My mother’s face could not be painted. Even Eren was a little incredulous.

“Evyionne…”

“Of other scents! What’s the use of buying a bottle if I can’t have at least five?” I protested.

My mother shook her head. “Evyionne, what in the world would you do with these, even?”

I sighed. “I won’t ask anything for the next five years…” I muttered and pulled a long face.

“The little miss is quite right,” the shopkeeper said with a chuckle. “I’m not merely trying to sell more. But if I’m quite honest, I think this missy is planning to make a perfume.” He smiled. “It’s not that hard but it’s not easy either. I’ll tell you what—I can give you a set of tools to get started with. Also, I can give you smaller bottles of the essences so that you can start experimenting instead of getting the full-sized ones. How does that sound?”

My mother look towards the shop owner with a sigh. “Are you sure? Especially about the tools?”

“They belonged to my father. I’m not really as talented or knowledgeable about this as he was.” He patted my head. “I see his eyes in you.”

My mother still looked unconvinced but as I stared at her with my puppy dog eyes, she yielded.

“Alright.” She gazed at me. “It doesn’t hurt to do this once in a while. Besides, you would only get small bottles. That, I can tolerate.”

I swallowed nervously.

After ransacking the bottles, I finally found myself a complete set of the notes I needed to create a signature perfume my previous life’s mother had personally made for me. She had shown me the whole process and what to do so I was confident I could handle this. It was a floral scent; a sharp opening of rising violets and the subtle touch of the rose. Hints of vanilla allowed it to glide down easily upon fading, leaving a powdery scent behind.

I really missed this.

Soon, the counter was filled with bottles of essential oils. I gave them a once over and nodded. I decided that starting with these for now was acceptable, considering I was not really the perfumer here—simply the daughter of one from a past life.

In this life, I was not a perfumer at all. However, having all these in front of me had somehow enlivened my spirit. It had rekindled a fire I never knew went out.

My mother gave a weary sigh. “We’ll take all these,” she said.

“Five hundred and four bullions.”

Hellenia stammered. “C-can’t you give me a discount?”

“Since you’re my first customers in a while, four hundred and ninety. That’s my limit. You should know how hard and expensive it is to have these oils. We have pure and high quality stocks of these essences, and they are quite hard and rare to get as well.”

My mother sighed. “Evyionne, you’ve bankrupted me.”

I gave a sheepish grin.

“If I see this being wasted, you will know pain, young lady.”

I felt a sweat drop down my spine.

The clinking resounded as she reached in and pulled out silver coins with purplish centers, throwing them on the counter with a drop of sweat trailing down the side of her face.

“Please count.”

The shop owner nodded. He took out a couple of coppers from the drawer and put them in her hands. “Here’s your change.”

“Come on, you two.”

“Wait a moment,” the shopkeeper said. “I have this book here. I have a feeling you would like this.” He reached over the counter and gave me a thick, leather-bound book. “Consider it my thanks for your patronage. I hope whatever you do with these will be fruitful.”

“T-thank you! You’ve been very nice!” I felt its heaviness in my arms and nearly staggered.

“Would you like me to bag it for you?” he offered with a soft smile, seeing my struggle.

“Yes, please,” I said, sweating. He came around the counter with a blue, soft-weaved fabric bag. He put the box of essential oils and the book in it too. “Here you go.” He handed them to my mother.

“Thank you. What’s your name?” my mother inquired.

“It’s Kilda,” the man replied. “Come again soon.”

“Ooh. I hope not.”

They shared a laugh, and we made our way out of the shop.

I caught my mother staring at me as though I was a baffling art piece. “I think I will need to work on my immunity against your charms, daughter,” she told me. “Honestly what will you do with these?”

“I read a book about it. I’ve been wanting to try it since then. It didn’t look so hard.”

I saw her doubting face.

I racked my brain and pulled a face as I lied. “I remember Mistress Kora grew beautiful plants in his garden,” I told her. “He had a couple of roses and those beautiful violets last season. He told me those seeds even came from far, far away and that they weren’t easy to take care of.” I gave my mother’s hand a tug and flashed my most innocent smile. “I wanted Mistress Kora’s garden in one bottle, but I don’t think just five of them are going to be useful…”

Finally, my adoptive mother laughed. “You’ll have many chances, Evyionne. For now, start with these. No crafts are easy even if they seem simple.”

“Yeah,” Eren stated trustingly. “If it’s Evy, she can do it.”

We stopped for some tea and cakes along the way. We even bought a few clothes. Two hours rolled by quickly and we finally reached the statue. Eren seemed restless. At the mention of our trip reaching its end, she didn’t seem all too willing to go. Meanwhile, I was awestruck. The statue was grand and tall, towering to almost twenty feet. It had a svelte body curled like a spring, racing towards the sky as though eager to return to its domain. It had open jaws with a ball on its tongue. Looking closer, I realized it was actually a waning crescent.

“Look at the ground,” my mother said.

I did.

Its shadow cast a long line across a series of numbers. It was then that it dawned me. “It’s a sundial!” I said, amazed. “That is amazing! It’s a giant one!”

