Sisters' Bedtime Story

Daphne sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her legs under the covers. "And then?"

"Then it went to learn magic, crossed the ocean, and found an old wizard named Patriarch Subhuti."

Daphne nestled in Tom's arms, listening intently without blinking, but before she could hear the story of what happened after Sun Wukong went to become an apprentice of the Grand Mage Bodhi.

Her head bobbed up and down until she was completely fast asleep. Tom gave a helpless smile and tucked the blanket around the little witch.

He brought himself another bed; he knew Daphne too well—she was restless even during her afternoon nap and would definitely try to steal the blanket at night.

If we don't prepare in advance, he's bound to catch a cold.

Sure enough, when Daphne woke up the next morning, she had wrapped herself up like a dumpling, with the blanket covering her chin tightly, leaving only her fluffy head sticking out.

Tom didn't wake her. He tiptoed out of the room, and as soon as he closed the door, he bumped into Astoria, who had just come out as well.

Good morning, Astoria.

Good morning, Tom.

Tom noticed Astoria's strange expression and the way her eyes kept glancing towards his room door. Tom deliberately gave her a questioning look.

After a long pause, the silver-haired girl gave an awkward yet polite smile.

Although she may not understand the complex physiological knowledge, a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl is still very clear about the differences between boys and girls.

Tom waved his hand to prove his innocence. "Don't overthink it. Daphne couldn't sleep last night and kept pestering me to tell her a story, but she fell asleep after only a few words."

He sighed again, looking helpless. "Luckily there were two blankets in the room, otherwise I would have frozen solid last night."

Astoria paused, then suddenly remembered that when she used to sleep with her sister, Daphne was also a habitual blanket-stealer.

He immediately realized what was happening and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"What story did you tell your sister? Was it ' The Fountain of Fair Fortune,' or the legend of the Peverell the Tale of the Three Brothers?"

"Neither." Tom raised an eyebrow, teasing her deliberately. "If you want to hear, you can come tonight."

Astoria's face flushed bright red, her lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time, looking just like a little thief caught red-handed.

After teasing his sister-in-law, Tom was in a great mood and whistled as he went out of the castle for his morning exercise.

This was something Andros forced him to do; the old man always felt that a wizard also needed to be in good physical condition.

Sometimes fists are more effective than spells, not to mention Tom has Dragon Blood and ridiculously good physical attributes; it would be a waste not to make use of them.

Tom didn't refuse. After all, being healthy is never a bad thing. Lately, he's developed a habit of exercising in the mornings, and he feels uncomfortable if he doesn't move around for a day.

After finishing his morning exercise and having a quick breakfast, he plunged into the library, searching for methods to make Two-way Mirror, hoping to find some inspiration.

He quickly found the relevant content in a book called "Selected Alchemy of the Eighteenth Century," but after reading only a few pages, his face fell.

After reading the entire chapter, he shook his head helplessly. "This thing is a complete waste of time; it has absolutely no reference value."

It turns out that the Two-way Mirror didn't involve any advanced technology at all; it was all about piling up materials and getting lucky during the mirror-making process.

There is an extremely small chance that two sides of the magic will resonate; the size and shape are entirely up to fate, and there is no stable method for making them.

No wonder Two-way Mirror are so expensive; their rarity drives up the price.

Tom looked through several more alchemical items for remote communication, pondered them over and over, and finally gave up.

With his current level of alchemy, he lacks too many materials and techniques, making it impossible for him to succeed.

Alright, let's start with the simple things and take it one step at a time, steadily and surely.

He projected all his alchemy books into his Study Space, creating a small library within it, and then retreated into his Meditation Hut to study, maximizing his efficiency.

The Shadow Prefect receives a monthly stipend of 100 credits, plus a monthly allowance after his paper is published. Now, he can finally use his space without feeling constrained and is much more generous.

Developing new credit acquisition channels as early as possible will create a positive feedback loop, allowing for more flexible use of space in the future.

Seeing Tom working so hard, Andros and Gellert Grindelwald felt both gratified and a little frustrated.

The longer Tom occupies the Meditation Hut, the less time they have left to use it.

Especially Gellert Grindelwald. No matter how strong Andros became, he was already dead, but Grindelwald was different.

Seeing Tom's rapid progress, Grindelwald's mind was racing with calculations.

At this rate, Tom might one day surpass his prime, when he was wielding the Elder Wand.

If that day ever comes, he'll definitely drag Albus Dumbledore out and have another duel.

It wasn't that he was still ambitious; it was mainly that he had a grudge against Albus Dumbledore for the rest of his life and couldn't swallow that insult.

It wasn't until after ten o'clock that Daphne woke up, still half asleep. After having breakfast, she hurriedly went to find Tom.

Seeing that he was engrossed in his studies, I didn't want to disturb him, so I obediently left the library and went to play with the unicorn.

Although she was clingy, she was also sensible. When Tom was resting, she would play wildly with him, but when Tom was doing serious work, she would never cause trouble.

But last night's story was just too interesting; she was completely absorbed in the part about Sun Wukong searching for his master and couldn't wait to hear the next part.

Daphne secretly made up her mind to sleep in Tom's room tonight, where she could listen to stories and sleep more comfortably than in her own room.

I need to go early this time, and make sure my sister doesn't find out.

After a busy day, Tom returned to his bedroom, washed up, and leaned against the bed to wait for Daphne to come over.

Before long, the door to the room was gently pushed open. He was about to greet them when he saw something in the dim moonlight and froze.

"Astoria? It's you?"

It wasn't the loud and boisterous older sister who arrived, but the quiet and reserved younger sister.

Astoria's toes were practically digging into her shoes. She cursed herself a hundred times in her mind: why did I come so early?

If her sister were here, it wouldn't be a problem for her to come and listen to the story, but now it's just her and Tom alone in a room, and it's too awkward for her sister-in-law and brother-in-law to be alone together.

Just as she was hesitating whether to make an excuse to slip away, the door to the room was pushed open again.

"Tom!" Daphne's voice had barely rang out when she saw Astoria and screamed on the spot.

"Ah! Astoria? I... I've come to the wrong room?"

She rubbed her eyes, checked the door number, and sure enough, this was Tom's room!

Daphne stood blankly in the doorway, scratching her head. "Did I come at the wrong time?"

"No, you've come at the perfect time." Tom breathed a sigh of relief and quickly smoothed things over.

"Astoria heard that you came to hear a story last night, and she wanted to hear one too, so she came to wait for you. She was hoping you would come so they could tell stories together."

Daphne's face flushed bright red, and she wished she could disappear into the ground. She had clearly sneaked in last night, but her sister had still caught her.