“Everything is prepared, boss,” Perk reported with a grin.

“Did you arrange for someone to keep a watch in the park?” Adion asked.

“Of course,” Perk nodded.

“With the amount of money you were spending, I don’t think they’d even let a Noble pass,” Tib said.

Did I spend too much? I don’t want to attract trouble. Well, I doubt anyone would take such risks in the middle of Cyalis after getting their fair pay.

“Good,” Adion nodded with a smile, “I’ll be off then. Take this.”

Adion handed Tib a pouch full of gold and silver coins.

“What’s this for, boss?” Tib asked.

“It’s for you,” Adion said, “A reward. Go have some fun tonight, you too.”

“What are we supposed to do with this much money?” Perk asked as he looked inside the pouch his brother was holding.

“Whatever you want,” Adion shrugged, “Enjoy yourselves a little. My grandpa has managed to get into contact with the Appos Auction House, so it won’t be long before we have more money than we can spend.”

“Are you going to buy a headquarters?” Perk asked excitedly.

“That would probably be a good idea,” Adion nodded, “But we’ll talk about all of that later. You two are still too weak. So focus on your training.”

“Yes, boss,” Perk and Tib nodded.

“After tonight, that is. It’s important to have some fun once in a while. I’ll have you give me a report on what you spent the money on later,” Adion said sternly.

“Alright,” Tib nodded hesitantly.

“Have fun. I have to go,” Adion said, leaving the two behind him at the inn they were staying at.

“You too, boss,” Perk yelled after him.

Adion made his way outside where he already had a carriage waiting for him. As he got inside, the carriage promptly made its way to the public Academy where he would meet with Sell.

I’m getting a little nervous for some reason. But it’s a good feeling.

Adion smiled as he looked out at the city passing him by. It had been a warm and sunny day. Even if the sun was beginning to make it’s way down, it was still very pleasant.

Adion couldn’t help but think about the past years. He had been through a lot, and it was hard at times. Really hard. But it was all worth it for him to finally be able to live like this.

I wonder how powerful Sell will be once sell gains the Authority over fire. I’ll have to work harder going forward so she doesn’t pass me.

The carriage came to a halt in front of the gates leading into the public Academy. Adion got out and started walking to the place where he and Sell had decided to meet up. They had opted not to meet at the plaza this time. Even if he could shrug off any speculations of them being together as simple friendship, Adion had realized from the Headmaster that a lot of people still pretty much knew about them. Not that Adion really cared, now that he had the Headmaster behind him, and a plan moving forward, he thought they would be fine as long as they didn’t admit to anything or did anything that couldn’t be explained with friendship.

But there was no reason to have people speculate more than they could help, so they would meet up at a slightly less crowded place.

Adion got to their meeting place before Sell for once. It was on a street a couple of blocks away from the plaza without much foot traffic.

He didn’t have to wait long. Less than ten minutes passed before he saw the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Sell was walking toward him with a smile and slight blush. Her crimson hair was let down and blowing slightly in the wind. She was wearing a spring dress that was very different from her usual clothes that were made to fight comfortably in, and the necklace Adion had given her was around her neck.

“Adion, you are early,” Sell said as she walked up to him.

Adion focused on the surroundings. Unfortunately, he could feel a lot of presences around. He couldn’t guarantee no one had their eyes on them, so he had to hold himself back from kissing her.

“You look beautiful, Sell,” Adion said, looking into her eyes.

“Y-You too,” Sell stammered.

“I look beautiful?” Adion asked with a grin.

“Handsome,” Sell muttered shyly.

Adion deeply regretted that he hadn’t taken the carriage all the way. He thought it would be nice to walk together, but he didn’t think about how hard it would be having to act like they were friends.

Sell noticed Adion’s look and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Maybe we should just admit to being a couple,” Adion said, “I really can’t stand it.”

“Haha,” Sell laughed, “You know we can’t do that. And this isn’t so bad, right?”

“I guess,” Adion sighed, “Let’s go?”

