“Well, if it isn’t the charming professor.”

“Hello, Scyla.” I sighed, somewhat unsurprised to find her in my suite.

Should I even question that I had locked the door, and she still got in?

I’d just returned home from the academy, surprisingly more exhausted than I’d anticipated. I’d been expecting my little murder kitten to pounce at me, demanding I feed her, but instead, I’d been greeted by the sight of Scyla lounging upon my couch, her legs pulled up next to her as she stroked my kitten lazily.

“How was the first day of teaching?”

“Fine,” I answered before gesturing toward her. “You know it’s considered rude to enter a person’s home without asking, right? Sort of a breach of trust.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, and I do apologize,” Scyla answered before pointing at my cat. “I wouldn’t have entered if it wasn’t for your tiny little demoness yowling so loudly I thought she was dying.”

“Hmm. Was she now?” I walked over to the couch after dropping off the satchel I’d brought for my first actual day of work. “Little demon there makes it well known when she demands to be fed.”

My cat, ‘cat’ in only the technical sense, was curled up against Scyla, a single leg twitching every once in a while as Scyla’s hand brushed down her back.

“You know, it might help if you leave a food bowl out while you’re gone.”

“I tried.” I sighed. “She ate the bowl.”

“Especially since they’re young and developing at this age, and- she did what now?”

“She ate the bowl,” I repeated. “Steel bowl. Ate it. I think because it had food residue still in it.”

Scyla glanced down at my cat again as if reconsidering how close she was to the tiny kitten that could chew through steel like tofu.

“Trust me, I felt the same way when I saw her handiwork. A rather rude reminder that she isn’t actually a cat.”

“Righttttt.” Scyla dragged the word out, still petting my ‘cat.’ “Also, does she have a name besides ‘little demon,’ or are you just that unoriginal?”

“I’m… Not great at naming things.” I admitted.

“Right.” Scyla chewed her lip for a moment before lifting a finger up. “Panthera.”

“And you’re not much better.” I shook my head.

“Oh c’mon, it’s a perfectly respectable name.”

“Fine.” I raised my hands; there were better hills to die on. “So, mind telling me why you’re here in the first place?”

“Oh, about that.” She stopped petting my cat- stopped petting Panthera, as she reached to pull something out from inside her shirt, flashing it before me.

“Uhh, what is that? Another ticket to another theatre thing?”

It had only been a few days before I’d seen a play with Scyla, a rather… ‘novel’ experience at the very least, if not altogether very exciting. The play had been excellent from how Scyla had explained it to me after the fact, but for someone as uncultured as myself when it came to such… posh entertainment, it had been a rather fruitless experience.

“You think I’d do the same plans twice in a row?”

“Err, no?”

“Good, because this is our reservation for the nicest restaurant in town,” She beamed at me, clearly pleased with herself.

“A restaurant,” I repeated.

“Yes, something wrong with that?”

“No,” I said before frowning. “Just, uh, brings back memories.”

“Memories?” Scyla seemed confused until a second later, a grin cracked her perplexed expression. “Oh, you mean from when we first met.”

“Yeah, that.”

“Good memories.” Scyla sighed, sinking further into my couch.

“Maybe for you,” I said incredulously. “You know what happened to me after that? I was dragged out, forced to make haste as we ran from the subjection squad after us before being hounded up a mountain.”

“You know, I never did know exactly what happened after you two left.”

“Yeah, what about you?” I plopped down into a reclining chair across from the couch.

“Well, I took your master’s signet ring and started wearing it. Suddenly I was being treated differently and taken more seriously. My father started paying me more attention than my siblings and taking me along to important functions. I quickly built up a coalition around me, leveraging the fact that no one was certain how exactly I’d come to gain the favor of a Star within Nochesuki.”

“Speaking of which.” I pointed a finger toward her hand, the ring absent. “Is there a reason you don’t seem to wear it, then?”

“Mostly because as the Eorial in charge of Akadia, a city specifically meant as a hub for the noble children of all sorts of families to gather, wearing the ring would declare my allegiance to those a part of the pro-magic factions. It would be bad for business if I showed siding for a specific side outright.”

“I guess that makes sense. Have you… seen him since then?”

