That night, after returning home, Xia De was very tired, but he still went to Feather Pen Street, found Dorothy, and invited her out for a late-night snack. Dorothy could tell that Xia De had a lot to say, so after putting on her warm lady's coat, she followed him out.
There was a restaurant on Feather Pen Street that was about to close. They chose a table against the wall, with a lotus-leaf-shaped gas lamp directly above it on the wall. Xia De ordered food for them and Mia, then said with some melancholy:
"Don't wear the Red Butterfly pendant anymore, and tell Leia not to wear it either."
"Why?"
The Golden-haired girl asked curiously.
"Because it's very unlucky."
While waiting for their food, Xia De briefly recounted the story that had lasted from the fifth epoch until now. Dorothy covered her mouth after listening, her eyes slightly red, and only recovered when the restaurant waiter brought the fried shrimp balls and cream bread:
"This story is just too... why does something like this have to happen? They were clearly sisters who promised to be together forever."
"This was Grace and Helen's own choice; we are just bystanders. So, don't wear the Red Butterfly pendant."
Xia De speared a shrimp ball with his fork and looked at the Writer across from him under the gas lamp:
"Your ending will definitely be better than this. I swear."
After speaking, he removed the food from the fork and gave it to Mia, who had been cooped up in her box all day. Mia pawed at the warm food with her front paws, looking at Xia De with some concern, as she could also tell he was in a bad mood.
"Are you very tired?"
Dorothy took the pendant from her waist and placed it on the table, then looked at Xia De across the table and asked. Xia De hesitated for a moment, then nodded:
"I've experienced so many things, but only this one..."
"I understand."
She leaned forward slightly, grabbed Xia De's left hand on the table, and her emerald eyes met his. Xia De could see her strong soul.
"Although I don't know what you've been doing in Mi Fort this Autumn, Leia and I both know that you've always wanted to help us. Actually, you don't have to work so hard. Maintaining the status quo, having a soul connected to ours from a distant place, we are already very content."
"Your other selves are merging; that can't be considered maintaining the status quo."
Xia De shook his head. Dorothy looked at him under the softly lit gas lamp, at the shadows on his very three-dimensional face when he lowered his head, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say:
"Xia De."
"What is it?"
He looked up, but the Golden-haired girl smiled and shook her head again, saying softly and gently:
"Nothing. I was just thinking, if one day, Leia and I can truly look at each other face to face, and even touch and hug each other, we will definitely give you a very special gift."
Saint Delan Square Six was peaceful tonight, and Xia De had a good night's sleep. Perhaps because of the many experiences during the day, he had a strange dream.
In the dream, he somehow found himself in a forest, following a pretty Red Butterfly through the forest until he saw an ancient castle located in the center of the forest.
Then the dream became strange. First, Luvia, engulfed in flames, suddenly appeared and attacked Xia De. Then, Mia, whose body had swelled into the shape of a large tiger, had the character "king" (king) written on her forehead by someone, and she was also holding the Night Watchman in her mouth, wanting to kill Xia De.
This bizarre dream directly woke Xia De up, and it was already Tuesday, and dawn had broken.
He sat up, drenched in sweat, feeling his breath still short. Waking up abruptly, the dream images still lingered in his mind, making it impossible for him to distinguish between reality and dream for a moment.
"This is reality," "She" whispered gently.
"It's good that it's reality. Oh, what a strange dream. I'd rather look at the moon all night long than have these chaotic thoughts Entanglement me."
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and sat up, looking at the dark bedroom.
As the weather turned colder, he had already replaced his thin Summer quilt with a thick one. In a while, the Steam City company would send people to discuss this year's heating costs, as the price was not fixed for the entire City, and Xia De also needed to prepare firewood for the Winter in advance.
He planned to use the fireplace in the house, not only because Sparrow Detective's notes mentioned that Detective commissions were more numerous in Winter than in Autumn, so he wanted to create a "professional Detective" atmosphere, but also because heating solely through pipes was somewhat insufficient.
After all, this house was simply too big.
"Meow~"
A soft meow came from beside him, followed by the ticklish sensation of Mia rubbing against the back of his hand. He reached out to stroke Mia, who had just woken up, and somehow, he thought of the "big tiger" Mia from his dream, and couldn't help but smile.
The story of the Red Butterfly Twins was sad, but Xia De's story had to continue.
When he went downstairs in his slippers to get the newspaper and milk, he found that the birthday gift Leia had asked him to send to Mrs. Louisa had already arrived. A delicate but not particularly expensive red gift box wrapped the present, with a beautiful blue ribbon tied into a bow on the outside.
To prevent Xia De from making any mistakes, Leia had given him a letter. It was Leia's handwritten letter, which not only had her cursive handwriting but also the scent of her perfume.
