“How could you tease him like that?” Dunes asked, causing Vonda to flush hard, the young woman drinking her water silently. They stood atop one of the many gardens of the guild, overlooking the city as the purple haze of dusk fell across it.

“The alcohol had clouded my mind,” Vonda replied, her voice full of guilt and shame.

“Yes, it is always the alcohol’s fault.” Dunes continued to sip away at his own alcohol, though it was very light. ‘I don’t think I could be so brave, even with such liquid courage.’

Vonda stared up at the evening sky, the sun setting as dusk washed over the City of a Thousand Colours, coating it in a particular type of colour the denizens could identify. She stared across the city, the same city which she had once called her home. She could no longer name the colour of purple that dusk brought. Her true home lay north.

Dunes remained silent, allowing Vonda to set the course of the conversation, but the young woman did not speak up. He remained at her side, allowing the various emotions to swirl within her, so she could sort through them at her own pace, with Dunes nearby to assist if she so needed.

Like Vonda, Dunes understood his role, to remain silent and to listen. Vonda, too, needed such a voice, just as Dunes had done, often speaking with the young woman. They were both from their own order, so their relationship with their divine was different to those who were raised within temples for the masses. They had similar responsibilities, but some of those responsibilities were different, and more extreme. However, they were each similar in the way they were disimilar to other priests, and found friendship in that.

‘I’ll have to ask her soon,’ Dunes thought, thinking of the scarf he had bought, and the young devilkin woman who was still annoyed at him for his apparent betrayal.

Adam lay in his bed, fresh out of a bath, his eyes glued to the ceiling. The light seeping through the window, though gentle, illuminated the room as though it was noon for his half fae eyes. His body had cooled from the shock of Vonda’s action. The phantom of the kiss remained upon his lip, her soft upper lip, her rougher lower lip.

‘Whoa.’

The word gave way to nothingness.

‘Damn.’

The word gave way to more nothingness.

‘Wasn’t that technically…’ Adam thought. ‘I guess I’m a guy, so no one cares.’ Adam’s cheeks remained flushed red at the thought of the kiss. ‘Hold on! Wasn’t that my first kiss? I can’t believe you stole away my innocence like that, Vonda! I knew it! You’re really a noble through and through!’ He pulled a pillow over his face, as though to hide his embarrassment.

Jurot wondered what Adam was thinking, and how he was processing what had just happened. He had no doubt in his mind the young half elf was coping through his queer humour.

‘Their children would be strong.’

Omen: 4, 20

‘Nice,’ Adam thought.

Breakfast was mashed potatoes, which had been cooked with a little bit of milk and butter, as well as lightly salted and peppered, along with fried meat and scrambled eggs. A small plate of fruit made up Adam’s dessert, the young half elf trying his best to eat healthily. ‘Should I also get some grilled vegetables next time? I have to keep my heart healthy so I can live a long time to spoil my adorable children.’

“Okay?” Jurot asked.

“I’m fine,” Adam replied, an awkward smile on his face. “I’ve got a crit in my back pocket.”

‘Should I remain behind?’ Jurot thought. He had promised the teen Iyrmen they would leave today to adventure, but if Adam was able to strike true today, it would only add to the fuel of his chaos. He could feel Naqokan’s eyes piercing the back of his head, and he supposed he would need to help his cousin.

Jurot was caught between who Adam should marry. Vonda was a great option, for she was a member of Life’s Rose, one of the most respected orders across all the nearby lands. Then there was his cousin, Naqokan, whose family was well known even among the nearby lands, and her cousin was a candidate to become Chief, and if not the Chief, one of the Chief’s aides. Then there was Mara, who was Lucy’s closest confidant, whose strength, though currently only slightly better than an Expert, would no doubt reach the height of a Paragon, or even an Idol.

‘Their children would be strong.’

It was the thought he had for whoever Adam paired up with. However, it was Vonda who had taken the lead, and with Adam refusing Naqokan so obviously, she was the likeliest. Also, Mara had shown almost no interest in Adam in that regard.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Jurot’s eyes fell to Lucy for a moment. ‘No.’ He glanced away almost immediately. There was no way Adam and Lucy would get together, it would be too troublesome. However, the thought of how close Lucy was to Jirot and Jarot came across his mind.

It wasn’t impossible…

Nirot threw a look to Naqokan, who had awoken with focus that morning, the intent to kill leaking out of her body. ‘Good luck, Naqokan.’

“So, you’re going to watch over me today?” Adam said, eyeing up both Kitool and Jaygak, who had remained behind while Jurot had taken the others away.

Jurot had taken the teen Iyrmen out, along with Lucy and Mara, each of them taking their wolves, as well as the three large warhorses they had summoned to pull along their carts. Elks brought too much attention, and though warhorses brought much attention, it was less attention, though none brought as much attention as the awakened or dire wolves.

“It’s best for us to watch over you, since you might do something stupid today,” Jaygak said.

“Why would I do something stupid today?”

Jaygak smirked. “Who could understand why you would do something stupid today, but perhaps it was because-,”

“Jaygak,” Kitool said, stopping Jaygak from teasing Adam too much in the morning, though Adam did deserve it.

