Chapter 100: The Golden Family’s Invitation

We seem to have been found out.

Looking at the envelope Andersen handed her, Olivia’s face stiffened at a visible speed.

Her confident, elegant smile froze on her face, covered by a layer of deathly pale despair.

Olivia instinctively turned her head, her focused gaze fixed stubbornly on the sycamore tree swaying in the wind outside the Dawn Moon Pearl’s window, as if the trunk held some unique artistic pattern worthy of her intense study.

Faced with Olivia’s self-deceptive evasion, the teddy bear doll shook its head helplessly and trotted forward on its short legs.

The teddy bear doll thrust the envelope in its paw toward Olivia, even reaching out to tug at her clothes to get her attention.

“Little dragon, stop playing dumb. Running away is shameful, and it doesn’t work either.”

Seeing that things had come to this, and her ostrich tactic only delayed the inevitable, Olivia let out a long sigh, as if draining the last of the air from her lungs.

Resigned, she turned around, extended a trembling hand, and took the gorgeously decorated envelope from the teddy bear doll’s paw—an envelope that felt like a death warrant to her.

Holding the envelope in her hand, her throat dry as if she had swallowed a thousand needles, Olivia stared at the wax seal representing the Gold Family for a long time.

A fierce mental battle raged in her mind.

After hesitating for a long while, she finally made up her mind to open it.

Olivia took a deep breath.

Her fingertips pressed down, and with a crack, the wax seal symbolizing the Gold Family’s authority was broken.

She carefully opened the envelope and pulled out a folded letter paper.

As the paper was slowly unfolded, a faint, peculiar smell mixing sulfur and ink spread through the air.

However, when Olivia fully spread out the letter, exposing it to the four witches present, there was only one line of text.

No, strictly speaking, perhaps it couldn’t be called “text.”

A jumble of twisted lines were forcibly pieced together.

The characters varied in size and thickness, as if crushed onto the paper by some violent force.

Some strokes were as thick as if hammered in, while others were as thin as spider silk.

The characters were messily joined together, completely lacking any method.

Even upon close inspection, the witches might have mistaken this line for some long-lost special encryption rune or a piece of postmodern doodle art.

“What… what does this say?”

Tunzuo leaned in, squinting for a long time, her brows furrowed, but she couldn’t make sense of it.

Completely baffled, Tunzuo twirled her hair and looked at Olivia with a question.

“Olivia, do dragon witches have a special written communication method? I can’t recognize a single word.”

Although Tunzuo considered herself illiterate among witches, with a poor cultural foundation—usually sleeping or eating—she at least recognized the common language of witch society.

But now, after seeing this letter, Tunzuo fell into deep self-doubt, wondering if her field of vision had been too narrow before.

The humble and studious Tunzuo couldn’t help but marvel at the profound culture of witch society.

There were such unique written communication methods between different races of witches.

As for Tunzuo’s question, Olivia just twisted her lips into a smile more bitter than crying, not knowing how to explain.

Before Olivia could answer, Antuxi, who had been watching the show, suddenly couldn’t hold it in.

“Pfft—cough, cough!”

Antuxi couldn’t help but turn into a sprinkler, spraying the tea from her mouth, then started coughing violently as if choking.

After finally calming down, she burst into loud, ungraceful laughter.

“Hahahaha! Silly daughter, that’s not dragon language. But you’re not entirely wrong—it is a unique form of witch writing called ‘Dragon Claw Script.'”

Antuxi slapped her thigh as she pointed at the “scribbles” on the letter to explain to Tunzuo.

“Speaking of ‘Dragon Claw Script,’ that’s something else. It originated from the elegant handwriting of the great witch calligrapher Fafnir, like a dragon digging claws into the ground. Look at this left-falling stroke—so vigorous and powerful, as if directly gouged out of a rock. And this right-falling stroke—so wild and untamed, full of primal vitality!”

Having said that, Antuxi shamelessly threw her head back and laughed, rocking back and forth, completely abandoning the dignity of the Head Witch.

