Margaux Swan
"Happy Birthday!" I heard as I opened my eyes.
I turned to Thadeus and saw him already dressed, holding a tray of food that smelled delicious.
Few people know it, but Thadeous is an amazing cook. He didn't have class, but his dishes are amazing. On special days, he cooks for me.
"Thank you," I replied.
He smiled radiantly and placed a tray in front of me. It had a tea omelette and a rose. It is not mist rose, but ardelia rose, my favourite.
"Come, join me," I invited, and we ate breakfast together.
We rarely get to do this; when he stays with me, he leaves early. We barely find time to eat breakfast together once a week. Though he rarely misses dinner.
He is quite particular about that.
We finished breakfast when he took a small, red-wrapped box out of his pocket. "You don't have to," I said. His presence alone is more than enough for me.
"I wanted to give you this," he said, and there was something in his voice that made me pause.
I pulled the ribbon and opened the box. Inside is an iron bracelet, made of an intricate interconnected band.
"It is made from a piece of iron that I brought from my home." Hearing that, my heart skipped a beat. He had brought one thing from his destroyed home, a piece of bent iron.
It is most precious to him.
Thadeous is not a man of words; he describes his feelings through action and with his gestures. He once told me what I meant to him, and it brought tears to my eyes.
"I love it," I said, extending my hand to him. He took the bracelet and put it on my wrist.
"I hope you will take an early leave today. I wanted to spend some time with you before the party," I rarely ask for this, given how busy he is, but today is my birthday, and I want to spend more time with him.
"I will return by five," he replied, and a smile bloomed across my face.
A smile appeared on his face as well, and I could see mischievousness in it. It is not something people associate with stone, but there is a certain innocent playfulness in him.
"Though I can't say you will have time for me, with the new gift you will get from Lord Silver and Lady Carla," he said, and surprise appeared on my face.
I have a meeting with Carla and Lord Silver in two hours.
"What is it?" I asked, feeling curious. "It's a surprise," he replied, and I gave him a look.
"It's very suitable for you. I wonder where they got it from, though," he added, and it made me even more curious. "Fine, don't tell me," I replied. To which he smiled and took my lips into his.
He let go after a long kiss. "I will see you in the evening," he said and walked away. I watched him until he disappeared, before finally getting up.
I had just showered when my ring lit up with a call. Feeling the signature, I received it.
"Happy birthday, Mom!" my daughter wished. "Thank you, dear," I replied.
"I wish I could be there with you," she said. I could feel the love and longing in her voice. "One day, you will, my dear," I replied. I miss her very much, but I also know she couldn't be here.
Archamage City is far away, and she couldn't return in the middle of her year.
I talked to her for a few minutes before cutting the call, as it was time for her class.
I walked toward the door. It is not the door I want to walk through. I want to go to my workshop and paint Thadeous, inspired by the gift and vulnerable emotions I saw in him.
It is unfortunate, but I have things to do, so I will try to find time in the afternoon.
It's not something I could wait too long before I must draw.
"Happy birthday, headmistress," said the guards guarding my house. "Thank you, Jomore, Bara," I thanked before walking ahead.
"Happy Birthday, headmistress," said a girl in her twenties as she stopped at seeing me. Usually, it's just simple greetings, but today it's going to be wishes.
I thanked the girl, but another came and then another. So, I simply started nodding.
As I reached near the academic building, I saw one under construction beside it. It's going to be the second academic building.
Just like the second dorm building, we are going to need a second academic building as well. Along with a bunch of other buildings, given the numbers, we planned to recruit.
Currently, there are only five hundred and sixty-one girls in Velvet Garden.
A lot of them had abandoned it.
We did not recruit even a single one since many abandoned it before the undead attacked. We wanted to, but a lot of teachers have left with the girls as well.
So, we focused on them first, not only recruiting but also training them in how we teach.
We had to fire many who could not adjust to our ways and teaching style. They were not willing to change or change the way they teach.
The teachers we now have are nearly as good as the ones we had.
But unlike the ones we had, these are really skilled. The earlier teachers we had were above Lv. 15 and Lv. 20, when we recruited them, especially those before Velvet Garden became a legacy.
Most of these are nearly Lv. 30, and quite a few of them are above that.
They also had years of experience and worked in famous academies of the empire. Currently, they are nearly as satisfactory as the old ones, but in a few months, they will become as capable as the old ones.
In a year, they will be far better. These are experiences with much greater potential. I could see that in the girls, the way they are improving.
It was a wise decision on our part to wait.
We will still have six to nine months to teach the newly recruited girls.
I entered the building, and my head hurt with all the nodding as the wishes poured in from my left and right. I wanted to use my movement skill, but that would be disrespectful to the girls.
Soon, I reached my office and entered, feeling into the silence once more.
I sat down and closed my eyes for a few minutes. It wasn't this extreme last year.
