The Cycle of Fate

Chapter 16: The Celebration

Lumière merely winced out of habit but did not stop his sister.

As Ava, Raymond, and the others turned their bodies and walked towards the nearby buildings, he deliberately fell behind and quietly said to Aureole, "If there's a callback from the Novel Weekly, let me know immediately."

"Don't worry, I won't be careless with something like this," Aureole assured Lumière with a look of confidence.

Filled with joy and festive spirit, the procession of well-wishers, accompanied by songs, continued to knock on the doors of the villagers in Kordou Village.

Eventually, they arrived at the governor's mansion.

This was a castle converted from the Soren royal period, located on a hillside at the edge of Kordou Village. It was dark black in color and towered with two tall turrets.

The outer walls surrounding the building had long been removed, and Lumière and the others passed through the garden specially created by the Beost couple to reach the entrance.

The large doors, standing four or five meters high and painted in a dark green resembling tree bark, were very heavy-looking.

However, they were divided into two sections, and only the lower two-meter part needed to be opened to welcome guests.

As the embodiment of spring and the harbinger of harvest, the "Spring Elf" deserved the highest honor. Thus, the heavy double doors were fully opened, revealing Mrs. Pualis in a light green, waist-cinched gown standing there.

Her maid, Cassie, held a basket woven from branches and stood a step behind.

Ava walked forward and began singing a blessing song.

Mrs. Pualis smiled slightly, listening quietly with an air of nobility and reserve that made the young followers of the "Spring Elf" both eager to look and hesitant to do so.

Having "overheard" the unsavory activities between the others and the parish priest, Lumière sneered inwardly.

As the song concluded, Ava exchanged tree seeds for a basket of eggs.

With this, the blessing procession ended, and Lumière, Raymond, and the other young people gathered around "Spring Elf" Ava, heading toward a stream in the mountains not far from the village.

The next segment of the Lent festival was the Water Ritual.

Arriving at the usual spot for goose herding, Ava approached the clear river, danced a simple dance, and repeated the previous song, while Lumière and the other young people remained stationary, keeping a distance of seven to eight meters from the "Spring Elf."

After this, Ava took some diced turnips given by a villager from the basket at her feet and tossed them into the river.

As she threw, she sang, "Harvest! Harvest!"

Once Ava finished, Lumière stepped forward, quickly bending down to scoop up the diced turnips from the basket and threw them into the river.

"Harvest! Harvest!" he shouted.

The remaining young people, slower to react, hurriedly jostled each other to run towards Ava, pulling out turnip chunks, radish pieces, and other not-so-precious items from the basket to throw into different parts of the river, shouting "Harvest!"

Raymond, who was last to act, finally completed the ritual.

In the next moment, Lumière and others, with malicious grins, picked Raymond up and tossed him into the water.

Splash! Raymond fell into the water, his clothes and hair instantly soaked.

Meanwhile, those on the shore picked up dirt and branches and threw them around him.