Of course, other nobles were already becoming visibly jealous of her success, but Rowena didn’t really pay people like that any attention, because she knew that the reason this could only be possible right now was because Austin had shared his 20% stamina-enhancing potion recipe with her.

Thinking back to when it happened, Rowena could vividly recall how Austin had shared his recipe with her.

At first she wondered why he was sharing it with her so easily, but from the response he gave her, Rowena was able to pick out a hidden meaning behind his vague reply.

To her understanding, she believed Austin must have somehow developed an even greater stamina-enhancing potion recipe than the 20% one.

This was the only explanation she could come up with that would make sense as to why Austin didn’t mind sharing the 20% potion recipe.

But if Austin could really brew an even greater potion, wouldn’t that mean her human friend was truly amazing?

This was the thought that had sprung to the Countess’s mind when she received the recipe a few weeks ago.

It had also played a huge part in allowing her to willingly reveal her family’s mana-replenishing potion recipe to Austin as well.

Yep, that’s right, Rowena had done this a few days ago because a part of her truly believed that if Austin could understand the basic requirements of what was needed to brew a mana-replenishing potion, he might truly develop a way of improving the 3% potion recipe into a 5% or 10% mana-replenishing potion.

And this was why the beautiful Countess had a smile on her lips as she stole a glance in Austin’s direction.

Currently, Austin was seated and focused as he stared at her father’s old mana-replenishing potion recipe at the far end of the bench.

He was studying it so intently that he hadn’t even noticed her looking in his direction.

Right now, Austin had one hand resting flat against the page of the recipe manual whilst his other hand kept turning a small vial slowly between his fingers, without him seeming to realise he was doing it.

Of course, Rowena kept watching him for a bit longer than she intended to, but she definitely didn’t mind it.

After all, there was definitely something amazing about seeing someone she cared for working with the kind of focus Austin had on his face right now.

She was still staring at him when Austin glanced up and a small grin spread across his face.

’Shit. He caught me.’ Rowena cussed internally, but Austin’s voice instantly pulled her gaze back to him.

"Is there something on my face?" Austin asked, but Rowena shook her head as she returned her gaze to her work.

"So, why were you staring?"

"I wasn’t. I was just thinking."

"Oh, about me, it seems." Austin teased, but Rowena instantly refuted his words.

"No, about the recipe, which happened to be what you were holding."

"Oh, so it wasn’t my handsome face you were staring at?"

"I wasn’t staring at your face."

"Then was it my hands?" Austin teased, but Rowena called out to him with a playful, annoyed look on her face.

"Austin!!"

"What? I’ve been told I have nice hands, and I thought you might be interested in them." Austin joked, and Rowena couldn’t help but smile despite trying really hard not to.

"You are insufferable."

"And yet here you are." Austin said cheerfully before pushing off from the bench and crossing over to her side.

"Alright, show me where you are. We’ll finish this batch together." Austin requested as he stared at the vials of potions Rowena was working on.

Whilst Austin had been focused on Rowena’s late father’s recipe manual, Rowena had been busy with the potion vials in front of her.

But now that he was done with what he was doing, he decided to come lend the Countess a hand.

"I’m perfectly capable of finishing it myself." Rowena replied.

"I know you are, but it’s more fun to work on it together." Austin said as he looked over her progress with genuine interest.

Meanwhile, Rowena stared at him for a moment before shifting slightly to make room for him at her end of the bench.

The two of them worked side by side through the rest of the batch, with Austin occasionally asking questions about Rowena’s past and what it felt like to watch her father brew potions.

Of course, Rowena replied to his questions before the two of them drifted toward other topics, and it didn’t take long for the room to be filled with their laughter.

Their laughter had started as a small disagreement about the correct way to measure one of the reagents, but somehow it ended with Austin making his point so dramatically that he nearly knocked over an entire row of finished potions.

Seeing this, Rowena instantly grabbed the rack with both hands as silence filled the room before their laughter broke out.

"Hey, look at what you did. You almost knocked over the potions."

"Oops. Sorry about that."

"Don’t oops me. If you had knocked the potions over, I would have made you brew every single one of them again from scratch."

"Ohh, so scary." Austin grinned as he playfully trembled in fear.

The two laughed softly before focusing on what they were doing.

And this was how Austin continued to bond with the Countess even more.

Anyways, a few more weeks passed after that.

And right now, the sun was high on this quiet afternoon as warm light passed through the bedroom window.

Of course, Austin was currently in the room, lying on his back across the bed with Luna resting on his chest.

One of his large hands was spread gently across her back to keep her steady, and he had even been talking to her the way he always did.

He had been talking to her in a low and easy stream of words about nothing in particular, trying to let her get used to hearing his voice, and from the response he was slowly noticing, Austin was certain his little tactics were working.

But just then he decided to make a face at her and it definitely wasn’t a dignified face at all.

Instead it was a weird expression which involved him moving his eyebrows along with both of his cheeks, whilst also releasing a sound that he would have strongly denied making if anyone else had been in the room with him.

And as for what that sound was?

Well, this was it.

"Boo boo gagaaa wushu" Austin playfully said in a funny tone, and his cute little pupcake stared at him before the corners of her tiny mouth slowly curved upward.