96 A promise

"Emp you... What's up with that weird shirt?"

That was the first thing Juniper told him when she met him in the entrance hall.

Since there were no classes that day, Emp had to ask Wren the receptionist to send someone get Juniper for him. He could have waited for the next day but he wanted the materials for his confirmation gift as soon as possible.

The receptionist sent the message and Juniper showed up after a good hour of waiting. She wore a sparkling dress like usual and waved his way when she arrived. She seemed to be in a mood as good as the previous day. She started teasing him but stopped immediately when she saw his shirt and decided to tease him about that instead as it was a clearly better and funnier target.

Emp was accompanied by both Harriett and Celtine who was back on his shoulders. Both of them were feeling much better now and Celtine even praised the shirt, saying that the fur crowning it was very comfortable to sit on and very soft. She had not told him to go forward with his plan but she didn't say the opposite either and since she was back with him, he decided to take it as an encouragement.

Emp himself received Juniper with a smile and told her what the shirt was about.

"That's an offering of Holia for me."

"What!?"

All the glass she wore on her person jingled with her movement of surprise.

"Mable asked you in Marriage?!"

"No, not Mable, someone you don't know."

"What!"

That one was even more shocking to her than the last.

"But, what? I'm supper confused now."

"There's nothing confusing about this. A girl I like very much gave me this shirt as an offering of Holia and I accepted it. Now I need to make a confirmation gift and so I need your help."

"You know, when I told you yesterday that I owed you something, I didn't think you would come back so fast, and I certainly didn't think it would be for that sort of thing."

"Well yesterday I didn't know this was going to happen. I need you to tell me if you have some knowledge about precious stones, I need something pink."

She furrowed her brows and and put her clenched fists on her hips.

"You need something pink? Are you going to ignore the dragon in the yard?" (1)

"If there was a dragon in the yard we would have heard it."

"It's a figure of speech! What about Mable!"

Oh, it was just another expression he didn't know.

"I'm going to see her right after I'm done here, I just want those stones as soon as possible."

Juniper produced a strange mix between a sigh and a snort and waved off the whole thing.

"Fine, it's not my problem anyway. Just know that I'm going to take Mable's side."

"What do you mean Mable's side? I'm on her side too."

"He says wearing the shirt of someone else." She pointed out.

That was true in a way but for Emp, they were all on the same side.

"There is nothing I want less than to hurt her. Look, I don't want to spend all afternoon arguing this with you here, I need to go see her. Can you help me for the pink stones and the gold or not?"

"You didn't mention gold before and no I can't do anything about it. I can help for the gems though, I know some people. That's a huge favor compared to just leaving the first dance to me though."

"I'll pay for them, my problem is just to get them in my hands as soon as possible. Obviously, they need to be as raw as possible too."

"Yeah, yeah, everybody knows the old rules, I'll see what I can do. What are you gonna tell her?"

"Well, the truth obviously."

"That's not what I meant! You can be so frustrating sometimes. Forget it, it's gonna annoy me way too much, I'll leave you to your problems."

"See you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, later."

Their talk had been short but now at least, half of the things he needed had been taken care of.

For the gold, he simply asked Wren Esther instead. The receptionist said she would find him what he requested in the shortest possible delay and after thanking her, he left towards Mable's room.

"How do you think Mable will react?" He asked Harriett on the way.

"I believe she will be quite angry at master again."

"She knows I do not like her any less than before though, right?"

<This isn't about liking her more or less.> Intervened the writing tablet. <It's about how betrayed she will feel that just yesterday, you told her you would do your best for her and today, you show up engaged to a girl none of us have met yet.>

Emp hoped it wouldn't be too bad but he kept feeling more and more nervous as they got closer to her room. Mable was the sort to burst and react violently to both happiness, sadness or anger. He was afraid she might do something she would regret later.

His group finally reached the door and knocked a few times on it. One of her two slaves came to see who it was and relayed the information to her mistress inside.

"Emp? Let him in of course!"

Led by the servant, Emp stepped inside and saw that Aglaya was here drinking tea with Mable. That was very helpful, her presence might help mellow down Mable.

The girl welcomed him with a big smile and an exaggerated wave of her hand while her friend pointed at a chair near them.

"Hi Emp. Would you like a tea with us? We were talking about yesterday."

