Corwin’s Scent wasn’t a large shop. It occupied a square two-story building with a gold painted front door. Two large windows flanked the door, displaying the interior of the shop. It had a cream and gold color scheme. Shelves lined the walls. Perfume bottles of all shapes and sizes occupied one, each filled with different colored liquids. Bottles of scented oils occupied another. Boxes containing bars of soap occupied a third.

In the middle of the shop’s floor was a display stand which held the seasonal and limited edition items. Since it was spring, it looked like they were going with flowers that fit the season: magnolias, lilacs, and peonies.

A counter stood near the back of the shop, next to a staircase leading to the second floor. From personal experience, I knew that the second floor held a lounge reserved for special guests; VIPs in other words. There weren’t any perfumes, oils, or soaps on display up there. Instead, the guests would shop from a catalog while the employees waited on them hand and foot. I knew this because I visited a few of House Corwin’s shops with Elizabeth, at the behest of our parents, and House Corwin used the same basic layout for each one.

There were a few customers already browsing inside the shop, which was good for us. The less attention we attracted, the better. Though, given my hair color, this was a futile hope.

I ushered Lorelei and Corie inside. The first thing I noticed was a light floral scent in the air. I wasn’t sure what kind of flower it belonged to, but it made me think of spring and growth. How appropriate.

The murmur of conversation reached our ears as employees helped the other customers. Other than that, the shop’s atmosphere was quiet, peaceful even. If it hadn’t belonged to my ex-fiancée’s House, I would have found it soothing.

Lorelei and Corie browsed the shelf containing the perfumes, with me right behind them. This was Corie’s show, and I would follow her lead. Still, I took the time to study the various perfumes on display, just in case I found something that Mother or Kaylee might like. The name of each perfume was printed out on a small paper card displayed right in front of the bottle.

Carnation Kiss. Peach Blossom Delight. Rosewater.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed one of the employees finish helping another customer before heading in our direction. He was a young man who wore the shop’s uniform: black pants, white shirt, and purple vest. A bright smile adorned his face.

“Hello there,” the young man said in a cheerful voice. “How can I help you?”

“We’re just browsing,” Corie said without turning around. “We’ll call you if we need you.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. She must have been taking lessons, because that was the exact way a House lady who wanted to be left alone would respond. Lorelei struggled to maintain a straight face, though the corners of her lips kept turning up.

To his credit, the young man didn’t even blink an eye at Corie’s attitude. Instead, he turned to me and opened his mouth to speak.

“What abo-…?” he started to say, but stopped when he noticed my hair.

His smile disappeared and his face paled as he realized who I was. I gave him a bright smile of my own.

“Excuse me,” the young man said, before hurrying off.

He rushed towards an older man who looked to be the manager of this place. The two of them entered into a whispered conversation, while glancing at our little group every now and again. Thanks to my enhanced hearing, I could make out the gist of their conversation, if not the specifics. Once again, I missed my divine sense.

“Whatever it is you’re looking for,” I said, watching the drama unfold. “You better hurry. We’re attracting attention.”

“I just…” Corie said. “I just don’t get it. You said House Corwin was more powerful than House Sturm. I’ve seen your parents’ magic.” She gestured to the perfume bottles. “How could the people who made all this be more powerful than that?”

A second manager joined the first, entering into the conversation. From what I could overhear, they were debating on what to do with me. On the one hand, I was a House scion. On the other hand, I was a scion of House Sturm. They also mentioned something about a special guest.

“It’s a matter of perspective,” I said. “House Corwin isn’t a combat House. They specialize in alchemy. However, they have more scions than House Sturm, more wealth, and more retainers. Father is more powerful than Lady Corwin, but she has more people and resources on her side.” I faced Corie. “Not only that, but if they have the same unique physique as you, then it’s likely that they fight using poison. You, of all people, should know how effective that is.”

Corie grimaced.

“I’m not sure about how that makes me feel,” she muttered.

“What exactly are you looking for, Corie?” Lorelei asked.

“I don’t know,” Corie said with a sigh. “I just thought that by coming in here, I’d better understand my father’s family.”