“If by ‘him you mean your master, then no.” Scyla shook her head instantly. “While being a part of Nochesuki isn’t illegal, the Stars of Nochesuki are all wanted fugitives in the eyes of the kingdom. Seeing even one of them is exceptionally rare. What about you? Have you seen your master since?”

“No,” I answered, scowling. “I won’t deny that part of me has wanted to see him at least once, but he wasn’t exactly an inspiring mentor either. Rude, not exactly forthcoming unless necessary, and a method of teaching that generally involved me gaining more bruises by the day. But…”

“But he was your mentor,” Scyla said softly.

“Yeah. He was the first to show me another world out there, a world I’d always thought just out of reach. When I was confused or lost, I’d always wanted, always imagined him showing up and giving me a hand, telling me what to do even if in his own brutish way.”

“You’re surprisingly keen on him, it sounds.”

“Hah.” I laughed almost mockingly. “Call it one part Stockholm, one part hero worship. The only person I’ve had to look up to for my entire life was him. Ever since my mother was-” I froze, realizing I was about to say too much.

It’s always Scyla that gets me talking too much.

For once, though, it appeared as if Scyla didn’t intend to prod further, instead gently lifting Panthera and placing her further down the couch as she stood up.

“I’m going to go now; I only swung by to invite you to dinner tonight. Can I take your response as a yes?”

“Yeah, why not.” I agreed. “Where will-”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have a ride sent here to pick you up.”

“You make me sound like a damsel.”

“Have you received your first paycheck yet?”

“You raise a fair point.” I coughed into my fist. “What time?”

“Hmm… How about sundown? Or are you going to be off galivanting somewhere else?”

“First off, I don’t ‘galivant,’ and second, yeah, that sounds fine.”

“Good. Well, I’ll be leaving then.”

“Until the next time you let yourself in without asking, you mean.”

“Oh, I already apologized for that.”

“Yeah yeah, fine, whatever.” I rolled my eyes as she made her way out of my suite.

“Oh, and make sure you-”

“Make sure I wear something nice.” I finished her sentence as she rolled her eyes at me.

“Smart ass. See you tonight.”

And then she was gone, leaving me with my fearsome little beast, whose leg was still twitching every few seconds as she chased something in her dreams.

Still not sure how I feel about this.

Scyla was pretty, intelligent, engaging, and anything a person could ever want.

And yet, I wasn’t sure how to feel about not her exactly but the entire situation.

Is there something here, or is she just doing Scyla things?

I wasn’t even necessarily sure how I felt. I’d only ever had a crush on a single girl when I was younger, a girl from my village who-

Huh. You’d think I’d remember her name, at least.

-who I couldn’t seem to remember anything about.

Whatever, it was a childhood crush anyway.

The point was, I was sure I didn’t have some sort of crush on Scyla, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure how I felt in general about everything. I was inexperienced when it came to such things. I’d, by and large, never had a normal childhood, normal teenage years, normal early adult years, or normal-

Okay, I haven’t had much of a normal anything.

It didn’t help that my feelings on such matters had been tainted by my time spent with Maeya.

Lost in thought, it wasn’t until I heard a gentle purring that I found myself back in the current moment, my fierce guard animal gently rubbing up against my leg.

“Good morning to you, too,” I muttered as I bent over, scooping up the tiny kitten. “Was your nap nice?”

Still gentling purring, she began to rub her head up against my thumb until, seemingly bored, she suddenly bit me, her teeth piercing me with ease.

“Ow.” I held my composure as I gently placed the kitten back on the ground before examining the damage.

“Well damn.” I whistled. Just a quick nip was enough for my blood to freely pour; Panthera’s teeth were sharper than most swords I’d handled.

“Really got to break that behavior,” I grumbled as Panthera went back to purring and rubbing u against my leg as if she’d done nothing. “I’d prefer to not have my flesh rot off every other day when you’re older.”

I took a moment to draw sage mana from my rings, my wound closing within seconds as my body responded to the influx of potent mana.

“Now then.” I grabbed a bowl, filling it with diced meat chunks for my demon cat. Placing it on the ground, Panthera began tearing pieces out of the meat, gobbling it up like she’d been starved.

Watching like a hawk, I waited until the bowl was empty of food before snatching it up.

