Lara wiped away the sweat on her forehead and sighed. It was already a hot afternoon, and the Victorian maid uniform she wore made it feel like it was a dessert.

“Thanks as always!” Said a man wearing white apron and a white hat, as he offered a hand to Lara, who held a big sack of ingredients in one hand and gave it to him.

After he received it with both hands, he stumbled a bit under its weight before plopping it down on the ground.

“Are you alright?” Asked Lara, offering her hand. The chef waved his hand.

“It’s alright, I can handle this. Still, that reinforcement spell is quite handy.” He pointed at Lara’s arms that had a soft blue glow.

In her forearm was a bluish glowing rune. A strength enhancing magic.

“Indeed it is. Though it’s only an intermediate level of strength reinforcement.”

“Intermediate is already good enough for a young woman of your age. I’m already thirty six years old and I can only do beginner level of strength reinforcement.” The chef shook his head.

Lara waived her hand, and the soft blue hue film of light that had been engulfing her arms vanished together with the blue rune. She’d dispel the reinforcement magic.

“If that is all that you need, then can you do it?” Lara confirmed, to which the Chef nodded with a smile.

“You always help around, it's the least I can do for you. But I must say, what’s this for?”

“It’s for the young prince.” Said Lara, “And the very reason why I have the time to help is because the young prince always cleans his room beforehand and I only have very little to do left.”

“Well, that makes sense. After all, he never had a maid before so he used to do it by himself. Only Lady Emilia sometimes did it while she was here.”

“Hmm? The Queen did?”

The chef nodded, “Indeed, she refused to have the servants do it as she wanted to do it for young prince Lazarus herself. She loved to spoil him after all.”

“Oh-.. did Lady Emilia not do it for Prince Clovis and Princess Anastasia?”

“Nope,” said the Chef with a shake of his head, “She only did it for Lazarus. But she did come in here one day to complain hehe.” he chuckled to which Lara asked with ‘what did she complain about?’

“Well, she complained that Lazarus had learned from her and began cleaning his room by himself.” Said the Chef, he placed a hand on his chin and looked towards the roof as he recalled the memory. “She liked that he always thanked her and by doing the chores himself, while it made her proud, she couldn’t help but complain a bit. But ultimately, Lady Emilia conceded to the young prince when he told her ‘It was so I could spend more time with you mom!’ Oh–boy!, that was a heck of a time. While we were cooking, Lady Emilia kept on going on and on about how good of a kid Lazarus was and how much she loved him.”

“Teheheh, ” Lara couldn’t help but chuckle. She’d thought the Queen was more dignified than that but turns out she was just a doting mother too. “I see, so Lazarus isn’t totally left alone after all. I’m glad…”

“You’ve really taken to the young Prince haven’t you? While I’m glad you seem to be fond of him, you should be careful nonetheless. Maybe keep a bit of distance from time to time.”

“Hmm?” Lara raised a brow, “And why would that be?”

“Well there are rumors so I don’t know if this is true. But, could you keep this between us?” The Chef looked around, then when Lara nodded to him, he got closer and whispered. “There are rumors that the young Prince is manaless.”

At first Lara just stood there, staring at the Chef. Then she shook her head and scoffed.

“That’s preposterous. There’s no such thing as being manaless.”

“Well it’s just a rumor.”

“Even if that were true, why would him being manaless affect anything?”

The Chef just shrugged, “Well, it’s just weird, that’s all.”

“I see.” said Lara, seeing as the conversation has already turned a bit sour she gave him a bow,

“Then I’ll be on my way. I hope that it’ll be ready by tonight?”

The Chef gave her a thumbs up and she left, satisfied.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ocean blue sky, the subtle heat of the afternoon and the cool breeze. It was relaxing.

Lazarus sat quietly in the palace garden’s trimmed grass. He stared at the clouds in an attempt to make out their shapes.

Perhaps there were some secrets to magic hidden in the clouds’ form. If he could discover the said secret, then in no time, he’d be blasting lightning from his palms without any incantations.

Chantless magic.

The image of him floating in the sky with whirlwinds in his feet to keep him in the air, and lightning in his hands looked terrifying but insanely cool. He imagined just jumping down from the air, then Anastasia and Clovis staring at him with envy. Then he’d ask them to play with him, and they’d be very happy to play with someone as cool as him.

Lazarus opened his eyes once more. If only he could see some patterns…

“That one cloud looks like a sword… And that-...” Lazarus closed his mouth. He felt a sort of melancholic feeling spreading in his chest.

“Ah. That’s right, mom and I used to make out the patterns in the clouds too.”

Lazarus couldn’t help but recall the scene of Emilia laying on the grass and him sitting on her lap.

It was a relaxing time and Lazarus had so much fun. If only Emilia were here.

“I miss you… Mom…”

Lazarus turned to his side and hunched. For some reason the pain he felt was eased a bit when he curled like this.

When will she return? How many months had it been?

“Young Prince? What are you doing here?”

Lazarus got up.

“Oh! Uhmm-.. Nothing!”

Lara studied him for a bit, making him feel a bit uneasy for some reason. He just didn’t want her to look at him right now. He hoped she’d leave. But to his dismay, Lara stood beside where he layed.

“If you’re not busy, could I ask you a few things?”

“Alright..,” Lazarus said, as he didn’t want to shoo her away so he simply sat upright and listened but avoided her gaze.

