The year 1854 of the Universal Calendar, the first day of the new month, the early morning of Wednesday, began in a slightly awkward but inexplicably harmonious family atmosphere.
The awkward moment was when everyone was woken up by Xiaomia in the closet early in the morning, but the girls tacitly pretended to be asleep; and the harmony was when Xia De returned to the living room after washing up and found the three girls humming songs and preparing breakfast together.
This is the most important breakfast of the year, and the skillful housewives will never hesitate to show off their cooking skills.
While they were making breakfast, Xia De, who was disliked for being in the way, was sitting on the sofa in the living room, holding a cat and a teacup, reading a newspaper and waiting.
"I thought you would have something to say after I've spent my first year in this world."
He sighed softly in his heart, and "she" smiled and answered in Xia De's ear:
You've found your own way to celebrate, and, well, the past is over and you're ready to face new challenges, right
“Yes, a much tougher challenge.”
For the beginning of the year, this is really quite leisurely and comfortable. Although Xia De hopes that his life can maintain this pace throughout the year, the dream last night has already indicated that he will not be able to relax.
Fortunately, Dr. Schneider was a professional. Although Shade had invaded the girls' dreams last night, Resia, Dorothy, and Luvia did not notice it. The shy girls never mentioned what happened last night, as if they were all resting in different rooms last night.
At this moment, Shade turned his eyes away from the newspaper and looked at the house that belonged to him, comparing it with the dilapidated scene in his dream. Then he looked at Mia again. As expected, he still thought that the cat with amber eyes looked cuter:
"But is the cat that appeared in the dream actually another me of Luvia, who really saw it? Or, like in Leicia's dream, is the cat in the dream just caused by my own thoughts?"
Regardless of whether the cat was real or not, that dream was definitely not just a dream. On the night when 1853 ended and 1854 officially began, the stranger touched the truth of the world. Although it was a little hard to accept, he had to face this fact anyway.
He still needs to hold a ceremony to verify the final conjecture and sort out the order of time. After that, a new adventure will also begin. The old year ends and the new year begins; the low ring ends and the middle ring begins. A new story has begun. Next, he may face more dangers, but fortunately he is no longer alone.
"So, what else did you find last night?"
He asked softly in his heart.
With your deep contact last night, you touched the mystery of her soul.
Luvia Anat's alter ego is entangled in a powerful time curse and her soul is severely damaged.
It is certain that the reason why Luvia Annette is cursed is because of her other self.
"She" was whispering important information in Shade's ear. Shade's hand was touching the cat's ears. The cat was lying on Shade's lap obediently waiting for breakfast. It had already anticipated that this would be a sumptuous meal.
"I already knew all this. So, does her other self have a soul of its own?"
Yes, but the essence of the soul is exactly the same as herself.
These words confirmed what Xia De had been guessing all along, so he asked the key question:
"Can this level of soul damage be healed?"
Xia De asked in his heart while continuing to look at the newspaper in his hand.
The newspaper had a special report on the King's speech in Parliament yesterday morning. The front page headline was of course a large photo of the King waving his right hand, but Shade could see half of Leisia's body at the edge of the photo.
Being able to follow her father and appear in the speech to all citizens at the end of the year was of great significance to Leicia. And this morning's morning newspaper was two pages thicker than usual because it reproduced the full text of His Majesty the King's speech.
However, the King's speech does give an idea of what was happening in Delarion in 1853, and reading the report is a very meaningful act.
Using special coins, the time and civilization attributes of the currency itself can speed up the healing of her soul. The inexplicable power of fate makes it possible for every witnessing of the story of the chosen one to greatly increase the healing speed of the other me.
Xia De nodded, looked at the girls busy in the kitchen, and frowned slightly:
"So... is it possible for her to devour the real Luvia?"
This was what he really wanted to ask, and "she" really smiled gently:
She is who she is. Although her alter ego is special, it is indeed another self. In addition to the suicide reversal, have you heard that the alter ego of the ring warlock can devour itself in turn
This way, Shad was relieved that the coexistence of the two Luvias would not pose any risks. But this also meant that after a moment of leisure, he had to set off for a new city. This time, the destination was the "City of Spring" in the southwest of the old continent - Randall Valley City. A new journey would surely bring new stories.
Thinking about something, I continued to flip through the newspaper in my hand. But "her" voice did not stop:
I felt the spying of fate.
"What?"
Xia De stood up and walked quickly to the bedroom to take out the twenty-sided dice of fate. It's not that no one has predicted him before, but no one has ever been able to "see" him. Now that "she" has sent a reminder, it means that someone is about to see his true face.
Don't be nervous, the unknown source of the prying is just touching the edge of the truth. As long as the divinity still resides in your soul, you don't have to worry about someone being able to find you through divination.
