The next morning.
Mira heard a knock on the door, and when she opened it, she saw Rhode's smiling face and a large bouquet of champagne roses.
Rhode waited a second, or maybe it was half a second, seeing the surprise in her eyes turn into delight, and then handed over the flowers: "Good morning, Mira. And... happy birthday."
"Thank you!" Mira's smile bloomed on her face, more beautiful than that bouquet in the morning sunlight.
"So beautiful!" Mira took the flowers and lightly sniffed them, "So fragrant!"
Rhode felt relieved; he had heard that choosing flowers for girls was difficult, but Mira didn't seem to be picky.
All the more reason to cherish her, Rhode thought he should find time to study up at the flower shop.
Mira gave Rhode a big hug. Seizing the moment, she secretly took a sniff of him.
She found herself increasingly fond of Rhode's scent, sometimes thinking it smelled even better than flowers.
Rhode also hugged her, with his soft lover in his arms, and the bouquet in Mira's hand behind them.
Inside, Elfman saw the morning sunlight cast on the two outside the door and suddenly found the scene very beautiful.
——My sister has found her happiness.
Elfman smiled and continued busying himself with breakfast for the three of them.
Mira felt that just hugging him wasn't enough, so after thinking for a moment, she decided to lift him up and spin him around.
"Hey..."
Rhode realized his girlfriend was good at everything, but liked to steal his roles, yet he could feel her joy.
"Ah..."
As soon as Mira put Rhode down, she found herself being lifted up and spun around twice.
Childish competitiveness.
She laughed joyfully.
"You sit first, I'll get a vase." Mira pushed Rhode to the side of the sofa and ran upstairs with the flowers.
Rhode didn't mind, he sat on the sofa and thumbed through today's newspaper—there was a vase right here, what vase did she need to get?
Mira returned to her room, leaned against the door, sniffed the fragrance of the flowers, and took out the little card inside:
"Falling in love with you is the greatest happiness of my life"
She read it over and over, making sure it really said those words, carefully hugged it to her chest, all while a rosy blush spread across her face.
Hmph, this counts as cheating, next time he has to say it himself.
Mira put the card away, sniffed the flowers once more, then carefully removed the packaging and placed them in her favorite glass vase.
After that, handled properly, they could last a long time, and with magic, even longer.
Previously, she turned the flowers Rhode gave her into dried flowers when they couldn't be preserved any longer.
Mira carried the vase downstairs and placed it on the dining table, and the three began to eat breakfast together.
"Sister, how about taking a day off today?"
"Why?"
"To properly celebrate your birthday. You two haven't taken a break in a long time, right?" Elfman saw how busy they both were usually.
"Seems like it's been more than half a month." Mira thought for a moment, then laughed, "But it's okay, we're together every day."
For her, being able to be with the person she likes every day, and sitting down with family for meals, is already very fulfilling.
Besides, if both she and Rhode take a day off, it would definitely impact the project timeline. She still wanted the guild to be built soon so she and Rhode could go on a seaside vacation.
"How about we get off work early this afternoon?" Rhode suggested, "And make something delicious."
Mira blinked: "Who's going to cook?"
"Me... maybe?" Rhode said, having little confidence in his cooking skills, "Or we could eat out instead."
"Of course, I'll cook," said Elfman. "That's why a man should learn to cook properly."
Rhode said helplessly, "Didn't I learn?"
"..." Elfman couldn't deny it. He had learned, not just from his sister's teaching; he also taught him a few times.
If he were to judge—maybe stick to learning something else.
The same ingredients, the same seasonings, the same steps, yet the results could be worlds apart.
The best progress he'd made was being able to wash vegetables, barely knowing how to handle common ingredients.
So now, when his sister cooked, he could at least be there to help...
If Rhode hadn't said something so significant even today, Elfman would've really doubted whether he was doing it on purpose.
Such a smart guy, can he really not learn to cook?
"Then let me be your assistant." Rhode expressed his desire to still do what he could.
…
At the guild, things were as usual.
Everyone had grown accustomed to working on the construction site for a few days, then taking a brief rest, going out on a mission, and coming back to work hard together again.
Though Lucy might be an exception.
"Aaaaah, what do I do? Half the month is gone and I haven't earned enough for next month's rent yet!"
During a break, Lucy sat in front of the counter, mussing up her golden hair, already distressed before the end of the month.
Mira, in a great mood today, didn't tease her much: "I remember you've gone on jobs three times this month already, Lucy?"
Lucy looked crestfallen: "But the money I made those three times together is just enough for food."
"Originally I planned to get enough for rent early, so the latter half of the month could be more relaxed... but they always end up causing havoc."
Lucy looked resentfully at the two who seemed on the verge of a fight at any moment.
"Oh dear..." Mira felt a bit sympathetic towards her.
If the President had assigned Rhode to show her the ropes back then, things wouldn't be like this now.
After thinking it over, Mira decided to share the good news with Lucy.
"Wha...what?" Gentle words were like a bolt from the blue to Lucy.
Why did the President deprive her so casually of the chance to have such a strong teammate?!
Mira enjoyed Lucy's expression for a moment before saying with a bright smile:
"Well, there's still a chance now, how about replacing Natsu with Rhode?"
"Of course... no thanks." Lucy leaned against the counter, watching the two actually start fighting, a gentle smile unknowingly appearing on her lips, "I'm almost used to them, it's pretty good this way too."
Just as she finished speaking, Natsu's sandal was flung over, the sole slapping Lucy's forehead with such force that she nearly toppled over.
"Ouch!" Lucy rubbed the red mark on her forehead, tearfully looking at Mira, "Miss Mira, let's switch after all!"
"But Lucy just refused," Mira said, covering her mouth with a laugh.
Lucy was truly entertaining, even more so when mixed in with Natsu and them.
Rhode came back with some new requests for the day, nearly thinking he had walked onto the wrong set when he saw Lucy:
"A sandal imprint on the forehead, is this some new trend?"
"Absolutely not!" Lucy fixed her bangs, trying to cover it up.
Mira took the documents from Rhode's hand and asked, "Is there a quest suitable for Lucy's squad?"
Rhode replied, "There's one similar to the last billiard hall request, but it might take a bit longer. Maybe they could consider it."
"I'll take it!" Lucy didn't hesitate, following the team rotation rules, it was her turn to make the decision.
Similar is fine, at least they made money with the billiard hall one; a longer duration isn't a big deal.
Lucy took a closer look at the task sheet, which indeed contained similar tasks—"Revitalize the Neglected Theater."
The Shizad Theater in Onibus City is facing an operational crisis, with the original productions receiving a string of bad reviews, hoping to get help from mages.