"Get in," Ridley commanded.

A black Frey carriage arrived behind him, and he unceremoniously hurled Fin inside. I jumped in right after them, not wanting to be tossed in a similar fashion.

With the carriage door securely closed, Ridley's unsettling gaze fixated on me once more. "I don't sense much mana from you—I've seen lettuce with more mana than you. How did you make it all the way here if not magic?"

"It's a family secret," I replied. I leaned back in my seat, with the carriage rocking softly as it moved through the uneven streets of East Genise. Above us, the distant sounds of the daytime fireworks' explosions continued reverberating.

There was no way to convey the truth. Anything I'd say would be a lie, and if I tried to tell the truth, which I had no intention of, it would probably seem like yet another lie.

Ridley's grey eye stared at me, seemingly evaluating me, but then broke away.

"As for you, Fin, what have I told you about leaving Frey Manor this month?" Ridley scolded. "Until you grasp control over mana, you are not to leave the Frey Manor again without my supervision."

Fin hung his head, his large, rabbit-like eyes pleading with Ridley. "How long will that be?"

"A year—maybe longer if you don't train properly," Ridley replied. He pulled out a flask and took a swing.

"A year?!" Fin exclaimed.

"You've been caught once. Easily, I might add. Unless you wish to get caught yet again, those are the terms," Ridley retorted.

Click.

Ridley pulled out a silver looking glass.

"Looks like that ginger brat got out safely as well," Ridley said. He sounded almost disappointed. "He says he took care of your disappearing act as well."

I sighed in relief.

I had been worried about how Jasper would fare after the guard opened the door and discovered that not only I but also the cage containing Leona and Fin had vanished.

With that, everyone I cared about was safe and well.

For now.

I sighed.

With the amount of trouble on the horizon and attacks against my family, there was no way of knowing when another crisis would rise again.

The carriage came to a sudden halt.

"Why are we stopping?" I peered outside and spotted the twins in a slightly more secluded area from the rumbustious festival grounds. Elda appeared to be animatedly explaining something to Jarvis, who wore his usual serious expression.

"I thought you might want to be with your family," Ridley said. He waved his hands, and my soiled clothing magically transformed back to a pristine state.

"Ah, thank you." I hadn't even realized how disheveled Fin and I looked after having crawled through the underground tunnels.

"Peep!"

Festival food! I am starving; Fin gave me some of his food, but it was a meager amount. And I couldn't just take out the food in my reserves because someone was always watching or Fin was awake.

Right. Leona.

Her little form fluttered by the window.

I considered having Ridley take her back to Frey Manor along with Fin, but I dismissed the idea. The two times she had been taken, we were separated. As weak as I was, especially now when the only item of protection that I had on me was the time-altering artifact pocketwatch, I still didn't trust anyone else to safeguard her.

I carefully took her and put her inside my jacket pocket.

"I'll get you food soon," I whispered.

The area that Elda and Jarvis were in was more secluded, with less prying eyes. There were also a dozen Frey guards protecting the children. But I was still worried for Leona to be recognized for what she was. Her disguise as a little yellow chick only did so much, after all.

"Take care!" I jumped out of the carriage, which promptly sped away the moment my feet landed on the ground.

"Luca!" The twins shouted and ran over, noticing me immediately.

"Did you get Fin back?" Jarvis whispered.

I nodded. "Ridley is taking him back to the manor right now."

BOOM!

I looked up at the new flower that bloomed overhead.

"And Elda! This is incredible!" I exclaimed. I nearly lifted her into the air in celebration before realizing how weak my body was and hugged her instead.

She beamed back with pride. "Leo helped; it's a shame he couldn't come outside. Especially with what happened to Fin, his mother didn't want to risk it."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I nodded.

Fin wasn't the only one that caught the Spiders' interest in my original life. Sarka Jarbez was a key person to their operation; it was unlikely that they would let an opportunity pass where they could take control over her again in this lifetime.

BOOM! BOOM!

More colorful explosions lit up the sky. The scents of lilies and clover filled my nostrils.

I sniffed the air.

So it wasn't my imagination.

"Elda, are the fireworks giving out a scent of flowers?" I asked. In my original life, her daytime fireworks were impressive, but they had no scent.

Or perhaps my memory was faulty. She died in an explosion that day, and my recollections of the day were hazy.

"Yes, they are," Elda said. "Leo helped me reverse-engineer one of the designs I found. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been to incorporate it."

I smiled and nodded.

It was nice to see Elda alive and well and having made a friend who seemed to share her passion.

"I helped pick out the scents," Jarvis chimed in.

"You did a great job with the selections," I said, tousling his red hair.

"Peep! Peep!"

Food! Please, I'm starving.

Leona chirped out from within my pocket.

"Ah, and you got your bird back," Elda observed.

"And she's hungry," I explained. I felt my own stomach grumble. "As am I."

***

With a tall stack of skewers sitting beside me, anyone would have thought me a glutton. However, the one picking the wooden sticks dry of meat and vegetables was Leona, who was the size of a child's fist.

"Where does all that food go?" Elda asked in wonder.

There was a stack of sticks sitting nearby, enough to start a small campfire, all cleaned off by the little phoenix.

"It's obviously not an ordinary bird," Jarvis remarked. "She probably has an enchanted stomach."

"Or perhaps she's not a bird at all," Elda suggested. "Half of that meat is chicken after all."

