Inside a small villa, Sharon was flipping through a story collection. It was a book Hastur had specially bought for her, said to record fairy tales from the Feysac Empire.
At first, she had refused it, but after reading the first story, she felt the selection wasn't bad after all. The stories inside were quite interesting and also introduced quite a bit about Feysac's local customs and culture.
But compared to this kind of fairy-tale collection, she preferred the stories personally written by Hastur. His stories seemed to contain even more whimsical ideas, and the protagonists always suited her taste.
There was the puppet who made puppets, the genius magical girl who joined a magic academy, the tiny people, and so on.
"Sharon, Hastur sent an invitation, inviting us to spend the New Year together with him. What do you think of the idea?"
At this moment, Maric strode over, holding an invitation in his hand.
"Mm, that's fine." Sharon only replied indifferently.
As for celebrating the New Year, ever since she left the Rose School of Thought and her teacher was no longer by her side, she had no particular expectations for this festival.
"You don't seem very happy?"
"Do I?" Maric seemed to smell gossip, and said a bit slyly, "Definitely. Did you regret rejecting Hastur's proposal back then to go with him to Southville County?"
"Do you really want to go?"
"Mm. Staying in Backlund all the time makes me feel like time is being wasted."
"So you're craving adventure?"
"I'm just a bit tired of this kind of life." Maric sighed. During the day, he helped Sharon handle some matters; at night, he usually went to the Bravehearts bar to play cards with his zombie, while also keeping an eye on this base.
A very plain life, to the point that it was becoming hard for him to endure.
"Maric, it seems you still haven't learned true restraint."
"In this regard, I've always been inferior to you, which is why you could advance earlier than me. So now, your Wraith potion has been completely digested, right?"
"Mm."
"No wonder you're starting to look more and more like a puppet. Are you already acting in advance?"
"Maric, you're mistaken. This is the real me, not merely acting as a puppet."
"Alright." Maric didn't continue discussing the topic and instead asked Sharon what kind of gift she planned to prepare for Hastur.
"Sharon, don't tell me you're going to attend the New Year gathering empty-handed, without preparing anything at all?"
"..." Sharon didn't answer. She indeed hadn't prepared anything yet.
Only Maric was enthusiastic about such matters. She had always been very restrained, in every aspect.
"If you do that, you'll disappoint Hastur, who's looking forward to receiving a gift."
"You're talking too much."
Maric learned to shut up silently, placed the invitation on the small wooden table, then turned and left.
He hadn't prepared a gift either. He had just been deliberately provoking Sharon earlier.
....
"New Year is coming soon. Ariella, your new clothes are ready. You can go try them on first."
"Meow!"
Ariella stretched out its front paws and covered its ears, indicating that it hadn't heard anything.
"You already agreed to this last time, and even advanced quite a few small silver fish."
"Meow?"
Ariella looked completely confused, as if it didn't remember such a thing at all.
"You also agreed that you'd wear a new set of clothes every month from now on."
"Meow!"
Ariella raised its little paw in protest. Those were groundless conditions!
"Look, you remember it very clearly, don't you?"
"..."
Ariella drooped its head and was handed over by Hastur to the maid beside him, who took it away to try on the new clothes.
Hastur himself also needed to try on the formal attire for attending banquets. As the New Year drew closer, various banquets among the nobility were becoming more frequent.
Even though he had declined as much as possible, there were still some invitations he couldn't avoid.
For example, Prince Edessak's banquet tonight. Who knew how he was still alive? According to the original novel, he should have already died for love over a witch, becoming a sacrifice used by the royal family to block the church's excuses.
But now he was alive, and had even invited him, insisting that he must attend his banquet. His words were sincere, and he even adopted a humble, almost pleading attitude.
With a prince going that far, Hastur could only make the trip, even though he didn't really like getting involved in matters related to the Demoness Sect.
At around eight in the evening, Hastur arrived at Prince Edessak's estate by carriage.
Tonight, Prince Edessak was dressed formally and looked no different from usual, but his eyes were filled with vicissitudes and sorrow, giving him a bit of the feel of a wandering poet like Leonard.
What surprised Hastur was that Prince Edessak hadn't invited Mrs. Germani tonight. There weren't many people attending the banquet.
