บท 51: Toast to Victory
Elaina and Julia came back home late. After the events of the bazaar, Elaina invited Julia to enjoy the festival. Since other fun things would be done after the bazaar, the two enjoyed strolling the city and eating food here and there. They even purchased a few goods that caught their eye. It was a very well worth venture and the coffers of coins of Elaina are now filled to the brim with gold.
"Congrats, Sis! That was a very successful attempt despite joining for the first time!" Julia smiled as she parked the cart outside the house.
"We are still not winning just yet, you know? The winners are not yet announced after all," Elaina removed the scarf and the hat on her head after they arrived.
"It doesn't matter much right? Even if you don't win, we still managed to get our harvests sold out. That alone is worth it for our hard work."
"The way I see it, you already won, Sis. There is no way the judges would say that our team lost when our stall was the very first stall to run out of goods after all the surge of customers buying the displayed stuff," Julia is quite optimistic.
"Haha, but we don't know what runs in the minds of the judges. So don't just say that we won. We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves."
While Elaina was trying to wind up a bit, Julia quickly went inside the house and returned outside, now carrying a bottle of wine and two empty glasses.
"Eh? Julia, why are you carrying a bottle of wine?" Elaina was surprised.
"Even if we don't win, what we did just now deserves to at least experience a toast of victory, you know?" Julia popped the cork open using her magic, causing the aroma of the wine to linger in the air.
"Ha, really Julia. You never change huh?" Elaina chuckled. After all, even back then when Elaina joined a contest where she was guaranteed to win, Julia would pop a cork open in private with her, helping her cheer up even though she didn't do much work.
"Why should I change? It's not wrong to be happy on this occasion. And you did your best this time around and you are not rigged to win. Those factors are worth celebrating already."
Julia handed her the empty glass. Elaina can only sigh as she receives the wine being personally poured by Julia into her empty glass.
"This is a toast to victory, Sis!"
"Am I safe to drink even when I am pregnant though?"
"Just a gesture, Sis. You don't need to drink, alright? I can drink your share instead if you don't mind."
CLINK!
The two glasses touch together as they gaze into the moon in the sky. The two shared a blissful night after a hard day's work.
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The next day...Elaina felt bad all of a sudden. Her morning sickness is getting so bad that she can't even stand up for herself.
"Ughhh...this feeling..." Elaina started hurling on the toilet with the help of Julia supporting her.
"Sis, don't force yourself to attend the ceremony. If you are not feeling good, you shouldn't push yourself on this one. It's best that you don't think too much about it. It's not like you will be forfeiting your reward if you don't join the ceremony."
"But..." Elaina hurled once more.
"Have a good rest this time Sis. It's not like you needed to be there. Sleep, I will prepare a hot soup for you this time."
After Elaina managed to get a good drink of water, she returned to her bed, and Julia cast a calming spell on her so that she could sleep for a bit and she does not feel the pain much.
"Yeah, I think I do need the rest."
She closed her eyes and although her thought wandered on what was the verdict so far, right now, she was too tired to even think about it. She slowly drifted to sleep before she could realize it.
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"...I see. So she was pregnant? Understandable. I also suffered that much as well back then when I was pregnant with my middle child, so I can understand her suffering. Don't worry, the rewards are here now. Sadly, she is not there to receive the reward since she is the one who made it possible to win. But it's not like she can control the feeling that happens when you are pregnant. Just tell her that I came by to deliver the award, alright?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Mayor."
Elaina heard those words when she woke up. Her morning sickness was now gone and she was now energized once more. She didn't know what time it was already but based on what she could see in the sky outside the window, it might be around noon.
She stood up from the bed and looked for Julia.
"Who was that, Julia?" Elaina asked as she scratched her head.
"Ah, good timing, Sis! You are now awake! Here, take a good look!" Julia then showed her a gold trophy in her hands.
"Huh? What is this? A trophy?" Elaina asked.
"Have you forgotten, Sis? This is the award from the bazaar contest you know?"
"Eh?" Elaina's eyes fixated on the trophy that was given to her.
"Thanks to your efforts, the team won by a landslide. This trophy signifies your win, Sis!"
Elaina was shocked. She was expecting to not win at all, but seeing how she won the top prize, that must mean that she also won the awards that will be given to her by the god.
"God, is this counted as a first-place win?" Elaina asked.
"[You should take a good look at the rewards later and judge if you win or not.]"
While Julia put the trophy on display, Elaina opened her Almanac and checked the mission progress and saw that the rewards that were coming were the ones that she would receive if she won, it only meant that she did win.
"[Congratulations, Elaina. Congratulations on winning a contest. I am proud to give you your rewards. Please receive them as soon as possible.]"
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