Chapter 11

1 year later,

"Happy Birthday!!"

We all had our birthdays on the same day.

We only had a small feast, inside the Duke's mansion. Unfortunately, the Duke Reed is not here today since he's on a small expedition. The King of Helwyn called him six months ago, and the Duke has been away for six months. I heard he'll be back next year because his excursion normally lasts a year.

Despite being absent, he sent us a letter and gave us money. He asked us before when he was still here,

"I won't be here on your birthday, so tell me ahead of time what you want for your birthday." Duke Reed said.

We assumed there was something urgent when Sir Arch came to get us as soon as our lesson with Professor Mergid concluded.

Without hesitation, all of us answered in unison.

"Money"

"Money? But I always gave you your weekly allowance, don't you want something else? For the future knights, don't you want swords? Then the ladies, don't you want any accessories for dresses?"

We shake our head, "We don't want anything else but money."

"Why?" The duke asked.

"We're saving up for our future." We answered in unison.

"As I previously stated, I will sponsor you."

"We understand, but we still want to save money." Kye stated. His face matured during the year, and his physique grew along with the other boys.

After a month of lessons with Professor Mergid, they have been training with Sir Arch. They will go look for Sir Arch and ask him to train them on the weekends and anytime the professor is absent. There are also days when they do not attend our lesson and instead train with Sir Arch all day.

"Is that really what you want?" The Duke asked.

We all nodded our heads and answered, "Yes, Duke."

Sir Arch was left here to guard the mansion while the Duke was away, thus he was the one who gave us the duke's present, which is worth 500,000 silver.

A Half a Million Silver is too much, I say. Our allowance is 100 000 silver, and that is already too much for us. We didn't expect 500 000 silver.

"Come on, children! blow out the candles!" Chef said as he pushed the cart of the 3-tiered cake with 6 candles.

"Wow, that's huge!" Mia's eyes sparkle as she looks at the cake. It's her first time seeing one, of course she will be amused by seeing such a cake.

"I know right?!" Ara exclaimed.

We all walked towards the candle and together we blew our own candles.

"Let's eat!" Caz exclaimed.

I chuckled with the others when he dashed towards the turkey in the center of the long table.

"Caz, manners." Kye said, firmly.

Caz pouted and sat back in his chair, eating the turkey quietly.

It would have been a lot more fun with Ravin.Though I think he'll be just like Kye, sitting and eating quietly.

Ravin is going to an academy since he will be the Duke's successor. He's level is different from ours, which is why he is studying at an academy, while we are only being tutored.

"Don't you like pasta?" Kye asked, he was sitting next to me.

"Huh? No. I like it."

"You haven't even touched it."

I touched the pasta with my fork and looked at him with a bright smile, "There, I touched it."

He flicked my forehead making me pout, "Eat. You need to gain weight."

"I am gaining weight. My clothes are getting tighter day by day." I looked at him from head to toe, "You're the one who's getting big. You were smaller than me before..."

"Really? But you're simply up my shoulder."

"That's all in your head." I rolled my eyes and began eating the pasta in front of me.

Ohhh! Yummy!

The day ended with us having to clean up the rest.

"It was fun..." Mia said smiling brightly as she washed the dishes, "Happy Birthday Avi."

"Happy Birthday Avi." Ara said as well.

Today was actually my real birthday, they merely intended to celebrate it on the same day as mine because they had forgotten the day they were born.

She was wiping the table, and I was drying the dishes next to Mia.

"Thank you. Also, happy birthday to you two."

"Ahh.. All I wish for is to pass the examination for me to be able to become a physician." Mia exhaled a sigh.

"Me too..."

"We'll all make it. I'm confident we will."

Professor Mergid was the best professor, and we always aced our classes with him. We learned things quickly with him, which is unusual for other lecturers.

The door opened as we were cleaning, and there came the boys.

Tomorrow is the weekend, so we can take a break from Professor Mergid's lecture.

"What did you discuss with Sir Arch?" I inquired.

After the party ended, they were called by Sir Arch.

"They informed us that Professor Mergid will be out for a week for personal reasons." Noah responded.

They sat on the chair close to us.

"That's it?" Mia asked.

"That can't be. Sir Arch might simply have informed us that at the party." Ara stated.

I remained mute while waiting for their responses. I was too preoccupied with drying the dishes.

"They also mentioned that we may take a week of vacation. We are also permitted by the Duke." Caz exclaimed, clearly looking forward to the vacation.

"Really?!" We all exclaimed.

Vacation... I wonder how that feels.

"Yes, Kye here is 19 and of legal age, therefore he may be our guardian for the vacation!" Caz exclaimed.

I noticed Kye sighed as I gazed at him. He appears to be responsible for five children.

"So where are we going then?" I asked. I'm fine with it everywhere though. I also want to visit every place in Helwyn since I have never gone out before.

"Avalon." they all said.

It's as though they planned it ahead of time.

I looked at them in shock, "Avalon?! That's too far!"

"But that's where we want to go." Noah said, looking at me all serious.

"We'd also like to go back to our hometown," Ara remarked..

I mean, there's nothing wrong with Avalon; it's just that it's too far away and will take three days to go there and back.

"Did the duke allow us to go to another country?" I asked.

"Yes." they answered in unison.

"Haa... Alright then. We'll go to Avalon." I replied, "So when are we going?"

"Tomorrow morning." Kye said.

"What?! That soon?!"

"Yes. We'll stay there for 3 days, and also, the travel time has been reduced for a day so it will only take 2 days for us to arrive at Avalon." Kye said.

Why hadn't I heard about that before?

"Wait... But we haven't packed our luggage yet!" I exclaimed.

I'm stressed!

"That's why you need to pack your luggage now." Caz said, giggling.

Mia immediately dried her hands and pulled mine and Ara's clothes.

"Wait! I'm not done yet!" I said.

"Go. We'll carry on from here." Noah said as he went to do the dishes.

"Thanks Noah!" Mia stated as she proceeded to pull us.

My... This is stressful.