"You want to go and... Pick flowers?" Rose asked, unable to hide her suspicion.

"Not just flowers. Like... Magic herbs and stuff!" Lily answered, trying to sound more reasonable.

"Herbs aren't magical; they're medicinal. I know they sort of sound similar, but..." Rose began answering until she saw Lily putting on an extremely pouty face.

"How do you explain healing potions then?" Lily asked, drawing Arakil's earlier reasoning like a prepared weapon.

"What do you mean? They're magic potions that heal you?" Rose asked, taking the bait.

"If they're magic, does that mean people mix blood into them?" Lily dropped the bombshell with childlike smugness.

Rose opened her mouth to try to answer or dispute it, then paused as she wasn't entirely sure of that herself. Surely they don't mix blood into potions to make them magical? Right? That would be super gross. Rose began to frantically wonder.

"See! That means the plants must have some magic in them." Lily declared.

"Okay... Granted, that makes some sense, and gods, I hope you're right about that..." Rose said as she faked retching. "But what does that have to do with you? I don't know if they will let you swap from scribe to potion maker..."

Lily looked around frantically and then responded in a hushed whisper. "Can you keep a secret?"

"For you? Always." Rose responded without hesitation.

"I need plants to learn magic," Lily said, barely audible. "I'm also going to be a mage, just like you."

Rose felt her heart breaking at Lily's earnest assertion. She didn't want to spoil her little sister's childlike enthusiasm with a harsh dose of reality. She found it odd that she was acting out so unexpectedly, as other than some emotional outbursts every so often, Lily had always been reserved and grounded despite her situation.

"Really? What's the plan?" Rose asked, trying her best to sound supportive.

Lily leaned in again. "This is the big secret. Don't tell anyone."

Rose nodded and made a hand gesture of zipping her lips shut.

"My mom's book really is magical," Lily whispered. "His name is Arakil, and he says he can teach me magic."

The absolute joy plastered on her face made Rose feel awkward at that revelation. Surely Lily was too old to develop an imaginary friend? Was she having a late childhood or something? Rose's concerns were interrupted when Lily pulled on her hand.

"You can't tell anyone!" Lily demanded. "Otherwise, they will take my book away again."

Rose immediately leaned down and ruffled the hair and ears on Lily's head.

"I already promised, didn't I?" Rose tried to reassure her. "But even though the outside is relatively safe close to the walls, it's still risky."

Lily nodded in agreement. With wide begging eyes, she delivered a line so perfectly that Rose couldn't help but feel struck. "That's why I didn't go alone, I wanted my Big Sis to protect me!"

Rose clutched her chest, pretending to stagger dramatically.

"You got my heartstrings wrapped around your little finger, you little devil," Rose replied teasingly. "Who taught you how to weaponize your cuteness? Was it your friend Arakil?"

Lily shook her head frantically, her bunny ears flopping from side to side. "No, he didn't. But he did give me something for protection."

Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out two pieces of folded paper. Rose stared at the pages, feeling very puzzled as Lily carefully unfolded them with the utmost delicacy, revealing paper of what looked like the highest quality without even a hint of a blemish.

Where did Lily get this paper from? This isn't common parchment; it's absolutely pure white! Did she steal it from somewhere? Rose couldn't help but worry in disbelief. After all, everyone had tried to pull pages from that book unsuccessfully.

Hell, I even tried to burn it when Lily wasn't looking... Rose hated to admit.

It was a moment of weakness when she had given in to a small fit of draconic rage at being defied by a mere book. Her tiny temper flares had been one of the reasons she had stopped hanging out with most other children, except for Lily.

Lily's docility and inherent cuteness brought out a different sentiment in Rose than her instinctual competitiveness toward her peers, which was why she doted on the bunny so much. After all, she was her little sister.

"It took a lot of effort for Arakil to make these. So he's passed out." Lily interrupted Rose's thoughts. "That's why I need plants. Since I don't have magic blood. Then he can teach me magic without falling asleep."

