The night was deep, yet the Hongsong Manor had not fallen silent.
The Venetian people had finished their meals and went to rest, but the celebration of the Herders would not end just like that.
After one last check of his preparations, Winters, weary to the bone, collapsed onto his wooden bed. He desperately wanted to grab some sleep, but sleep eluded him completely.
It wasn't because he was nervous, but because it was too noisy—the Herders seemed unsatisfied with just eating and drinking, and had begun to beat their drums and sing.
Winters was a light sleeper, unable to fall asleep with even the slightest noise—a common affliction among spellcasters—let alone the continuous noise pollution from the Herders.
Tossing and turning in bed for a long while, he simply couldn't fall asleep. Just as one foot would cross the threshold of dreamland, he would be yanked back by the drumming and singing outside.