……
Without the flickering candlelight or the crackling fire in the stove, the room was warm and comfortable even in a single layer of clothing, thanks to the heating. The glowing stone on the bedside table illuminated the room – a steady and gentle huangsè glow that reflected off the bedding and carpet, adding a peculiar sense of time to the scene.
Roland sat on the edge of the bed, listening to the faint hissing sound from the heating pipes, feeling a sense of déjà vu. It was as if he was neither in a backward royal era nor in a modern society full of electronic products, but somewhere in between… childhood.
His impression of that era was like the scene before him, covered in yellow light. Whether it was incandescent lamps, movies, or developed photos, everything was filled with the same color.
But Anna was not in this part of his memory.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at the girl sitting at the head of the bed.
She was flipping through the story in her hand, the hair falling on her forehead tinged with golden light, her long eyelashes fluttering occasionally, looking incredibly lively. The most striking feature was still her sapphire-like eyes, which remained a clear lake blue even under the illumination of the magic stone. If there was any difference, it was that the lake surface was no longer as calm as it used to be.
She alone made the whole picture come alive. Roland couldn't help but think that Anna was a distinct color in the scene, a marker that distinguished memory from reality. Seeing her made him realize that all of this was real.
"What are you looking at?" At some point, the prince noticed that she had put down the Magic Book and was staring straight at him, tilting her head. "Me?"
"Cough..." He subconsciously looked away, but quickly shifted his gaze back. "Um... yes."
After nearly a year of getting along, the two were very familiar with each other. Roland's mentality was naturally no longer as passive as it was at the beginning. Plus, it was just the two of them in the room tonight, so he relaxed the emotions he had been suppressing.
They looked at each other for a while and then laughed simultaneously.
"Do you think my request is a bit selfish?" Anna shook her head with a smile. "Everyone is worried about me, but I turned them away."
"You're making it sound too serious," Roland said, spreading his hands. "They just seemed a little surprised at the time."
"If Agatha xiaojie hadn't mentioned those 'ancient methods,' I wouldn't have made this request," she stuck out her tongue – such a playful expression was rarely seen on Anna. "But other sisters will definitely follow suit in the future, and you'll be very busy."
Roland smiled helplessly, "I guess their requests will mostly be for a few more scoops of ice cream bread."
When Agatha learned that Anna was about to pass her Awakening Day, she immediately contributed her experience in the Holy City of Taquila. According to the Union's research, in addition to emptying the magic power in their bodies to reduce the impact of backlash, personal emotions were also very important for witches when they awakened or came of age. Positive emotions such as joy and satisfaction could greatly improve their resistance. Therefore, for some outstanding witches, the Union would even send specialists to fulfill their requests when they came of age.
And the request that Anna made after learning about this was to have Roland spend her Awakening Day with her alone.
"Thanks to Agatha xiaojie, I feel very happy now," she said frankly. "I couldn't watch you pass your Awakening Day when you came of age, and now I can finally make up for that regret."
Faced with her such a sincere expression, even Roland felt a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat and took out a thin book tied with a colorful ribbon from behind him and handed it to Anna, "This is an Awakening Day gift."
Transcribing the knowledge of calculus in advanced mathematics was to catch up with this day. For witches, the Awakening Day was more important than their birthday, and could be completely called a second new life. Roland had always been troubled by what gifts to give during festivals, and he still hadn't made much progress. After racking his brains, he decided to give her new knowledge as a gift. Anna herself had excellent learning talent and was interested in these things, so it couldn't be a bad choice.
But after she took the book with the orange cover, she didn't open it right away as she usually did, but put it aside along with the Magic Book, "Thank you."
"The story... is it finished?"
"Not yet," Anna shook her head gently, "But I want to hear something special."
"Special?" Roland was slightly stunned.
"Yes," she smiled, "Your story – I fell asleep before I heard it for long last time, and this time I want to continue listening."
Was she referring to the day they lay together on his bed? Roland pursed his lips, and a sudden impulse rose in his heart to tell her his true origins, instead of continuing to hide them, "Do you remember me saying before that I used to live in a big city? Actually, that city... is not the Graycastle royal capital."
"I know."
"Eh?" Anna's answer stunned him.
"Because after thinking about it, even in the royal palace of the capital, the things you said couldn't have happened," she grinned. "I'm someone who has read the 'Chronicles of Graycastle' over and over again."
"Uh... is that so?" Roland hesitated, "I actually—"
"Don't say it," Anna stopped him, "You're hesitating, which proves that this is not an easy thing to say, right? Then don't say it. And it's not hard to guess, I believe I'm not the only one who feels this way, the closer I get to you, the easier it is to realize this – you are different from everyone else." She paused, "How about... we make a bet."
"Bet... what?"
"Bet on how much I can guess," Anna said with great interest, "I will record all these guesses in a notebook, and when you don't have to worry and can say it easily, then see how much I guessed correctly. If I guess more than half, I win."
Roland suddenly remembered a game he used to play when he was a child: a time capsule. Put some words you want to say to the future in a can, and then take them out after a few years... Although most of these cans were lost, when the last two or three survivors were found, and you looked at the handwriting you left years ago, it always gave people inexplicable emotion.
He didn't ask what the bet was, winning or losing didn't matter between them. She probably proposed this to comfort him, rather than really wanting to guess the answer. It had to be said that Anna was the closest to his heart and could understand what he was thinking among all the witches.
"Okay, it's a deal," he nodded.
"So where did we leave off last time?"
"Completing my studies under the mentor..." Roland smiled, "Let's start from here."
When the light of dawn lit up from the horizon, Anna peacefully passed her first Awakening Day after adulthood.