Wendy woke up and found that after a whole night, the rain had finally stopped.
She yawned and got out of the bed. The moment she pushed open the window, the sweet fragrance of wet soil swarmed into the room. After the rainfall, the garden was a bright shade of green and she could see droplets of water falling from the olive leaves near the window. The morning"s gentle suns.h.i.+ne shone on the wet gra.s.s reflecting gleams of light.
A new day had begun.
After putting on her undergarments and coat, she went back to the bedside and patted Nightingale"s cheeks, saying, "Time to get up."
Nightingale gave an obscure snort, and buried her face in the pillow.
Only in times like this, would she expose herself defenselessly, instead of hiding in the Mist. Wendy smiled and shook her head. "Then I"ll go eat breakfast first."
Nightingale"s ears moved slightly, like unconscious trembles, but Wendy knew she had heard.
She gently closed the door and went to the bathroom to wash up before she walked toward the hall to enjoy breakfast.
The chefs always woke up extremely early since they had to prepare food for everyone before daybreak. The firewood in the oven could burn for a long time, so there was no need to worry about the food getting cold half way. If she wanted to eat something, she could just grab a bowl and spoon and fetch it in the kitchen. His Majesty said it was called buffet and it seemed to be a very common dining style for him, but for her, this kind of life could be called extravagant.
In the Witch Cooperation a.s.sociation, Wendy had never thought that one day she could eat as much as she wanted. Back then they were lucky to have sufficient food to eat, let alone to pay any attention to the taste, as the food was never enough.
But now, there were three or four dishes just for breakfast every day, such as porridge, toast, dried fish and fried eggs.
Even though she had been living in the castle for nearly a year, she still felt extreme satisfaction and happiness every time she ate.
Meanwhile, she was very grateful to the person who had brought all these things to the witches and let her sisters live a free life.
When Wendy picked up her bowl in the dining room, there was no one in the hall, just several used plates on the long table. Obviously, she was not the first to eat. The Witch Union had never set a time to wake up, so everyone came to enjoy breakfast one after another. Lightning and Maggie were always the first to leave the castle, followed by another group including Anna, Agatha, Lucia and others. She was usually between the two.
Nightingale was always the last.
This was because His Majesty loved to sleep late. When there was nothing urgent, he would get up at noon to deal with the government affairs. Nightingale was influenced by him.
She had once been the most discrete and acute person in the Witch Cooperation a.s.sociation, alerted by even a small movement.
However, Wendy did not think this was a bad thing.
After breakfast, she went to the first floor of the Witch Building. This place had been transformed into the Witch Union"s office.
Ring walked toward her as soon as she entered. "Sister Wendy, you"re here!"
"h.e.l.lo, Lady Wendy."
"Good morning ladies."
Another two young women from the City Hall bowed to her. They had graduated from the inst.i.tute which was originally founded by Karl Van Bate. They barely counted as Anna"s and Nana"s cla.s.smates and had no prejudice towards witches. The older one was Pearl and the younger one was Grayrabbit. Together with Lucia"s little sister Ring, they formed the first clerks of the Witch Union"s.
Of course, since Ring was under 14, she was just a fill-in for now.
Anyway, the jobs here were very easy, and she could consider it as extra education.
With the clerks" help, the Witch Union was finally getting on track.
"Good morning." Wendy nodded, sitting by the desk. "How are the sales of the first volume of "The Witch Diaries"?"
"Very popular," Pearl smiled and said, "and people love the story of Border Town"s little angel, especially the soldiers from the First Army. They come to buy it almost every day. This week we almost sold more than 60 copies a day. At this rate, we may sell out the 1,000 copies we originally printed within half a month."
Hearing that, Wendy was a little surprised. After all, as a book which was purely for entertainment, "The Witch Diaries" could not feed people or help them with their studies, but yet it could sell this well at such a high price. It was incredible.
The idea was originally put forward by His Majesty.
As a drama trilogy with an intricate plot and moving stories, "The Witch Diaries" had been praised by the City of Neverwinter"s subjects. So, His Majesty decided to follow the pattern of the drama and ill.u.s.trate the witches" life stories in the form of pictures to sell it in the Convenience Market"s boutique. But unlike the drama, this time all the major characters in the stories were witches from the Union, and apart from the exquisite pictures, it also had some designed dialogues, making the readers feel as if they were watching a real drama play on the paper.
The main character of the first volume was Miss Nana Pine.
The 15-year-old girl had already been very famous in Border Town, with the ability to heal the pain of others and her natural affinity. No one could hate such an angel. Coupled with His Majesty"s strong supportive att.i.tude towards witches, as well as the first army"s spread of her stories, she was even more popular than Anna.
After Wendy decided the plot of the stories, Soraya painted them one by one and stapled the book together. It sold for five silver royals per book. It was the refugees who needed to know about the witches most, but many refugees could not read and they were not interested in buying an exquisite alb.u.m with half a month"s salary. So, in the beginning, the potential buyers were locals and businessmen who came here to do business.
The former could spread the stories through the contact with foreigners and the latter could bring them to every city in the kingdom.
After seeing how popular "The Witch Diaries" was, Wendy felt inspired.
She could hardly wait to get the pen and paper, and was starting to think about the contents of the next volume.
"Have you considered the content of the next stories?" Ring asked curiously.
"Yes, His Majesty said Echo will be the major character of the next volume," Wendy smiled and said, "and what do you think of this t.i.tle "The Silver Moon Princess from the Southernmost Region, the Land of Swirling Sand and Volcanoes"?"
"Wow! It"s awesome!" The little girl exclaimed smacking her lips.
"When His Majesty recaptures the Southern Territory, you can go to the princess"s hometown to see the vast desert."
"Wonderful!"
It was her job, spreading stories about the witches and letting everyone know who they really were.
"The Witch Diaries" was just a part of it.
Echo had already gotten acquainted with the Star Flower Troupe, and all the actors were full of praises for her immersive music.
Evelyn had opened a tavern next to the Holy Mountain Hotel, mainly offering mixed liquor with a unique flavor.
Hummingbird also joined the City Hall and became the deputy minister of the Ministry of Construction, and she was also the second witch officer in the City Hall next to Scroll.
The witches all worked very hard to build the City of Neverwinter. At the same time, they also made people accept their existence and equally treat them.
Wendy felt that the day which His Majesty had promised was just within their reach.