Someone pushed the decoration doorbell in the front door.
It was common etiquette polite to let your presence known before the owner of the house you're coming uninvited to. But since the mansion was surrounded by a barrier, there was no way strange and bad people would enter her premises.
Christina instantly had an inkling of who the visitor was.
Speaking of the devil.
Christina opened the door and a man dressed in the formal attire of a scholar appeared. He had a monocle on his left eye, making him aged 5 years ahead of his real age.
"Eric."
Christina unwillingly greeted Eric who came uninvited to the mansion.
Eric Nollan was the second son of an old merchant family. They had recently been granted the title; Imperial Merchant after Eric took over.
He was famously known to refuse the offer to become the chairman of the country's Merchant Guild Association. Eric insisted on retaining his position as the town's Guild Master.
As a business prodigy, many found it appalling that he would not serve directly in the royal capital. But as a witch's disciple, Eric found more peace and honor in the town.
Amongst Christina's disciples, it was true that Eric had the most potential no matter what age they were. Mike wasn't even on par with him.
Having heard of that news, Mike even complained and at the same time believed that Eric would stay. Despite his childish actions, they were much closer than what seemed on the surface.
Same tutelage and same beliefs, they found much potential in the town where the witch resides.
"…I can't get used to you like this."
"Deal with it."
Eric was flustered as Christina usual had black hair and black eyes when she visited the town. Right now, Christina was not concealing her real appearance at all. Her green eyes and silver hair were gorgeous beyond words.
From afar, Elysia saw the uninvited man.
Afraid that he will harm Christina, Elysia trotted towards Christina. She hid behind Christina cautiously observing the unknown man.
"Is this the kid?"
Despite the lovely display of Elysia's actions, Eric's stoic expression did not change one bit. Visibly shivering, Elysia was scared by his stare alone. Christina rolled her eyes on the side while discreetly patting Elysia's back.
She was used to it, but it did not mean that Elysia was.
Haaa…
To prevent further misunderstanding, Christina had no choice but to pull out her best friend, her favorite toy.
Smack!
The paper fan came out of nowhere and smacked Eric from the back of his head. He almost fell unnaturally on the floor.
Eric could read the atmosphere and knew his mistakes.
"Pardon me, Lady Christina."
At his apology, Elysia recognized that this man wasn't a stranger. She was satisfied by Eric's action and happily let Christina be alone with him.
Christina huffed satisfied with the results and let him enter. She encouraged Elysia to play by herself in a corner while they talk business. While playing, Elysia would still look their way from time to time.
Eric sip from the tea that was presented before him. His eyes sparkled in delight.
Magic Tea!
Contrary to Mike's reaction, Eric did not pry on Christina's business. He respected her as a master and a person to protect. He knew since he was a child that Christina was special just by her items alone.
The witch would be nothing without treasures and Eric understood that fact.
"What an intelligent child."
"I know right."
Feeling proud, Christina smirked victoriously. Eric was thrown off by her attitude. As far as he could remember, Eric hadn't seen her act like a proud parent at their child's play.
It was unrealistic for him to see his master that basically raised him to act like this. Seeing Eric's complicated expression, Christina had a gist of what he was thinking.
"Don't mind it. Girls and Boys are vastly different. Especially a special one like her."
Special?
Eric was curious as to why Christina would say that. He knew for a fact that Christina won't add or say anything unnecessary. Composing himself, Eric recalled his original objective.
"Here."
Putting down a bundle of papers, Eric sipped on his tea again. Christina peeked at the front page of the paper.
Adoption.
Her eyes sparkled in delight, eagerly asked Eric.
"How come it's here already?!"
Christina energetically grabbed the papers to quickly scan the contents.
"I asked and they gave me what I needed."
Truly a man with few words. Stingy with his way of operating but very efficient when it comes to results.
Quickly, Christina signed the papers brushing off any unimportant details.
"Thanks."
Again, Eric was thrown off by the unexpected words coming from Christina's mouth. If he could, he would like to beg her not to act like this again.
"E-ehem. Instead of thanking me, how about actually caring for me?"
Written all over Christina's face, what the hell are you on about. Eric immediately coughed to clear up the misunderstandings.
"A-e, that…"
While he was hesitating, Christina noticed the unnatural hint of reddish tint from Eric's ears. Before getting to any conclusions, she decided to wait for his response.
"That… here."
Skipping the explanation, Eric took out a red slim slick envelope and put it on the table.
Christina was speechless by his actions but decided not to complain. As she did not know the significance of the red envelope in this world, Christina had to read the contents of the letter inside.
There was a little card size letter inside. There were a few words, but it took her another round of reading to finally realize what the content was all about.
It was an invitation to a wedding.
Not just by anybody, but Eric's wedding.
As if on cue, Christina raised her head. She stared at Eric that made him flustered in the end.
Christina's lips turned up, grinning.
"Yours?"
"A-a…"
Although Christina could not hear his reply, his bright red face says it all. Happy for him, she turned around. Christina looked at the lovely Elysia who was playing not far from them.
Their eyes met and Elysia warmly returned a sweet bright smile.
Then a sudden brilliant idea struck Christina's mind. She hastily turned around and eagerly suggested it to Eric.
"Well, how about you get a dress for Ellie? She can spread flowers on the aisle as your bride walks towards the altar. What do you think?"
Eric did not know what Christina was talking about. The wedding that the country practiced did not consist of having someone, more so a child, scatter flowers down the aisle.
Christina knew of this and explained it.
"You see, I know of this special wedding. It was only held once and that was sixty… years ago—"
Christina strangely paused in the middle. But she managed to hide it from Eric who was intently listening to her explanations.
To create an illusion that she just recalled it, Christina made rough cuts on details. In a nutshell, she was explaining the Catholic Wedding back on Earth.
"Oh right, how about doing it in the garden?"
"Garden?"
His puzzled reaction made Christina believe that no one had ever tried to hold a wedding in the garden before. So, she eagerly insisted even more on her plans. She even described the details as if she had seen them before.
Eric had no reason to doubt the person who renovated the poor hermit house into a strangely gorgeous mansion. He thought that his soon-to-be wife would also love to do something that no one had ever done before.
Debating on the pros and cons, Eric looked back and forth at Elysia and Christina. The unusual excitement filled him and replied positively.
"Sure!"