Lucinda's emotions turmoiled in her chest, but the first thing that appeared on her face was nothing but a scowl.

"Joey," she said coldly.

"Hey," the man responded, attempting to craft one of his trademark smiles. But the warmth it usually carried seemed to have been snuffed out by the shadows that hung heavily in his eyes. She scrutinized him, finding the façade of his cheerfulness cracked.

What had happened back at the bakery when Irene had appeared was a wake-up call for her. Lucinda had dignity, and she was no plaything for anyone, not even this man. However, for all she wanted to lash out immediately, she saw some pain on the man's face that she couldn't help but feel bad for.

Stupid, she told herself, seeing Joey biting his bottom lip, unsure of himself.

"What do you want?" Lucinda tried to make it sound less harsh than she meant it, but she failed spectacularly.

"I—I don't know?" His voice trembled, and the sight of him, so uncharacteristically hesitant, fueled the fire of anger that smoldered within her. His vulnerability, however fleeting, seemed to taunt her.

"Isn't Plinius's funeral today?" The words tumbled from her lips, laced with a trace of disdain that she no longer bothered to hide. Her eyes, which had once looked at him with a blend of curiosity and delight, now bore into him with something resembling disgust.

"Yep, I was just there," he said, his voice a mere whisper against the howling silence that stretched between them.

"And then you came here?" The disbelief in her voice was palpable.

"And then I came here—well, I was meant to be at the bakery right now. But, you know, I thought of our last conversation. We didn't really finish it, did we?"

"It's not important,” Lucinda retorted, swallowing a lump that had lodged itself stubbornly into her throat. The truth was that it had been monumentally important. In fact, she had made a choice that would radically change her entire life.

"Well…" He scratched his head.

She looked at him curiously – the bold and upfront guy that she had first met on his first day in the city had been… hurt? Yes, hurt. She could see pain everywhere. And uncertainty. She could see that everything he had been when they first met had somehow shattered, and only pieces remained.

He has clearly chosen who was going to put those pieces together, Lucinda told herself, stiffening her upper lip.

"So?" She asked. "Joey, I'm busy. Is this important?"

That's when something flashed behind his blue eyes; a small light, a beam of reason that made his face relax slightly from the uncertain frown he had been wearing.

"Yeah, it is," he said with a steadier voice. "Please, let me in."

Lucinda looked behind her shoulders and then back at Joey, thinking of whether this was going to be the right choice. Suddenly, she thought of a very good question.

"Won't your girlfriend be mad at you?"

Flaminia had straight-up told her that Irene wanted her dead, essentially. That had not worked wonders for Lucinda's opinion of Joey.

"She'll probably break up with me the moment I tell her I walked through the door of your house," Joey said, this time, with a sneaky smile.

"And that's good?" Lucinda balked at his words.

"It is, isn't it?" Joey sighed.

"So, if I let you in, you're breaking up with your girlfriend? And you put that on me?"

Joey shook his head, "No. I put that on me. I'm just asking if you're letting me do that."

Lucinda looked at him and then at the door. The threshold to her house had never looked this big in her entire life.

"Just… come in."

…

Joey had materialized some Little Princesses that he had baked himself. Lucinda was going through several of them ravenously. Some said that the matters of the heart made women lose their appetite, but she had always found such a proposition as molded as one could have it. If anything, being nervous made her eat more.

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"What's going on with you?" Lucinda asked, finally putting down the chocolate hazelnut-filled pastries to look at the quiet man. "Why are you breaking up with Irene?"

She was testing him, trying to see if he had the guts to finally speak his mind. All these games had lasted for too long—especially now that she was at a critical juncture in her life.

"Flaminia says I am with Irene just because she made me feel safe."

"That's it?" Lucinda replied.

"I guess," Joey nodded, looking back at her.

"Joey… this is not a good look on you. I know you're not a rotten idiot, but this… it's bad."

"Yeah," Joey muttered. "Pretty bad, isn't it? Bit cowardly if you ask me. I should have settled this… before. Like before her brother died. I'll talk to her later and—who knows."

"Why are you telling this to me, Joey? Why are you putting me in this position?" Lucinda frowned, unhappy with how the conversation was going. She felt like the man was putting her in a very bad spot.

"Can I just ask you something?" Joey replied, his features all crinkled.

"What?"

"How do you know?"

"Know what?"

"One of the reasons I came here, Lucinda, is… How do you know that you want to be a [Mage], that you want to go to the Nine Towers Academy, that you want to be what you want to be, that you want the life that you want? How do I summon this special power to know what the fuck to do next?"

