Sylvia did not blink:
"Sometimes I hate my own cleverness. If I didn't know, I wouldn't be jealous. If I weren't jealous, I wouldn't suffer, and I wouldn't have called you here.
I may be clever, but I still have the emotions a normal girl should have."
They looked into each other's eyes, and she continued:
"Shade, do you remember when we first met?"
Thursday, the fourteenth day of the Month of Frost's Descent, Year 1853 of the Common Calendar.
Shade smiled:
"Of course I remember. It was the afternoon of Thursday, the fourteenth day of the Month of Frost's Descent, Year 1853 of the Common Calendar.
I first appeared at White River Valley Vineyard because I wanted to investigate the rumors about the Goddess in the Lake. After unexpectedly meeting Viscount Bernhardt, whom I had known in Miburg, he invited me for a drink at the White King Club in the city. Then Margaret noticed me because of the Blood Brew Red Wine."
That story felt as though it had happened yesterday:
"Later, Earl Sachia died unexpectedly, and during my investigation, I discovered that it had been the work of the Pantanal Voodoo Society. Viscount Bernhardt and I had originally planned to lie on the ground and play dead, avoiding the matter and keeping ourselves out of it. Then you appeared."
"So you remembered all of it. That was last November, and in the blink of an eye, it is already the Month of Slumber in 1854."
She continued looking into Shade's eyes. At that moment, both of them held their breath, yet their heartbeats were equally intense:
"There is something I want to confirm with you one last time—I do not have the noble influence or wealth that Galina and Bella possess."
"Do you think I care about