Megan and Audrey held hands, one sitting on the short sofa and the other perched on its soft armrest. The sisters talked about parting ways with Speaker Adele Isabella not long ago:
"I told her I'd found a very beautiful lover and had an important family gathering to attend this Year-End Festival, so the Speaker told me to hurry up and prepare. If you ask me, perhaps next year or the year after, she'll also be sitting on one of the sofas or chairs in this living room, wearing a nightgown and smiling as she tells us stories about her travels."
Even Shade smiled. Though they were teasing him as well, the Outlander truly hoped that, just as Audrey had said, Adele from the Past could spend the Year-End Festival here with everyone.
Grandma Cassandra sat in the middle of the long sofa, watching the scene before her with gratification. Illustrious Miss held a teacup as she glanced at Tifa, the maid standing nearby. Tifa was the only Purebred Human Illustrious Miss had seen in both the Fifth Epoch and the Sixth Epoch whose figure was even better than her own.
Flora, who despised her family yet yearned desperately for a warm family life, wondered whether she should paint tonight's scene as a memento. Sivie, meanwhile, curiously asked Shade:
"Come to think of it, although I met you in the summer last year, our relationship hadn't progressed so quickly at the time. How did you spend the Year-End Festival last year?"
Shade sat cross-legged on a soft cushion with his back facing the fireplace. Little Mia lay sprawled across his legs, while Grace and Helen sat to his left and right. Perhaps because the heat from the fireplace behind them had made the sisters sweat, Shade felt that they smelled