Encountering Jaina Again

"To speak of peace now is premature. Take Dalaran, for instance—it is not as unified as you imagine. There is no shortage of filth festering in the shadows."

"Oh?" Seeing Liam suddenly bring up Dalaran with such solemnity, Jaina felt a prickle of intuition that something was off, though she couldn't quite pinpoint what.

Liam had stopped being evasive and steered the conversation here because he had decided to leave. Before departing, he intended to test the waters, curious to see if playing the role of a mystic would cause some Bronze Dragon to suddenly leap out and strike him down.

He chose Jaina because of her unique status; after all, every move she made would have a profound impact on the future of Azeroth.

"It is getting late, and I must be going. A word of advice before I leave: tell your teacher to keep a close eye on Kel'Thuzad. If possible, it would be best to toss that bastard directly into your Violet Hold. It would save you the trouble, and save me some effort as well."

Liam dropped the line and turned to leave, though his direction was not toward Lordaeron Internment Camp, but rather toward the hills to the east.

"How do you know who my teacher is? You... do you know me?"

With such blunt speech, if Jaina still couldn't sense that something was wrong, she would truly be unworthy of her status. Jaina finally understood why she had felt there was something off about Liam all along.

How could an ordinary guard know so much chaotic information? Not only was he better informed about many things than she, a princess, but the aura he projected when spouting nonsense was nothing like the attitude an ordinary soldier should have when meeting a mage. Furthermore, as an apprentice mage, she hadn't even noticed when he had walked up behind her. Fortunately, he meant no harm, or else... well, it wouldn't have mattered; he still had plenty of protective treasures on his person.

But hearing his words now, it seemed he had known her identity all along, and that...

Jaina's mind was in a whirl, unable to grasp his true purpose. When she finally regained her focus, Liam had already run quite a distance away.

The young girl wanted to give chase, only to realize that her shoes had been removed earlier under the coaxing of that swindler. When she looked down to find them, she discovered that the shoes, which had been lying quietly to the side, had vanished! In their place remained only a blooming rose, glistening with dew as if it had been plucked just moments ago at dawn.

"Swindler! Scoundrel! You stop right there!" The shamed and angry girl longed to smash an Ice Lance into that hateful fellow's head. Had she not been so furious, such a thought would have been unimaginable for an apprentice mage who had yet to experience real combat.

Liam ran at full tilt, disappearing into the empty wilderness in the blink of an eye, leaving only the girl's indignant, shrill cries echoing through the boundless night, and the image of that retreating figure, fleeing in such a sorry state, deeply etched into her mind.

Having sailed through life with the wind at her back, the young girl had experienced her first "heart-to-heart" conversation, thinking she had made a decent friend, only to be met with her first taste of "betrayal." How could she ever forget Liam's detestable face? Especially since he had stolen her favorite pair of shoes from home—though that flower was quite pretty... but that was no excuse for theft!

So, even though she hadn't seen him for over a year, when she caught a casual glimpse of him in Lordaeron today, Jaina recognized her "nemesis" instantly. The girl called out, and Liam's reaction confirmed his identity immediately. Furious, Jaina jumped off the carriage and strode toward where Liam stood.

"What? You aren't going to tell me you got a promotion and are now a guard for Lordaeron City, are you?"

Liam was still gnawing on an apple, his speech slightly muffled. Seeing Jaina approach, he smiled and held out the apple in his other hand.

"Want some? It's quite sweet." Liam's eyes darted around, spouting nonsense while he looked for a chance to bolt before his identity was fully exposed.

He was already regretting his actions earlier. After three years of training as a thief, he had been exposed by a single sentence from a little girl. It seemed he wasn't cut out to be a qualified spy. He should leave this promising career to that fellow Wilton.

"I wouldn't take anything from you, you ghost!" Jaina snapped. Recalling the rose she had picked up, her face flushed slightly, and she could only comfort herself internally: "Kul Tiras doesn't have flowers this pretty; I was just curious at the time."

Regarding this boy who had appeared in her life once more, Jaina, who hadn't had many friends growing up, couldn't sort out her true feelings, but there was one thing she had to do.

"Give my shoes back." Although the little swindler was a good storyteller and their last chat had been pleasant, a lady's shoes could not remain in the hands of a strange man. Jaina was determined to get her property back.

As for the matter of him pretending to be a camp guard, Jaina hadn't actually taken it to heart.

If Jaina hadn't mentioned it, Liam would have forgotten all about it. The prank last time had been an impulsive decision; he hadn't known Jaina's attitude toward an impostor like him, and if she had taken him for a spy, things could have turned ugly.

Now that Jaina had brought it up, Liam simply retrieved the shoes he had long since forgotten from his spatial storage.

This sight made Jaina's eyes light up; she was very curious about how Liam had done it. There was no such thing as storage items in this world. The trick Liam had just performed was akin to spatial magic, a field only accessible to mid-tier mages.

Even with Jaina's talent, it would take at least five years before she could become a mid-tier mage. How had this "ordinary person" with no magical fluctuations managed it?

And he... he actually carried them with him! At this thought, Jaina felt both shamed and angry, and so, to the titles of "swindler" and "scoundrel," Liam earned yet another: "pervert."

With the shoes in his hand, Liam was still debating whether to return them directly or toss them aside to distract Jaina and make a quick getaway, when the sound of hooves reached his ears.

Before Liam could turn to look, a voice drifted over from behind him.

"Return the lady's property to her, and I might let you spend a few days less in the dungeon."

As Liam turned back, he recognized the speaker at a glance, for that shoulder-length golden hair was far too striking...