The hot air balloon directly landed in the castle courtyard and the moment they jumped out of the basket, an unexpected round of explosion spread through the air. Feeling caught off-guard, Sylvie became shocked and froze on the spot. The other four didn’t fare any better, Honey even jumped back into the basket, and asked while only revealing her head halfway: “What happened?”
Wendy couldn’t keep herself from laughing, “Do not worry, this is His Highness’s gun salute, it is his way to welcome you all to Border Town.”
Passing through the shadowy corridor, they stepped into the castle hall. And that was when Sylvie finally met with Tilly’s brother — he was sitting at the end of the hall at the lord’s seat, he had an external appearance that was somewhat similar to Her Highness the 5th Princess’. They had the same gray hair, weren’t wearing any superfluous pendants on their body and showed a relaxed and natural expression. His facial features still fell short when compared to Tilly’s, who’s appearance was something that warmed the heart and delighted the eyes. But they shared the same kind of calm temperament which would attract everyone’s eye even when they were merely sitting there.
“Welcome to Border Town. I am the Lord of the Western Territory, Roland Wimbledon. I presume that everyone already knows my name.” He stood up and smiled, “Tilly Wimbledon is my younger sister. So, you don’t need to feel awkward when living in Border Town, consider it your home the same as you would with Sleeping Island.”
Unable to suppress her curiosity, Sylvie opened her magic eye, only to stare blankly at what she saw.
The expected darkness did not appear, which indicated that the other side wasn’t wearing a God’s Stone of Retaliation. Moreover, there also wasn’t any trace of magic on his body — how he looked now was the same he looked to her in her normal vision. Neither was there any kind of camouflage on him nor was he being controlled, this could only mean that the man in front of her was indeed Roland himself.
Tilly’s countermeasure for the “no clue detectable” situation was merely one sentence: Sending the news back to Sleeping Island.
…
The words Roland said afterward, Sylvie didn’t listen to at all, her head had become a complete mess. In order to accomplish the task given by Lady Tilly, she had thought about the words and expression she should use when negotiating, she had even come up with plans in the case of their imprisonment, never expecting that it would become completely useless.
The psychological shock caused Sylvie to fall in a kind of trance, only when His Highness started arranging their rooms for the night did her soul finally return.
“The current situation is roughly like this, by now the witch house is still not completed, so you will have to temporarily live within the castle and share a room with the other witches. Of course, this should also help you to quickly blend into life here in Border Town.” Then Roland announced, “Tonight, there will be a lavish dinner waiting for you. It will be the official welcoming ceremony to celebrate your arrival in Border Town, I hope everyone will enjoy it”.
Seeing the result of their room arrangements Sylvie breathed out in relieve. In the end, it was arranged that she would live together with Wendy. Looking back at their short contact, Wendy was indeed a good senior who would be easy for her to get along with. However, in addition to Wendy there seemed to be another witch that was living in the room who was called Nightingale.”
Sylvie couldn’t help but think,
Ever since the five witches from Sleeping Island arrived in Border Town, Roland was in a constant state of excitement. Which meant that even after the end of the banquet, he found it impossible to fall asleep as he lay in his bed. Without any better option available to him, he got up to drink half a cup of white spirit and tried forcing his body to fall asleep.