It occurred to me that maybe Corie was looking for some kind of connection to her father. All she knew about him was from her mother, and a bit from me. Even though Corie hated his guts, she had to be curious about what he was like. I made a mental note to invite her along the next time I attended a social event. Andrew Corwin was a social person, and attended every event he could. We were bound to run into him if we persisted.

“I think we should leave,” Corie said, looking around. “This was a stupid idea.”

I shook my head.

“No, it wasn’t,” I said. “You wanted to know more about House Corwin. Studying their businesses isn’t the worst way to go about it. If nothing else, it tells you about the face they show the world.”

Corie took a moment to respond, looking thoughtful.

“You’re not wrong,” she said.

Before I could respond, the second manager approached our group. At a guess, he was in his mid-thirties and wore a fancier version of the employee uniform. He even had a jacket to go over the shirt and vest.

“Lord Gabriel,” he said, looking nervous. “I have to ask you and your companions to leave.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Why?” I asked. “Have I been banned from House Corwin’s shops?”

The man hesitated before answering.

“No,” he said. “But the timing is rather poor. We have a special guest today, and I think you should leave before she realizes that you’re here.”

Special guest? I tilted my head and studied the manager. Given the way he acted, he expected something bad to happen if I ended up meeting with this special guest. While my reputation wasn’t the best among House society at the moment, there were only a few House ladies that I was on bad terms with. Since I wanted to avoid any House bullshit today, maybe it was best to heed the manager’s advice and leave. That didn’t mean I had to be gracious about it.

“Very well,” I said, giving the manager a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “I shall remember this shop, and how you people ushered me and my people out like unwanted vagrants.”

The manager blanched at this, but I ignored him and turned to the others.

“Let’s go,” I said. “It looks like we’re not welcome here.”

Lorelei rolled her eyes at my antics, while Corie looked lost in thought. The three of us started towards the door, but before we took more than a few steps, I noticed someone coming down the stairs. It was a woman dressed the same way as the second manager: pants, shirt, vest, and jacket. Another woman, a House lady, followed behind her.

I stopped when I saw who it was. If I left now, I would look like I was running away.

“Thank you for visiting us, my lady,” the woman gushed. “We were honored to host a member of House Corwin today.”

“No, I am the one who is honored,” the House lady said, her voice light and melodic. “I am grateful for all the hard work you and your people do for our House, and I know my aunt feels the same.”

The female manager blushed at those words. When the two of them reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned towards the rest of the shop and her expression dropped when she saw me and my disciples. The House lady followed her gaze. Our eyes met, and it seemed like everyone was holding their breath.

After several seconds, the House lady walked towards me. Her steps were so smooth and controlled, she seemed to glide across the floor rather than walk. She was tall for a woman, with a lithe figure. She had cream colored skin and long strawberry blonde hair. She wore an emerald green dress that matched the color of her eyes. An air of grace and elegance surrounded her. Her expression was fixed into a polite mask.

The House lady stopped a few feet away from me, before curtsying. It was perfect, like everything she did. With some reluctance, I bowed in return.

“Greetings, Lord Gabriel,” the House lady said.

“Greetings to you as well, Lady Elizabeth.”

When we rose, she stared at me with those green eyes of hers.

Elizabeth Corwin, my ex-fiancée and Corie’s half-sister.

Fuck.

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

A few minutes later, the two of us found ourselves sitting at a nearby cafe. It was a cute little place with an outdoor seating area cordoned off by a wooden railing. We had a great view of the plaza as we enjoyed our drinks. Well, enjoyed was an overstatement. Neither of us had touched ours.

After we greeted each other, Elizabeth invited me to have a drink with her. Since I didn’t want to be rude and worsen relations between our two Houses even further, I accepted. If nothing else, as I was curious about what she wanted to say to me. I assume she invited me for a reason.

When we arrived at the cafe, and the staff saw who we were, they scrambled to serve us. A waiter arrived the moment we took our seats, and he had our drinks ready for us less than a minute after we ordered.

Elizabeth got some tea, while I went with coffee, since I had a feeling I would need the strong and bitter brew. At least it smelled delicious.

Lorelei and Corie sat nearby; close enough to keep an eye on us, but far enough away to give us the illusion of privacy. If they used their spirit sense, eavesdropping on our conversation would be child’s play. While they were my escorts for this outing, I knew that Corie was more curious about Elizabeth than anything else. More than once, I caught Corie staring at her half-sister. I wondered what was going through her mind.

