9 Growing Up

'Somehow, I have turned five years old.' Estelle intensely looked at the mirror which displayed her reflection.

The silver locks she inherited from her father had already grown up to her waist. Her hair was quite wavy, presumably because of her mother's genetics.

Her facial features was developing smoothly, and her pearly white teeth were neatly aligned inside her mouth. She was able to enjoy the taste of various delicacies the chef provided and did not have to suffer under the bland taste of baby food no more.

[Bless good genetics.] Estelle silently thanked in her heart. She had heard of severe cases in which someone would continue to have crooked teeth even after entering adulthood.

Living for five years, Estelle had successfully made adjustments in regards to her emotions. The first few years were quite rough, as she did not know how to deal with it, but as of now, she would probably qualify as a cheerful young lady.

She stared at the night sky blankly, her mind void of thoughts. It was only after a maid's voice interrupted her focus did her sight leave the skies.

"Young miss! Please don't run away!!" A young woman dressed in a maid's outfit ran up to her.

"I'm not running away, Lylia..." Estelle was holding a magic book written in the Spirits' language.

"Miss, your birthday party is about to start! Why are you still reading books??" Lylia carefully brushed Estelle's hair and braided it.

[Right. Heine and Minerva told me about their plans.]

"Come, let's go," Estelle got off the chair after she confirmed that the styling was finished.

"Father, mother," Estelle respectfully greeted with a smile.

"My lovely star~ Come here, mother wants to hug you!" Sheila had gotten much more cheerful than when Estelle first met her..

Although the incident impacted her quite a bit, she recovered within weeks.

Sheila was a loving and caring person.

Carefree would be the best way to describe her. Not once did she scold Estelle for her deeds.

Although Estelle was not unruly, she would skip her compulsory classes from time to time because she had already learned the material.

Alan used to rebuke her for this, but seeing how Estelle was actually ahead of her peers, not behind, he gradually relented and decreased the amount of classes.

Estelle ran up to her embrace, hugging her tightly.

"Estelle, you have two special guests that will be coming to your party!" Sheila cupped her face and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Correction. Two special guests who were shameless enough to invite themselves." Alan interjected from the side.

"Who are they?" Estelle pretended to not know anything.

"You'll see~" Sheila wanted it to be a big surprise for her.

[Sorry to disappoint, but I already know who it is.] Estelle grinned at her mother, enjoying the feeling of the blonde woman's fingers running through her silver locks.

"May you grow up into a splendid lady," Heine handed Estelle a brown colored teddy bear.

"Are you saying that I'm not a splendid lady right now?" Estelle pretended to be mad.

"Perhaps?" Heine joked, earning a light kick from Estelle.

"Where's Minerva?" Estelle looked around for the crimson-haired beauty, not seeing her anywhere.

"Minerva's helping Yulia out. She probably won't make it. She told me that she'd do her best to come, but I doubt they'll be able to finish it within time,"

"Yulia? Her sister, Witch Yulia Eire?"

"Yeah. We wanted to bring her over, but she's always secluded in her home," Heine said.

"Hmmm.. By the way, I don't think my father is going to like me being you guys' apprentice," Estelle whispered, careful as to not reveal the big request to the surroundings.

"He is going to like it no matter what. Don't forget, both of us are still prominent figures, and I'm a King. Do you think a Duke could blatantly reject our offer?" Heine's lips creased up into an arch.

"Tyrant,"

"Only when it concerns our little lady, right?" Heine chuckled.

Estelle wordlessly got up. Heine followed right behind her, occasionally pestering her with words, but also careful as to not anger her.

The Clareste Dukedom did not hold a huge celebration for its young miss' fifth birthday. Instead, they settled for a gorgeous moon viewing event, in which the one and only miss would sit right in the middle of the stage and entertain the guests.

After maneuvering through the Duchy for some minutes, the two finally reached the gardens where the event took place.

The night was illuminated by a gentle moon and the stars. Right by the stage was a pond with lotuses floating on top. The moon's reflection in the water was as dazzling as ever, creating a serene feel to the celebration.

