In the wind and snow, Kevin and Kosma braced themselves against the wooden board in front of them, trying to block the snowstorm blowing into the house. But clearly, they did not have enough strength to hold out until they could nail the board to the wall. Before long, the gale knocked both of them down, sending the board they had been holding flying far away.
Just as Kevin and Kosma tried to sit up, Qianjie had already pushed through the raging wind with a board and blocked the huge hole in the kitchen. However, the face mask Master Qian had kept on his face was blown away and landed directly on Kosma's face, along with two cucumber slices over his eyes.
Kosma peeled the face mask off and looked down at it.
"This is... Qianjie's..." He looked up at Qianjie, who was hammering nails into the board, and thought, Come to think of it, I've never actually seen Qianjie's face. Every time, something always happens and makes me miss the important part...
Kevin was gathering the scattered boards while Qianjie hammered nails into place one by one. It seemed neither of them noticed Kosma quietly approaching Qianjie.
Kosma's expression was grave.
(This is my chance to reveal Qianjie's true face!)
Suddenly, Qianjie stopped hammering. He turned around, and Kosma held his breath, thinking he was about to see Qianjie's true face at last.
"Kid, hand me the nails." Qianjie, whose face was completely obscured by snow, held out his hand toward Kosma.
Kosma: "..."
Once the three of them had temporarily sealed the hole in the kitchen with wooden boards and returned to the pitch-black living room, Hua was on the phone with the power company. "Mm, all right, thank you..."
Elysia stood beside her and asked worriedly, "What did the power company say?"
Hua sighed softly and said with a headache, "The snow is too heavy. The repair crew can't get here."
"Leave it to me!" Vill-V spun the wrench in her hand with gleaming eyes, then pulled out an electric drill the next second. "It's just welding some wires, isn't it? Leave it to the all-purpose Vill-V!"
Hua and Su hurried forward and restrained Vill-V. As Hua pressed her onto the sofa, she said, "Ah, um... sit down first, sit down..."
Su took the electric drill from Vill-V's hand and said, "Thank you, but we'd better wait a little longer..."
"Achoo!" Griseo sneezed. Kosma immediately draped the blanket in his hands over her, while Aponia helped wrap it around her.
"Kosma, it's so cold," Griseo said.
"I'll think of something..." Kosma said as he began to ponder. There should be a few more quilts in the attic... I wonder if Feng's room has any spare blankets or something...
Kevin walked over to the fireplace. "Why don't we use the fireplace?"
A certain cat's ears twitched, and then she realized. "The fireplace?!"
"That's right." Elysia agreed. "Once we light the fireplace, little Griseo will warm up... Though it doesn't seem like it's been used in a long time."
The cat, who had been curled up in the corner, hurriedly pounced toward Kevin, who was crouched in front of the fireplace. "Ah, no, no, no!"
That was where she had stuffed everything...
Kevin expressionlessly pressed one hand against the cat's head, while Kosma stepped forward and carried away Pardo, who was hiding in a cat mascot costume. As she was dragged away, Pardo cried in panic, "You can't open it! You absolutely can't open it!"
The moment Kevin opened the fireplace, a pile of things fell out and knocked him to the floor, kicking up clouds of dust. Among them, a pink dress fluttered down and landed on top of the pile.
"What even are all these things...?" Kosma released Pardo, walked over to the fireplace, and looked at the pile with confusion.
"Oh my, how did the little dress I gave you end up here?" Elysia stepped forward, picked up the pink dress, shook it out, and looked at Mobius. "Professor Mobius?"
Mobius, wrapped in a sleeping bag, turned her back to them. "How would I know?"
Sakura, using her phone as a light source, had her attention drawn by a magazine. She walked over, crouched down, and picked it up. "A photo book? A collection of fashionable jeans, featuring a special guest model... Qianjie?!"
The others who had been drawn over by Sakura's reaction looked at the contents of the magazine. After one glance, Aponia looked at Qianjie. "Are you... working part-time?"
Qianjie immediately sat upright on the sofa, seeming to glow red-eyed. "Stop looking! Are you looking to die?!"
Elysia, meanwhile, eagerly beckoned the others over. "Everyone, come look! It's Qianjie's photo book~"
"Hey!"
Hua's attention was drawn to an exquisitely packaged notebook in the corner. It was covered in many silver-embossed patterns of unclear meaning. She walked over, picked it up, and looked at Kosma. "Kosma, is this your notebook?"
