Chapter Summaries

Shade and Mr. Ptolemy Albert watched Countess Bella Belinder open the Moon Bay Bridge while discussing the city’s recovery, political tensions, and looming war. The ceremony ended with Bella announcing a small tax reduction, while Shade and Albert remained concerned about Moon Bay’s safety and future.

• Leisha teased Shade about her weight and asked him to try again at the hot spring after their earlier attempt had failed.
• Countess Bella Belinder launched the Moon Bay Bridge celebration with fireworks as crowds gathered along the Tatton River.
• The City Council staged a lavish ceremony featuring balloons, a steam airship, commemorative coins, and relief food for the poor.
• Shade met Mr. Ptolemy Albert on a rooftop and discussed Moon Bay’s recovery, rising smuggling, and the growth of Albert’s Eternal Light organization.
• Albert warned Shade to keep Bella safe amid political tensions, while Shade worried about Major Rades and the Archipelago Kingdom.
• Bella announced a small tax reduction for commoners, funded by money recovered during the bridge construction.

Bella celebrated Moon Bay Bridge’s opening and the Belinder Family’s control of the city, but the banquet ended with news that Sete Duchy and Milson Duchy had declared war. The conflict threatened to reshape the Old Continent, and Bella began gathering intelligence as the year drew to a close.

• Bella announced Moon Bay’s development plans and crossed the newly opened bridge in her carriage during the city’s rebirth ceremony.
• Shade attended Bella’s banquet, won a gold Rhodes Cards commemorative medal, and shared the first dance with her.
• Matilda delivered an urgent warning that Sete Duchy and Milson Duchy had gone to war over a clash near a railway construction site in the Pantanal Great Swamp.
• Bella ordered Matilda to monitor Wilundell and contact the Eddington Family to gather information from Milson Duchy.
• Shade left the banquet as Bella worried over the war, which soon dominated newspapers across the Old Continent through the end of 1854.

As the Year-End Festival approached, Shade received a stack of holiday letters and learned that Miss Goode planned to visit him that morning. He waited at home for her, and the doorbell rang ten minutes after the appointed time.

• Shade inspected the renovated No. 7 Saint Derain Square and planned to connect it to his home with a doorway created by magic on the Year-End Festival.
• Shade told Luvia he would spend the day visiting friends before holiday guests arrived, then sorted through fourteen letters, including greetings from friends and acquaintances.
• Shade found a letter from Miss Goode announcing that she would visit No. 6 Saint Derain Square that morning.
• Shade decided to stay home, waited with Little Mia, and read an occultism book while watching for Miss Goode.
• The doorbell rang at ten past ten.

Shade waited for Miss Goode while receiving a Year-End Festival schedule update and a visit from Durut Giles and Lust Edwardz. A mysterious dice sound led him into the Fate Casino, where a new opponent appeared and offered him another chance to gamble for a turn in his destiny.

• Priest Augustus told Shade that the Year-End Festival ceremony would begin at eight forty, then left without Miss Goode appearing.
• Durut Giles brought Lust Edwardz to ask whether her descendants had sent holiday greetings, and Shade promised that Megan and Audrey would arrive the next day.
• Shade began writing holiday cards and decided to wait for Miss Goode until lunchtime, then discovered that children had rung his doorbell as a prank.
• Shade traced a recurring dice sound to his first-floor living room and entered the Fate Casino through the White Fog.
• A bald middle-aged man in a black tailcoat welcomed Shade back and asked what he wanted to gamble this time.

Shade entered the Fate Casino hidden in his home and gambled two hours to learn why it had appeared. He won the wager and learned the casino’s door had awakened because the Ancient God doors in his house resonated and he had tried to tear down a wall, but its location and how to control it remained unknown.

• Shade questioned the casino’s bald diviner about the hidden door and agreed to wager two hours for an explanation.
• The bald man proposed a card game, and Shade calculated that stopping after two cards gave him the best odds.
• Shade removed ten cards from the deck, stopped the draw after two, and won with Flower 11 and Stars 2.
• The bald man explained that a concealed Fate Casino door existed on the first floor of 6 Saint Derain Square and had awakened because the house’s seven stable doors resonated with one another.
• The bald man said Shade’s attempt to tear down a wall had stirred fate and activated the casino, but refused to reveal the door’s location or how to control it without a greater wager.

Shade spent three hours in the Fate Casino seeking a way to prevent visitors from entering it, and returned home after missing Miss Goode's visit. He discovered that Miss Goode had stayed for lunch and was upstairs with Dorothy, leaving their meeting for later.

