"Nevermind... You are the same after all." Benjamin mumbled under his breath, his shoulders slumping as the last bit of hope drained from his face.

He disappeared without waiting for her reply.

Every place he went to, every kingdom and continent he teleported to, regarded him as if he was beneath notice and completely unimportant.

In Steelwood, the dwarves barely spared him a glance as they hurried past with armfuls of metals and tools.

In the Elven Empire, the empress waved him off with polite but distant excuses about urgent council meetings.

In the Orc’s forest, the burly warriors grunted short responses and turned back to their training without inviting him to join.

Even back in Fairylynch, Titania and every fairy there suddenly had something really important to do — fluttering away with hurried apologies about festival preparations or urgent repairs to things like the portal flower.

And for some reason, only Benjamin seems to feel he was being ignored.

Fed up and with his chest tight from the constant rejections, Benjamin teleported away from the surface world entirely.

He then appeared in the golden cloud world of the spirit realm; the heavenly realm specifically.

The endless shifting clouds stretched out in every direction, painted in warm golds and soft whites, with floating sigils and glowing symbols drifting lazily through the air like living constellations.

"...They’re tired of meeee!!" Benjamin cried dramatically, throwing himself face-first into Elyndor’s lap on her ridiculously large cloudy red bed.

The immensely large room around them kept changing subtly, with different golden sigils and symbols appearing and fading across the misty walls and ceiling in an ever-shifting dance.

"Come now, that must be untrue!" Elyndor rubbed his head gently on her lap, her flowing green hair spilling across the massive bed in several meters of silky waves that shimmered like fresh leaves in sunlight. "They must be simply exhausted. All of them."

"ALL OF THEM?!" Benjamin shot his teary eyes up at the goddess, locking onto her face as she quickly removed her gaze with a wry, awkward smile.

"But I have onserved the surface world where they dwell," Echidna was standing near the huge bed, her serpentine tongue lashing out briefly as she spoke in her usual calm hiss. "They do not seem to be under any large-scale mind control or the like. It must be Benjamin’s imagination running wild."

"Shut up, serpent!" Benjamin snapped from his place in Elyndor’s lap, his voice sharp and frustrated as he glared at the snake-featured goddess.

Elyndor then raised his cheeks carefully with both hands and planted a soft, lingering kiss on his lips, her touch warm and reassuring.

"See? I am not ignoring you at all," she smiled, her vibrant green eyes narrowing in gentle assurance as she pulled back slightly.

"...Well... You’re a literal god, so it doesn’t count." Benjamin turned his flushed face away, mumbling into the soft clouds of the bed.

He managed to get a few precious hours of undivided attention from the goddess, her fingers running through his hair and her voice murmuring soothing words as the golden clouds shifted around them.

But eventually she had to leave for her interworld duties, kissing his forehead one last time before vanishing in a swirl of golden light.

So he just went back to Verdant Spire.

It was sunset by the time he reached the familiar forest, the sky painted in deep oranges and purples as the sun dipped below the distant canopy.

Instead of heading straight to any of the tree platforms, he chose to walk on the plains for a bit, his boots crunching softly through the tall grasses of the Whispering Wilds.

The evening breeze carried the scent of wildflowers and earth, but it did little to lift the heavy weight still sitting on his chest.

Walking alone through the Whispering Wilds for a while, he suddenly met the grey-skinned titan, Grey Ivy, who came bounding toward him from behind a cluster of bushes.

"Papa!" She chirped happily and hopped straight onto his body, wrapping her small arms around his neck with pure, unfiltered joy.

[Oh? I almost forgot about Grey and the others], Benjamin thought, a tiny spark of relief flickering inside him as he caught her automatically.

"Uhm... Is Grey Ivy g... glad to see Papa?" Benjamin asked warily, his voice hesitant as he held her at arm’s length for a moment, searching her innocent face.

But Grey Ivy nodded vigorously and beamed up at him with the brightest smile, her eyes sparkling. "Yes! Grey Ivy is always happy to meet Papa!"

And that single honest response dropped some of the heavy load off his shoulders and chest.

And he remained quite happy as he carried the short stack back toward the main Spire area, her small body warm and trusting against him.

He wondered quietly if the Amazons must have become gentler with him, recalling how coldly Lulu and the others had treated him earlier that day.

Entering deeper into Verdant Spire as the last light of sunset faded, one Amazon suddenly approached him on a wide branch platform, her face looking quite panicked as she spoke quickly.

"Sir Benjamin, your attention is needed immediately in the grand gathering area near the central tree!"

She sounded very urgent, so he immediately left her and teleported there without hesitation.

"SURPRISE!!"

That was the loud, thunderous shout that resonated through the entire space the moment he appeared.

He was completely surrounded.

The Amazons, the beastkins from Shishi-no-su, the fairies from Fairylynch, the orcs, the elves, the dwarves, the ogres from Goliathens...

Everyone was there, packed onto the large wooden platforms and vine bridges woven high among the ancient trees.

A massive banner made of woven flowers and colorful leaves hung prominently, spelling out in bold letters: "Happy Benjamin Day!"

"What’s... happening?" Benjamin asked, his eyes wide as he looked around at all the excited faces smiling back at him, lanterns and glowing flowers lighting up the gathering as night fully settled in.

"Benjamin, please forgive our vile attitude towards you today!" Sara walked forward from the crowd and began, her voice clear and sincere as she met his gaze. "We wanted to really shock you with this surprise, so Kurosawa Ren had given us this strategy to make it effective."

Benjamin turned his head sharply to where he sensed Ren, who had tried to become invisible in the back to avoid the death glare Benjamin was now shooting him.

Sara continued, stepping closer with a warm smile. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me... to us. And we needed to celebrate it properly, even if it meant acting cold for one day... Mhm? Please, forgive us."

Benjamin only stared like a clueless monkey, his eyes slowly scanning the entire area filled with familiar faces — Titania waving shyly, Sakura and her sisters standing proudly nearby, Dynamis and Tigranes grinning with her arms crossed, Usagi and Silverøse quietly fighting for a honeyed fruit, and even Lulu peeking out from behind a group of bunnies with a sheepish grin.

"So... none of you hate me?" He asked, his voice still carrying a trace of disbelief.

"We could never, even if we tried," Sakura voiced close by, her tone gentle and affectionate.

Benjamin began to laugh heartily, holding his stomach as the tension finally broke, remembering how he had been running around the world like a lost kid searching for their parents in the park. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"You guys... Never do that again," He smiled at the blushing crowd, as they never quite got used to seeing a laughing, genuinely smiling Benjamin. "I love you all too. Happy Benjamin Day...? Haha! Okay, I guess..."