Villain Path

Chapter 42. Birthday Party

So, in the end, only Al, Shen and Annis were present at Al's birthday party. He sat them on opposite sides of a small table, laden with sweets, and sat down in the center. Now he felt embarrassed that Annis would only play for the two of them. Yes, and guqin, it turns out, he had to take without asking. So he just whispered to Annis until Al saw her punishment being carried over.

"So," Shen began, rubbing his hands enthusiastically, "some people here don't know why we are here today."

As Shen and Annis's gazes locked on Ale, he fidgeted in surprise on his pillow.

"Teacher?"

Turning away, Shen removed the lid from the dish that stood modestly beside him, placed a huge candle in the center of the pie, lit it, and lifted the dish. Almost starting to sing "С днем рожденья тебя!", he nevertheless switched to "Happy birthday to you!" for the same motive. Al stared dumbfounded at the candle on the cake. With those same round eyes, he then stared at the teacher.

"Well, what are you looking at? Make a wish and blow out the candle!"

The guy continued to stare at him in the same surprise.

Well, yes, Shen expected that the song might not be appreciated, but so what? It's still not so strange as to be surprised to such an extent!

"Al! Make a wish! Then blow out the candle! Wax is already dripping from it onto the cake."

Some kind of stirring of thought in Al's head finally occurred, as evidenced by his changed expression on his face, and then he blew uncertainty and blew out the candle on the second try.

"Happy Birthday!" Shen exclaimed with relief.

"Happy birthday," Annis echoed.

The guy still in a slight shock, watching the teacher put the cake in the center of the table, decided to clarify:

"Are you talking about my birthday?"

Shen raised an eyebrow at him in surprise.

"Of course, about someone else. It could hardly have coincided that today is still someone's birthday from those who are now in this room."

"But..." the guy started embarrassedly and fell silent.

"Take the candy," Shen suggested. "And finish talking. What "but"?"

Al ate three candies, as if he was afraid that after he finished his thought, he would be chased away and not allowed to taste this magnificence.

"We still have a piece of meat there," said Shen. "We can bake it over an open fire, or we can sneak into the kitchen and fry it."

"Teacher... how do you know my birthday is today?"

Shen was about to dismiss the strange question, but then he thought about it. But really, how would he know about it?

"I think it was on the record about you. You're my personal apprentice now," he suggested, but Al harshly rejected the possibility.

"No. It couldn't be written there."

"How would you know?"

"Because I myself do not know the exact day. I'm just a commoner, no one wrote down the exact day of my birth. I only know that I was born in the fall, and that's it. Why does the teacher so confidently call this day?"

Shen was actually taken aback. After sitting in silence for a while, but never arriving at an adequate logical explanation, he simply suggested:

"Let's not get hung up on such trifles. Even if you didn't know your birthday before, now it will be today, right?"