33. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

Zachery looked at his daughter and said in a wistful manner. "18th July, huh? I think I am forgetting something?" Zachery said as he employed every acting skill in his arsenal.

Edda stopped everything as her head sprang up to her dad. Her face formed a blooming smile as she stared at her dad with her innocent eyes. She couldn't control her excitement as she yelled "It's my birthday!!!"

She giggled as she looked at her father looking at her with a smile. "That's right! Get ready! We are going out baby!!' Zachery said with a big smile as he stood up from his seat.

"Seriously!!!!" Edda opened her eyes wide as she doubted for a second. "Yep! so get ready! We are going to have a lot of fun outside." Zachery said as he moved to his closet. He took a nice dress for Edda and gave it to Edda.

The dress was simple and basic. A pair of black pants and a white loose T-shirt for 8-year-olds.

He gave this to Edda and sent her to his bedroom to change.

"Where are you going, dad?" Edda asked her father as she tilted her head.

"To have a glow-up!" Zachery said with a smirk.

"To have a what?" Edda asked inquisitively as she tilted her head again to the other side.

"N-Nothing, just going to have a bath!' Zachery answered dodging the question as he was flustered. This was a word that had meaning in a world similar to but vastly different from Zachery's world. He knew this term because of his girlfriend from a planet called Earth.

Her name was Helena. She was a very kind human being, just like Zachery, but not so naive as much as him. She died 10 years after they got into a relationship.

The cause of death: Murdered by a really strong Hunter.

Zachery smiled to himself remembering her as he entered his bathroom. He would not let that fate come to her. He would do anything to prevent that event from happening. That was a promise to himself.

Don't worry, Zachery was not being a SIMP here. She was the one person who taught Zachery a lot in life. What love was, what was it meant to live, the depression of having lost his daughter had hit him hard. But she was the one who pulled him out of it.

Even though Zachery never tried to pursue strength, he appreciated living, and that was because of Helena. The only woman who truly loved him in his previous life.

He removed his clothes as he looked at himself in the mirror. He touched his beard and hair as he thought to himself. 'I always had one haircut, a ponytail, and a clean shave, but it's time to change, I guess.'

Zachery had started his glow-up.

10 minutes later

"Dad!" Edda knocked on the bathroom door twice, letting her dad know that she was ready to go out.

"Just one minute," Zachery said as he wore his only pair of clothes. White shirt and black jeans. Edda had multiple clothes because her mother had given her a couple of clothes when she always went on the 'trip' with her foster father.

He wanted to wear matching clothes with his daughter because... There was no particular reason actually. He just thought he would be a cool dad if he did that. (Boomer Alert!)

He dressed up as he trimmed his beard and went for a fade cut connecting with his beard. In short, he was stunning to the eyes. He looked in his mirror as he rubbed his beard with contentment.

He nodded his head as he looked down...

When he saw his little general... His face contorted.

It was a short general. This was one of the reasons his girlfriend(Edda's mom) left him. In simple words.

NTR.

His entire life was just absolute shit, and one of the reasons was his little general was a little bit too little.

[Don't worry master, you know when you increase your vitality, it will grow!] Alexa said with a soft voice trying to cheer up her master.

But this only had the opposite effect on Zachery as he was filled with shame. Zachery's personality was ingrained with positivity. But that had all gone down the drain because of certain encounters and memories he had in the past.

He looked at the mirror again as he took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and calmed his raging heart and emotions. He opened his eyes as he looked at himself.

'I really want to kill everyone who had betrayed me. But... Nah,' Zachery shrugged his shoulders as he combed his hair.

'But if they come biting at me... I'll rip them in and out' Zachery's air around him suddenly turned heavy as his eyes turned cold. But suddenly it reverted back to normal.

Zachery cracked his neck as he opened the door of the bathroom. "I'm ready," Zachery said as he looked at his daughter with a smile.

"Yay!" Edda smiled with glee as she rushed to wear her shoe. Zachery and Edda wore their shoe, Edda had small grey and black shoes, and Zachery had black shoes with a white border which had some wear and tear.

"Edda, is there something that you want for your birthday?" Zachery said as he lifted his legs to fully wear his shoe.

Edda paused for a moment, knitting her eyebrows intently as she took Zachery's question like a one-time one-million-dollar quiz.

"Ca-Capachino" Edda tried really hard to spell the word 'Cappuccino' but utterly failed.

Zachery's corner lips curved upwards as he listened to his daughter trying to spell cappuccino. "Cappuccino, huh" Zachery smirked as he watched her daughter turn beet red.

"I-It was a mistake!" Edda said as she pouted seeing her dad smirking at her.

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