Chapter 06

Mutual Understanding

The two stared at each other for a while. Eventually, Eyolian broke the silence. "It’s an artifact, it conceals appearances and intentions. Don’t worry too much about it, and I have no intentions of harming you, no matter who you really are."

Noah said nothing in response but stared intently at her left shoulder - he saw something there, or thought he did. Eyolian maintained her composure under his gaze and said nothing.

Noah averted his gaze and asked shamelessly, "Can I see this artifact?"

Noah tensed when Eyolian approached him, but she only showed him her left hand and pointed to a silver ring with a half-glowing blue gem. "I deactivated half of its effectiveness when I requested your presence. I didn’t think you could see through it, but you did, somehow?"

That was a question Noah wouldn’t answer. So he said, "Don’t worry too much about it; it’s not as dangerous as you reacted."

Noah didn’t avert his gaze from the ring; there was something about it—something strange. Eyolian interrupted his focus as she said, "I certainly don’t think so. From my perspective, it looked like you were trying to breach me with your soul or something."

Noah met her eyes and scoffed, "Really, it’s not that serious. The ring probably protected you in some way?"

Noah looked again at the ring in Eyolian’s hand. "Is this gem a piece of the legendary Camouflage Scorpion’s tail?"

Eyolian tensed but fortunately didn’t do anything extreme. "For a shopkeeper, you’re well-informed."

Noah took that as confirmation. He kept looking at the ring a bit longer and decided to risk his words more—he hadn’t learned from his first lesson. "That’s a very rare thing for you to possess, not to mention only a handful of people know its value, a very few people."

Eyolian’s expression turned sour, but Noah pretended not to notice. "And it happens that a humble shopkeeper is one of those few," she said warningly. "Don’t push your luck too much."

Noah looked at her innocently, raising his hands in a surrendering position as he defended himself. "You misunderstood me; I’m not threatening you. Really, I’m not in a position to threaten anyone, and I wouldn’t even if I were. But I have a small request; you can say no if you think it’s too much."

Eyolian adjusted her stance, not seeming to believe his words, but said with some calm and sarcasm, "Of course, everyone has requests. What’s this request that I can say no to?"

Noah sighed in defeat but spoke anyway. "All I would ask is, if it happens that I awaken, I want you to teach me, and I mean the right way, not the nonsense the general population of the Empire receives. Honestly, I was going to ask Mr. Edric to do the same, that’s if it happens I even awaken."

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Eyolian raised an eyebrow, "Is that all? Forgive me, but I find it hard to believe you."

"Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t care about your long story. If anything, even if I tried to do anything to you, how would I explain knowing things a humble shopkeeper like myself isn’t supposed to know," Noah said matter-of-factly.

Eyolian took her time considering, meeting Noah’s eyes, and spoke, "If that’s the case, aren’t you supposed to know how to do that yourself? Why would you need my help?"

"Well, you have a point there," Noah admitted. "My knowledge isn’t as vast as you might think; it’s limited to the things I’ve experienced."

"Then how do you explain your knowledge of the Camouflage Scorpion, as you call it?" Eyolian said with a stiff face.

Noah thought for a moment—he didn’t want to talk about that part of his past to a stranger, but he found no other way. If he succeeded in getting Eyolian to help him, it would be a great help. "To reach the Empire, I traveled through Astrolis lands for a while and learned some things along the way."

Before Eyolian could say anything contrary to his words, Noah seriously suggested, "If you agree to my request, I’ll provide you with assistance of equal value to your help. You can say no. No consequences for either of us."

Eyolian considered his words for a moment and said, "If it happens you don’t awaken, you’ll still provide the assistance you think you can give."

Noah simply nodded at that. Eyolian nodded in return and said, "I’ll think about it and get back to you later today."

Noah smiled genuinely - that went better than he hoped. "Good talk. If you hadn’t smashed my head into the ground, it would have been the best conversation I’ve had with anyone in years. Good talk nonetheless."

Eyolian smirked sarcastically, "That was the fun part." She reflected on her words for a moment and hastily said, "I didn’t mean that. Sorry about that, really."

Before Noah could say anything in protest, Eyolian changed the subject, "I haven’t yet got your opinion on the dress?"

Noah said nothing about her previous words—he thought it wasn’t worth it. He softened his gaze on her, taking a full look at Eyolian he hadn’t seen before—at least not fully.

The first thought was that she was beautiful. Her gray-green eyes radiated a strange but pleasant and attractive light. Her raven-black hair, long and free, framed her face gracefully. The pale, slightly glowing skin was delicate yet full of life. And these were just the features of her face.

Noah admired her figure in the all-black dress. It somehow reflected simplicity and beauty simultaneously, with the fabric flowing over her body perfectly, leaving her shoulders bare elegantly, like a delicate frame for her slender neck. The cinched waist highlighted the beauty of her slender figure, giving her a distinguished presence, while the dress ended just below the knee, adding to its beauty and harmony.

Noah met her eyes and said honestly, "I was skeptical about the length of the dress, but it looks perfect on you. You could do with some jewelry, though."

Eyolian looked at Noah oddly and said, "You’re taking this seriously. Thanks for the evaluation, though."

Noah said nothing, of course, he would take it somewhat seriously. The primary reason was his fear of Mrs. Aileen. And the new reason was that Noah somewhat hoped his words would soften Eyolian’s sharp mood and get her to agree to help him.

Things went smoothly from there, sort of. Eyolian decided to buy the dress with Noah’s money. For whatever reason, she didn’t bring any money with her; she only came herself. Noah paid the ridiculous price for that piece of fabric, and they left the shop. Their task, which took an unexpected turn, was completed.

There wasn’t anything else to do; neither Noah nor Eyolian seemed enthusiastic about doing anything other than their task. So, they decided to return to the antiques and books cluster—Noah’s workplace. They returned through the same path, which had become more crowded than the last time the duo passed.

After some time, they reached their destination. Noah took the clothes he bought and took them to his room while Eyolian waited downstairs. When he returned, he found her sitting comfortably on a customer’s chair, her dress spread out on a glass display table—which had taken a lot of time and energy to make it shine. He said nothing about it, just took his book from the morning and continued reading from where he left off.