“Sorry, bud.” I looked down at Panthera, who looked at me like I’d committed a crime. “I don’t feel like buying a new bowl because you thought it would make a good post-meal snack.”

Leaving behind my somewhat offended ‘cat,’ I pulled out my papers from my bag, looking them over for several minutes before returning them to my bag.

Nothing else I’m going to gain from those than I already have.

I wanted to be as prepared as possible for my following few classes, but there was little else I could design on such short notice.

“Which leaves me with nothing to do but get ready for tonight,” I sighed.

Restaurant with Scyla. Surely nothing could go wrong.

-----------------------------------------------------

“Master Koor, correct?”

“The one and only.” I gave a quick short bow for dramatic flair as I was greeted by my ride outside the lodge.

“A pleasure. Master Scyla sent me to retrieve you.”

“I figured,” I said as I took in my ride. The man was dressed about as nicely as I’d seen any of the ‘upper-class’ cabbies. To my surprise, his cab was a full-on covered cart pulled along by two entirely normal-looking horses.

“As soon as you embark, we can be on our way.” The man informed me before making his way to the driver seat outside of the cart.

Not wanting to waste time, I embarked quickly, closing the cart door behind me as I relaxed.

Alright then, Scyla, just where is this place?

Pulling away from the side of the road, we began making our way through the city’s busy streets. Busy as it was, compared to a few days ago, the activity level had dropped now that the ceremony for the regent-to-be was past us. Still, I had ample time to twiddle my thumbs as we occasionally found ourselves waiting for foot traffic to clear or the roads to open up. Slowly but surely, the sights around us changed as we departed from the more populated albeit still wealthy-looking downtown area and made for the more… respectable parts of the city, opulent and large properties beginning to take up more and more space.

We weren’t all that far off from Scyla’s home, or rather, one of her homes I’d been in, when the cab finally stopped.

“We’re here, Master Koor.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” I muttered as I stared out the backseat window where I was sitting.

“Sorry, sir, did you say something?”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Nothing.” I smiled as pleasantly as I could manage before opening the door as I made my way out. Only one foot out the door, I stopped as I noticed something.

“Is something the matter, Sir?” The cab driver asked me, noticing as I suddenly froze.

“Say, would this happen to be part of a brand or chain of high-end restaurants?”

“Ahh, I take it you’ve heard then. To answer your question, yes, the owner of this restaurant is none other than the owner of the Rentus Aulus in Theronhold. Have you been there before?”

“Once.” I sighed.

Leave it to Scyla.

The restaurant was a single-floor building and relatively quint sized, but what stood out to me was how it looked as if it were composed of several shells, each slightly larger than the rest leading to a strangely spherical form while still retaining solid structural integrity. Even as someone who found themselves relatively uninterested in the artistic pursuits of fancy architecture, it was a sight to behold. In flowery golden lettering, gold that I was sure was real, two words were inlaid on the frontmost segment of the building.

Kinzuz Aulus.

“Force water?” I pondered the possible meaning, aware there had to be a more poetic interpretation than the badly butchered spelling of the words of power.

Force water… No, wait.

I glanced once more at the building, attempting to decipher the meaning before a spark of inspiration hit me as I recognized what the encompassing shells of the building reminded me of.

Not just shells. Seashells. Seashells… Force water… Wait, rather than force, what if it’s another interpretation of something with force, with vitality… Vitality. Oh, got it!

“Sealife.” I chuckled as I stared at the golden name. “It’s literally named ‘Sealife.’”

Satisfied I’d figured it out, I finally made the short distance between the curbside and the front door, guarded by a bouncer who, after squinting for a moment, I recognized.

“Hale?” I questioned as I stood in front of the man. Even after several years of growth, he towered over me.

“Do I know you?”

“Err, we met once. Years ago, in Theronhold. I was with Scyla and-”

I bit my tongue, preventing myself from speaking any further.

Whoops, I got so caught up in reminiscing that I probably said more than I should have.

“Apologies, but I do not recognize you.” The man responded, but for just a moment, it was there, a spark of recognition in his eyes.

Oh, I get it. Probably in his best interest to pretend he doesn’t recall those who’ve come and gone.

“Right, sorry about that.” I sheepishly shook my head before changing the subject. “I’m here to meet with Ms. Eorial.”

