“Was it good?” Eldric chuckled, teasing. “Do you want more?”

Lia glared at him initially, then perked up when she heard the second question. “Can we? Can we take it home? I’ll get hungry on the walk back.”

Eldric cracked up, not unkindly. He chatted with the owner as they watched their takeaway food being cooked. When their orders arrived, they walked back in the same streets they took earlier, talking about trivial things. He regaled her with tales of his trips to other parts of the country. Lia enjoyed listening to them because it helped her learn more about the country.

“If you people from the south boast your forest and never-ending mountains, the people in the east are proud of their seas.”

“There are seas?” Lia loved seas. Some of her most cherished memories happened on the beaches.

“There are. I also couldn’t believe it when I first read it in the royal library–”

“The royal library?!” The moment the words left her mouth, Lia wanted to smack her face. Of course, there was a library in the palace. But the image of rows of towering shelves full of books waiting to be read was enough to make her feel ecstatic, just by thinking about it.

Eldric blinked at her a few times to which Lia answered with a frown, trying and failing to hide her excitement. She did not want him to think of her as petty, but it seemed as her efforts were too late as he shook his head then glanced at her then smiled to himself.

“What?” Lia asked.

“No, it’s just that… your eyes twinkled when you heard of it.” He chuckled. “I know, it’s weird to say it like that. You also do that when you saw the noodles. It’s very….”

“Very?” Her eyebrow twitched and her eyes narrowed, but the corner of her mouth curled up to a smirk.

Eldric only shook his head and laughed quietly.

“You’re from the south?” she asked after a while.

“No, I’m from the north, near the border,” he said with a wince as though an unwanted memory flashed through his mind.

Lia felt elated when he answered. Eldric was not the type to volunteer information that easily. At the same time, when she heard the answer, she immediately regretted asking. The last thing she wanted was to open that box of painful memories. She knew she would not like to revisit her own any time soon. Eldric’s past had just been shaken by the arrival of the leader and Pen. Lia could only imagine what he was feeling.

While she was deliberating what questions to ask to change the topic, they had already arrived at the house. Lia tried to dismiss the disappointment she felt.

“Thank you. I just found my next favorite food,” she said when they arrived home and was about to go inside the house when he spoke.

“Before you go, there’s something I want you to have. Turn around for me please.”

While she did as she was told, she was alert and prepared to look back any minute, in case this was some kind of a prank. She had come to hate surprises, thanks to all the surprise attacks and events she encountered in the last few months.

Something light and cold fell on her neck. When she looked down, there was a beautiful flower jade pendant against her chest. She turned back, eyes wide.

“A trader came by in the palace and brought this. I thought this would look good on you.”

She held and weighed it on her palm. It felt smooth on her touch. “This looks expensive.”

“It’s fine. It’s a gift. A welcome gift. A celebratory gift–”

“Celebratory gift?” she asked amused. “I haven’t even taken the exam.”

“Then it’s an advance gift.” He turned quiet, and then he said, “I might not be able to visit you in a while.”