"Uh, yes, I'll take one too then." He answered nervously.

He removed Celtine from his shoulders and sat facing them. One of the servants quickly poured him a cup. He thanked her with a nod and tried to start the conversation with a more casual subject than the shirt.

"I saw you dance with Ivar, he seemed to be very giddy about it."

"Right? He didn't expect I would pick him for the first dance at all. He was so cute I decided to keep him company all the way through the ball."

Emp wasn't sure that cute was the right way to describe Ivar but there were many things Aglaya qualified of cute.

"I'm glad that everything is back to normal." She followed. "Having you two fighting is no fun at all."

"So Mable already told you what we talked about?"

"Yeah, I even told her all the embarrassing things you said so now she'll be able to tease you all the time!" Mable said excitedly before laughing evilly.

"What about the embarrassing things YOU said?" He asked in return.

"Wha? I haven't said anything embarrassing at all!"

Both Him and Aglaya gave her a mischievous grin as an answer.

"Don't you dare say anything about that! What about that shirt instead, where does it come from?"

All the apprehension he had just dissipated with that silly talk instantly came back once he heard her ask about the shirt.

"I think it's rather cute." Aglaya chimed in.

Emp gulped and attempted to make an answer that wouldn't be too sudden. It was one of the things he had been chided on last time.

"It's a gift from Calla."

"Calla again?" Aglaya said, a bit surprised.

"She's a way better cook than she is a seamstress." Mable pointed out. "Oh, Aglaya, you wouldn't believe how good that supper was. It was simply incredible! Even the great cooks at home couldn't do that recipe any better than her."

"That's impressive... Why do you seem so stiff Emp? What's wrong?"

"I..." He gulped again. "That gift really took me by surprise, if I had known she'd do it, I would have told you before."

Mable felt he was strange and attempted to wave his nervousness away.

"I'm not mad because she gave you a shirt, you don't need my approval to receive gifts. I'm not that bad, am I?"

She turned towards Aglaya for some sort of confirmation. The other girl scanned Emp's group with a raised brow and found that something was wrong.

"You can be really bad sometimes but here, I don't think that's all there is to it. All three of them are way too nervous. What haven't you told us yet Emp?"

"It's an offering of Holia, from her to me."

That was it, there was no other way to say it. Silence took hold of the room and no one moved at all for a while. Even Mable's servants stopped doing their work to stare blankly towards him.

Aglaya was the first to start moving again. She had the face of someone who just received an impossible task.

"Maybe you should leave for now. She'll need a moment to gather herself before she tells you anything I think."

Emp didn't know what else to do so he just nodded and got up from his seat. He had not touched the tea at all but even though he felt it was a waste, he left it there and moved to the door in silence. That was a better conclusion than getting yelled at wasn't it?

He raised Celtine up on his shoulders and opened the door. As he left though, he felt the need to turn back and tell her one last thing.

"My feelings for you haven't changed, I'll do my best for you."

He got no other answer than the empty eyes of Mable so he closed the door and walked back to his room. The rest was out of his hands, that was very scary thing to think.

From the school, there was nothing more he could do for now. He started pacing in his room, waiting to receive any of the things he requested or even better, some news from Mable.

*-*-*-*

In Mable's room.

She was bawling her eyes out onto her best friend's shoulder.

He was getting married! To that Calla she had never met! She felt so frustrated and lost, her head wasn't working properly at all. She couldn't think of anything else than that shirt.

Why was it like so!?

Aglaya was doing her best to appease her and support her, stroking her back and caressing her hair. It wasn't working very well.

"Mable, dry your tears. He's not dead and he's not even rejecting you, there was just another girl that was faster than you."

"It's still painful!" She wailed.

"I know, I know but that's silly, you haven't lost him at all. He said he liked you both, obviously, if she give that sort of thing to him he's going to accept it. Think about it, what should he have said? I can't accept it because I need to ask this other girl you haven't met first?"

"Why not?"

"Because that's silly, that would just be a rejection with a dumb excuse painted over it. There's no way Emp could do that sort of thing. When you do finally give him your own offering, I'm sure he will accept it gladly."

"But what if SHE doesn't?"

"Mable, you're troubling yourself with far off things that might not even happen."

