"Mrs. Athenie is very similar to Mrs. Chelsea, and I always felt that my father married Mrs. Aseney because he saw Mrs. Chelsea in Mrs. Athenie."

Like Mrs. Chelsea, Mrs. Athenie had blonde hair and blue eyes, as well as a tear mole at the corner of her right eye. The tone of his voice is also similar, and he is soft and mischievous.

Every morning, Mrs. Athenie goes to the garden herself to tend to the flowers, just like Mrs. Chelsea.

There are also many differences between the two of them, Mrs. Chelsea likes roses, and Mrs. Athenie prefers narcissus; Mrs. Chelsea was in the habit of drinking afternoon tea at about four o'clock in the afternoon, but Mrs. Arsenie was not in the habit of doing so; Mrs. Chelsea is not in good health and often stays indoors, but Mrs. Athenie loves freedom and nature......

When the Count chose flowers for Madame Athenie, he still chose roses, and he would invite Madame Athenie to afternoon tea at four o'clock in the afternoon, and sometimes Madame Athenie would go out too often to the Count's displeasure.

Strangely, these things, no one paid attention to except Angelo. Or rather, noticed, but no one dared to say it.

"Mrs. Athenie is very similar to Mrs. Chelsea, and I always felt that my father married Mrs. Aseney because he saw Mrs. Chelsea in Mrs. Athenie."

Angelo wrote these words in his diary.

There was a period of time when the Earl had changed a lot after Lady Chelsea left. It's like losing my soul.,Absent-minded every day.。 Either lock yourself in your room and look at the portrait of Mrs. Chelsea in a daze, or sit in the garden in a daze. During that time, he often held the rose in his hand, but his mind did not know where it went, and the thorns on the stem of the rose pierced his hand, and he did not know it, and let the blood wrap around the stem.

At first, it was thought that this was because the Earl missed Chelsea too much, but the Earl's behavior became more and more strange. Sometimes, he would mutter mantra-like words, he would go berserk when it was quiet, he would invite some strangely dressed people to his house, and later he would even run to the forest alone in the middle of the night and return in the early morning.

A month after Mrs. Chelsea's death, something big happened in the town - many graves in the cemetery were stolen and many coffins were missing. However, the grave keeper said that he did not see anything unusual during the night, and did not realize that something had happened until the next morning. Moreover, the graves do not look like they have been dug up, as if the people buried in the graves have pushed the mound of earth themselves, crawled out of it, and then disappeared.

The graves of Lady Chelsea and Miss Charlotte were also damaged, but the Earl had fallen into a half-mad state and just didn't react much to it.

Rumors of the grave intensified, and some said that they had witnessed a group of strangely behaved people coming out of the cemetery and heading out into the forest on the night of the accident. Under such rumors, people were panicked, and no one dared to go out at night.

Later, Mrs. Athenie moved to town with her daughter Phoebe. When Lady Athenie came, she brought a black cat with her.

After Atheni moved in, strange things began to happen in the town again - many young girls disappeared one after another, and the last witnesses said that they had seen them go to the forest. At this time, Lady Atheni was also witnessed entering the forest on a full moon night, and performing a strange ritual there. As a result, all the townspeople pointed the finger at Lady Atheni, saying that she was a messenger sent by the devil and a veritable witch.

The townspeople reported the incident to the local church, hoping that the church would punish the wicked witch and her daughter. The church also approved and decided to burn her at the stake.

It was at this time that the Count met Lady Atheni. The Earl's eyes instantly became serious the moment he saw Madame Atheni, and the half-madness and half-stupidity that had lasted for months disappeared at that moment. The Count had reverted to his old form. He rebuked the men who had burned Lady Atheni at the stake and saved her. And he was very sure that Lady Arseni was not a witch, and then he tried his best to rehabilitate Arsenne, and finally the church compromised in the face of the Count.

Even so, the rumors about Lady Aseni did not subside.

"Aseni is not a witch, she is my future wife."

The Count spoke, and it was rumored that this did not go in a more serious direction.

Whether Lady Athenie is a witch or not doesn't matter to Angelo. Angelo is well aware that most of the witch trials that are popular among the people are nothing. It would be too arbitrary to conclude that Lady Athenie was a witch just because she had a black cat with her and had entered the woods one night. Taking a step back and saying that even if Lady Aseni is really a witch, it doesn't mean that the strange things in the town's grave and the girl's disappearance have something to do with her.

Angelo doesn't believe in God or the devil.

His titular sister, Phoebe, also doesn't believe in the existence of gods. Phoebe resists praying and goes to church. But he is still young and has no say in the family.

