Chapter 329: Birthday Gift

Vera couldn't help but smile when she heard that.

But she quickly put on a serious face and urged Ansu in return, "Brother, you should go back and sleep. You're so busy every day; you need rest more than I do!"

Ansu nodded, originally intending to head back to bed.

But being alone with Vera, he suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, Vera." His voice carried a hint of a smile. "I have something for you."

Vera blinked, not reacting for a moment. "Huh? A gift... for me?"

Ansu smiled without a word, inconspicuously putting his hands behind his back, a mysterious expression on his face.

This reaction instantly ignited Vera's curiosity.

She kept trying to peek behind him, standing on her tiptoes but failing to see what he was hiding. She asked impatiently, "What is it? What is it!"

Ansu looked at her large, blinking eyes, which seemed to sparkle in the night. He stopped teasing her and said seriously:

"I'm giving you a suitable sidearm. Isn't your birthday coming up soon? Things have been so busy lately, and I was afraid I wouldn't have time to celebrate with you when the day comes."

He had actually been researching the matter of giving Vera a gift for a long time.

Ansu noticed that Vera was very eager to grow stronger and had taken the path of a melee Paladin, so a well-fitted sidearm was perfect.

Danielle had probably been worried about her accidentally hurting someone or felt that this "young lady" didn't need to participate in combat, so she had only given her a wooden practice sword that was better than nothing.

Later, when she set out on the journey to the South with him, Vera had specially gone to ask the cult members for a real sword.

When the cult members saw "Miss Vera" asking, they naturally picked the best one to give... but they didn't understand her fighting style, so the weapon they chose was destined to be a poor fit.

Earlier today at the plaza, Ansu noticed that Vera was clutching a longsword. The blade and hilt together were almost longer than she was, and it looked completely uncoordinated when she swung it.

Thinking of this, Ansu stopped keeping her in suspense.

His palm turned over, and an exquisite shortsword appeared out of thin air.

"Here!"

Although it was a shortsword, it was actually defined by the proportions of the Elves. The blade was slender and long, with the soft curves characteristic of Elven craftsmanship, every inch of its lines exuding elegance.

"Wow!" Vera's eyes lit up the moment she saw the shortsword. She carefully took the sword and examined the patterns on the blade up close. "Such a beautiful sword! The patterns are so delicate... It's so pretty!"

"It really is beautiful." Ansu nodded with a smile. He looked at the Elven shortsword in Vera's hand; the blade was engraved with complex and exquisite patterns, shimmering with a cold, sharp glint under the faint moonlight.

This was one of the treasures "transferred" from the ancient demon ruins. It was likely loot pillaged by the demon army after they sacked the Elven Court during the Demon Calamity War a thousand years ago.

When he was picking it out in the treasure vault of the little black room, he and Celia had spent quite a bit of effort. Celia had been dragged along by him to help choose for a long time until she finally lost her patience and said, "Just give the little girl something small and pretty, and that'll be enough," which settled the matter.

Ansu briefly explained the origin of the shortsword, and Vera praised it even more after hearing it.

"So it was forged by the Elves. No wonder it's so elegant and beautiful!"

She held the sword up to the moonlight to examine it carefully. The more she looked, the more she liked it. Her eyes narrowed happily into two crescent moons.

"Do you like it?" Ansu asked with a smile.

Vera stared intently at Ansu's face and nodded vigorously. "Mhm, I love it!"

With that, she lunged into Ansu's arms.

"Thank you, Brother~"

Her birthday was in half a month. Because so many things had been happening lately and she didn't want to disturb her brother, she had never mentioned it.

It turned out her brother had remembered it all along~

The young girl suddenly threw herself into his arms, causing Ansu to sway slightly from the impact. He smiled and pinched her cheek.

"Alright, alright. Try it out first; you need to get used to your new weapon."

"Okay!" Vera released him, gripped the shortsword, and took two steps back, beginning to swing it in a small area on the roof.

The blade sliced through the night wind, letting out a faint hum.

The more she swung it, the brighter her eyes became—this shortsword was a match made in heaven for her size and her power habits, far more comfortable to use than that longsword.

Vera couldn't help but smile again. "I really like it, Brother!"

Ansu looked at her joyful appearance and smiled from the bottom of his heart.

"I'm glad you like it. My day of picking wasn't in vain." He nodded and asked again, "You'll be another year older in two weeks. Are you happy?"

"I am—!"

"When the time comes, I'll throw a happy birthday banquet for you and give you the best birthday ever."

Ansu looked at her and made a serious promise.

Although the current situation was very pressing and he was very busy, he really wanted to carve out a little time to leave Vera with a beautiful memory.

Vera flashed a soft smile. "Mhm, then it's a promise~"

She already couldn't help but look forward to two weeks from now.

That would surely be a very happy and warm day~

The night wind blew gently, and the cold glint of the shortsword flickered along with the light in the young girl's eyes in the darkness.

...

When Ansu returned to his room, Celia was leaning against the window, studying the complex runes in an ancient magic book.

She immediately captured the lingering smile in Ansu's eyes and asked, "The birthday gift is delivered? Did she like it?"

"Mhm, I gave it to her." Ansu closed the door, his tone still carrying an un-dissipated tenderness.

"Vera liked it very much. She started practicing with the Elven shortsword on the roof. I had to urge her for quite a while before she'd go back to sleep."

Celia blinked, watching Ansu's heartfelt joy.

Infected by that smile, the corners of her lips also turned up slightly. "It's good that she likes it."

Then, she added another sentence.

"After all, Vera is our sister."

Ansu was taken aback.

He looked at Celia's smiling face, feeling that her tone was placing a special emphasis on the word "sister."

"...Mhm, that's right," he replied, saying nothing more.

The two of them unknowingly began to chat about Vera—about the origin of that Elven shortsword, her recent growth, and her progress in combat.

As they talked, Celia's voice gradually slowed down.

She looked out the window, the glass reflecting a hint of complexity swirling in her eyes.

It wasn't because she was jealous of Vera.

Some indefinable ripples rose in the depths of her heart.

Vera, the girl who grew up with Ansu, the one who held the most weight in his past—to Celia, she also held a very special status.

These two siblings were like each other's destined other half, as if they had been tied together by the same invisible thread since birth, so tightly that an outsider couldn't even find a gap to squeeze in.

In truth, Celia could more or less see the subtle and distorted feelings Vera harbored for her brother.

Those gazes, those hesitations, those words swallowed back before they were finished... she had seen them all.

This had caused her to feel a strange sense of crisis toward Vera very early on, or even a faint hostility.

To be honest, if the identity of "sister" were stripped away, a girl like Vera would be the person who posed the greatest threat to her, far greater than Freya.

But now... Celia wasn't very afraid of her anymore.

She no longer held any hostility toward Vera; she simply treated Vera as Ansu's family, treating her well, and even sincerely feeling a sisterly affection for this cute young girl.

Of course, she knew the root of all this very well.

Vera was no threat.

Because Vera was incredibly cowardly; she was afraid of losing what she had.

A weakling would never summon the courage to face what was in their heart, and Vera was that weakling...

Celia looked at the thick night outside the window and quietly let these thoughts rest in her heart.

...