she smiled a little as amana finally left. "are you really the one who's going to escort me?" she asked the warlock.

"you could say that…" he said as the atmosphere turned awkward until lucas broke it. "you're beautiful today." he said as he blushed a little.

"are you saying i'm just beautiful today and then i'll turn ugly tomorrow?" 

he blushed in embarrassment. "i didn't say that! i'm complimenting you today, just accept it." he said as he looked away at her. nas giggled at the warlock. "i'm just kidding, thank you, lucas. i appreciate it." 

"i'm glad that you haven't changed at all." he mumbled then smiled a little. they arrived at the carriage to see claude and the others waiting for her. "sister! you're as beautiful as ever!" athy said. 

"why, thank you athy! you're also beautiful as always," nas said as she smiled at her.

"i'm sorry princess! i was supposed to be the one who's going to escort you but we had a few problems," felix said as he cried a little.

"it's fine felix because the warlock was the one who escorted me so it's alright." she said as she patted felix's back. "since my job here is done i must get going." the warlock said as he bowed to them then left immediately.

"we should get going," claude said as he extended his hand to nas. she looked at his hand then accepted it. "then what are we waiting for? we should get going."