“I’ve heard that Princess Anastasia’s birthday happened a while ago. How did they celebrate it?”

Lazarus held his chin, furrowing his brows while trying to recall. Then he looked back to her and answered,

“I heard that there were some trolleys moving around so they must’ve prepared some big meal. And I could hear music so I think there was some dance?”

“You heard?” Lara had to repeat that part.

“Uh-huh.”

“You didn’t attend?”

“I wasn’t allowed to.”

Lara’s eyes widened. She stared dumbfoundedly at the young prince who was now meeting her gaze. There was a sense of calmness to Lazarus’ gaze. A calmness that shouldn’t be there for a child who was excluded in a celebration. Wouldn’t they normally cry and protest this?

For some reason, she didn’t want to know the answer to that. Instead, she asked.

“Have you ever attended your sibling's birthday party?”

Lazarus shook his head and looked at Lara as if she grew another head. As if he found the very thought of attending their party to be preposterous. Not because he didn’t want to or that he bore a grudge against, No. Instead it was as if it was an impossibility for him. A fact that was just agreed upon.

“I’m not allowed to.” Lazarus repeated. Then his expression shifted to one with shock, “Uhmm, Lara, why do you look like you're about to cry?”

“Eh?” Lara touched her face. It was dry. Then she touched the corner of eyes. “Ah-..”

She felt a warm liquid. She looked away, then tried to casually brush her eyes with a cloth.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

Of course she wasn’t but she couldn’t say that. There was a tightness in her chest, and it threatened to spill out. How could such a young child be used to being excluded? And even go as far as to think that the idea of him attending said party as something ridiculous? Perhaps he didn’t think this way, but it seemed to be so, at least to Lara.

Perhaps in an attempt to console herself, she asked, hoping that she’d receive a positive answer.

“Young prince, what did they do for your birthday?”

“Hmm… Nothing?”

Lara had avoided the prince’ gaze, but she couldn’t help but look back at him. Hoping he wasn’t serious. But the unperturbed look he gave her told her otherwise.

The sorrow that Lara felt turned to rage.

“What about the queen? Did she do nothing too?”

“Mom usually is out on her long-month trip for her duties.”

So it wasn’t as if Emilia didn’t want to. A doting mother would, but she was somewhere else.

That’s right, Lara had heard that for half of the year, Queen Emilia Valheart would leave to someplace and then return for the other half. And it was something she did for several years now.

“I see…” said Lara, heaving a sigh. “Please excuse me young prince.”

She then turned and left, leaving Lazarus perplexed at her strange demeanor. But then she stopped, looked back and said, “Oh-.. I forgot to mention but I will be visiting your room tonight.” to which Lazarus nodded before she left.

Strange. It was very strange to Lazarus.

Lara usually cleaned his room after he did so and it wasn’t something she needed to tell him. She’d been doing that for months.

In any case, now that she is gone, he could relax himself and continue staring at the clouds.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night, Lazarus was back in his room looking over another magic book. When he heard a knock.

“Come in!”

The door clicked open and Lara came in.

However, Lazarus was taken aback. Lara didn’t come in with the usual cleaning materials that she’d have, instead she brought a wooden trolley with an assortment of sweets and things Lazarus liked. But what caught his curiosity was the round steel food cover that was at the center of all the dishes.

Lara didn’t say a word, and instead opened the lid and presented a brown rounded oat, sprinkled with sugar. A cake.

When Lazarus turned his gaze on her, she smiled.

“Happy birthday young prince!”

For some reason he couldn’t grasp what was happening.

Was someone celebrating his birthday? Was this even allowed?

“My birthday?”

“Indeed. And I hope I could celebrate it with you, should you allow me to.” Said Lara, still beaming Lazarus a warm smile.

Lazarus was just numb from his whole body.

He had wondered why only his birthday wasn’t celebrated. He had cried in the past and asked for it. But one scream from the King was all it took so he’d never ask again. Sometimes he was locked in his room so he couldn’t sneak out when Anastasia’s or Clovis’ party was held.

Was it really alright for him to have his birthday celebrated?

He looked at Lara. But the warm smile she gave him, filled the hole in his pained heart.

Something welled up in his throat. It felt like a lump was stuck there.

This was all he wanted. To have someone celebrate it with him.

“T-Thank you.”

Lara approached him, held him in her chest and stroked his head.

“It’s alright young prince. It’s alright to celebrate your birthday. And it’s alright to be happy.”

At her warm and gentle words, Lazarus’ simply clenched his teeth to prevent his heart from bursting.

“Thank you…” He whispered.

There wasn’t any candle blowing, as it wasn’t the norm in Valeria. Instead Lara played a few games with Lazarus, told him a story that she’d read before, and of course, granted the one wish he really wanted.

“Sorium, alkantos!” Recited Lara as her fingertip glowed a bright white light. It was a simple torch spell but Lazarus; eyes widened in amazement, clearly impressed by a simple spell.

“Woaahh! Teach me how to do that!” Lazarus said in excitement, but Lara shook her head, still giving him a gentle smile.

“I’m afraid that’s forbidden, even what I’m doing now is forbidden. Still, I hope you’re happy with this.”

Lazarus was a bit disappointed but still happy he got to see a real magic incantation. In that moment, the happiness Lazarus felt, to truly feel that someone was by his side, was something he decided to treasure in his heart.

The two continued to celebrate for a bit, and before long Lazarus ended up being too tired and had fallen asleep.