"But it could. I'm sure he likes her more than me too. I can't do anything but her, she's a fantastic cook."

"That's not true at all, there are many things you can do very well, you haven't done badly in your studies at all. Even if that was somehow true, which it isn't, you would still have a better social status than her."

"That doesn't mean anything, at least not for Emp."

Aglaya made an exasperated sigh.

"Mable, I'm more than convinced that Emp does love you way more than you think. I'm willing to bet anything on this. Also, didn't he say that he liked you both just as much? Isn't that proof enough."

"Maybe he lied."

"We never saw him lie before."

"Doesn't mean it can't happen."

"With how hung up he was the other day about not lying to you, I don't think that's the case."

"Mhuhuhuh." She whined.

"Mable... Do you like him or not? Do you want to give up on him and leave him to her instead? There are plenty of fish in the sea after all."

"No, I don't wanna."

"Why are you crying then? There's work to be done. Since he said yes to her and he isn't lying, that means he'll tell you yes as well the moment you give him your own. All we need to do is move your father and you'll have him too. You'll meet that Calla soon as well and then we'll know for sure what is going on."

"Why can't I just say, it would be much easier."

"You know why, it's too dangerous for you to say it."

"Even if Emp is watching over me?"

"Emp is great for his age but he isn't enough, you know this too. Now stop beating yourself, get up and prepare yourself to show her who's the better of you two."

"But I don't want to steal him from her."

"This isn't about her at all, this is about you only, about your own happiness. Didn't he tell you something similar just yesterday?"

Mable looked down at her ring, that ring was so beautiful, shining with care and affection. The sight of it made her feel a lot better. She knew how the ring worked, she had seen it change over time, not only her own but those on his two slaves too, at first they were very ordinary. There was no way he didn't like her all that much with a ring like that.

Aglaya was right, her father and Calla didn't matter in this at all. It was all about what she wanted.

Was Emp worthy of her love and efforts and was Calla a worthy sister, those were the only questions that truly mattered. The rest she would fight as needed. If Calla was some opportunist latching onto Emp, she had no reason to feel guilty of "stealing" him from her. If she truly was a great person like Emp pretended then she would need to ask herself, did she like him enough to go through all that trouble or was it just a temporary feeling? Could she find it in herself to share or should she evict her rival?

*-*-*-*

The first day of classes after the new year, Emp had two lessons to attend to. He had morals and customs in the morning and magic in the afternoon.

He planned to use the magic class to ask Heinrich about the book he needed. Blackbull's class was scarier though. Everyone would be there and all of them would ask about the shirt. The old teacher was bound to say something about it too. She always had some reproach to give him about anything he did.

At least, he had managed to get some sleep last night. He had waited for some good news from Wren, Juniper or Mable but received nothing and in the end, the extreme tiredness he felt took him over and he ended up falling asleep with all his clothes on.

With that bit of sleep behind him, he felt much more vigorous. Feeling that he would need all the support he could get today, he brought both Harriett and Celtine with him as he left.

His first destination was Mable's room. As her official protector, he needed to pick her up for class. To be honest though, he was just feeling very nervous about what sort of reaction she would show him now and couldn't wait for the class to see.

"Is master sure that this is a good idea? It has only been a day since master announced his marriage to her."

"I think that waiting to see her reaction in the classroom is way worse. Plus, what would happen if she waited for me to escort her from her room and I never came?"

"Master is right of course. I did not think things through properly. I hope for master that she will not be too angry."

"Are you saying that because you are rooting for me or because you wish to be her sister one day."

Harriett fumbled an answer to his daring words, waving her arms in front of her to deny it all vehemently.

"M-Master! I would never dare!"

Emp simply smiled her way and they soon reached Mable's door.

"I'm glad you two are here with me, it makes it all easier."

Celtine tapped the top of his head lightly and Harriett answered with a nod, still too affected by his previous words to say anything else.

He knocked on the door like every morning.

"It's me! We must not be late for Blackbull's class!" He called through the door.

He felt like he waited forever in front of the door before she opened and showed her face. He wasn't really sure how to interpret her expression. He remained silent from there and awaited her words with bathed breath.

They both stood on their side of the open door, staring at each other.

"Hi Emp. Now that I see your face, I feel like kissing it and slapping it both equally."

