Loch Lomond, Luss Village.

The village used to be surrounded by a quarry, but of course, it has been abandoned for decades.

For a long time, most of the villagers were descendants of the former quarry workers, living a secluded life in this tiny village. If it weren't for the electricity connected to the village, even the government might have forgotten about this place.

However, since Benitez built a church and orphanage in the village a few years ago, some subtle changes have begun to occur.

Perhaps the children in the orphanage are a bit naughty, but in the eyes of many villagers, their appearance has added some vitality to the usually quiet and monotonous village life, especially the ringleader named Erina Kaslana, who is a lovable and hateful little devil.

For example, she once secretly took the explosives left over from the mine and went to the lake to blow up a large pile of fish.

By the time the Environmental Protection Association and the police station arrived in the town, almost every household had several lake fish hanging at the door. A stern reprimand was naturally inevitable, but with the villagers' pleas, the matter finally ended with Erina being confined for half a month.

In fact, people mostly have an unspeakable pity when they see the child who is struggling to support the orphanage with the priest.

Not to mention, in addition to occasional mischief, Erina has also brought many changes to the town...

The streetlights, pipes, and composting areas in the town, these new things that have gradually appeared, mostly have Erina and Benitez behind them.

Because of this, when everyone learned that Erina had been adopted and sent to a noble boarding school, they were somewhat reluctant in addition to the blessings. The children in the orphanage also seemed to have lost their backbone and became silent and introverted again.

Of course, people also know that for the children in the orphanage, being adopted during the Great Depression is obviously very lucky.

The old man who claimed to be Apocalyps was extremely generous. In addition to completely renovating the church and orphanage, he even funded the renovation of the town's streets and the road leading to the outside, and also sent several smoked sausages to every household in the town—as an ancient aristocratic family from Austria, Mr. Apocalyps and his party can be said to perfectly interpret the image of nobles in people's minds.

As for Erina?

At most, when people chat idly after meals, they will sigh and lament how lucky the child is.

At most, they will fantasize and discuss how etiquette is learned in the legendary noble school, and what kind of well-read and reasonable lady Erina Kaslana will become in the upper class in the future. There will be no more discussion, after all, the upper class is too far away from them.

This is not surprising, human memory is always short and forgetful, especially about the memory of strangers.

Compared with Erina, who has been away from the town for more than a year, the villagers talk more about the foreigners who have just moved here.

On the isolated Loch Lomond, those "new townspeople" who left their homes due to the upheaval in Eastern Europe are the window to the world in the eyes of the villagers.

As time passed, most of the villagers gradually forgot about Erina Kaslana.

However, this obviously does not include the children in the orphanage who were raised by Erina.

"Father Benitez, you big liar!"

"So, Sister Erina won't be back this Christmas?"

"That's right, you clearly said before that Sister Erina would come back to see us for Christmas—"

"Ahem, ahem, I said Erina might come back, maybe."

In the main hall of the orphanage at the end of the town, Benitez looked at the children surrounding him, with a helpless expression on his face.

Since Erina became a witch, the treatment in the orphanage has soared at a visible speed.

First of all, there is the free three meals a day promised by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—every morning, noon, and evening, those mysterious "house-elves" will send sumptuous dishes to the kitchen, and then Benitez will bring them to the table and announce the start of the meal, explaining to the outside world that it is sponsored by the Apocalyps family.

Just looking at the rosy and shiny faces of the children now, you can know how much has changed in the past year.

In addition to the supply of three meals, and the newly renovated rooms that are no less than normal college dormitories, there are many invisible changes.

As the empress of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Erina used a little trick to easily win special benefits for all the children from various schools in the surrounding area, including tuition fees being completely waived. During this period of economic depression, every school with children in attendance has received generous funding from the "Austrian Destiny Group" without exception, the only condition being that the school must demonstrate the teaching quality and standards it should have.

Or, more accurately, when the Destiny Group conducts irregular spot checks, they can get satisfactory answers from some orphans.

Under various overt and covert benefits, the future prospects of the children in the orphanage are much brighter than before.

However, as they gradually grow up, another problem also arises.

Everyone knows that the beautiful life like a fairy tale now actually comes from Erina.

In the hearts of many children, Father Benitez almost "sold" Erina to the Apocalyps family in exchange for so many generous compensations. Even though adoption is quite common in the orphanage, Erina is still different from others after all.

Therefore, Father Benitez is quite embarrassed every time he answers questions about Erina.

According to the previous agreement, he must strictly abide by the confidentiality agreement of the wizards in the magical world and not reveal any information about that world.

This is not only because of keeping promises, but more importantly, if something unexpected really happens, no one knows whether a few wizards will suddenly descend from the sky, waving their wands to erase their memories—this is not only to protect him, but also to protect the children.

"Okay, okay, have you done your Christmas pre-dinner prayer? Get ready to eat!"

Benitez raised his voice and looked seriously at the little ones who were starting to make trouble again.

Different from the Anglican Church in the UK, which is the largest faction in Protestantism, Benitez belongs to the Roman Catholic Church.

