Chương 88: Chapter 40 : Birthdays

The conversation started on a Wednesday evening in the group chat, just after Aldric had returned home. He had set his keys down on the entryway table and was about to prepare dinner when a series of notifications made his phone vibrate. When he opened the group chat, he saw that Chloé had just sent several messages in a row. Chloé: All right, when are we doing something for Sarah's birthday? Julien: Already? Sarah: Thanks. Julien: I meant time goes by fast. Maxime: Nice save.

Emma: Very smooth 😂 Aldric had already seen several advertisements offering promotions related to this type of occasion and knew about birthday cakes, candles, and gifts. However, he had never really considered why a date corresponding to someone's birth required any particular celebration. Chloé: Next Saturday? Sarah: Works for me. Emma: Me too. Maxime: I'm free. Julien: I'm in. Chloé: Aldric? Aldric: I am available. But why does this date require a celebration? The group remained silent much longer than usual.

He checked his phone's connection, but it was working properly. Then a notification appeared. Julien:... Chloé: Wait. Emma: You've never celebrated a birthday? Aldric: Not in this manner. Sarah: Okay. Maxime: Now this is getting interesting. Julien: I knew his lore was still hiding things from us. Emma: We'll explain it to him on Saturday. On Saturday, they met at a café in the early afternoon.

This time, Sarah was the last to arrive, and Chloé greeted her by throwing her arms into the air as though Sarah had just accomplished something particularly impressive.

"Here comes the future old lady." Sarah set her bag down on a chair.

"I'm twenty-seven." Julien smiled.

"For now."

"Your birthday comes around every year too."

"Yes, but I try not to think about it." Maxime looked up from his cup.

"That is a surprisingly consistent strategy with the rest of your life." Emma burst out laughing. Chloé started discussing the cake, the drinks, and how many people she planned to invite.

"We'll do it at my place," Chloé suggested.

"I have more room."

"It's my birthday, and you're still the one making all the decisions."

"Exactly. You should thank me."

"We need a playlist," Julien said.

"Of course that's the first thing you think of…"

"Do you want to celebrate a birthday in complete silence?"

"There is a middle ground between silence and your playlists." Julien placed a hand over his chest.

"I refuse to accept this attack." Emma looked at Aldric and noticed his expression.

"Are you still thinking about that question?"

"Yes." Aldric looked at Sarah.

"Why does this date require a celebration?"

"You're really asking that completely seriously."

"Yes." Chloé leaned over the table.

"Because it's her birthday."

"I know."

"So we celebrate." Aldric frowned.

"That does not answer the question." Maxime smiled.

"He has a point." Chloé turned toward him.

"Don't encourage him."

"If I understand correctly, the event being celebrated is the day a person was born."

"Yes," Emma replied.

"That event took place several years ago." Sarah nodded.

"That is correct."

"So no new birth has occurred." Julien started laughing.

"When you put it like that…"

"Why repeat the celebration every year?"

"You never did that in your world?" Emma asked.

"No, never. We celebrated victories, marriages, coronations, and certain religious holidays. Noble families might hold celebrations for the birth of an heir, but the date was not commemorated every year." Julien raised an eyebrow. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"So no cake every year?"

"Not for that reason."

"That's terrible. Everyone deserves cake at least once a year," Chloé said. Maxime smiled.

"A very rigorous historical analysis."

"Thank you."

"So what did you celebrate when you wanted to have a party?"

"It depended on the people involved. Soldiers often celebrated the end of a campaign, a return home, or an important victory. Villages had their own festivals tied to harvests, local saints, or the changing seasons. In some cities, the granting of a new trade charter could also be celebrated."

"I still maintain that your world is far too detailed," Julien said.

"What about you personally?" Emma asked.

"You never had a birthday celebration?"

"When I was a child, my mother would sometimes arrange a special meal. But it was not considered an important occasion."

"Do you remember any of them?"

"One year, my father had returned two days early from an inspection of the borders. My mother had an apple cake prepared, and my brother tried to convince me that he had baked it himself." Emma smiled.

"Did you believe him?"

"No." Julien laughed. Aldric continued.

"He was ten years old and was not allowed into the kitchens by himself." Sarah smiled.

"But you remember it." Aldric nodded. Chloé rested her elbow on the table.

"There. So your birthday was important."

"The memory is important. The date itself was not particularly significant." Maxime looked at Aldric.

"That's interesting. Because here, we often mix the two together. The date is mostly an excuse. What we're really celebrating is the person, the memories, and the chance to spend time together."

"So the birth itself is not the main point…"

"Not necessarily," Sarah said. Chloé raised a hand.

"The cake, however, remains essential." Emma burst out laughing. The conversation continued. Since Aldric had almost no experience with birthdays, everyone began sharing their own memories. Chloé went first.

"My worst birthday was when I turned twenty-two." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"I already know which one."

"We'd planned a picnic." Julien cut in.

"Already a bad idea."

"In June."

"I take it back." Chloé continued.

"We'd been in the park for about twenty minutes when it started raining." Emma smiled.

"A little?" Sarah answered for her.

"Thunderstorm." Chloé raised a finger.

"A massive thunderstorm." She explained that about ten people had tried to protect the cake under a tablecloth while the wind knocked over their cups and half the group ran for the cars. Within minutes, the rain had soaked through their clothes, and the cake eventually ended up on the ground when one of their friends slipped on the wet grass.

"Why didn't you check the weather forecast?" Sarah burst out laughing.

"Thank you, Aldric. Eight years later, the investigation is finally complete." Chloé raised her hands.

