I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 85

“It’s all right, Evan. You don’t have to get me a gift or anything. There’s nothing in particular that I want.”

“How can I not give you a gift on your birthday? You’re not just anyone; we’re even engaged. And once you become an adult, we’ll be busy preparing for marriage in earnest, so letting it pass without even celebrating is something I don’t like.”

Evan voiced his dissatisfaction seriously, but Lucia didn’t budge.

“No. It’s really fine. Just celebrating me becoming an adult is more than enough. There’s no need to go out of your way to give me a gift.”

“Even so….”

How could he just let her birthday pass without even a single gift?

Evan wore a sulky expression and looked at Lucia with eyes that clearly showed how displeased he was with her answer.

Lucia quietly watched him like that, then smiled softly and took his hand. She brushed her thumb lightly over the back of his hand.

With that one small touch, the dissatisfaction lodged in Evan’s chest melted away without a sound. The lips that had been sticking out slipped back in before he even realized it.

Lucia smiled with her eyes at Evan like that. Her large brown eyes curved gently.

“But it’s really fine. And Evan, you always celebrate my birthday every year. You even make the pasta I like. Just that already makes me very happy. I don’t need a gift, because your feelings have already reached me well.”

“…I still wanted to give you something special at least once, not just pasta.”

“You can do that anytime later, Evan. Once we’re married, there’ll be so many occasions to give each other special gifts. Our wedding anniversary, the day we have a child. We can give gifts then.”

At Lucia’s gentle, soothing words, Evan couldn’t continue grumbling about the gift. Because forcing a gift on her when she’d gone that far would be a terrible thing to do.

In the end, Evan declared a happy defeat.

“Ah, all right. I won’t get you a gift. But instead, once we’re married, I’ll hold a grand celebration every year on your birthday, so when that time comes, you absolutely can’t refuse.”

“Haha. All right. I’ll look forward to it.”

Lucia’s clear, refreshing laughter spread across the green fields. Her cheeks, softly raised along with her smile, looked lovely.

Evan held her hand even tighter. Lucia’s smile and that laughter were so beautiful that he resolved to protect this moment forever.

He vowed to make Lucia happy, so much so that all the worries and gloom she’d felt before marriage would seem foolish.

While Evan was inwardly making a vow to take responsibility for Lucia’s eternity, Lucia, who knew nothing of it, let go of his hand, stood up from her seat, dusted off her backside with a couple of pats, and said, “Shall we go now? You said class is over, and if we don’t hurry back to the village, everyone will worry.”

“Ah, right. Let’s go, Lucia.”

Evan stood up as well and returned to the village together with her.

【 Loss 】

Even though he’d told Lucia he wouldn’t buy a birthday gift, Evan couldn’t shake the feeling no matter how much he thought about it. So he took the money he’d saved and headed toward the shopping district that had recently been built near the village.

Near the village, they said, but it was a distance that took more than three hours on foot. Just going there and back would take well over half a day.

Thanks to that, Evan skipped class for the first time since attending the magic school. Of course, he didn’t forget to lie to his family and say he was going to school.

After making all the necessary preparations like that, Evan spent a full three hours walking and finally arrived at his destination, the shopping district.

Everywhere he looked, it was filled with novel goods and foods he’d never seen before, and the place bustled with people selling and people buying.

‘It’s incredibly lively. There seems to be a lot of things too. I hope there’s something suitable to buy as a gift.’

Evan busily looked around the shopping district while touching the leather wallet in his pocket that held the emergency money he’d carefully saved up.

Just as he was at a loss over what would make a good gift no matter how much he looked, a woman caught his eye. She stood in front of a stall, wearing a serious expression as she deliberated.

The woman furrowed her brows and very seriously examined hair ornaments. One had a silvery sheen, and the other was set with a blue gemstone. She held them up to her hair one by one, alternating between them.

The merchant held up a cracked, cloudy mirror for her and spared no praise each time she switched the ornament.

After agonizing dozens of times, the woman ultimately chose the one with the blue gemstone and left.

Evan silently watched the woman’s back as she disappeared, clutching the hair ornament to her chest, then, as if entranced, headed toward the stall she’d been deliberating over.

