CHAPTER 81 - TIME FLIES, BUT THE SKY'S THE MINUTE WHEN YOU'RE ALONE WITH YOUR BELOVED

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“The children of the clan have sent these presents,” said Fengying.

“I know what these are!” said Prince Baiyu. His features relaxed and a smile crept across his face. “Open one.”

I picked up a box at random and opened the lid. Inside were half a dozen small wooden discs with the head of a tiger crudely carved on them. “What’s this about?”

“These are lucky charms carved by the children of the White Tiger clan. You’re meant to bury them somewhere in the Valley.”

“Oh, I see. Is there any specific place where I should bury them?”

“Anywhere is fine. They’re just sending you their good wishes in the hope that the curse will be lifted from these lands.” A gentle warmth had replaced the usual aloof and serious expression on his face. “I must have buried hundreds of these when I was a child.”

“Lady Violet, I’ll take care of these,” said Fengying.

“Yes, thank you.” I opened a few more boxes and saw that they were all the same. “This is nice. So the children know that I’m working on making this valley fertile again?”

Prince Baiyu smiled. “Everyone knows.”

“Eh.” Well, it’s not like it was a secret, yet I thought it was strange that even the children were excited about my project.

“Lady, perhaps you should retire to your rooms to change your clothes,” said Fengying.

I had been so surprised that I had forgotten that I was still… fragrant from my visit to the [Lizardwing] pen. My housekeeper was too well-bred to say “go and take a bath, you smell terrible!” but I got the hint and so did my apprentices.

After a long, hot shower, a change of clothes, and a Cash Shop salon session that gave me a new, cute twintails hairstyle, I returned to the courtyard for lunch. Once again, a separate table was set up for me and the prince while Lari, Kharli, and Mo ate at the opposite corner. I noticed with approval that the three of them had now fully mastered their table manners. I knew they could do it.

The prince and I chatted about this and that while I ate a wonderful array of summer dishes. Though it was winter in the rest of the Westerlands, the Demon Chef had decided that it would be best if we ate food that was appropriate for the hot climate that we were living in. There were cold noodles, cucumber salad, stir-fried vegetables, stewed chicken with potatoes, and red rice. Dessert was bao bing, shaved ice sweetened with honey and topped with sliced fruit, tapioca pearls, and grass jelly.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so full!” I said as I leaned back in my chair. “I’m done.”

“Are you going to your room?” asked Prince Baiyu.

“Yes.”

“May I join you?”

My lips twitched. He was always trying to get into my room. “You know what, you’re leaving later today, so why don’t we spend more time together?”

“I’d love that.”

Seeing that the kids had also finished their lunch, I called them over and said, “Time for more Fletching!”

“Fletching?” Prince Baiyu gave me a puzzled look. “I didn’t know you knew how to fletch.”

“Prepare to be amazed!” I chuckled as I herded my apprentices to the inner courtyard and then into the workshop. I had to adjust the settings to allow Prince Baiyu to enter since I had made that part of the house inaccessible to everyone but me and the three kids.

“I thought we were going to your bedroom…” he whispered in my ear.

“Shh.” I took out a chair from my inventory and instructed him to sit while we worked. I turned to the kids and asked them, “Are you ready? Tell me if you’re too tired to work today.”

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“I’m tired, but I want to level up!” said Lari.

Mo's eyes sparkled with excitement as she said, “I would never say no to exp.”

Kharli simply sat down on the workbench and started whittling away at a wooden log. The others followed her example and got started, too. Meanwhile, I went to the anvil l and started making [Bronze Arrowheads].

“Tomorrow, let’s use the arrows we make to practice our archery,” I said.

“Teacher, did you forget that you promised to bring us to practice our archery for real on the Horned Rabbits?” asked Kharli.

“I didn’t forget. I said I would bring you guys there when you were all good enough.” Though I didn’t say anything more, they understood.

Kharli was now pretty good, probably better than me. Lari was adequate though his accuracy dropped precipitously when he got bored of training. I reckoned that wouldn’t be a problem when we were actually killing rabbits.

The problem was Mo. She was absolutely terrible at archery!

All five of us were silent as we fletched.

Prince Baiyu leaned forward, his eyes widening when he saw how the metal bar I was hammering glowed then transformed into five [Bronze Arrowheads]. A look of wonder crossed his face. “You’re a magic artisan, too!”

