After putting down the thick parchment, Shade found the ice crystal pendant from the pile of toys and pendants in the bedside table.
Xia De stared at the pendant in a daze, and after holding it in his palm, he thought of Miss Chloe Yin's appearance.
Of course, he knew exactly what kind of feelings the silver-haired, red-eyed witch had for him when she said goodbye to him for the last time, but Miss Chloe Yin was also the witch who had lived the longest time away from the outsiders.
After a slight sigh, he placed the ice crystal pendant next to the three gleaming stone slabs. He stroked the slabs with his fingers, then held the cat and took the Arrow of the Chosen One to find Tifa.
It was already dark, and from the corridor of the manor one could see the falling snow dancing in the moonlight.
During the time when Miss Carina was "resting in bed", all affairs in the manor were handled by Tifa and her secretaries. When Shad saw Tifa, she had just finished arranging tomorrow's schedule in the study.
Seeing Shade coming in, Tifa asked Miss Carina's personal maids to leave for the time being. The young girls greeted Shade with a smile, and then whispered to each other about the rumors about Shade's relationship with the head maid.
After the door was closed, Xia De gestured with the arrow:
"Tifa, do you need new strength?"
He briefly explained the arrow's current function and attributed this new function to the blessing given by Miss Feliana.
Although Miss Carina was not there, Tifa did not sit in the main seat behind the desk. Instead, she placed another chair next to the exquisite velvet back chair:
“No one will reject new power.”
She said with a smile.
"Then I'll stab you. Please roll up your sleeves."
Shade waved the arrow to signal. The maid thought for a moment, unbuttoned her chest, looked at Shade, and pointed to the velvet chair, which was Miss Carina's chair, and motioned Shade to sit down:
"But, Shade, can you please clean up the blood stains for me?"
Shade put Mia on the desk, and it looked at the two people in the room curiously. Shade pursed his lips slightly, and Tifa looked at him with a blushing expression:
"In order to return before the end of the year, Speaker Yin Shabella will let Miss Sylvia cooperate with the parliament to open a direct channel for her to return in order to reward her for her contribution. This cannot be used frequently... She will be back at this time tomorrow, which is Sunday night."
As he spoke, his dark brown eyes looked at Xia De:
"Knight, the Duke's maid can only... "
Shad sat down on the velvet chair, and Tifa opened the left front of her hand. The brass arrow with the warmth of Shad's palm pierced into her pale skin. Amid a slight cry of pain, a round stain of blood seeped out.
Shade took away the arrow, and when the life ring behind Tifa appeared automatically, she hugged Shade's head again. Since the Duke was not here, the maid also wanted to relax for a rare time.
In short, Tifa did not gain a thaumaturgy, but a new enlightenment spirit rune pain. Now that all the spirit runes of the sixth ring are complete, she can perform a ceremony to advance to the seventh ring.
"Meow~"
The cat stared at the life ring and was worried that Xia De would suffocate to death.
Luvia was right to let Shade stay at Miss Carina's manor to rest, because Shade had not yet fully recovered. It was a feeling that was hard to describe, just like an ordinary person who had not gotten enough sleep.
However, given the superposition of "coma after divine overflow" and "weakness after forcibly using the Word of Sublimation", the current state is normal.
Before eight o'clock in the evening, Xia De returned to his bedroom to rest. The maids prepared a midnight snack of dessert and hot tea for him. The gas lamp in the bedroom and the angel-shaped gas table lamp at the head of the bed were also very bright.
Mia lay beside the pillow, being touched by Shad from time to time, while Shad held the parchment and read it carefully, wanting to pick out some interesting magic and spells to learn.
The atmosphere at night was very comfortable, and Shade felt that as long as he had a good rest, he would be able to return to normal tomorrow. He still had a lot of things to do, including the perfume bottle of desire, the ritual to enhance the perception of time, the dream ritual prepared by Dr. Schneider, and Miss Danister's wordless black book.
He thought that he was always busy, but decided to finish these things and enjoy the year-end festival starting next Tuesday. He even wanted to postpone the use of the next key so that he could have a good rest in the first half of 1854.
As he was thinking, there was a knock on the bedroom door, and then the door opened. Shade heard the sound of small square-heeled leather shoes stepping on the floor. This was the standard dress of the maids in the manor. Generally, they would wear uniform white cotton socks under their shoes. It was said that in the palace of Duke Carina of Saradir County, the maids all dressed like this.
Xia De knew that the maids had come to get more tea, so he didn't pay much attention to it. But soon, footsteps came to the bedside, and a familiar voice asked softly:
"Mr. Hamilton, Miss Servet asked me to come and sleep with you tonight."