“Nobody uses it anymore but…” Eren shrugged. “I agree.”

She admired the dragon with yearning in her eyes. I admired it as well. There was a majesty to it—a wonder—that would pull any who looked upon it into deep contemplation. There were many elements to it that seemed a little conflicting to me but if I had to label the feeling it was giving me, it was nostalgia. And I didn’t know why.

The sun was setting. I didn’t realize how fast time flew. I wasn’t really sure what time it was when we left the Dragoon Academy either.

The sound of beating wings interrupted my thoughts. I broke away from admiring the statue as the crowd around me squealed and stepped back to give space for a dragon descending on the open grounds. My eyes went round with admiration as a blond man stepped down and greeted us with a smile.

It was that man who’d saved us earlier.

“Ah, I knew it was you,” he said, jumping off the back of the handsome beast he was riding. It was my first time seeing it up close. Such sleek scales and a long neck—crescent moon talons and a finely built form. It had beautiful, leathery wings that glowed opal under the setting rays of the sun.

“Is that a dragon?” I couldn’t help but ask.

He looked at me and smiled. “Not a dragon…no…those things don’t really exist. Not here in this plane, at least. Meet Avalon.” He reached up to his mount and caressed the horn jutting from its jaw. “He’s a wyvern. Something close.”

“That’s a nice name,” I whispered.

I looked at the wyvern in awe, quite amazed. It returned my gaze with a calm gaze as though to examine my soul. I saw the heaven in its eyes, a shower of rainbows in the after-rain. It had the sky in its scales and the auroras in its wings.

It stared at me for many moments before lowering its head to my level. Its head was twice as big as I was, but I was at peace even as it neared. Eren, on the other hand, had finally broken off her tight grip from my hand and hid behind my back, squeaking in panic. A resonation in my soul rang, and I felt the dragon’s throat rumble.

“Whoa,” the man began. “It’s not every day he likes someone.” He scratched his head. “Wyverns are particularly hard to please.”

“Leiran,” my mother began.

“Ah.” He pulled his attention back to Hellenia before looking at the girl behind me. Eren peeked over my shoulder. “That reminds me. I need to take you back.”

Eren pouted and looked at me. “Evy…”

“You’ve got to go back, Eren,” I said. “I’m sure you don’t want to worry your mom. Isn’t she sick?” Looking at her pitiful face, I pulled a smile to my lips. “Mama, is there a way I can talk with Erenol after this?”

“Of course, darling,” my mother stated, hand on my back as she patted Erenol’s head kindly. “Leiran will give Eren my personal frequency so she can talk to you anytime.”

“Really?” Eren’s eyes lit up.

“Sure.” She nodded. “That way, this isn’t the end.”

“Of course not!” Eren exclaimed, jumping excitedly at the notion. To my surprise, she dove in for an embrace. “Ahhh…a friend! A friend!” she squealed. “I can’t wait to tell Mama. Let’s go, let’s go.” She finally broke away and approached the blond captain, waving at me as though there was no tomorrow.

I returned the wave.

“Would you need a ride home?” Leiran offered.

“No,” my mother told him. “My daughter and I…” she began with a breath, “we will be walking. This is the first time I have brought her outside the House. She deserves a little more time to sight-see.”

The blond captain looked down at me. I could see he was trying to discern my face under the shadow of my little cape. I stared right back with my amaranthine pair, wondering what sort of thoughts were running around his head. Were they the judging kind? Whatever it was, I would leave it to him. His expression was ambiguous. I didn’t know if he was calm, surprised, confused, or angry.

“Evy, right?” he asked, tilting a brow charmingly.

I smiled. He was kind of cute. “It’s actually Evyionne.”

“Well, Evyionne.” He knelt before me. “If anyone bullies you or tries to hurt you or your mother, you can have me come to you when you break this.” Leiran pulled something from his pocket. It was a little, pear-shaped, glass crystal that glowed with the symbol of the dragon under the light. It was strung in a simple, woven cord. He placed it around my neck and gave me a couple of pats on my head.

Way to go, this man, trying to win the heart of a woman through her child.

“I’ll see you soon, Hellen,” he said with a bright smile. “Come on now, little girl.” He took Eren by the shoulder before lifting her up to the dragon’s back.

Within moments, they were high up in the air, Eren waving at me and shouting senseless things.

“I like him, Mama,” I said, giving her a thumbs up of approval. If my mother was interested in the man, I should give her my full support. I wouldn’t be the same, selfish girl I was in my past life. The least I could do was allow the people around me to pursue their happiness.

“Really?” She laughed.

“I hope Eren finds her way home okay too.”

“I do too. Come on. Let’s go.”

“He definitely likes you.”

“Oh, Evy.” She pulled me to her side and tapped on my button nose. “Not as much as I like you, my little girl. Now, come on. I still need to get Kora to check on you. I’m quite worried. Let’s hurry home now, shall we?”

“Okay.” I nodded. “But I’m okay, really.”

“It’s always better to be safe than sorry.”