Although he mostly regards "Father" as a job most of the time, at least on Christmas Day, some basic prayers and procedures must be adhered to. Catholicism is considered the most stringent and cumbersome of the Christian denominations in terms of Christmas dogma.

When Erina was still there, that girl would occasionally make trouble and be willful for a while, but now these little guys don't have the guts.

As Benitez straightened his face, the group of little ones around him instantly fell silent.

Of course, they are only respectful in terms of procedures and rituals.

At the Christmas dinner, everyone prays in their hearts before eating and drinking.

This is somewhat similar to the New Year's prayer during the Eastern New Year, or a wish on a birthday. People will quietly review the past and pray for new good luck at this time, but most of the time they usually make wishes silently in their hearts, instead of...

"Sister Erina, come back soon, Brown misses you so much—"

"Sister Erina, I want to eat roast goose and juice—"

"Sister Erina, I want to eat apple pie—"

"Sister Erina, I want—"

"..."

The corners of Benitez's mouth twitched, looking around at the little ones at the table with their hands clasped together, muttering to themselves.

Obviously, even though Erina has been away from the orphanage for more than a year, the traces she left here have not disappeared.

According to the teachings of Catholicism, there should only be clear water, wine, and bread at the Christmas dinner—but since Erina brought out a large plate of roast fish, roast goose, pies, apple juice, and other things at this time a few years ago, everything has been messed up.

More importantly, as a priest, his stomach was the loudest at the time due to the aroma stimulation after a few black boxing matches.

"Don't mess around! This is a Christmas wish!"

Benitez frowned and said in a serious voice.

"You should at least make some long-term, well-thought-out goals, not this kind of..."

"But, Father Benitez, you said before that if we are obedient and study hard, then our wishes will be passed on to God so that we can achieve them. Brown has been obedient for the past year, and this is indeed Brown's biggest wish now."

After Erina left, eleven-year-old Brown became the oldest of the children.

He turned to look at Benitez and explained with a serious face.

Then, Brown continued to clasp his hands together and start making wishes.

"Sister Erina..."

"These wishes—"

"Father Benitez, don't you want Sister Erina to come back?"

Just then, a timid voice said.

Benitez turned his head and met nine-year-old El's green eyes like emerald gems.

"Maybe it's because you didn't make a wish, so God didn't hear our voices—you are the priest of this church, and people say you are the one who can communicate with heaven. If you are with us, then Sister Erina might be able to come back."

"...How is that possible—"

Benitez looked at the surrounding children weakly and sighed helplessly.

"Okay, okay, actually I also want Erina to come back. But... alas..."

Since Erina left, he has truly felt the hardship of raising children for the first time.

Many times, it is not only about taking care of them in terms of food, clothing, housing, and transportation, but those naive and sincere thoughts are the hardest to refuse.

But on the other hand, Benitez knows better than anyone the responsibilities Erina is shouldering in "that world."

Mr. Otto Apocalyps told him many things, and the summary is that Erina is learning how to become the magic empress of the wizarding world, and even more outrageously, she has now been crowned as some kind of "Goblin Queen."

From the former Soviet Union to London, England, from Australia to New York, USA...

The things Erina has to consider are all over the world, and every decision she makes may affect the fate of tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of people.

Even if he only serves as the behind-the-scenes first shareholder of the "Premier League," Benitez feels the pressure of almost suffocating, let alone Erina.

Erina Kaslana, if she is really the chosen future empress of the magical world, as Mr. Apocalyps said, then it is normal to be so busy. Even the British royal family, who have lost their power, mostly cannot eat peacefully on Christmas.

However, it's good to be busy.

At least Erina can finally spread her wings and soar freely in the world, instead of being trapped in the backward and remote Scottish Highlands, worrying with him about what the children will eat tomorrow, or who is being bullied, who is sick, or who has homework they don't understand.

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"Okay, I hope Erina can come back, at least come back next Christmas."

Under the gaze of a group of little ones, Benitez said helplessly, shrugging his shoulders.

As an adult, as a member of the Brotherhood, Benitez never believes in prayers.

If God was really useful, then it wouldn't have been the Brotherhood who took him in and supported him in studying and taking exams to become a clergyman. He still remembers how he was ruthlessly expelled by the church staff in Spain when he was desperate.

In fact, he strongly agrees with what Erina said before.

There is no savior in this world, or rather, everyone can be a savior.

And now Erina is trying to save a bigger world, he shouldn't and can't become a burden to that child at this time.

Benitez retracted his gradually diverging thoughts, looked at the children around him, and his voice sank slightly.

"Is that okay? Now can you eat? Go back to your beds to sleep as soon as you finish eating—"

Squeak—

Just then, the originally closed wooden door of the hall was suddenly pushed open.

Benitez subconsciously raised his head to look at the door, and the rest of his voice was blocked in his throat, turning into a strange whimpering sound.

"Huff, I knew it, they must still be praying or something..."

Erina said triumphantly, behind her were three little girls who were slightly taller than her.

She turned around and waved to the middle-aged man sitting not far away, as well as a group of petrified little ones.

"Merry Christmas! I heard all of your wishes just now—"