“I’m a woman of many talents.” I smirked at him. “By the way, I don’t need to tell you to keep this secret, right?”

“Of course. I know that.”

“I did it!” Lari held aloft five [Arrow Shafts].

“Congratulations,” I said.

Moments later, Kharli and Mo finished making their [Arrow Shafts].

“This is so exciting,” said Kharli.

“...” Mo didn’t say anything because she was already busy working on another log.

“It looks like I’m falling behind.” Although I was faster at crafting, since there were three of them and only one of me, they were producing fifteen [Arrow Shafts] for every ten [Bronze Arrowheads] that I made.

“This is amazing.” Prince Baiyu marveled as I showed off how I could make arrows by attaching [Feathers] and [Bronze Arrowheads] to the [Arrow Shafts]. “May I examine one?”

“Sure. Here you go.” I handed him a [Bronze Arrow].

He turned it over and examined it closely while we waited expectantly for his reaction. He tested the point of the arrow with his finger and bent the shaft. After a while, he cleared his throat and said, “Bronze is a little too soft to use for an arrow, isn’t it?”

My apprentices looked terribly disappointed.

“We’ve only just started fletching. These are just practice arrows for beginners,” I said.

He noticed the kids’ chagrin and said, “I understand. Beginners are taught to use a wooden sword before they use the real thing.”

“Yes, I’m using the same principle here. We'll move on to better materials when we’ve mastered making these [Bronze Arrowheads] first,” I said.

“Teacher, does that mean you have better materials that we can use?” asked Lari.

“I’ll show them to you when you’re ready.” My statement made their eyes sparkle.

“Yes! I want to make golden arrows!” said Lari.

“Less talking, more fletching,” said Kharli, her [Bossy] trait in full show.

Mo had never stopped fletching while we talked.

“Yes, let’s continue,” I said.

We worked for around two hours before taking a break. I asked the three of them to get some drinks and snacks from the kitchen.

“I worked so hard all day. Do you think we’ll have grilled meat tonight?” asked Lari.

“I don’t think so. I saw them bringing in some ham,” said Kharli.

“Teacher, can I stay here and fletch some more?” Mo hadn’t gotten up from the workbench.

Kharli dragged her away, saying in a stage whisper, “Can’t you see the two of them want to be alone? Read the room!”

Prince Baiyu and I waited until they had left the inner courtyard before bursting into laughter.

“Alone at last.” His lips were still twitching with laughter when he leaned toward me in an exaggeratedly seductive manner.

“Oh my!” I put the back of my hand on my forehead and pretended to swoon. “Whatever will we do?”

“I can think of something.”

Our eyes met and we started laughing again. “They’re only going to fetch some snacks. It will take like five minutes.”

“A lot could happen in five minutes…”

“Not that much.”

“Do you want to show me what I could do in five minutes?”

“No thanks, I think I’ll continue Smithing.” I chuckled at his look of mock disappointment. “Five minutes, really?”

He sighed. “I actually have to leave soon.”

“How soon?”

“Right after you finish eating. I have to be home before dark.”

We talked about his work for the winter. Apparently, winter for the White Tiger clan involved a lot of sword and qi training. He had reached the age of majority only last year, which meant that his education was still incomplete. I gathered that he was in the stage of his training akin to college on Earth, in that he had finished his basic general studies and was now receiving specialized training in air elemental combat.

“It looks like you’ll be busy,” I said.

“Not that busy compared to hunting season,” he said.

“I’ll try to arrange my vacation days around your schedule,” I promised.

“At the very least, I’d like to accompany you to Wukan,” he said.

“Oh, and there’s just one more thing. Do you remember that you still owe me one favor?”

“Yes. Do you want something?”

I leaned forward and placed my hands on his arms, staring deeply into his eyes. “I do. Promise me that you’ll never wear red in public.”

“What?! Why?”

“What do you mean, why? It’s obviously because of your father.” I smirked at him.

“...” He pouted.

“Please promise me. I don’t want other people to see you when you’re wearing red. It’s too much!”

He chuckled. “Feeling possessive? I like that.”

“You can wear red when it’s just the two of us,” I said.

“Agreed!”

And he showed me what he could do in five minutes.