Watching this charming spectacle, Max stealthily poked the light, shining with a warm glow. Then, the glob of light soaked into her hands like honey. Startled, Max pulled her hands away and Ruth bulged his eyes at the sight.
“How odd,” he said, lowering his hands by his side. After all the light had seeped into the tree, Ruth stroked the rough branches as if to check something and turned to face Max.
“Madam, it seems you have an affinity, although only a little, to mana.”
“A-affinity to m-mana?”
“It is the most basic talent required to practice magic.”
Max stared in wonder. She had what it takes to become a witch? Lost in deep thought, she stared down at her own hands when Ruth shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s only the most basic skill. It’s just like having a bit of agility which can help you become a swordsman. You can’t become a witch or a wizard for only having that.”
“Ah… I-I see…” Max drooped her shoulders at his words, unexpectedly dampened by his words waking her up to reality. Of course, there was no way she had any special skills.
Ruth smiled gently at her disappointed face. “Still, it’s a very valuable skill. There are many surprising sides to you.”
She cocked her head at him quizzically, “Su-surprising si-sides?”
“You can be surprisingly full of rage, you can bluff, you don’t want to lose, and you have an affinity to mana…”
Her face flushed at the unexpected descriptions. It didn’t feel like it was her at ll. Yet, the man continued his impression of her, despite the embarrassment that was present on her face.
“The first time I saw you, I thought you were a quiet and weak lady. But the more time we spend time together, the further I get to learn about the timid madam – full of something new and interesting every time.”
Seeing his straight face uttering her compliments, Maxx could only reply, “I-it doesn’t sound l-like a c-compliment.”
“But it is a compliment,” Ruth said with a cheeky face.
But the man was ever as sardonic. Even compliments were given with a shrug and an impassive tone. Max pouted her lips and lightly kicked the dark roots of the tree sticking out of the soil.
“Anyways… so i-is it a-alive?” she tried changing the subject, feeling conscious of herself.
“There’s no way of knowing.”
“W-what do you m-mean?”
What could he ever mean there was no way of knowing just after he casted the long and fancy mantra of a spell? When she looked at him through narrowed eyes, he nonchalantly shrugged.
“What I have done is inject nature’s mana into the tree. We can see the results when spring arrives. If green leaves sprout, then it has recovered, but if not, then it’s probably dead. I guess you can pluck it out then if it’s the latter.”
She looked up to the bare, dense branches and nodded. Garden landscaping was scheduled in spring anyways. Her eyes then glanced around the garden, picturing the intricate plan she had already made with the gardener beforehand. Max made up her mind to remove the tree if it didn’t sprout young leaves in spring and replace it with colorful flowers and young saplings.
?
Completing its renovation, the Calypse castle was now getting ready for winter. The servants placed thick boards around the well to prevent the water from freezing, repaired the horse shed, and restocked the storage with ample amount of forage and firewood. Everyone was working hard to do their share for the upcoming freezing months.
The maids were busy as well. They crouched in the laundry room and washed clothes with their red and swollen fingers, diligently swept the floor, and spurned threads of fabric to practical clothes in the weaving room. They had no time to spare as they had to get the winter clothes ready for the guards before the weather got too chilly.
Rudis, losing his patience at the amount of tasks being delegated, carefully suggested to Max. “Madam, I’m afraid we simply lack the workforce and time to prepare everything for winter. How about we buy the fabric from a merchant?”
Max willingly accepted the idea as she had also seen enough of her maids overworking.
“H-how many do w-we need?”
“We have prepared half of what we need. If we can order the other half…”
Max scanned a pile of fabric folded neatly in the corner of the weaving room. She could already hear the nosy wizard lecturing her for placing a careless order. Her fingers carefully brushed across the parchment as she wrote the amount they needed and closely examined the amount of fabric prepared by the maids.
“I-is this e-enough?”
“Yes, that will be perfect, Madam.” Rudis nodded, then continued to list everything else that needed attention. “We also need some leather straps and thread to hold the clothes in shape. Oh, and more needles for…”
“Madam, I’m sorry to interrupt, but we need you immediately. There has been an incident.”
