The little blond, blue-eyed figure and the little black-haired, red-eyed figure sat on a swing. A ruby ring larger than either of them floated above, its faint red glow reflecting on their flushed, shy faces.
The swing swayed gently. The boy and girl gradually nestled closer together, and then...
The boy quietly turned his head and gave the girl a little kiss on the cheek.
"If only he'd been a little bolder..."
The lingering echo drifted away.
Dark Demon's Surprise
Night fell and the stars sank; the warm sun rose.
At last, the icy sky carried a trace of warmth.
The students, who had only gone to sleep after making merry until dawn, woke one after another in the warmth filtering through the curtains. Instinctively, they reached for the stockings at the head or foot of their beds.
Saint Marian Academy handed out "Christmas Stockings" after every annual Christmas Ball. They were single-use Prayer Devices made using the St. Marian Holy Grail.
If students opened their stockings on Christmas Day, they could receive all manner of Christmas Gifts.
Some of those Christmas Gifts were valuable, while others were cheap. Though no student naively believed they would obtain some peerless treasure from one, they always hoped their gift would be better than everyone else's.
If they received a valuable gift, the students would feel that the coming year would be a lucky one.
And if they unfortunately opened some trash, all they could do was pray for peace and safety throughout the year.
Incidentally, Dark had opened an apple last year.
Today, however, because he had left early, he had failed to receive his own Christmas Stocking. That was rather regrettable.
Noble House Tower, Dormitory 301.
Apart from Dark Demon's own bedside, where no Christmas Stocking hung, the other small beds