• Shade lost three hours in a card game, then won a later round and learned that rolling thirteen six-sided dice could warn of a heightened chance of entering the Fate Casino.
• Shade learned that his Cat would not be affected by the casino, declined to keep gambling, and left after being told he could learn the casino's special rules only by entering normally.
• Shade reappeared at home, where Emilia, Galina, Luvia, Tifa, and the maids had been searching for him after Miss Goode arrived and he was absent.
• At Shade's request, Luvia and the others rolled thirteen dice to check whether they were at risk of entering the casino, and none rolled all ones.
• Galina explained that Dorothy was upstairs entertaining Miss Goode, who had stayed for lunch after Emilia asked her to wait.

Shade finally met Mia Goode, Little Mia’s owner, after expecting fate to make him miss her visit. Though he found her outwardly ordinary, he remained intrigued by her mystery and looked forward to the Year-End Festival and the future.

• Shade learned that Miss Goode had stayed at his home with Dorothy and hurried to meet her as she came downstairs.
• Shade greeted Miss Goode, thanked her for caring for Little Mia, and learned she had to leave without taking the Cat because trouble at her family’s ancestral home kept her occupied.
• Shade helped Miss Goode into a carriage bound for the station, and she left him a gift upstairs before departing.
• Shade told Dorothy and the others how fate had repeatedly made him think he would miss the meeting, then said Miss Goode had seemed ordinary when he shook her hand.
• Dorothy showed Shade the Cat brooch Miss Goode had given her, while Luvia urged him to explain Fate Casino.
• Shade decided that uncovering Miss Goode’s secret was a new goal and followed the others upstairs, looking forward to the future.

After escaping the Fated Old God's casino, Shade reunited with Luvia and the others and discussed the strange secrets of his house and Miss Mia Goode. He later read the antique manuscript Mia had left him, which described transforming ritual matrices into circles and hinted at a powerful arrangement of thirteen Ritual Circles.

• Shade reunited with Luvia, Emilia, Dorothy, and Galina, then recounted his experience in the casino and praised Emilia for helping them.
• Shade and the others agreed to postpone investigating the house and to establish a permanent spatial doorway between Numbers 6 and 7 during the Year-End Festival.
• Emilia and Dorothy described their conversations with Miss Goode, while Shade reflected on what had led him into the casino before their meeting.
• After Miss Goode left Tobesk, Shade read her letter and examined the old manuscript she had given him as a festival gift.
• Shade used Text Comprehension to learn that the manuscript explained how to reshape non-circular Ritual Matrices and proposed joining thirteen complementary, opposing Ritual Circles into a larger circle.

Shade visited friends across several cities to exchange Year-End Festival gifts before returning to Tobesk, where Flora Winslet and her party arrived early. The chapter ended with Flora admiring Shade’s Mermaid oil painting at his home.

• Shade visited Mr. Edmund in Coldwater Port and received a Starvation Legacy coin, then gave the Guardians of the Earth Sun Fire and received stalactite drip liquid.
• Shade visited the Green Siblings and Grandma Natalie at Green Lake, where Helena asked him to deliver a letter to his Doctor friend.
• Shade visited Mr. Chekhov, Mr. Ptolemy Albert, Miss Brown, and Mr. Feringa in Moon Bay, receiving another Starvation Legacy and Crystal Dragon blood and learning that Miss Brown was pregnant.
• Shade decided not to visit the Mermaid or the Bloodkin and returned home, where he remembered to write to Professor Drake.
• Shade found Flora Winslet and her party at 6 Saint Derain Square, and Flora praised the Mermaid oil painting he had brought back from Green Lake.

Flora stayed at Shade’s house ahead of the Year-End Festival and prepared to visit Queen Diana at Yodel Palace with Galina. After Flora retired, Galina secretly joined Shade in bed, and the next morning the household began its festive preparations.

• Shade told Flora that the oil painting depicted an Unknown Level Relic, and Flora examined it before choosing a room in his house.
• Flora settled into a third-floor room and began painting Tobesk’s nighttime view while preparing to visit Yodel Palace with Galina the next day.
• Flora asked Galina which earrings would suit her for the visit, then returned upstairs to paint.
• After Flora went to sleep, Galina slipped into Shade’s bedroom and teased him before sharing an intimate night with him.
• On Tuesday morning, Flora questioned Galina’s care of Shade and eagerly tried to learn more about his life.