Just then, an angry voice suddenly exploded in Antuxi’s mind.

“What do you mean, what do you mean! Antuxi, you bastard! My handwriting has won awards! It’s you people who can’t appreciate it! You’re just jealous, Antuxi!”

Hearing the sudden voice in her mind, Antuxi smiled and wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes.

She raised a hand to press against her ear, as if answering an important call, and replied.

“I am jealous indeed. After all, it’s a calligraphy competition hosted by the Gold Family themselves. Us outsider witches really can’t just waltz in and take a prize—that would embarrass our great family head too much. Wouldn’t want the outsiders gossiping that the head of the great Gold Family, the big tycoon, can’t even win a competition she paid for herself. That wouldn’t be good~”

“Antuxi! You fucking—”

Antuxi cut off the communication channel without hesitation, blocking the stream of profanities, leaving the owner of the voice raging impotently on the other end.

After listening to Antuxi’s sarcasm, Tunzuo finally realized that the text on the letter wasn’t some new language or advanced encryption rune—it was just ugly handwriting.

The dawn broke on Tunzuo.

Seeing Olivia’s serious expression as if facing a great enemy, she found it a little amusing.

After thinking for a while, she managed to squeeze out something that sounded like comfort.

“Actually… looking closely, it’s not bad. There’s an abstract beauty—wild with untamedness, chaos with order. I never expected your mother to be a master of cursive, you freak dragon.”

Tunzuo’s words made Olivia instantly cover her face with black lines, feeling that the illustrious reputation of the Gold Family had shattered into pieces with the appearance of this letter.

Hearing this, Antuxi burst into another round of hearty laughter and gave Tunzuo a proud thumbs up.

‘This girl is like me!’

Seeing this scene, the teddy bear doll shook its head helplessly and interjected.

“Alright, Little An, stop making fun of Favnir. She’s been practicing hard, even if her talent is… a bit lacking. Little dragon, why don’t you quickly tell us what your mother wrote?”

I’m curious about that.

Under Andersen’s persuasion, Antuxi barely suppressed her laughter, though the corners of her mouth still twitched from time to time.

Olivia took a deep breath, picked up the letter, and steeled herself to read its contents to the four witches present.

Olivia squinted, as if deciphering some ancient and obscure language, recognizing each twisted character on the paper word by word.

The letter was simple, only one sentence.

“There’s a family banquet this weekend. Bring that girl back, let me meet her.”

After reading, Olivia put down the letter with a complex expression.

The thin piece of paper seemed as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Olivia slowly turned to look at Tunzuo beside her, her voice a little dry as she said,

“In short, Little Ghost, my mother wants to meet you.”

“Huh?!”

Olivia’s words left Tunzuo frozen in place.

Then, like a startled cobra, she shot upright, her voice raising an octave, her face full of panic and fluster.

“This, isn’t this meeting the parents?!”

“What do I do? I’m not ready! Can I refuse? But that freak dragon has already seen my mommy. Would it be bad if I don’t go? She’s also a legendary witch, even the head of the Gold Family. What should I prepare? Should I bring a gift? Flowers? Supplements? Or magical artifacts? What if I leave a bad impression? What if she doesn’t like me? What if she thinks I’m not good enough for Olivia? Oh no! What should I do…”

Just as Tunzuo was blushing, babbling, losing her composure, and panicking, a precise and swift chop struck her on the head.

Thud!

A crisp sound accompanied by Tunzuo’s yelp snapped her out of the endless spiral of overthinking.

Antuxi silently withdrew her hand and said irritably,

“Look at you, so lacking in nerve. It’s just a meal, what’s the big deal? It’s just going to see Fafnir, not going to the execution ground. Why are you scared like a startled goblin? However…”

Antuxi suddenly changed her tone, her fox-like eyes narrowing with a mischievous glint, her gaze profound as she looked at Olivia.

“Speaking of which, does your mother want to meet my silly daughter, or does she want to meet me, little dragon spawn?”