For a notebook in that style, Hua's first instinct was that it belonged to Kosma.
Kosma looked over and froze. "This is... the limited-edition commemorative notebook I failed to get before? It isn't mine..."
(Strange. I've never seen anyone else at Golden Courtyard interested in things like this. But this limited-edition commemorative notebook definitely isn't mine. Kevin, Qianjie, Su, and Feng don't seem like the type to be interested in this sort of thing either. Whose is it? I need to ask him or her properly later!)
The others looked over as well, each saying that it was not their notebook.
Hua flipped through several pages, then said, "This seems to be Feng's diary..."
So Feng liked notebooks in this style? Hua had always thought Feng was an ordinary office worker, like Kevin and Sakura. No, Kevin occasionally went to play basketball with Su when he had time, so it was only normal for Feng to have some personal hobbies too... She just had not expected him to be the same type as Kosma.
"Feng's diary?!" Elysia was the first to react. She hurried to Hua's side. "I want to see, I want to see! Let me have a look~"
Hua held the diary high so Elysia could not reach it. "A diary is someone else's private matter. Isn't it wrong to read it without permission?"
Elysia stretched out her hand, trying to grab the diary. "I just want to see what Feng usually thinks about. He's always impossible to find, and whenever we need him, he's basically away on business... Hua, I'll only read a few pages, okay~?"
"Even so, we need to wait until Feng comes back."
While everyone else was either fooling around or distracted by other things, Kevin walked over to the fireplace, crouched down, and stuck his head inside to look upward. He found that there were still plenty of things lodged above. Pulling back out, he looked around for something useful. Suddenly, a model sword of Heavenly Fire Judgment beside some instant noodles caught his attention. Kevin picked it up and jabbed upward into the fireplace several times.
Then a pile of books fell down together with a cloud of dust.
Su picked up a book that had landed by his feet. After seeing the title The New Transfer Student is Dangerous and the illustration on the cover, he abruptly opened the eyes he usually kept narrowed. "These characters... look a little familiar..."
Griseo, who had been shivering on the sofa, stiffened. Before she could react, the others had already been drawn over by the commotion.
"Let me see..." Kosma leaned over and looked through a few pages of the comic, his face darkening.
Elysia, who seemed to have temporarily given up on getting someone's diary from Hua, also leaned over. After looking through several pages, her expression turned teasing. "Oh my~"
Seeing more and more people crowding over to look at the comic, Griseo's face turned bright red, as if steam were rising from her head. She waved her hands frantically. "Um... everyone, d-don't keep looking!"
But no one seemed inclined to stop. Griseo hurried over and tried to snatch the comic from Su's hands, but Su reacted faster. He instinctively turned aside to dodge, and Griseo lunged at empty air, falling into the pile of comics. The impact shook loose the remaining books in the fireplace, burying Griseo beneath them. Snow fell down with the books as well.
Griseo poked her head out from the pile of books and looked at the others as though she were sulking.
"It somehow feels even colder than before," Hua said, completely failing to notice Elysia quietly shifting behind her.
"Yes." Sakura nodded.
Griseo puffed out her cheeks, then suddenly seemed to think of something. A light bulb practically appeared over her head.
A few minutes later.
Warm flames burned over the books. Apparently dissatisfied with the size of the fire, Griseo tossed another book in, looking visibly relieved.
Pardo stretched a hand out of her cat mascot costume toward the fireplace. "Phew... so warm..."
"I didn't expect this fireplace to still work after all this time," Aponia said with a hint of nostalgia.
Hua felt the temperature in the room gradually rising, then suddenly discovered that Feng's diary was gone from her hands! She immediately looked at Elysia, only to see Elysia sitting obediently on the sofa with nothing in her hands. The honest girl could only shift her puzzled gaze to the others.
Did I lose it without noticing? That won't do. It is Feng's diary... But the living room is too dark right now. It looks like I'll have to search for it after daylight tomorrow.
After warming herself by the fire for a while, Griseo, who had not eaten dinner, looked toward Pardo beside her. A delicious scent seemed to permeate the air. Before she knew it, Pardo, curled up inside the mascot costume, had turned into a can in her eyes. Pardo was still saying, "I'm so hungry. It'd be great if the fireplace could grill steak or sweet potatoes or something."
At that moment, Griseo, who had become so hungry that she was hallucinating, unhesitatingly bit down on Pardo's leg!
"Waaah!" Pardo cried out in pain. "You can't eat this! Everyone, think of something!"