“Okay,” Sell nodded.

“Friends can hold hands, right?” Adion asked as they started walking.

Sell laughed again and gave Adion a soft scolding look. “No, they can’t, Adion.”

Damn. As expected. Well, at least we’ll be able to be alone in the park later.

“By the way, Adion, I might have done something stupid,” Sell admitted with a guilty look.

“What did you do?” Adion asked.

“Are you doing the thing?” Sell asked, looking around her.

Adion realized she was asking about his sound isolation, which he almost always had up when talking with Sell in public. He nodded and urged her to continue.

“I told Felicia and Lastia that we were together,” Sell said, looking at Adion to see his reaction.

“Wait, what? Why?” Adion asked, completely stumped. He never thought Sell would be the one to do something so stupid.

“It just slipped out. I don’t know what happened,” Sell said, looking at Adion pleadingly.

“But…Won’t they tell someone?” Adion asked.

“I made them promise not to,” Sell said.

“That doesn’t sound like it will be worth much,” Adion muttered, “Isn’t this like…bad?”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Didn’t you just suggest we should be open about everything?” Sell asked.

“Well, yeah,” Adion admitted, “But I knew you wouldn’t agree. You’re supposed to be the reasonable one. Now we’re both unreasonable. I don’t like our odds.”

“Haha,” Sell couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “I know I made a mistake; I'm sorry. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. And I’ll talk to them to make sure they know to keep everything quiet.”

“Maybe it will be fine,” Adion slowly nodded, “It’s not like most people don’t already suspect it. And with our plan, it doesn’t matter how much people talk. But we should be careful not to outright admit anything.”

“I know, I know,” Sell said, “It just felt so good to tell someone.”

I guess she has never told anyone before, has she? I have my family. I have Tib and Perk. I even told Prago about it.

“It’s fine if you want to tell people then,” Adion said with a smile, “If it manages to get out. We’ll deal with it.”

“I’m not planning on telling anyone else,” Sell hurriedly clarified.

“I’m just saying that if you end up wanting to tell someone, I support it. So don’t worry about it,” Adion said.

“Okay, okay,” Sell smiled, “But I won’t.”

Adion continued walking and talking with Sell until they finally reached the small bar where they would watch the bard perform. Perk and Tib had suggested him to Adion when he asked them to look into it.

When they got inside, Adion and Sell picked a table in the back of the bar with a good view of the small stage and ordered some drinks.

“Are you actually choosing to drink beer?” Adion asked as Sell took a sip.

“It reminds me of our time in the Outskirts,” Sell said with a smile, “Even if it doesn’t taste good, I like it.”

“That somehow makes sense,” Adion said, nodding. “I remember how Sahra always used to take the seat next to you. It always made me so mad.”

“Really?” Sell laughed, “I didn’t even notice.”

“She knew I liked you,” Adion muttered, “She would give me these annoying looks every time she did it. Like she was challenging me to do something about it.”

Sell laughed at the new information. “That sounds like something she would do. But she always arranged for us to be together later on.”

“She did?” Adion asked.

“Yeah,” Sell nodded with a smile, “You didn’t think it strange how we always ended up alone practicing together? The others were also training, but Sahra would just take me to you and then make up some kind of excuse to leave.”

“I didn’t know about that,” Adion said.

“Well, that was only in the beginning. After a while, I just went with you by myself and tried to avoid the others coming along. After that she changed and started teasing me about it instead,” Sell explained with a pout.

“I guess I’ll have to thank her when I see her again,” Adion said.

“I can’t help but miss her. All of them. It was such a fun time,” Sell said.

“It was,” Adion agreed, “But I still like this better.”

“Me too,” Sell agreed. “But it would be nice to see them again.”

“We will,” Adion said, “If they don’t visit before we leave, I’ll send a letter to Benji's family letting them know to come find us on Quemer.”

“It would be fun to explore the Outskirts on Quemer together,” Sell said excitedly.

“It would,” Adion agreed.