Rose felt very conflicted by this explanation. It sounded far too in-depth for a simple childish delusion. Rose briefly considered that perhaps Lily was telling the truth but dismissed that idea rather rapidly, as the paper she proudly showed off was entirely blank. How was a blank piece of paper supposed to protect her?

If I don't agree, she's going to just sneak out by herself. Rose reasoned. And Lily will never forgive me if I tell the staff, even for her safety.

"Okay," Rose eventually agreed with an affirming nod. "On our next free day, we can go pick some flowers."

"Thank you, Rose!" Lily cheerfully responded, like a beacon of bliss, as she practically threw herself into Rose's side for a hug.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Of course!" Rose replied while returning the hug. "What kind of big sis would I be if I couldn't protect you?"

***

Today was finally the free day Lily had been eagerly awaiting. Arakil was still asleep, so she couldn't do much in that regard other than continue practicing the magic drawings he had demonstrated. She was extremely confident in the protection spell and had moved on to practicing with ink rather than pencil, and the attack spell was close behind.

She wanted to practice more with ink, but unfortunately, she had to dedicate most of it to her writing lessons. However, she found that practicing the precise penmanship required for the magical diagram had also improved her penmanship as a by-product.

Lily put on clothes she didn't mind getting dirty and carefully stored her two spell pages in a breast pocket. She also brought a small basket she had acquired from one of the store rooms. Before she left, she checked on Arakil, but there was still no response, so she carefully hid the book under her mattress.

Lily excitedly knocked on Rose's door and smiled happily when it opened. She saw her big sis appear prepared and ready to go.

"Well, aren't you excited?" Rose teased.

"I am. I have so much work to do to catch up to you." Lily answered.

Rose chuckled to hide that the compliment made her feel a little weird, considering she still shirked most of her lessons. Her teachers would have probably given up on her if it wasn't for her natural aptitude from her heritage.

"Before we go, I have a surprise for you," Rose said, disappearing into her cupboard.

Lily bounced on her heels as she eagerly awaited. Then Rose approached with her hands behind her back. Before Lily could peek and see what it was, Rose placed something on her head and started to ruffle it around as she adjusted it.

"Hey! Watch the ears!" Lily complained and tried to struggle a little.

Her ears were certainly more malleable than those of other Demihumans, but it still felt uncomfortable to have them manhandled. Rose grumbled and then made some adjustments. Then, there was a popping feeling, which was met with relief for her ears.

"There we go!" Rose said proudly and pulled Lily over to a mirror.

Lily looked curiously in the mirror and saw a massive sunhat resting on her head with holes specially made for her bunny ears to pop out of. At first, she gasped with surprise, then smiled happily.

"Thank you, Rose!" Lily said cheerfully.

"I think I need to make the holes bigger next time," Rose giggled. "But I didn't want to let you go outside without some extra shade."

"Gosh... I totally forgot," Lily blushed sheepishly. "I would have come back home looking like a boiled crab."

"And we definitely can't have that." Rose teased. "Good thing your big sis has you covered."

Lily nodded energetically.

Rose grabbed her last few things, and they headed out. When they exited the orphanage gate and entered the city streets, Rose reached out and held Lily's hand tight. Ceedale was famously well-run and safe as far as cities go, but Rose wasn't about to take any chances.

"When was the last time you even left the orphanage?" Rose asked curiously.

"Umm..." Lily mumbled as she tried to think. "I think when they took us to see the adventurers sparring with the city guards?"

Rose frowned. "That was years ago!"

"It's not like there's anything here in the city for me..." Lily moaned.

"I guess..." Rose sighed. "I just don't want you rotting away in your room. The world needs to see how cute you are."

"You make it sound like you always go into the city," Lily said skeptically.

"Well... I may have snuck out to avoid class on a few occasions." Rose admitted. "I was pretty dead set on becoming an adventurer for a while. So I used to watch them a lot."

"What made you change your mind?" Lily asked. "I hope you didn't because of me."

