CHAPTER 6

They burst into the kitchen following the sweet smell of goodness catching Grandma Millia plating the table with their breakfast. She beams when she sees them.

"The birthday girls have awakened! Aww! Look at you two, so cute in the new dresses! Give me a little twirl!"

Isabella giggles and twirled excitedly before skipping towards Millia and giving the older woman a bear hug. They both stop their antics before looking expectantly towards Serraphina who was looking back at them bemusedly.

"Must I?"

Her words were met with a deadpan stare from both formerly cheerful women.

"You know the rules." Her favourite (only) sister says.

"One?" Millia asked sternly.

"No Uchiha talk." Serra resigned.

"Two?" Bella chimes cheerfully.

"An hourly smile."

"And three?"

"At least 'try' to enjoy."

"Now twirl."

She twirled resignedly before going into Millia's arms. Bella joins their hugs enthusiastically making Serraphina smile more genuine.

"Happy birthday, girls!"

"Happy birthday to us!!!"

"A happy birthday, indeed"

Serraphina step out from the tree way hug. She knows if she didn't the two woman that ruled her life would squeeze in their hugs for hours. Plus, Isabella manages to introduce Grandma Millia to her principle that 'never be the first to let go' that she learnt from dad.

He'd be so proud if he knew that Bella managed to spread his mushy thingy.

Millia usher the twins to the table that's already set with three plates of fluffy french toast surrounded with different types of berries.

"Is that chocolate syrup?" Isabella eyes the sauce bowl eagerly.

"Yes, I use Serraphina's recipe from when we made the pancake before. And don't worry, we still have a good amount of chocolate left for two batch of cookies later."

"Thank you Grams!" Bella bounces to her chair while Serraphina gives Millia a stunning smile and proceeds to hers more reservedly.

Isabella didn't hold back from expressing her appreciation. Her moans and excited babble are tenfold today combined with Millia's happy and bubbly self. They shared birthdays 'before' and they share birthdays now, it's something that always makes them feel melancholy.

Up until three years ago when Grandma Millia found out that Luccia had never celebrated their birthday. They only knew that it was their birthday when Luccia became extra 'demonic' on that specific day and Serra braved herself to ask the witch on why she became extra on that specific day.

'Because that stupid whore give birth to you two just to die 6 month later and ruin my life! That b*tch die, and didn't take you with her! Stupid b*tch should have died a long time ago, it was a mistake to let her live that long. I should have listened to my mother and pushed her down the well. Bla, bla, bla…'

They used to be beaten black and blue, locked in their room with no food for two days with only water in a bucket. So they learnt to hide food in their room and prepare as much as they can to face the day.

A special day that was celebrated eagerly before. A day that was specially cherished by their parents when they found out that they share the same date.

A day that they value as one of the connections that they share.

And to think that they share it far more closer than 'before' but to be celebrated by being beaten black and blue and starved.

They are thankful for Millia.

...…

"We're off to Dianne, Grams!"

"Be back before lunch, dearies. I'll need help with the chicken, I still couldn't get the flour mixture recipe right for deep fried." Millia's mouth twisted. As grumpy as Serraphina goes, she's a genius in the kitchen.

"You sure you don't want to come with us, Grams? We know that you'd need your daily gossips dose." Isabella snickers at Serraphina's cheeky jab.

Millia rolled her eyes and ruffled Serra's scarf covered head.

"Yes, I'm sure. I need to bake the last batch of cookies after these one out. This oven needed to be supervised if we didn't want to have burnt cookies. The mana stone needed to be changed and Michael promised to bring some next week."

"...Mana stone." Both of them still couldn't wrap their heads of magic and 'mana'.

Matthew promised to teach them of 'magic' and 'mana' on his next break as Grandma Millia only has a basic knowledge on both subjects. He said that it was fair that he taught them both as Michael had already taught the twins of basic sword art. Although, if that's the case, they would need to come clean of their 'superpower'.

They couldn't wait.

"Eh, wait! Next week? Isn't it supposed to be next month?" Serra asked, confused.

"Matthew's schedule changed so he would be busy for a couple of months. Michael decided to just proceed with his normal days off instead of postponing to wait for Matthew."

"Yay!!" Isabella couldn't help but squealed.

"Now, don't forget the one for Francis'. That man gave us chicken for today. Why don't you two invite him for lunch? We would have more than enough to feed. Make sure to invite George too if he's there."

Serra couldn't help but make a face when she heard their name. Francis had always been kind to them but never made his way to talk to them. He'd just give whatever they need and keep his eyes on them from afar. Maybe that old man doesn't really have a crush on Luccia and genuinely likes them. ugh … the more she thinks of that old man, the severe headache she has.

"Do we really have to invite George though?" Isabella whines.

They were standing outside in front of the door, letting Millia fussing over their new matching cloaks. It was Bella's favourite gift so far. She's excited because it gave her a 'Little Red Riding Hood' vibes. Serra just hopes that Millia didn't swipe places with a wolf by the time they come back. But then, Francis could be a hero in that situation. She shakes her head, Bella's high level of excitement had messed up her brain.

"It's only polite to do so. But if you two don't want them to be here then, you don't have to do that. Francis has always given us chicken to cook for your birthday, that man shows that he cares by action rather than words."

Serra and Bella look at each other.

"We don't mind if it's old man Francis… even when we think that he's weird." Bella murmured the last part. "It's that… boy…" She couldn't help but sneer.

"George? Hmmm…. Well…" They watched curiously as a mischievous smile began to appear on the older woman's face.

.....

"So… where to first?" Bella swings their entwined hands.

They both held a basket each, it's filled with berry tarts and a couple of cookies and some flowers that they handpicked from Millia's backyard. The basket that Serra's holding is heavier as Deanne has 3 boys of 6, 12 and 14 of ages that's growing like a weed and would eat everything being put in front of them. And a husband who has a severe case of sweet tooth.

"Deanne."

Serra steadied her basket when Bella pulled her roughly towards Deanne's house. She looks curiously as an envoy passes through the main road. There's no crest on the horses carriage, even if the builds are modest and the colour was toned down, she could tell that it belongs to a noble that didn't want to attract any attention towards themselves.

The horse guards are buffed, even the woman seems to have a nice physique. They either wear cloaks that cover their face or use pieces of clothes covering their lower face. That's normal, she saw the mercenaries and the merchants wear similar clothing when they used to roam at the centre of the village. They were wearing modest travelling clothes… except the two people in the front. Their cloak seems to be well made and from better materials from others.

Those two were either the leader of the guards or they were the noble themselves. There were not many of them, some of them had swords tied on their waist. She squinted, that's a pretty sword. For someone who didn't want to attract any attention, they're surely dumb enough to carry such a luxurious swords.

Is that a staff? Oooohhh… people who could use magic here use staff? That's quite disappointing, she was hoping for wands, that would be so cool! Serra just lets her twin navigate her all the way while she stares at the envoy. She's used to it anyway. Eh? Why are they stopping by their Luccia house? She watched as one of the expensive cloaks jumped down the horse and went to open the carriage door. The other one went to Luccia's door and… seems to be waiting.

Oooh… That's a beautiful cloak. Velvet? Yeah, it looks like velvet. A woman? So the noble is a woman. The velvet cloaked woman steps out of the carriage with the help from the man before. What business do they have with Luccia? Huh. 2 guards guarding the front door. 2 slips away behind the house and the rest seems to wait. Nice formation.

One of the guards saw her and waved his finger at her cheerfully. The grumpy part of her brain automatically hates that cheerful person. No one should be allowed to be that cheerful.

"Hey, we're here!" Bella shouts and snapped her out of her staring.