Elysia looked toward the fireplace, sniffed lightly, and said, "I think I can smell food."
Wrapped in her sleeping bag, Mobius held a test tube like a penguin and sipped its reagent out of habit. She did not forget to mock Elysia. "Oh? Have you gotten so hungry you're hallucinating?"
Though she seemed to smell it too, she would never pass up any opportunity to ridicule Elysia!
Pardo, who had finally managed to get Griseo to release her, sniffed too. "Wait... it really smells like braised beef!"
Everyone followed the scent toward the fireplace. Kevin, who had been fiddling with something in front of it, turned around. "I cooked instant noodles. Want some?"
The group immediately gathered around Kevin, holding empty noodle bowls as they waited for him to ladle noodles from the large pot under Aponia's direction.
Although Master Qian, who looked like he was about to press his face into the magazine, would rather go hungry than come over to eat, he probably just did not want to give anyone a chance to take the magazine from him.
Meanwhile, outside Golden Courtyard.
Two people raced across the snow on snowmobiles and soon arrived outside Golden Courtyard.
When they reached the entrance, they took off their helmets. They were Eden, whose flight had been delayed, and Feng, whose business trip had been extended.
Eden looked at the dark villa, then helplessly turned to Feng, who had parked the snowmobile and was still unloading things from it. "All the lights at Golden Courtyard are off. Everyone must already be asleep. It seems we really did come back too late."
Feng gathered his belongings and looked at Golden Courtyard too. "Griseo must be disappointed..."
Eden looked at Feng's seemingly expressionless face, then checked her watch. At this hour... with Elysia's personality, she should not have gone to sleep so early, right? But why were all the lights in Golden Courtyard off?
The two walked up to the door and opened it. What greeted them was the sight of the residents slurping noodles around a lit fireplace.
Feng: "..."
Had Kevin led every resident of Golden Courtyard astray into slurping noodles? Even Elysia had not escaped? ...Hm? What was Elysia holding?
At that moment, the residents noticed the two people standing at the door as well. Then again, it would have been impossible not to notice—when Eden opened the door, cold wind blew right in.
Elysia, who had just wanted to sneak a look at someone's diary while no one was paying attention: "..."
This... Why had Feng come back with Eden? And he seemed to have noticed what she was holding... How was she supposed to explain this?
Feng did not seem to clearly see what Elysia held. He simply closed the door in silence, while Eden walked over to Elysia to find out what had happened.
As Elysia explained the situation to Eden, she quietly stuffed someone's diary back beneath the sofa.
"I see. Good thing Pardo had stockpiled so many instant noodles." Eden looked at the bowl of noodles Elysia had brought her.
"But why did Feng come back too? Wasn't his business trip extended?" Elysia asked in confusion.
Feng, standing before the fireplace with a noodle bowl and waiting for Kevin to serve him, turned back and said, "Eden went directly to the hotel where I was staying and dragged me back."
Put simply, his business trip happened to be in the same place as Eden. After Eden finished her video call with Elysia, she went to find Feng immediately. Though several stretches of road were covered in snow, nothing was impossible if Eden threw enough money at it. And if it was impossible, that only meant she had not thrown enough money at it.
In short, with the help of Eden's money-powered abilities, Feng was dragged away before he could even finish his meal and successfully returned to Golden Courtyard. He had not even had time to collect his luggage, only to pack up some food. Lilith had said she would bring the rest back for him later...
"Wow, just as expected of my dear Eden~" Elysia happily hugged Eden. "Now everyone at Golden Courtyard is finally here!"
Both Eden and Feng's expressions became somewhat unnatural in that instant.
"Huh? Eden, is something wrong?" Elysia asked doubtfully.
"Nothing. I just remembered something else," Eden said, finding an excuse to cover it up.
In truth, during their return flight, Feng had told Eden that he wanted to move out. Eden had told him to think it over again.
"Although you don't spend much time with everyone normally, everyone actually likes you very much, especially Elysia," Eden had said. "If you decide to leave, Elysia will be very disappointed, won't she?"
"She is warm toward everyone. Parting really would upset her somewhat," Feng had replied. "I'm doing this partly because of work-related reasons... But since you've put it that way, I'll think about it again later."
Eden sighed inwardly. Sorry, Elysia, she had truly done her best. Just how low was Feng's emotional intelligence? She had practically spelled out Elysia's feelings for him, yet that blockhead had not reacted at all. Not at all!
