Chapter 3113: Winter Life

The oil painting "Crystal Wang Zuo" was only completed by Flora after the Battle of the Woodlands, and this was also Galina's first time seeing it. The painting depicted a throne standing alone beneath a tree in a crystal-clear forest of crystal.

She examined Flora's work; although she admitted the scene was indeed breathtakingly beautiful, she still didn't quite understand:

"What about you and Amelia? Why is there only a throne in the painting, and no sign of the throne's owners?"

"Flora said that this kind of deliberate negative space is the most artistic, and a lonely crystal throne has more atmosphere. Besides, she said that once she painted both me and Amelia in, this oil painting wouldn't be able to be hung up."

Xia De explained. Galina, however, thought that perhaps this was the owl's small jealousy. She didn't say it out loud, though, and instead signaled for her maid to come over and help:

"That's true. Flora probably wouldn't want you to put them in the basement either. How do you plan to hang them?"

Among the six oil paintings, the one Xia De liked most was actually "Dance Across Time," the scene where he danced with Iruna and Ms. Helena Carter from 1821.

So, he hung this painting in the living room, right next to the mermaid oil painting. Of the remaining five, although "Crystal Wang Zuo" was very artistic, the scene was too cold and desolate, so he put it in the living room of the second room next door, where Amelia could see it when she came over to study hard.

The ingeniously conceived "Silver Wolf in Fire" was hung in the bedroom, "Unicorn Knight" was placed on the wall of the study, and "Dragon and Owl" as well as "Moon Wheel Suspended City" were sent to the third floor, replacing some of the antique decorative paintings that were already there.

Flora did not sign these paintings, so even if someone saw them, they would only exclaim, "Where did this artwork come from?" or "It's very similar to Ms. Winslett's painting style."

After arranging the paintings, Xia De asked Galina with some annoyance:

"With the end of the month approaching, I've actually been thinking about how to give gifts for the Year-End Festival. Can you give me some suggestions? I made a name list for myself, and now the list is only one-fifth full."

"That is the thing you need to worry about lately."

Galina smiled and kissed him on the side of his face:

"In a while, I'll talk to you about the case. We have to accept a newspaper interview tomorrow; you really know how to find work for me. Also, have your cash ready; next week we will transfer the house and land next door, and leave the renovation to me. In this way, 1854 will be over."

"Yeah, 1854 is about to end... Can you reveal what gift you prepared for me? I want to use it as a reference."

"Xia De, cheating is not allowed when it comes to giving gifts."

Xia De immediately went to apply to the Academy for the eight thousand Jin Bang. When he took the application letter to the Academy and saw Dean, the administrator lady thought this matter would go very smoothly:

"The God-Awakener is willing to use his power as a member of the Academy's Board of Directors; this is a very positive thing in our view."

This matter didn't require Xia De to show his face; the signed application letter was left to Dean to handle entirely. However, the sorceress later asked Xia De with some concern if he was short of money recently:

"It wouldn't be that you found your wallet empty while picking out Year-End Festival gifts, would it? I can lend you some; the Academy's salary is very generous, and living here includes food and housing, so I have a large amount of savings."

This made the Outsider feel that his image in the hearts of the girls was truly strange.

That evening, Galina gave Xia De another surprise; she did not have dinner with Xia De, but instead, shortly after seven o'clock, she appeared in St. Deran Square in a hurry, accompanied only by Tifa.

After breaking into the second floor, she didn't even greet Xia De, who was reading by the fireplace while petting the cat, and went into the bedroom and the washroom to take a look:

"Has Sylvia not come yet?"

"Hmm? How did you know Sylvia would come tonight?"

"Of course she will come; do I not understand them? It's already seven o'clock, and tonight is Friday... She will definitely come within half an hour."

She waved to the head maid standing in the living room:

"Difa, take the other maids to the third floor to hide, using that Ringed Shushi relic 【Erasure Chessboard】 I had you bring. No matter what, Sylvia is an eleventh-tier Great Witch; if you hide on the first floor, she will find you. Act quickly, don't run into her."

The elegant black-haired head maid then walked toward the first floor. Galina walked to the fireplace, reached out and pulled up Xia De, who was sitting cross-legged on the carpet; the cat was forced to jump to the side:

"Come with me."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just come with me; are you worried that I will eat you?"

Then she took Xia De to the washroom, and before long, the sound of water from bathing came from there.

The maids hid on the third floor, and Little Mia, having nothing to do, continued to lie in front of the fireplace to warm itself. Later, the Duchess took Xia De to the bedroom, and it didn't follow.