Scions from minor Houses occupied the other seats. The sound of their murmurs and whispers reached my ears. By this evening, news of this meeting would be all over Sunheart. I resisted the urge to sigh. I had accepted that something like this would happen when I walked into Corwin’s Scents, but that didn’t make it any less annoying to deal with. I just hoped that House Thorne didn’t misunderstand anything. Otherwise, they would be even more difficult to deal with.

After we received our drinks, Elizabeth and I stared at each other in silence. Neither one of us had said a word to each other, not since Elizabeth extended her invitation. It was super awkward.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about Elizabeth. We had known each other for almost our entire lives, yet we had hardly spent any time with each other. We went out a few times, as mandated by our parents, but we otherwise lived completely separate lives. I imagine that our marriage would have been the same. We would have been strangers who just happened to be married to each other. We would work together for the sake of House Sturm, since Elizabeth was supposed to join my family, but there would be no love between us.

I accepted it at the time, since that was how most marriages between House scions went, but after regaining the memories of my previous two lives, I now realized how suffocating that would have been. Elizabeth and I both deserved better than that.

If I said that to any House lord, they would have strangled me. Elizabeth was the textbook definition of a perfect House lady. She was calm and poised, with impeccable manners. Her magical aptitude was decent, topping out at the Fifth Circle. She was also quite the beauty. Before my duel with Annabelle, several young lords expressed envy that I would get to marry someone like her.

Her only flaw was that House Corwin was a relatively new House, only a few generations old, which made her pedigree far inferior to mine. She also belonged to one of House Corwin’s branch families, not its main family. However, other than that, she was the perfect bride for any heir from a middling House. The polite mask she always wore was off putting, since it made it difficult to get a read on her, but some would consider that a good thing.

I suppose I could get upset with Elizabeth for breaking off our engagement, but why bother? I understood why she did it. It wasn’t like I gave her much choice in the matter. She had her family and her own reputation to consider. Sticking by my side would have dragged her down with me.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Besides, I would have broken off our engagement myself. Even if my plan to avoid Annabelle and keep my identity secret from her had worked, I would have ended things with Elizabeth. I wanted to focus on cultivation and improving my family’s fortunes. A marriage with Elizabeth would have gotten in the way of that. She deserved a husband who would have treated her like a partner, not one who would have viewed her as a bother and a nuisance.

I was just annoyed that Elizabeth hadn’t ended things between us face to face. She sent a letter calling off our engagement, while I was still in a coma, rather than wait to tell me in person. I could fault her for that.

As I studied Elizabeth, I noted the similarities between her and Corie. They were so obvious that I was annoyed with my past self for not realizing they were related when I first met Corie. While their hair colors were different, it was obvious to anyone with a pair of working eyes that they were sisters. Only a fool would think otherwise, and Elizabeth was no fool.

At some point during this conversation, she would ask about Corie.

“You seem well, Lord Gabriel,” Elizabeth said, breaking the silence. “From what I see, the past year has been good to you.”

I smiled at that. So, we were starting with small talk, were we? I mean, there were worse ways to ease into the conversation.

“It has, yes,” I said. “The Icefall Region is rough and rugged, but invigorating. I recommend visiting it if you want a break from city life.”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“No,” she said. “I enjoy the comforts and amenities of Sunheart far too much to do that. I’m not as suited for rougher climes as you are.”

Some might interpret her words as an insult, but I knew she was being genuine.

“How about you, Lady Elizabeth?” I asked. “How have you been for the past year?”

“I’ve been doing well,” she said. “Thank you for asking.”

As we filled the air with our inane chatter, the tension between us melted away. While I wouldn’t say that we were comfortable with each other, at least things weren’t awkward anymore.

“Where is Doris?” I asked, looking around. “I’ve never seen you without her before.”

Doris was Elizabeth’s handmaid and bodyguard. She always hovered around in the background whenever Elizabeth and I spent time together, remaining silent and always keeping her head down. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her speak. Hell, I wasn’t sure if I'd ever seen her eyes.

“I have an appointment soon,” Elizabeth said. “And Doris off on an errand related to that.”

