"Well then. If there’s no contract to discuss between us, I suppose we should focus on more pressing matters. Like this... massage you promised me." Rowena announced with a smile, and Austin couldn’t help but laugh.

"Right, right. After four days, you’ll be having your massage, remember? But for tonight, you actually need to rest. You’ve been busy all day, so that means no scrolls, no reports, nothing. Just simple resting in your bed chambers."

Austin stated firmly as he stood up and offered her his hand. "Now come on. I’ll walk you to your room myself, just to make sure you don’t sneak back to your desk." Austin winked, and Rowena chuckled as she took his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

"You really are a strange human, Austin Rin."

"And you, Countess Rowena Elvenheart, are stuck with this strange human for a very, very long time."

Hearing his words, Rowena smiled, and for the first time in longer than she could remember, she felt truly relaxed about what awaited her territory in the coming years.

"Thank you, Austin."

"You’ve thanked me already, so there’s no need to thank me twice." Austin said as he tightened his grip on her hand.

Hearing this, Rowena smiled and nodded.

But she turned her gaze back to Austin upon hearing what he said next.

"Actually, I’ve been wanting to thank you too."

"For what?"

"For having your little spirit watch over me." Austin revealed, and Rowena stopped mid-stride, with a stunned look on her face.

She immediately stopped walking and stared at him with a surprised look on her face. "Y-you knew?"

"Yeah."

"But how?"

Austin shrugged and replied. "To be honest, I wasn’t sure what it was at first, because I couldn’t see it clearly. But I thought it was strange to sense something hovering above you the day I first met you."

"Since I couldn’t see it clearly, I thought it was just a speck of light at first."

"But then I noticed it followed us all the way to the workstation, watching over us inside and outside the store as well."

"At first I thought you were trying to spy on me and my potion recipe, but then it occurred to me that you were actually trying to protect me from anyone who might try to discover it." During his time at the store, Austin had noticed how this spirit didn’t seem interested in his recipe at all, in line with the terms of the agreement he had made with Rowena.

So its objective wasn’t to steal or copy the recipe, but rather to help ensure Austin wasn’t in any kind of trouble.

However, he hadn’t been certain of this at the time, and had only recently become sure of it.

"So when you said Legolas had noticed a few scouts and spies near the store at night, it was your spirit who saw them, wasn’t it?" Austin asked, and Rowena instinctively nodded, still finding it hard to believe that Austin had sensed her spirit.

"But still, I wasn’t certain of what was hovering around the store or watching over me until Legolas asked me a few days ago if I could sense anything around. At the time I wanted to say yes, but I was worried your little spirit would run off."

"But thankfully I kept it to myself, and it was able to protect me against the goblins I fought against." Austin explained all of this, and revealed that this was the exact period he had first noticed Rowena’s little spirit.

Once he had finished explaining everything, Rowena was left speechless for a while before revealing the truth.

"You’re right. It’s amazing how you found out, but you’re right. Sylvie is a spirit, but she’s not just any spirit, she’s a fairy." Rowena revealed, and to Austin’s surprise, a cute little fairy suddenly materialised on her shoulder.

The little fairy was a cute humanoid girl wearing a white dress, with beautiful translucent fairy wings behind her back.

She had chin-length white hair and a pair of bright green eyes, and she happily waved at Austin in greeting.

Of course, she couldn’t talk, but Austin couldn’t help but find Sylvie extremely adorable. "Oh my goodness, she is so cute. Can I touch her?"

"Um, if you want to, yes." Rowena nodded, and the little fairy hovered over to Austin before landing on his cupped hands.

"She’s so soft and adorable. I love her." Austin revealed as he brought the little fairy up to his cheek, rubbing his cheek against hers.

Of course, Sylvie giggled as she rubbed her tiny cheek against his, then waved at Rowena and hugged Austin, as if to say, "See? I told you he was different from other humans!"

Since Sylvie was a fairy, and could willingly decide who could see her and who couldn’t, her kind had once revealed themselves to both humans and elves alike.

However, that was a choice many fairies would come to regret, because many of them were hunted for months and years by magical scholars.

These scholars experimented on them and their cores, hoping to use them as a conduit to generate even higher amounts of stored mana.

This resulted in many fairies being hunted until only a few remained, and not many had been seen since.

At first, Rowena had been against Sylvie revealing herself to any human, because fairies loved children, be they human or elf, and Rowena feared that if Sylvie let her instincts take over while playing with a human child, an adult might be nearby, and that could result in her being killed.

So to prevent anything bad from happening to her, Sylvie had stayed distant from both human children and adults altogether.

However, after spending four to five months with Austin, hiding in the background, Sylvie had reported that Austin could actually be trusted, and right now the little fairy felt vindicated as Austin rubbed his cheek against hers in happiness.

Meanwhile, Rowena couldn’t help but grin as she watched the two of them together, and it was only after a while that they stopped rubbing cheeks.

Okay, that sounded a little strange, but oh well. Austin thanked the little fairy for protecting him, and she smiled and curtsied cutely before settling on his shoulder.

"Oh, that reminds me." Austin said as he returned his gaze to Rowena.

"What is it?"

"I’ve wanted to give this to you for a while now, but I feel now is the right time." Austin revealed, and Rowena was left even more puzzled, but before she could say anything, Austin had already handed her a bright red potion vial.

"Is this.....?"