Astrea finally received her appetizer. It was a pumpkin soup. The orange was vivid and very appetizing. There was coriander decorating on the surface with pumpkin seeds. She took the spoon and began to eat it. It was sweet and really creamy. She really liked the taste. She seemed to be in pure bliss. It was as delicious as the dinner she had with Janus but less costly and more food on the table.
As she was too focused on eating, she didn't notice the stares. They observed the beautiful woman who was enjoying her meal. Her smiling eyes have attracted the sight of men and women. They couldn't turn their head back until she finished and put down the spoon. Just before she raised her head, they all managed to turn away.
She felt many stares but continued as if nothing happened. She looked at her phone and messaged Cecilia. She wrote to her what she was missing and she should come with her next year.
She quickly received her main dish and dessert which were a beef and Guinness pie and a barmbrack. While chewing the cake, she felt something inedible inside. She put a towel in front of her mouth and spit it out. It was a piece of clothing.
"Excuse me." she said to the nearby waiter.
"Yes. How may I help you?"
"Why is there a piece of cloth inside my dessert?"
"It's a tradition to put different items in the barmbrack. There is usually a pea, a ring, a stick, a cloth, and a small coin. It's like fortune-telling."
"Then what does mine say?"
"You will have bad luck this year." replied the waiter while keeping his professional smile. Astrea was baffled by this answer.
"Thank you for the information."
"You are welcome!"
Astrea began to ponder. She didn't believe in fortune telling. Yet, the world she is in won't let her be an unbeliever. There is even a god of fate but even he couldn't see hers. As if some bread could, she thought.
She received her check and paid it. It was nice to know they accepted her currency. She didn't have drops of animae. She exited the restaurant and walked around. She then heard an announcement the witch race was beginning at 4:00 pm at the race circuit. She had an hour left before it began but decided to wait in advance as she had nothing left to do.
It took her 15 minutes to get there. When she saw the stadium, it had the same appearance than the Roman circus, but it was much larger. She took a seat in the center. There were already many people waiting, already ¾ are already taken. She took her phone out to see the message sent by Cecilia.
[Maybe we will go together. But I don't know if it's safe. Ilma told me there was an increase in the number of zombies each year.]
[I walked to the cemetery with Aodh and the zombies on the way were easy to beat up. I will escort you properly. And there is a lot of interesting things to do. Let me send some photos to you.]
She then looked for the photos of the streets, people disguise, shops, her meal, and finally, she took a picture of the race track.
[Did you see them? Isn't it interesting all the events happening?]
[Yes, it seems fun. Where are you right now?]
[I'm in the racing field. As you have seen, it's almost full. The witches race begins in 30 minutes.]
[Too bad. It would take too much time from the dormitory to there... well! Next year, I will go with you!]
[That's the spirit!]
[Yeah!]
With this promise made, Astrea returned her attention on the race track. She saw the witches appear, getting ready. They were split into four groups. They wore a robe of their respective faction. There was red, white, green, and blue. Each group had three members. She had no idea it was a team race.
Before the race began, each faction paraded around the field to greet the spectator. Witches are mostly females but there are some males born within. Here, they were only composed of females. No male allowed in this category.
It seems like there was a rivalry between two members of the red and blue faction. She could see two witches staring dagger at each other. She could hear the commentator being very excited about them.
"Oooh! Seems like Chloe and Samantha are still at it. The two favorites seem to be ready to jump at each other! This hatred from 63 years ago didn't fade one bit! If you are new, let me tell! Those two women were in love with the same man.
One of them managed to win his heart but the other couldn't let go of him! So she created a love potion. She drank one half and tricked the man to drink the other! It slowly took effect to make it look natural!
HOWEVER! The first female discovered the love potion bottle in her friend's home! There was still a few drops left! She smelled it and recognized its effect. She caught her friend's familiar to interrogate it. Being very afraid of her, he revealed the truth.
In her fury, she destroyed the woman grimoire! The most important heritage of a witch! It's one of the biggest sins of the witches circle! Since then, they hated each other! Now, can you guess who is who!?
It's poor Chloe who got her man stolen and Samantha is the viper who poisoned a man heart with her venom!"
Seems like the commentator is a fervor fan of Chloe. Astrea didn't understand the importance of a grimoire. She just thought it was a book full of knowledge and that's it. They would surely have made copies. From the story she heard, she was more likely to have a better opinion of Chloe. But you can never fully make your idea on rumors.
"The commentator is full of bullsh*t! Does he not know what a witch grimoire is!? It's a witch clan entire lineage disappearing! After Samantha, there will be no more witches from the Alden!"
"Who cares about them!? These past few centuries, they became more and more intolerable! Just because you got powerful backing doesn't mean you can be lawless! They got their due and can't do a damn thing about it!"
"Even the witches circle silently approved of Chloe's behavior. Even though she got punished, they didn't exile her as written in the law."
The story provoked a lot of discussions. Astrea turned her head to look at the face of the concerned party. One had a smug face. It must be Chloe. Then the other is Samantha. Her face was full of fury.
The two of them were very beautiful ladies. Chloe is a sexy woman with a very voluptuous body. She had forms where they needed to be. She wore the blue robe and it fitted her long wavy copper hair. Seeing a fellow redhead, she gained another better impression of her.
Samantha was the fiery type with her mid-long strawberry blond hair with her red robe. She stood proudly with her straight back. She had the body of a mannequin, long limbs and not a lot of fat.
The man sure was lucky to have caught the eyes of two beautiful women but he was also unfortunate at the same time to have been trapped in such a tortuous love story. She wondered what happened to him.