Rose laughed. "Sorta? But not really. I definitely can't take you out on adventures. But the orphanage really wanted me to go to magic school, and they said if I graduate, I can skip adventurer ranks."

"Really? Do all magic schools offer that?" Lily asked.

"Well..." Rose mumbled, seeming hesitant to answer.

"Well?" Lily pressed.

Rose sighed before finally answering, "They want to send me to Regarth."

Lily's eyes went wide with astonishment. Regarth was said to be in the top ten schools in the entire world. Everybody knew the name; it was extremely famous and one of the few schools with dedicated access to a dungeon. It was said that unless you were the cream of the crop, you could not get into Regarth.

"H-how?" Lily stammered.

"Promise not to get mad?" Rose asked.

Lily nodded her head frantically; she had to know the answer.

"The orphanage made me do a magic test." Rose began to answer.

"All the kids do that," Lily pointed out. It was one of the ways the orphanage helped determine future opportunities for the children.

Rose nodded. "But, there's a second test. The first test helps detect kids with hidden potential. I passed that... And then the second test revealed I have very deep ties to a bloodline magic."

Lily gasped. "That's amazing... But... Why didn't you tell me?"

Rose frowned. "I was worried you'd hate me for it."

Lily felt guilty. She probably would have been insanely jealous if it hadn't been for Arakil's promise and that starry display.

"I'd never hate you, Rose," Lily replied, giving a quick squeeze via their connected hands.

"Thanks, Lily," Rose said, squeezing back.

"So... You passed, and then what happened?" Lily asked, still curious. "Doesn't it cost a fortune to go there?"

"I thought so too, but apparently, you can get into Regarth in a few ways." Rose began answering."You can take a test, and if you pass, you will be allowed to enroll with a reduced fee based on your results. Most get in that way, although only the richest of the rich can afford it unless they do extremely well in the test.

"Secondly, you can get a referral from a respected alumni or staff member. However, this almost never happens; if your referral fails, you're held responsible. Staff members can get potentially fired, and alumni could have their diplomas stripped.

"The third method is if you have a potent or unique bloodline magic, which gets you in with a heavy discount or even for a full free ride. That is how I got in, although I was apparently just short of the free ride."

Lily was nodding along, trying her best to commit Rose's words to memory. When she got her magic, she needed to know her potential prospects if she wanted to follow after Rose.

"I bet you could have gotten the free one if you weren't slacking off," Lily playfully teased.

Rose made an exaggerated wince. "Yeah... But in fairness, I had no idea what the test was. I thought maybe they were punishing me for doing badly on the first test... If I had known, I probably would have taken it seriously."

"At least you still passed the second test despite that. Imagine failing and then finding out you missed Regarth."

Rose's body gave a small shudder. "Gods... I would have never lived that down. I would have been a laughing stock."

Lily couldn't help but giggle. Even if that had happened, Rose would have beaten up any kids who dared laugh at her.

"So anyway..." Rose spoke. "To answer your original question. Regarth's name means so much that graduating from it lets you get a headstart as an adventurer."

"That's amazing. I knew it was big but didn't know it was that big." Lily expressed her shock.

"Yup! It's super exciting," Rose admitted. "They even have optional courses for adventurers you can sign up for. You can even go into the dungeon."

"That means you're probably going to have to stop slacking off." Lily teased.

Rose sighed with a reluctant nod. "Probably... If I dropped out with the rich kids in the first year, I think that would ruin any future job opportunities for me."

Lily gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I believe in you, big sis!"

"Well, now I just have to pass!" Rose stuck her tongue out. "Watch, I'll become an honor student just for you."

They both laughed at that declaration. Lily was happy to see Rose's excited side, and Rose was delighted to finally reveal this secret.

By now, they had reached the city gate. The city guards only briefly questioned them before allowing them to exit. They were also friendly enough to suggest staying within visual range of the guardpost for extra security.

"I bet those guards just want to show off to my adorable little sister." Rose snorted. "If anything comes, I'll be the one protecting you."