Special Gift

"Thank you very much?" I say. "But you don't even know what your gift is." I add.

Ryza remains silent, looking at the floor and blushing.

"Anyway, here it is." Taking the gift from my pocket, I take it out and show it to Ryza.

A miniature of a girl petting a dog. The miniature is completely made of earth, and it is very simple, following very explicit geometric shapes.

When my father showed me that magic where he could make a pot, I studied it, and I managed to do the same magic.

However, I wanted to see how far this would go, so I started trying to make other shapes and finally arrived at this result.

It was very difficult to make the complete miniature, so I made each part separately, as if they were building blocks.

The hardest part was making the soil strong, so I used clay to mold it.

"That's... me and Foguinho!?" Ryza asks with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Exactly." I say, handing it to her. "Now you can thank me."

Ryza holds the miniature with both hands, appreciating it.

She then runs into the room. What will she do there?

I follow her, and, passing through the curtains, I see her placing my gift on the nightstand.

"Thank you very much, really..." She says.

I just give a calm smile.

Returning to the balcony, we resumed talking about trivial matters.

"How does it feel to turn eight?" I ask.

"I don't know. I think it's pretty... normal."

"You're ten years away from turning eighteen, have you thought about that?"

"Oh, it's true!"

"At your eighteenth party, let's go to a bar and get drunk!" I say.

"But aren't you two years younger than me?" She questions. "We'd better go when you turn eighteen."

I thought she wouldn't notice...

Looking up at the sky, the stars manage to remind me how small I am.

It doesn't matter if I came from another world before the universe, I am still smaller than a grain of sand.

Could it be that in this world they also have theories about extraterrestrial life?

I've never read anything like that.

If gods really exist, then I'm not that small.

In fact, if gods do exist, then this world and the people who live here are more important than any planet or star.

It's what I think. But there is no guarantee that the gods created life in another world.

If this is the case, there must be many more gods than the mythology of this world describes.

"It's about to start." Ryza says looking ahead.

"Hmm?" Ryza interrupts my train of thought.

Suddenly, fireworks appear from every part of the kingdom and light up the sky red.

People begin to gather under the balcony and begin to sing "Happy Birthday" to the princess.

"Happy birthday to you! You're the best in the world, You have a heart of gold And a smile that's bright and bold.

Happy birthday to you, You're a star in the sky, You have a gift of grace and a sparkle in your eyes.

Happy birthday to you, You're a dream come true, You have a lot of love And a lot of friends too.

Happy birthday to you, You're the one we adore, You have a spirit of joy, And a lot more in store."

This is the song people sing—the happy birthday song of this world.

Ryza waves to everyone with great happiness.

After singing, they clap, and the bakers carry a large table out of the castle with a huge cake.

They need 4 pastry chefs to load the table. They will serve the cake to everyone, but I don't know if there will be enough for everyone...

The cake has a whipped cream topping.

"What flavor is this cake?" I ask.

"Strawberry with condensed milk, I think." Just talking about it makes my mouth start to water.

"I'll go first!" I say as I run to get out of the room.

"Hey!" Ryza exclaims as I walk away.