“Mr. Koor, I take it?” The bouncer questioned.

“Yes, that’s who I am and no one else,” I said, perhaps too quickly.

Smooth Rook, smooth.

“Ms. Eorial is expecting you.” Hale nodded, opening the door for me.

I nodded once more to the man, being as professional and aloof as I could, before turning around, suddenly curious about something.

“Er, just theoretically speaking. A few years ago, a rather dark-haired and brutish man disrupted Ms. Eorial’s meal. I was just wondering-”

The bouncer, glancing in either direction, grabbed my arm before pulling me to the side.

“If you’re wondering what happened after, the Third Star broke three of my damn ribs. It’s my job to pretend I don’t see or recognize those who enter, but just between us, the Eorial girl is better company than he.”

“Er, right.” I was taken off guard by his sudden swing in behavior, but just as quickly, the man was back to a mask of stone indifference, ushering me once more inside. “I’ll, uh, consider that.”

No more words were exchanged, and I quickly made my way inside.

Looks like I was right.

The restaurant’s interior was almost entirely aquatic-themed, cast in dark-colored blue lights that made it appear as if one were right on the boundary between the light and dark depths of the sea. Pearls glistened throughout the inside, strategically suspended overhead to mimic the glistening specks of light one might find refracted under the waves. There was even a large tank of water off to the side with a-

Wait, I thought those were hunted to extinction?

-with a rather elusive aquatic monster swimming inside, an infant sea khan.

If anywhere is to have supposedly extinct creatures in capacity, it’s bound to be where the upper class congregates.

Ignoring the sea khan, I quickly made my way to the back of the small restaurant, to where the seating was. Much like I recalled from the Rentus Aulus, each table was positioned within its own alcove, making it difficult to eavesdrop or spy on the other patrons. Of which, there were unsurprisingly few, most failing to give me even a second glance until a single woman smiled at me, waving me over.

“Scyla.” I whistled quietly as I sat myself down at our table. “Your sense of humor is… something.” I sighed after a moment.

“Now, what could you mean by that?” The woman batted her eyelashes at me, but I ignored them.

“Fine.” She chuckled to herself as if her prank had been uncovered. “When I discovered Mazar, the owner, was opening up a location in Akadia, it gave me memories to back then.”

“So what, you’ve been planning this ever since?”

“What, no.” Scyla shook her head. “I only thought of it a few days ago, mostly from your snoring during the play.”

“I didn’t snore,” I said defensively.

“But you don’t deny you were asleep.” Scyla countered, her eyes twinkling.

“I, er… Fine, you got me.” I answered, raising my hands in defeat.

“Good, you see reason.” Scyla relaxed, appearing pleased with herself before changing the subject. “So, how was the rest of your day? Too preoccupied with thoughts of the ravishing Scyla Eorial that you could not think of anything else?”

“Actually, no,” I said, earning me a glare. “I was trying to figure out how to get my little demoness from eating her bowl again, and then how to teach her not to try to chomp my thumb off.”

“She’s a handful, is she?”

“She’s a Shadow Blossom kitten,” I said with a shrug. “Shadow Blossoms are usually reserved for gold-ranked adventurers to handle. Even as a kitten, she makes it apparent that she does not want to be regarded as a simple house cat.”

“Why don’t you get a trainer for her?”

“Yeah, that’s going to end well. They’ll spray her with a water bottle, and in return, my cat will claw their innards out. I think I’ll pass.”

“Oh, it can’t be that bad.” She said with a smile. “I mean, you’re in one piece.”

“I’m in one piece maybe fifty percent of the time.” I sighed.

Scyla laughed, but it quickly petered out as she observed me.

“You’re- you’re not joking?” Scyla layered her fingers together, examining me like an interesting puzzle. “That is very much a you trait. Drop some enigmatic comment, then fail to explain it further.”

“Why, so you can use that information for your own ends?”

“Harsh.” Scyla sighed. “But not altogether incorrect, if not for the reasons you think.”

“Oh, then, why would you want to know such things?”

“Have you forgotten my ultimate goal?” Scyla said with a fire in her eyes. “One day, my goal is to be the greatest mage ever.”

“Why?” I questioned.

“Why what?”

“Why do you want to be the greatest mage?”