No wonder Lilith had failed to win him over after all these years. She really did not know whether that was fortunate or unfortunate...
Feng set his instant noodles aside, took out the food he had hastily packed from the bag he had brought back, and said, "Still, having only instant noodles for New Year's Eve dinner is rather monotonous. I brought some food back. Let's eat together. I left in a hurry, so I couldn't pack much."
"Wow! Brother Yu Feng, I admire you so much!" Pardo watched Feng put several dishes into the pot to heat up, her eyes shining.
"What's there to admire?" Feng smiled. "It's thanks to you that no one went hungry before Eden and I returned."
"Oh, I'm not that amazing." Pardo looked at the food in the pot. "I got it from Boss Kevin."
Feng: "..."
Forget it. He was not surprised. He had no idea how many things Pardo had swiped from him. He did not even know whether Pardo had taken that diary before. But since it did not contain anything important, he had not paid it much mind.
There was no way he would write his real thoughts in a diary, especially knowing there was a cat in the villa who liked swiping things!
Still, speaking of that diary, why did the notebook Elysia had been holding earlier seem so familiar? It seemed to be the diary he had lost...
"From me? When?" Kevin froze.
"When you first moved into Golden Courtyard, Boss Kevin," Pardo said as she fished food from the pot.
"Back then..." Kevin considered it. "Mm, it has been quite a long time."
"Yes, so much time passed before we knew it. It all feels as though it happened yesterday," Elysia said wistfully.
Just as everyone was feeling nostalgic, Feng paused with his forkful of noodles halfway to his mouth and asked a very important question. "I remember... Kevin moved in a month before I did, right? Can the instant noodles from back then... still be eaten now?"
Everyone stopped slurping their noodles.
Feng looked at Kevin's expression, sighed, took Griseo's noodle bowl from her hands, and scooped plenty of dishes for her from the pot. "You should... eat less of that, Griseo. Don't eat instant noodles for now."
After finishing "dinner," it was already late. But because the villa's power supply had been cut off and the weather was abnormally cold, everyone ultimately decided to bring down quilts from upstairs and spend the night by the fireplace.
"And this way, everyone gets to spend the New Year together!" Elysia had said.
When everyone had fallen asleep, only the fireplace flames burned slowly in the silent night.
Suddenly, a snowflake from nowhere landed on Kevin's face. Kevin woke from his sleep and found that the fire in the fireplace had gone out. Feng was beside it, adding fresh fuel and relighting the fire.
"Did the business trip go smoothly?" Kevin walked over to Feng and sat down cross-legged beside him.
"It was all right. With Lilith there, what could possibly go wrong?" Feng said as he watched the fire in the fireplace.
The two were silent for a while before Feng spoke again. "Kevin, I'm planning to... leave Golden Courtyard."
"Leave here?" Kevin was taken aback. "Why?"
"Some work-related reasons, though there are some personal reasons too..." Feng kept staring at the flames in the fireplace. "Actually, I've always felt as though I don't belong here. I always feel somewhat out of place with all of you. Besides, Nahamah has been inviting me to stay at his villa, so..."
"I won't interfere with your choice." Kevin added a book to the fireplace. "But I have to tell you this: ever since you came to Golden Courtyard, you have always been a part of Golden Courtyard. There is no question of whether you belong here or not, nor are you out of place. Everyone... welcomes you."
Elysia, resting against Eden's legs, had opened her eyes at some point and silently listened to the two speak.
"You really are all rather interesting," Feng said with a smile. Suddenly, he saw Kosma, who had fallen asleep against the sofa, tumble to the floor, his blanket slipping off. Feng stood up, walked over to Kosma, and covered him with the blanket.
He returned to the fireplace and said, "Eden said more or less the same thing to me... Mm, I'll think about it some more later."
"Mm." Kevin nodded and said nothing more.
As everything fell silent once again, Pardo, who had been sleeping soundly, abruptly opened her eyes and sat up with a startled cry. This woke everyone, and they all looked over.
"So noisy." Qianjie, whose magazine looked as though it had stuck to his face, sat up, said that, then lay back down and went on sleeping.
"What happened?" Hua asked.
"Did the power come back?" Vill-V asked, looking half-asleep.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Pardo immediately apologized.
Elysia asked, "Phyllis, are you all right?"
"I... I just had a dream..." Pardo said, still shaken.
Su comforted her. "Don't rush. Tell us slowly."
