Wraithwood Botanist

I was certain that my mother could never make a face more amusing than she did when I activated the lighting crystal on their new home.

She probably expected some cave or some shanty hovel where she would have to huddle up with the hides of terrifying monsters. Instead, I greeted her with a full studio apartment, a queen-sized bed (complete with an inflatable top I just bought), and a full kitchen and bathroom—with a tub. The tub had the original heating and purification arrays from the temporary shelter, so it was self-filled, heated, and cleaned, and the kitchen was stocked with equipment from the Big Bag 'o Tools.

It was a beautiful space, complete with rocker chairs beside the fireplace.

I announced all these things in a grand tour and then finished with, "It's not much…" maintaining the straightest face I could.

"Oh, please," Mom said, slapping my arm.

I smirked and hooked my arm around her, poking her in the ribs as she cried, "Stop it!"

Dad turned to me with a tired smile. "Please stop antagonizing your mother." His mouth said he was being valiant, but his eyes said: She takes it out on me.

I let go, put my hands behind my back, and said: "What do you think?"

Dad scratched his head. "Don't take this the wrong way, but… did your teachers make this?"

"No~pe," I said. "Just me."

Dad could tell by my eyes that there was more to the story, but I wasn't going to have the knowledge of my soul guardian weighing on their soul. If the grieves started an investigation, they could start demanding knowledge out of everyone. My parents could claim that a soul pact prohibited them from answering any inquiries on things regarding Mira Hill that could be of grave impact or importance, but that wouldn't save them from torture. So I was going to hide that from my family as long as possible—if not forever.

So when Mom asked, "How?"

I created a drill out of mana and spun it. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to genuinely carve through wood smoothly. "Practice." I looked around. "And it's easy when you don't need support pillars or drywall or… whatever. I literally just carved out a section of the tree. It wasn't that complicated… But it looks nice, doesn't it?"

Dad chuckled wearily. "Yep. It's something…" He paused. "Special. It's something special… to think… everyone called this place an unlivable death trap. Then, we ride in a straight line to multimillion-dollar sky lodges with lighting and self-cleaning bathtubs."

I smiled wryly as I remembered my first four months in Areswood, but then developed a bright smile and said: "I wouldn't come here alone."

Dad laughed and Mom shivered and then we set to work setting up the new inflatable bed, which had self-cleaning sheets on it. Once they tested it, their eyes widened in shock when they realized it was better than their bed at home. We had a good laugh about it, ending off a wonderful introduction.

I felt warmth overtake my heart as my parents finally started to calm down and feel better about my life here. It could've been super traumatic for them, but it all worked out somehow.

As I was leaving, Mom said: "Seriously, Mira. This is incredible."

I smirked and raised my eyebrows. "If you think this's cool—Wait until you see the bathhouse."

The next morning, she and all the other women saw it—and it turned into a huge ordeal.

Felio's guards declared they would bathe together—but they were flabbergasted at the idea of taking one with Felio or myself. The concept of public bathing wasn't a thing there, and I suppose it wasn't as commonplace in the United States as it was in Japan, Turkey, or Russia.

But, I mean, come on! This wasn't a bath—it was an artificial hot spring, complete with rocks and steam. And what was the point of a hot spring if there wasn't group relaxation and girl gossip?

"If Felio's not part of it, then what's the point?" I asked.

Cassain blushed furiously.

"Don't give me that face!" I cried. Then I clapped my hands twice as I said, "Girl. Talk," ending the statement with, "Re~laxation. Is same sex… stuff… super common here or something?"

"No," Cassain said.

"Then what's the problem? I'd get the hesitation if I leaned that way, but I don't. This is just… a luxury resort!"

It was a Roman bath in a colossal tree. You couldn't convince me this wasn't the coolest shit to ever exist. If I opened this in Aspen, Colorado, I'd be a millionaire by year's end!

"We don't mean to offend you," Felio said. "But my family also has reservations. I think a term that might explain this is 'royalty.' The thought of anyone seeing me bare is out of the question."

