Can the sadness that magic cannot take away be offset by love?

Little Alexia and little Charles first met through their brothers' social interactions.

When Ernest and Levin met, they would sometimes bring small items from their homes to ease the tension.

But Alexia was used to being a loner and didn't really pay attention to Charles, who looked like a fool—just look at his sticky nose! As everyone was drinking soup at the table, his snot was slowly dripping from his nostrils amidst the rising steam.

Alexia, who is always very clean, unfortunately sat next to him and couldn't bear to look at his disheveled appearance. The silly boy, oblivious, didn't even bother to find a tissue to clean himself up. Instead, he stared blankly with his eyes downcast, letting the snot fly freely.

In a different setting, Alexia would have kicked him out long ago.

After the servants had cleaned him up in an orderly manner, Alexia was no longer able to eat—the main reason being that she had already eaten three large bowls of food.

But for some reason, Charles especially liked to follow her around—when everyone was at a party, if you wanted to find Charles, you only needed to find Alexia.

So where can we find Alexia?

—By a window where you can see the moon, in a garden with flowers and dew, and around chocolates on the dining table.

*

"This is a birthday present from my grandma, a bell that can break through all barriers!"

Little Onsett proudly showed her a blue bell.

Alexia rolled her eyes and continued kneading the little clay figure in her hand.

Onsett's eyes darted around, and he changed the subject.

"Alexia, I heard that we're going to the Novello family's New Year's Eve dinner this year. Did you know that?"

Little Onsedin asked her this.

“Of course I know,” the girl said proudly, raising her head. “My brother told me they plan to showcase a very powerful magical artifact at the banquet, called—”

“Moonlight Branch!” Little Ansetin answered quickly, “I know too, my brother told me too!”

The two looked at each other, the twilight glow reflecting on their faces. Alexia got up, patted her muddy hands, said goodbye, and went home.

Charles Onsett watched her walk briskly away and muttered to himself, "I remember at the beginning, she would even walk around the mud on the ground."

He scratched his head in confusion, then took the hand of the servant who had come looking for him and went home.

*

After returning home, the girl washed her hands and slowly walked into the dining room, where she saw her father and eldest brother already seated.

The two men nodded to her upon seeing her and then continued their previous conversation. After Alexia found her seat, she heard them say:

“That’s right. It was 7105 years ago. I anonymously bought it at an auction in the underground city of the Kingdom of Steberg and subsequently signed a contract with it.”

Alexia was used to what her elders bought at which auctions and what they bought, and didn't care at all. She was more curious about the new term that followed:

"Father, what is a contract of title?"

Alex turned to look at her and explained gently:

“The best magical artifacts all have their own personality, like the Moon White Branch that the Novello family will be displaying at the New Year’s banquet—its personality is that it can only be used by the mage who has signed a contract with it.”

Alexia, her mind racing, posed a new question:

"Your father bought it many years ago, so why is it now in the Novero family's possession? Is the deed you signed with it still valid? If not, what would be the reason? If it is, can the Novero family use it?"

Alex laughed, setting down his teacup as if addressing Ernest:

“You’ve raised your sister very well. She’s so smart now; she asks all the right questions.”

Ernest nodded in agreement, glanced at his sister whose expression had already drifted off to sleep, and added fuel to the fire: "She's been smart since she was little."

Alexia quickly shook her non-existent tail, struggling to suppress the corners of her mouth.

Alex then steered the conversation back to business: "Then why don't you all listen together this time?"

After the Moonbeam Branch was acquired by the Ramirez family, it remained in the family's treasury for a long time because it required energy to be stored before it could be used. However, before the family could even use the Moonbeam Branch, it was stolen.

Who the thief was is not the point; such things are commonplace among large families. But the Ramirez family was indeed annoyed for a long time—longer than they had owned the Moonbeam.

Later, the family's informant in the Lawrence Underground City, who was also the leader of the Finney Gang, sent word that Yue Baizhi had appeared at the Lawrence Underground City auction.

The Ramirez family then demanded that she bid for the Moon White Branch on their behalf at all costs. Their final response was "the item is in hand," but they didn't mention the price. The family assumed that she had snatched it from the person who won the bid—which wasn't a big deal.

They casually asked which family had won the bid for the Moon White Branch, and the other party replied that it was a minor figure from the dungeon who wasn't well-informed, and that they had already dealt with him, so the family didn't pursue the matter any further.

However, the Moon White Branch that the Ramirez family eventually received turned out to be a fake.

After instructing Finney's gang to investigate, they concluded that the Novello family had sabotaged the shipment and intercepted it halfway through.

The two families had a long-standing feud, and not long after, the Ramirez family received an invitation from the Novello family to attend a New Year's dinner and to see the Moon White Branch up close, which only fueled their anger.

Alexia was quite shocked to hear this: "Then should we still go to the banquet?"

Elex gave a meaningful smile: "Of course I'll go, Alexia. Once the contract with Moonbeam Branch is signed, it can only be canceled if the user initiates the cancellation. The family has never canceled its contract with Moonbeam Branch. Although I can feel the contract energy getting weaker and weaker, it still exists and cannot disappear, even if the user passes away. This is a characteristic of Moonbeam Branch."

Therefore, if the Ramirez family does not voluntarily dissolve the contract, the Noviro family will never be able to use it—perhaps this is one of the reasons why they invited the Ramirez family to the banquet.

"It's obvious that those idiots didn't even understand the characteristics of the Moon White Branch before they tried to steal it, and now they want to negotiate with us—just think about it, no matter how we negotiate, they will never return the Moon White Branch."

Alex scoffed, calling the Novello family a bunch of idiots.

He instructed Ernest, "I'll leave this matter to you. Your mother and I have more important things to attend to—the Novello family is in charge of the banquet this time, and Sothos Novello may be their next heir. You handle it."

Ernest agreed, and Ellex turned to Alexia and asked, "Did you go play in the mud again today?"

The girl's eyes widened immediately: "How did you know?"

Alex chuckled and retorted, "How could I not know? Your two older brothers loved playing in the mud when they were little, and even after washing it off, it would still smell—didn't either of them teach you how to get rid of that smell?"

Alexia seized the opportunity to question Ernest: "Why didn't any of you tell me how to deal with this smell?"

Looking at his sister, who was acting like a bully, Ernest calmly replied, "You didn't used to play in the mud, but it seems like it started after you met Charles..."

Ellex raised an eyebrow: "That kid from the Onsetin family? He has this hobby?"

It seems there isn't one.

However, Ernest knew that Ellex wasn't really asking him, and he deliberately didn't answer, since he had already achieved his goal.

Alexia scratched her head. How did we get onto that little slug?

The young girl had no idea that her older brother would resent her occasional association with Charles Unsettling.

Even if they knew, they would still ask in confusion, "Didn't you introduce me to him in the first place?"

Then Ernest would remain silent and instead try to coerce her into submission with his eyes.

The youngest in the family is often also the oldest, and she will choose to ignore his opinions without fear.

Of course, it was also because Alexia already knew that they wouldn't really restrict her too much on these unimportant matters.