"Surprise!"

Iva was greeted by Xiao's joyful shout when she stepped out of his room.

Behind Xiao was a table full of gorgeous looking food that she never saw Xiao cook before.

"Come on. Put away the broom and come sit down already," Xiao says with a beaming smile as he invites Iva to sit.

While still confused, Iva accepts Xiao's invitation as she sits at her seat. Her eyes were glued to the mouth-watering food in front of her.

"Are we celebrating something?" Iva asked.

"Well, before that, wait here for a moment," says Xiao.

He then stood up and entered his workshop, leaving Iva in confusion.

After a few seconds, Xiao came out from the workshop with both of his hands hiding behind.

"What do you think about the dress you are wearing now?" Xiao asked.

The dress that Iva was wearing the whole time was an oversize one-piece dress that Xiao created.

Xiao can't let her continue wearing the sackcloth, for it was already in a horrible state, so he created a temporary dress for her first. At the same time, he worked in secret on the clothes he had in mind for Iva.

"It's the best dress I have in my life," Iva says happily while looking at her oversize dress that was dragging the floor as she walked.

"Best dress, huh? Well, I appreciate your compliment, but you really can't walk properly in that dress."

Xiao felt terrible after Iva gave praise for something he created in a hurry.

"So, here you go," says Xiao as he presents the thing that has been hiding behind him to Iva.

It was a set of clothes, together with a pair of boots.

The boot was brown and made of leather. It has two belts around the calf, which the wearer will fasten when they wear the boot.

As for the clothes, there was a red long sleeve hip-length coat designed with golden stripes. The coat also included a hoodie, which was big enough to cover Iva's upper face.

Besides the red coat, there was also a white sleeveless button shirt and brown pants. The sleeveless shirt was made in wool and wood buttons, while the pants were made in leather, designed in hot pant style.

"Is this all...for me? Iva looks at Xiao in disbelief.

"That's why I say here you go. Go on, take and try them on," says Xiao.

Upon hearing Xiao's confirmation, Iva slowly faces the floor. She became quiet all of a sudden. Xiao got confused about what had gotten into her. He also couldn't see her expression as she was facing down.

Iva took a shaky breath, her lips quivering as she tried to form the words. Her voice was barely a whisper, a mix of confusion and pain.

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“Why…?” she began, but her voice cracked. 'Why do you keep treating me kindly?' Her eyes were wide, brimming with tears, and her expression was raw, unguarded.

”‘I don’t understand…” she continued, as if the weight of the kindness she had received was too much to bear."

Xiao was surprised by Iva's reaction. He tries to think of something to say but can't seem to find the right words.

"People hate me. I'm a curse. The only person who treated me kindly is grandma. But now, someone who is not related to me, not even a Dark Elf, gives me such wonderful gifts..." Iva's voice slowly got covered by her overflowing emotion until she couldn't continue talking anymore as she fell to the ground.

This was the first time Iva cried in front of Xiao. She always stuck with her blank expression that Xiao sometimes wondered whether she could make other expressions.

But today, Iva proves to Xiao that she can be expressive as well. She was bawling her eyes out as she wept loudly.

At first, Xiao had no idea what to say or do in this situation. But looking at Iva made Xiao remember something, his past experience with Kang, his little brother.

When they were still kids, there was a time when Kang injured his leg while playing and he cried. At that time, Xiao remembers him doing something.

Xiao crouches down and places one of his hands on Iva's head and the other on her back. He then gently strokes her head and pat her back, just like how he did to Kang at that time.

Xiao felt a pang of guilt. He hadn’t meant to make her cry. Her tears reminded him of Kang, of how he used to comfort his little brother when he was scared. Without thinking, he moved closer, crouching down beside her.

Iva clung to Xiao, her small frame shaking with each sob. Her tears soaked into his shirt, warm and heavy, as her cries echoed in the quiet room.

Sometime later, Iva slowly gets a hold of herself and stops crying.

"Settle down already," asked Xiao.

Iva nodded her head in response, and Xiao gently stroked her head.

Iva looks at Xiao with a serious gaze. Her eyes were red with all the crying.

"What should I do if people treat me kindly?" Iva asked him with a serious tone.

Xiao was about to tell Iva to just say thank you, but her intense gaze has Xiao stop himself from doing so.

For a moment, Iva didn't respond. She stared down at the floor, her shoulders beginning to tremble. Xiao noticed her hands clutching the fabric of her oversized dress tightly, her knuckles turning white. His heart tightened, sensing the turmoil inside her.

With that, he was totally clueless on what to answer.

("She's really serious about this… I guess I need to give her a proper answer. But seriously, who asks something like that?")

After hard thinking while under the pressure of Iva's gaze, Xiao speaks out.

"Well, now might be an excellent chance to learn how to accept people's kindness, I think," says Xiao, remembering a line that he read somewhere in a book.

"Accept kindness? How exactly? By taking something from the person? Or giving them something? Could you give an example?" Iva follows up vigorously.

"Look. Just say thank you, that's all, and maybe do something good for that person in return, I guess." Giving up on coming out with a philosophical answer, Xiao blurred out his thoughts.

"Is it really that simple?" says Iva as she looks at Xiao in disbelief.

"It's that simple. Though it might be hard for you to understand now," Xiao subconsciously pat Iva's head as he answered.

"Because I'm a kid, right? Then I understand already." Iva sounded annoyed while she replied to Xiao. What Xiao said and what he did while saying made Iva think that Xiao was treating her like a kid again.

("How badly does she don't want to be treated like a kid...")

Xiao shakes his head and lets out a sigh of thought. Iva has already returned to her usual blank face.

"So, thank you." Said Iva as she bows to Xiao.

"Yup, you're welcome. So go put on it already." Xiao replied and handed her the clothes.

As Iva took the clothes into her hands, her face lit up. She unfolded them slowly, her eyes widening with amazement at the careful details in every stitch.

And finally, she hugged the clothes tightly into her chest while letting out an expression so rare that stunned Xiao for a while.

"Now that's a beautiful smile," Xiao says secretly as he memorizes this precious moment he is witnessing.