“It’s honestly not all that interesting of a reason,” Scyla sighed. “It’s much like how as a kid, you think to yourself, ‘I want to be the fastest kid around’ or ‘I want to be the strongest person alive’ it really isn’t some deep, compelling reason. I simply want to push the limits of what’s possible and what I can do.”

“I… didn’t expect such a forthcoming answer,” I said honestly.

“Well, perhaps I selectively chose who I can be forthcoming with.”

I stared at her, unsure how to respond.

C’mon brain. Do something.

“That’s, uh, thanks?”

Very smooth of you, brain.

I was thankfully bailed out as a woman appeared only a few moments later, dressed in deep navy blue and with pearl cuffs.

“Hello.” The woman gave us a short curtsy before looking from me to Scyla. “How may I start you tonight?”

“We’re just doing a single course and a desert,” Scyla answered.

“Wonderful, then we will get on that. We will have your drinks sent shortly.”

Then just like that, the woman left us alone.

“What was that all about?” I raised an eyebrow at Scyla as I questioned her. “Where are the menus?”

“Your lack of privilege is showing.” Scyla snorted. “They don’t do menus here. You order a course, and they decide what to bring you.”

“They… decide?”

“Yes, when you have enough money, you stop having to even think for yourself if you don’t wish to,” Scyla said with a laugh.

“Not sure I like that.” I shrugged as I scratched at my chin.

“You’re just going to have to get used to it.”

“Why is that? Planning to take me out more?”

“I’m not opposed.” Scyla winked at me before shaking her head. “But that isn’t what I meant. Consider your position.”

“Yes, and?”

“Consider it more carefully?”

I was open to open my mouth to respond with a snarky response before I did as she instructed, frowning for a moment.

“Are you suggesting there will be people trying to bribe me?”

“Of course, you teach the rich and powerful. Someone’s son or daughter or another unspecified gender will end up failing. Then mommy or daddy will either demand you rescind your grading upon the basis of some sort of threat against you or try to win you over at dinner, thinly veiled bribery.”

“I guess I didn’t think about it all that much,” I admitted.

“How old are you?”

“Excuse me?” I asked, taken by surprise by the question.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-three,” I answered.

“How old were you when you were an adventurer?”

“Started at sixteen, was exiled by nineteen. What are you getting at Scyla?”

“I’m making a point. Rook, you’re not really used to thinking for yourself, are you?”

“Haven’t we been over this?”

“No, that was about you figuring out what you want for yourself. I mean this quite literally. The average age of an adventurer is twenty-nine years old. On average, you were younger than the rest by a good margin. I take it you weren’t often in a position of calling the shots?”

“Well, the one time I tried, our quest leader thought I was trying to get us all killed, and it led to a duel to the death, so no, I guess not.”

“And what did you do for a living during your time in Songhold? And before you make some sort of remark, just humor me.”

“I was a ring fighter in the champion circuit,” I said quietly.

“Meaning you were someone else’s bitch.”

“A little rude, don’t you think?” I murmured.

“My point is Rook-” Scyla crossed her arms for a moment, looking at me with a mixture of pity and genuine empathy. “-you’re an adult now. Like an actual adult. Not just a kid playing at being an adult. That means actively thinking about the consequences of your actions or inactions, of the outcomes and possibilities before you. Perhaps you thought you could simply be the reclusive magic professor, and it would play out like some sort of fairy tale, but this is reality. You need to begin to evaluate things from the mindset of an adult who’s not just operating on autopilot and listening to whatever it told of them.”

“I-” I froze, thinking about what Scyla had just told me. “-I guess you have a point. But what about you? You’re not much older than me. You’re like, what, twenty-six?”

“Going on twenty-seven in two months.”

I mentally cataloged the information for later, certain she wasn’t just casually dropping her birthdate for no reason, before continuing where I left off.

“What makes you such an expert?”

I hadn’t meant the comment as offensive, but the moment the words were out of my mouth, I inwardly cringed, certain Scyla was about to chew me out.

Thankfully, it never came, Scyla instead bowing over as if some of her vitality had been sucked away for a moment.

“It’s been my whole life. Since I was a kid, it was all about understanding how to be an adult. I never had much of a childhood, you know, always preparing to one day be thrown into the turmoil that is our family power dynamic, especially since even as a kid, it was understood my grandfather was beginning to head toward his exit.”