I coughed into my drink.

Ah, damn it.

I wiped my mouth and swallowed my melon water.

“Actually, chickens do eat other chickens,” Jarvis chimed in. “I’ve seen our chickens eat leftover chicken meat that Fiona tossed out without any qualms.”

”That’s gross.” Elda made a face.

I was grateful for Jarvis pointing out that chickens engaged in cannibalism, but the twins could tell Leona wasn't a regular baby chick after sharing a simple meal with her.

What hope is there for her disguise amongst evil adults? Or dragons.

I sighed as I watched Leona practically dislocate her beak as she cleaned off a chicken leg clean.

I'm going to have to discuss and find a more appropriate form for her to take on. Or perhaps there's a disguising artifact she can wear.

"Where is Micah?" I asked the twins.

I realized I had yet to see him.

"He and Princess Evelyn are still doing their rounds. There's an award ceremony that he's helping her with," Jarvis said.

"We're unlikely to see him until tomorrow," Elda said. "He's going to be alongside Evelyn until the evening festivities."

I took a final sip of my melon water. It was the traditional drink associated with Adovoria's Summer Festival. Jarvis was to thank for its reappearance; the green melon had all but disappeared, only found in old texts. But Jarvis singlehandedly brought it back from extinction and into a thriving crop once more. Now, it was sold across all the booths of the festival grounds.

I gazed at the deep blue sky. The colorful fireworks continued to bloom beautifully overheard, the timing of which was coordinated by personnel that Elda had hired. She had initially wanted to be on-site where the launch took place, but I took a hard stance against the idea. Even if all the nefarious boxes of explosives were taken care of, I was afraid of her being collateral damage yet again.

I inhaled the air, with scents of roses filling the air with the latest fireworks explosion, and closed my eyes.

It was a rare peaceful moment where everything was going right.

"Luca?" Henry's voice sounded.

I opened my eyes to see the curly-haired young man looking down at me. He was one of a dozen guards ensuring our safety from the sidelines.

"Natalia Ashford said she had a message for you," he said.

I perked up at this.

"What is it?" I asked.

He handed me a small roll of parchment.

I quickly undid the seal and read her message.

Grandov has returned from the Celestial Mountain Range. He is in The Royal Bar as of this moment.

I stood up from the wooden bench I was sitting on.

"I have to go." I motioned for Leona to get back inside my jacket's pocket.

"You, you, and you," I pointed at Henry and two additional guards at random. "Follow me."

I wasn't stupid enough to wander into the depths of East Genise without the ability to protect myself. The time-altering watch was good, but something sharp and pointy was preferable. Since Jasper had my needles, the Frey guards and their arsenal of swords and daggers were the next best thing.

I began walking, knowing they would come.

The unique part about East Genise was that its layout was ever-changing. There were no street signs. There simply was no point. One moment, there would be a building; a month later, it would have been torn down to make way for two new buildings with a slim alleyway between them. Then, a month later, it would be replaced yet again.

Few buildings remained standing long. The Royal Bar was one of those rare places that stuck around despite the ever-changing landscape.

"System, guide the way to the Royal Bar," I whispered, on the hunch it might know.

[ Unfortunately, as you have deactivated the map function to its full, I cannot provide directions. ]

Damn it. I'm going to have to do this the usual way.

I gazed up at the sky, taking note of the sun's location, and then I looked about the buildings, seeing if I could find any familiar.

The West was organized. The streets were alphabetically named diagonally and numbered horizontally. Conversely, the East looked like the city planner had a coughing fit and sketched the street lines while they choked to death.

The streets went in all directions. Some streets ended abruptly because a building was built in the middle of the road. New streets also appeared whenever another building ruptured onto itself, which was surprisingly common. It was an incoherent and ever-changing maze.

Only a handful of streets even had names. There was no point in having permanent names for the ever-changing streets. Plus, the few street signs that existed were constantly stolen and switched out with one another, so it was pointless to remember the names beyond "the green-painted shop on what was on Jinx and Flop two days ago."

Of course, for true residents of the East, that wasn't a problem.

It was just a basic daily routine to learn the updated names of the streets and what new pathways appeared or disappeared.

Only newcomers and West's citizens had trouble. I gazed back at the bright and sun-filled side of the West that sat on an incline and could be seen even from here.

"Another dead end. Young master, are you sure you know where you're going?"

Henry looked visibly concerned. He was gazing around at the ruffians that were looking lazily our way. His hand was tightly on the hilt of his sword.

"It's fine. I know where it is. I'm just figuring out what streets to take," I said.

We were well away from the festival grounds by now. The streets had moved during my time a few years into the future, but not everything had changed.

"Perhaps if you tell us where you're trying to go—" one of the other guards began.

"There it is."

I smiled, seeing the familiar bar around the corner. I looked forward to seeing Grandov again.

"Young master, are you alright?!" Henry caught me as I stumbled while opening the bar's door. "I'll go in with you—you two, stand guard here."

I rubbed my head, feeling an unexpected sharp headache come on. "I'm fine."

I pushed Henry off and entered the dimly lit bar. I wasn't about to let some lousy headache get in the way now.

There, at the counter, sat Grandov drinking a beer. His face turned at my entrance, and his eyes widened. He was younger and had a beard, but it was no doubt him.

Huh. It's quite a coincidence that we'll meet again in the same bar as our first-ever meeting.