The Birthday Guest
March 1, 1347, Friday, early morning.
The breeze on a March morning still carried the lingering chill of late winter. The air was like glass just pulled from a glacier—transparent, sharp, yet subtly warm.
Meanwhile, at the Sheffield Manor in Bexland, Empress Borough, servants were already bustling about, their footsteps and whispers creating a warm and lively atmosphere.
After being woken up by her personal maid, Irene, Altair was forced to get out of bed and let the maids perform their duties, starting by washing her, changing her morning clothes, styling her hair, and dressing her up.
Vivian, still sitting on the bed, watched all this silently with affection, sighing, "I never imagined time would pass so quickly. It's almost been a year since we first met."
Sitting in front of the vanity mirror, letting her maid style her hair, Altair said calmly, "Isn't that how time is? It never stops for anyone, it always moves forward steadily, allowing us to grow through loss and gain."
"Perhaps this is the only fair thing in this world. Regardless of poverty or wealth, after a hundred years, we are all just a handful of yellow earth."
While she was still recounting the time, Vivian had already gotten out of bed and walked to the dressing mirror. After taking over the task of styling the hair from the maid, she bent down and kissed Altair's lips, abruptly ending her speech.
After a long while, once the kiss ended, Vivian couldn't help but say, "Darling, many of the world's troubles stem from overthinking. Your current mindset isn't conducive to stabilizing your Spirituality."
"If this world is truly as you say, where regardless of poverty or status, everyone is nothing more than a handful of dust after a hundred years," then what are we? Are we no longer human?
"You should focus your attention on the beautiful things in front of you, such as sunshine, flowers, or your favorite music, opera—and also, it's your birthday today, so keep smiling."
After saying that, Vivian used her fingers to lift the corners of Altair's mouth, making her give a strange smile.
After Altair finished dressing, she waited for Vivi to change. Bored, she casually remarked, "Looks like our room needs some improvements. Now even the most basic makeup requires us to wait for each other."
Upon hearing this, Vivian tilted her head slightly to look around, then hummed in agreement and asked, "Is any further adjustment needed?"
"I can't think of anything else for now," Altair replied after a moment's thought.
From a modern perspective, Altair and Vivian's room was not small; in fact, it was quite large, with the bedroom being at least 100 square meters.
In addition to the sleeping area and dressing area, the interior also features a large rest area by the window, furnished with sofas and Coffee Table, where one can Sun or chat with close friends.
However, this was the simplest standard for aristocratic girls during this period, because in terms of dressing and grooming every morning, there would be at least five maids to assist with dressing and grooming.
So, if only one person lives in this room, it's perfectly adequate.
But Vivian has been living in Altair's room ever since she moved in, which has made her room feel a bit cramped now.
After finishing his hair and makeup, Altair extended his left arm for Vivian to take, and left the room.
On his way downstairs, Altair received brief birthday wishes from each servant he encountered, which were basically, "Count Altair, happy birthday! May your year be as bright, healthy, and happy as the spring sunshine."
"Count Altair, may the Evernight Goddess bless you, and grant you health, peace, and joy."
"May the God of Storms bless you."
--
After breakfast, Altair went to the study to open the birthday gifts that Irene had collected from the servants.
In previous years, Hahn was always in charge of collecting the gifts. But this year, Altair left him in Morse Town, and he will have to wait until spring to transport the Extraordinary Material back to Bexland.
Therefore, due to time constraints, I can only entrust my personal maid, Irene, to fulfill my duties this year.
The gifts from the servants were all practical items, such as the Ink Bottle given by Butler Hahn.
The two personal maids, Irene and Vera, presented him with Bexland's latest bestselling mystery novel, * Storm Manor *.
Other ordinary maids and servants would give gifts such as homemade jam, candles, and handmade dolls.