I raised an eyebrow at that.

“Is it a good idea for you to be walking around without her?” I asked.

A slight smile touched Elizabeth’s lips, before she took a sip of her tea.

“I can handle myself,” she said. “Besides, I’m not in any danger with you around. Or am I, Lord Gabriel?”

I snorted at that.

“Now then,” Elizabeth said, setting her tea cup down. “What did you wish to speak with me about, Lord Gabriel?”

I furrowed my brow.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “You’re the one who invited me here. I assumed you had something to say to me.”

Elizabeth sipped her tea before responding.

“Lord Gabriel,” she said. “It’s obvious that you wanted to speak with me. Why else would you show up while I was visiting one of my House’s shops? Don’t insult my intelligence by pretending otherwise. I thought you were better than that.”

I sighed. Any further denials would sound like excuses.

“It was a coincidence,” I said. “I hadn’t known you were in that particular shop until you walked down the stairs. However, now that you mention it, you’re right. I do have something to say to you.”

Elizabeth put down her tea cup and studied me with a steady gaze.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

She blinked at me several times.

“Come again?” she asked, caught off guard by my words.

I resisted the urge to smirk. I bet she had expected me to condemn her for breaking off her engagement.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated. “Last year I acted like a complete fool without realizing how it would affect the people around me.” It wasn’t entirely my fault, but I wasn’t going to mention that. “My actions harmed those closest to me, and I apologize for any difficulties or troubles you experienced as a result. I am sorry, Lady Elizabeth.”

As my former fiancée, Elizabeth would have experienced some backlash from what happened last year. Not as much as my family, but she wouldn’t have come out of it unscathed. I wasn’t sure about the rest of her House, but she wouldn’t have been spared. Breaking off our engagement would have mitigated some of it, but not all of it.

“I see,” Elizabeth said after several seconds. “I’ll admit, I’m surprised by your apology, Lord Gabriel. I expected you to reprimand me for abandoning you when you were at your lowest. Instead, you apologized. I’m not sure how to react.”

I shrugged.

“I don’t blame you for that, given what happened,” I said. “I became damaged goods, so to speak, so severing ties-…”

Elizabeth slammed her tea cup down, cutting me off mid sentence, and glared at me.

“Don’t say that,” she said in a heated voice. “I never thought of you as ‘damaged goods’, so don’t speak about yourself like that. That isn’t why I ended our engagement.”

I stared at her for several long seconds. In all the time we’ve known each other, I’ve never seen Elizabeth wear any expression other than a polite mask. Seeing her like this surprised me.

Elizabeth took a deep breath to regain her composure, slipping the polite mask back into place.

“It was my aunt’s idea to end our engagement,” she said. “Not mine. Given the choice, I would have stood by your side, through thick and thin. That is what marriage means to me. However, I wasn’t given the choice. You know how delicate my family’s position within House Corwin is. If I had opposed my aunt, it wouldn’t have ended well for us.”

I nodded at that. Elizabeth sounded sincere, and not like someone trying to make excuses. Her family were little better than retainers within House Corwin, since her father was born a spare and not the heir. If Elizabeth had tried to oppose her aunt, Lady Corwin, then things would have gotten ugly.

The reason why Elizabeth mentioned it out in the open, without bothering to try and hide it, was that everyone knew what happened to spares who didn’t leave their Houses. It was to the point where most of House society considered them a better class of servant. Not quite retainers, but not quite equals either. While she never said as much, I knew Elizabeth hated it. I would too, in her position.

This was why most Houses married off their spares, or encouraged them to form their own Houses. Otherwise, it would lead to bloody infighting later on down the line. Some Houses didn’t care, and even encouraged such infighting, since they believed that only the strongest would survive, leaving the House stronger as a whole. Those Houses often imploded, but a few managed to make it work.

One of the reasons why I stepped down as heir was to keep Kaylee and her descendants from suffering the same fate. Now I just needed to make sure to keep that from happening to Roland. My little brother deserved a better life than that. Perhaps he would choose to focus on Clan Sturm rather than House Sturm.

“It seems I owe you another apology,” I said. “I misunderstood the reasons behind your actions.”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“Don’t,” she said. “Any other House scion would have ended our engagement for the reasons you mentioned earlier. It wasn’t as if I explained myself in the letter I sent you. You owe me nothing.”