"Headmistress, they are here," said Juri, my assistant. A second later, the door opened, and three women walked inside. Miss Dawnstar, Miss Elme, and Della.
All of them are vice-headmistresses.
There are four of them, but Barb barely stays in college; she is moving around the dominion with her mercenary company.
"Happy Birthday, Headmistress," wished Miss Dawnstar and the others. "Thank you," I replied with a tight smile.
"Looking at your expressions, it seemed like quite a lot of them had expressed their wishes to you," said Miss Elme, and I smiled genuinely. "It's a lot," I replied.
"Sometimes, good intentions can be a lot," said Della, and I nodded before turning to file.
It will most important order of business.
"We have to recruit around twelve hundred people in the next six months. We have already set quotas on places and had planned how we will do this except for international," I said, turning to them.
The twelve hundred recruits will not be from a single place, but from different places.
We have set a target of three hundred from Dominion, of which two hundred will be from Greltheaven itself. We have never recruited from Greltheaven, aside from Senar's batch.
This time it's much larger.
The most numbers still come from merchant states, but this time we will recruit more widely, not just from the merchant states of Meldhorn and Oksall.
We will also recruit from the Empire and Baxzar. Their open brothels, specifically.
It's an order from Lord Silver that has confused us a lot. It is not the recruitment from that place that is surprising, but the number he asked to recruit.
I asked for the reason, but he didn't give it.
It's going to be a tremendous job, but we have been making preparations for it for the past six months. We have a plan in place, except for the international goal.
"I still believe we should get the international girls through the brothels of the merchant state; they have a lot of them," said Della, but Miss Dawnstar shook her head.
"If we want the pure international variety, then we should get them directly from other continents; they will be untainted in the style of Zenid."
"We could mold them directly in Velvet Garden."
"I am sure Madam Jenna will be more than happy to help us with that," added Miss Dawnstar.
"It will be too slow," replied Elme, and I nodded.
I agree with Miss Dawnstar; we wanted variety that was not influenced by Zenid's way. So, when they came here, we could train them without taking away their unique qualities.
Still, as Elme pointed out, it will be too slow.
Jenna would make a few international trips a year, and bringing the girls would add to her heavy workload. She will do it, but we will not be getting the numbers we want in the time we have.
"Let's do it both ways; we will get the international girls from the merchant state and the empire, but will also ask Jenna to bring some whenever she goes on a trip," I stated.
For the next forty-minutes, we tackled the other discussions before they left.
A few minutes later, I walked out of my office as well.
After enduring hundreds of wishes, I stepped out of the academic building and walked toward the three-story one beside the mage suite.
This one is different, one could tell, by the guards.
It is Carla's temporary office, replacing the one she had in Velvet Garden. She also has an office in the city, where she works most of the time.
As I walked there, a beautiful aroma filled my nostrils, putting a smile on my face. They have started planting the mist plants around the college.
In a few months, mist plants will replace most of the college's plants.
I can't wait for it.
I reached the building and stepped inside. A minute later, I was on the top floor.
"They are waiting for you, Headmistress," Carla's secretary informed. I nodded and walked inside as the guards opened the door for me.
As I entered, I saw Carla sitting behind the huge table, while Lord Silver was sitting on the sofa beside the window. Seeing me, smiles appeared on their faces.
"The birthday girl has finally arrived," said Carla.
"Happy birthday, Margaux," wished Master Silver. "May you have a year filled with happiness and success, dear friend," said Carla.
"Thank you, Master Silver, Carla," I replied before hugging my friend.
"Now that we have wished you, it's time we give you your gift," she said with her eyes twinkling. "You don't have to," I replied, but that is just the words.
I wanted to see my gift; Thaddeus's words have made me very curious.
The next moment, an intricate, long, thin wooden box appeared before me, with a small bow on top.
"What is it?" I couldn't help but ask, "You will see, when you open it," she replied, and there was an anticipation in her eyes.
Seeing that, I took the box in my hand. I wonder what it is? It must be something good for Thadeus to say those words, and the excitement in Carla's eyes.
They are not people who react in such a way.
After a moment of hesitation, I opened the box and, inside, saw the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on.
It's a paintbrush, so delicate and beautiful, that I had never thought possible. Just looking at it, I found tears streaming down my face.
The brush is crystalline, with its handle seeming to be carved out of the frozen rainbow as it refracts every colour of it. Its crystalline bristles felt light and soft, dyed in primal colours.
I must have looked at it for nearly a minute before taking it into my hand.
It didn't feel hard, since it should be made from crystal. There is a gentle softness to it, but I could also feel its power.
"It's an artifact," I breathed, not daring to believe.
"A trinket artifact, but one very suitable for you. Its abilities are quite amazing; you will like them very much," replied Carla with a big smile on her face.
I stared at the beautiful thing, not daring to believe it was real and truly mine.
Never in my life had I thought I would have an artifact, but here I have it in my hand, and I am already loving it.
"I love it," I said, turning to them.