After tidying up the gifts, Altair, following the usual return gift standard, handed Irene the prepared Gold Coin, saying, "According to the normal rank of return gifts, 3 Gold Pound for the personal maid, 2 Gold Pound for the second servant, and 1 Gold Pound for the ordinary servant—"
After Irene left, she distributed the Gold Coin successful candidates at the entrance of the study. The servants who were waiting there would thank the study and leave after receiving a return gift.
Altair, inside the study, didn't respond to the thanks, but instead looked up at Miss Salted Fish's new work.
Storm Manor>
The first half of the book tells the story of the protagonist, Sisi, who enters the Fries Manor as a governess and develops feelings for the manor owner's son; it is a pure romance novel.
However, as the plot unfolds, the latter half incorporates supernatural events, with evil spirits suddenly appearing in the manor, gradually changing the style of the story. At this point, the female protagonist, Sisi, reveals her identity as Detective and begins to use scientific methods to deduce and solve the problems.
As the plot unfolded, Altair became increasingly engrossed, and began to analyze the story from the perspective of a seasoned bookworm from his previous life.
But just as the plot was reaching its climax, the book suddenly stopped—in the way people would understand it, the first volume ended there.
Still not satisfied, Altair couldn't help but grumble, "Fos really should have taken the Spectator Pathway. By now, she had completely grasped the readers' curiosity and turned that curiosity into a bestseller formula."
Unfortunately, the previous year, in 1346, she had already "accepted the dying wish of Mrs. Anriissa of the Abraham family" at the Youssef Clinic in Backlund, and used her extraordinary qualities to become an apprentice of the Gate Path, Sequence Nine.
As for how Altair found out, she had someone specifically look for this clinic after clarifying the timeline. She just wanted to see if Mrs. Anlisa really died alone, with Fos by her side until her death.
Don't overthink it. She didn't originally intend to capture an Abraham and refine it into a sealing Sealed Artifact.
However, Altair is almost finished digesting the Sequence Seven Potion and will soon advance to Sequence Six, thus becoming Artisan.
The Shepherd from that trade possesses "Beyonder Characteristic," and the plan to create Sealed Artifact can now be implemented.
She has found four of the five traits, and now she only needs a Traveler. She still desperately needs an Abraham.
Meanwhile, in Bexland, a petite, slightly chubby-cheeked, yet delicately beautiful underage girl in a knight's training uniform in the East District, carrying a food bag, pushed open the door in front of her.
But as soon as she opened the door, she could smell the smoke inside. So she couldn't help but fan the air with her hand until she got used to it before going inside.
Looking towards the sofa, I saw a woman who was completely still, like Salted Fish that had been brought ashore.
She was wearing a beige, high-necked dress with ruffles, and had a beautiful face and slightly wavy brown hair, but her temperament was very languid and decadent.
The short girl, looking at the Salted Fish on the sofa, couldn't help but remind her, "Fos, smoking is bad for your health. Also, you haven't left the house for five days straight."
After hearing the reminder, Lady Salted Fish Fos did not get up. Instead, she turned her head with difficulty and looked at the girl who had reminded her with her pale blue eyes, saying, "Hugh, I was pondering how to fill in the plot holes for the next volume of <Storm Manor>, but I'm really not in good shape today, so I can only think, not write."
He then changed the subject, saying, "I asked you to bring me cigarettes and red wine, did you buy them for me?"
Upon hearing this, Hugh nodded, and while rummaging through the food bag, said to Fos, "I brought these, and I also bought you a sandwich for breakfast."
Upon hearing the mention of breakfast, Fos struggled to her feet, took the red wine and sandwich, and began to eat. She casually remarked, "Hugh, my royalties from last month have come in. Let's go out for dinner this afternoon. I know a really good restaurant in the North Borough called Intis; their red wine stew is delicious."
Looking at Fos's way of eating red wine with a sandwich, Hugh felt glad that he had chosen to buy an egg sandwich, otherwise he would have had to take Fos to the doctor later.
After thinking all this through, Hugh couldn't help but yawn and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'm going to rest now. Remember to wake me up this afternoon."
After saying that, Hugh went back to his room, lay down on his bed, and fell into a deep sleep.