Shade visited Professor Tiris Manning and Old Dad John before the Year-End Festival, learning that the Seer Association had located the Fate Base somewhere in the Southeast of the Old Continent. He returned home to find Grandma Cassandra, Grace, Helen, and Miss Swift already there, leaving the next Chosen One story looming as his guests gathered for the festival.

• Shade visited Professor Tiris Manning, gave him a fashionable black cashmere hat, and received a gift box containing a centuries-old poetry manuscript.
• Shade visited Old Dad John, who told him the Seer Association had found the approximate location of the Fate Base in the Southeast of the Old Continent.
• Old John explained that a Poem Chapter Fragment linked the Fate Base to the Chosen of Fate and suggested the Ninth Chosen One's story would soon begin.
• Shade returned home and found Miss Swift, Grace, Helen, Grandma Cassandra, and Luvia gathered in the living room.
• Grandma Cassandra said she had finished her work in Middlesburg early and had Grace and Helen open a Teleportation Gate to bring them to Tobesk.

Shade welcomed Grandma Cassandra and her companions to Saint Derain Square, visited friends before the Year-End Festival, and helped Sister Devlin strengthen the First Fire with Moon Fire. He gave Sister Devlin a silver key as her festival gift, though its purpose remained unrevealed.

• Shade arranged for Grace and Helen to create a magical door between Numbers 6 and 7 Saint Derain Square, where Grandma Cassandra and the others settled in.
• Shade visited Lust Edwardz with Megan and received festival greeting cards from Wood Edwards, Glass Edwardz, Eric Follen, and Charles Follen.
• At the Wilde Opera House, Vanessa and Siris discussed joining Shade at Saint Derain Square after their performance, with Siris planning to travel through the Heart of the Earth if necessary.
• Shade met Sister Devlin at the Mountain Top Sacrificial Ground and fused Moon Fire extracted from the Moon Tear with the Flame of the First Fire.
• Sister Devlin explained that the First Fire could now draw power from mighty burning fuel and turn residue and Ashes into spells or weapons, and Shade gave her a silver key for the Year-End Festival.

Shade gave Sister Devlin a key to his home, and they walked together through the snow as she shared stories of her childhood and revealed that one of the three Flames was near Starfall Bay. After Sister Devlin kissed his cheek and left, Shade returned to Tobesk, where five Great Witches gathered for the Year-End Festival and spent the evening together at his home.

• Shade invited Sister Devlin to visit him and asked her to walk with him through the snowy grounds instead of removing her blindfold.
• Sister Devlin told Shade she had grown up in the Order of Spiritual Cultivation after being abandoned as an infant, and asked whether he missed his family.
• Sister Devlin revealed that one of the three Flames was in the Starfall Bay region, where the Fate Base might appear, and Shade said he would search there after exam week.
• Sister Devlin kissed Shade on the cheek, wished him farewell until next year, and returned to the Mountain Top Sacrificial Ground.
• Sivie arrived in Tobesk with her niece and the Ship Girl, bringing the number of Great Witches in the city to five, and the group gathered for dinner at Galina's Manor.
• Sivie and her companions settled at Saint Derain Square, where the women gathered in Shade's home that night to talk and share stories.

Shade and the women prepared for the Year-End Festival, making plans to celebrate together before several of them went out for the day. Galina then took Shade to Yodel Palace to introduce him to her nephew and the Delarion nobility, while Bella arrived to receive any guests at the house.

• At a pajama tea party, Shade recalled last year's quiet Year-End Festival with Luvia and proposed that everyone visit the Woodland hot springs after dinner this year.
• After the women went to bed, Galina, Megan, and Audrey joined Shade in his bedroom.
• On the last day of 1854, Shade attended a Dawn Church event and visited Detective Hamilton Sparrow Hamilton at the cemetery before returning home.
• Galina told Shade that the other women were out and asked him to accompany her to Yodel Palace so she could introduce him to her nephew.
• Bella arrived from Moon Bay, explained that she had spent the morning on public appearances and charity visits, and offered to receive guests while Galina and Shade went out.

Shade visited Yodel Palace with Galina and Little Mia, where he spoke with Larus III and joined Queen Diana’s gathering of royal women. Back at Saint Derain Square, Shade found Flora hiding in the washroom to avoid Daniste, and Daniste challenged Flora’s attempt to apologize.

• Shade visited Larus III, who said Anros might send him to Weilun Dai'er City and encouraged him to contact Princess Margaret privately.
• Galina told Queen Diana that she would skip the royal Year-End Festival dinner to dine with Shade at his home.
• Shade returned to Saint Derain Square and learned that Flora had been locked in the third-floor washroom for half an hour.
• Daniste accompanied Shade upstairs, and Flora opened the washroom door before realizing Daniste was with him.
• Flora apologized to Daniste, who asked what punishment Shade had given her.