It was probably because many nobles knew about his story with the witch, and also knew that he had already become a discarded piece of the royal family, disliked by the king, so they deliberately found excuses to refuse his invitation tonight.
As soon as Hastur arrived, Prince Edessak quickly walked over, his expression complicated and his tone unexpectedly surprised.
"I didn't expect you to come to my banquet tonight. I thought you would, as before, mercilessly refuse my invitation."
"Perhaps it's because there are fewer people Prince Edessak invited tonight, so I came to make up the numbers."
Prince Edessak forced a smile and invited Hastur to go to the study on the second floor to chat.
In the study, Prince Edessak took out the finest tea from the royal family to entertain Hastur. His tone was a bit more relaxed than before as he said, "I've always wanted to see you, especially after what happened."
"That's really unexpected. As far as I remember, there hasn't been much interaction between Prince Edessak and me."
"Indeed, there hasn't. But I think you're someone worth befriending."
"You flatter me, Your Highness. I'm not that outstanding." Hastur tactfully declined the offer of friendship. He had come tonight mainly to see what exactly Prince Edessak wanted to do, not to make friends with him.
That would be very troublesome.
"You kept refusing my invitations before because you already knew my situation was troublesome, didn't you?"
"I just happened to have some matters to deal with."
Prince Edessak didn't pursue the topic further and instead said, "I want to learn about the Demoness Sect. Can you help answer some of my doubts?"
"What I know is also limited." Hastur thought for a moment and gave Prince Edessak a simple introduction to the Demoness Sect, a very superficial one, without involving too many of its secrets.
"Are the witches of the Demoness Sect really all transformed from men into women?"
Hastur looked at him deeply. "Whoever appears before you is who they are. If it's true love between you, why bother about the other person's former gender?"
That sentence was a killing blow. Leonard was obviously unable to accept such a fact. As for this Prince Edessak, there really was a bit of true love there.
"I… I just find it hard to accept for the moment…" Prince Edessak's expression was very painful, but soon he suppressed the heartache and instead said, "If I want to find her again, what path should I take?"
'Tsk, it really is true love.'
Hastur already understood Prince Edessak's thoughts. With a smile, he said, "If her feelings for you are the same as your deep love for her, then she should appear before you of her own accord."
"Really?" Prince Edessak was clearly excited.
"When the timing is right." Hastur didn't say it definitively. He was also somewhat looking forward to whether a witch's love could have a perfect ending.
"Better not. If she comes to find me, it will surely put her in danger. I… can't be that selfish." Prince Edessak gazed into the distance, looking utterly devoted.
In response, Hastur could only say a few words about letting things take their natural course.
After resolving the matter weighing on his mind, Prince Edessak was in quite a good mood. He took a sip of tea and said, "Baron Hastur Campbell, thank you this time for clearing up my doubts. To show my gratitude, I would like to gift you a villa located near Saint Samuel Church in the North Borough. I hope you won't refuse."
"How did you know I wanted to buy a house in the North Borough?"
"After all, I am still a prince. If I really want to investigate certain matters, I can still obtain some useful information."
Seeing this, Hastur didn't say anything more. With just a few words, he had obtained a villa. Tonight's banquet had not been in vain.
In this regard, Prince Edessak was indeed very generous. It was evident that he truly loved that witch deeply.
"I hope that what we talked about tonight won't be known by anyone else."
"I've already forgotten what we talked about just now."
....
By the time Hastur returned from Prince Edessak's place, it was already past eleven at night.
Ariella was already curled up in its little bed, fast asleep. It had probably been thoroughly worn out while trying on clothes. Seeing Hastur return, it only lazily let out a meow without even opening its eyes.
Hastur didn't disturb its rest. He first took a bath, then returned to his room, lay on the bed, and entered the Hall of the Starry Skies, as usual sweeping his gaze across the stars.
The next day, Hastur specifically sent someone to deliver a gift to Xio, containing 1,000 pounds.
In dealing with the Lockhart matter, Xio had contributed quite a lot, allowing things to proceed smoothly. Her efforts were worth this sum of money.
Moreover, with the New Year approaching, this money would also allow her and Fors to have a good New Year.
A huge sum of 1,000 pounds, she would probably be so happy that she wouldn't be able to sleep.