Snow falls almost every year at Winter Veil, and this year is no exception.
Early in the morning, heavy snow fell in Ice Rock City, and a biting cold wind blew through the dark sky.
In such bad weather, the benevolent lord did not let the slaves go out to work.
They huddled together in the newly built refugee camp, relying on each other's body temperature to keep warm.
All of a sudden, the camp was boiling again, and all kinds of shouts of surprise were heard, because the benevolent lord actually asked the soldiers to bring wine to the slaves.
Of course, the wine was not good wine, and it was mixed with a lot of water, but to the vast majority of slaves who had never tasted wine in their lives, it seemed like a fine nectar from heaven.
The spicy wine dispelled the severe cold, and countless slaves prostrated themselves on the ground, praising the lord's kindness loudly.
But at this moment, the benevolent lord is still lying in the warm bed.
It was snowing heavily outside, but inside it was warm as spring.
The flames in the fireplace danced all night, and the heat emitted made the whole room extraordinarily comfortable.
Cathy walked in lightly, stuffed some dry wood into the fireplace, and was about to leave when Colin sat up from the bed.
"My lord, you are awake."
"kindness."
In fact, Ke Lin woke up early, but on such a snowy morning, getting out of bed was also a kind of commemoration and remembrance of the habits of his previous life.
"Happy Winter Veil, Lord Viscount! I'll go and get you some wash water and breakfast right now."
Today, Cathy dressed up specially, wearing a white dress with a ruffled apron around her waist. Her long chestnut hair was tied up with a red scarf, looking simple and elegant.
Watery eyes, long pointed ears, and delicate facial features gave her a delicate aura.
"Happy Winter Veil!" Colin greeted the half-elf maid with a smile.
Then I got out of bed and walked to the window, looking at the world covered in silver outside, my thoughts were flying.
The Winter Veil Festival is a festival unique to the Glorious Empire. It lasts from mid-December to early January of the next year. It is the most grand festival of the year.
On the snow in the castle, there are three children playing around.
They were all collateral members of the Angelet family, and Colin was not familiar with them. It took a long time to tell each other before he remembered the name of one of the little boys. As for the other two, he couldn't remember at all.
Hearing the innocent laughter of the children beside him, an unspeakable loneliness suddenly surged into Colin's heart.
call-
Colin suddenly pushed open the window.
The bitter north wind mixed with snowflakes rushed towards the face, carrying a icy chill, as if it wanted to penetrate deep into the bones and freeze the blood.
However, Colin didn't care at all.
After being promoted to the fourth-rank knight, his heart that had been silent for a long time suddenly revived and started beating again, and it was beating more powerfully and surgingly than before.
Driven by this heart, the blood in his whole body was also surging like a torrential river, and the heat radiating from his whole body made the snowflakes all over the sky melt into water before it even touched his skin.
"Ah! Lord Viscount, why did you open the window? Be careful of the cold." Cathy walked in with the toiletries, and couldn't help exclaiming.
Colin smiled, closed the window again, and turned to let Cathy wash himself.
"My lord, are you having breakfast here today, or going to the restaurant?"
"Right here."
"yes."
Soon, Cathy came in again with a plate.
Breakfast was hearty, char-grilled tilapia, creamy tomatoes, almond gingerbread, and a glass of eggnog.
However, Colin frowned: "Eggnog? Didn't I ask you to prepare stager wine for every meal?"
Cathy explained in a low voice: "My lord, this is the first meal of the Winter Veil Festival. According to tradition, there must be almond gingerbread and eggnog."
It was only then that Colin remembered that this was indeed the case.
"My lord, if you insist, I can go to the kitchen to prepare a glass of stag blood wine now."
"Forget it." Colin waved his hand.
It doesn't matter if you don't drink blood for a meal, and he doesn't bother to let the kitchen go to trouble.
Do as the Romans do, and Ke Lin also happened to use these foods to experience the atmosphere of the Winter Veil Festival in this world.
"How do you half-elves usually spend Winter Veil?" Colin asked casually while enjoying the wonderful reaction of gingerbread and eggnog in his mouth.
Cathy, who stood by, smiled and said, "Actually, the Winter Veil Festival in the Half-Elf Kingdom is no different from that in the Empire. The only difference is that we will hold a bonfire party at night."
"Campfire?"
"Yes, it can also be called a bonfire dance, but the dancers are all male half-elves, and they will show off their talents at the ball to attract the attention of female half-elves."
"Wouldn't they invite the female half-elves to dance with them?"
"No, that's the custom of your human empire. Half-elf dances are usually solo dances. At the end of the ball, there will be a judge composed of respected old people to select the male half-elf with the most beautiful dancing posture."
Speaking of this, Cathy seemed to recall something, and her little face suddenly turned red, which was extremely cute.
Colin was a little speechless.
"The most graceful dancer..."
This expression gave Colin goosebumps all over his body.
But as a gentleman, Colin suppressed his inner discomfort and asked with a smile, "Then what reward will this winner get?"
"He will get the title of 'Moonlight Dancer'." Cathy's eyes were full of envy and reverence, as if she yearned for this title very much.
Colin nodded, and suddenly became interested in this moonlight dancer, wanting to see how graceful their dancing posture is.
"This custom of yours should be passed down to the elves, right?"
"Yes." Cathy nodded, "Besides, before the elves disappeared in Huiyue Forest, the moonlight dancer selection ball in Silvermoon City would actually have representatives of elves to attend."
"Oh? Since when did the elves completely cut off contact with you?"
Cathy pondered for a moment, then replied: "I have read the records of the Savoy family's classics, probably... more than 800 years ago, the elves completely disappeared in the depths of the Glorious Forest, and have never contacted us again."
Colin had finished eating the food in front of him, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and asked curiously, "Did you half-elves never try to enter Huiyue Forest to find traces of the elves?"
"Of course there was. In the first few years when the elves disappeared, many half-elf nobles in Silvermoon City who were closely connected with the elves panicked. They sent a large number of rangers and soldiers to Huiyue Forest to try to find the elves. trail.
But... the half-elfs who entered the Huiyue Forest, without exception, never came out again... "
"Never come out again?" Colin frowned.
He suddenly felt that the disappearance of the elves might not be that simple.
That mysterious and dangerous Huiyue Forest should hide some unknown things.
(end of this chapter)