After Alistair decided that he'll be staying in the bakery for the time being, he went back home to get the things that he needed. Melina in the meanwhile nervously ran from room to room, cleaning up whatever seemed out of place for her.

"Will you calm down? Everything's already clean," Gilbert grumbled as she ran past him for the tenth time, carrying a dust rag with her.

The old baker was lounging in the living room armchair, reading a book of some sort. Although with his glance he kept following Melina, growing increasingly more annoyed with her nervousness.

Much to his relief, Alistair returned fairly quickly, and Melina was forced to do her last minute cleaning. She, on the other hand, wasn't even sure what to do. All she could think of was that Alistair, who was officially her lover, was staying the night over at her home. Her mind definitely wandered in the direction it shouldn't, but wouldn't any other woman have similar thoughts in her shoes.

Despite having lived almost until the age of 40, she never really had a serious relationship before. There wasn't really time for it, not to mention that most of the time, men sought her because of her status. So those ended the moment Melina discovered their true intentions.

But it was completely different with Alistair. She knew that he wasn't trying to exploit her. They knew each other for a long time, and she'd trust him with her life. But the change in their relationship had come so quickly, she wasn't sure whether she was even ready for it.

"I got all the stuff I need," Alistair said, setting his things on the coach.

He then looked at Melina curiously. "Is something wrong? You look nervous."

She almost felt like a fool, since he didn't seem bothered by the fact in the slightest.

"No, it's nothing," she said in a chilly tone. "Should I prepare you a bath?"

"Sure. As long as it doesn't involve you hauling those heavy pots," he said firmly.

"No, a bit of magic is all I need," she said casually and hurried away.

As she left the living room, she heard Alistair ask. "Did I do something wrong? She looks a bit mad."

"You'll have to figure that one out on your own, lad," Gilbert replied.

Alistair's stay was rather uneventful. After taking a bath and bidding goodnight, he went to sleep in the living room, which made Melina feel like even more of a fool for worrying. So she decided to focus on things she'd need to do. Namely, her new pastries and the mission to the Monster Realm.

It was planned for Wednesday to give Sienna enough time to recover. The Guildmaster didn't want to risk going without her, since she was crucial in protecting the adventurers last two times. Alistair also explained that this time, the group will be smaller and split into two—supply group and battle group. On its own, Melina wouldn't have minded the change. But what worried her was the fact that Elowen was the one who suggested it, and he also seemed quite against her going along.

What are you planning, Elowen?

She couldn't imagine him trying to turn on them—their goals were aligned, even if they didn't trust each other. But why wouldn't Elowen try to keep her away from the Monster Realm. It certainly couldn't be out of concern for her, but she just couldn't figure it out. She was missing some crucial information. Melina mulled it over for a long time before falling asleep.

"Good morning," Alistair greeted a soft voice as the curtains of her room were pulled back.

"Huh?" She asked, sleeping peering from underneath her blankets.

"You wouldn't wake, so Master Gilbert sent me up here to wake up," he said with a teasing smile.

He was wearing a simple shirt and pants, instead of his usual armor or the fancy clothes he wore when off-duty. Melina was surprised how much they suited him. Then again, with a face like that, he'd look good even in a potato sack.

"I might have fallen asleep late," she mumbled, not quite wanting to leave the comforts of her bed.

"What were you doing?"

"Thinking about Elowen."

Alistair frowned. "You know it is very displeasing for a man to hear that his beloved has been thinking about another man."

Melina opened her eyes fully and sat up. "No, no, not like that! I'm just worried about what he'll do. That's it!"

Alistair turned away hurriedly. "Oh, yes! That is quite concerning. In either case, you should come down for breakfast."

Then he left the room without a second glance.

"What was that about?" Melina asked Sienna, who had been observing the situation from the ceiling.

She chittered at Melina, forcing her to look at herself. Only then did she realize that her nightgown didn't really leave much to the imagination.

"It's his own fault for coming in without knocking," she grumbled.

After getting dressed, Melina and Alistair ate the breakfast in relative silence, both too embarrassed to address the incident in the morning. Just as she gathered courage to say something, there was a knock on the back door.

"I'll get it," Melina said, rushing to her feet, but Alistair took hold of her hand.

"Wait. What if it's the man in black," he said.

Melina paused. "It would be odd for him to knock first, but alright. Let's be safe."

