The ride back to Sunglow was quick and largely without incidents. There were two small groups of goblins trying to ambush them. But Melina just used her magic to shove the little menaces back into the forest. By the time they realized what had happened, they were already long gone.

  Adrien was excited by the whole experience. He muttered excitedly as they rode on Knight. They made sure to ride slower, but the boy didn't seem perturbed by the speed. He also wanted to study goblins closer, which Melina and Alistair instantly shot down. That would only end with a knife in his leg in the best-case scenario.

  But as the ride wore on, Adrien slowly grew more tired and quiet. Melina suspected that he was likely thinking through the previous days' events. The Church suddenly appearing must have been quite a shock for him. Not to mention that they had labeled him as potentially dangerous to society if he didn't learn to control his power. Suddenly leaving with some stranger must be unnerving as well, even if he didn't show it.

  By the time they reached Sunglow, Adrien was already half dozing off. He appeared to be dimly aware that they had reached their destination but too sleepy to take in his surroundings.

  "Welcome back, Captain!" Barrett greeted Alistair at the entrance gate.

  "Good to be back. How are things here?" Alistair asked.

  "Nothing out of the ordinary."

  "Good. We saw a few groups of goblins on the road, so watch out for those."

  "I'll relay the information." Barrett saluted.

  Alistair and Melina headed towards the bakery. A few familiar faces greeted them along the way, asking about the boy on Knight's back, but Melina promised to explain everything later. Best not to overwhelm him.

  Approaching the bakery, they saw that Gilbert was sitting on the bench outside.

  "We're back, Grandfather." Melina waved at him, then dismounted from the Sienna.

  "Welcome back," he greeted, slowly rising to his feet. Then he pointed at the half-sleeping boy. "And who might that be?"

  "That's Adrien," Melina said.

  The boy lifted his head and muttered sleepily. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."

  "He's the new hire, then?" Gilbert asked.

  "Yes. He… and one other…" Melina admitted, looking away from Gilbert.

  "What do you mean?" The old baker narrowed his eyes.

  "Take him inside, Alistair," she whispered to Alistair. There was no need for the boy to listen to the lengthy scolding she was about to receive.

  "Melina!" Gilbert said, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot impatiently.

  "Well, you see. Adrien is one of Archmage's candidates, so we decided to visit him, but the Church was there, and we couldn't just leave him to their mercy, so I brought him here to train his magic," Melina muttered quickly.

  "And you have the money to just keep this boy around? And what about the Church? You think they'll be happy about you snatching him away?"

  "He'll be working. He's a merchant's son, so he's good at dealing with customers. It'll be helpful to have someone do that. I'll be able to continue cooking even when the bakery is open. As for the Church… It's best if we face them together rather than leave him on his own..."

  "That's true enough. And you think you can afford two new hires?"

  Melina twirled the lock of her hair, deliberately avoiding Gilbert's gaze. "It depends on how well we do…"

  Gilbert let out a loud, exasperated sigh and rubbed his temples. "What am I going to do with you?"

  "I'll do my best to make it all work out!"

  "I know you will. I'm just wondering if your best is enough."

  "It will be! Trust me!" Melina said.

  "Okay, let's put the boy aside now. Who is the other hire, and why aren't they here?" Gilbert asked with a frown.

  "Guildmaster's Beck daughter."

  Gilbert groaned. "Really? Her? That child is so clumsy. I wanted to give her a chance, but the girl broke three bowls before she even began cooking. I can't afford to replace all of my cookware every day."

  "It's okay. I can fix broken stuff with magic," Melina assured.

  "Even magic has its limits. You can't fix the same bowl infinitely."

  Melina pursed her lips. This was true. Each time you fixed a broken thing, it becomes harder to fix the next time. Eventually, it just wouldn't be worth the magical cost to fix it.

  "It'll work out," she said after a long pause.

  "Okay, then last question—where are these youngsters going to stay?"

  "Roxie will stay in my room."

  "And you'll be moving in with your boyfriend?"

  "That was the plan."

  "And where will the boy sleep?"

  "In the living room."

  "For how long?"

  "Well… I was thinking that perhaps it would be safer to move your treasures to the Guild Archive?"

  "Out of the question."

  Melina suppressed the urge to groan. There was no good solution at hand. She was already pushing the bounds of Gilbert's hospitality by pushing these strangers into his home.

  "I'll figure something out… Eventually…" she muttered.

  Gilbert groaned. "Just so you know, I'm not mad at you for trying to help out that boy. I'm mad that you didn't think it through more carefully."

