The Seventh Moon

Finally Out!

It's hard to think of you that I could only see from afar; just getting a glimpse on a sky high star… ~ Florence Joyce

xxxxxx

Two more days had passed and the Master Mage declared that Risa had fully recovered. Of course, Lady Enlari had attributed it to the sealed magic inside of Risa since it appeared that the said magical energy also had healing properties. Even if she wasn’t aware of how it truly worked yet, the magic seemed to be beneficial to her.

Upon knowing that she was fully recovered, Risa insisted on helping out with the household chores since she was living there. Jehan couldn’t stop her since she did promise that he’d allow her to help him once she was well enough to move around.

That day, Jehan decided to take Risa with him to harvest some herbs.

“You’re finally taking me somewhere else.”

Jehan chuckled before facing Risa as he was taking two woven baskets from the storage room. “Were you feeling cooped up while you were resting here?”

“I wouldn’t be feeling cooped up at all if you just allowed me to do something around the house while I’m resting.”

“I’m just making sure you won’t put pressure on your still healing body. Not to mention, it was also the Master Mage’s order. I’m not foolish enough to defy him, especially when you’re aware of what he could do to us when we disobeyed him.”

‘Of course, I’m aware of that.’ And just like Jehan, Risa wasn’t foolish enough to get to the Master Mage’s bad side. Especially when she wasn’t even related to any of the people in that world. She was grateful that they decided to take her in. But she also knew where to draw the line in terms of decision-making.

“By the way, where is the Master Mage? I haven’t seen him for two days now. Is he at the capital?” Risa asked after taking the smaller woven basket from Jehan.

“From what I know, he went to the Angarth Castle to report to the king about the incident with that witch. But I don’t think he ever mentioned you to His Majesty. And I guess it’s for the best. We still don’t know who could be after your life.”

Risa nodded and began walking away from the Master Mage’s house together with Jehan. Upon looking up, she waved at the two dragons hovering about the house. She was able to get acquainted with them even though she was only living there for a few days. For some reason, the dragons were able to get their thoughts across whenever she would touch them.

However, the Master Mage and even Lady Enlari didn’t know she could do that. She felt that she doesn’t want to tell them about it. Just until she was sure that her sealed magic was the one doing this for her.

They soon reached the field almost a mile west of the Master Mage’s house where it was filled with different herbs. Some of which were those that Risa had never seen before. She wasn’t a plant person, but she couldn’t help feeling amazed at the sight and the calming scent of the herbs hovering around the area.

“Is this field been here for long?”

“Yes. From when the Master Mage was still training, he said.”

“Now that’s something. I can’t believe this.”

“Come on. I’ll teach you how to harvest each of them. You can watch for now and then you can do it yourself once you started to get the hang of it. Okay?”

She nodded and listened to Jehan while he was explaining what each of the herbs was capable of, especially for making potions. She didn’t have much interest in these back in her world. But for some reason, Jehan’s explanation made it more interesting for her and she couldn’t stop herself from listening intently to him.

By the end of the day, she was able to gather the necessary herbs for making four types of potions.

“Jehan, is there any way I can learn from Lady Enlari or the Master Mage about making potions? Especially healing ones.”

The said mage-in-training looked at Risa when he halted to a stop as they were about to head back to the house.

“What made you ask that?”

She also stopped walking and faced the young man with a wistful smile. “I want to learn more about this magic still sealed in me. But I also want to make some use of it while I’m here. You know, I’ve been thinking that I’d like to learn swordsmanship, as well.”

“Swordsmanship? Are you heading to a war or something?”

Risa shook her head. “No. But I might end up encountering people like those soldiers who tried to capture me before. And I know you can’t be there for me all the time to guard me. I want to learn these things for myself. I can’t stay as a burden to all of you all the time.”

“Risa… We never said that you’re a burden to us.”

“I know. But I can’t help feeling the way right now.”

None of them spoke a word after that. Risa soon faced the setting sun on the horizon. The spot where they were at the moment overlooked the capital of the Kingdom of Revia. And for the first time, she was able to see the magnificent castle proudly standing atop a hill surrounded by pines and evergreens. It was the first time she had seen such structure in her life, even back in her home world.

“It’s not that I could help you in any way with regards to your duties as mages of this kingdom. But I want to help somehow. I’m still unsure of what the magic inside me is capable of. Heck, I don’t even know if it can be trusted or not. But whatever ways I can, I’ll do my best to not become a burden to any of you.”

At this point, Jehan sighed and placed a hand on top of Risa’s head. It startled her, of course. No men would do this to her, even in her home world. But she just let him.

“Risa, all you have to do is to live your life in the best way possible while you’re in this world. I have to admit that you arrived at one of its dangerous times. But I did promise that I’ll do my best to protect you while you’re with us. That still hadn’t changed at all.”

“Jehan…”

“We’ll learn about your magic’s true capability together. Okay? The Master Mage and Lady Enlari aren’t the types of people who would decide to take care of someone just for the amusement of it. Regardless of your magic and identity, we’re all here for you. We’ll help you adapt to this place.”

As much as Risa wanted to cry, she did her best to hold it in. Regardless of the circumstances of her arrival in that world, she was glad that Jehan and the two mages had been there for her.

“Thank you, Jehan.”

xxxxxx

From his position, Prince Alathil couldn’t help frowning at the sight of the woman accompanying Jehan in gathering herbs. It took him and Shuren a day and a half to reach one of the Master Mage’s houses located in Hareskoven Forest. But to his disappointment, no one was inside.

He decided to have a ride around the area to see if Jehan was there since he learned from the Academy that Jehan had not attended his classes for about a week already. The Deputy Mage said that the Master Mage had asked Jehan to do a certain task for him that would take a while to finish. But no one knew what it was.

But to think Alathil would see Jehan with a young woman…

“It appeared that she was not living around the area or even in the capital.”

It was Shuren who commented that as he looked at his master, the Second Prince.

“I wonder why would Jehan be given a task to look after this woman.”

The bodyguard faced the prince with wide eyes. “What do you mean, Your Highness?”

“This must be the task that the Master Mage had entrusted to Jehan for him to skip his classes in the Academy for a week. But how important was she to the Master Mage for them to keep her here?”

“Your Highness… Could it be that she was also involved with the event a week ago?”

But Alathil chose to remain silent with regards to his thoughts about what they had seen. For some reason, even from afar, he couldn’t remove his gaze from the woman whom he had never seen before.

‘I wonder who she is…’