"Joey—"

"No, for real. How do I do that? Listen, I know I'm being… like, a piece of shit. This? This isn't just a bad look for me, it's a bad look for whatever we are – friends, enemies, or people who just happen to know each other. Really, whatever. But… how do you know? You know so well what you want to do, right? Where can I look for an answer? Where do I get told that this is what I am? I just want someone to… like, point me in a direction?"

That's when Lucinda couldn't help but blurt out what she had meant to say the first time around.

"I'm not going to the Nine Towers!"

A deafening silence fell on the two as Joey opened and closed his mouth several times.

"What?"

"I'm not going," Lucinda sighed. "What I was trying to tell you… is that I'm not going. In fact, I wanted to ask you if I could learn more from you. That… [Mana Sense]… Joey, you don't understand at all what you gave me. I could already make a living as a [Mage] with what I have; I haven't because… I don't know if it's right by you."

"Wait, you were going to tell me this? Like, when you interrupted yourself back at the bakery, you were going to tell me that you’d changed your mind and… that's it?"

"Yeah," Lucinda frowned. "Why? What do you think I was going to tell you?"

Lucinda saw Joey's features go through about fifty shades of red and him assuming the funniest, most embarrassed faces he had ever had. Struck by this enlightenment, her own features went through horror, embarrassment, and accusatory glances.

"WHAT?! YOU THOUGHT I WAS ABOUT TO SAY—"

"I don’t know!" Joey put his hands up. "How could I know?! You women are—"

"You women?!"

"I mean, I didn't mean to—"

"What, you didn't mean to what? Think that I was about to profess my love for a damn, self-absorbed Human idiot?!"

"Christ, it's bad when you put it like that, ok?! I was confused!"

"You're an idiot!"

"True," Joey nodded gingerly and sighed. "Well, anyway… that's pretty cool. Sure, I can help you out with whatever. I can't teach you specific magic, though. I mean, I think I can't. I need to finish going through the whole Cantrip training thingy. It's a pain. But yeah, I'll be happy to help. Would that earn me back some of the points I just lost?"

Lucinda looked at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're an absolute idiot."

"True," Joey smiled again. "But, well, this is cool. No Nine Towers Academy for you, huh?"

He seemed relieved.

"Yes, they can keep their rotten contracts. I would have to give up all my knowledge to an [Archmage] to merely enter their tutelage."

"Tell me about it, dude, [Archmages] suck."

"Did you just call me a 'dude'?" Lucinda frowned.

"No?"

"What does 'dude' mean?"

"Beautiful woman of wonderful virtues," Joey nodded.

"No, it doesn't."

"Yes, it does," he said and got almost cut off as Lucinda raised a ring she was wearing on her finger, and it flashed red.

"It's not a bad thing, ok? Let's leave it at that. I'm just impressed by this. I think it's… I didn't think you'd make a choice like this. It sounds pretty smart, you know?"

"Are you saying I'm stupid?" The redhead shot back, wrinkling her nose.

"I'm saying…" Joey looked around, trying to think of something. "I'm saying that this house is really pretty, no? So rustic. When was it built? Twenty years ago? I have to say, the features of the arches between the doors and the—"

"Joey."

"Yes?" The man attempted a silly smile.

Lucinda sighed, deciding to drop the issue.

"There's no one who can tell you what to do," Lucinda said, feeling something warm suddenly spread through her chest. "I thought I'd want to go there for my whole life. Now, if you allowed me to use that rune for the steaks, I could probably make mountains of gold on the spot, retire my parents for life, and simply study magic on my own. I—"

"You can," Joey smiled at her. "Use it, please. If anything, I might give you a job myself. I've had some quirky ideas lately, but I've yet to put them to use."

"Joey," Lucinda quipped, "what about you?"

"What about me?"

"I don't have an answer for your problems," she muttered.

"You actually do," the man smiled widely.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Oh, yeah," Joey said, jumping up and looking at the door. "I need to go now. But… how about dinner?"

"What about dinner?" Lucinda frowned.

"About dinner, me and you. Unless you are afraid of racist Elves calling you a traitor of your race or something."

"Let them rot, those green-eared fools," Lucinda spat back.

"Is that a yes?"

"That is a 'how about you tell your girlfriend first, and then we see?'"

"That is very reasonable. I'll take care of that and get back to you," Joey nodded, turning away but then quickly turning back.

"Hey, Lucy," he said.

"What?"

"I…"

Lucinda rolled her eyes as he dragged the words, thinking he was just pulling a Joey on her. She really wasn't in the mood for jokes, though.

"I like you," he added his custom wink and a tongue click and quickly left, leaving behind a surprised Lucinda.