  "I would have, but the Church priests promised to return for Adrien after a few days."

  Gilbert scratched his beard thoughtfully. "You really think this boy is worth all this trouble?"

  "Yes. He is already awakening his powers even without access to the System," she said firmly.

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  "Already? I've never heard of such a case."

  "Me neither. Not to mention that he would have taken my place as Archmage if it weren't for his pacifistic nature. Having him on our side will help us immensely to prevent the tragedy from happening again."

  "Very well. I won't question it anymore. We'll figure out what to do with those youngsters tomorrow. Today, I suggest you go retrieve your fox."

  "I was just about to do that."

  As it turned out, Leliana and Mango had a wonderful time together. The girl didn't want to part with the fox, praising how adorable it had been the whole time. What Melina hadn't expected was to find Elowen in Leliana's house, looking thoroughly exhausted as he lay on the couch.

  She felt like there was an interesting story there, but didn't want to leave Alistair and Adrien for too long. So she thanked Leliana for her (and Elowen's) efforts, promised them a cake, and returned to the bakery.

  Adrien had already fallen asleep on the couch, not caring for dinner or much else. He must have been physically and mentally drained. Nonetheless, Gilbert prepared enough for the boy as well.

  While Melina, Alistair, her two familiars, and Gilbert ate, they were trying to come up with a solution for where Adrien could stay long-term. The living room wasn't a good solution—Alistair admitted that the couch wasn't too comfortable. That, in turn, made Melina feel bad that he had been sleeping there for so long.

  Alistair suggested that Master Gilbert could live in Alistair's home too—there was plenty of room and he didn't mind housing Melina's family member. But the old baker instantly rejected the idea, saying that he would stay in the bakery until the day he died.

  "Then where are we supposed to let Adrien sleep? I promised that he'll be taken care of by his father," Melina muttered.

  "Why not clear out the attic?" Gilbert said after a moment of pause. "There's some old stuff there, and getting to it is a bit of a pain, and you'd probably have to install bigger windows, but there's plenty of space."

  "I didn't know we had an attic," Melina said in surprise.

  "That's because I never showed you."

  After dinner, they all headed upstairs to check the attic. As it turned out, it was hidden neatly in the ceiling. There was a wooden pane that could be moved aside to access it. A rope ladder unrolled as soon as the pane was moved, and Melina climbed it to check the inside. Alistair climbed after her, after putting Mango in. Sienna had no trouble getting in herself.

  "Grandfather, are you not coming?" Melina asked, peering down.

  "No. I'm too old for this. You deal with it," he said and hobbled away to his room.

  Melina nodded and looked around the place. There was a lot of dust, lots of wooden boards, and some old, broken furniture. The tiny window barely let in any light, but the place really was spacious, even with a slanted roof.

  "This place needs some work…" Alistair noted.

  "Doesn't it always?" Melina sighed, but then smiled. "But this is usable. I wonder if Milo would be willing to take these boards out of our hands."

  "They appear to be in good condition," he said.

  Mango, meanwhile, raced around the attic, creating a giant dust cloud that flew everywhere.

  "Mango! Stop!" Melina tried to catch the fox, but it was far too agile. How did she get so fast in a few days?

  Sienna inhaled part of a dust cloud, and Melina saw how the wyrm was about to sneeze. Horrified, Melina quickly shielded all the walls, the boards, the ceiling, Mango, Alistair, and herself with a magic shield. Sienna sneezed, a tiny spark coming out of her mouth.

  It instantly set the whole dust cloud aflame. For a brief moment, flames engulfed them, and the next moment, Melina and everyone else were left standing in shock as little burned dust motes floated down all around them. A distinct odor of smoke permeated the attic. Alistair coughed while Mango sneezed. Sienna looked a bit apologetic as she shook the soot off her scales.

  "What the hell just happened up there?" Gilbert grumbled, hobbling up to the opening.

  "It's okay! Just a little accident," Melina called from above.

  Thanks to her shield, nothing was damaged, but there was soot everywhere. She wondered if she could get them off the previously clean boards.

  "Why does it smell like something burning? You better not be setting the place on fire!" Gilbert warned.

  "It's fine, Grandfather. There was just a lot of dust, which made Sienna sneeze."

  Gilbert muttered something angrily, but eventually hobbled away.

  "How about we deal with this tomorrow?" Alistair suggested, trying to brush the soot off his clothes. Unfortunately, it just smeared everywhere, leaving a nasty stain both on his clothes and on his hand.

