The Duke's Daughter's Third Life

Chapter 40

When the line grew shorter, Aeliana along with her brothers began to line up, waiting for their turn to give their gifts to their oldest brother.

Claud was the first one amongst the siblings and handed Leon his gift which was a pen which could redact so he wouldn't need a cap on it. The twins were next, handing him the gift they bought for him. It was a high-class watch, with small mana stones embedded around the rim of the watch.

Lastly, it was Aeliana's turn. Leon's stare was quite intense as she handed him her gift. He unwrapped the gift and his eyes slightly widened before returning to normal. He lifted it up and slowly rotated it around.

It was a music box. It didn't look cheap but it didn't look expensive either. It felt more cosy-like in his eyes. The music box was made out of dark oak wood and it had a small compartment at the bottom. He opened it, twisted the small crank and out came a soft melody that echoed through the ballroom.

Inside the music box cover, there was something etched on it and as Leon read it, his eyes softened. Aeliana smiled proudly at his reaction.

After she gave the gift, she walked back to where her brothers were at.

"I didn't think you would gift him a music box."

She grinned, her nose scrunching up, and replied back, "I'm just good at picking gifts."

Claud then pointed at himself and playfully asked, "Then what are you going to get for me for my birthday?"

Aeliana pretended to think before instantly saying, "I don't know."

He pouted and tried to coax her into getting him something for his birthday but she stuck her tongue out at him, not budging one bit. The twins watched their second older brother trying to win Aeliana's affection.

"I never thought Brother Claud would act like this towards Aeliana," Marius commented over to Darius who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, if we saw this months ago, we might have thought the world was going to end."

"Exactly."

The party continued on until late into the night but everyone who weren't adults were told to return for the night so the siblings returned back to their own rooms, getting ready to sleep for the night.

"Good night my lady," Flora softly spoke, gently placing the blankets over Aeliana.

"Good night Flora, see you tomorrow," Aeliana replied with a yawn.

Flora closed the door to her room and as she got herself comfortable in her blanket, she heard a knock on her door before a voice spoke.

"Aeliana. It's me, can I come in?"

Suppressing her sleepiness, she replied, "Oh, come in."

The door opened and Leon walked in, closing the door softly behind him. Aeliana sat up and looked up at him. She gestured towards the space on her bed and he slowly sat down.

The silence was long and unnecessarily awkward but before Aeliana could question why he was in her room in the first place, he spoke first.

"Thank you for the music box."

Albeit the way Leon spoke was slightly harsh and seemed as if he had a hard time spitting those words out, Aeliana could feel his sincerity when he spoke. She smiled and lightly rested her hand on his. He glanced at their hands before looking up at her.

"The message..was very nice,"

"I'm happy you like it."

"Yes..well you see I was..well..."