True. The letter she sent could be summarized as “I’m calling off our engagement.”

“Still, I do feel bad for thinking ill of you,” I said, before chuckling. “It seems you do hold some affection for me. This entire time, I thought you didn’t care for me one way or another.”

Because of that polite mask she always wore, I always assumed Elizabeth only cared about the benefits our marriage would bring to her and her House. I didn’t think she cared about me as a person.

“Of course I cared about you,” Elizabeth said. “I still do. You were my fiancé. While I wouldn’t say that I loved you, I was fond of you. I always thought that love would come later, after we married and we came to know each other better.”

I stared at Elizabeth in stunned silence. After all this time, I realized that I never really knew my former fiancée, despite our long engagement. I was now discovering a side to her that I never knew existed. Her words made me feel guilty since I hadn’t thought of her the same way. I didn’t hate her, but neither did I love her, or ever like her. She was just someone I was supposed to marry.

“That could still happen,” Elizabeth said in a quiet voice.

I blinked at her.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“My aunt wanted me to end our engagement for two reasons,” Elizabeth said. “The first was to avoid coming into conflict with House Thorne. She was afraid that they would retaliate against your family and anyone else associated with you.”

A reasonable assumption, though one that proved false in the end. While House Thorne retaliated against me by getting me kicked out of the Solarian Imperial Academy, they left my family and everyone else close to me alone, thanks to Annabelle’s influence. It was the rest of House society, looking to get into House Thorne’s good graces, that persecuted my loved ones.

I mean, there was the time that Lord Miles traveled all the way to the Icefall Region to pick a fight with me, but that didn’t count. He did it without his parents’ blessing, and he was under the influence of a Dark magic spell at the time.

“The second reason was because of your broken Circles,” Elizabeth continued. “My aunt believed that it would affect our childrens’ magical aptitude.”

Okay, now that just pissed me off.

“That’s ridiculous,” I scoffed. “While one’s Circle’s and one’s aptitude are related, they aren’t the same. My aptitude remained the same, even after Lady Annabelle shattered my Circles.”

“That’s what I told her,” Elizabeth said. “My aunt refused to listen.” She leaned in closer. “However, things are different now. Things have settled down with House Thorne, and you somehow pulled off a miracle by restoring your Circles. We can get engaged again.”

This was not the direction I expected this conversation to go. I needed to nip this in the bud here and now. Given the number of eyes and ears on us, it was just a matter of time before someone started a rumor. If that happened, dealing with House Thorne would become even more difficult.

“No,” I said. “That won’t happen, Lady Elizabeth.”

“I know it will be difficult,” she said. “I’ll have to convince my aunt, and you’ll have to convince your parents, but we can make it work. I know we can. In fact, now that your family has access to mythril, my aunt-…”

I held up a hand to cut her off.

“No,” I said in a firm voice. “I don’t want to get married to you, Lady Elizabeth. Not now, not ever.”

Elizabeth stared at me as if I had just punched her in the face and she wasn’t sure how to process that.

“What?” she asked. “Why not? The reasons why our engagement happened in the first place still remain. A marriage between us would benefit both of our Houses, and I believe that we could fall in love if given the chance. You’re no longer the heir to House Sturm, which won’t make my aunt happy, but that never mattered to me.”

“I’m in love with someone else,” I said, looking Elizabeth right in the eyes. “I wish to marry her and spend the rest of my life with her.”

The rest of eternity, if I had my way. Or at least until reality returned primordial chaos.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at me, and the temperature around us seemed to drop.

“Who?” she demanded. “Is it someone you met in the Icefall Region?” Her eyes flickered to my disciples. “Is it one of them? The redhead, perhaps?”

Called it, though I hadn’t expected Elizabeth to bring up Corie in this particular context.

My disciples, who were no doubt eavesdropping on our conversation, very pointedly looked away from us, though I caught a glimpse of their expressions. Lorelei smirked, while Corie looked disgusted.

“To answer all of your questions,” I said. “No, no, and no.”

“Then who, Lord Gabriel?” Elizabeth asked. “Tell me. I deserve that much at least.”