Pardo pressed her lips together before saying, "In my dream, everyone disappeared. There were monsters everywhere, and the moon was full. I hugged a little box and ran for a very, very long time. But when I turned around, all of you were gone. Only I was left..."
Feng froze at that. He seemed to have dreamed something similar before...
Elysia stepped forward and took Pardo's hand. "All right, all right, relax. Aren't we all still here?"
"As long as you wake from the dream, everything will be fine," Eden comforted her as well.
Griseo encouraged Pardo too. "Don't worry, Sister Pardo. Dreams can't hurt you."
Aponia also said, "Take a deep breath. You will gradually calm down."
Kosma wore a thoughtful expression.
Pardo hesitated, then looked at Feng. "I was really scared and didn't know where to go. Then Brother Yu Feng appeared. He led me to everyone, and then... he disappeared too. Everyone searched for him, but we couldn't find him anywhere..."
"It was just a dream. It doesn't matter." Feng turned his back to them. "Things in dreams are all false. There is no need to take them seriously."
"So... you won't leave, will you, Feng?" Elysia asked, seemingly implying something more.
Feng did not answer.
In a dream he had once had, he saw the intertwined stories of thirteen people. Yet he stood outside of them, watching them disappear one by one before his eyes. He reached out his hand, only to discover that he could not move...
"Is this the side effect of expired instant noodles?" Vill-V picked up an empty noodle bowl and muttered to herself, then looked out the window. "Hm? It's almost dawn..."
Elysia didn't press Feng for an answer to that question. Wrapped in a blanket, she walked onto the balcony and said, "Look, the snow's stopped!"
"It's another new year already." Hua spoke with a hint of nostalgia.
Elysia breathed warm air into her hands, while Pardo squeezed herself back into her mascot suit. Looking at the vast white world, she said, "Wow, the whole world's turned white!"
"Yeah, it's completely different from usual." Elysia said.
Suddenly, Pardo sneezed. Then a scarf was tossed over her head. Pardo turned around, and Qianjie, with his back to her, said, "Take it."
"Aw, Qianjie is so thoughtful. Good boy~" Elysia said with a smile.
"Qianjie has always been a gentle, good child." Aponia walked over carrying a stack of blankets.
"Don't read too much into it." Qianjie turned slightly to the side. "I just don't want you people giving me a cold."
Griseo made a snowman, and Aponia draped a blanket over her. Kosma stood nearby, looking at everyone with an expression like he wanted to say something but couldn't. When he saw Feng emerge from the living room as well, he finally decided to speak, but Pardo beat him to it. "Everyone, look! The sky over there is getting so red!"
"Ah, the sun's about to rise." Leaning on the railing, Vill-V smiled at Mobius. "If I remember correctly, this should be Professor Mobius's first time watching a sunrise, right?"
"The professor usually works through the night in the lab. I imagine she's never really paid attention to one before." Hua walked onto the balcony too, holding the Yuan plushie.
Mobius had just finished taking pictures with her phone. She said dismissively, "What a fuss over nothing. It's just an ordinary sunrise." Then she lowered her head to her phone. After sending Klein a selfie she had just taken, she added: "Happy New Year."
"Whenever I watched the sunrise before, I was either on a film set or on a plane. Everything was always so rushed." Eden said wistfully.
Kevin noticed Kosma standing off to one side, looking as though he wanted to speak but couldn't, and asked, "Feeling unwell?"
Kosma snapped back to himself and replied, "I'm fine."
"Sorry." Kevin walked over to Kosma. "I should've checked the expiration date on those instant noodles more carefully."
"No." Kosma walked to the railing and looked at the sunrise. "Actually, like Pardo, I've had similar dreams. In those dreams, we all became Heroes, but... we were all failures too. I watched Feng walk farther and farther away, all by himself."
"Heh..." Kevin smiled, a rare sight. He looked toward the sunrise as well. "As long as we leave behind a spark that carries hope onward, it isn't failure. If that day really comes, I think we'll still stand together. No matter how many times, no matter what price we have to pay, humanity will defeat those disasters. And Feng... that guy doesn't get to leave on his own either."
Feng, standing behind them: "..."
So much for not interfering with my choices. They still don't want me to leave, do they?
Kosma froze for a moment, then said, "Could it be... you dreamed of it too?"
Kevin turned his face away. "No."
At that moment, Elysia clapped her hands. "Let's all make New Year's wishes together! Maybe they'll come true~"
"Then I hope I can take a peaceful nap every day." Pardo said, rubbing her hands together.