They went to open the door and were surprised to see Leliana. She looked equally surprised to see Melina and Alistair both at the door.

"Good morning, Leliana," Melina greeted her with an awkward smile.

"Good morning, Miss Leliana," Alistair said.

"Good morning," she drawled out looking at Melina and Alistair in turn. "You two sure are moving fast…"

"No, this—"

"Can't have other men hanging around here," Alistair said cheekily.

She glared at him. "Alistair!"

"Yes, yes, you two are very in love with each other. Everyone can see that. Could I ask for your help with something, Melina?" Leliana grumbled.

Melina blushed, while Alistair returned inside with a satisfied shrug.

"What is it?" Melina asked, when he was gone.

Stolen novel; please report.

"I am nervous! So nervous! Elowen is coming over today to help me with the seedlings but I don't know what to do," Leliana said, flailing her arms around as if she were drowning.

"I never expected you to be so nervous about meeting someone. You're the social butterfly of Sunglow," Melina noted in surprise.

"Yes, but this man is on a whole different level. I doubt he cares about some human girl. Elves are all beautiful, I must be barely above average by their standards."

"Why do you even care about Elowen so much? You barely know him," Melina asked, then frowned. "This isn't just about his looks."

"I don't want to hear anything about looks from you, girl with the handsome nobleman lover! But there's more to it than that… I just don't know. But I want to get to know him better," Leliana insisted.

"Okay, fine, but how can I help? Unless you want me to go with you."

"No, not that. But can you tell me something more about him? Something that could help me get closer to him," Leliana looked almost desperate.

It was odd seeing this confident woman so frazzled. But she couldn't exactly reveal too much since her knowledge about Elowen came from her past life.

"I don't really know him all that well. He hasn't been here for long and I haven't interacted with him much."

"What about Lord Sinclair?"

"I don't think they're close either…"

"Drat."

Melina thought about it for a moment, then stepped aside. "Why don't you come inside? I can make some pastry that you could offer to him. Everyone can appreciate some good food."

"Oh, that's genius! Better yet—could you teach me how to make something?" Leliana asked eagerly.

"Yeah, I don't see why not," Melina said.

It was her day off, and after yesterday it was doubtful that Alistair would let her grind her skills some more. She will take it easy for the day, maybe work on Sienna's enclosure in the evening. It was close to being finished.

But Melina didn't realize what sort of trouble she was signing up for. Only a few hours later did she find out that Leliana was hopelessly bad at cooking.

Elowen was standing in front of a large wooden house, not too far from the bakery. It was the house of the farmer girl, Leliana. It felt odd to be worried about plants when there was the whole future of the world at stake. He should have been preparing for the mission to the Monster Realm, but Melina and Alistair both were suspicious of him.

If he would only have to deal with one of them, then he probably could have been bolder. But together they were a formidable team. There was a reason why they were always sent to missions together. They covered each other's weaknesses. What might slip by one, the other will definitely catch.

So with both of them on high alert, Elowen had no choice but do something mundane and unrelated. It might as well be something useful. He was curious to see exactly how far the human girl had advanced with her experiments.

Elowen knocked on the door of the house which was promptly swung open. Before him stood two human children, girls which looked exactly like one another.

"Hello! I'm Lara!" Said the girl on the left.

"I'm Sarah!" Said the girl on the right.

They were both smiling from ear to ear, looking excited at his arrival.

"Hello. Is Miss Leliana at home?" He asked politely.

"Yes, she is!"

"She's been waiting for you."

A moment later, Leliana came to the door, looking exasperated at her sisters.

"Don't you two have to feed the chicken?" She growled at them.

"Yes, sister!" They said in unison and left in an unhurried pace while glancing at Elowen.

"Sorry about that. They are ever so curious," Leliana said, and motioned inside. "Please, come in."

Elowen inclined his head and stepped inside, glancing around the home. It had simple decor, much simpler than the one in the Guild. There weren't any adornment around, but there were plenty of plants and greenery which instantly brought life to an otherwise poor place.

"So where are the seedlings you've been trying to grow?" Elowen asked.

"They are in the backyard. Would you like to see them right away?" She asked.

"Yes, that is the reason I came here."

The young redhead seemed a bit disappointed by his answer, but he couldn't quite understand why. Had he done something that humans found rude? He was about to ask when the woman gestured towards a hallway. On the other side, he could see a door that led outside.