And Sylvia did indeed appear twenty minutes later. She walked from the basement with a smile, and it could be seen that she had come after carefully preparing herself. After arriving on the second floor and seeing the living room lights on and the cat there, but Xia De missing, she felt very strange.

Then, following the strange sounds that were gradually becoming clearer, she arrived at the bedroom door. Frowning, she pushed open the door and saw that the Cavendish family's female knight had already started dining.

"So this is your method? I originally thought you would hide behind the bedroom door and give me a scare."

The young black-haired witch said as she walked toward them.

The red-haired witch's golden eyes were shining:

"Sylvia, do you think I'm a child? How about it? Wait until tomorrow to come again, or shall we dance the tango together?"

The dress's belt fell to the floor. Sylvia didn't mind what would happen next; she just teased:

"I've come such a long way, of course I won't leave. Xia De, can you tell me how you feel now? I want to study different..."

Xia De reached out and pulled her directly in front of him, then flipped the red-haired female knight who was good at riding. Two pairs of golden eyes looked at him with smiles. The Outsider now knew very well how to dance with two ladies, although Sylvia was still a bit shy, the bold Duchess was his very good helper:

"I want to tell you some common sense, Sylvia. Xia De at night likes to eat a midnight snack in the bedroom. Come, let us first feed this gluttonous big boy together."

(Ajelina is reading...)

Xia De found that he didn't actually need to apply for such a large sum of money from the Academy, because the day after he and Galina accepted an interview about the "Tobesk City Underground Slave Trafficking Network" incident, the Vesta Woodlands side handed over the first batch of verified property of the Bennett family to Xia De through the 【Witch Council】.

That was a large sum of money. Xia De kept half for himself and entrusted the church to return the other half to the remaining three Miss Bennetts. These girls were actually quite pitiful, but the fact that they could enjoy a wealthy life in the first half of their lives was inseparable from what the family had done.

So fate is truly wonderful; no one knows when it will show what kind of generosity or stinginess.

Although he had money in his hands, Xia De didn't spend it recklessly. However, he was really looking forward to the effect after the house next door was renovated and connected to his own Room 6.

And the negative impact of the renovation of the house next door was that the noise often disturbed Xia De and the cat who were at home. But later, Xia De used a silence spell to block the sound from next door, and Little Mia was finally able to enjoy a peaceful afternoon nap.

The renovation of the house at No. 7 St. Theresa Square didn't attract much attention. In the eyes of most citizens, things that happened in that square were too far away from them.

In the remaining cold days of 1854, Xia De continued to be busy with his exam week, and Sylvia appeared a few more times. Although she hadn't run into Luweiya yet, she did run into Dorothy. And on that night when she danced with Xia De and the writer lady, the Great Witch of Space finally saw how magically the Chosen Ones of Space used the power of space:

"In this way, Megan and Flora's talents are nothing special... This requires very delicate space manipulation. I think I need to practice for a long time to use it safely, but after learning it, I can play jokes on others... Splicing space to achieve connectivity, allowing Xia De to..."

Xia De would also occasionally run to the mountain peak sacrificial site to visit Sister Daifulin. The nun's divination about the remaining embers of the First Flame seemed to have reached the final stage.

"Speaking of which, Sister Daifulin, are you coming to my place for the Year-End Festival this year? We recently bought the house at No. 7 next door, and there is a lot of space there now."

Xia De asked as if casually, and the nun lowered her head slightly in front of the brazier, still without any expression:

"Sorry."

Xia De's invitation was directly rejected by the nun. Although he had expected it, he still felt a bit regretful. But Sister Daifulin was just like that; if one day she suddenly appeared in St. Theresa Square with a beaming smile, jumping and singing Year-End Festival hymns while handing gifts to Xia De, Xia De would probably think he had fallen into a terrifying nightmare.

In addition to reviewing, there would always be different girls visiting the small home belonging to Xia De and the cat. Amelia would appear one or two days every week, usually arriving in high spirits with a big schoolbag, and then leaving with a sad face holding her books.

Although Luweiya and Dorothy also appeared frequently, their frequency of coming was not as high as Galina, who was idle and had nothing to do. As for Vanessa, because she was about to leave the city with the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe, she appeared at No. 6 St. Theresa Square almost every night in the week before she left.

Luweiya and Dorothy understood Vanessa very well, so they specially left that week's time to her. Even Galina rarely didn't come to disturb Vanessa's farewell time, but there was one person who wouldn't care about this—

"Sylvia!"

PS: The picture in this chapter is "Emma Sylvia"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3114 =====