“Well, since you’re both here, might as well tell you about the…” ‘Hold on. Isn’t it weird that I’m talking to the two female Executives about fashion?’ Adam furrowed his brows. ‘Is it weird that I’m thinking it’s weird?’

Kitool, upon seeing the stupid look on Adam’s face, relaxed slightly in her chair. “What do you wish to speak about, Executive Adam?” Since Adam was talking about it openly in the guild, then it must have been something fairly inconsequential.

“Sister…” Adam flushed his cheeks. “Manager Vonda and I…” Adam paused, noting how Vonda had appeared, wearing simple attire, with her amulet over her chest. She wasn’t wearing her scarf, though he noted her cheeks were flushed, though she smiled politely at the group, having appeared rather late compared to her typical early mornings.

‘…’ Vonda had heard Adam speak her name, though the young half elf had awkwardly paused, and her own heart beat quite quickly as she thought about how coy he was being. She sat beside Adam and Kitool, glad Jaygak was in front of the half elf, so they could verbally jest easier. “What a wonderful morning Mother Soza has blessed us with.”

“Yeah,” Adam replied. “We were just talking about the business’ attire.”

“Ah,” Vonda replied, stifling a sigh of relief.

“I was thinking about the design of the outfits,” Adam said.

“Again?” Jaygak asked.

“I haven’t talked about them that much, have I?”

“It’s at least the third time.”

“That’s not bad.” Adam cleared his throat. “Anyway, I was thinking about the colour scheme for the different people. We said red of the guards, greyish blue for the workers, brighter blue for the upper ranks, Managers and Executives, probably Team Leaders, or whatever we decide to call it. Team Leader doesn’t sound that cool, so probably something like… Officer? Leader? I don’t know.”

“The names are important, but of the colour for the crafters?” Jaygak asked.

“The… crafters…” Adam blinked. ‘Oh, right.’ “Uh…”

“Yellow?” Jaygak mused aloud.

“Executive Jaygak, you’re a genius,” Adam whispered, raising his brows in surprise.

“Don’t look too surprised. How can it be anything but yellow when you speak of Khalid so often.”

“Don’t make me sound weird,” Adam replied. “I speak of my children more.”

“You speak of children too often.”

“It’s not weird, I’m just, I’m a foolish father who adores his children, and Khalid doesn’t count, he’s a charming merchant who I should pay attention to because the Yellow-,”

“You’re making it sound even queerer,” Jaygak interrupted the half elf.

Adam huffed, before quickly sketching his idea for the attire. “Anyway, look, this is what I have so far.”

“It’s quite… simple,” Jaygak said, surprised Adam was being so meek about the design. It was merely a shirt and trousers, and fairly simple shoes.

“KISS…” Adam said, wincing slightly. “Keep it simple, stupid.”

Jaygak shook slightly, her lips trembling as she avoided bursting into laughter at how red Adam had become. She could feel the heat emanating from the pair even from where she sat. ‘They must both be virgins if they’re this embarrassed?’

“A pattern upon their breast could assist with identifying them,” Kitool said. “Badges or embroidery.”

“Right, but I feel that’s too close to the Iyr’s design, and as much as we are protected by the Iyr, we should be careful not to officially be a business of the Iyr, just in case some of us go around causing trouble.” Adam cleared his throat as a joke, raising his brows.

“Stripes?”

“Along the shoulder,” Adam said, sketching across the shoulder. “I was also thinking pins across the collar, too, or maybe the cloak, or arm, or something.”

‘Adam thinks so much like an Iyrman,’ Jaygak thought.

“I was thinking, and don’t take any offence to this, but a circle which denotes the tier, and then diamonds flowing out of the circle, or maybe around the circle, to denote the little tiers between the ranks. So a bronze circle would be among the lowest, and then each bronze diamond means you’re slightly above the bottom bronze rank, and a silver circle puts you above those with bronze circles and diamonds, in their own tier, and then gold.”

Jaygak slowly nodded. The pins would be precious metals, meaning they held their own worth, though that did come with a slight issue. “What if they sell the pins?”

“They shouldn’t.”

“What if they do?”

“We’ll cast a spell to see if they’re telling the truth, and if they’re found to have sold their pin, then they should be punished.”

“What if someone else steals the pin to sell? Will you cast spells on everyone to find out who stole the pin?”

“Mnnn, well…” Adam replied, crossing his arms. ‘That would be pretty bad for morale…’

“Embroidery is fine, with thread or patches, either along the sleeve, the shoulder, the breast, or the collar.”

“Good shout,” Adam said, slowly nodding his head. “You know, maybe we should keep the blue cloth for the normal workers, and the management could be white?”

“Do we have nothing to hide?” Jaygak joked.

“Well, white cloth is harder to keep clean, and easy to sully,” Adam said. “If the workers are going to take us seriously, we should be the one’s with the hardest cloth to clean.”

“Why are you so serious in matters like this?” Jaygak teased.

Adam shrugged his shoulders. “I’m serious when I need to be.”

“Serious when you need to be, but always a fool.”

“Yes, and I take great pride in being a fool, Jaygak.”

“Instead of Purple Adam, they should call you Foolish Father,” Jaygak snapped.

“Yes,” Adam replied, smirking slightly. “They should.”