"When did my nose become so sensitive?"
As he walked up the stairs, Xia De held the milk bottle to his nose and sniffed hard, certain that his sense of smell was normal (Note).
The letter not only mentioned what the gift was, its price, and where it was bought, but also included a sample birthday greeting for Mrs. Louisa, instructing Xia De to simply copy it down. The greeting was appropriate and fitting, with just the right amount of flattery and congratulations, neither subservient nor arrogant. An Outsider would need to study the grammar of this world for a long time to achieve such literary talent.
"A white fox fur stole produced in the northern county of Delarion, and a newly published poetry collection 'Love and Peace.' Oh, this gift was very well chosen."
Mia, who was squatting at the top of the stairs on the second floor, was waiting for Xia De to come up and heat her milk. Seeing him standing on the stairs reading the letter, she meowed, urging him to hurry up.
She couldn't miss her daily mealtime.
After breakfast, Xia De wrote the letter to the Louisa family in his study, then wrote another letter inviting his friends to his home tomorrow night to help perform the ritual to seal the third-floor boundary. Only then did he leave to send them all to the Tobesk Post Office—
The mailbox at the street corner could not be used for sending gifts.
Then he took Mia again to Middlesburg, walking out of the forest in the thin morning mist and heading towards the City below the mountain.
Middlesburg was very strange today; the density of the morning mist was comparable to Tobesk's Autumn haze this morning.
It should be known that Tobesk, known as the "Steam City," had such poor air quality recently because late Autumn had arrived, and steam factories wanted to complete their last batch of production before Winter arrived and heavy snow blocked traffic. However, Middlesburg in Autumn, due to its mountains and monsoon winds, should not have such Autumn morning mist at all.
As Xia De arrived in the City, the fog not only didn't weaken but became even stronger. On Saint Carla Avenue, where Cassandra Auction House was located, Xia De stood at the street corner and could only see a distance of forty feet (about 12.2 m).
Pedestrians on the street walked carefully along the side of the road, and carriages had lanterns hanging front and back, with the drivers even constantly ringing bells to alert people to make way and be careful.
Just then, a Boy selling newspapers walked by on the other side of the street. Xia De waved and called the Boy, who was wearing a patched hat, over. After counting out five pence and handing them to him, he took the newspaper and asked:
"When did this fog appear? Eight o'clock? Seven o'clock?"
"No, sir, this fog suddenly descended from Sicar Mountain last night. I went to bed early, but little Lana, who sells flowers, said she saw the fog pouring out of the mountain when she got up in the night."
The brown-haired Boy replied, hesitated for a moment, then whispered a reminder:
"This Sicar Morning Post is only four pence."
"Then one pence is a reward for your honesty."
Xia De said, then turned to look at Sicar Mountain:
"What's going on again? Is it related to yesterday's revival of the Red Butterfly Twins?"
Upon entering Cassandra Auction House, someone immediately led Xia De to the top-floor reception room.
Grandma Cassandra was already waiting for Xia De as usual. Antique oil paintings hung on the walls, and a knight's armor, centuries old, stood by the wall. The Old Witch's decor style, though somewhat old-fashioned, surprisingly suited Xia De's taste.
The young apprentice, Miss Rita Swift, temporarily served as a servant, bringing tea for the two. Since Xia De had already met her, there was no need to conceal the existence of "such a man" from Xia De anymore.
"Why don't I see Grace and Helen?"
Xia De still wanted to see them.
The Old Witch smiled, holding her teacup, as if she had known Xia De would ask this:
"Because the ritual has just been performed, the whisper elements on the teachers are difficult to fully control. To prevent causing us trouble, they are temporarily staying in the rooms in the auction house's basement. The walls there have been professionally treated, enough to temporarily house angel-level relics, and it has been used many times."
"Then I..."
"Although it's still dangerous, you can go and see the teachers for ten minutes, ten minutes at most, then you must leave. I think the teachers also want to see you very much."
Grandma Cassandra put down her teacup and looked at the fog outside the window:
"So many years have passed, even I am about to leave them. I am truly happy that they could still meet you."
She seemed a little sentimental, and her feelings for Grace and Helen were very deep:
"Grandma, you know our story?"
"Yes, about your story with the teachers, I heard it from my teacher over a hundred years ago, when I was as old as Rita is now. At that time, no one could have imagined that you would actually appear."
The Old Witch chuckled from her throat:
"This Spring, Helen Black suddenly appeared before me and told me that you had finally appeared in Tobesk."
The Old Witch's face was full of nostalgia:
"That was one of the very few times I saw the teacher smile; she was truly happy to see you again."
PS: To prevent readers from misunderstanding, I'll explain that Leia deliberately sprayed her usual perfume on the letter paper.