Shade and the Witches gathered at 6 Saint Derain Square to celebrate the Year-End Festival, welcoming the last guests and preparing a crowded dinner. As the festivities began, Shade felt an unfamiliar worry about his future and Destiny.

• Daniste made Shade punish Flora for violating her privacy, then forgave her and arranged to share Room Two with her.
• Iluna, Vanessa, and Siris arrived at the house, and Sylvia complained that she might otherwise have been the only Great Witch absent.
• Sylvia asked Dorothy to bring Margaret from Wilundell to the nighttime gathering after the banquet at Yodel Palace.
• The Witches and their companions prepared a festive dinner together at 6 Saint Derain Square.
• As snow fell outside, Shade watched the gathering and wondered what Destiny's blade would bring him, recalling Ivan Daknis and his own foretold ending.

Shade hosted the Hamilton Family's 1854 Year-End Festival banquet, reflecting on the people who had joined his life and hoping they would all gather again next year. The celebration continued as Miss Hailey Aurora returned with a small oak barrel that Shade sensed was a relic.

• Shade and the others gathered at 6 Saint Derain Square for the Hamilton Family's Year-End Festival banquet.
• Shade toasted the guests, thanked them for their companionship and hard work, remembered Uncle Sparrow Hamilton, and hoped everyone would reunite for the next festival.
• The guests celebrated together as night fell, while Shade shared a toast with Galina and watched Little Mia and Emilia enjoy the feast.
• At 7:10 p.m., Miss Hailey Aurora returned with a small oak barrel, and Shade sensed the Whisper Element from it.

During the Year-End Festival banquet, Shade and his companions shared rare Harvest Ale, watched Tobesk’s fireworks, and exchanged gifts. Shade delivered presents to the women around him, then began handing out gifts to the Witch Apprentices before the group was due to leave for the Moon Sanctuary.

• Sivie shared her Poet Level Relic Harvest Ale with the gathered guests, who tasted it during the banquet.
• The guests watched Tobesk’s year-end fireworks from 6 Saint Derain Square, then gathered their presents for the traditional gift exchange.
• Shade visited the women’s rooms to give gifts, including photographs to Galina, a water-purifying Holy Grail to Sivie, and a Longevity Magic Potion to Grandma Cassandra.
• Shade gave Sylvia the ancient coffin with an abnormal internal space, and she eagerly embraced and kissed him.
• Shade gave Vanessa a Memory Crystal of music from his home, Siris a crystal showing her through his eyes, and Megan and Audrey knowledge from Strange Tree Academy.
• Shade gave Flora a white scarf, Bella Spirit Number Dice, and Luvia a separate gift, then began delivering presents to the Witch Apprentices.

Shade celebrated the Year-End Festival by giving gifts to the women close to him, including the Witch Apprentices, Emilia, Iluna, Illustrious Miss, and Daniste. He saved Luvia for last, presenting her with twelve command cards that let her make him do anything until the end of 1855.

• Shade gave the five Witch Apprentices dragon-bone combs, Dorothy two copies of “Crystal Light,” Grace and Helen matching dresses, and Emilia Ancient Elven Language study notes.
• Emilia found Shade’s love poem inside her notebook and gave him a photograph of herself with Little Liana.
• Shade gave Iluna a dagger forged from Silver Moonlight and Illustrious Miss a relic pendant that protected ships from harsh weather; Illustrious Miss gave him a scarf.
• Shade gave Daniste a Youthful Immortality Leaf, which she could use for the ritual to save her Teacher, Lady Helena Carter.
• Shade presented Luvia with twelve command cards that could make him do anything until December 31, 1855.

Shade and his friends celebrated the end of 1854 with a late-night trip to the Moon Sanctuary’s hot springs. The evening ended with Megan and Audrey proposing a game of King's Game.

• Luvia kissed Shade after receiving his gift, and Leisha and Angelina arrived with their own presents from him.
• Shade and the group traveled through Vesta Woodland to the newly expanded Moon Sanctuary, where Margaret greeted him with an embrace.
• After the young ladies entered the hot spring, Tifa and Matilda changed Shade into a bathrobe and pushed him into the water.
• Leisha and Dorothy settled beside Shade, while the others suggested hot-spring games and Shade encouraged everyone to enjoy the festival.
• Megan and Audrey joined the group with a deck of cards and asked Shade to play King's Game.