Walking through it, Elowen was surprised at the greenery growing behind the house. Flowerbeds, fruit trees and vegetables of various varieties growing in neatly organized rows. Behind the garden were larger fields filled with wheat growing in healthy stalks.

"The seedlings are in the greenhouse," Leliana said, pointing at a rather old-looking building.

It was nothing like the greenhouses in Euroa. The wood was rooting in places and there were even holes in some of the glass panes. It was in painful need of maintenance.

"This greenhouse seems quite old," he noted, making sure not to show his distaste in his expression or voice.

"Yeah, we've wanted to upgrade it for a while, but it's been hard since Father died," Leliana noted, twinge of bitterness in her voice.

"My condolences…" he said awkwardly.

Elowen didn't know how to address such a heavy topic. Elves had extremely long lifespans. His own parents were still alive despite having him when they were around 700 years old. Who knew? Maybe he had another sibling. It's been a while since he'd seen them

"It's alright. It happened some while ago. In either case, here they are," Leliana said and motioned towards four plant boxes sitting right in the center of the greenhouse. Three of them looked barren while one had a few tiny sprouts peeking out.

Elowen leaned down and gently touched one seedling. He could feel the faintest hint of mana flowing through it. "Is this feyfruit?"

"Yes. It didn't grow well initially when I kept the seeds inside, but they sprouted once I took them to the greenhouse. I suspect they prefer the sunlight," she explained, then pointed towards the two boxes closest to her. "These two are zephyr root and scorchpepper. I planted them just a week ago, so it's too early to tell whether they like it here or not."

Then she pointed towards the box closest to Elowen.

"But this melon is no good. Shade, sun, dry or wet, but nothing seems to get them to sprout. Not to mention that the feyfruit aren't growing much either. They've stayed about the same for a week now. I would have expected more leaves to sprout by now."

"Melon? What melon is exactly growing here?"

"Ugh… What were they called again? Melina told me the name, but I've forgotten. The melons that ooze nasty goop everywhere," she said scrunching up her face.

"Weeping sapmelons?" Elowen asked in shock.

"Yeah, those," Leliana confirmed, then furrowed her brows. "Is there something wrong with them? Aside from the obvious… ooziness."

"They are notoriously hard to obtain. Weeping sapmelons grow only in places rich with corpses and decay," he explained, and the woman paled.

"Corpses?!"

"Monster corpses. Not human. I suspect they found a monster's lair," he hurriedly corrected.

"I don't think I want to drag monster corpses into the greenhouse…" she muttered.

"No, I suspect not. I suggest focusing on the feyfruit. We elves have managed to cultivate feyberries in the Human Realm and feyfruit isn't as different, just more demanding."

"What does it need to grow?"

"Mana. A lots of it. That's why it's so hard to grow here—Human Realm just doesn't have enough ambient mana to sustain its growth," Elowen explained.

"There must be something I can do," Leliana said stubbornly.

"If you have mana, you could try supplementing the feyfruit with it. Like this," Elowen reached out for one of the seedlings, touching it gently. He then sent a little bit of mana into it. "You need to use just the smallest amount or it'll overwhelm the seedling."

"I'm not a mage, I can't do that," she said dejectedly.

"I'm not a mage either. Everyone has mana. You just need to guide a little bit of it into the plant," he said and took Leliana's hand.

She flinched a little but didn't pull away. He guided her hand to another seedling and let the mana gently flow into it. Leliana's eyes widened in shock.

"I can do that too?"

"Yes. You just have to imagine guiding your mana into the seedling just like I just did," he said.

"You say it as if it's so simple," she frowned.

Suddenly a vision appeared before Elowen. It's been a while since he had one of these intrusive visions. After Melina told him the truth a lot of his memories returned. But he was seeing something different now.

Leliana and Elowen were standing side by side before a large withered tree. Leliana looked older and more mature, but her expression was filled with pain as she gazed at the tree.

"Even the mighty willow couldn't survive…" she muttered, tears rushing down her cheeks. "I hoped to see it bloom one last time."

Elowen wrapped his arms around her as she wept. Anger and helplessness rose within him as he felt her sobs and watched the withered tree creak in the wind.

"We'll find a way. I promise, Leliana," he whispered, the faint smell of flowers still lingering in her hair.

"Leliana!" Elowen gasped and looked at the young woman next to him. The same smell of flowers came from her, only much stronger. He knew her.

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