Xia De was relieved at this. After sitting down again, he looked out the window:
"Who is spying on me? The church? The Truth Society? Or some other organization?"
There is no answer to this question, but the repeated appearance of "Godcaller" and the fact that he is now recognized as the chosen one of "wisdom and knowledge" have destined people to try their best to find the true identity of this thirteen-ring warlock.
Xia De must be more careful in his future actions.
The first breakfast of the New Year was very sumptuous, the atmosphere at home was also very good, and everyone tacitly did not mention what happened last night. When breakfast was over, Luvia smiled and said goodbye to Shade:
"There are still some things going on at the association."
Although the Prophet Association also had a holiday during the year-end festival, Luvia, as the association's ring wizard, still had a lot of things to deal with. Of course, through last night's dream, Shade also understood that this was a deal between Lecia and Luvia to facilitate the smooth progress of the Red Butterfly Day.
He sent Luvia downstairs, and then went out with Lesia and Dorothy.
This Red Butterfly Day started at around eight o'clock last night and will naturally end at around eight o'clock tonight. Lecia has already arranged all the itineraries to spend the first day of 1854.
Although Miss Carina helped to cover up, it was strange for Resia to stay out of the whole day. Therefore, before lunch that day, Resia temporarily left Shad and Dorothy, but within half an hour, she appeared in a carriage with Ajelina.
The little princess was wearing a sky blue dress today with a pink bow on her head. When she saw Xia De, she greeted him enthusiastically.
And when Lesia called Ajelina, of course, she didn't want to add another person to the date of the three of them, but just wanted Ajelina to prove that she had been with Lesia all day.
So after having lunch in the secret box of a high-end club in the east of the city, Lecia asked Ajelina to go find Miss Carina first and call her back for the opera in the evening.
The little princess had a feeling that she would most likely have to guard the door again tonight.
In short, for Shad, the first day of 1854 was quite pleasant. He temporarily put aside his worries and went to the city with Lesia and Dorothy to have fun at the end of the year, visiting churches, art galleries, and the Town Hall Square. The three of them even went to the Three Cats Inn. Lesia wanted to see the lives of ordinary people in the city on this memorable day.
The day ended at the Queen Maria Opera House. According to royal custom, on the first day of the new year, the royal family members would go to the opera house together to enjoy the opera. However, given the large number of children of His Majesty the King, it was impossible for all of them to squeeze into the same box.
If Shade hadn't been there, Leisia would have stayed by Queen Diana's side. But since the Red Butterfly Day hadn't ended yet, she greeted her father, mother, brothers, sisters, and sisters, and then brought Ajelina to the private box she had chosen.
The little princess bit her lip and looked at her sister, the beautiful blonde writer, and Xia De sitting together warmly. She held Xiaomia in her arms and consciously retreated to a room aside with the maids.
But before they parted that night, Ajelina still gave the year-end gift to the dishevelled Shad. At that time, Resia and Dorothy were still in the box tidying up their clothes and asking the maid to help them with their hair and clean the room.
The little princess called the knight who came to retrieve Mia and gave him a gift that was not expensive. It was a holiday card she made for Shade. The small paper spring was made into a small structure that would pop out a smiling face stuck on the spring when it was opened. The inside of the card was made of multiple layers of hard paper, and some pictures could be animated by pushing and pulling the paper strips on the side.
Although the craftsmanship is a bit crude, it does reflect her intentions.
"Your Highness, this is truly unexpected. It is my honor."
Xia De took the card and was very surprised by the gift. While the little princess put her hands behind her back and looked at him shyly, he reached into his pocket and took out the crystal clear ice flower (note).
Under the gas lamp, the translucent ice crystal petals sparkled with a clear light. Ajelina looked at the flower in Shade's hand in surprise, and Shade said apologetically:
"It's not pre-packaged in a gift box... but it will stay warm for months at room temperature. I hope you enjoy it, Your Highness—Happy End of Year."
"Happy end of year!"
Ajelina was so surprised that she wanted to take the flower, but after the maid behind her kindly coughed to remind her, she stretched out her hand reservedly and let Xia De pass the flower to her palm.
"Knight, my birthday is next month, and I will be seventeen."
She looked at the flower and whispered:
"I'm not inviting you to my birthday party... You have to come... I'm just telling you, father, that I'm going to get engaged this year..."
"As long as you don't want to marry each other, I will find a way."
Shade said that this was his promise. But he also knew that Leicia would not just ignore it. Although she was very strict with her sister, Leicia also had deep feelings for Ajelina.
After receiving the "promise", the little princess smiled. She continued to lower her head and stared at the crystal clear ice flower in her hand with wide eyes.
Thus, the stranger's first year in this world officially came to an end. He walked through the corridors of the opera house holding the cat. Although he still faced challenges, his steps were no longer as heavy as when he first came to this world and walked through the streets alone and fearfully.