Adion and Sell continued their conversation, talking about the past together and discovering things about each other that they never knew.

Eventually the bard came up on stage and sang a few songs. All of them were new to Adion, and even Sell hadn’t heard all of them. Mostly it was songs about the Sages on Quemer, making Adion guess that the bard might be from there.

We should do this more often. Adion thought, glancing at the beautiful girl next to him. It’s a shame we can’t, or things would probably get far too obvious.

“Sell,” Adion said in a low voice as the bard finished his last song to loud cheers.

“What?” Sell looked into Adion’s eyes and asked.

“What do you think would happen if our relationship actually came out?” Adion asked.

Sell looked to be contemplating the answer for a while before answering. “My family would probably send people here to get me to leave. I wouldn’t be willing, of course. But tensions would run high with both the Amyss and Hesfym family getting involved. I have no idea what the result would be now that you have the Headmaster to back you, but it would be messy. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Adion smiled, “It’s only for a while, after all. I recently learned that the stages above the Pure Soul stage are called the Immortal stages. Since we’re both going there, we will live for a very long time.”

“Wait, what? Who told you that? The Headmaster?” Sell asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.

“He did,” Adion nodded.

“Does he know how to reach that stage? Has anyone done it before?” Sell asked.

“He knew a little, and apparently people have,” Adion answered, “Why don’t we go someplace else, and I’ll tell you all about it?”

“Someplace else?” Sell asked.

“I wanted to give my gift to you someplace private, so I arranged a place in a park close to here,” Adion said.

“Right,” Sell said. She grabbed something from a small handbag she had with her and handed it to Adion, “I got you a present too.”

She got me a present? It’s a pocket watch…

Adion looked at the pocket watch in his hand and couldn’t help but feel that it was a lot more precious than even the pill he was planning on giving Sell.

“Do you like it?” Sell asked carefully.

“I love it,” Adion said, looking into Sell’s eyes with a smile.

Sell looked away from him with a blush, smiling.

“Good,” Sell said.

“Now I just feel a little silly about my present,” Adion muttered.

Even if it’s a priceless pill, I can’t help but feel it’s nowhere near as heartfelt as something like this.

“No, no, no,” Sell said, “You already gave me this necklace. It’s the most precious thing I’ve ever gotten. I don’t need anything else.”

“I’ll still give it to you,” Adion said. “But not here. Come on.”

Adion and Sell made their way out of the bar, and Adion led the way to the park that was located nearby. He had already taken a look at the place before letting Perk and Tib set everything up.

It wasn’t a very big park, but it was more than large enough for them to be unseen by anyone on the streets surrounding it.

It had already gotten dark, and the park was usually closed at this time of the night. But Adion had managed to convince the people responsible to let him and Sell spend the night there with a few Vastro coins.

This is what money should be spent on. Adion thought as he was let inside the gate to the park by a guard standing outside.

“Did you rent the entire park?” Sell asked as they got inside.

“It was actually quite easy,” Adion said, “And now we don’t have to worry about anyone spying. My space sense reaches almost the entire park.”

“That’s good,” Sell said with a smile and grabbed Adion’s hand.

Adion smiled back at her and led her to the center of the park. There was a big tree there with a blanket for them to sit on. There were also plenty of drinks and snacks.

“You set up all of this?” Sell asked in surprise.

“Well,” Adion said awkwardly, “Technically, I had someone else set it up.”

“Haha,” Sell laughed, “It’s fine, I still think it’s a perfect gift.”

“Wait, what?” Adion questioned, “This isn’t the gift.”

“There’s more?” Sell asked.

“Of course,” Adion smiled, “Let’s take a seat. I need to tell you something.”

“What do you need to tell me?” Sell asked, taking a seat on the blanket and looking at Adion attentively.

“I-” Adion’s words got caught in his throat. He was beginning to fear that Sell would get mad at him for hiding something like this from her for so long.

I’m sure she’ll understand. Either way, I need to tell her about it.