Emp chose to think that at least she partly felt like kissing him.

"You know that this whole thing will make me look like a huge idiot in front of everyone else right? Am I an idiot Emp?"

"Of course not." He answered in a rather confused manner.

"But I do feel really stupid." She confessed. "I don't even know her. I do understand all your words and reasons, they do make sense in a way. I understand that our secrets are the true problems, they will turn into a wall between us. By the time I tear them down, years might pass, will you still be there for me?"

"That's obvious I will be. I'm your lord protector, as long as you stay the Mable I know, I'll always do everything I can for you."

"But how many more Calla will there be?"

"None."

Emp was rather convinced that such a strange set of circumstances couldn't possibly happen again but Mable didn't feel the same.

"I could choose any other man and require of them that I be their only one. I didn't think you were the sort of man to collect woman all around but if Harriett here was to give you an offering, you would accept it too wouldn't you? I'd only know after the fact, only after you accepted. You do not understand how hard it is on me. I can't move and I don't have a say in whatever you do since you are not mine. I am stuck on the sideline and I don't know how long I will be there. I don't want to be a fifteenth sister, I don't like the idea of being courted by a man who already has a bunch of kids..."

Her words and the pained way she said them were just heart-wrenching for him. He opened his mouth to protest but there were no words that came out of it, there were no words worth saying. She took a deep breath and kicked the door-frame distractedly as she prepared her next set of words.

"I don't want to marry an old man either though, I don't want to be given to someone else just because they have status, I don't want to end up with an idiot from the other groups. What I want is to make my own choice and you are the one I want to choose."

That new set of word was like a beam of light piercing through the dark clouds. He felt overjoyed to hear them and if not for the very serious atmosphere surrounding them, he would have jumped in joy. Her whole speech was akin to feeding him buckets of boysenberry instead of her usually sweet strawberries. One moment the bitterness would fill his mouth like a torture and the next, it's sweet juices quenched his burning anguish. (2)

"I need more than words now, I need something that I can trust and will tell me without a doubt that I'm not acting like a silly maiden in love, that I'm not wasting this time of my life."

He'd be willing to wait for a long long time for her but he understood what she meant. If she spared no efforts to be with him and ended up disappointed in the result, it might be too late to find someone else that she found fitting. She was at a crossroad and feared she might take the wrong path and lose herself.

"I am more than willing of course but I can't think of anything. I can promise and swear but those are still only words. Did you have anything in mind? Anything you ask, I will do it, as long as it's not to go back on my words to Calla."

She shook her head, still keeping her serious face. Emp didn't really like that face, it didn't suit her at all. She was clearly straining herself to appear like that.

"No, that's not something I would do. I came up with an idea but you'll think it's silly."

"I'll do it even if it's silly though. I really like your kind of silly anyway."

He saw her struggle to keep a straight face as small smile threatened to show up but in the end, she managed to keep it under control.

"Then, I want you to do four things for me. First, I want you to kill some river snatchers for me."

"River snatchers? What are those?" Emp had never heard of river snatchers.

"A kind of huge crab, they live in the rivers of Grandbois, I hate them, they scare me to death. Kill them for me please."

This indeed seemed silly to him but it must be really important for her since she asked this right away.

"Sure, I will kill as many as you want, what next?"

"I really, reaaally, need to meet her soon. If I don't like her I'm throwing the whole thing off."

"I already said I'd bring her, I will. My plan is to go all the way there with Celtine and Harriett for the marriage and bring her back here with me once it's done. It might take a few weeks to go there and back."

Going by himself would only take a few hours but if he was to bring more people with him, he would end up way slower.

"That's fine, also, that's not part of the four things but could I go too? Does it mess up some secret?"

"It does, sorry, I can't bring you with me. It would make me break half a dozen promises. I really am sorry, I would have been really happy to have you there."

He felt really bad about denying her but he was simply unable to fulfill her request. She didn't seem too surprised or disappointed by his answer.

"It's okay. Watching that might have been too much for me anyway. I wasn't sure I really wanted to see it."

She changed the subject as quickly as it first came.

"The third thing I want from you is... you'll make her a confirmation gift, I want one too."

"What?"

What did she mean, she wanted him to do it the other way around?

