Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 70

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 70
I puffed out my cheeks like a petulant child.
“W-well, it seemed like a secret, so I pretended not to notice.”
“Ha ha. You’re too perceptive—I couldn’t keep it hidden from you.”
Duchess Papiope gently pressed her lips to my forehead.
“Happy birthday, my daughter.”
“Th-thank you….”
My face flushed crimson like a teenage girl confessed to by her crush.
It wasn’t even my real birthday, yet I felt inexplicably embarrassed.
Noticing my flustered state, Duchess Papiope laughed playfully.
“There’s no need to be shy just yet. Everyone is waiting for you.”
She led me to the Banquet Hall of Duke Papiope’s Mansion.
Before entering the Banquet Hall, two massive doors blocked the entrance.
“Tania, now open the doors and step inside. Everyone is waiting for you.”
*Gulp.*
With nervous anticipation, I placed my hand on the grand door.
The moment I made a slight pushing motion, the servants standing by immediately pulled the doors open.
As I stepped through, the first thing I saw was a sea of household staff lined up on both sides of a crimson carpet running down the center.
Before I could even register the sheer number of people, they began counting in unison and showered me with congratulations.
“New Maid, we sincerely wish you a happy birthday!”
Colorful confetti burst forth in explosions from every direction.
I stood frozen in place, slowly taking in my surroundings.
Maids, servants, the Butler, knights—and not just them, but the kitchen staff, gardeners, stable hands, and more.
It seemed as though everyone employed by Duke Papiope’s Mansion had gathered here.
Soon, accompanied by orchestral music, the household staff began singing a birthday song in unison.
I had certainly anticipated a birthday celebration would be held.
Since I didn’t place much significance on birthdays, I had planned to smile politely and offer thanks when congratulated.
But now that everyone was celebrating me….
My heart trembled.
Why did the fact that so many people had gathered to celebrate my birthday feel so overwhelming?
In the future timeline, after Aiden died, my birthday became the anniversary of his death.
After he passed, no one celebrated my birthday.
Elysion, whom I later grew close to, once asked about my birthday, but I brushed it off vaguely.
I had believed it wasn’t a day worth celebrating.
But now Aiden stood alive and well before my eyes.
…Was I allowed to celebrate my birthday now?
As I blinked rapidly to hold back tears, my eyes met Lena’s.
She wore a mischievous expression and mouthed something silently.
‘You should cry here.’
Under normal circumstances, hearing that would have dried my tears instantly.
In fact, it seemed like Lena had been trying to comfort me from the start.
But as if that were the trigger, the tears I had been holding back came pouring out uncontrollably.
“Waaaahhhhh!”
My body no longer obeyed me.
“Miss, please don’t cry.”
“That’s right. This is a happy day.”
The servants, initially flustered and trying to soothe me, soon found themselves wiping away their own tears as I continued to sob without restraint.
They were good people.
Duchess Papiope held me close, and I mumbled against her chest like I was making excuses.
“Duchess Papiope. *Hiccup*, something’s wrong. The tears… they won’t stop.”
“It’s alright. My dear, it’s perfectly fine. No one will judge you, so cry as much as you need to.”
Following her words, I wept as if the world itself were leaving me.
In that moment, I truly felt like I had returned to being a seven-year-old child.
It felt as though even my past self was being comforted.
As if to say: you’ve suffered enough. Now you’re allowed to be happy.
How long did I cry like that?
When I finally calmed down, Duchess Papiope gently wiped my face with a handkerchief.
After crying so much, a wave of embarrassment washed over me.
So many servants were still gazing at me intently.
“…Sniff. All this effort to look beautiful, and now my face must be ruined.”
“Don’t worry. My daughter is the most beautiful in the world.”
I suddenly realized that the handkerchief Duchess Papiope was holding looked familiar.
It was Aiden’s handkerchief.
Wait…?
Why does Duchess Papiope have that?
“Come now, we shouldn’t linger. Let’s go make your wish.”
Before I could resolve my confusion, Duchess Papiope took my hand and led me down a path lined with a red carpet.
At the end of the red carpet stood a magnificent eight-tiered cake that soared toward the ceiling, commanding the space with its sheer grandeur.
I lifted my gaze to the eight candles burning high above.
“How am I supposed to blow those out…?”
As I stared up at them in bewilderment, Aiden, who had been steadfastly at my side, suddenly lifted me into the air.
“Oh!”
He settled me securely on his shoulders and gave me a look that asked if this was better.
“Hehe, thank you.”
Now that I had reached the height needed to blow out the candles, I focused on my target.
The candles, which had been lit before I entered the Banquet Hall, had melted considerably and shrunk while I was crying.
Duchess Papiope gave me a look urging me to extinguish them. I blew out the candles and made my wish.
‘Please let me never be separated from the people I cherish.’
A wish that had once been directed only toward Aiden had now expanded to encompass ‘the people I cherish.’
I hoped this would be my first and last regression in this lifetime.
As the candle commemorating my eighth birthday flickered out, a thunderous roar of cheers and applause erupted throughout the hall.
Descending from the Old Gentleman’s shoulders, I turned my body around and flashed the servants the brightest smile I could muster.
“Thank you all so much for celebrating with me!”
Their faces were brimming with pride. Everyone seemed to be genuinely celebrating my birthday.
Only after I extinguished the candles did the banquet truly commence.
As the festivities began in earnest, the servants indulged in finger foods like the invited nobility, and danced in the central hall.
Of course, there were no attendants serving, and the dances were not the elegant ballroom dances of the nobility, but rather the traditional folk dances of the Empire’s common people.
Yet they were enjoying the banquet with more enthusiasm than anyone else.
Looking at them now, I noticed the servants were dressed in their finest attire rather than their usual uniforms or work clothes.
As I gazed at them with satisfaction, the Duchess Papiope began to explain the reason beside me.
“At first, I considered sending invitations to every noble house in the Empire to hold a grand celebration banquet. I wanted to host the most lavish and extravagant affair possible.”
“Really? It’s just a birthday that comes every year. You were going to send invitations to every house for something like that?”
“Just a birthday? This is the first birthday celebration you’ve ever received in your eight years of life.”
“Ah….”
“But later, I found myself wishing that your birthday celebration would be surrounded only by those who truly wished to celebrate you from the heart.”
It was a sentiment uniquely characteristic of the Duchess Papiope—somewhat unconventional, yet deeply affectionate.
“So I decided to hold your birthday banquet with the members of the Papiope household. The festivities will continue through the evening, but feel free to retire whenever you grow tired.”
“Wouldn’t the servants have resented the extra work?”
“Don’t worry. I gave them a generous bonus.”
Ah, I see. Financial therapy, as it were.
Now I understood why the servants who had been working since dawn bore such radiant expressions.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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