“Wow.” Wilbur said as they left the restaurant. “That was so good! I can’t believe I’ve never tried that before!” Seren smiled in pure pride.

“I know. I told you it was good.” Seren said.

“So good!” Wilbur jumped.

“Back to work. We still have three more jobs to do before we can head home.” Seren said, pulling out their binder. “Or the hospital, but your nose stopped bleeding and the swelling’s gone down so you might not need to anymore.”

“Right, and we have to get it done before-” Wilbur started and then looked at his pocket watch. “Oh. It’s already two pm.”

“Yeah. And that’s with me doing three jobs on top of the three you did.” Seren laughed. “So, you owe me. But we’ll tackle these last three together and just try to be done before dinner. Fair?”

“Just don’t ask me to do anything embarrassing, all right?” Wilbur huffed; Seren shrugged.

“Guess we’ll have to wait and see.” They sang. “For now, the next job is in this district over here.” Seren led them to the townhouse and waited so the two could walk up the steps together.

“I’ve done this one once or twice. It should be pretty easy.” Seren said, “So I’ll let you do the talking, okay?”

“Yeah. I can do this!” Wilbur agreed. He knocked on the door and waited. Finally, a woman opened the door and looked in confusion at the two.

“Hi Serenity. Who is this?” She asked.

“I’m Wilbur Summers, and I’d like to speak to you about your debts.” Wilbur said very diplomatically. Seren nodded, impressed with how quickly he’d learned his lesson.

“A bit young to be retiring, aren’t you?” The woman smiled as she pulled out her purse.

“Not retiring. Just grounded.” Seren shrugged.

“So, you have someone else doing the work?! Well, how do I get grounded?” The woman laughed. Handing over a handful of coins. Seren looked at the coins and nodded at Wilbur.

“I don’t know,” Seren shrugged with a laugh. “Lovely doing business with you though.”

“Oh wait, if I could perhaps trouble you?” The woman began wringing her hands in anxiety.

“For what?” Seren asked.

“I have this fae thing. I was hoping you could tell me what it is?” She asked with a shy smile. Seren grinned.

“Sure. Let me see it.” Seren said, the woman left the doorway and retreated back into her house. Appearing a few minutes later with a necklace of enchanted fae silver. Wilbur’s eyes lit up and he dropped the coins.

“Hey!” Seren barked and Wilbur snapped out of his trance. “Put the money away before you zone out.” Wilbur dropped down and began picking up the coins but couldn’t help staring wide mouthed at the necklace.

“Wilbur, have you never seen fae silver before?” Seren asked. Inspecting the necklace, hearing the way it sang.

“No. It’s beautiful.” He breathed; Seren shook their head.

“The silver isn’t anything special, aside from being fae silver. This one has golden inlays in the centerpiece and these jewels look like pearls.” Seren said, listening to hear the specific parts of harmony that the necklace sang. “Enchanted, if I remember correctly the pearls signify that the necklace, when worn, will bring wisdom and protection from harm.”

“Really?” The woman breathed in awe. “It was my grandmother’s! Oh, it’s a beloved heirloom but I never knew it was enchanted.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Most golden inlaid fae jewelry is,” Seren said as they handed back the necklace. “It’s a lovely piece. Worth a king’s ransom. About thirty-two thousand or so? My advice is to hold on to it. It’ll accumulate in worth the longer you hold it.” The woman’s eyes filled with tears.

“Th-th-th.” The woman stuttered. Trying to comprehend the amount. “I. No. Are you sure?”

“Very. Here’s a jeweler who can collaborate and get you in touch with a buyer if you’re interested.” Seren jotted down a name and address before tearing it out of their notebook and handing it over to the woman. “Thank you for sharing that. It was beautiful to see.”

“No thank you!” The woman began crying, holding the paper and the heirloom close. She seized Seren and held them in a hug.

“Oh. No. That’s not necessary.” Seren said. They wormed out of the woman’s grip. “We have other stops. But thanks, and I hope you have a good day!”

