"What should I prepare as Christmas gifts..."

During the day, Loren took the opportunity to stroll around the local market.

When there were only four people at home before, it was manageable. Even if the gifts counted for both birthdays and Christmas, it was fine. But now, there were quite a few people at home.

"For Anna, giving food is fine. For Naclis, I could perhaps give her some cute clothes. For Mirrorheart... I'll give her two normal pieces of clothing, although she definitely won't particularly like them..."

As for the others, Loren wasn't very clear on what to give them. Most likely, they only wanted Loren himself...

Actually, witches celebrating Christmas was like Native Americans celebrating Thanksgiving—pretty hellish. But Loren didn't think that much about it. Celebrating holidays was just for fun.

Loren planned to buy some gifts here before heading back. With Christmas approaching, many people were selecting gifts for children.

This scene was actually quite rare. Even the commoners in the Nofica Theocracy didn't have much money to spend on gifts.

They could indeed eat their fill, but that was about the limit. However, just this single point already made their lives surpass the vast majority of people in this world.

Now, seeing so many people choosing gifts, Loren simply asked if people had bought train tickets while on the carriage.

When giving gifts to women, people here mostly chose perfumes and cosmetics. But these things were completely useless to witches. Their perfect appearances needed no embellishment.

At the same time, Loren also sensed the undercurrents moving here. Christmas was also the time when Outer God believers were most active.

During Christmas, the power of the Orthodox Gods was actually at its weakest, requiring more prayers from people to strengthen their power.

Therefore, Outer God believers would also act during this time. Moreover, many high-ranking members of the Bountiful Church actually had some connections with the God of Greed. This matter had long been an open secret.

After so many years, Loren had long grown accustomed to it. Usually, these matters didn't require his intervention, and he couldn't possibly manage that many people anyway.

"Time to go home..."

Carrying large and small bags, Loren flew towards the direction of home.

With Scarlett not around, wanting to bring more things was quite troublesome.

Nothing happened along the way. If he didn't have to consider Caroline's feelings, Loren could have flown even faster.

At dinnertime, Loren just happened to return home.

"Welcome back, Master. Would you like to eat first, take a bath first, or eat..."

As soon as he pushed the door open, Loren saw Mirrorheart kneeling at the entrance. Every time he returned from outside, it was like this. Loren's heart had long been unperturbed. He skillfully covered Mirrorheart's mouth:

"Eat first..."

Loren stepped over Mirrorheart and directly sat down at the dining table.

Anna had been wolfing down her food, but upon hearing the commotion at the door, she immediately pricked up her ears.

After confirming it was Loren who returned, Anna's eyes lit up with a glow.

As soon as Loren sat down, Anna threw down her half-eaten food and directly hung onto Loren.

"I missed you, Master Mentor..."

"I've only been gone for a few days..."

Loren affectionately stroked Anna's hair. She had been this clingy since she was little.

Naclis, sitting to the side, absentmindedly poked the food on her plate with chopsticks, her gaze constantly fixed on Loren.

The crying child gets the milk. Naclis had understood this principle from a very young age, but she had never been able to bring herself to act that way.

"By the way, I brought you Christmas gifts from the Nofica Theocracy. You can open them now if you want. At most, I'll just make another trip to the Nofica Theocracy in a few days.

"If it's just a simple trip there and back, it wouldn't even take me half a day."

The reason it took so long to send Caroline off was mainly because Loren traversed the entire Nofica Theocracy. It was the second-largest country, second only to the Holy Flame Empire, which worshipped the God of Light and Fire.

"Then I want to open mine and see."

After giving Loren a kiss on the cheek, Anna hopped and skipped over to the gifts.

"Those few largest ones are yours, don't get them mixed up..."

After instructing Anna, Loren began to focus on his meal.

He hadn't bathed for several days. After quickly finishing his meal, Loren entered the bathroom.

The bathroom had already been prepared in advance by Seraphina, who had drawn the water for him when Loren returned home. The water temperature was just right now.

However, just as Loren was soaking in the bathtub, he heard the familiar sound of a lock being picked.

Loren slumped in the bathtub. He had already come to terms with it.

"Remember to lock the door, Mirrorheart."

"Yes, Master."

Loren wasn't wrong. The one who opened the bathroom door was Mirrorheart. The moment she locked the door from the inside, her maid outfit slid smoothly to the floor.

Having someone help scrub your back was actually quite nice...

...

Nighttime. Loren and Mirrorheart finished their bath, planning to sleep comfortably. Then, Scarlett pushed open the door to Loren's room.

"Master, I..."

"..."

Before Loren could even respond, Scarlett climbed onto Loren's bed, nearly tripping over Caroline's dog bed.

Loren had originally planned to put away Caroline's dog bed first, but he didn't know when Caroline would return, so he had left the dog bed for now.

Seeing Scarlett approach, Movila wasn't willing to be outdone either. The several crows standing on the headboard directly merged into a single loli Movila.

Loren knew he probably wouldn't get much sleep tonight.

It was just that Loren suddenly realized he had overlooked one thing...

During the process, Loren suddenly saw Cecelia's resentful gaze from beside the bed.

"!"

Only now did Loren suddenly realize Cecelia was still under his bed.

"Wait, you..."

Loren wanted to hide, but the arrow was already on the bowstring—there was no turning back.

So, Cecelia hardened her heart, blocked Loren's mouth, pushed Scarlett aside with one hand, and took her place.

Scarlett looked aggrieved, but after seeing the fierce look in Cecelia's eyes, she silently retreated to the side.

Loren hadn't expected Cecelia to do something like this. He remembered Mirrorheart hadn't had much contact with Cecelia either.

Therefore, Cecelia could be considered the only one among the witches who was corrupted by Loren himself, and through personal example at that... 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Tonight was not peaceful, so much so that Mirrorheart spent quite some time cleaning up the next day.

"You're getting stronger and stronger. I actually feel a bit gratified, as I bear a large part of the credit."

"You really have the nerve to say that..."

Loren pinched Mirrorheart's cheeks, questioning her.

"Don't you like it?"

When Loren pinched Anna like this, she would quickly beg for mercy. But Mirrorheart remained completely normal except for a slight change in her voice, calmly responding to Loren:

"Don't you like it?"

"..."

Loren released Mirrorheart's face. Regarding this, he really had no way to refute it. He silently watched as Mirrorheart neatly folded the bedsheets and stored them away.