With no swaying candlelight or crackling burning fire, the room was made so warm and pleasant by the heater that one wouldn't feel cold even when only wearing thin clothes. The Stone of Light at the bed stand brightened the room—the stable and gentle yellow light shone on the bedsheet and carpet, producing a wonderful nostalgic scene.
Sitting at the bedside and listening to the occasional slight chirps from the caliducts, Roland felt as if he was in a dream. It was like he wasn't in a backward monarchy nor a modern society full of electronic products, rather somewhere in between... his childhood.
His childhood memories very much resembled the scene in front of him—everything was covered in a faint shade of yellow, whether it was a light bulb, a movie, or a developed photo.
The only difference was that Anna wasn't in his childhood memory.
At this thought, he turned and looked at the girl sitting at the edge of the bed.
She was reading a storybook. Her blonde hair on her forehead glimmering under light and her long eyelashes occasionally trembling, made her look extremely moving. Yet, the most extraordinary part was her sapphire eyes, which were still as blue as a clear lake even under the reflection of the Magic Stone. The only difference from one year ago was that this pair of eyes weren't such a peaceful lake anymore.
Her existence alone made the whole picture vivid. Anna is not only a different color from the rest of this whole setting, but also a marker that separates my reality from memory. Seeing her assumes me that everything is real.
"What are you looking at?" Anna had already put down the Book of Magic and was staring at Roland. "Me?"
"Ahem... " Roland shifted his eyesight eyes subconsciously, but quickly shifted them back again. "Uh-huh...That's right."
After spending about a year together, the two of them had been quite familiar with each other. Roland wasn't as passive as he had been, and since they were alone in the room, he was more open about the emotions he had been holding back all this time.
They looked at each other and burst into laughter at the same time.
"Do you think my demand is a little too stubborn?" Anna shook her head and smiled. "Clearly everybody cares about me, but I pushed all of them away."
"Don't worry about it." Roland said with his hands laid out, "They were only surprised by your reaction at that time."
"If it weren't for the 'ancient methods' suggested by Miss Agatha, I wouldn't have made this request," Anna said, sticking out her tongue - a cute move that she rarely made. "But I assume other sisters would do the same. You'll be busy then."
Roland smiled resignedly and said, "I think they would only ask for a few more pieces of ice cream bread."
After learning that Anna was going to have her Day of Awakening, Agatha instantly contributed her experience gained in the Holy City of Taquila—according to the research of the Union, on the Day of Awakening or the Day of Adulthood, a witch needed to drain her magic power to decrease the influence of bite. Additionally, the witch's emotions were also very important - positive emotions as happiness and contentment would greatly increase her resistance. For some outstanding witches, the Union even dispatched personnel to fulfill their wishes on their Day of Adulthood.
After knowing this, Anna requested that Roland accompany her on her Day of Awakening.
"Thanks to Miss Agatha, I'm having a good time." She confessed. "I couldn't spend my Day of Adulthood with you, but I can make up for it on my Day of Awakening."
Watching Anna’s sincere expression, Roland almost blushed. He cleared his throat, took out a thin book tied with a colorful ribbon from his back, and handed it to her. "A gift for your Day of Awakening."
The reason why he rushed to write down the advanced calculus knowledge that he remembered was to finish it before this day. To a witch, the Day of Awakening was more important than a birthday and could almost be seen as a rebirth. Roland had always had difficulty choosing presents for holidays, and this time was no different. After racking his brains, he decided to give Anna new knowledge as a present—Anna had a talent for learning and an appetite for new knowledge, so he chose her gift accordingly.
However, after receiving the book with orange cover, she didn't open it instantly as she used to. Instead, she put it down together with the Book of Magic. "Thank you."
"The storybook... Have you finished reading it?"
"Not yet." Anna slightly shook her head. "But I want to hear something special."
"Special?" Roland was slightly astonished.
"Yes." She said with a smile, "Your story—last time I fell asleep too soon while listening to it and today I hope to continue hearing about it."
"Does she mean the day when we lay in bed together?" Roland pursed his lips. He suddenly had an impulse to tell her about his true identity, and to not hide it anymore. "Do you still remember that I once told you I used to live in a big city? By a big city, I didn't mean Kingdom of Graycastle."
"I know."
"Huh?" Anna's reply was shocking to him.
"When I thought about it, I found those stories you told me couldn't have happened in the palace of King's City," she said with a smile. "Don't forget, I have repeatedly read through Chronicles of Graycastle."
"Is that so?" Roland hesitated for a moment. "I actually ..."
"You don’t have to say anything." Anna stopped him. "You are hesitating, which means it's not easy to tell, right? Then don't. Besides, it's not hard to guess. I believe I'm not the only one who has this feeling. The closer we get to you, the easier to feel this way—you are different from everybody else." She paused. "What if... we take a bet."
"Bet... on what?"
"Let's bet how much I can guess about your life story."
Roland suddenly recalled a game he used to play when he was little: time capsule. "The game works like this: write down your words to the future on a note, put it into a can, and take the can out a certain number of years later... Although most of the cans would be missing, a few of them would be retrieved, and looking at the note you wrote years ago would give you an unspeakable sensation."
He didn't ask about the wager. "It doesn't matter who wins and who loses, since she probably proposed it to comfort me, rather than to figure out my true identity." He must admit, among all the witches, Anna was the one who understood him the best.
"Deal." He nodded.
"Where did we stop last time?"
"I finished my study under the guidance of my mentor ..." Roland laughed. "Let's start from here."
When the light of dawn lit up the skyline, Anna peacefully passed through the first Day of Awakening since her adulthood.