Hajime held the frail door open, gesturing for Aveline to walk in before following after her and shutting the door.
The smell of burning candles lingered in the room. Aveline looked around the place, at the wooden shelves, at the paintings that were chaotically placed around, and at the table that showcased various sculptures. She tilted her head as she gazed at the tallest sculpture before walking towards it.
"Can I touch it?"
His breathing slowed, slightly smiling before approaching the table where Aveline stood, gently reaching for her hand, resting it on top of the tower. A tower that he'd never seen before, a tower that he only saw in pictures, a tower that should have zero meaning to him yet invoked a wave of nostalgia.
"What is it?" she asked.
"He likes to call it the Eiffel Tower but I prefer the name Sunfloria's Tower." a lady said.
A tall woman entered the room, her head almost reaching the door frame, her curly hair tied neatly in a bun, and her apron stained with countless different colors, possibly from just finishing a painting. She took one glance at Aveline before looking at Hajime with raised eyebrows.
"Eiffel Tower? What does that mean?"
Hajime chuckled, "I don't know. The name just popped into my head."
"You know darling, it was his idea. Half of the things you see here were designed by him."
Hajime scratched the back of his head unsure of how many lies he's going to have to tell.
Aveline turned to him, her eyes glowing, her hands clutched together as she stepped closer to Hajime.
"Does that mean you know a lot about Petalhaven's history?"
It was the first time Hajime had ever seen her so excited. He felt his chest tighten as he had to lie to her.
"I've read a few books." he said, scratching his cheek.
"Really?" she said pointing towards the tower, "What's the meaning behind this?"
"That's not-"
"It symbolized love and romance." he cut off the lady.
"But it was lost centuries ago. I barely managed to find one book about it."
Hajime couldn't help but pull at his collar.
"Oh." Aveline said.
"Darling you should see this." the Lady said, gesturing towards a sculpture that resembled an airplane, smirking at Hajime.
"Woah. What is it?" Aveline asked, taking the airplane and examining every inch of it.
"Did you come up with it? Does it mean anything?"
Aveline's questions didn't stop as the lady kept showing her more and more sculptures and Hajime lied at each or answered vaguely. Aveline seemed to be excited to learn just about anything about them.
"Aveline, why are you so excited about antiques?" Hajime finally asked.
Aveline sighed before she rubbed her hands against her heart.
"I used to hang out at an antique store." she said, "The owner was really friendly, she treated me like a child."
"Like a child?"
She nodded, "She scolded me when I broke some of the figurines and taught me all about the history of Fleurdelis."
Hajime thought it had something to do with the fact she was a princess and he had no idea what it's like to be one. He could only imagine.
"Did you want to be scolded?" he asked.
Aveline laughed, a genuine laugh, a beautiful laugh.
"No, I used to cry every time she scolded me but-"
She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes landed on a jewelry cabinet, walking towards it as if she were possessed, carefully removing the glass, grabbing the necklace, and bringing it to eye level.
"What's this?"
Hajime recognized it because he was the one who asked Octavia to make it for him. He was at a loss for words. It was one thing to lie over something that held no personal meaning, and another to lie about his past name.
"Oh that reminds me, I finished making the other half." Octavia said, walking away.
Her emerald eyes wouldn't let go of his.
Hajime cleared his throat.
"That's a symbol from a language I came up with."
"Your own language?"
"Yup from when I was a child."
"It's beautiful." she said, holding it up high above her head, "What does it mean?"
"It means flower."
"Flower? Why would you make a necklace with the words flower on it?"
Hajime scratched the back of his neck.
"Uh it's supposed to be Flower Protector." he said, averting his gaze. He couldn't really explain that his name in Japanese meant Flower protector.
A chuckle escaped Aveline's mouth, "That's cute."
"Do you want it?"
Aveline shook her head before handing the necklace to Hajime.
"It doesn't... fit... my personality," she said
She's still hiding her personality, he thought.
"Why not?"
"It just doesn't."
"I say it does."
Hajime turned Aveline around, her back to him, carefully putting the necklace around her neck, lifting her violet colored hair and fastening the necklace.
"There we go," he turned her back around.
A few tears threatened to fall from her face.
"Why are you crying?" he said, wiping away her tears.
"I'm not crying," she said with a red face.
"Hajime I was gone for a minute and you managed to make her cry." Octavia said.
He shot her a glare and she silently mimicked him, before handing him a necklace with another symbol on it.
"Here ya go."
"Thanks."
He brought the necklace to his neck and fastened it.
"See now we're matching Aveline. Like partners."
Aveline wiped the tears from her eyes before staring blankly at Hajime.
"Did you make us matching necklaces?"
"Yes?"
"That's too embarrassing," she said, turning away, her hands covering her red face.
"Aw is someone embarrassed?" he teased as he leaned closer to her, his hand reaching for her stomach, tickling her.
"Hey st-op" Aveline said in between laughs, desperately trying to remove his hands.
Octavia cleared her throat.
"I'm not the biggest fan of being a third wheel," she said, "Hajime can I talk to you?"
"Huh? Sure."
Hajime stopped tickling Aveline, who was trying to catch her breath.
"In private." Octavia said.
Hajime told Aveline to wait for him as he followed after Octavia, entering the other room, descending into the dimly lit basement, and locking the door behind him.
Octavia stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the oak table, her yellow eyes narrowing at Hajime.
"That witch's daughter? Really," she said, "I left that empire long ago yet you brought her here.
"She's not her mother."
"She could be a spy for all we know. And you fucking bonded with her? What teenage hormones? My my what am I going to do with you?"
Octavia sighed heavily.
"Forget it. It's your life. I finished the prototypes."
She picked up a rectangle glass from the table and pointed it towards Hajime. A second later the glass glowed and showed a picture of Hajime.
Hajime took the glass and examined it.
"You're truly a genius."
"I know."
"Did you make the other?"
Octavia picked up a pistol from the table, a pistol that resembled the one pirates used.
"I changed it a bit. It wasn't worth using a lead ball or that black powder."
She pointed it at Hajime and it glowed. A small twig hit Hajime in the middle of his forehead.
"This way you can cast root magic even in the air," she said, "Why do you look disappointed, this is revolutionary."
'I guess you were right System. It wouldn't be worth using all those points for a nuclear bomb.'
[Magic is stronger than technology. It's been proven countless times already.]
'By who?'
[Earth and this planet are but dust compared to the rest of the universe.]
'I'm going to ignore the meaning of that.'
"I guess I expected the lead bullet to be more effective."
"If you're going to lie to me then at least do it convincingly."
Hajime chuckled, "Is it that obvious?"
"Painfully obvious."
Octavia sighed before sitting down and sipping her tea.
"You know, I've never asked how you got those ideas right?" she said.
"That's right."
"Aren't you curious why I didn't?"
"Honestly no, I have other things on my plate. Besides, I trust you." Hajime said.
"Other things huh." she smiled, "I guess you should get back to your little girlfriend."
"Yeah. Thanks, Octavia." Hajime said as he unlocked the door, heading up the stairs.
"Hajime," Octavia said.
He looked back at the woman, the woman staring at the fireplace, the woman sipping her tea, the woman who's the Fourth Aicte.
"Don't let it control you."