Chapter 98
Breaking through the smell of old parchment, she caught a whiff of the pleasant and peaceful scent emanating from Xerath. Hidden beneath the coldness, it smelled gentle and distant, much like a moose.
She secretly laughed, and Xerath turned to look at her. He didn't say anything or show any expression, except for a faint smile that Sylas thought she imagined.
The next day was still a day off, and everyone unintentionally slept in for an extra hour. Among them, the archmage was the latest to wake up. Sylas and Virgil were chatting when she walked in.
Virgil looked up at her, furrowing his brow with a thoughtful expression. "Xerath... I feel like you're different today."
Xerath raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Virgil, it's time to challenge your observation skills."
Virgil suddenly clapped his hands and jumped up, with Titus jumping up at the same time.
"A dress! It must be! My goodness! What kind of magic made you make this decision? My goodness, my goodness, the last time I saw you wear a dress must have been... twenty years ago? Can't believe how time flies..."
Unlike the noisy Virgil, Sylas didn't make a sound. She absentmindedly held one hand to her chest, looking at Xerath with a fast-beating heart.
It's not uncommon for the heart to beat fast. Xerath had done many things that made her face blush and heart race. Most of the time, she believed it was "nervousness".
This should also be nervousness, but it felt a bit different. Her heart was pounding as if it wanted to jump out of her chest. But when Sylas really intended to let it jump out, she realized that what came out was words. So she had to tightly shut her mouth.
Is... is it because I said I wanted to see?
Asking seemed to bring about some incredible change.
Just as she was feeling nervous, Xerath turned to her, with the same arrogant expression as always, and a confident stride.
"Is it pretty, Sylas?"
Sylas also jumped in surprise, "Me? Me? You're asking me?"
"Of course, you said you wanted to see it yesterday, so I wore it today."
"Pretty, pretty, of course it's pretty. So far, I think you look beautiful no matter what you wear."
Xerath smiled and said, "I'm afraid your curiosity will ferment into overly high expectations, so I smothered it in its cradle. If I show it to you again in a few months, you might not find it as pretty as you imagine."
Sylas also smiled, and Xerath's expression gave her a sense of something being hidden. She asked, "My assumption is no. But why did you give up this opportunity for experimentation?"
Xerath shrugged and opened her hands, saying, "You should know that my taste has remained at a fairly constant level..."
Suddenly, Sylas's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "Are you saying you'll dress similar to me tomorrow? So we might as well wear it today, to avoid any surprise later?"
Xerath nodded, gesturing with her mouth towards Virgil, but her eyes remained on Sylas.
Sylas happily ran to pull out a chair, waiting for Xerath to sit in front of her before she joyfully took her seat opposite Xerath.
In the past, when Virgil came, Xerath would sit in the host's seat to maintain a face-to-face position for conversation. However, Virgil himself forgot when it started, and Xerath became accustomed to sitting across from Sylas. Breakfast times were usually when she and Sylas would talk.
He lightly poked Titus, who was eating with his head lowered. Titus flinched but kept his head near the food bowl without moving.
"You silly dog, don't you feel that we are both outsiders here?"
"Virgil, don't disturb Titus while he's eating. Have you thought about what else you want to add?"
"Yes, I've thought about it. I made a list." Hyectra took it over and snapped her fingers when she saw it. Just as she was about to say something to the Archmage, he had already returned to his conversation with Sylas.
"To avoid disappointing you, I have to declare that I won't be wearing that white cloak tomorrow. It's for our preparation in the desert. And tomorrow, our first stop is Tabletop Mountain City."
Virgil forcefully joined the discussion, leaning half of his body on the table. "Little beast, do you want to go visit the Hunters' Guild? It's where they brand the animals. You might even see some cute wolf cubs."
The Archmage reached out his hand as if to protect Sylas, squinting at Virgil and silently warning him to step back.
"No, without this stop, we'll go straight to the Mage Guild tomorrow to get what we need and then leave. If I may be frank, what about Dvořák?"
"Dvořák will leave on his own and wait for us at the final destination."
"Very well, I'm afraid it might defecate in my library."
Virgil refused to back down, saying, "Dvořák also dislikes your Portal! It always makes people dizzy when using it! They can't even eat properly for days, how pitiful..."