While I didn’t want to keep my relationship with Annabelle a secret, if I answered Elizabeth’s question, word would get out and spread like wildfire. House Thorne would assume that I was trying to pressure them into letting me court Annabelle, which was a headache I didn’t want.

In fact, the mere thought caused my headache to worsen. I needed to head home and have a lie down.

“I can’t tell you,” I said. “Not yet at least. I haven’t secured her parents’ blessing yet, and I don’t wish to spawn any unnecessary rumors.”

Elizabeth stared at me for several long seconds, before letting out a sigh.

“I see,” she said. The polite mask made it difficult to tell how she felt, though I imagine that she wasn’t happy. “In that case, I assume I’ll hear about it through the usual channels.”

The usual channels being gossip, rumors, and official announcements. When two House scions courted each other, or became engaged, it was usually the result of some political alliance or business deal between their respective Houses. Sometimes the reverse happened and the courtship came first, with any alliances or deals coming afterward, but their Houses were involved either way. Regardless, when this happened, their Houses made a joint announcement.

“Yes,” I said.

One way or another, with or without her parents’ blessing, Annabelle and I would be together.

“In that case,” Elizabeth said. “I don’t think we have anything more to say to each other.” She glanced off to the side. “Perfect timing too. It looks like it’s time for me to leave for my next appointment.”

I followed her gaze. A magic carriage, which didn’t use horses, drove into the plaza. It had the symbol of House Corwin on its side: a carnation surrounded by a gust of wind. The magic carriage stopped next to the cafe we were at. The door opened and a woman stepped out.

It was Doris, Elizabeth’s handmaid and bodyguard. She was tall and lean, like Corie, with pale skin and short black hair. She wore a uniform with the symbol of House Corwin on it. As always, she kept her gaze lowered, hiding her eyes.

Doris walked up to the wooden railing and curtsied to Elizabeth.

“Lady Elizabeth,” she said in a quiet voice. “The arrangements have been made.” She paused, her eyes flickering to me for a brief moment. “We must leave now if you don’t want to be late.”

“Thank you, Doris,” Elizabeth said. She stood up and gave me a curtsy. “This is where we say goodbye, Lord Gabriel.”

I stood up and bowed to her in return. After today, the chances of us spending time together like this were low. We had no reason to see each other, since we weren’t engaged and our Houses had no business dealings with each other. In fact, meeting each other might cause us trouble, because of our shared past.

We would run into one another at social events and such, but that was it.

“Goodbye, Lady Elizabeth,” I said. “I wish you luck in your future endeavors, as well as a long and happy life. You deserve it.”

Elizabeth’s expression softened, and she had a wistful look in her eyes.

“You as well, Lord Gabriel.” She pulled a thick paper card out of a hidden pocket in her dress. It just had the symbol of House Corwin on it. “Here. This will give you access to the second floor of any of House Corwin’s shops. Consider it a parting gift.”

I took the card.

“Thank you.”

With that, Elizabeth stepped into the carriage with Doris in tow. As soon as they shut the door, the carriage pulled away and soon they were out of sight.

I sat back down and finally took a sip of my now tepid coffee. It still tasted delicious. My disciples joined me at my table. Corie took Elizabeth’s spot, while Lorelei pulled up a chair.

“So,” Corie said. “That was your former fiancée.”

And my sister, Corie’s eyes said, though she didn’t say that part out loud.

“I thought she was nice,” Lorelei said. “A bit sad though. She labors under a heavy burden.”

I nodded.

“It must be difficult being the daughter of a spare,” I said. “Her life is not her own. I think part of the reason why she wanted to marry me was to escape that fate.”

“Tsk,” Corie said. “I’m just annoyed that I don’t have an excuse to hate her. I expected her to be a bitch, not…” She gestured in Elizabeth’s general direction. “…that.”

I snorted and shook my head.

“Are you going to keep that?” Lorelei asked, gesturing to the card Elizabeth gave me.

“I might as well,” I said, before draining my coffee. “I assume you learned what you wanted, Corie?”

She nodded.

“Some of it, yeah.”

“In that case, let’s get going.” I stood up. “We still haven’t bought any gifts.”

Though, I had a feeling that we would all get at least one thing from Corwin’s Scents.