"Oh dear, I'm afraid that won't do, little Pardo~" Vill-V said, holding the railing. "My wish is for every noon to be showtime! Hahahaha..."
Pardo's face went dark. "Have mercy, Sister Vill-V..."
"I hope my graduation thesis goes smoothly." Hua said.
"Is this the trouble of student life?" Sakura glanced at Hua, then said, "I really hope there'll be less overtime next year."
"Qianjie, what about you?" Elysia asked with a smile.
"Don't look at me. I... don't have any New Year's wishes." Qianjie still had his back turned, refusing to show his face.
Aponia paused, then smiled. "Does that mean you're very satisfied with your current life, Qianjie?"
"Please shut up..."
"Your turn, little Griseo~" Elysia turned to Griseo again.
Griseo drew a smile on the snowman's face. "A wish... I don't know. Kosma, do you have a wish?"
Kosma blinked. "Me?"
Hmm... I hope I get into my ideal university. No, that's still too early for me. What matters most right now is... Oh, right, I hope I can get every limited-edition Heroes model in its exclusive color scheme from now on! No, no, maybe wishing for a miracle on a single pull is more reliable... Wait, would it sound too childish if I said that?
"...Never mind. Su, you go."
"May the sick recover, and may illness vanish from the world." Su said.
"Su's wish is a difficult one. What about you, Eden?" Elysia asked, looking at Eden beside her.
"Mine... May time remain forever in this moment, may tomorrow..."
Elysia's fairy-like ears twitched. "Oh?"
"Heh... It's only a lyric. I'll tell you someday."
"Okay." Elysia walked behind Eden and gently hugged her.
"And what about you?" Eden asked.
"My wish?" Elysia let go, turned toward the sunrise, and said, "It's simple. I want to create an everlasting paradise, without disasters or war. A place where everyone can pursue their own ideals, where everyone can live happily. And I hope I can witness all of that together with the people I love."
"What are you thinking? Something like that doesn't exist at all." Mobius tried to pour cold water on it.
Elysia glanced at a certain blockhead who had been looking at her. Feng quickly shifted his gaze elsewhere.
"Not necessarily." Elysia smiled. "Kevin, what's your wish?"
"I have three wishes." Kevin leaned against the railing with one hand, watching the sunrise. "First, I hope work goes smoothly. Second..."
Kevin's face suddenly reddened. Turning away, he said, "I hope Mei and I can be in the same city next year, so we can spend more time together."
"Oh my~" Elysia smiled teasingly. "Then... what's your third wish?"
"My third wish..." Kevin lowered his eyes. "I hope that by the year after next, all of us can still stand here and watch the sunrise together once more."
"That's probably the simplest wish of all, isn't it?" Aponia said with a smile.
Elysia looked at Feng. "Indeed, it can be very simple... So, Feng, what's your wish?"
Feng walked to the edge of the balcony and looked at the sunrise. After thinking for a while, he said, "I have three wishes too. First, I hope I have fewer business trips next year. I want to... get to know everyone better. Second, I hope everyone at Golden Courtyard, and Lilith and the others, will have all their wishes fulfilled and everything go smoothly in the new year. Third..."
"Hm?"
For once, Feng looked a little embarrassed. After hesitating for a long while, he finally said, "I hope that in the new year, I can be with the person I like."
Kevin and the others all wore teasing expressions, while Elysia froze for a moment before looking away.
Looks like this guy isn't planning to leave after all. But... with how oblivious he is, it'll be really hard to win him over in the new year...
"I've always been thinking about something."
"If we had never met each other, what would our lives have been like?"
"Compared to being alone, perhaps watching the sunrise with friends and the people you love is more beautiful?"
"Those chances to meet made ordinary days burst forth with dazzling miracles."
"Though the wishes we made may be difficult to fulfill in a short time, the seed called will had already taken root and sprouted in our hearts, waiting to bloom into brilliant flowers in spring. And that spring would eventually come."
"Oh, right, Elysia, that notebook you were holding earlier..."
"Oh dear, I suppose there was such a thing, but I don't remember where I put it anymore~"
"...Never mind."
"Oh, right, Feng."
"?"
"From now on, you're not allowed to keep everything from me, okay? We're all partners at Golden Courtyard. You're not allowed to hide everything away by yourself. I'll get angry."
"...Okay."
"I also hope this blockhead becomes a little less clueless in the new year."
Before you continue