5. Happy Birthday.

Having been told what the problem was, he instantly ran to where the whole show was taking place. Thankfully she had stopped her unpleasant bawling.

"Sir, you called for me?" Edoardo, who had taken a seat there, turned his head to look at him. "Why won't you marry her, huh? Mr. Dark knight" Zeno couldn't help but chuckle at the title. He also wondered why she called him that. "You could have just said yes and we all could have avoided this unnecessary drama. Well don't just stand there, you're Zeno the dark knight, so do something." the man says.

"Yes sir, I'll get her down.'' It was quite funny for him. While everyone else was exhausted and totally worn out, he was finding it funny.

"Hey! Piccola!" he called out to her. "Go away! I don't want to talk to you." She whined, shooting another shot, but not at him.

"Why do you keep shooting at me? Is he not the one you want?" Edoardo asks, confused as to why he was the target of her antics.

"Really? You don't want to talk to me again? Ever?" he tilts his head to the side, leaning in closer to the tree. "And I had something to tell you. But since you don't want to talk to me, I guess I'll just…

" WAIT!!" She yells as she sees him walking away, and a smug crawls up his lips."You can talk, but I will not talk to you." She generously offers. "Ahh, but it's a secret between me and you, I don't want everyone to hear it. Can I come up and tell you?" he sweetly asks, and a cute blush crawled on her face as the thought of them having a secret together made her ecstatic.

"Okay," she mumbles, trying to pretend that she wasn't happy. Carefully, he climbed up the tree, and he too wondered how on earth she had gone up? Sitting next to her, everyone watched as he leaned in closer to her and whispered some words to her. All of them leaning in closer, trying to listen in on their little secret. But not even one of them could hear a word of what Zeno was telling the child.

"REALLY!!!" They all heard the girl scream happily. "Yes, I promise." He assures her, and even locks their little fingers together….

But eighteen good and not so pleasant years have passed since then, and no one still knows what their little secret was, no matter how many times the question was asked, neither Luna or even Zeno gave away the secret. But only Luna knew and remembered that he was yet to keep his promise to her.

...

>Back to the present, Mid-June 2022<

"He's not here yet." Luna fumed. "Just calm down a bit, I'm sure he's on his way." Maria, who had grown more white hair than eighteen years ago, says, trying to calm the young woman down. For she knew any moment now, the Lady could turn her own birthday party into a bloodbath.

"Where's papa?" she asks, trying to calm herself as much as she could. "He just got called away into his study, I think they're discussing something important."

"important, my foot. What's more important than his daughter?" she said, matching up to her father's study. Normal young ladies wore gowns and lovely accessories on their birthdays, but our dear Luna had chosen to keep her normal black look. Yes she was in a short gown, but it was more like a ripped gown. You would wonder who designed her clothes. Sparkling black boots to go with it. But though she was covered in black, it didn't hide the little beauty she was.

*BAM*BAM*BAM* She pounded on the door like she was willing to break it down. And then pushed the door open wide. And…

"What's the need of knocking when you won't wait for a response before barging in huh? You this short devil, you will never change, Piccola." The frown on her face instantly vanished, in its place was the face of a little girl blushing in front of her longtime crush. He came. Her Dark Knight, he really didn't miss her birthday this year and his eyes were a bit swollen, she didn't need anyone to tell her why. She knew there was only one thing that could make him cry. Dan-a. His cheeks were a bit sunken too, but he was looking as breathtaking as ever. She could burst with joy now, but she had to contain it, she wasn't a little girl no more. Big girls don't show how they really feel, so almost immediately she wipes the grin off her face, and puts on a serious face.

"mm-mm" she cleared her throat, as there was a particular kind of voice she liked to use in front of him. Only when she got mad did she use her normal high-pitched earpiercing voice.

"I didn't expect you to come." she says, putting her head and shoulders high up. "Really?" he asks. "Yeah, I thought you would be busy, so I didn't expect you to be here today." Edoardo, who had seen how she had been panicking since morning, and planning on all the things she would do if he didn't show up today, could just sit there now and blink nonstop, while his mouth was opened wide in disbelief. He raised a liar. A really vicious liar.

"I'm a very understanding person, so I wasn't expecting you to leave your work for me." She says again, and her father just scoffs, an act that earns him a death glare from her.

"Really, then I guess that person was just worried for nothing. Someone told me you would kill me if I didn't make it this time." Instantly her eyes went to her father, wondering if he had rattled on her. And he vigorously shakes his head indicating he wasn't the one.

"Happy birthday my Piccola." He says, and a thousand times she had told him to stop calling her that, she was no longer a baby, but every time he said it, she was grateful in her heart that he was never one to listen to someone else. She loved it.