Faced with Antuxi’s question, Olivia said nothing, abruptly changing the subject.

She turned to the harmless-looking teddy bear doll on the table and asked,

“Principal, how did Mother know I was in Han Hai Cheng? And… how did she find out about my relationship with Little Ghost? I thought I was very careful.”

“Oh, that’s all Little An’s fault.”

The teddy bear doll spread its paws, innocently pointing at Antuxi.

“Causing such a big commotion made it hard for witches not to notice. When your mother wanted to find information about Little An, she naturally searched for relevant terms about Han Hai Cheng on the Magic Net. My Magic Net permissions aren’t very high, and some things can’t be completely cleaned up, so naturally, your mother caught on.”

As she said this, Andersen fixed Antuxi with a resentful gaze, full of accusation, unsure whether she was blaming Antuxi for causing too much trouble or for not giving her higher Magic Net permissions to clean traces thoroughly.

Antuxi just shrugged nonchalantly, looking completely carefree, displaying the Head Witch’s free-spirited attitude.

‘My fault, huh?’

“So, Mommy, are we accepting the Gold Family’s invitation or not?”

Tunzuo hesitated, touching her fingers together nervously, leaving the choice entirely to Antuxi.

Olivia also turned to look at Antuxi, waiting for the Head Witch to make the final decision.

Seeing the uncertain expression on her daughter’s face, Antuxi’s eyes rolled, a flash of cunning light passing through them.

Then a sly smile curled at the corner of her mouth, like a fox that had just stolen a chicken.

“We’re going. Why not? It’s rare to squeeze a meal out of Fafnir. Why not take it? Free food is always good. A witch who doesn’t take advantage isn’t a good witch.”

Antuxi chuckled, her shrewd eyes plotting something, though it was clear she had no good intentions.

“As for preparations, don’t rush. We’ll talk when we get back to Saint Medea. Go ask your teacher for leave. Pack your bags. We’re heading back to the Capital tomorrow. In the name of the Head Witch, I approve your truancy. If anyone has a problem, tell them to come see me directly.”

Antuxi’s attitude was firm, like a tyrant abusing her power.

Tunzuo and Olivia had no choice but to nod in submission.

Seeing that everything was settled, Andersen chose to take her leave.

The teddy bear doll waved its paw and said with a smile,

“Alright, since you’ve decided, I won’t disturb you any longer. Good luck! I hope the Gold Family banquet is enjoyable for you. See you at Saint Medea!”

With that, a flash of pink light, the teddy bear doll went limp and fell flat onto the table, returning to its ordinary, silent plush self.

Tunzuo picked up the teddy bear doll and returned to the dining table with Olivia.

After Tunzuo handed the doll back to Huli, Olivia adjusted her expression and started to formulate her leave request to Sherry.

“Sorry, Teacher Sherry, there are some internal matters in the Gold Family that need handling. So Tunzuo and I might need a few days off to return to Saint Medea.”

“Return to Saint Medea?”

Hearing this, Samotush, Anne, and Lei Ruiya’s minds raced with thoughts, undercurrents rippling.

Samotush put down her glass, her eyes shifting between Tunzuo and Olivia.

Anne frowned, as if weighing the pros and cons.

Lei Ruiya’s white rose eyes blinked, trying to glean clues from the two witches’ faces.

“Is that so?”

Faced with Tunzuo and Olivia’s sudden request for leave, Sherry couldn’t help but worry.

But remembering the anomaly that had occurred in the restaurant earlier, and what Principal Andersen had just said, she likely had no power to refuse.

So Sherry could only sigh helplessly and approve their leave.

“Alright, I’ll approve the leave form. However, regarding living arrangements… if you need anything, I can contact the Capital Academy. Tunzuo, can you handle it? Olivia, I’m not worried about you, but Tunzuo…”

“No need.”

Before Sherry could finish, Antuxi’s lazy voice suddenly came from the void, filled with a commanding authority.

“Let them stay at Ling Tian Palace.”