The winter of Dragon King Calendar Year 416 seemed to have come a little earlier than in previous years, and it was colder, too.
The Great Migration plan for the Fitoia Territory was largely complete.
The once-bustling Roa City grew ever emptier and quieter as the last group of key personnel prepared to withdraw.
One night, with fine snow drifting outside, Cui Ciyou and Roxy were in the warm, spacious study at the Boreas Estate.
They sat together beside the roaring fireplace.
The dancing flames cast their long shadows behind them onto the enormous shelves lined with thick books.
Their shadows swayed gently with the firelight.
The air held the distinctive inky scent of books and the comforting crackle of burning wood.
And... that unique scent of Roxy's, which Cui Ciyou had long since grown thoroughly familiar with-a blend of faint botanical freshness and the smell of parchment and ink from magic books.
Roxy held an exceptionally thick, hide-bound volume, a treasured ancient text on "Ancient Magic Taboos and Conjectures on Spatial Theory," and read with intense concentration.
In the firelight, her aqua-blue eyes shone like two sapphires of the purest quality, gleaming with intelligence.
From time to time, Roxy used her quill to quickly jot something down in the elegant notebook she carried with her.
Cui Ciyou, meanwhile, lounged lazily on the soft sofa beside her.
He idly leafed through a travelogue about the customs and people of the Demon Continent.
But his gaze rested more often on the blue-haired girl beside him, who was absorbed in her studies.
Roxy's profile looked especially soft and serene in the warm firelight.
Her long blue lashes, like butterfly wings, cast a faint, lovely shadow over her fair, delicate skin.
Her aqua-blue eyes, usually touched with cool reserve, now seemed all the