"You heard me right, I can't give you an offering, It's impossible, I'm stuck. But, if you were to give me the confirmation first, at least I would know you are indeed waiting for me. Once I get rid of my problems, I'll be able to give you my offering and the confirmation will have already been taken care of. With it and the ring, I'll have a good idea of what my love is really worth to you and it will make my efforts more bearable. You'll give that to me with Nessa and Aglaya as witness. If I feel like you betrayed me or one of the four promises I'll just throw it away in a pit of disgusting millipedes and the whole empire will know." (3)

"I got it, don't get too riled up for something that won't happen. I'll make you a confirmation gift, I will pour my heart and soul into it and give it to you with the traditional vows. I'll do it as soon as possible but I have another to make and a trip to prepare so it might take a while. Are you fine with this?"

"I am, I'll wait to see it before I really think of how I'm supposed to deal with you. As for the last thing, I want you to promise you will wait for me and not get married again in the meantime."

"Alright, I swear on my full name, I will not accept any other offering of Holia until I have received yours."

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Things ended up both better and worse than he expected them too. Worse because she was clearly hurt about what happened and showed it with all those ridiculous conditions. He had never wanted to make her feel bad, things just happened that way. It was better than he dared hope as well since she didn't ask anything impossible and said that she still liked him.

Now he had double the work though and no time to think about it since they had classes to attend to. He reached out a hand for her to take and she took it with a sour face.

"I feel like I should be way more angry at you."

She left the room with him and her servants closed behind them as they made their way towards the classroom.

"Because I'm getting married, because it's with someone you don't know or because it's not you?"

"All of those. I should kick your butt for that. I feel like I should hate you but I just feel disappointed instead."

"I really didn't mean to make you feel bad, I was super happy to receive that shirt, I just want to share it with you too, the happiness I mean, not the shirt."

"I know, I guess that's why I can't be really mad at you. You can't hide your feelings or your thoughts at all. It's always very obvious, you don't even try to hide anything. You're very open and I like it. The guys in the capital, they're all wearing masks, even those younger than me, I can't see what they're thinking, they're all hiding things like petty thieves. I hate it. I feel like I found the best strawberry cake in the whole empire, I'm so happy about it, yet, it's someone else that's eating the cake instead of me cause I forgot my purse at home. Does that make sense?"

"You're comparing me to your favorite cake? That makes me a happy but I know you don't like sharing cake."

"Aglaya always tells me it's selfish but I can't help it, I love strawberries too much! I don't want everyone to eat all my cake."

"I don't know how to handle it Mable, I'm bad at those things. I'm glad you're the one who woke my heart though because you're very straightforward. This is one of the things I like most about you, Aglaya is right on this, we are very similar for that. It makes it easier for me to figure what you want me to do. The hardest is to find what words to use. I feel like everything I say is always the wrong thing. I don't want to lie, I don't want to say I don't like someone I do indeed like but I don't want to make anyone else feel bad either. Whatever you ask of me I will do but I would do the same for Calla too."

"I don't want to say I understand or that I'll accept sharing before I really meet her though. I told you before and I will tell you again, If I really don't like her I'm getting rid of her for you"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know, I'll have her eaten by a huge badger maybe. A snarly one with the haircut of a thug." She mimicked with her hand.

It would have been quite funny if they weren't talking about the death of Calla.

"Don't make that face, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I just don't know what to expect from her. Knowing you if anyone at all gave you an offering of Holia, you would have accepted it just to not hurt the feeling of the one giving it to you. It could have been Gytha or Josseline or a random tavern girl. You're my best friend after Aglaya you know? I just don't want some sort of hero fisher digging her fangs into you for money or whatever else."

"Calla isn't like that at all."

"Let me and Aglaya be the judge of that. I just can't trust your evaluation of other people's characters. You're like me after all, we're both gullible idiots who would trust the words of anyone."

"You think I'm a gullible idiot?"

"I do, whenever anyone says some idiocy in class, we both believe it immediately, worse, you take metaphors literally half of the time. Eida and Gervaise keep laughing at our backs because of it. All of this to say that I love you way more than I should and I don't trust you at all with yourself."

"I think the opposite, I should love you way more than I do. I think the same about your protection though, If I leave you alone you'll get yourself in trouble."

"You should, most definitely. Wait, what was that about getting myself in trouble? You get in trouble way more often then I do!"