I took a frustrated breath. Then I studied Felio's body (which certainly didn't help anything), and then left and returned with a bathing suit I got with my clothing bundle.

"How about this?" I asked. "Probably be a bit tight on you, but I refuse to live knowing that the coolest part of this whole goddamn village isn't going to see usage."

Felio started giggling uncontrollably, and my Mom turned around, mortified by my public outburst. The guards took it seriously, though. Cassain held a roundtable conference, hearing arguments from each, the winning being, "We were told to respect her culture."

Cassain wasn't convinced. "Yes, but we were also told to exercise common sense."

The group went back and forth, duking it out until Cassain finally turned to me and said: "I believe we have found a compromise."

Ten minutes later, I found myself wearing my underwear in a hot spring, getting giggled at by Felio.

"What?" I grumbled. "It's uncomfortable."

"It's not that bad, hun," Mom said. "You need to respect other people's customs."

"People need to respect my customs!" I cried.

Felio snorted and rolled over in her bathing suit, and Cassain apologized again, and I just accepted it, grumbling and declaring that I would buy bathing suits wholesale the next year.

"On a serious note…" Mom said once everyone calmed down. "What's that thing on the floor?"

I glanced in the water and saw the massive array Trant and Kira carved into the bathtub. We had painted over it again, but the grooves were kind of hard to miss.

"It's an equilibrium array," Felio said. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah," I said. "That's exactly what it is."

Mom raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"It matches the heat to your body temperature," said Asail, another one of Felio's guards. I was starting to think they didn't speak, so I was glad to hear another woman talk. She had classic brown hair and brown eyes and a longish face that made her look a bit quirky. She was probably new to the Hellara because she looked normal amongst a sea of people with abnormal faces and bodies that had to be magically altered somehow.

"Once you activate it, it feels like you're sitting in nothing," Asail explained.

"Then what's the point?" Mom asked.

"It's for tempering," Felio said. "You add compounds to the water, and it soaks into your skin."

"Oh…" Mom whispered in wonder.

"Yep… sounds kinda gross," I prefaced, "but you couldn't even stab me with a Bowie knife right now. My skin's harder than steel. Well, at a certain velocity. It's still spongy when it matters."

Mom blushed, and I rolled my eyes.

"Shael?" Asail asked curiously.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"I didn't know it grew around here," Felio said, clasping her hands against her chest excitedly.

"It doesn't," Cassain said coldly, narrowing her eyes on me. Felio might have been an alchemy master, but Cassain was likely ten times older than her. So she knew her stuff and called me out. But if she thought I'd stutter, it was in vain. I didn't create soul pacts just to play this secret bullshit. So I just told the truth.

"It doesn't. My teachers gave this to me. They also carved that array."

"Teachers?" Felio asked, emphasizing the S.

"Yeah, one's an herbologist," I said. "He's got centuries of experience out here. You're gonna love him… assuming he shows."

Felio gasped with excitement.

"Oh, girl," I said. "If you think that's cool, just wait till you meet Elana. She's, uh…" I paused and chuckled nervously. "Amazing."

I was blasted with questions after that, and I told some stories as they relaxed, making sure they got the full hot spring experience. By the end of it, most had forgotten that there was anything controversial about this bathtub. And thank God. I would live and die on this hill; hot spring legitimacy was my equivalent of my father's demand for physical menus at restaurants.

Once I used Separate to remove all the water from everyone present and throw it back into the tub, and then purified the water, we got dressed and walked out with relaxed glows.

"You never change, do you?" Tyler grumbled. "Thought you'd never get out." It was the same thing he said when we lived together, something I felt indignant about because my makeup routine was comically short. Stay connected with empire

"Come now, Tyler," Aiden said charmingly. "If you ever want a good woman, you'll have to learn to appreciate their flaws."

"Don't you start," I warned him.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Aiden put up his hands with a wide smile.

I grunted and rolled my eyes. "I can't handle you."

"But he's right," Dad said. "Kind of. He's got the right idea, at least."

Mom put her hands on her hips. "What does that mean?"