Knights and maids were all invited. In fact, there was not a single person attending who didn't belong to the Clareste Dukedom. The only exception was Heine, who invited himself to the party.

"Everyone.." Once Estelle opened her speech, not a single sound was made.

Every single attendee was looking at her fondly. Some of them were newly employed, but most of them were people who had attended to Estelle ever since she was born.

Whether it was Lylia, her personal maid, or Derrick, her escort knight, the audience were involved in Estelle's first years in one way or another.

"My name is Estelle Clareste, the daughter of my beloved parents, Duke and Duchess Clareste," Estelle started in a formal manner.

"Actually, it was Miss Leah who prepared a formal speech for me, but if you didn't already know who I am, won't I be troubled?" Estelle grinned, breaking her formal way of speech down to the ground.

Miss Leah, her teacher for both noble conduct and social skills could be seen cupping her forehead in distress.

Everyone broke into laughter as the atmosphere turned into joy.

"I turned five today. Five years old. I wonder if father will finally let me go to the cities? The passing merchants told me that their children were already capable of maneuvering through the city by themselves when they were four years old! My freedom, is it really lower than a merchant's child?" Estelle looked over to her parents and saw Alan sighing.

The statement was met with cheers from the knights, who collectively made a sound of agreement. Their argument had always been based on the fact that they were capable of protecting her, but Alan never gave in to the request, even after Estelle begged with teary eyes.

"Lylia, my dearest maid, when will you stop berating me? Even though I'm like this, I'm still your master!"

"Derrick, stop bullying me because I'm short! You're not that tall, once I grow up, I'll only need to wear 10cm heels to surpass you!"

"Sarah, I want you to stop making dolls for me! I already have too much! In addition, a certain Spirit King gave me another plush just now! My collection is growing, but I don't think I'm glad!" Estelle raised the brown teddy bear to the sky, showing everyone how fed up she was with plushies.

Everyone looked over to the Spirit King Heine with caution, afraid of him being offended by the miss' words.

Heine shrugged, showing that he did not mind.

Right after, the crowds' cheers came back louder than ever.

"Mother, please stop feeding me sweets! If it wasn't for the genes, my teeth would've been blacker than charcoal!" Estelle pulled out a biscuit packet her mother had given her just this afternoon.

Sheila covered her mouth in shyness as she used the other free arm to put up a thumbs up sign, conveying that she will try her best.

"Lord Alan's teeth were crooked too! It was only after he turned ten that all of them suddenly turned neat!" A knight from the older generation spoke up.

"Yeah, there was even rumors of him using concealment magic on his teeth because he was insecure!" This time, it was an old butler who used to take care of Alan in the past.

"Lady, you should check your teeth thoroughly!" Another knight added.

"Hey!" Alan scolded.

"You guys aren't safe as well! The amount of sweets you all give me can feed an entire family for days when compiled! Especially Reynald, stop using me as a food tester!"

"Miss is the sole reason I cook new things, the lord and madame only gives me empty praises I've heard a thousand times before! Miss' description of the dishes I make are so detailed, I couldn't possibly abandon such a good food critic! Miss, this humble servant is almost convinced that you were born to taste food!" Reynald praised Estelle with great honesty. The praises didn't make her happy in the slightest, though.

"I'm the master, damn it! You guys are supposed to obey me when I tell you to stop, not retort back!" Estelle kicked a small rock that was lying in front of her in frustration.

"I don't mind working for free if young miss would continue to taste test for me! In fact, I'll pay for it!" Reynald did not back down. His pride as a devoted chef did not allow him to. He had found the perfect critic that every chef desired.

Estelle's way of words in reviewing culinary was just too good to be wasted!

"Actually, me too! Miss, serving you is one thing, but making you plushies and clothes is a completely separate thing! I can pay for you to accept my works!" Sarah exclaimed.

Estelle completely forgot about her servants' absurdly high pay. All of the servants were required to pass certain qualifications in order to enter. It is said that the Clareste Dukedom's employee test was far harder than the royal castle's

They must've gathered enough money to live the rest of their lives while keeping their financial status stable.

The supposed speech slowly melted into a confession scene.