Time flies. Perhaps it was because Sophia spent too much time crafting weapons this year; over half a year has passed.
In fact, after Sophia obtained her new weapons, Airis also evolved her Life Staff into the highest-grade purple quality **[Grandmaster’s Life Staff]**. Compared to the previous blue-quality staff, all its attributes had been comprehensively improved.
Today is Christmas Eve. The current date is December 24, New Calendar 265.
Airis did not know if Christ existed in this world, but the custom of celebrating traditional Western festivals was still maintained here.
It has been two years since she arrived. Her memories of the previous world are gradually blurring, while her memories of who she was before becoming Airis have been fully activated. In fact, she had asked Sophia about this, and sure enough, the answer her sister gave matched what she thought.
Everything now is so real; she no longer knows if she is Ai Lei. That side of her consciousness only occasionally pops up, but she is very clear that she is Airis.
Well, at this point, there is nothing more to worry about. On this important day, Aunt Rachel and Nino will come to the Witch’s Hut to celebrate the holiday with them.
Today’s Witch’s Hut is full of festive atmosphere. The windowsills are decorated with wreaths made of pine branches, and the gilded bells on them are particularly eye-catching. Before long, the bells chime. Entering through the door are a short, red-eyed witch and an older woman dressed in solemn priestly robes.
Inside, a fir tree about two meters tall has already been wrapped in colored magic lights by the witch sisters, turning it into a pillar of light. The small silver star on top of the tree is exceptionally bright.
“Merry Christmas! Sister Airis, Sister Sophia!” Nino ran toward the two with open arms, and the three of them collided in a hug.
“May the fireplace on a snowy night warm your hut, and may the bells on the pine wreaths bring you good luck. Long time no see, Lady Sophia, Lady Airis.” The woman in priestly robes wearing round glasses had a gentle tone full of intimacy.
After their mother fell years ago, Aunt Rachel immediately led the divine personnel of the temple to evacuate, which saved them from Adomiri’s punishment.
She knew the High Priestess had entrusted her offspring to Lady Angelica, but because of the barrier issues over the years, they had never met the sisters.
However, the access permissions for the barrier were recently adjusted by Angelica. After all, besides their mother, only Sister An had this ability, which finally allowed Nino and Rachel to enter.
Before this, Rachel was very worried about the sisters’ situation. But after Nino successfully contacted them and informed her that both young ladies were safe and sound, Rachel’s heart finally found peace.
“Ladies, currently you are the leaders of all the clergy in the Felicitara Temple. Additionally, as a counselor, I can assure you that the Pope’s Resistance will do everything in its power to help you.”
“This is a letter sent to you by the leader of the Pope’s Resistance. There is no rush; you can read it some other day.” Aunt Rachel revealed all the current intelligence while looking at Angelica.
Airis tucked away the envelope. She did not notice it was a letter stamped with the Paricio family crest.
“Lady Angelica, please do not blame yourself too much. My Lord’s fall is only temporary and was not caused by your dereliction of duty. Lady Felicitara said that the future is already set.”
Rachel released a gentle divine aura that fascinated everyone present. She spoke unhurriedly while comforting Angelica.
‘Thank you, Rachel. You are still as excellent as ever,’ the little red dragon spoke to the divine beings present through mental telepathy.
“Excuse me, Lady Angelica, could we have a private word?” The female priest suddenly approached Sister An with a serious expression, glancing toward Sophia out of the corner of her eye.
Angelica seemed to understand, and the two walked out the door together.
‘Grown-ups talking, kids don’t butt in?’ Seeing the current state of these two, this was naturally what Airis thought.
Whatever, no point in being a killjoy. She looked at Sophia, who had not noticed anything at all, and sighed.
It should not be anything harmful to the sisters; Aunt Rachel was also part of their family. Thinking this, Airis’s doubts vanished.
Soon after, with everyone’s concerted efforts, a sumptuous banquet was completed.
By the way, Sophia bought many desserts from Mary’s restaurant today. No need to guess who they were for.
Scones, macaron sets, chocolate truffles, cream puffs, vanilla cupcakes, tiramisu, and English muffins…
With sparkling eyes, Airis slurped back the drool that was about to leak from the corner of her mouth. She had been waiting for this for a long time.
“Cheers! May the starlight of Christmas Eve guard you and your family, keeping you safe and healthy. I wish you all a Merry Christmas Eve!” Aunt Rachel was the first to raise her glass and speak.
“Cheers!” the other three chimed in.
Sophia leaned in with a hearty laugh, one arm around Airis, who was nibbling on a vanilla cupcake, and the other around Nino, who was drinking juice. Next to them, the young dragon Sister An was munching on delicious roasted meat.