  "Yeah… We need to clean up," Melina nodded, then grabbed the naughty fox who ran by her at that exact moment. "And you're taking a bath!"

  Mango yipped excitedly in response, her fur covered in soot, making her look like a black fox rather than an ice fox. There was no remorse whatsoever in her big eyes.

  After bathing Mango, Melina prepared a warm bath for everyone in turn, leaving herself for last despite Alistair's protest. She felt tired after travelling such a long distance for two days in a row. While the saddle certainly had made things easier, her bum still ached. The warm water felt heavenly, and she took her time to soak, letting the exhaustion melt away in the warm water.

  Once she was done, she was surprised to find Alistair, along with her two familiars, lounging on her bed, in what clearly looked like sleepwear.

  "What are you doing?" She asked, a bit flustered and confused.

  "Adrien is sleeping on the couch, remember?" He replied cheekily.

  "Yes, but I thought you would be heading home."

  "I can't just leave my lady alone with these two rascals."

  Sienna let out a plume of smoke and scuttled away to her trough as if to indicate that she wasn't the one who caused trouble. Mango was already sleeping, curled on one of Melina's pillows.

  "I hope you have an extra pillow," he chuckled.

  Melina chuckled at the sight of the baby fox and carefully moved her into her box. She promised to give her a more suitable sleeping place, but while she was small, the box would do just fine.

  "So… You'll be sleeping here?" Melina asked suggestively, then stepped closer to Alistair. She was hoping to repay him for all the teasing that he's done in the past.

  It clearly worked as Alistair shuffled a bit further away, his cheeks turning the slightest bit red.

  "Only if you're alright with it, of course. I can sleep on the floor if you're uncomfortable," he said, clearing his throat nervously.

  "Only if you promise to keep your hands to yourself," she said firmly.

  "No hugs then?" He looked at her pleadingly.

  "Hugs are alright."

  At this point, her cheeks were heating up too. The situation felt awkward, and in the end, she hurriedly crawled under the covers and bid Alistair goodnight. She felt him slide underneath the bedsheets, too.

  Initially, they kept a respectable distance between themselves. However, Melina's bed wasn't big. She was forced to scuttle closer or risk falling out of the bed. He scuttled closer too, and their backs touched. Both of them flinched at the sudden touch, but they didn't pull away.

  "Goodnight, Melina," Alistair muttered, pressing his back gently against hers.

  She allowed herself to relax and slept soundly that night, feeling his warm, broad back pressed against her own.

  Melina was woken up in the early morning by Mango jumping onto the bed. She yipped excitedly and licked at her face.

  "It's too early…" Alistair muttered next to her.

  At some point, he had turned around during the night, and one of his arms was wrapped around her waist while his face was nuzzled into her neck. Melina went rigid as a slab of stone, unnerved by his closeness. But his gentle mutterings assured her that it was an unconscious gesture.

  "I'll take care of it. You can sleep," Melina said, carefully prying herself free.

  He didn't want to let go at first, but the sleepiness won him over. "Thank you, love."

  She was slowly getting used to his shows of affection, but Melina felt she still needed a bit more time before taking the next step. In either case, she had two hungry pairs of eyes looking expectantly at her.

  "Let's go, you two. We have a busy day ahead of us," she said.

  After taking care of both familiars and preparing breakfast for everyone, Melina sat down with a paper in hand and began planning what she had to do for the opening in two days.

  She had the menu ready, and the bakery itself was also ready—Milo would be bringing the new shelves this day or the next. Adrien was here as the main salesperson, and Roxie would be arriving in the evening. She concluded that the main work for today would be moving her things to Alistair's house and preparing her two new hires for the job ahead.

  But there was this little itch at the back of her head, nudging her. As if she had forgotten something.

  Then she remembered. "I was supposed to teach Leon magic yesterday."

  Sienna and Mango both peered at her curiously.

  "Leon did come by yesterday. I told him to return today if he wanted something from you," Gilbert said, having woken up shortly after Melina.

  "I've been such a poor magic teacher. How many lessons have been canceled because of this? Two? Three? I should teach him today, even if just a little. Maybe I can teach Adrien a thing or two while I'm at it."

  "You are a poor teacher indeed. Mostly because you undertake too much stuff," Gilbert grumbled.

  Melina groaned. She couldn't just back out on her promises—Leon had helped them out a lot by singlehandedly keeping the chillbox alive. She had to teach him today. And Adrien too. The Church wouldn't be waiting for long after all.