That said, Lilla withdrew from the room and headed for the outskirts of the city. For almost two hours Lilla searched the surroundings of Mirandir minutely, inside and outside the walls, not a single trace that could suggest any suspicious action, even with the help of a hawk that flew over the whole city, she could not find anything.

Disappointed and beginning to feel irritated by her unsuccessful investigation, she decided to ask the vendors and singers if they had seen anyone outside, or who was suspicious, but none of them saw anything worth investigating.

On a last effort, Lilla made her way to Cass's stall.

“Sorry Li, I was so busy today that I couldn't pay much attention to the other mages that passed, so I can't tell you for sure. At least none of my clients looked suspicious. She replied as she baked another batch of cookies.

Lilla moaned in frustration, resting her head on her hands that rested on the counter.

"How does a spell like that leave no traces? Not the slightest trace?”

She stood there silently, mentally reviewing every inch she'd analyzed, every conversation, but nothing seemed to indicate any clue to the culprit, however small.

“Hm… Lilla?” Called Cassady. Lilla looked up, still a little disconnected from the present. “The line.”

“What?” Lilla looked back, a reasonably sized line had formed behind her. “Oops! Sorry.” she said giving way to the next in line.

Cassady chuckled as she sealed a package with some scones, the customers looking a little impatient but nothing a little food couldn't fix.

“Me and my terrible habit of disconnecting from reality.” She commented laughing.

“Here, take it to your siblings.” She said handing over a package with some scones. “Courtesy of the house.”

“Cass…”

“Don't worry,” she interrupted, “the price is taking whoever attacked the city. She said with a smile.

Lilla thanked her and said goodbye to her friend. Eyes still gray as rain clouds, Lilla returned to the apothecary, frowning.

"So, did you find anything?" Aglia asked as Lilla entered the room, finishing another dose of rainbow-berries potion.

“Nothing.” She replied throwing herself on the bed, arms crossed. “Whoever planned this attack was very cautious in its execution.”

Aglia and Rox nodded silently.

"If you're feeling well, you can go, dear." Madam Erandir said, appearing at the door and removing the three from their thoughts.

“Okay, thank you very much Erandir.” Aglia replied, “Shall we?” She asked turning to the brothers “There's still a festival out there.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Lilla. "Cass gave us scones." She said lifting the package.

“Let's save them for the return trip.”

So the triplets left the apothecary, their spirits renewed, it was after five in the afternoon and there were only a few more hours until sunset. Wanting to make the most of the time they had left, the three hurried to the central square.

They didn't dance, but enjoyed all the songs very well and many of the stalls with the most varied games: fishing and hitting the bottle.

Lilla and Rox watched Aglia closely, always being careful not to leave her alone or trying too hard. To which Aglia was starting to lose some of her patience with the exaggerated care of the brothers.

“I am fine.” She said impatiently. “I have already told you. If you remember,” she added, “I'm a healer, and I can take good care of myself, thank you.”

After a few frustrated rounds of guessing the flower they were all a little tired and decided that before returning home they would check out the festival decorations.