"I've told you a hundred times to not do that!"

Eugene roared at Ann. He held his chest since it felt like his heart would jump out any second.

"Actually it's only been ninety-five times. But you were pretty close...."

Ann chuckled and dusted off the popcorn on his soft hair.

"See. You are such a baby. Still spilling food everywhere.... hehe"

"..."

Eugene's face flushed bright red. Unable to say anything, he clenched his fists and puffed his cheeks, and let Ann do ruffle his hair.

'So cute'

While Ann was busy fawning over Eugene's cuteness, the twins caught up to her, having separated in the crowd. Instead of tracking her scent, they had caught sight of Eugene's ears from a distance and followed it to their destination.

"Are those..?"

Jade's eyes widened when he noticed what was on Ann's head.

"Yup. And they are custom made"

Between Ann's bright blue hair were visible a pair of fox ears in the same color as her hair.

After she came out of the Third Eye guild, the three of them continued to explore the streets and various stalls arranged for the festival.

Among the various attractions, a stall selling masks and ears had caught their attention.

Since Ann and the twins were seen together all the time, people tend to think they were siblings until taking a closer look at Ann. So did the shopkeeper.

Once the shopkeeper realized his mistake, he offered to make a new set of ears to match the colors of her hair to complete the look.

"How do we look?"

With Noah and Oliver standing beside her, the three of them resembled triplet beastman siblings. This way, even if people mistook them for triplets it would appear natural.

"I got it made to match my hair and Oliver fixed it. Cool right?" Ann asked Raeden with her eyes full of expectations.

"It comes with a mask and tail too. But we thought that was excessive and left it behind"

"It's beautiful"

Raeden patted her head as the corners of his lips curved into a warm smile.

"Oh! One more thing?"

Ann rummaged through her pocket and pulled out six tickets for the 'Annual Wine Fair' event held in Lorem.

The Annual Wine Fair was an event held in Lorem every year as a part of the Flower Festival.

Wines made from different varieties of flowers were displayed to the spectators as a way to promote products and increase sales. As tourists tend to flock towards Lorem during the festival, it was the prime time for marketing.

"And I got us tickets for 'All You Can Have Drinks'. My treat" Ann handed over the tickets proudly.

But there was one thing that kept confusing her,

"I don't know why Chief Gallahan didn't mention anything about this?"

For the talkative Gallahan, who would spill all kinds of information with the slightest push to forget such an important event, that too during their visit was perplexing to Ann.

'Isn't that obvious?'

Everyone watched her seriously think of a valid reason in silence.

It was clear that the previous episode at the tavern was what led Gallahan to withhold any information regarding alcohol to Ann.

"Didn't you say you were never gonna drink again?"

Eugene raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

He recalled her declaration of abstinence to Bea the day after her drunk escapade in the tavern. It was an unforgettable incident where his sister made him work to the bone as punishment to let things escalate.

So, if Ann were to get drunk and wreck havoc again the person who would be held responsible will be him.

And facing his scary sister was the last thing Eugene ever wanted.

"What kind of idiot would say such an absurd thing?" Ann averted her eyes.

Judging by the look on her face she clearly intended to ignore everything and get dead drunk. This made Eugene seethe in anger.

"You!"

"Look over there. It's starting..."

Ann ignored Eugene's outburst and quickly changed the subject.

And right on time, one of the priests standing on the podium arranged for the festival started giving his welcoming speech.

"Welcome everyone. I am Priest Hansom from the Temple of Theodore. We are delighted to have you all...."

"Are all priests like this?" Ann's jaw dropped when saw the priest's face.

Since they were standing in the front row Ann was able to get a good look at his face.

'Gorgeous' was the only word that came to her mind when she saw him talk.

His light blonde hair and hazel colored eyes with a long priest outfit were a sight to see.

Priest Hansom had the charm of a delicate flower as if his presence was enough to cleanse the place of evil. His sweet voice radiating through the audience was mesmerizing like the voice of a nightingale singing in the deepest night.

In short, he was dazzling like an angel that had come down from heaven.

"Oh my.... Oh my...."

"So sweet..."

It was not only Ann but, most of the women in the audience were having the same reaction, much to the dismay of their partners.

"Listen to the man talk" Noah blocked Ann's view with his hand, only to have it smacked with fury.

