Seeing Alistair in pain, Melina quickly set down the soup and bent down next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

He breathed heavily and clutched at the side of his neck, exactly where his scar used to be before the time was rewound.

Oh, no… Is he perhaps remembering the time when he got that scar from Sienna?

Melina's heart was torn as she looked at the pained expression on Alistair's face and then at the sleeping Sienna, completely oblivious to what was going on. She feared that if Alistair remembered too much, he might just attack and kill the ember wyrm in her sleep.

But then his breathing began to calm down and he slowly got up. "I apologize for that unsightly display, Miss Melina. It appears today's events have taken their toll on me."

Melina breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't reach for his sword and instead slumped down on the side of Melina's bed. "Would you like some soup? It might help you feel better."

"I'm afraid I seem to have lost my appetite," he said somewhat bitterly. There was definitely something bubbling in his mind, but she didn't know what. She wondered if he really did see one of his memories and if yes, then which one. In either case, this was not a good sign for Melina.

It's possible that witnessing strong events from the past is triggering his memories. The battle with Sienna must have been memorable, so I wouldn't be surprised. But wait… Wouldn't I be a prime candidate to trigger his past memories? We went on so many missions together. Without him, I couldn't have…

Melina shook her head, not allowing herself to delve too deep into her past.

"Miss Melina, are you alright?" Alistair asked.

"It appears this day has taken its toll on me as well," Melina replied awkwardly.

This day is one big mess. I'm tired, my back is cramping up and I feel annoyed with everything. I just want it to end already so I could cuddle up into my blankets and sleep.

"Perhaps, a warm soup will help," he offered.

"Only if you eat some as well."

"Very well." He nodded and passed her the bowl of soup. It was odd, her sitting on the bed and eating soup while he did the same. She certainly had not expected that things would turn out this way.

But there was a pleasant atmosphere among them as they slowly ate the soup, and talked through the day's events, both unwinding from the piled-up stress. It was almost like the old times. Part of Melina found joy in this moment, but the other part knew that this could not become a habit.

Alistair should not remember the time before the rewind. He would surely feel the same heavy guilt that I do, and I do not want my old friend to live with such heavy emotions. No, this time he should lead a carefree life, and I'm sure that without me around he'll be able to do just that.

"Thank you for the soup, Miss Melina. It was tasty," Alistair said, handing the bowl to Melina once he was done.

"You have Master Gilbert to thank for that," she said and set both empty bowls aside on the small dresser. An awkward silence descended upon the room as neither knew what to say.

Finally, Melina couldn't stand it anymore and said. "I'd like to rest now."

"Of course, go ahead," Alistair said but made no move to leave.

"A-Are you going to remain here?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes. I'll make sure that the ember wyrm does not harm you while you sleep. Do not mind my presence."

Oh, hell no! I don't care who it is, but I will not stand for a man to remain in my bedroom while I am on my period.

"Out of the question," Melina said coldly and got up, retrieving an extra blanket and pillow that she bought in Pertia and shoved them in Alistair's hands. "You may sleep on the couch in the living room downstairs."

"But—"

"Lord Sinclair, this is an invasion of privacy and I will not stand for it. I understand your concern for my safety, however, Sienna is currently sleeping. I am sure if she were to do something you'd hear it downstairs without any issues," she growled and began to physically shove him out of her bedroom. He didn't resist as she knew that if he had wanted to remain, she wouldn't be able so much as budge him out of place.

"I apologize, I didn't think that far," he replied, looking guilty like a puppy that got scolded by their owner. Melina did feel a bit bad for it and perhaps under different circumstances, she would have worded everything more nicely. But with her mood as sullen as it was, she desperately wanted to be alone.

"Please, go rest. I am sure you are tired as well," she softened her tone a little.

"But if—"

"I'll call you if something does happen," she assured him.

He hesitated for a moment and looked past her at the stone trough. Sienna was still sleeping there, not at all bothered by their conversation. Finally, he nodded and took a step back. "Very well. Yell if the wyrm makes any signs of aggression. Or even if it acts a little bit suspiciously. Don't hesitate to call me if something happens."

