Phil and I were left alone once again, but the atmosphere was slightly less awkward now. He still refused to look in my direction. Considering how many of his secrets had been brought to light, he was surely much too embarrassed to meet my eyes.
“Phil, I’m sorry that I asked them so many stories about you. But they made me really happy.”
“You didn’t...find them off-putting?”
“No. Actually, they made me like you even more.”
After I said that, he finally raised his head. I couldn’t suppress a smile at the faint blush still dusting his cheeks.
“It made me happy to learn how much you were thinking of me in the past. I’m sorry that I never noticed.” Of course, it was the truth that his attitude was part of the problem. But because of my own feelings of inadequacy, I never once tried to see who he was beyond the surface and simply averted my eyes. “Um, would it be all right to see the birthday presents that Ray mentioned earlier?”
After I asked that, Phil looked a little uncomfortable but eventually, he nodded.
The room he took me into was packed full of neatly wrapped boxes. Some years, he’d apparently bought more than just one or two. I felt a chill at the thought that if things hadn’t gone the way they did, these boxes would’ve never again seen the light of day.
“Um...there’s a lot more than I was expecting,” I said.
“If, by some chance, and hypothetically speaking, there’s something that you wish to take from me, I’d like you to have it,” he said.
“All of these presents are for me, aren’t they? Then I’d like them all.” After I said that, I reached out to the small box closest to me. “What’s this?”
“It’s a present I bought for you last year.”
“May I open it?”
“Of course.”
I carefully untied the ribbon and opened the box. Inside there was a breathtakingly beautiful brooch. The large amethyst sparkling in the middle of it matched my eyes and hair.
“Last year, you said you wanted a brooch to match your dress,” Phil explained.
“I do recall saying something like that to Rex.”
Phil had heard me say that and then did his best to pick something out for me. Affection welled up inside me at the thought. Next, I reached for a box farther in the back. It was a little bigger than the first one.
“What’s this?”
“It’s from when we were fourteen. At the time, you liked dresses from this store.”
“Oh, how nostalgic. But it’s so small that I don’t think I can wear it.”
When I opened the box, I saw a cute dress. But I didn’t think I could wear something from four years ago. It made me sad since it was a dress I would’ve loved to have worn back then.
“Um...what is this bizarre wooden doll?”
“That’s from when we were fifteen. You said you couldn’t sleep and it was giving you some trouble. I heard that if you place it on your pillow, it can help to ward off insomnia, so I bought it.”
“I-I see...”
The doll’s face looked like that of a monkey on the verge of death. Instead of helping me sleep, it looked more like it would give me nightmares. A child would’ve cried upon seeing this as a present.
Incidentally, upon asking for the price of the doll, I wanted to cry. No doubt, Phil had fallen for some scam. After that, I continued to open up my presents with Phil, asking him when he bought this and why he chose that.
“Ah...”
“Viola?”
But as we did so, I noticed fat tears rolling down my cheeks. Upon seeing that, Phil called my name, sounding panicked.
“J-Just how much do you love me?” I asked in a thick voice.
Every single box was filled not only with a present but also with his immense affection for me. I was so happy that I couldn’t stop crying.
“I loved you more than you could possibly imagine.”
The words made the tears come faster. He was truly such an awkward man. Before I could even register what was happening, I found myself wrapped up in Phil’s arms, with him murmuring “Thank you” in my ear. I should be the one thanking him. Once I eventually calmed down, I picked up a teddy bear that was one of my presents.
“May I take this teddy bear home? Just this one?”
“Of course. But isn’t that for children?”
“It’s fine. From tonight, this will be my sleeping companion.”
It was such a cute teddy bear that I felt bad for the fact it had been all alone in a box for years and years. After I said that, Phillip thanked me with a happy smile. I also decided to wear the beautiful brooch home.
“I’ll leave the other presents here, then. I’d love to bring them home, but since I’ll be living here in the future, it would be too much work to move all of this back.”
I said the words casually enough, but for some reason, Phil’s face flushed bright crimson again. It looked like he was embarrassed at the part about me living in this manor.
“I look forward to it,” he managed to say after a pause.
“Good,” I replied.
When I happened to pass by Duke and Duchess Lawrenson in the hallway, they also said that they were excited for the day I would come to live in the manor. They’d always been kind to me. They’d also noticed the atmosphere around Phil and I changed, and were pleased by it.
“I’m truly grateful for all of these presents.”
“Yes, and I’m glad that I was able to hand them to you. Thank you.”
Apparently, if Ray hadn’t told me about them, Phil would’ve never mentioned them to me. He’d thought that, considering how many presents there were, I would’ve found it off-putting. But they felt like little memories from our time together, so he couldn’t bring himself to throw any of them away.
Truthfully, there were plenty of things in our past that were even more off-putting than these presents. But I loved him, off-putting parts and all.
“Please make sure to directly hand me my present this year,” I said.
“Of course,” Phil replied.
“And let me give you something in return, though it would be impossible to immediately present you a gift in return for everything here.”
“You’re giving me something even more important than any material good, so I don’t need any presents.”
“That goes the same for me.”
At the same time, though I felt pure happiness in my life now, I sometimes missed the past when Phil and I couldn’t see eye to eye. Even so, I wanted to treasure my time with the man who loved me more than anything in his own awkward way. With that thought, my heart raced as I envisioned the future Phil and I would spend together.