“I… my apologies,” I said, struck by how arrogant my comment must have come off to Scyla, given what she’d been through.

“Don’t be.” Scyla shook her head. “Perhaps that is a part of what I find appealing about you. You’re so removed from such attitudes and actions.”

I shifted awkwardly in my seat. I still wasn’t sure how to respond to Scyla’s rather forward attitude about her thoughts toward me.

“My siblings rarely send me letters anymore. Not that we were rather close as kids, but they distanced themselves from me further since I gained the leg up on them.”

I was about to pepper her with more apologies for bringing such distasteful thoughts and memories up to the surface. Yet, as I looked at how her eyes crinkled at the corners, at how she seemed more exasperated and exhausted rather than hurt, I found the words of condolences withering away.

Scyla didn’t want my condolences. She was, and always had been, too strong of a person to be looking for empty thoughts or pity. If all I could offer her were those empty thoughts, interesting as I may be in her words, I’d still be little better than a brick wall when it came to be more than just an object of interest.

“You’re an adult now. Like an actual adult. Not just a kid playing at being an adult. That means actively thinking about the consequences of your actions or inactions, of the outcomes and possibilities before you.”

The outcomes and possibilities before me, eh?

Looking at Scyla, I could decide something right now. I could keep things pleasant, be amicable and potentially even form a solid friendship with her.

Or?

Or I could decide how I felt.

So then, decide.

I liked Scyla, I finally decided. Perhaps I wasn’t sure how deep those feelings ran, but I found myself enjoying her companionship in a way I hadn’t since-

Well, since that childhood crush.

And if I wanted to see it out, I had to offer more than empty words and thoughts.

“When I was a kid-” I began recounting my memories as Scyla tilted her head, curious about what I was getting at. “I didn’t really have any goals or dreams. Well, I had one. I lived in a tiny village. I’m not sure if there were more than two hundred people in total. All I knew was that I wanted to leave it behind, my one goal. Back then, I had a dream. Well, it wasn’t even my dream, to be honest. Another kid around my age, a friend of mine, we both wanted to leave our village, so she suggested we become guards in Theronhold. They have a yearly recruitment drive where they search for promising candidates to bring in from the surrounding area.”

“Usually only bring in magical talents.” Scyla pointed out.

“Exactly, and at the time, I had no magic, but my friend-” Try as I might, I couldn’t seem to recall memories of the girl, just the fact that there had been a girl who I’d been friends with. “-she was super talented. Could use every form of the primal aspects of wild magic, and I bet with time, she would have done even more than that. All I was good for was swinging a sword around.”

“So what happened?” Scyla questioned quietly.

“She died,” I said flatly.

It wasn’t wrong. She was dead. Whoever she was, her existence was gone, replaced with a Great Sage from ages long ago.

I wonder if that’s why I can’t remember her. Since the Great Sage replaced her, my memories of her disappeared as well.

“What happened to her?”

“My village was burnt to a crisp,” I said with a sad laugh. “She and many others died. The villagers blamed my mother for being the reason the perpetrators came in the first place. So, she left me. Shortly after, my master found me. He promised me a different future, and I guess I did what you’ve always known me to do. I simply agreed with what I was told. We went to Theronhold, then we were chased from Theronhold, then we separated, then I became an adventurer, then a circuit fighter, and now I’ve become a teacher. And in all that time, I never really thought much of myself. For the longest time, it was simply going where the wind took me, with the goal of reuniting with my mother one day.”

“Which you did,” Scyla said.

“Which I did.” I agreed. “So when you talk about having this goal of being the greatest mage alive, even if you call it childish, it’s overwhelming for me because I’ve never really had a goal past seeing more of the world than my village.”

“You could say you’ve accomplished your goal then.”

“You could,” I said. “So, I think I know what my goal is now.”

“Yes?” Scyla asked.

“I want to be happy,” I said softly.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it,” I answered. “I want to be happy. And you know what?”

“What?”

“I’m pretty happy when you’re around,” I admitted with a shrug.

I’ll say this. I’ve never seen Scyla quite as expressive as she was then. Her jaw dropped, and at the same time, both her eyebrows raised toward the ceiling as if trying to reach escape velocity.