"That you're supposed to accept your women," he said. "He was just wrong about your ticks being flaws."

"Ooooh!" Felio said, nudging my mom. "You caught yourself a keeper."

Dad put his hands on his hips and turned his head like a superhero.

"Oh, God," Mom said. "Just go already."

"I agree," I said. "And you." I turned to Aiden. "Don't you have tribute to collect?"

"About that," he chuckled. "The only requirement this year is to push deeper into the forest. I get that he wants me to get stronger beasts next year, but right now… It just kinda feels easy."

Kinda feels easy. Those three words were a roundhouse to my temple. I got that same exact quest—but it was not fucking easy. Not at all.

Misty Row flashed against my mind, and I took a deep breath.

"You mean like… out there, right?" I asked, pointing to the north.

Aiden knew something was wrong immediately. "No… It checked off the minute we got here."

I nodded my head a few times. "Take your bath."

"What?" he asked.

"I said, take your bath!"

"Why are you so angry? Mira!"

He turned as I stomped away, ignoring Tyler, who had suddenly lost his irritation over the wait when Felio apologized to him. Bastard was damn near chivalrous speaking to her. Not just her—all the women. He just was an ass to me.

But I was relieved. Even after everything I had gone through, Tyler still treated me like a sister—and that made me glad. I just needed to cool off. And it wasn't long before my mood improved anyway.

Kline had to leave to maintain law and order during peak scheming season, the time when harvesters killed off teammates to increase their share of the spoils. Since the Cackling Kings were gone, I wasn't in serious danger. So he begrudgingly passed off the role of protecting me to Sina, who huffed and rolled her eyes as if to say, What do you think I'm doing? This woman can't tie her shoe without courting death!

Kline huffed and it was just the cutest exchange. The whole thing brought my mood up, and it only increased when the men arrived with proper reactions to a luxury mountain town bathhouse. They had relaxed faces as they sat down, complimenting my breakfast. Even Tyler was singing my praises.

"See this?" I asked Cassain. "This's what it's all about."

"Lady Hill," Cassain said, but I put up my hand and rolled my eyes. "I'm just giving you shit."

Felio giggled and nudged Cassain's shoulder, and I apologized to the blushing woman by handing her the first bowl of soup. And that's how the vacation truly began. My brother treated me like a sister; Felio and her guards were settling in, and Aiden recovered his new charm without a brood fest. The only person who hadn't changed was Malo, who just sat with his back against a tree, sword propped up lap to shoulder, staring into the forest, releasing divination pulses periodically to check for enemies.

I wondered what would happen if he met Kyro—another man conflicted by his past, dealing with it in a very, very different way.

I soon forgot about him the moment I showed Felio my alchemy lab.

That was the best.

I had never seen anyone's eyes sparkle like that. She rushed around like Tinker Bell booping things, asking things like, "Can I touch this?" and "What's this called? It's beautiful!" as she went through my ingredient collection. Once she stopped, she looked at the equipment and gasped, saying, "You're using it!" about the equipment she gave me the year before, followed by rushing out of the lab and returning with bags of equipment, saying, "Look what I brought us!" with a bright smile.

It truly was a gift.

A real gift. This was the reason I liked Felieo. She was on the other end of the extreme. While I was an unromantic tomboy who was surviving hell, she was a girly princess pruning gardens. Soft spoken, quick to please, loving—bound to be motherly and smother her children with love and affection. I'm not sure how such a woman was born from legacy society, and part of me expected her to have a dark side underneath this bubbly facade, but nope, Felio Hellara was the real deal—the airheaded princess of Theovale that most people adored.

And I did, too. I watched her roam around as I imagined a parent watching their children during Christmas, opening up the Lego sets they were craving all year.

This is nice, I thought. I expected it to be a lovely year.

Her antics put me in a generous mood, so I reached into a drawer, pulled out handfuls of multicolored bottles, and walked back to my family and the guards, who were sitting around an afternoon fire, and said: "Who wants gifts?"

I only had one day with my family before having to make the trek back to base camp—and I planned to spend it spoiling them.