Can the sadness that magic cannot take away be offset by love?

The next day, Alexia came to visit with a pot of flowers and a bag of yogurt. She gave the flowers to Albinia and the yogurt and a big hug to Iris.

Iris pinched her braids and handed her a handkerchief she had embroidered in her spare time while making figurines and an envelope. The envelope contained the recent movements of the Novello family revealed by Olivia's words.

Suddenly, Alexia seemed to have thought of something. She pulled out a purple cloth bag from the moon-patterned messenger bag she was carrying. The bag was cast with magic to isolate the aura of evil curses, so Iris almost immediately guessed what was inside.

Sure enough, Alexia said:

"Ernest said that it contained the cursed material you didn't find last time, used to stab villains."

The little girl's expression was indescribable. She seemed unable to understand why someone would give these things to others during the Chinese New Year:

"This gift...seems a little impolite. How about...I give you something else?"

Alexia said as tactfully as possible.

Iris blinked.

In fact, she really needed these materials. If she hadn't bought them before, her plans to make figurines would have been difficult to carry out.

Iris declined:

"No, I like it very much."

Alexia's golden eyes sparkled with confusion. She remembered that a few days ago, Ernest asked her what kind of gifts she usually gave to her friends.

Alexia said without hesitation:

"I gave them whatever they liked. Charles liked a spaceship model so I gave him one. Vivian liked to collect beautiful notebooks so I gave her a notebook with a nice pattern... Why did you suddenly ask this? Aren't you evil adults the best at this kind of thing?"

Ernest fell into a brief silence.

Of course he knew the principle of giving people what they like when seeking cooperation, but the nature of this kind of gift always contains a strong purpose, so he wanted to ask Alexia this question. But it turned out that in the relationship without mixed interests that he had never understood, the principle of "giving people what they like" when giving gifts was the same.

I thought... that in such a precious and rare relationship, the rules would be very different.

Alexia thought about it based on the current situation and suspected that Ernest thought these cursed materials were Iris's interest... Maybe it was true? Maybe Sister Iris needed them when she was making potions...

Alexia soon stopped paying attention to the issue when she saw that Iris accepted it without any reluctance.

Iris thought for a while, took out the piece of paper with Ernest's opinion on the Ramirez family crest, and stuffed the note into the envelope in Alexia's hand. Then she took out two large bags of potato chips from the New Year's goods prepared by Albinia and stuffed them into Alexia's ear, whispering a few words in her ear. Although Alexia looked puzzled, she nodded without hesitation.

Ernest had long wanted to take back the note that revealed so much about him, but Iris had kept it in her hand. It would be a shame not to do something on such a rare festival day.

*

When Alexia returned home, everyone in the house was busy and no one paid any attention to her, the little girl who disappeared after breakfast.

In fact, she had been visiting several friends to wish them a happy new year, so she was not idle at all.

Ernest was holding a few stacks of papers and listening to a report. He turned around and saw Alexia coming in with a bunch of strange things. He took a while to organize his words before saying:

"Are these gifts from your friends?"

Alexia nodded and added:

"That's about right. And there's one given to you by Sister Ecelia."

At this point in time, Ernest was not in a hurry to read the information about the Novello family. After all, there were other more important things that needed him to deal with.

His eyes fell on the carp that was flapping in Alexia's arms.

Ernest asked seriously:

"So, this carp...is it a gift from your friend, or is it a new friend you made?"

Gifts can be eaten, but friends cannot.

Alexia answered decisively:

"It's a New Year's gift from Xiao Sanhua!"

He also knew Xiao Sanhua, a fat and strong stray cat living nearby.

The servant beside him said in surprise:

"Miss Alexia, are you planning on adding extras to lunch? This is great! I'll send it to the kitchen to have it steamed now... hm?"

Alexia took two steps back nervously while holding the carp, her eyes full of rejection:

"No."

