Chapter 217: Gifts

She wasn’t annoyed by his paranoia.

In fact, her cynical adult soul found the concept of a bulletproof velvet dress incredibly practical.

’He is absolutely unhinged,’ Seraphina smiled, walking over and climbing into the armchair beside him. ’But he is my unhinged hedgehog. And honestly, considering the ghost-spy network I just uncovered, a mythril-lined dress is probably a solid investment.’

Later that afternoon, Kaelus was forced to leave the estate to attend a mandatory security briefing with the Vanguard commanders regarding the perimeter defenses of the Imperial Palace.

Seraphina decided it was time to execute a mission of her own.

Kaelus had spent the last two weeks spoiling her absolutely rotten.

He had bought her giant plush bunnies, entire bakery inventories, and was currently extorting the Capital’s tailors into forging her magical armor.

He was trying so incredibly hard to make her happy, pouring every ounce of his traumatized, overprotective heart into her wellbeing.

It was time to pay him back.

Seraphina trotted down the grand hallway, the pink ember-puppy trailing behind her.

She marched directly to the estate’s secondary vault, a heavily warded room where the Nacht family kept their mundane, non-magical valuables and everyday jewelry.

Standing guard outside the vault, as always, was Sebastian.

"Mr. Sebastian," Seraphina demanded, placing her tiny hands on her hips and looking up at the scarred veteran. "I need to go shopping in the shiny room."

Sebastian didn’t question her.

He simply nodded, pressed his thumb against the magical locking rune, and pulled the heavy iron door open. "Of course, My Lady. Shall I assist you in acquiring a specific asset?"

"I need a present for Papa Duke," Seraphina explained, walking into the vault.

The room was lined with velvet-covered shelves displaying centuries of accumulated aristocratic wealth: silver pocket watches, jeweled brooches, diamond-encrusted tie pins. "He always buys me everything. He needs a present to know he is doing a good job!"

Sebastian’s single blue eye softened with overwhelming respect. He walked beside her, acting as her personal shopper.

"His Grace rarely wears decorative jewelry, My Lady," Sebastian advised gently. "He prefers items of utility understated minimalism. Perhaps a new scabbard clasp? Or a belt buckle?"

Seraphina scanned the shelves.

Her eyes bypassed the gaudy diamonds and the flashy rubies.

Then, tucked away in a small, dusty velvet box on the bottom shelf, she saw them.

They were a pair of cufflinks.

They were not made of gold or encrusted with gems. They were carved from deep, lightless, matte obsidian.

The carving was incredibly intricate, depicting the howling wolf crest of the House of Nacht, but the eyes of the wolves were inlaid with a microscopic, flawless chip of pale, icy-blue sapphire.

They were dark, brooding, incredibly sharp, and elegant.

"Those," Seraphina pointed. "They look like a certain grumpy hedgehog."

Sebastian picked up the box, dusting it off.

A rare, genuine smile touched his scarred face. "An excellent choice, Lady Seraphina. These belonged to the previous Duke, His Grace’s father. They have not been worn in fifteen years. I believe he will find them... highly acceptable."

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When Kaelus returned to the estate that evening, looking exhausted and irritated by the Palace bureaucrats, he immediately went to his study to review the evening dispatches.

He sat down at his mahogany desk, unbuttoning the high collar of his midnight-blue coat with a heavy sigh.

Creak.

The study door opened.

Seraphina waddled into the room, holding her hands behind her back.

"Welcome back, Papa," Seraphina smiled, walking up to his desk.

The exhaustion vanished from Kaelus’s face, instantly replaced by that soft, devoted warmth. "Hello, little Mushroom. Did you terrorize the tailors in my absence?"

"No, but I got you something," Seraphina said.

She pulled her hands from behind her back and placed the small, faded velvet box directly onto the center of his classified military reports.

Kaelus blinked.

He looked at the box. Then he looked at her.

"For me?" Kaelus asked, his voice suddenly thick, sounding completely bewildered by the concept of receiving a gift.

"You bought me the bunny," Seraphina reasoned logically, shrugging her small shoulders. "And you brush my hair. Mr. Sebastian helped me find them in the shiny room. I think they match your eyes."

Kaelus slowly, with trembling, black-gloved fingers, reached out and opened the box.

He stared at the obsidian wolf cufflinks, and recognized them instantly.

They were his father’s. The memories of the Glacial Abyss, of a time before the winter had killed his heart, rushed back to him.

But this time, they were not accompanied by agonizing grief. They were accompanied by the bright, warm, incredibly healing light of the little girl standing in front of him.

She had picked them out for him.

Because she loved him.

The terrifying Reaper of the North, the man who had effortlessly crushed an Archdemon, felt his throat close completely. His violet eyes swam with sudden, hot, overwhelming tears.

He didn’t say a word. He couldn’t.

Kaelus immediately reached to his wrists.

He was wearing an expensive, dark-velvet coat with silver accents. The obsidian and sapphire cufflinks clashed horribly with the silver embroidery.

They did not match his outfit in the slightest.

But he didn’t care.

With frantic urgency, Kaelus ripped the expensive silver cufflinks from his sleeves, tossing them onto the desk like garbage.

He pulled the obsidian wolves from the velvet box and shoved them through the buttonholes of his cuffs.

He looked down at his wrists, the dark obsidian gleaming in the firelight.

He then reached out, hauled Seraphina over the desk, and buried his face in her dark hair, holding her so tightly he practically fused her to his chest.

"They are perfect," Kaelus choked out, a single tear escaping his eye to soak into the collar of her dress. "They are the most magnificent, and flawless garments in the history of the Empire. I will never take them off, Seraphina. If my arms are severed in battle, you must ensure the cufflinks are buried with me."