"I will, I will," she nodded and slowly closed the bedroom door. For a moment, everything was silent but then she could hear Alistair's hesitant footsteps as he went downstairs, armor clattering as he went.

He isn't going to sleep in armor, is he?

Part of her wondered if she was too rude on him and if she should have made sure that he was comfortable downstairs. But her hands were already moving, undressing her and pulling on the pajamas. Before she could ponder the matter any longer, she had crawled under the warm sheets and fallen asleep.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Melina woke up feeling even more tired than before. Her back was cramping up and she would have liked nothing more than to go back to sleep. But as she put her head back on her pillow, she noticed the bright eyes of a small ember wyrm gazing at her from the nightstand.

"Right… You're my familiar now aren't you?" She said to Sienna. The wyrm let out a little chirp in reply which Melina took as a yes.

"And Alistair is still in the bakery, keeping watch isn't he?" This time the wyrm cocked her head curiously to the side.

"Melina, are you awake?" Resounded the familiar knock on the door.

"Yes, Master. I'm awake," she replied begrudgingly and got out of the bed.

Who knew that a bit of hormones could make one feel so horrible? I don't want to do anything. Except sleep.

But there was work to be done so Melina put on her favorite blue dress and was about to place Sienna on her shoulder when she realized something. "You don't like water, do you? Maybe you should stay here while I wash up?"

But the wyrm swiftly made its way up her body onto her shoulder, giving her a resolute chirp.

"There will be lots of water there," Melina warned, but Sienna remained firmly in place. She shrugged and made her way to the bathroom. "I warned you."

Oh, I wish I could take a quick bath before the day starts. I didn't get to take one yesterday and I feel icky all over. I've become somewhat spoiled—I used to go for months without a proper bath, and even when I got to wash up it was in some meager, cold streams.

As Sienna curiously gazed into the large empty bathtub, an idea popped into Melina's mind. She turned the knob and let the cold water flow into the tub. Much to her surprise, the wyrm did not run away, but rather walked up to the faucet, examining it from all angles. Once she had deemed it not to be dangerous, she stuck out her tongue and took a few sips of it.

"Right, how silly of me. You still need to drink," Melina chuckled and watched how the wyrm swatted her tongue at the water. At one point, she was sure that Sienna was merely playing with it.

"Alright, the bath is full now. Lend me some of your strength, Sienna," Melina closed the faucet and reached out to pick up the wyrm. She cocked her head curiously but it didn't look like she was against giving some of her magic power to Melina. She could feel how fire magic was flowing into her as Sienna opened up to their bond.

Melina began swirling her fingers on the water's surface, slowly channeling the heat from the fire magic into the cold water. The feeling was exhilarating. To feel the magic flowing through her body again, to direct its powers gently and deliberately. Even though she hadn't had the chance to use magic for so long, her control over it remained just as strong as before. Soon enough, she had a nice steaming bath in front of her. "Thank you so much, Sienna!"

Sienna let out a proud chitter, then scurried down from her and up to the sink, pouting at it with her rounded snout.

"What is it?" Melina asked, confused at the wyrm's behavior. Sienna flicked her tongue out at the faucet. "Do you want to drink some more?"

Melina opened the water, but the wyrm didn't drink. Instead, she scurried around the sink in circles, chittering impatiently. "Do you want a bath of your own? Can you even go into the water?"

Curious, she put the stopper in the sink and waited for it to fill up. Then she swirled her finger along the water's surface, warming it up. Sienna dipped her tail into it, then growled at Melina.

"Hotter?" Melina asked and kept heating the water further. The wyrm chittered angrily when she removed her hand from the water, but it had become too hot for her to touch. "Even hotter?"

She kept heating the water until it was almost boiling. At that point, Sienna plunged into it, splashing in it happily.