"That's an exaggeration, I got in mortal danger only one more time than you and I saved myself in one of those while you needed me to rescue you. I think I should get a bonus point for that."

"That's not how it works at all! I pay you to protect me, you don't get any bonus points for it."

"Speaking about pay, once I give you that confirmation, there won't be any reason to pay me no? I'd still keep you safe even if you stopped paying right now."

"No, I need you to keep the title of lord protector until all this mess is cleaned. Anyway, if you do everything I asked you and it all goes well, in the end, All your money will be mine too so it's like I'm paying myself."

"Oh, that's true, I had not thought of that."

"Right, It's because I'm great, my ideas are so good."

"Isn't it all Aglaya's plan? You had nothing to do with it."

"Hey, you're supposed to be repenting now not doubting my greatness."

"I'm not doubting your greatness. Even though her ideas are the best, you're the one I like which makes you the greatest of the two by far."

What did he just say? The words just spilled out of his mouth. Why did it feel so much more embarrassing than just stating his feelings plainly.

"Forget it."

"No way I'm forgetting that! Now you've said it, I'm the greatest, you better remember it well!"

They reached the classroom accompanied by the sound of her laughter and they both sat at their usual seats. The moment they got inside, both of them started to feel really nervous again. Mable was really certain that she would be mocked because of how someone just stole Emp from right under her nose.

Juniper and Aglaya both knew what was about to happen too and they felt almost as tense as the two who were actually concerned.

Surprisingly the inevitable question about his shirt didn't come as fast as Emp expected. Some of his classmates looked at the out of place piece of clothing with a raised brow but none felt it was worth it to ask about it. He even started to think that nothing would happen at all until Blackbull walked into the room with her cane.

Everyone stopped talking as she made her way to the front like usual. She quickly turned her attention to Emp and his shirt.

"I said that I would not allow my students to wear those strange clothes that are seemingly in fashion in this city. This applies to boys as well Emp, this thing doesn't seem appropriate for a noble of your status, Go back and change into something more fitting."

"Madam Blackbull." Emp answered her with a helpless face. "I can't remove it, that's an offering of Holia."

Everyone reacted with various degree of surprise ranging from silent shock to loud "Hei?". The teacher in particular almost dropped her eyes and had to fight her surprise to find a descent answer.

"My apology Emp, In this case, do keep it on you, you are very right. I did not mean any disrespect to the one who gave it to you. If I'm not being too curious, who was it that promised themselves to you? Was it..."

She shot a meaningful look towards Mable along with the rest of the classroom. The girl used her two servants as a wall to hide from everyone else.

"No, it's not a student, not even someone you know." He told Blackbull.

The old lady seemed to be greatly relieved by this. (4)

For the others however, that seemed even more shocking and the eyes they pierced Mable with felt even heavier than before. Aglaya moved in the way to shield Mable along with her servants but obviously, if no one provided some explanation, they would never leave him and Mable alone.

Emp didn't mind being stared at by everyone, he knew them, they were his friends, they were just curious and didn't mean him harm. However, Mable didn't feel the same and was distressed instead. She couldn't stand all those eyes looking her way like a curiosity and Emp hated seeing her so vulnerable. He needed to do something about it. He should have thought about it beforehand instead of talking nonsense with her.

He rose to his feet again, gathering the attention of everyone and said whatever came to his mind.

"I did accept an offering of Holia from someone that isn't Mable but I do love her as much as one possibly can. The only reason it is not her shirt I'm wearing is because of some familial problems on her side. I will be eagerly awaiting her own offering."

Hopefully this would be enough. Either he made himself look like a real idiot or he managed to convince them that Mable wasn't being played for a fool. Either way, he was successful at deflecting the attention onto him rather than her, at least for now. Aglaya threw him a good job sign from where she sat, comforting him in the idea that he wasn't wrong.

The class reacted with mild laughter from the guys and scandalized giggling from the girls before Blackbull put some order back in the room. Hopefully this would be enough to make things less awkward for Mable. The others might give him some strange looks for a while because of his public declaration of love but if it was only him, he didn't care.

After the class, he spoke to Juniper and asked her for some orange stones to be added to the pink one he had previously requested.

"Orange stones? What for?"

"A confirmation gift of course."