“I will! Y-you too!” The woman said, tears still streaming down her face. Seren picked Wilbur up off the ground and led him back down the steps. He still tried to keep eye contact with the fae silver.

“Hey, focus.” Seren snapped their fingers in front of his face a few times to bring him back.

“Huh?” He said coming back to reality.

“It’s just fae silver. I know everyone gets weird about it, but it isn’t that special.” Seren said.

“It’s enchanted. And did you see how it shone? Like pure light.” He said dreamily.

“If you don’t come back to reality I’m going to slap you.” Seren said, holding their hand up to prove their threat. Wilbur snapped back and looked at their hand in alarm.

“Okay, okay. Don’t hit me!” Wilbur held up his hand to block any attacks.

“Good. Two more jobs. Did you count and record the amount?” Seren asked. Pointing at the binder. Wilbur shook his head and counted out the amount and then put it into binder. Seren looked at it and frowned.

“Whoa, hold on.” Seren said. “That’s not right. It should be twenty-six fifty. Where’s the missing Stl?”

“Uh.” Wilbur looked through his pockets. “Are you sure? I don’t have any more coins.”

“You dropped them, you better find it.” Seren said sternly. “Or you’ll replace it.” Wilbur frowned but stomped back to the walkway to look around for the missing stl.

“Why can’t we just say it doesn’t exist? Just write down what we have!” Wilbur called.

“Cause it’s not honest. Plus if your debtor also keeps records you’re going to get in trouble and then what will you do?” Seren crossed their arms.

“Pay for it.” Wilbur said as if Seren was dumb.

“So nice you have that luxury.” Seren smiled. “Not all of us do. Or, did. I guess I should say.”

“Yeah, see. We don’t have to worry about it. Here,” Wilbur stood up and pulled out his coin purse. “Here’s a stl. Easy.” Wilbur took a stl and put it into Seren’s bag. Seren shook their head.

“That’s going to get you in trouble.” Seren said. “What are you going to do when you run out of money?”

“Like that will ever happen.” Wilbur scoffed. “I’m a Summers. We don’t have to worry about that.” Seren rolled their eyes.

“And I’m a Winters. What’s your point?” Seren asked. Wilbur opened his mouth but then closed it again.

“Look, let’s just get this done so we can go home?” He said instead.

“Fine,” Seren said. Feeling like their teaching wasn’t going the way they wanted to. “Two more to go. Let’s do this. Can you find the next one?”

“Maybe. You’ll help, right?” Wilbur asked.

“Yeah, I will.” Seren said. “Where is it?”

“The Spring district. Another one!?” Wilbur said with a sigh. “Why isn’t it next to the first one?”

“That’s a good question. Why isn’t it?” Seren smiled. Wilbur looked up and then scowled.

“Okay, okay. I get it.” He said. “Let’s just go finish this. Can you do the second one? You’ve already won the bet.”

“Oh, fine.” Seren sighed. “I’ll take the last one in the summer district. If you aren’t done before me, then I’ll come find you.” Wilbur happily handed over the binder so Seren could copy down the address. They parted ways and Seren went to the Summer district, hoping that this day would be over soon. The job was quick, at least for them, and once it was done, they stood on the road waiting to see Wilbur. But they didn’t. Which didn’t surprise them in the slightest. They began ambling toward the center of the city to see what was keeping him. They got to the gates when Wilbur ran and bounced excitedly barking their name over and over.

“Yes?” Seren asked.

“I did it!” Wilbur opened his hands and showed a collection of ingts. Even a mag.

“That’s really cool! You collected a good amount!” Seren said impressed. “Did you write it down?”

“I did! I did it! Perfectly right?” He asked, stars in his eyes. Seren laughed but nodded.

“Yes, you did it perfectly. Let’s head home now.” Seren motioned and Wilbur put his collection in his pockets and took off for home. Seren walked shaking their head. Not looking forward to getting home and hearing the reprimand for the pitiful day they’d had. They couldn’t think of a single day they’d had that was this bad, not even their very first day. But they held their head high and arrived back home ready to face what was coming.