"So you're alright with water as long as it is hot," Melina noted, and then got into her own bath, thoroughly enjoying how its warmth spread through her body.

Once they were done with their baths, Melina dried off, watching water drip down from her long hair.

"This might take a while to dry, but I need to go and work now. I wonder if I could…" Melina lifted her hands to her hair and slowly began brushing through it while applying a gentle bit of heat. After several minutes, her hair was almost dry, so she hurried downstairs to the kitchen where Master Gilbert was waiting for her.

"What took you so long, girl?" He grumbled.

"I'm sorry, Master. I took a quick bath since I was feeling rather dirty after yesterday," Melina said sheepishly, putting on her blue apron.

"Bath? I didn't know you enjoyed cold baths," he said thoughtfully, scratching his beard.

"Oh, no. I warmed the water with…" Melina stopped mid-sentence as she remembered that Alistair was still supposed to be somewhere in this house. "Where is Lord Sinclair?"

"How should I know? Didn't he leave last night?"

"No, he insisted on remaining here in case Sienna got aggressive," Melina explained and the wyrm let out a dissatisfied hiss—as if to say she wouldn't do something so undignified.

Gilbert clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Well, I suppose he is somewhere in here then, but I certainly haven't seen him."

"I'll go check," Melina said and made her way to the living room. There she saw Alistair sleeping on the couch, his armor set within arm's reach while he was basically cradling his sword. She giggled at the sight and returned to the kitchen. "He's still sleeping."

"So much for being a guard," Gilbert grumbled.

"He must be tired after yesterday. As I was saying, I warmed the water with magic," Melina said proudly.

"You… warmed it with magic?" Gilbert blinked at her.

"Yeah," Melina nodded. "It was easy thanks to Sienna."

Gilbert stared at her for a moment longer, then waved his hand dismissively. "You'd think that by my age, I wouldn't get surprised anymore but you're just full of surprises. I wish I could just interrogate you for answers, but we have a lot of work to do. Let's get started."

Melina nodded and got straight to making dough. While her energy levels were rather low due to her monthly visitor, she still couldn't help feeling happy after that refreshing bath and the fact that she was able to use magic again. It was only fire magic but that was more than enough for her.

While Melina worked on dough and preparing filling for her pear rolls, Sienna curiously scurried about the kitchen, sniffing at ingredients and watching her with great interest. Once the wyrm was getting a bit too curious—she almost fell into the tub of dough—Melina prepared a bowl of chili walnuts for her which Sienna ate with great vigor.

"Good morning," Alistair staggered into the kitchen, a tuft of his hair sticking up in a way that made it hard for Melina to hold back her laughter. He on the other hand tensed when he saw Sienna casually crunching on some walnuts. "I hope that it hasn't caused you any trouble."

"She," Melina corrected. "And no, Sienna has been on her best behavior."

"How long do you intend to stick around here?" Gilbert grumbled as he shaped the dough into braids.

"For as long as the Guildmaster deems it necessary. I imagine these next few days will be crucial," Alistair said, ruffling his hair and somehow smoothing it out in the process. Melina and Gilbert both nodded thoughtfully but didn't stop their hands as they worked.

"Why don't you sit down for the time being? Soon some of the first pastries and breads will be ready and we'll be able to eat breakfast," Melina said as she loaded the first batch of pumpkin seed bread into the oven. She wanted to activate <Haste Bake> to speed up the cooking process but didn't dare to do so in Alistair's presence.

There was a low chance that he had a skill that could detect her using skills. He didn't have one before after all, but she didn't intend to take the risk. There was enough on her plate already without Alistair discovering that she was a System user.

Namely, how would the regular clients of their bakery react to yesterday's news? Melina had not thought about the matter the whole morning, so not to foil her own mood. But now when bread was in the oven and the opening time was itching ever closer, she couldn't help but get nervous.

What if the worst happens and the people want me gone from Sunglow?

This thought made Melina realize that she didn't want to leave at all. She wanted to remain in this city and this bakery and continue living a peaceful life here.

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