Randia is searching for his rings. He keeps his eyes on the road carefully, wondering if he had mistakenly dropped them somewhere between the cathedral and the house of Arbona. Sometimes he even walks the same road twice back-to-back, just to see the whole pce from the opposite angle. He ended up wasting hours looking for his precious memento.

  He eventually drops his effort when the time shows 8 pm in the evening. Wistful silence walks beside them as he heads for home. Despite his doleful mood, he is still determined to continue his search for the ring on the next sunrise, and he swears to himself for it. In his desperate attempt by looking at every nook and cranny of the road, as if it was ordained, a family of four are walking past him. Instantly, they reminded him of Viena, and thus he went home without any more second thoughts.

  "Papa! You are te! It's 9 PM already! Now you are smelly, but you can't take a bath also! What are you going to do about that, huh?"

  Viena was lying prone on the floor of the vestibule while reading a book when Randia entered the house. Despite his mind was so scattered, Randia put the priorities first by removing his shoes and gently rubbing Viena's head to give her appreciation - though he doesn't like the idea of her risking herself to catch a cold by rolling around the floor waiting for him until this te hours.

  "Sit when you read and keep a good distance between your eyes and the book. Also, there's no need for you to be waiting for me."

  "But what if you are in trouble and actually don't get back home safely?"

  ". . . Then at least wait on the sofa."

  After that, Viena wants to boil some water by lighting up a fire with the steel fire striker. Randia offered to help with his magic, but Viena refused him this time, saying that she had learned it from Lisabelle yesterday, and now she wanted to try it for real. After several attempts, she finally did it.

  While they are waiting for the water to boil, Randia calls for Viena and takes out an envelope and gives it to her.

  "Take this and give it to Lady Eleanor. Don't forget to bring a bnket, she must be in the balcony at this hour."

  "Okay."

  Viena complies without saying anything. In truth, she already knows what is inside the envelope. One time, Randia forgot to seal it due to the fatigue of his long hours work. Viena, being her usual self, was too curious to let it slide and decided to take a peek inside. What she found was a lot of money that Randia gives every week for Eleanor. Within the bundle of cash, there is also always a short message written in a small piece of paper. The message inside was him insisting that Eleanor should take the money so that he will be at peace, in which Eleanor respected his wishes.

  The little girl did what she was asked for, and then returned to the living room and take the whistling kettle off the fire and pour the hot water into a cup to serve her father some tea to rex with. Randia did nothing but watching Viena do her thing, while also taking a look at the book she was reading earlier.

  "'Lay of The Land - The Rise of Aramia' . . . Did Lisabelle ask you to read this, Viena?"

  "Not really. I just asked Lily to give me something to read that can make me look smart and cool."

  "Okay, so how many pages have you read?"

  "I just finished chapter five."

  "Oh? That's half of the book. When did you start?" Randia took the book into his hands and take a quick read on it, swiping pages after pages.

  "I started after lunch!"

  Randia can hardly believe what he just heard. Although it's a light book that is written with easy vocaburies, five chapters still equal to around 200 pages - which is a very impressive milestone for her age.

  "Remind me again, Viena. How old are you?"

  "Huh? Heheheh! I just realized you never asked me that before! Why are you asking that now?"

  "Why don't you just answer my question for once without any add-ons?"

  "Hmph. Okay, I'll tell you. But promise me you will get me a present!"

  "Fine. As long as it's not too absurd," Randia rolled his eyes while resting her back on the sofa.

  "Yeay! Don't take it back, okay? Now, listen and remember this, Papa. I'm turning nine in two weeks!" Viena smiles widely with her arms akimbo after she puts the tea leaves into the kettle.

  "In two weeks? Oh, I don't know about that. It sounds to me that you're just making it up to get some presents."

  "Ish! Then just see it for yourself!"

  Sulking, Viena looked away after giving Randia her pendant. It's the pendant which she showed to Randia on the very first day they meet each other. When Randia takes another look at it, he realized that he had missed some details back then. There are actually small writings on the backside. They were numbers - presumably Viena's birthday date.

  "Okay, that convinces me. So, what do you want? Roast duck skewer?"

  "Huh? No way! It shouldn't be food! They are not gonna st long!"

  Then, Viena keeps talking about all sorts of criteria about how her future presents should be, but strangely, she hasn't mentioned anything specific. The more Randia listens, the more confused he becomes. He just keep silent until Viena is done running her mouth and wait for his turn to talk.

  "Why can't you just name something specific?"

  "Hmm . . . No! I want you to surprise me!"

  "Ugh, goodness gracious."

  When he was running his mind, thinking about something valuable, he is reminded of his earlier thought. It's so strange how he could forget about the trouble he had as soon as he entered the house and talks with Viena. He completely forgot about the rings he had lost for a moment. Now, he remembered, and he interrupted Viena who was reading her book while leaning back on his body.

  "Viena, there's something important that I want to ask you," Randia put his hand on the middle of the page.

  "What is it?"

  "I lost something very precious to me. Did you take a red pouch from inside the bag?"

  "No. After you scolded me for taking put the weird bottle, I don't think I have touch anything wrapped in cloth again from the bag."

  Randia let out a breath that sounds so hopeless, and it makes Viena sympathize.

  "What is it that you lost? I can help you look for it."

  ". . . It was a pair of rings."

  "Oh."

  Viena instantly knows what Randia is looking for. After all, the precious thing that Randia was looking for are the rings with pink-diamonds which Lisabelle had shown her the other day.

  "Papa, there's something I want to tell you about that as well."

  Although Randia had taken the possibility into account, he is still taken by surprise a little when Viena speaks to him about the very same thing. The way the little girl timidly speaking as if she feels very guilty of something - He is 200% sure that he had lost the rings. Anger is slowly swelling inside him given how precious the rings were to him. His gaze sharpens, and the look in his eyes turns colder with judgement.

  "W-Will you promise me that you won't be angry?"

  Randia, being so close to blow his lid, wasn't thinking straight and so lost in his thought. He feels as if he wanted to get at Viena the very next moment she opens her mouth again.

  "Papa . . . are you angry?"

  "I am trying my best not to," Randia looked away.

  "Then . . . can you at least promise me that you won't hit me?"

  Randia snaps back and regains his composure the moment he listened to Viena's question. For some reason, his chest feels hurt when he hears those words. He somehow feels great regret and disappointed at himself.

  "I will never do that. So, start talking now, Viena. Those rings are very-very precious to me."

  After a moment of hesitation, Viena tells Randia about the rings and what Lisabelle did. She pleads to him repeatedly so that he will forgive both of them, particurly Lisabelle. However, all that actually matters for Randia is that the rings are safe inside the drawer in Lisabelle's room. His temper quickly subsides, and he wipes his face to control himself better.

  "Okay. It's alright. I won't be mad at any of you. The rings are here, and they are safely kept, that's the point," Randia takes a sip of the warm tea that Viena prepared.

  "Papa, I'm sorry."

  "I thought you did worse than that, but you didn't. There is no reason for me to stay angry."

  "Did worse?"

  "Yeah, like wearing them outside and got them stolen from you by bad guys, or maybe even sold them to random people without even knowing what you are doing - something like that."

  "I-I would never-!"

  "Yes, and I should've known better," Randia pats Viena's head.

  Then, he lifts Viena up from his p and put her down before standing up himself. Now, he is walking upstairs, wanting to fetch the rings from Lisabelle's room. Viena follows him with her heart beating like crazy, hoping that the whole thing doesn't turn into a big mess.