The Taming of a Beast

Chapter 6

When Adrian came out of the bathroom, Evelina was setting down a cup of warm milk on the table. She took a deep breath before turning to face the water mage.

"Oh, your hair is still wet. Here, sit down and let me dry it."

As a water mage, Adrian could have dried himself with a simple wave of his hand. But before he could say anything, Evelina grabbed a cloth and began drying his hair as she stood behind him.

Somehow, he had the feeling that she was busying herself because she was too embarrassed to face him after accidentally walking in on him in the nude. It wasn't like she could hide anywhere in the small cottage.

Adrian closed his eyes and let her ruffle his hair with the cloth. She was still gentle as she rubbed his hair. The corner of his lips lifted. 

The next day, Evelina and Adrian set off for the village nearest the outskirts of the Forest of Illusions, leaving Eclipse to watch over the cottage. To the villagers, Evelina was known as a witch now living alone in the Forest with the passing of her mentor, so for a strange man they had never seen before to accompany her attracted much attention.

Both ignored the obvious stares and gossip of the villagers. For Adrian, it was nothing new as people often stared at him for his white-silvery hair. Now, they still stared even though he had brown hair, though their stares were more of curiosity rather than fear.

After selling her weekly load of medicine at the village's pharmacy, Evelina grabbed Adrian's hand and headed to a merchant's stall.

"How does this shirt look?"

She held a white shirt against him and guessed the fit. Adrian stood there obediently as Evelina compared different shirts on him. He looked down at her as she wrinkled her brows cutely. It was the first time that anyone had taken such care to choose his clothes. It wasn't a bad feeling, he finally decided.

"Okay, we'll take these!" Evelina declared.

Before Adrian could protest, Evelina had already paid for three shirts, two trousers, and a cloak. In a few minutes, he was outfitted in the new clothes. The material was nowhere as high quality as any of the clothing he had worn as a mage knight but somehow he preferred this homespun cloth more.

As he came out of the clothing shop where he was changing, he spotted Evelina next to a tall young man. Adrian's smile slowly fell.

***************

"Evelina."

The witch turned around to see one of the young men she was somewhat familiar with from the village.

"Peter," she acknowledged.

The youth was one of the hunters Evelina and Morena had worked tirelessly to save eight years ago when the group of hunters had accidentally ventured too deep into the Forest of Illusions. It was after this incident that the villagers had begun to warm up to Evelina more. There were still some villagers who were frosty at best, but Peter was one of the nicer villagers.

"Are you here to sell your medicine?" Peter asked.

"Yes, I just finished earlier." She replied.

Peter shoved a basket of flowers towards her, and Evelina winced inwardly as the youth stepped too uncomfortably close into her space. She knew that Peter had a crush on her, but she held no interest in him. Almost every time the witch went to the village, Evelina would sense that someone was following her. After some time, she realized that it was Peter, who was both shy but also brashly forward when facing the pretty witch.