Adrian stopped walking. He found a decent gap in the trees. It had maybe eight meters of pure empty space in every direction so it made for a really solid campsite.

He kicked away the dead leaves and loose rocks, pushing the debris out until the middle of the clearing was completely bare. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Then he looked down at Aria.

"Can you dig a small, shallow pit right here?" Adrian asked.

Aria nodded.

He fully expected her to use a shovel because she had practically begged him to let her carry the tools he had decided to bring. Which was basically a shovel, an axe and some metal skewers.

But Aria did not grab the shovel.

She just raised her hand and pointed a finger at the dirt.

The ground literally popped open. The soil and mud just flew out of the way all on its own. A perfectly round, shallow fire pit formed in the ground in just a few seconds.

Adrian just stared at the hole.

’Why did I even expect her to do something normal?’ Adrian thought.

He just shook his head and let out a soft chuckle. He wanted to do it the real way, but since Aria was using magic, he decided to just do the same.

Adrian brought a few chakrams out of his dungeon and used his Telekinesis spell.

The chakrams spun at crazy speeds and under his control, they turned into blurry, whistling smooth cutters. Adrian sent them flying to the nearby dead trees.

The spinning blades sliced through the branches like they were cutting butter. He cut down an entire dead tree and cut it up into perfectly sized logs without doing even a little bit of physical labour.

The whole logging process took less than a minute.

Adrian grabbed a bunch firewood with his telekinesis, dropped the logs right into the shallow pit and looked at Aria.

Aria just nodded and snapped her fingers. A small burst of fire shot from her thumb and the wood went up inflames.

"Let us just sit down for now." Adrian said. "We can just enjoy the beauty of nature."

Adrian sat down on the ground and crossed his legs.

Aria nodded and walked over to him before she plopped right down onto his lap.

Adrian smiled and wrapped an arm around her. Then he just let his chin rest on top of her head. It was a totally unconscious habit he picked up lately.

"Papa." Aria looked up at him. "Can you continue the story about the rubber man?"

"Sure." Adrian said.

He jumped right into the story. He talked about pirate ships and rubber arms and crazy ocean adventures while they just sat by the fire for hours. Adrian cooked up some basic meat skewers over the flames, handing them over to her so they could eat and chat at the same time.

He honestly just missed talking to her.

Running a whole territory and dealing with political problems took up way too much of his time. And even though he tried to make time for her, it never really felt like enough. So he wanted to dedicate today entirely to her.

Time slowly passed and it was around four in the afternoon when Adrian finally stopped talking.

"It is time to head back home." Adrian said.

Aria pouted immediately. "Are we not going to stay the night here?"

"No." Adrian shook his head. "It gets a little dangerous out here at night. It is better if we go back now."

That was a complete lie.

He was not scared of staying here at night at all. He was an E rank knight and also a mage. He was strong enough to protect her from anything out here and he also knew perfectly well that Aria was strong enough to protect herself. Monsters were definitely not the problem.

He just needed a fake excuse to get her back to the mansion on time for her own surprise party.

So they packed up their stuff and hiked back. The walk to the city took about an hour.

But the exact second they passed through the giant stone gates of Oresfall, Aria realized something was off.

The citizens were acting different. The people always smiled and bowed respectfully when they saw her walking with Adrian. But today those smiles looked totally different. They looked giddy and weirdly excited.

They hit the center of the commercial district and the crowd surrounded them.

Hundreds of locals poured in and made a huge circle around Adrian and Aria.

"Happy birthday, Lady Aria!" a huge pack of construction workers yelled at the top of their lungs.

"The Flower of Oresfall is six!" a woman shrieked from the second floor of a bakery.

"It is time to celebrate! It is time to drink! It is time to party!"

Aria froze and her eyes went completely wide.

Then broke into a massive grin.

Adrian cracked up. He looked at the massive crowd and raised his hand to quiet them down.

"Take the party to the town square!" Adrian shouted over the noise. "I am paying for all of it today! Wagons full of meat and booze are heading down there right now, so go enjoy yourselves. And nobody works tomorrow!"

The citizens absolutely lost their minds. They chanted his name and basically stampeded toward the plaza to claim the free food.

Adrian just grabbed Aria’s hand and walked her back home.

He led her straight upstairs to her room. And once the door clicked shut, he brought two identical dresses out of his dungeon storage and tossed them onto the mattress.

"Try both of these on." Adrian told her. "Tell me which one fits you better."

Aria nodded eagerly. She grabbed the first dress and Adrian stepped out into the hallway to wait.

He had crafted two distinct versions. The first version was made using the exact physical measurements the old tailor gave him. The second version was made using the perfect measurements his dungeon system took when he scanned her.

He wanted to see which one was actually better.