Chapter 59: Nora's New Year Blessing
Chapter 59: Nora’s New Year Blessing
All in all, it was a difficult night for Roel.
The New Year Prayers was a sacred event for Sia’s believers. The event started before midnight, but every single recitation of the holy scripture and prayers lasted for around two hours—and it repeated three times. It was only when dawn arrived that the event finally concluded.
As the guest of the Holy Eminence, it went without saying that Roel was accorded with special privileges. He was given a spot in the VIP section, where the esteemed guests coming from all over the continent were gathered.
If anyone thought that being placed in the VIP section was a blessing, they couldn’t be more wrong. There were no snacks to munch and no sofa to lounge on here. In reality, it was just a fancy way of referring to the positions closest to Grandpa John.
Yes, there was no seating at all; it was just an area with dozens of large pavers placed right in front of the stage where the Holy Eminence was speaking from. Granted every single VIP guest was given their own personal floor tile to pray from—at least it was more spacious than the packed-like-sardines crowd behind—however, Roel still had to stand alongside these devout believers throughout the entire course of the event till daylight.
What kind of horrendous torture is this?!
The hardly-a-believer Roel felt extremely distressed about this situation.
In the first place, he had hardly any interest in this event at all! But as the guest of the Holy Eminence, he couldn’t afford to take his leave halfway through the event. That would be a blatant show of disrespect toward Grandpa John!
As a result, Roel was doomed to a night of suffering. He stood all the way from midnight till daylight, only receiving two short breaks in the middle. It was only at the end of the third set of prayers that he was finally liberated.
Of course, there weren’t too many people like Roel who thought of this event as suffering. Most of the believers were still quite excited about the new year.
Furthermore, after the New Year Prayers, the royal family would be distributing the first wave of holy candies. This was an event that appealed to the masses. There was a prevailing notion that anyone who managed to collect the most holy candies in the first wave would be granted the most blessings for the year. In a sense, this was similar to how some people thought that being the first to visit a temple and light a joss stick for the new year would bring great luck for the next twelve months.
As a result, the crowd standing by the sides of the streets only continued to grow with time.
Unfortunately, Roel wasn’t too interested in the good omen that came with this activity. In the first place, he had received the direct blessing from the Holy Eminence himself before the New Year Prayer. As for the holy candies, all he had to do was mention it in front of Nora to obtain an entire jar of them.
But again, candies from Little Miss Angel would never come free. It was her expertise to use all sorts of events to stir-up trouble. Just thinking about it was enough to send a shudder down Roel’s spine. He felt that he would be better off without those holy candies.
Under the escort of the knights, Roel got back onto the carriage and headed back to the Labyrinth Villa. On the way back, he peered through the windows and saw groups of people returning home with joyful smiles on their faces.
Upon arrival at the destination, Roel got down from the carriage and placed 10 gold coins in the hand of the captain of the knight platoon.
“This is…?”
“It’s the new year. I can’t have you all working overtime without receiving anything in return. Thank you for your protection.”
“Haha! Thank you for your generosity, Lord Roel. May Sia bless you!”
Having received some easy money, the knights waved Roel goodbye with smiles on their faces. Roel bade them farewell too before entering the Labyrinth Villa under the escort of the servants, only to realize that no one had returned yet.
Carter, Alicia, and even Anna weren’t around.
“Hm? Where are they?”
“The old master has sent news informing us that Prince Kane will be bringing the nobles for a New Year Hunt, and that he would be attending together with Miss Alicia. It’s likely that they’ll only be returning the following night.”
“Ah? The following night?”
Does this mean that I’m going to spend the new year by myself? You must be kidding! Tsk, if only I had known in advance, I wouldn’t have come back. It’s too lonesome being here by myself.
Roel stared out at the seemingly empty house and the unfamiliar servants stationed at the Holy Capital, and he suddenly had a bizarre feeling that he was a guest in his own house.
“Forget it. I’m tired, so I’ll be heading off to sleep.”
With a light yawn, Roel grumbled about having to spend a new year without Alicia as he trudged back to his room. Following that, he took off his coat and sprawled over his bed.
Before long, he was already in dreamland
——
When Roel opened his eyes once more, the house was already completely dark. There was only a faint light behind him that vaguely illuminated the room. Feeling uncomfortable from sleeping on his stomach for too long, he flipped over onto his back before exhaling deeply in relief. The new position felt much more comfortable.
“Haah, what time is it?”
“Six at night.”
“WAH!”
The unexpected response from his bedside made Roel leap up in horror. He saw a golden-haired girl sitting on a chair beside him. She was laughing heartily after witnessing his terrified reaction.
“Hahaha! Your reaction was truly entertaining. My time wasn’t wasted waiting for you to wake up.”
Roel glared at the chuckling princess with bared fangs, looking almost as if he would draw his sword against her. Nora decided to quickly rein in her laughter.
“Say, is it really appropriate for you to enter my room without permission?”
“Hm, you don’t like it? Wasn’t it exciting for you when you saw me?”
“Exciting your head!” refuted Roel mercilessly.
He took a look around the room to search for his servants, but Nora immediately interjected.
“I have already swapped out all of your servants. Everyone here now works for me.”
“???”
What does this mean? A kidnapping? All I did was take a nap, yet you managed to pull off so many tricks behind my back?
“Speaking of which, what are you doing here? For goodness sake, it’s the new year. Can’t you let me off on such a festive day?”
Roel could only grumble out his complaints.
“How heartless. You know that I’m here to accompany you. This is an honor that countless people dream of.”
Nora revealed the reason why she was here with a smile, rendering Roel speechless.
To put it simply, the New Year Hunt had happened on a whim, most probably due to the nobles getting too drunk on alcohol. Not only was the Ascart House emptied out, but there was hardly anyone in the royal palace too. Roel, who didn’t attend the banquet due to his audience with John, and Nora, who had been preparing for the choir competition, were among the few people who were left behind.
Holy Eminence John was also busy over the new year. He had to meet the believers in influential positions coming from all over the continent, so he really couldn’t fork out any time to accompany his granddaughter.
Having expected this situation, Prince Kane had told Nora to bring a chef, a coachman, and a large group of servants, and head over to the Labyrinth Villa to find Roel. The two children were close with one another anyway, so it was perfect to have them spend the new year together and further deepen their friendship.
It was just that Roel felt that a lioness had just crept into his house and was holding him hostage.
“You didn’t come to watch my performance. I was looking forward to seeing you amongst the audience.”
Nora eyed Roel with narrowed eyes, displeased that one of her expectations was dashed. It was only then that Roel noticed that she was still wearing the ceremonial robes of the church’s choir. On top of that, she had also applied some Demon’s Dew which harmonized her pure disposition and seductiveness together into a fatal charm.
“It can’t be helped. I was too tired from having to stand for an entire night. So… d-did you win?”
“Of course.”
Nora’s matter-of-fact answer allowed Roel to heave a sigh of relief, but Nora wasn’t intending to let him off so easily.
“I might have won, but that doesn’t change the fact that you neglected to cheer on a good friend.”
“T-then… What do you want?”
“Look at how defensive you are getting. I’m a benevolent person, so how could I possibly not forgive you over this slight mistake that you have made? In fact, I’m here to offer you some sweets. Mia.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Upon Nora’s call, a maid standing outside immediately carried a container into the room. Nora took out a holy candy from the container and unwrapped it. Holding the candy between her fingers, she looked at the bewildered Roel with a smile filled with desire.
“Come, lick it. It’s sweet.”