"Eimi, why did you unlock the front door?" Geena Swirls asked.
"Mother, don't close it," Eimi frantically said.
"Tell me Eimi, did you forget that your dad was kidnapped?!" Geena scolded.
"No, it won't happen again. We got Sorcerers guarding our house," Eimi said in a low voice.
"That doesn't mean you will unlock the door without reason," Geena said angrily.
She closed the door and glared at Eimi. What was her stupid daughter doing? In front of her eyes, Eimi unlocked the door and walked out.
"I will stay outside, lock the door mother."
"Come back here, what had happened to you?" Geena walked forward and tried to grab Eimi's forearm.
Eimi pulled her arm back, easily evading her mother's hand. She closed the door and headed towards the wooden veranda. She signed thinking about her mother and Trace.
"Are you waiting for that boy?" Geena followed her daughter.
"It has nothing to do with you, mother. Leave me alone," Eimi said, burring her head into her knees.
"Leave you alone? So you can fondle with that boy? Isn't he younger than you?" Geena Swirls said, angrily.
"I told you everything about Trace, mother. Why do you act like this?" Eimi said in a muffled voice.
"Eimi, I did not raise you like this. Just what happened to you when I was ill," Geena said, her voice conveying disappointment.
"Why can't you see it, when I tell you everything…" Eimi did not wish to speak anymore.
"So, you think he is the only one to love? You are willing to give up your mother for a boy you just met?" Geena mocked.
"No! We met long ago. You forgot… and all the time you were sleeping, Trace was here to protect me…"
"If we hired a watchman, would you fall for him, too? Eimi, why don't you see it? That boy has no background. How can he make you happy? How will you live happily?" Geena bent down to touch Eimi's head. But Eimi moved to the side after feeling its touch.
"If you think he loves you so much, then why don't you test him. Show your mother that the boy you picked is worthy for my daughter," Geena said after some time.
…
In Coiling Cradle Street, on the second floor of a catchy building. Two people were engaged in a conversation. Trace was narrating his experience to his master. A loud laughter boomed in the room.
"Master, don't make fun of me," Trace said shyly.
"The past is the past now, but don't let girls take advantage of you from now," Master laughed again.
"What should I do, master?"
"If you don't like something, make sure to do everything you can to avoid it. But you liked it…" Master gave Trace a wide smile.
"No, no, no," Trace looked away.
"My apprentice already has his hand full with girls," Master sighed. "But does he possess the ability to keep their love forever?"
"It's unsettling. I think Noelle and Miss Swirls don't like each other," Trace said.
"Why would they not? The boy they like has another girl in their life? If Eimi liked another boy along with you. What would you do?" Master asked.
"I- I would be sad…"
"And?" Master asked.
"I think it's unfair to love two people… Master, what do I do?" Trace asked in a low voice.
"Give up on one," Master plainly said.
"Master… I will listen to you. But didn't you once say that if there's something in my mind, I should tell you?" Trace said after some time.
"What do you want, my apprentice?"
…
Trace walked towards the Swirls house. His pace was slower than usual. In his mind, the scene from yesterday played followed by what happened today. His heart felt unsettled, as if it would fall out at any moment. But his eyes glittered with hope. Master had told me there was a way. But it sounded too bizarre to be true.
"Path of Sorcerers is a Ring Cultivation System," he whispered.
"The world holds uncountable wonders, unending lives. Even if no way exists for your destination, you can make one," Master's voice replayed in his head.
Trace closed his eyes and took a deep breath. But when he lifted his hand up in the air. It was visibly shaking. He lifted his second hand, but like the first, it was naked with no rings. After putting his hands down, he felt like running, so he ran.
Unlike other times, Trace ran the entire distance. He took out the key and hurriedly inserted into the keyhole. But the lock did not open. He tried to shift the key a few more times, but no result.
"Miss Swirls," he called out. When there was no response, he called out again.
Eimi was standing in the door. Her mother's hand around her arm was stopping her from stepping forward. She looked at her mother with pleading eyes when Trace called out for the fifth time.
"Fix your expression!" Geena Swirls said. "Remember what I told you otherwise," her face darkened.
"Yes, yes! Not let me go," Eimi tried to pull her hand.
She ran towards the gate but stopped a meter away from it. Adjusting her expression, she looked at her mother before stepping forward to open the gate. A smiling face greeted her, a face that was instantly relieved after seeing her.
"I have something important to tell you," Trace said.
"What do you want?" Eimi put a frown on her eyebrows before saying.
"I won't be able to visit you for the next six months. Is it okay?"
Eimi's heart shuddered. How could this be okay? It was like Trace played right into her mother's hand without reason. She looked at her mother, who was observing from the distance.
"I don't want to see your lousy face either," Eimi said, but her hand was clenching her clothes tightly.
"Give me six months-"
"I don't have time for you, leave me alone." Eimi's voice broke.
The letter for her marriage proposal was already sent. Her grandfather would be here in a few months for now. And her mother did not wish for Eimi to be seen with any boy during that time. The greatest worry for her was if a bride from the main family would come along with her grandfather.
"Miss Swirls, are you alright?" Trace asked.
"Forget about me, if you leave for six months!" Eimi raised her voice.
Her hands were clenched into fists. She wanted to ask Trace to stay, but her mother had warned her. 'If you don't act accordingly, I will take you to the main family even before your marriage. But if you test the boy, I will give him a chance.'
"Trace, I don't want to see you ever! Don't come near my house again. And forget about everything that happened. I already paid you enough.
"Forget about me, if you want to leave for six months!"
"I promise I will be back," Trace worriedly said.
"I said, forget about me if you want to go away for six months!"
"Is it okay if I come back before?" Trace asked.
Eimi wanted to nod, but she knew her mother was observing them. But before she could give Trace any signal, Geena Swirls made her move. She quickly approached her daughter and said you Trace in an angry tone.
"She is like your Elder Sister, how dare you have any romantic thoughts towards her?!"
Trace speechlessly looked towards the mother, daughter. It was like the mother had slapped his face with the most valid argument ever. Mostly, girls married people of their age or older. Trace had never seen an opposite case. He wanted to say something but was not sure what to speak to his potential mother-in-law.
"Now go back to your house-" Geena slammed the gate on Trace's face.
Luckily, Trace took a step away when he saw Geena Swirls moving her hand. He was expecting a slap, but at least that did not happen.
"I will be back!" Trace said at the top of his lungs before heading back home.
What was to come next would change his life forever. Before that, he let Eimi know. Trace looked at his hands again to confirm if it was real. He smiled when he saw that the number of rings was zero.