Aglaea Waited at the Shop for the Cat

"Of course someone asked me to display them."

Aglaea smiled at the girl.

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Who?"

But Aglaea shook her head.

"He didn't give me his name."

The girl stared at her for a long while, then suddenly smiled. There was a hint of cunning in that smile, a hint of probing curiosity, and a hint of confusion.

"Then do you know that Doloss fabric can't fetch a good price in Star Luo City anymore?"

"I know."

"Then why display it?"

"It looks nice."

The girl froze for a moment, then fished a ruby ring out of her purse and tossed it onto the counter.

"You're kind of interesting. Here, how about this for two bolts of satin?"

"Where did you get that ring?"

Aglaea arched an eyebrow at it.

"Found it."

"Where?"

"In front of a jewelry shop west of the city."

"You found a ruby ring in front of a jewelry shop?"

"Just lucky, I guess."

Aglaea didn't believe her. She pushed the ring back.

"I don't accept things with an unclear origin."

When the other girl refused it, the girl pouted.

"Fine, don't take it."

She snatched the ring back and turned to leave.

But Aglaea suddenly called after her.

"If you really want those two bolts of satin, you can trade something else for them."

The girl stopped. Tilting her head, she looked back at Aglaea.

"Something else? Like what?"

"For example... an ordinary stone."

"A stone?"

"Mm. Just pick one up from the roadside, and I'll give you the satin."

At that, the girl's cat ears perked right up.

"You're serious?"

"I am."

The girl was silent for a few breaths, then grinned.

"You really are a strange one. Fine, wait here."

Before the words had even left her mouth, she shot out of the shop like a gust of wind.

Less than twenty breaths later, the girl returned.

This time, she clutched a gray, dusty pebble in her hand.

"Here. Just picked it up by the roadside."

Aglaea nodded and took the stone.

Then she turned, took two bolts of white satin from the shelf, and handed them over.

The girl took the satin, held it against her chest, and lowered her head to smell it.

It still had that familiar scent...

"Thanks."

The girl turned to leave, but Aglaea called after her.

"What's your name?"

The girl glanced back, showing half her profile.

"Hehe, since you have Doloss fabric here, I'll tell you. My name is Sephalia."

"Sephalia..."

Aglaea murmured the name several times. A sense of familiarity welled up in her heart, as if she'd heard it somewhere before.

Puzzled, she started to look up and ask, only to find that the girl had already disappeared.

She couldn't help sighing.

"She really is like the wind."

The next evening, Cipher came again.

This time, she pointed to the cloak she was wearing and asked with a grin, "Tailor girl, I took those two bolts of satin from yesterday and made myself a cloak. Does it look good?"

Aglaea looked at the somewhat bizarre cloak the girl was wearing and furrowed her pretty brows.

But she quickly hid her expression and said, "It looks good."

"I want another bolt, this time in blue."

"Bring something to trade."

Cipher grinned and took a Gold Soul Coin from her clothes, placing it on the counter.

"This one isn't stolen. Back in Doloss, I used to run errands for people. I earned one Copper Soul Coin per trip, and it took me years to save up this one."

Aglaea looked down at the Gold Soul Coin.

Its edges had been worn shiny, clearly from being rubbed over and over again.

She didn't press her for details. She simply put the coin away in a drawer, then took a bolt of blue satin from the shelf and handed it over.

Cipher took the satin but didn't leave right away. She stood at the counter, her tail swaying lightly as if she were hesitating over something.

"Have you ever been to Doloss?"

"No."

"Then how did you get fabric from there?"

Aglaea thought for a moment before answering.

"A friend asked me to display it."

"A friend? A man or a woman?"

"A man."

At the word "man," Cipher's cat ears gave the faintest twitch.

"Your boyfriend?"

But Aglaea shook her head.

"No, he's the headmaster of our academy."

"Headmaster?"

"Mm. He founded an academy, and I'm his student."

Cipher blinked her blue eyes. After a long while, she asked again.

"Why is your headmaster displaying Doloss fabric in Star Luo?"

Aglaea was silent for a moment, then decided to tell her the reason.

"He said a little cat would come looking for it."

At those words, Cipher's tail puffed up all at once.

"A-a little cat? Was he talking about me?"

"I don't know, but you're the only one who's come to see me in the last two days."

Cipher's ears flattened, and her tail drooped.

"Does he know me?"

"Maybe."

"What's his name?"

"Ye Qiong."

Cipher repeated the name, her brow furrowing slightly.

She'd never heard of him.

So she hugged the bolt of blue satin and turned to leave. When she reached the door, she stopped.

"Tailor girl, I'll come again tomorrow."

The next evening, Cipher came again. This time, she brought more than a dozen Copper Soul Coins and Silver Soul Coins.

Aglaea took the bag of coins and looked at her in confusion.

Cipher put her hands on her hips, her tail sticking high in the air.

"Don't look at me like you suspect something. I saved these up too. These are from a few errands I took on a while back. I got two Copper Soul Coins per trip, twice what they paid in Doloss."

Aglaea still didn't press her for details. She just took a bolt of black satin from the shelf and handed it to Cipher along with the bag of coins.

"This bolt is for you."

Cipher froze.

"For me? For free?"

"Mm."

"Why?"

Aglaea just smiled at her without answering.

That smile made Cipher feel a little uneasy.

So she immediately took the satin and turned to run. But after only two steps, she seemed to remember something and turned around to ask:

"Tailor girl, when will your headmaster... come back?"

"Three days at the soonest, five at the latest. Today is already the third day."

Cipher giggled. "What if he doesn't come back?"

"He will."

"How do you know?"

"He said he would."

Cipher stared at her for a long while, then gave a soft snort.

"You really trust him."

Just then, the conversation of several passersby drifted in from outside the shop.

"Have you heard? Someone's emptied the imperial family's secret treasury!"

"Emptied it?! What kind of joke is that?"

"It's true! They only realized this morning when they took inventory at the palace. More than half the entire treasury was gone!"

"Who'd be bold enough to do that?"

"Who knows? They didn't leave a single trace. The Soul Masters guarding the treasury didn't see so much as a ghost."

At the passersby's conversation, Aglaea's hand trembled. Her gaze shifted back to Cipher.

When Aglaea looked at her, Cipher's tail stiffened, and her ears flattened.

But a moment later, she lifted her head and looked at Aglaea, a little anxious: