"Laself! Please make sure to bring all the eggs!" Her mother-in-law's voice echoed from downstairs, causing Laself to briefly panic and let go of her brush. "We'll be leaving soon!"

  "Got it!" She stopped putting on her make up to reply. "I'll bring all the eggs as well!"

  Once she's done with the foundation, she highlighted her nose and put some blush on her cheeks, and darkening the lines of her jaw, she closed the kit, stood up to grab her winter coat, threw it on, and ran out of her room.

  Howaph was standing outside, his hair a mess and his clothes slightly disheveled. With an affectionate smile, Laself walked up to her boyfriend and patted some of the wrinkles away from his shirt, she pecked his cheek and held his hand, her thumb brushing his knuckles lovingly.

  "Idiot, you're supposed to be awake by now." She giggled while pulling on his collar, shaking her head, she backed away. "Thank you, as always, for taking most of the hard work from me, I appreciate it."

  She knew why her future husband slept late last night, and that was because he was the one making mayonnaise instead of her. He was also helping out with the butter, kneading bread, and a bunch of other stuff.

  She herself only really peeled vegetables and stir fried ground up meat, preparing only side dishes with her mother in law while the boys worked tirelessly.

  Calloused hands wrapped around her waist and she was pulled into a warm hug that caused heat to rise up her cheeks, feeling the hardness of Howaph's chest was always welcome, and she supposed it made all the work he does worth it if he develops like this physically.

  She won't ever admit she wants him to continue working just to grow more muscles; however, that would be embarrassing, and also a bit too much for someone like her to say. Girls aren't supposed to compliment boys after all!

  Her boyfriend inhaled the scent of her hair and she giggled, she pushed herself away, or tried to, but it was pointless. "You're welcome, you look incredibly beautiful today as well."

  "S-shut up!" Does she look good? He must be messing with her, with a bit more force this time, she pried herself off of such a cheesy man and glared at him. "Get dressed, we're going to leave soon, your mother won't like it if you're tardy."

  "Yep, I know." With a playful grin that made her heart race, Howaph walked back to his room and quietly closed the door behind him.

  With a huff, Laself walked down stairs, her eyes briefly went to the door of the storage shed before she forced them away. Rontress won't be back until spring, and although it's only been two days since she left, the lack of her presence whenever they eat has left a chasm that no one else can fill.

  "She won't always be here." Miss Atterson would say, trying to hide the pain in her voice. "It's better if we get used to it, little by little."

  Laself agreed of course, she herself didn't want to look hurt when Rontress finally leaves the nest for good, living without the constant presence of her sister-in-law would be good for her in the long run.

  She moved across the living room and navigated the kitchen with practiced ease, opening the food storage— which is Miss Atterson's territory more than anything, the storage shed belongs to Mister Thomala. — she picked out two trays of eggs and stacked them on top of each other, then she grabbed a few jars of spices and carried them to the waiting cart outside.

  Her in law is already there, dressed in this beautiful blue winter coat that, much like hers, Rontress bought a few weeks ago. The younger girl said it wasn't all that expensive but Laself didn't believe her, Laself knew that she wouldn't budge even if called out on this, like most things that Rontress sets her mind on.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  In the end, it was better to accept the gift with a smile than to fight Rontress about wasting her money.

  "Good morning Miss Atterson!" Laself waved, letting her spot the brief flash of white fur on the wrists of her own coat as well as the beautiful peach coloring of the wool. "Has Upinte and Jasiin come around yet? They shouldn't leave you in the cold like this."

  She frowned, where were the two guards that usually accompanied them? She knew that they are still only outside of their home but for a while now, those two have come here whenever they're about to leave. Usually very early as well. To say it's strange for them to be absent would be an understatement, did something happen?

  "Laself, I don't mind." The older woman waved her off, a deep sigh escaping her lips. "I'm right next to our house, if anything happens, our neighbors can just help me."

  "Still, they are being hired for a reason aren't they?" Laself shook her head in disappointment, whatever their reason is for being late, it better be good! "To do this is essentially admitting that they are only behaving because Rontress is around!"

  Come to think of it, almost everyone who has been treating their family kindly has stopped or at least put some kind of emotional distance between them after Rontress left. It's like they suddenly decided to be cold and apathetic, leaving no room for any sort of argument or even giving them answers as to why that is.

  "They won't do that," Atterson shook her head, if those two somehow betrayed Rontress then it would be Bylor who they would answer to, and there's no way anyone in the pier would willingly go against that old man. "They must have some kind of reason for doing this, whatever it is, they'll tell us once we meet up with them."

  And speaking of meeting up, Thomala got out of the house while still carrying his cup of hot milk. He eyed the two girls, the lines on the side of his lips creasing as he smiled, "good morning to you two, always so eager to leave for Ghorise, you do know that it's winter now right?"

  "It doesn't matter if it's winter or not, people are preparing for the cull, and that means business." Laself hoped she sounded like Rontress, she felt that this is something Rontress would say at a time like this. "We'll be able to earn a lot if we set up shop."

  "I hear Bylor is making scrolls as well," Howaph came out wearing his own coat, the thick woolen clothing hid his body but didn't diminish his attractiveness. "That should attract more people,"

  "You're right." Laself nodded, she started walking, finding herself a step behind her boyfriend. "Adventurers often come to our shop asking for the scrolls but stay for the food, with them recognizing Bylor as Rontress' master, they should flock in even greater numbers to our store."

  "Right, but he is Rontress’ master right?" Howaph placed his hands behind his head and took leisurely steps. "She calls him Wardcruncha and wards are like runes right?"

  "I don't know." Laself admitted, everyone else went silent as well, there's no answer to what Howaph said. "Magic is something I've never really studied, and I doubt anyone we know would have answers to your question."

  "Yeah, I guess you're right." Howaph sighed. "I'm not smart enough for magic like my little sister."

  Laself wanted to argue that no one in the local territory would be able to compete with the younger girl in terms of learning magic but held herself back.

  "Why does she call Bylor Wardcruncha?" Thomala asked, prompting everyone to pause.

  Why does she call him that? And Bylor seems to just let her, which Laself found strange, anyone who's tried to call him the same nickname has gotten rather brutal wounds.

  "Rontress told me that she met him when he was chewing on his pendant." Atterson answered, it made Laself smile, of course that's the reason why she calls him that. It feels so... Mundane. "And that's why she calls him Wardcruncha."

  "What a weird reason." Howaph sighed, yet he was smiling. "Sounds like something Rontress would do as well, I'm just glad the old man didn't hurt her."

  "Mhmm." Laself nodded. "Bylor seems to care about her a lot as well, I'd even argue she's some kind of granddaughter to him."

  Silence befell them until they reached the edge of the raft, as they were about to board the boats, someone came up to them from behind. Laself whipped her head back when she felt their presence and she took a step away from them once she realized who it was.

  "Karuiz." She growled, does he sense some kind of opportunity now that Rontress isn't here? She reached for the scroll tucked underneath her coat, Rontress said not to use this unless it's an emergency and now is as good a time as any.

  Everyone turned to the boy in question, he scoffed. "Dad is going to attack you all soon," he says, voice weak. Is he also... limping? "I just wanted to warn you."

  Then he left, his face contorting into a painful grimace with each step.

  "Is he?.." Howaph trailed off.

  "Let's go." Atterson cut him off and hopped in the boat. "We don't have time to worry about that, and none of you try to call Rontress, we can fix this on our own."