[Music Recommendation: "A Sweet Smile" by Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact OST) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

[Please note: We're back to Senara's POV]

The next day, which was Sunday, I woke up early not because of my body clock, but because of Crystal barging into my room—without knocking.

"Senara! Wake up! I need your help, you beautiful you," Crystal tugged my body back and forth as I laid peacefully sleeping on the bed.

Awakened by her desperate plea for help, I got up despite my desire to sleep some more. Yesterday, it was Callan, and today, it was Crystal. I wondered who would come barging in my room tomorrow.

"What happened, Crystal?" I asked, rubbing my eyes, and yawning.

"It's Verrill's birthday today!" she said enthusiastically. "I prepared a gift for him and there's no problem with that but… I haven't made his card yet. He likes it self-made, not one you buy from stores and I suck at art or anything related! Hu-hu-hu! Help me, please. I want to make it beautiful this time."

"Oh, a birthday card."

"Yes. And sorry for waking you up so early. His celebration will start in the afternoon at their house, but I suck at making cards so I know it will take long to do it. I wanted to ask you yesterday but with all that tea with my stupid brother, I completely forgot about it. You can come, too, by the way."

"Pft! Ha-ha-ha-ha! We should hurry then. Do you have the materials?"

"Yes! I brought them," Crystal nodded cutely and showed her two large plastic bags lying down on the carpeted floor. "I just picked random things since I'm not good with coordinating and decorating papers which was weird because I'm good with fashion."

Thinking about it, "…Yes. That IS weird. You should have a knack for it."

"You'll see later what I mean."

"Alright," I chuckled. "Mind if I wash my face and brush my teeth first?"

"Oh! No, go ahead."

Still yawning, I got up from bed and headed to the bathroom.

"By the way, my skills in decorating are average. But Hora is really good with it. You may want to call her, too. She'd be happy to help."

"H-Hora? Ooohh, I see. That's great! I should go fetch her, too."

'Hm? Is it just me or Crystal tensed up a bit? Hmmm… maybe because she forgot to ask Hora? That's totally fine though. Hora wouldn't mind. Besides, she didn't know she is good with arts and crafts.'

While I washed my face and brushed my teeth, Crystal fetched Hora in her room. Anyway, Verrill was a really silent guy, wasn't he? A whole week passed and he never even mentioned anything about his birthday! We could have bought a gift for him. I should go out with Hora later if we finish early. Then, we could buy gifts before his celebration.

A few minutes later, Crystal arrived with Hora. We sat over the couch in my room and laid out the materials on the coffee table. Crystal bought a LOT of things. From different colored papers and markers, to ribbons, stickers, and many other stuff used for decorating.

"Cough… cough," Hora covered her mouth.

"Oh no! Are you alright, Hora?" Crystal got worried. "I'm so sorry for disturbing you so early in the morning."

"Ha-ha-ha! No, I'm fine. My throat was just dry. I'm not sick, don't worry."

"Are you sure?" I asked, doubting if that was true. Come to think of it, the weather here was a bit different than our country.

"Nah, I'm really fine. I guess it's not allowed to cough in this place, huh? Or else I'd be mistaken for a sick person."

"… Okay. If you say so."

And so, we started creating the card. As expected, Hora was really great at it. Crystal marvelled many times on how Hora managed to make those beautiful designs. They were even better than those you could find in stores! Well, that's Hora for you.

Hora taught us how to properly cut the papers and layout the designs accordingly. We mainly just copied how she did it. When I checked out Crystal's creation, I immediately understood what she meant by her sucking at making cards.

Few minutes turned into an hour. Finally, we were able to finish the birthday greeting cards. Crystal's card improved significantly, mine, just a bit, but Hora's was the most beautiful one. The card she made was simple, but very elegant looking with its red paper, colorful wax seal, and golden ribbon.

Hora was really nice. She even thought of choosing a paper with the same color as Verrill's hair—something we didn't think about. Compared to that, I chose sapphire blue, and as for Crystal, she chose a lilac purple one. Well, at least he would have a variety of birthday cards.

It was around 8 o'clock in the morning when we finished. We bathed and prepared afterwards and Crystal accompanied us to get gifts for Verrill. I asked her what gifts would be proper and she didn't have anything else to do so she offered to help us.

By the time we finished picking gifts, it was lunch time. We all decided to go to Verrill's house before the party to give him the gifts personally. Kaiden went with us. This time, their family driver took us to Verrill's house since we were all glamoured up for the party.

My dress this time was another one of mom's designs—a tea length midnight blue dress with sheer overlay that extended to my ankles. The overlay had flowers and vines embroideries. I paired it with black heels, but not too high or I'd end up tripping again.

Crystal wore an off-shoulder violet dress with flower decorations around the shoulders. The skirt was asymmetrical—short at the front and long at the back. It was very fluffy looking and had a small ribbon at the waist. She paired it with silver heels and accessories. Truthfully, anything she wears just clicks into a perfect outfit.

And lastly was Hora. She was supposed to wear a purple shade dress since it was the only dress she had available, but Crystal already wore that color so I lent her one of mine. I suppose we should go shopping one of these days.

I gave her the other sheer overlay dress I hadn't worn. It was nude pink in color and extended below the knees. The overlay was decorated with metallic vines, also in nude pink color but lighter. She paired it with white heels and silver accessories. All in all, it looked amazing on her—perfect with her light brown hair and sky blue eyes. If Crystal looked like a celebrity or a gorgeous model, Hora looked like those delicate, cute and captivating porcelain dolls.

And with that, we went on our way towards Verrill's house.