The Witch’s Hut was filled with a happy and peaceful atmosphere. Tonight, with all of you by my side, it is wonderful.
While everyone was gathered, the others did not notice Sophia leaving the table. However, the keen Airis noticed her running up to the second floor and not coming down for nearly an hour.
‘When the house is too quiet, Sophia is definitely up to no good!’
During a lull, Airis crouched and sneaked upstairs to see what she was doing.
Arriving on the second floor, she did not see Sophia. But a large, exquisite wooden box suddenly appeared by the bed, the top decorated with a large Christmas-themed ribbon bow.
Airis had a bad feeling!
Opening the lid of the large wooden box, Airis nearly had a heart attack.
“Airis-chan… I’m your Ch-Chrithmath prethent…” Sophia, who was bound and gagged, could not make a proper sound, and her eyes had turned into heart-shaped pupils.
???!
The thing making her unable to speak was Airis’s sock, which she had taken off yesterday and had not had time to wash yet.
…
Airis was very puzzled. How on earth could a person complete this kind of operation alone? She even managed to tie herself up so tightly she could not move.
However, before long, the corners of Airis’s mouth kept rising, and her smile gradually became unrestrained.
“Mmm! Mmph!…” Sophia suddenly felt that things were looking bad, but she seemed to be enjoying it a little.
Without a word, Airis slammed the wooden box lid shut and went downstairs without looking back.
Neglect play!
Just as she got downstairs, Nino came over to ask, “Sister Airis, have you seen Sister Sophia?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just went up and asked her. She’s exhausted today and already preparing to sleep. Let’s keep playing music and dancing! There’s still an hour until midnight~” Airis tried to immediately rejoin the ongoing Christmas Eve party, but the corners of her mouth could not help but twitch upward.
She was not like this before. Why did she feel that because of Sophia, some kind of attribute had also awakened within her?
“Lady Airis, is Lady Sophia full? Why is she resting so early?” Aunt Rachel also came over to offer her concerns.
“Uh… yeah! It’s fine. Sophia said she ate too much the past few days and wants to lose some weight today. A lady has to maintain her figure, you know~” Airis talked nonsense with a straight face.
Afterward, no one cared about Sophia at all. Before long, the little dragon Sister An, having eaten her fill, leaned against the fireplace and began to snore.
Near midnight, since the clergy members of the temple within the Pope’s Resistance had discussed it with her beforehand, Rachel had to rush back to perform Midnight Mass. She took Nino with her and used a teleportation scroll to return to the Resistance base.
Consequently, Airis returned to the second floor and reopened the large wooden box.
The white-haired witch gave a devilish smile and said in a sweet voice:
“Goodnight, Sophia. Merry Christmas~”
She closed the box lid again, leaving a large gap for air circulation—naturally, this was a precaution taken so things would not get out of hand.
The box shook violently, accompanied by muffled “mmph” sounds. ‘What kind of gift could be so noisy? It’s so hard to guess~’
Thanks to the large wooden box being sturdy enough and the red ribbons being strong enough, the box held firm.
Airis let out a yawn and then drifted off to sleep.
…
…
In the morning, with a metaphorical rain cloud over her head, Sophia sat alone in the corner, hugging her legs and saying nothing. Even though she had regained her freedom, she did not seem happy.
To put it simply, Sophia was sulking again!
—
Christmas Eve, outside the city of Calumpolis, in the Knight’s Cemetery.
The night dyed the cemetery dark gray. Snow grains first fell finely on the ground with a soft *rustling* sound. Then the snow grew heavier, falling in large flakes like goose feathers, slowly descending and coating the tombstones and the Knight Princess’s armor in a layer of pale white.
The Knight Princess, who possessed a beautiful and handsome face, had a chillier aura about her now. Her cold gaze seemed as though it could pierce through anything.
This aura was her only protection; she had no family left by her side.
Christina’s mother had passed away when she was born. Then, as a young girl, shortly after her father went to war, she heard the tragic news brought by His Holiness the Pope.
She did not care at all about the bustle inside Calumpolis on Christmas Eve; she only found it noisy.
Not knowing how long she had been standing there, Christina did not notice how much snow had covered her armor.
She gently brushed the snow off the top of the tombstone and stroked the Paricio family eagle crest with a face full of sorrow.
“Father…” The blonde girl suddenly burst into tears, which dripped down onto the snow.
The navy-blue winter knight’s cloak was tied neatly and draped over the tombstone. Then, the Knight Princess left dejectedly.
“Airis Omnia, you shall pay for this in blood!”