"You look perfect," he whispered into my ear.
"Well you look a mess," I responded plainly, but he could sense the waver and doubt as I released a small whine.
"That so..." he cooed huskily into the crook of my neck, feeling my pulse with his softene...
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༻𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐨𝐯༺
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲...
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Gloria~ Happy birthday to you!"
"And many more~" Enrian added, overdramatizing the vibrato.
Lessi immediately slapped him in the head, "You ruined the whole thing with your disgusting voice!"
"I know you ain't talking whopper head! Loud as hell, sounding like a damn goose."
"Both of you stop this instant," their mother, Auria, demanded.
They stopped bickering immediately.
I laughed and looked at the large cake in front of me. Seven layers. They really went all out this time.
I blew out the flames on the candlesticks without thinking to make a wish.
It was another year of celebrating my birth without my father. It had been ten years now without him since the age of seven. I still felt unsure of how to take any of his death.
Everyone showed up for me except for the man I wanted to see most.
"You alright?" Uvin asked from beside me.
He had grown so tall, and his curls were now dyed black to hide the natural frosted tips of his ends. All Lavanians like him usually had unique hair, and it was the code of a knight, supposedly, to never stand out.
I only nodded as an answer.
He and I both knew the feeling of forbidden love.
While I wished to be with the captain of the knights, he wished to be with the prince, which was highly punishable by death. Same sex marriages were never allowed.
That wasn't the only mutual feeling we shared. What made things worse for us, was that the people we loved didn't love us in the same way.
Enrian, to my knowledge, wasn't gay, and Oridan only thought of me as a daughter and nothing more.
Even though I nodded, Uvin knew me better.
"He'll show," he whispered, "trust me."
"I don't care anymore," I mumbled, "Screw him."
He was shocked and his accent thickened more than usual, "Just like that?"
"Yeah..." I responded hesitantly and looked at all of my unopened gifts.
The only reason I had birthdays like these now was because of Oridan, otherwise I'd be breaking my hands trying to sew another dress for the princess on this very day.
Why would he have people do this, but not show up himself? Was it just an alibi?
● ● ●
I left the party early, and walked to my father's grave to sink to my knees.
