While they were out, Gretel had a lot of free time.

What could she do with it?

During her pondering, she remembered Santa loved cookies, and since it's solscele…

"Gingerbread, it is!"

Preparing the dough with care, cutting it in a humanoid format with all the love, putting it in the oven full of loveliness and making the toppings to decorate them brimming with solsceline spirit.

When the cookies were being baked, they looked delicious, but were lacking something...

She stares at them, gets her grimoire, and decides to make them more… special.

As the others were almost home, the sweet fragrance could be smelled from far away.

"This smell… Someone is making cookies!!"

Red runs to the dorm, and is the first to behold the incredible vision.

There were many cookies in the form of people, some of them being more detailed than the rest and looking like the people of the dorm, on the kitchen's countertop. 

The gingerbread people made more dough and created more cookies, making small cookie cities with a beautiful cookie castle, cookie trees, cookie animals… Being led by Gretel, the cookie commander!

"Cookie kingdom!!!"

The others get home, leave their stuff in the living room and go to the kitchen.

Gretel leads the cookies, while Red and Katty observe her, amazed.

"...Why did you do this?"

Hansel couldn't understand.

"Because I can?"

Red started staring at a gingerbread man from a bit closer.

Noticing this, the gingerbread man waves a friendly "hello".

Red grabs the cookie with his hand.

"Ah look, Red is developing a friendship with the cookies."

Jack couldn't tell, that Red was drooling.

"This does not look like it'll end well..."

Hansel spotted it, and was correct. The next thing Red does is eat the gingerbread man's head.

As they see it, all the gingerbread people stop what they're doing and start to run away terrified, but it was useless, they were swiftly captured by the boy that felt more like a hungry wolf…

The countertop cookie city is now destroyed, with countless cookies running all over it trying to escape.

"Well, there's nothing to be done about this… It was an eventuality..."

Red kept on eating with no restrictions.

"I'm sorry, Gretel..."

Lupin, ears down, couldn't fathom how to apologize.

"Like I already said, there's no problem, Luu. Furthermore, is there a greater happiness for cookies than to be eaten by a cute kid who can appreciate their tastyness?"

Gretel appeared satisfied rather than sad as she watched the massacre alongside Katty, who kept a perpetual "wow" face.

"Seeing Red happy, eating so many sweets I made, this is no motive for sadness~"

Hansel gazed at the terrified cookies, running for their lives.

"They don't look happy at all to me..."

He walks away to store the things they purchased as soon as the familiar deadly gaze can be felt.

"I wasn't expecting this, but… food is… food…?"

Jack seemed somewhat disturbed by Red eating all the tiny gingerbread people that way, it reminded him of a giant eating the much smaller people.

"Red, don't eat too much or you won't be hungry for the feast..."

Lupin tried to stop him, but it was like talking to a wall.

"Red, if you keep eating like that there will be no space left in your stomach for the feast, eat more later."

"Ok Jack."

He immediately stops eating them, and the remaining gingerbread people partied, taking the "blue man" as their savior.

Lupin sighs, as always Red ignored him completely.

Meanwhile, Hansel finished his self-given task in record time.

"I finished putting everything away, what do you need them for, Gretel? Some fancy dish?"

"Our stocks were dwindling a bit, so I guessed it was best to buy some more."

"..."

Hansel thought it was something for solscele.

Katty laughed about the situation alongside Red, while he was speechless.

After tidying up the mess left by the gingerbread massacre, Gretel, Hansel, Jack and Lupin go cook the banquet, with Katty sleeping on the sofa beside the others who were chatting, all waiting patiently in the living room.

Lupin and Jack peeled the potatoes, sliced the veggies, separated the good parts from the bad ones…

Gretel dealt with the pastas, rice, creams, sauces and desserts…

Hansel prepared the meats, baked goods and soups... 

The celebration of the winter solstice, solscele.

On the night of the eve a feast is made together with your friends and family, a banquet filled with the best foods one can make to commemorate another year in their company, and the end of a cycle and beginning of a new one.

To some, the only time of the year they allow themselves to indulge in bonanza and excess.

A moment of peace where you only think about eating well and being happy, ignoring the rest.

Reflecting that, they all worked hard to make something worthy of being their solscele's meal.