“What?” I questioned, confused why she’d make such an expression.

“I-” She shook her head, regaining her composure as she quietly laughed. “I didn’t expect you to come out and say it like that. Really took what I said about making decisions to heart, didn’t you?”

“I can be surprising sometimes,” I said defensively.

“Mhmm,” Scyla uttered, reminding me of my cat’s purring. “Well, Mr. Rook, I can’t make any promises for the future, but-”

“But?” I repeated.

“-but, in your words, I’m pretty happy when you’re around as well.”

I felt my cheeks flush, a sudden heat in my ears as I looked away, trying to hide my forming smile.

What am I, sixteen?

Thankfully for the second time that night, I was bailed at as a man dressed the same as the woman from earlier appeared, pushing a cart ladled with food in our direction.

“I thought you said it was one course?” I asked her incredulously.

“I never said how large a course was, did I?” She laughed mischievously as I could only stare in horror at the mountain of food heading our way.

--------------------------------------------

“I’m not going to be able to walk.” I bemoaned, feeling as if I were about to burst.

“You didn’t have to eat so much.” Scyla chuckled. “Plus, you’re walking just fine right now.”

“It’s a matter of speech.” I shook my head.

We were on our way out of the restaurant, passing by several other patrons. A single person caught my attention, and as soon as we were outside, I turned to Scyla to see if I didn’t imagine things.

“Was that the Viceroy of the central region?”

“Viceroy Alexandria? Yeah, what about her?” Scyla seemed unphased as I brought the topic forward.

“Is it normal to just casually see someone so important? Isn’t she one of the country’s most important people?”

“I mean, that’s the sort of place you’d expect to see someone like that, yes.”

“You’re far too used to bumping shoulders with such people,” I said with an exasperated sigh. “And anyway, what’s she still doing here? The ceremony was days ago.”

“Probably planned to meet with other official figures and such during her time here,” Scyla said with a shrug.

“Well… I guess that makes sense.” I felt deflated at how mundane it apparently was. “Who was that with her anyway?”

“Oh, that man? Ulsin Stormshore. General of the central region armed forces, the right-hand man of the Viceroy. He can basically be found wherever she goes.”

“Hm.” I frowned. “What is it with important people and funny names?”

“Names add a sense of theater, isn’t that right, Zero of the flowing blade?”

“Hush.” I snorted as we came to a stop next to the curb.

“Would you perhaps like to join me?” Scyla looked up at me, gesturing toward the cab waiting for her.

“I can’t.” I shook my head. “Otherwise, demoness will eat someone if I leave her alone any longer.”

“Fair enough.” She laughed before suddenly stepping close to me on her toes and planting a kiss directly on my lips.

Or she tried. The moment her face got close, it was like a danger signal flashed through my mind, a sudden sensation to escape as the image of Maeya flashed through my mind. I recoiled instantly, ducking the kiss, my heart thundering.

What the hell?

My adrenaline had kicked up, and I struggled to regain my composure. Seconds passed like that before I finally managed to even my breathing, turning to face Scyla’s troubled expression.

“Are you alright?” Rather than sounding offended, she was looking at me with concern in her eyes.

“I….I’m not sure.” I admitted.

“I’m sorry if I came on too fast or if-”

“It’s not you.” I quickly cut her off, shaking my head. “I think… I think I might have some problems to work through.”

I had to give credit where credit was due. Rather than pressing me, Scyla simply nodded. Tentatively she stepped close again, but rather than trying to kiss me, she gently grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

“Sorry,” I muttered, feeling ashamed.

“No, it’s fine.” She said. “There’s no rush after all.”

I looked up from my feet, Scyla gently smiling at me.

“I’ll be leaving then. Will you be alright?”

“I think so,” I said with a shaky laugh. “And… thanks.”

“As I said, no need to rush.” She reminded me. “Goodnight, Ro- Mr. Koor.”

“Goodnight, Scyla,” I said back to her, watching as she entered her cab before it pulled away.

Now then.

I stared up at the night sky, happy that aside from Hale, who was very ‘coincidentally’ not looking in my direction, there was no one to see me.

“Guess I’m a little more fucked in the head than I thought,” I grumbled, still admiring the stars overhead.

But that’s okay.

After all, there was no rush now, was there?