"No, no, I don't need..."
Curious as to why Tifa would arrange such a thing, he was about to put down the parchment in his hand, but unexpectedly a fair hand took the parchment away directly, and then the girl in a maid outfit bent over the bed and kissed Shade.
Xia De's eyes widened, and after pushing her away, he saw that it was actually Luvia. However, Luvia was now wearing a black and white maid dress, and even her brown hair was styled in a way that was convenient for maids to move around.
She clasped her hands together and hung them in front of her chest, and asked Xiang Xiade with a smile:
"Should I stay, Mr. Hamilton?"
As she spoke, she lifted her right leg, which was wearing white stockings, and placed it on the bed, and then lifted the other leg. She knelt on the bed and looked down at Xia De, who heard the rhythmic sound of two small black leather shoes falling one after another on the carpet beside the bed.
"Hmm... where did you get this dress?"
"I borrowed it from Tifa, but unfortunately I can't wear her clothes. We are about the same height, but... fortunately, this is the kind of clothes that are most in demand here. The other maids helped me find this one. I have to admit that this dress is more complicated and... beautiful than I thought."
Luvia blushed slightly:
"But I have heard some rumors from other maids in the manor. Did you have a good afternoon this afternoon, Mr. Knight?"
There are no secrets where girls gather. No matter how secretive Tifa and Shade are, they can't completely hide it from others. Shade didn't know how to answer, so the purple-eyed girl said seriously:
"Mr. Hamilton, this is Miss Servet's kindness. Please don't refuse it."
"Well, I do need a maid to...sleep with me."
Saying such words made Xia De feel very embarrassed, and the outsider cursed himself in his heart for becoming such a person.
So, the maid, Miss Luvia Annette, kissed Shade a little "clumsily". This night would probably be very interesting... ... But Mia, who was woken up, probably didn't think so.
Early on Sunday morning, feeling that he had almost recovered, Shad had breakfast and went into the city with Luvia and Tifa, who happened to be going to the Yodel Palace for some business.
He first sent Luvia to the Prophet's Association, and then said goodbye to Tifa, and agreed to see her again tomorrow afternoon. After returning to his long-lost home, Shade stored all the relics and special items he brought with him. Then he used four rings to "trap" the grumpy cat, and allowed it to carry four rings with its tail at a time, and then went to the island in the center of the Great Swamp alone from the basement.
It was really funny to see Xiaomia walking around the house with four rings jingling.
When returning home early Thursday morning, Sister Defulin helped Shad touch the statue of the ancient god under the lighthouse on the island in the middle of the lake. As a result, in addition to "Tobesk-St. Teresa Square", "Coldwater Harbor-Underwater Cliff Cave", "Midhill Castle-Abandoned Tower in the Mountain" and "Huntington-White River Valley Vineyard", there was a fifth signpost on his space maze path: "Pantanal Swamp-Lighthouse on the Island in the Middle of the Lake".
The hidden space beneath the lighthouse was the same size and shape as the other five places, except that there was a stone-gray bookshelf here, but there was nothing on it.
Shade revealed his life ring and opened the exit. Outside was the basement of the lighthouse. Unlike the basement in the Sikar Mountains, which did not even have stairs, the basement of this old lighthouse was still in use. The Pantanal Voodoo Society used to store tools for repairing lamps and spare fuel here.
He walked up the stairs to the first floor of the lighthouse and suddenly saw the light outside the lighthouse door from the darkness. Xia De squinted his eyes and raised his arms.
And in that light, a gray-haired lady with her back to him, wearing a gray nun's robe, with her hair braided and hanging behind her, a silver eye mask on her face, and a gray waistcoat draped over her shoulders, turned around, smiled and bowed slightly to him.
At this moment, the light beside the nun revealed the scenery outside the lighthouse, illuminated by the mild winter sun. Shade was stunned for a moment, then smiled and waved and walked over:
"Good morning, Sister Devereine!"
Now the entire island in the middle of the lake is under the curse of the Pantanal evil creature, so the church did not set up a camp on the island in the middle of the lake, but on the outskirts of the lake. Only the thirteenth ring warlocks and a few twelve ring warlocks from the Church of Nature and the Church of the Sun can go to the island to check the situation.
Therefore, with Sister Defulin accompanying him, Shade did not have to worry about being discovered by the church. And Shade also told the nun that the purpose of his trip was to see a level 0 relic.
The nun had heard the legend of desire, and after careful consideration decided to follow Shad to meet the other party.