NOVEL NEXT Chapter 155: Welcome Home, Master
Although disappointed, Reginald felt a hint of admiration rising in his heart for her.
Luo Wei showed great respect for her friend. She didn't make any decisions about Gladys without consulting her, even though he was her brother.
When Gladys told him about having a princess friend who knew she was a werewolf but didn't despise her at all, Reginald had been suspicious.
How could anyone not fear werewolves, especially a noble princess?
He had thought that girl called Luo Wei must have ulterior motives towards Gladys.
But after meeting Luo Wei tonight, he realized how absurd his malicious speculations had been.
From their brief interaction of just a few minutes, Luo Wei was undoubtedly an alert, resolute, intelligent, brave and responsible young woman.
With her status and abilities, she had no need to deceive a simple-minded werewolf girl.
Even if she did have some ulterior motives, it would be Gladys's honor to be targeted by someone like her.
Reginald believed that Luo Wei was a smart and upright person. Such people would always give proper compensation if they wanted to gain something from others.
She looked like an angel.
A true angel - pure and kind.
"No need to apologize, Miss Luo Wei. I was the one who didn't think things through," Reginald bid her farewell, "I plan to travel through the night and wait for her at Siria. I'll have to trouble you to tell her this 'bad news'."
Luo Wei nodded in agreement.
Soon after, Reginald left the stone fortress with his subordinates.
Luo Wei closed her eyes to listen to the wind. After a while, a faint smile appeared on her face.
The sound of sleighs sliding across snow was clear in the wind.
But they hadn't made such loud noises when they arrived.
She opened her eyes, extinguished her magic wand, and turned to walk into the stone house.
Of all things great and small, sleep matters most of all.
Everything else could wait until tomorrow.
...
The next day.
White light filtered through the window cracks, gradually brightening the dim stone house.
Gladys woke from her sleep and stretched, then suddenly froze.
How did she end up sleeping in Luo Wei's arms!
Greatly embarrassed, Gladys held her breath and carefully retreated from Luo Wei's embrace, lying down in the cold cashmere blanket beside her.
"Mmm..."
Luo Wei happened to wake up at that moment. She turned over and opened her eyes, seeing Gladys lying stiffly beside her. A glimmer of amusement flashed in her eyes.
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"Good morning, Gladys."
The little wolf pretended to be woken up, opening her eyes drowsily, her voice slightly hoarse: "Good morning, Luo Wei."
"Let's get up," Luo Wei sat up, "We need to get going."
"Alright." Gladys reluctantly crawled out of the blankets and jumped to the floor.
"By the way, your brother came looking for you last night," Luo Wei said casually. "He was very worried about you and wanted to travel to Siria with us."
Gladys asked nervously: "Bad brother, is he outside?"
"No, I refused him. He was very gentlemanly about it and didn't give me any trouble. He left last night, saying he would wait for you at Siria."
Gladys breathed a sigh of relief. Without half a month's time, her brother would definitely not make it to Siria.
The last time they went to the academy, they had set out a month in advance and still barely made it in time for registration.
Shortly after dawn, Troy and the griffin returned as well.
He had replenished their supplies in Sisda Town, buying several bags of charcoal and flour so they could stay warm and cook on the road.
The carriage left the stone fortress, and the group climbed up the gentle slope at the end of the crevice onto the ice plains, heading south.
Two deep wheel tracks were left in the snow, along with hoof prints stretching into the distance like a trail of steamed buns.
Luo Wei lifted the carriage curtain, gazing at the traces they left behind on the ice plains, her smile deepening.
Reginald was a sensible person, and she didn't mind doing him a small favor.
Whether he arrived early or late didn't matter much.
When they reached the ice plains' border, Gladys jumped onto Frost-frost's back and howled a few times, telling it to return to the Ice Wolf tribe.
Going forward they would enter West Sita Kingdom, where villages would gradually become more numerous. Frost-frost would frighten people, so it wasn't suitable for it to continue with them.
From the West Sita border to Siria, the journey took seven to eight days on horseback.
Luo Wei's group traveled day and night, changing horses at every town's carriage station, forcefully shortening the eight-day journey by half, arriving in Siria the night before school started.
Outside Siria City, Luo Wei "released" the backpack-wearing little wolf into the mountains, under the pretense of setting her free.
The slaves didn't suspect anything - they already knew their master was a kind person.
As for Troy, he looked at Luo Wei with words caught in his throat.
Releasing a northern snow wolf in the south...
His employer had once again insulted his intelligence.
That evening, returning to Star Luo Residence, before the carriage even approached the gates, Luo Wei heard the crying of a baby.
She blinked, remembering that half a month ago she had Hol and the others bring a baby back here. She wondered how Bella had fared these past two weeks, and if she had gotten an early taste of motherhood.
"Is that a carriage? Is it Young Miss's carriage?"
"That's Troy in front - it must be Young Miss returning!"
"Master is back!"
"What? Thank heavens, Master has finally returned!"
The gates of Star Luo Residence were wide open, with a large group of people rushing out.
Roman ran at the front, so excited he was practically bouncing eight feet high, jumping and peering into the carriage.
Rosie was a step behind, her usually calm face showing barely contained excitement as she gazed at the carriage, her eyes growing brighter.
Bella, carrying the crying Luo Lin, hurriedly led a group of male and female servants out to welcome them. Tom squeezed among them, looking like he wanted to do a somersault out the door.
The carriage stopped outside the gate. Chris jumped down and placed a small stool in front of the door, helping Luo Wei step down.
"Young Miss!" Roman cheered, "Young Miss, you're back!"
"Welcome home, Master!"
More than a dozen servants stood in two rows of equal spacing on either side of the main gate, bowing in perfect unison to Luo Wei.
This was a ceremony Bella had learned from the city lord's butler, and they had been practicing it for a long time, waiting for this moment to put it to use.
Bella handed Luo Lin to a maid behind her and stood in front of the group of servants like a true noble butler, looking at Luo Wei expectantly.
Had the master noticed her progress? Did she like it?
Luo Wei: ...
What could she say? In any normal world, she would have died of embarrassment by now.
"Thank you for your hard work, Bella," Luo Wei said with complex emotions.
She appreciated how Bella had managed to both take care of the baby and prepare this welcome ceremony while being overwhelmed.
Bella was so happy she couldn't stop smiling. As long as the master liked it, that was all that mattered.
"Master, hot water and meals are ready. Would you like to bathe first or dine first?"
With the Siria Magic Academy about to start, Bella had been having the servants prepare everything their master might need upon return. They kept hot water ready and made lots of desserts, afraid she might need something when she returned and it wouldn't be available.
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