If Charlotte were still alive, she would be the same age as Phoebe. Mrs. Athenie is very similar to Mrs. Chelsea, but Phoebe and Charlotte have diametrically opposite personalities. Charlotte was overly lively, chattering and occasionally making wayward demands every day, even in the midst of a serious illness. In contrast, Phoebe is much quieter and more well-behaved, and her eyes like the sea are full of admiration for all things in the world. Like her mother, Phoebe yearns for nature and is uninhibited.

When Phoebe first moved into the Earl's house, for a long time, she couldn't get close to anyone, and she lived alone every day, either nesting up in her bedroom or playing alone in the small garden. Angelo tried to get close to her and talk to her more, but every time Phoebe saw Angelo, she ran away. Not only Angelo, but even the Count himself took the initiative to approach, and Phoebe was reluctant to say a word.

Just as everyone was thinking about how to get close to the new Miss Phoebe, they were at a loss. One morning, Phoebe took the initiative to talk to them. At that time, everyone was sitting together for breakfast.

"Father, mother, can I bring some milk and bread into my room?"

The Count was surprised, but his joy was also written on his face. He lovingly replied, "Of course." If little Phoebe is hungry, she can always go to the kitchen to get bread and milk. ”

Phoebe looked at the Count, then then at Lady Arsenie. There was a little confusion on the little face.

In the days that followed, when the maid was cleaning Phoebe's room, she would always find small cups of milk or bread cubes in the corners of the room, or in places that were not easily noticed.

Everyone didn't pay much attention to it, it was just a prank by children. But the servant, who is convinced that Lady Atheni is a witch, says that Phoebe is summoning demons. Such a statement made Angelo rarely angry.

Angelo admits that in the beginning, like the Earl, he used Lady Athenie and Phoebe as doubles for Mrs. Chelsea and Charlotte. But it didn't take long for Angelo to realise that even if the two ladies were alike again, Lady Athenie would be Lady Assenie and could never be Lady Chelsea. Phoebe couldn't be Charlotte either.

Mrs. Chelsea rescued him from misery and treated him very well, and Angelo took it all to heart. However, this does not mean that Angelo will be dissatisfied with Mrs. Athenie and Phoebe because of his concern for Mrs. Chelsea. Didn't Madame Artenie treat him like her own child? On weekdays, I will ask for warmth, I will also care about his schoolwork and communication, and I will knit scarves and gloves for him in winter......

Angelo had never met his own mother, and his concept of motherhood came from these two ladies. These two ladies are at opposite ends of the scale, and the scales are also impartial, and neither can replace the other.

Phoebe, as the daughter of Lady Athenie and her own sister, was spoken of again and again, and Angelo only felt that her chest was about to explode, and he reprimanded these servants who chewed the root of their tongues. It was the only time he had been in the Earl's Court for so long that he had been angry.

And his angry appearance happened to be seen by Phoebe, who held the bunny puppet and ran back to the room.

Angelo's heart sank, thinking that he must have scared Phoebe. After a while, Phoebe ran out of the room again, and he timidly took Angelo's hand and let him into his room, Angelo was flattered.

Phoebe made a silent gesture to signal Angelo to be quiet. She led Angelo to a corner of the wall.

Angelo saw an unknown object in the corner munching on bread, and when she looked closely, it turned out to be a small person, with long hair, and wearing brown tattered clothes.

Phoebe tugged at Angelo's arm and whispered in his ear, "This is the Brown Elf." ”

The Brown Elf, the legendary kind-hearted elf, likes to live alone and will help humans with household chores if they are kind to it. But it does not accept payment, and once humans pay it, it disappears. Humans can only repay it in other ways, such as deliberately leaving food where it has been passing for a long time.

Angelo looked at the elf in front of him, speechless for a while, the first time he saw this strange creature, his mind suddenly couldn't move. It was a long time before he came back to his senses that Phoebe was entertaining the elves with milk and bread.

"It's my secret, you can't tell anyone else."

Angelo nodded and smiled in agreement.

"Why are you telling me?"

"Because you're not like those people. If those people found out, they would say that my mother and I were witches, and then they would burn her to death......"

Phoebe frowned and pouted. She was too young to understand the malice of others.

"Angelo, even if it's a witch, isn't necessarily a bad person. My mother and I used to live with a lot of witches, and they weren't bad people, but why did people burn them? ”

Angelo, who is only nine years old, can't give too many answers to this question.

"Maybe it's because they're scared......"

"Afraid of what?"

"Afraid of what they don't understand......"