"It was supposed to be sunny!" Maxime asked:"Did you actually check the forecast?"

"Not exactly." Julien smiled.

"Guilty."

"Yet you seem to enjoy the memory, even though almost everything went wrong," Aldric said.

"That's exactly what made it funny."

"This logic appears quite often in your stories…" Julien then told them about his eighteenth birthday. His parents had agreed to let him throw a party at their house, but he and his friends had decided that they were now old enough to prepare the entire meal without any help.

"We were going to make homemade pizzas."

"The way you phrased that alone suggests disaster."

"Not at all. We had everything planned."

"You were eighteen," Sarah replied.

"The problem was, we used fresh yeast and didn't understand the quantities…" Chloé burst out laughing.

"How much dough did you make?"

"Probably enough to feed forty people…" Aldric frowned.

"How many guests?"

"Twelve."

"Why didn't you adjust the quantities?"

"Because we realized too late." Maxime shook his head. Julien continued, describing how the kitchen had gradually disappeared beneath bowls of rising dough and how his father had eventually walked into the room, taken one look around, and left again without saying a word.

"He didn't help?" Aldric asked.

"No. He wanted us to learn." Aldric nodded.

"An effective teaching method."

"I knew you'd understand…" Maxime then told them about his twenty-fifth birthday. He had thought all his friends had forgotten the date. The entire day had passed as usual, but when he returned home, he discovered a surprise party organized by his sister.

"Were you happy?" Aldric asked.

"Yes. After spending thirty seconds thinking someone had broken into my apartment. All the lights were off, and I heard someone moving in the living room."

"A reasonable reaction." Julien rolled his eyes.

"Of course he agrees with that."

"The funny thing is, I normally don't like surprises."

"Yet you enjoyed this one," Aldric observed.

"Because the surprise itself wasn't really what mattered. What mattered was seeing that the others had thought of me." Chloé looked as though she was about to tell another story, but Sarah spoke before she could.

"I think that's really what it comes down to. Maybe a birthday is simply a way of saying that you're glad the person is here. They don't need to have won a war, gotten a promotion, finished some huge project, or accomplished anything extraordinary. For one day, the people around you are simply saying: we're glad you exist, and we're glad we still get to spend time with you." In Aldric's world, people were praised for their victories, their courage, their loyalty, their titles, and their accomplishments.

A commander received a reward because he had won a battle. A knight was honored because he had accomplished a remarkable deed. Statues always depicted people because of what they had done. The idea that someone could be celebrated simply for being there felt almost foreign to him.

"So the celebration does not reward anything…"

"Exactly."

"It does not recognize any achievement."

"No."

"It does not even necessarily mark a new milestone."

"Not always." Aldric thought about all the celebrations he had attended in his world. The long tables after a battle. The speeches given by nobles. Soldiers raising their glasses after weeks of campaigning. Ceremonies held in honor of those who had survived. He wondered how many times one person had simply told another that they were glad they were there. △ NEW KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED △ Social Customs Lv. 1 Understanding Modern Celebrations +10%"My understanding of modern celebrations has improved…"

Julien set down his glass.

"By how much?"

"Ten percent." Julien burst out laughing.

"So there's still ninety percent left?"

"Apparently." Chloé smiled.

"We have work to do." Emma shared a childhood memory about the time her father had tried to bake a cake himself and forgotten the sugar. Sarah mentioned one year when she had specifically asked everyone not to organize anything for her, only for Chloé to show up at eleven at night with a cake anyway. Chloé defended herself.

"It wasn't a party."

"There were candles…"

"Three."

"And a present."

"A small one."

"And Julien." Julien raised his hands.

"I was invited." Sarah looked at Aldric.

"You see the problem."

"Chloé does not always follow instructions." Everyone burst out laughing, and Chloé pointed at him.

"Now you're doing it too." Aldric smiled. A few minutes later, he returned to the main subject.

"When will the celebration take place?"

"Next Saturday."

"At what time?"

"Seven."

"Very well. I will attend."

"The way you say that almost makes it sound like you've just accepted a dangerous mission."

"It is an important event for you."

"I'm honored."

"You'll still need to prepare a little for the party," Emma said.

"Is there a particular dress code?"

"No."

"A ceremony?"

"No."

"Any mandatory behavior?"

"Not really."

"Then why do I need to prepare?" Emma took a sip before answering.

"Because you'll need to bring something."

"Food?" Chloé shook her head.

"Not necessarily."

"A drink?"

"You can, but that's not what she means," Maxime replied.

"Then what?"

"A gift…" Aldric now knew enough about gifts to understand the problem. His invitation to Emma's home had already taught him that choosing a present could require far more thought than he had expected. He had compared flowers, wine, and chocolates before making a decision. This time, he had known Sarah for far less time.

"For Sarah?"

"Yes, obviously."

"You absolutely don't have to," Sarah said.

"Emma just said it is customary."

"Yes, but it's not an obligation."

"The social rules of this world use that phrasing far too often." Julien burst out laughing.

"I admit it isn't always very clear," Emma said.

"What is an appropriate amount to spend?" Sarah sighed.

"Aldric…"

"Is there a recommended category?" Chloé smiled.

"Here we go."

"Should I choose something useful?" Emma looked at the others.

"I think we've lost him."

"I still know very little about Sarah. The risk of making an incorrect choice is therefore greater…" △ NEW SIDE QUEST △ Choose the Perfect Birthday Gift Select an appropriate gift for Sarah. △ DIFFICULTY △ A