"I am listening! Look! I've never seen a speech that is so interesting and you!" Ann smacked Noah's hand again.

"Stop blocking my gorgeous view!"

"I don't think that's what is interesting?"

This time, it was Oliver who was the one to stop her from looking.

"You too! Stop it!"

With that, the trio foxes started scuffling among themselves as one after the other tried to block Ann from seeing the priest.

"...every single day. May the Goddess bless you all"

And by the time Ann emerged victorious, the speech had ended and the priests left the podium leaving behind an empty stage.

As the ceremonial dance was about to start people started moving to the designated place, leaving only a few people standing by the podium.

"Do you like seeing his face that much?" Noah complained, blowing on his throbbing hand.

"Not really" Ann rolled her eyes.

"My type is more like the dark archangel..."

Suddenly the face of a man with dark hair and a chiseled face in deep sleep flashed through her memory.

'No...that brings back haunted memories. Eeek!'

Ann felt a chill run down her spine.

For various reasons, she has been thinking about 'him' continuously for the past few days. But there was no need to worry anymore since the novel was going as per the plot and she had successfully severed herself from it.

'I've had enough Dark Archangel to last for three lifetimes. So let's go with a rainbow theme'

"No scratch that. I like bright, beautiful guys like a ray of sunshine.." Ann laughed awkwardly and changed her statement.

"What?"

Instead of listening to her, the twins stared blankly and pointed behind her.

"I believe everyone is enjoying the festival"

Ann slowly turned around to find Priest Hansom standing there with a bright smile.

"Hi, Handsome. I'm Hansom. I mean.... Ahem.... Priest Hansom. I am Ann and these are my siblings Noah and Oliver"

Ann jabbed the twins with her arms and whispered, "Say hello"

"Hello"

"Hi?"

Noah and Oliver reluctantly greeted him after glancing back once.

"Are you having a good time?"

"Yes!" Ann answered excitedly.

"Well, I hope you have a wonderful evening"

Priest Hansom smiled gracefully and bid farewell before moving on to greet the next set of people.

"Just looking at his face is enough to get Vitamin D" Ann said, looking at Priest Hansom talking to the tourists.

"Heh... Enough admiring him. The dance is about to begin" Jade clicked his tongue and started walking away.

While Raeden and Eugene were quiet, he could not stand seeing them talk nonsense in front of him anymore.

"We're coming, Mom!"

The Nero mercenaries moved to the place where the ceremonial dance was taking place in the town square and waited for it to begin after finding a spot in the front side of the audience section.

In the center of the town square was a fifty feet pole to which the flower decorations were connected as a central point. Through that, the decorations were joined to the other poles present in the four corners of the square making it look like a tent made of beautiful flowers.

The square itself was separated into four sections.

Each side represented a season and according to the season, their dresses were designed.

Yellow for summer, light blue for winter, green for spring, and red for autumn.

Dancers wearing beautiful traditional dresses adorned with flower accessories were standing around the central point.

When the music began, the lights fixed with the flowers on the decorations illuminated turning ON the festival mode. The dancers started revolving around the central pole while holding long ribbons attached to it as a way to depict the change in seasons.

"Whoa" Ann exclaimed, with the lights reflecting on her emerald eyes.

While the Nero mercenaries were standing on the side of yellow summer, members of the Tullus mercenaries were by the side of red autumn. Ann was even able to spot Kalan and Ezra standing on the front lines of the blue winter.

The Nero mercenaries continued to watch the performance, as the dancers split into small groups of four, each containing an assortment of seasons. They started pulling the audience members into their circle and Jade was the first one to be caught in among them.

Jade awkwardly tried to match the dancer's pace while trying not to step on her feet.

Ann couldn't contain the smile on her face when suddenly another pair of dancers pulled in Oliver and Eugene.

At that moment, she felt a gaze on her.

But when she looked behind her, there was no one suspicious.

There were couples and vendors as far as her eyes could see. And a short distance away, Priest Hansom was surrounded by a group of young girls trying to ask him for a dance.

'Am I imagining things?'

Ann sighed.

'I'm just being paranoid since I'm finally free for good'

She turned back to find Oliver tap dancing with his partner, causing the people around to stare at them in awe. Everyone was enjoying the moment.

"All is well Angelica. All is well"