*-*-*-*

Celtine was back on Emp's shoulders. He was currently talking with the mage Heinrich about a book he needed to enchant the item he was about to forge. He had told them what he planned on doing before and Celtine thought it was a great idea. He had no idea if it was possible though and that's why they were here.

He looked so happy. Even from his shoulders, she could see how much he enjoyed this. It was clear that he truly liked the girl. His peers had harassed him all day long to know about that mysterious woman but it didn't bother him at all, instead, he was happy to talk about her.

Celtine didn't know what to think about the whole thing. With difficulty, she had made up her mind and decided to let go of her unreasonable feelings for him. It was for the best, she had to for the future of her tribe, her own and Emp's. Yet, he didn't want to give up on her, not even a bit, and said the most outrageous thing.

What was she supposed to do about this?

Half of her mind told her she needed to be firm and turn him down. The other half told her to wait and see if he could actually do it, it was secretly delighted and not so secretly hopeful.

It would be so much easier if he just let her be. The man was about to get married for all the winds! Keeping feelings for him was just amoral. She really enjoyed her time with him though.

Fly and sing, that was what she did, that was who she was.

Limp and scratch, that was a prison, not who she was at all.

How come she was smiling then?

"Argh!"

Emp suddenly let out a pained voice and fell on his knees, clutching his chest.

"Master!" Harriett worried.

Celtine dropped herself off from his shoulders, both to get out of his way and to look at his condition. His face currently reflected nothing more than pain as all his limbs twitched from the action of an unknown threat.

Heinrich called out to his own slave while Emp cried out in pain. None of those present including Emp himself understood where that acute pain came from. Celtine worried deeply of course but still stood ready to anything at all that could help him. She only needed some clue on what she had to do.

The fwan came as quickly as one of his kind could and stared at him from the door where he appeared. His eyes shone with ancient power as the grey man looked into her master.

"His soul as been set on fire, it's gnawing at him from a distance, I can't see, it's too far off."

The other him! It must have been it. Emp came to the same conclusion when he heard the fwan and recalled his other half. Fire burst out from him as if called by the words of the fwan.

It was a strange and frightening thing to look at, the flame seemed empty. Even if it was clearly there, it was hard to see, one moment it seemed dark and ominous while the next it was an outline of a pale turquoise with nothing inside but the twisted air of the heat affecting him. Even more curious, his clothes weren't burning, they were unaffected by this otherworldly fire.

"It truly is soul-fire. An unusually cruel spell."

Heinrich moved fast and his hands reached out to many ingredients at once. A moonflower that bloomed by itself in his hand, a night gladiolus, a very tiny see through stone and a small phial.

"May the cool gaze of the moon bring your soul to peace. May there be no fire to disturb the peace of the diamond fairy on the lake of your life. Bring fresh night upon the burning day and let the garden bloom."

He said so in that weird language, or at least, that was what she understood. As he spoke, he dropped the two flowers unto Emp's lap and they immediately withered from the heat she could not feel. Right after, he placed the stone into the phial, shook it along with the final sentence and poured down the contents of it on top of Emp's head.

The liquid was bright and clear like the purest of water, shining like the moon, it put out the fire as it soaked the head of Emp. The small rock was nowhere to be found, melted into the water that beat off the fire.

The moment the flames were gone and Emp was freed from the pain, another fire was lit up in his eyes. A hatred and anger the likes of which she had never seen him show before, the kind she only saw in the devil that took her wings before.

His face twisted as he tried to speak through his clenched teeth, each words a curse targeting someone that wasn't here.

"My armor, quick."

All the pieces of his armor where dropped from his bag as he said it. Harriett and Celtine obeyed as fast as their hands would allow them and covered their master in his armor.

"May you tell us what is happening over there this time?" Heinrich asked while the girls clasped his helm in place.

"A mage dies today."

*-*-*-*

(1) An elephant in the room, except it doesn't work because they don't know what elephants are.

(2) Boysenberry is a word I was asked to use back in chapter 87. Feel like asking for another word? Leave it down bellow.

(3) Millipedes was also a requested word. I won't mark the next words like this but now you all have a good feel for the delay between a word request and its actual use.

(4) We're in starwars and it turns out that her name is Mable Muracier. XD It's not, do not worry.