Another servant thought he had discovered the truth:

"Do you want to keep it well? I'll help you find a glass tank for this carp... or lady?"

Last year, Alexia also brought back a bag of bullfrogs from somewhere. The servants thought she wanted to add to the dishes, so they quickly prepared the bullfrogs and fried them before lunch time. The moment she sat at the dining table and saw the dishes clearly, Alexia's broken expression is still vivid in my mind:

"Did you guys... fire my friend?"

She originally wanted to boil it!

From then on, those who didn't know the truth kept in mind that when faced with an unidentified creature brought back by Alexia, they would immediately ask whether it was an edible gift or an inedible friend.

But this time, Alexia shook her head:

“…I plan to roast it and eat it.”

Everyone:.

A servant took the carp away. Before grilling it, the carp needed to swim in the water for a while so that Alexia could taste the fresh fish meat.

Ernest glanced at the last thing that needed to be confirmed:

"So this snake...is it a new friend?"

There was a plastic bag hanging on the girl's elbow. In the bag was a small snake with its mouth tied tightly with a rope. The snake was stiff and did not move at all.

Where did she dig it out from in the middle of winter?

Alexia smiled sweetly and nodded:

"I recognized it as a friend from last year. Can I make soup with it?"

Ernest paused for a moment for the complexity of Alexia's concept of "friend", then said:

"Ask the kitchen."

He didn't want to know where the snake came from, so he changed the subject:

"Didn't you go see Vivian this year?"

Alexia pointed with her chin at a white bird feather that was pressed down by other objects in her arms:

"Yes. Here, her gift is here."

Vivian is a bird that can transform into human form. She likes to read stories written by humans and occasionally writes some of her own. Alexia is her most loyal reader and her only reader... Vivian has not yet learned to walk on human feet. She relies on the books that Alexia brings to her by climbing over the wall during class time to broaden her horizons.

The two of them had known each other since Vivian was still a bird. Alexia used to shoot her with a slingshot every day, which made the bird angry. When it turned into a human, it couldn't even walk or speak. It flew to the gate of the Ramirez family in the form of a bird and then turned into a human, cursing for a long time, not caring whether others could understand it or not, as long as the meaning was clear.

How they became "friends" later is a story only they two know.

Ernest said slowly:

"So what are your plans this afternoon, to see Charles Auceptin?"

Alexia asked curiously:

"How do you know I didn't go to see him this morning? The gifts he gives me are different every year."

"The Auxerdin family wouldn't let you go alone after you've been to their place, but you came back on your own today."

Ernest helped her take the snake down and asked her to wash her hands first.

Alexia had already taken two steps when she finally remembered the important matter:

"By the way, I haven't given you the envelope yet! Did you really write that note? It's so interesting."

Ernest paused. Seeing that the girl looked normal, he felt a little uncertain. However, in front of so many people, he controlled his expression:

"...Go wash your hands."

He took the envelope and walked faster than Aleksia could run.

Returning to the room where he was alone, he opened the envelope. In addition to the information he had expected, there was indeed a very familiar note written by him, which was searched out by those bastards and finally snatched away by her.

During lunch, Lucius noticed that Ernest's expression became more complicated when he occasionally looked at Alexia, so he nudged Ernest with his elbow:

"I heard that she picked up a sleeping snake this year..."

The two of them looked at the steaming snake soup on the table at the same time.

"You haven't gotten used to it yet?"

Lucius looked at him curiously.

Ernest had a lot of things in his heart that he couldn't say, and he was very depressed:

"I've long been used to it."

Lucius smiled:

"That's all right, isn't it? You'll get used to it."

Ernest felt that this habit might not be a good thing, but he had no choice but to change the subject:

"Let's eat first."

Lucius said nothing more, but just narrowed his eyes slightly.

something wrong.

Alexia had noticed Ernest's abnormality a long time ago, but since she accepted two bags of potato chips from sister Iris, she would resolutely hide the fact that she had not actually seen the note.