As they finished setting up the table, the idling ones were called and saw the efforts of the four's hard work right away.

Not only was a fat roasted pig on the center of the table, but chicken and lamb beside it, all whole and in the perfect doneness with crispy golden skin, a plethora of sauces surrounding them.

A medium-sized cauldron of vegetable soup with the fragrance of nature, the humble gifts of the earth and bold spices in a blissful marriage, their union showing the true taste of each ingredient.

Abundance of warm and fragrant rice, beside it crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside bread, and pure pasta, just waiting to meet with your favorite sauce.

Savory pies? At least three: cheese, chicken and palm heart.

And let's not forget a lot of potato puree, something essential to any feast that goes with everything, having it's light taste complement every dish.

Grape, apple and peach juices, alongside water, eggnog and hot chocolate to sate your thirst. Variety wasn't what's lacking on that table.

And there were yet the desserts Gretel prepared set aside, that'll only appear to finalize this show that'll be made on the palate of every one of them. 

Chocolate cake, traditional solsceline cookies, raspberry pie, strawberry ice cream, caramel pudding...

Their mouths were all watering.

The moment the awaited time came, they filled their plates without hesitation.

The eight ate lavishly till they couldn't anymore, including the ones who normally would barely have anything during a meal. 

Whoever looked at the set up table before wouldn't ever imagine, that a mere eight people could eat enough to feed a whole party.

After the dinner some went to sleep first, saying good night and going up to their bedrooms.

"It's getting late, you're not going to bed, my little angel?"

Gretel had just finished storing the banquet's leftovers, and asked with a gentle smile.

"I'll stay here till one of the Santa comes!"

"Is that so? I'm glad I prepared this, then~!"

She puts a plate with some survivors from the great gingerbread people massacre, with the magic from earlier removed, and a glass of warm milk on a small table left close to the solscele's tree.

"Without a worthy offering, there's no chance they'll show themselves personally to you."

"Thanks, Gretel!"

"Good night my little angel, Luu… and hansel."

She goes upstairs, leaving only the three left awake.

"You should go to sleep already, brat. There's no way Santa will appear before you." 

Hansel, who ate a lot more than he should, was resting before sleep until then and about to go back to his room as well.

"No, they will appear!"

He fills his cheeks with air and pouts.

"No they won't… You'll be staying up to keep an eye on him, Luu?"

"Yes, I can't exactly leave Red alone without supervision..."

Hansel sighs.

"Good night Luu, selfish brat."

With Hansel calling it for the day, only him and Red were there now.

Red may have said it's because he wanted to wait for Santa, but that was a blatant lie.

Trembling slightly, looking around constantly, it was obvious to anyone…

He just didn't want to go to sleep due to being scared of the nightmares he knew he'd have.

Being aware of it or not, Red was always misbehaved and insolent, and also frequently made messes and created trouble.

He was a guaranteed target for Knecht every year, and every solscele's morning he woke up either crying or terrified.

Lupin wondered when Red would grow more mature, when the living room's atmosphere suddenly changed.

His little brother, who was uneasy and with eyes so open they seemed as if they could pop out of his head at any moment, fell asleep as if that was the most natural thing instantly.

The air itself felt different, with small things that were like snowflakes materializing, floating and gathering in the middle of the place, going closer and closer to the tree.

The tiny flakes that looked like shards of light eventually took the form of a beautiful tall woman, with long hair white as snow, and eyes reminiscent of the aurora borealis.

She used an elegant red dress with green details and accessories, which was a great contrast to her appearance that gave off a gelid demeanor, but matched perfectly her warm and gentle gaze.

"You were a good boy this year as well, Lupin."

He was in no way surprised about her appearing out of nowhere or in him being visited, but rather that it happened a second time.

"Tell me your wish, youth."

He thought.

About the past, about all the bad things... What if...

"You know I cannot do that, Lupin..."

Even without him saying anything, she already knew what he would ask, and answered with a sad and apologetic gaze.

Lupin looks at Red, who appears to be suffering.

"Not even…?"

She lightly shakes her head to the sides.

"You also know I cannot do anything about that, it's not something that can be changed by me..."

Looking more intensively at his little brother, he thinks for a bit and reaches a decision.

"Then..."