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Lizel, Gil, and Eleven planned to go to a labyrinth today, so Gil entered Lizel’s room in the morning to wake him up. Eleven showed up a little later, bouncing and cheerful as he opened the door without knocking.
“Leader, mornin’! Ready to go?”
“Yes, I think so. Shall we have a quick breakfast?”
“Yeah!”
Just as they were about to leave the room, Lizel stopped suddenly. He lifted a hand to his ear with a smile.
“Ah, please wait a moment. His Majesty is calling.”
Eleven grabbed the chair by the desk and Gil pushed Lizel into it. The surge of magic had not made him collapse since the first time, but he still became a little dizzy.
A crack appeared in the air. Just as before, a hand reached through, searching. Lizel reached out and brushed his fingers against it, and His Majesty’s hand grabbed him for a moment. Then His Majesty’s hand pulled back and a box appeared in the crack.
“Again?” Gil asked.
“It’s not a national treasure this time,” Lizel said. His smile said that he knew what it was, though.
The crack was a little wider than the box, so it came through easily. Gil caught it. His Majesty’s face appeared next. “Liz.”
“Your Majesty,” Lizel greeted him.
“So, is the date the same over there?”
“Yes, it is. You didn’t need to call me for this.” Even if he said so, Lizel looked incredibly happy to see His Majesty, as always.
Eleven and Gil looked at Lizel, wondering what today was. His Majesty gave them the answer quickly.
“Happy birthday, Liz.”
“Those are gifts,” another voice said, and Lizel’s father appeared next to His Majesty. “Just a few little things, so we don’t burden you. We had to limit who could send things.”
His Majesty glared from the side. “Weren’t you the one who wanted to send a full bookshelf?”
“No, that was his mother. You will have to accept her gift when you come back,” Lizel’s father told him.
Gil and Eleven tried to imagine Lizel’s mother. What sort of woman gave birth to this man? It was impossible to imagine. Seeing the father and son together, it was obvious they were related and the personalities, too, made complete sense. But that gift, a bookshelf full of books, surely showed that she understood and loved her son.
Lizel’s eyes lit up at the mention of books, but then his eyebrows quickly dropped. With a bittersweet smile, he said. “Please give her my thanks anyway.”
“I included a few of the books in that box,” Lizel’s father assured him.
“Thank you, Father.”
“Liz. You're doing well?” His Majesty asked. He looked Lizel over with a keen eye.
“I am doing very well, Your Majesty. How are things over there?”
The king waved his hand dismissively. “Fine. There are no problems other than working on getting you back.”
As if on cue, a crack sounded from the other side of the crack between worlds. His Majesty clicked his tongue.
“We probably won’t be able to call for a while,” Lizel’s father said. Then he turned his attention to Gil and Eleven. “Once again, thank you for taking care of my son. Please continue to do so.”
“Y-yes.”
Gil just nodded.
The crack continued to shrink. “Liz. Don’t grow any older away from my side.”
“Then please come and get me soon, Your Majesty.”
Even though he was the one looking impatient, His Majesty said, “Just have fun and wait for me.” It was hardly a command. More fact. Both he and Lizel had no doubts about their feelings.
“Of course. Thank you, Your Majesty, Father.”
The crack closed.
Gil and Eleven subtly sighed. Then, Eleven shouted, “Leader, happy birthday!?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?!”
“Birthdays don’t mean that much at my age, right, Gil? Ah, but it is fun to do something, so please tell me when your birthday is.”
“Worry about your own first,” Gil said drily. He brushed Lizel’s hair behind his ear, checking that there were no aftereffects from the magical surge of the call between worlds and added, “Those guys will cry if they find out they missed it.”
“Hm? You mean Studd and Judge?” Lizel put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. “Shall we all go out for dinner?”
With that agreed upon, Eleven encouraged Lizel to open the box from the other world. Inside were the books from Lizel’s parents and a few useful items. A rich purple ribbon with gold attachments on both ends for a bookmark. A small lamp that not only gave light but would float next to his shoulder for reading in the dark. There were also several letters with birthday congratulations and well wishes.
Eleven surreptitiously studied Lizel’s face. He wondered if Lizel felt sad, unable to spend his birthday with the people from his world. Eleven himself didn’t have such a close relationship with his parents, but His Majesty and Lizel’s father had gone so far as to use many expensive magic stones to call him from the other world, and they exchanged letters all the time.
But Lizel’s face showed pure happiness. Eleven couldn’t help calling out.
“Leader.”
“Hm?”
Eleven didn’t actually have a plan for what to say. “What can I give you for your birthday?”
“You don’t need to do anything.” Lizel lifted his hand and stroked the scales on Eleven’s cheek.
“No good. Today is for spoiling Leader, right?”
Lizel chuckled wryly.
“A reading day?” Gil suggested.
“It’s alright, we planned to go to the labyrinth today, didn’t we? Let’s go.”
“Then Leader can have all the treasure chests!”
“I can’t do that,” Lizel protested.
“Isn’t that fine? Wonder what the labyrinth will give you.” Gil smirked.
It sounded less like a gift when he said it like that. The labyrinth always gave Lizel strange, un-adventurer-like things.
“Maybe the labyrinth will be kind today and give me an adventurer-like item.” Slowly, Lizel’s eyes lit up with motivation.
Privately, Gil and Eleven doubted it. But they could still treat him to dinner afterwards, maybe collect rare materials. Eleven suggested a labyrinth where they were likely to get good stuff and Lizel nodded resolutely.
“Today, maybe I’ll pull out a sword.”
Gil and Eleven made sure not to laugh. “Then let’s go!”
Lizel did not pull a sword out of any of the treasure chests.