Preparing gifts for the Witch Apprentices had not been difficult. To uphold the basic principles that "an apprentice's gift cannot be better than a teacher's gift" and "regardless of their relationships, it is best not to treat anyone differently," the five young ladies present all received combs for brushing their hair.
They did seem rather thoughtless and inexpensive, but those combs had been handmade rather than produced in a factory. Though Shade had not made them himself, their raw material was the sturdiest spinal bones of a Pureblood Dragon.
When Shade had been troubled over what gifts to give and the young ladies had all refused to answer him, he had specifically sought help from friends in various places. The raw material for the combs, those rather old dragon bones, had been provided by Mr. Albert of Moon Bay. Mr. Albert had also made the combs after charging a craftsmanship fee.
To make them seem more novel, Shade had asked the Chosen One of Light to inscribe runes within the dragon bones and construct rituals while making the combs, allowing them to emit a glimmer in the dark. Finally, he had specifically asked Mr. Albert to carve each Young Lady's name onto her comb.
Shade remembered that when he had traced six names in the air with Silver Moonlight, the Bloodkin coroner had given him a distinctly strange look before nodding:
"I knew it. Perfect saints simply do not exist in this world."
Naturally, including the comb that had not yet been given to Margaret, all six combs had different designs, making them seem even more thoughtful. Although Mr. Albert had been somewhat "disdainful" of Shade's behavior, while helping make the combs, he had still added a few rituals Shade had not requested. According to him, using these combs could