"Ow... ow ow ow..." Titus joined in and made a pitiful sound.
The archmage didn't bother with their improvised acts and turned to Sylas, asking, "What's the matter? Do you have something to say?"
"Um... well... I won't wear it tomorrow... Is that okay?"
It was probably because her yearning was so obvious on her face, Xerath laughed and said, "If you like it, of course you can wear it!"
"Really? Is it nice?" The gloom on her face dissipated too quickly.
"Of course," Xerath replied to this obvious question, "You look good in anything, at least based on my experience of you wearing my clothes."
The girl's smile stayed on. It was quite beautiful. Virgil kept staring at her, admiring her ever-changing expressions, wondering if Xerath would make her change her face again. The archmage didn't disappoint her and after the little girl giggled to herself for a while, he said, "But considering I don't have any more spare clothes like this, if you want any alternative clothes on the way, you might have to choose something else to wear tomorrow."
Sylas's little face wrinkled, indicating a fierce struggle within her heart.
Virgil covered his mouth and couldn't stop laughing. If he didn't consider himself being excluded from these conversations and just enjoyed watching, both of their performances were surprisingly interesting.
He couldn't help but recall his conversation with Xerath a few days ago. Maybe their companionship wasn't because of love, but Sylas must be a very special person to her, even more special than Titus and himself. He nudged Titus with his foot, and Titus tried to hit him with his short legs, but he agilely dodged.
He couldn't imagine what kind of chain reaction there would be after Sylas left the tower. At least for now, all he could think of was the archmage's return to silence, except for occasional sarcastic remarks directed towards him and everyone else.
During the days when he wasn't around, even with a footstool and the company of two lords, would she go the whole day without saying a word?
After dinner, Xerath went to the library, and Virgil and Titus followed along because it became lively there. Hyectra later brought snacks and drinks.
Xerath walked around the library, with Sylas quietly following her like a little tail, and behind them was a footstool that could be stepped on at any moment. This scene was quite familiar to Virgil, but the "tail" grew to almost the same height as the main person when he wasn't paying attention.
"When I brought her here, she was still so small," Virgil leaned against the bookshelf, watching them. He discreetly gestured with his hand.
"Esteemed archmage, are you still going to bring books or something?"
"Of course, I have a vague feeling that I will need certain... reference books."
Sylas took over the conversation, "What kind of...?"
"We will encounter..."
"Rocks, crystallization, do we need to bring books on this?"
"Um... kind of, studying geothermal energy and crystallization, I guess that's what you mean? No... I always feel there's some deviation, not exactly those types of books. But it wouldn't hurt to bring one, right? Honestly, though, I don't find this part particularly interesting..."
She walked back and forth, from one end of the bookshelf to the other.
"Hmm...!" Sylas suddenly stepped in front of her, grabbing her with both hands. "What about that? How does that type of geothermal affect the 'wind'? You said the 'wind' would be influenced, so if that's the case..."
"I remember that one, if you want to see it, it's in BC101."
"Oh... I will go see it now..." She let go of her hand, heading towards the bookshelves starting with the letter B.
Xerath turned back and grabbed her hand. "Finish what you wanted to say, so you don't forget."
"Oh, oh," she smiled shyly, "I almost forgot! I was thinking, since they affect rocks, why don't we bring a rock identification guidebook with us? Since someone discovered that crystallization can differentiate between different types of stones, those that can be crystallized and those that can only be corroded."
"That's a good question because geothermal energy is pure energy and is believed to have the same impact on all earth elementals. So people shouldn't focus on the trivial details like the types of rocks, but rather on the energy impact itself."
Sylas didn't seem to agree with this statement. "But how can we discover more rocks that can be corroded?"
"That's why there haven't been any more discoveries. You're right, I just thought of something that's not heavy to bring along."
She held onto Sylas's hand tightly and they walked past Virgil until they reached the desk.
There was a bookshelf next to Xerath's desk where uncategorized books were placed, books that she had bought but hadn't had the chance to organize yet. Among them, there was a smaller book that was very thick. Sylas spotted it right away. Her intuition told her it could be that book, and shortly after, she saw Xerath pick up the book and hand it to her.
She felt delighted about her small fortune-telling ability as she took the book and saw "Rock Classification Handbook" written on the leather cover.