The merchant, who had been about to sit down, quickly stood up when he saw Evan approaching and greeted him with a friendly, ingratiating smile.

“Welcome. I have lots of good items. What are you looking for?”

“Ah… um, I want to buy a gift for my fiancée. What do you think would be good?”

“Hm. I see.”

The merchant swiftly swept his gaze up and down Evan, then promptly recommended several items.

“These days, hair ornaments like these sell very well. They sell so well that just earlier, a customer bought one with her own money.”

“Ah, I see….”

It felt awkward to say that he’d just watched a woman buy one, so Evan responded vaguely and nodded.

Perhaps bothered by Evan’s lukewarm reaction, the merchant immediately showed him another item.

“Ah, then how about something like this? These are popular these days too.”

As he said that, he showed a necklace adorned with a sparkling gemstone.

“Ah….”

The necklace he showed had a very simple design, with a small round gemstone hanging from a chain.

The various colored gemstones sparkled beautifully under the sunlight. Even though he was a man and a complete novice when it came to jewelry, it was enough to catch his eye at a glance.

‘Would this be all right?’

A necklace wouldn’t overlap with the ring they’d exchange when they married, and it didn’t seem particularly cumbersome, so it felt like something she could wear comfortably.

‘It seems like it’d suit Lucia too.’

Just imagining Lucia smiling happily at him while wearing the necklace made a smile spread across Evan’s lips.

‘She’ll definitely like it. She might grumble a little, but….’

Still, if Lucia was happy, that was enough. He was more than willing to endure a bit of nagging if it meant celebrating Lucia’s coming of age.

However, there was a problem before that.

“Aren’t things with gemstones like this expensive?”

Evan asked as he continued looking at the necklace. Even if he wasn’t interested in jewelry, he knew how outrageously expensive such things could be.

Even low-grade gemstones that were smaller than half his pinky nail, the kind true nobles wouldn’t even glance at, were enough to make his eyes pop when he heard the price.

He’d worked hard to save money while thinking of Lucia, but he didn’t have the means to pay a price like that.

Reading the worry on Evan’s face, the merchant laughed heartily and said, “It’s not as expensive as you think. It looks fancy, but it isn’t a real gemstone, so the price is much cheaper.”

“…It’s not a gemstone?”

“Haha. That’s right. Haven’t times advanced a lot these days? There’s a technique to add color and process stones that have no value at all to make imitation gemstones. This is made that way too.”

“I see.”

“How is it? Looks pretty convincing, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, definitely…. I thought it was a real gemstone.”

Evan truly admired the necklaces lined up neatly on the stall as he examined them.

The village he lived in was located on the outskirts of the empire, to the point that some people didn’t even know such a village existed.

Living half-isolated in a place like that, it was only natural to be surprised when he suddenly encountered goods or technology coming in from the outside world like this.

The merchant brought over various kinds of necklaces and set them in front of Evan, who was peering at the imitation gemstones with fascination, and said, “Haha. Everyone who sees them says that. I also deal in real gemstones that even minor nobles use, but even when you compare them side by side, there’s hardly any difference. They’re truly well-made items.”

“They really do seem well-made.”

Listening to the merchant’s explanation, Evan diligently chose Lucia’s gift.

He ruled out gemstones with colors that were too intense, thinking they wouldn’t suit her, and also ruled out ones that looked dull. After doing that, only one remained.

It was a necklace with a gemstone close to the color of the sky, a clear blue light rising from it. The color was like it held a rippling drop of water, and it resembled his eye color.

‘A necklace with a gemstone that resembles my eye color, for Lucia….’

To others, it would look no different from publicly declaring that Lucia belonged to him.

Just imagining it made his ears burn bright red. His chest felt hot and tight.

Not knowing whether it was good or embarrassing, Evan’s body grew warm with those mixed emotions.

Wanting to hide somewhere immediately, Evan asked the merchant for the price of the necklace he had chosen.

“Um, I’d like to go with this one. How much is it?”

“You have a good eye. That necklace is 500 gold.”

“500 gold?”

A look of dismay crossed Evan’s face.