"Wake up! Master Mentor!"

Early in the morning on Christmas Eve, Anna pounced on Loren, forcibly waking him up.

Loren had just opened his eyes when he saw Anna's face mere inches from his.

"What time is it?"

Loren yawned and leisurely pushed Anna away.

"Ten o'clock."

Anna grabbed Loren's arm and showed him the watch on her own wrist.

It was already quite late, but for Loren, this still counted as getting up early.

"Kiss me before you get up."

Anna simply flopped on top of Loren, pointing her little finger at her own cheek.

"Alright, alright, alright..."

Today was Anna's birthday, so Loren indulged her, giving her cheek a light peck. Only then did Anna bounce away happily.

Loren also stretched and prepared to get up. Truthfully, he didn't have strong feelings about holidays himself, but the children enjoyed them, so Loren just played along.

A Christmas tree had already appeared in the living room, covered in decorations, with presents piled beside it.

"You're awake? Master."

After Loren came downstairs, Mirrorheart emerged from the kitchen to glance at him, then returned to the kitchen. Loren had no idea how she recognized it was him.

Mirrorheart still had flour on her hands. Eating dumplings on Christmas had become a tradition in Loren's household.

"I'll help you all make dumplings."

Loren had already washed his hands upon getting up and entered the kitchen with Mirrorheart.

The kitchen in the new house was quite spacious, easily large enough to accommodate all the maids plus Loren.

This world had dumplings, but they weren't very common, so both Flossie and Corolla weren't very skilled at making them.

"Let me teach you how to make dumplings."

Looking at the tragically misshapen dumplings they produced, Loren felt he should instruct them first.

Seraphina, however, made dumplings very well, even more standard than Mirrorheart's.

"How do you know how to make dumplings?"

Loren asked. Logically, people from Uridia shouldn't eat dumplings.

"I had them with family a long time ago, but I still hope you can teach me."

Seraphina spoke while wrapping dumplings, but this time, when she let go, the dumpling fell apart completely, as if deliberately telling Loren she didn't know how.

"Forget it, I'll just teach you all..."

Loren didn't expose Seraphina. Compared to Mirrorheart, she was far more normal, something Loren could fully accept.

"Can you teach me hand-in-hand..."

Loren rapped Mirrorheart on the head, cutting off her statement, and then began the formal lesson.

"I want to join too!"

As Loren started teaching, Anna barged in as well, showing Loren her freshly washed little hands.

Loren had no objections to this; in fact, it was better to have more liveliness while making dumplings.

However, Loren's technique wasn't great; he could only manage to wrap them. In the end, Mirrorheart took over the teaching, and Loren retreated to the side to silently roll out dumpling wrappers.

Loren had lived alone before. As long as the dumplings were edible, it was fine—only he would eat them, at most feeding a few to the raven he kept back then.

The kitchen was filled with a warm, harmonious atmosphere, and Loren couldn't help but smile.

Even after Mirrorheart taught for a long time, Anna still couldn't wrap them properly. Helpless, Loren had to let her go play for now.

Through everyone's efforts, the made dumplings filled over a dozen large steamers. Loren calculated that this should be enough for Anna to eat.

Anna loved desserts the most, but she also ate plenty of meat. To suit Anna's taste, the dumpling filling didn't contain many vegetables.

"Time to eat."

By the time Loren and the others finished, it was almost lunchtime.

Aside from Laila and Movila, who were well-traveled and knowledgeable, the others had never seen dumplings before, but they quite liked the taste.

"This is my first time spending Christmas with others. It feels like having a family... really nice..."

During the meal, Laila suddenly expressed this sentiment.

"Mhm mhm!"

Scarlett's mouth was stuffed full of food as she agreed with Laila's words in a muffled voice.

"What kind of day is Christmas?"

While everyone else was musing, Lilith asked a question that took Loren by surprise. He hadn't expected her to even forget the existence of Christmas.

Logically, she shouldn't forget a holiday like Christmas where you get to eat good food, but even if she really had forgotten, Loren could understand.

"Christmas is the holiday celebrating the birth of the gods. On this day, people gather to celebrate, exchange gifts, eat delicious food, and pray to the gods."

Actually, the most crucial part was praying to the gods, but Loren didn't need to do that.

The Church would also hold ceremonies during this time, but the scale was far smaller than the Bountiful Harvest Festival, so Loren's presence wasn't required.

It was just that every Christmas, people would come to give Loren gifts, trying to curry favor. Loren's approach was to accept everything but not lift a finger to help.

As long as I take the money and don't do the work, it doesn't count as bribery.

Actually, most people just wanted peace of mind and didn't expect Loren to help them with anything; they just hoped Loren wouldn't deal with them.

Starnight was also standing on the dining table. Loren fed her a few dumplings too. By now, Loren was completely accustomed to Starnight's diet.

He had been raising Starnight for a year now, feeding her human food every day, and Starnight showed no problems, remaining perfectly healthy, just like the witches.

A normal person would get sick at least once a year, but not a single person in Loren's large family had ever fallen ill, not even a cold. The curative magical potions Loren prepared had never been used once.

"It's so lively at home this year. I hope it gets even livelier every year from now on...

"Master Mentor, when are you going to give me a little sister?"

"Ahem..."

Anna changed topics too quickly, leaving Loren a bit stunned.

Loren initially thought Anna meant for him to pick up more witches, but it turned out she meant for him to have his own child...

Unnoticed by anyone, Naclis snapped another pair of chopsticks. She glanced up at everyone, confirmed no one was paying attention to her, and silently replaced them with a new pair.

Right at that moment, the doorbell rang at the entrance. Loren guessed it was someone coming to deliver gifts and felt instantly relieved:

"I'll get the door..."

He really didn't want to continue this topic and could only find an excuse to leave.

When Loren opened the door, he didn't see a noble coming to deliver gifts, but rather a bespectacled beauty with red hair. Loren immediately spotted the inverted cross prominently displayed on her chest.

"Merry Christmas, Master Mentor. I am Caroline's older sister, here to thank you for sending her home."

As she spoke, she bowed deeply towards Loren, giving him a clear view.

"Ahem... please stand up first..."

Loren felt somewhat awkward and hurriedly helped her up.