Aglaea Guards the Shop, Awaiting the Cat

"Of course someone entrusted me to display them."

Aglaea smiled as she looked at the young girl.

The girl narrowed her eyes: "Who?"

Aglaea, however, shook her head:

"He didn't give a name."

The girl stared at her for a long while before suddenly smiling, a smile that carried four parts cunning, four parts probing, and one part confusion.

"Then do you know that Doloss fabric no longer fetches a good price in Star Luo City?"

"I know."

"And you're still displaying it?"

"It looks nice on display."

The girl was stunned for a moment, then fished a ruby ring from her waist pouch and tossed it onto the counter:

"You're quite an interesting person. Here, this in exchange for two bolts of satin. Deal?"

"Where did this ring come from?"

Aglaea raised an eyebrow as she looked at the ring.

"Found it."

"Where did you find it?"

"In front of the jewelry store on the west side of the city."

"You can find a ruby ring in front of a jewelry store?"

"Just lucky, I guess."

Aglaea did not believe a word of it, and she pushed the ring back:

"I don't accept items of questionable origin here."

Seeing that the other party refused, the girl pursed her lips:

"Fine, forget it."

With that, she snatched the ring back and turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, Aglaea suddenly called out to her:

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

The girl's footsteps faltered. She tilted her head and looked at her:

"Something else? Like what?"

"Like... an ordinary stone."

"A stone?"

"Yes, just pick one up from the side of the road, and I'll give you the satin."

Upon hearing this, the girl's Cat Ears immediately stood upright:

"Are you serious?"

"I am."

The girl was silent for a few seconds, then grinned:

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

Before the words had even faded, she darted out of the shop like a gust of wind.

In less than twenty seconds, the girl returned.

This time, she was clutching a dusty pebble in her hand:

"Here, just picked it up from the side of the road."

Aglaea nodded and took the stone.

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

The girl took the satin, hugged it to her chest, and lowered her head to take a sniff.

It was the familiar scent...

"Thanks."

The girl turned to leave, but Aglaea called out to her:

"What is your name?"

The girl tilted her head, revealing half of her profile:

"Hehe, for the sake of you having Doloss fabric here, I'll tell you. My name is Sephalia."

"Sephalia..."

Aglaea whispered the name a few times, a sense of familiarity welling up in her heart, as if she had heard it somewhere before.

She felt a bit confused and wanted to look up to ask, but she found that the other person's figure had already vanished.

This made her sigh involuntarily:

"Truly just like the wind."

The next evening, Cipher came again.

This time, she pointed to the cloak she was wearing and asked with a smile:

"Tailor girl, I took those two bolts of satin from yesterday and had a cloak made. Does it look good?"

Aglaea looked at the rather awkwardly fashioned cloak on the other girl and furrowed her pretty brows.

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

"I want another bolt of blue."

"Bring something to trade."

Cipher grinned and pulled a Gold Soul Coin from her bosom, placing it on the counter:

"This wasn't stolen. Back in Doloss, I used to run errands for people, one Copper Soul Coin per trip. It took me years of saving to scrape together just this one."

Aglaea looked down at the Gold Soul Coin.

The edges of the coin were worn until they shone, clearly having been rubbed repeatedly many times.

She didn't press for details, simply tucking the Gold Soul Coin into the drawer before taking down a bolt of blue satin and handing it over.

Cipher took the satin but didn't leave immediately; she stood before the counter, her tail swaying gently as if she were hesitating about something.

"Have you ever been to Doloss?"

"No."

"Then how do you have materials from there?"

Aglaea thought for a moment and replied:

"A friend entrusted me to display them."

"A friend? A man or a woman?"

"A man."

Upon hearing that it was a man, Cipher's Cat Ears gave an imperceptible twitch:

"A boyfriend?"

Aglaea shook her head:

"No, he is the dean of our academy."

"A dean?"

"Yes, he founded an academy, and I am his student."

Cipher blinked her blue eyes, and it was a long while before she asked again:

"That dean of yours, why would he want to display Doloss materials here in Xingluo?"

Aglaea was silent for a moment, then decided to reveal the purpose:

"He said a little kitten would come looking for them."

Hearing this, the fur on Cipher's tail stood straight up:

"A, a little kitten? Is he talking about me?"

"I don't know, but you are the only one who has come to find me these past two days."

Cipher's ears flattened, and her tail drooped:

"Does he know me?"

"Perhaps he does."

"What is his name?"

"Ye Qiong."

Cipher recited the name once, her brows knitting slightly:

She had never heard of this person.

And so, she hugged the bolt of blue satin and turned to leave, but stopped again when she reached the door:

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

On the third evening, Cipher came again, this time bringing over a dozen Copper Soul Coins and Silver Soul Coins.

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

Cipher put her hands on her hips, her tail held high:

"Don't look at me with that suspicious gaze. This was saved up too. These are from a few errand jobs I took a while back. Two Copper Soul Coins per trip—double what I got back in Doloss."

Aglaea did not press the matter further; she simply took a bolt of black satin from the shelf and handed it over along with the coin purse.

"This one is for you."

Cipher was stunned.

"For me? For free?"

"Mm."

"Why?"

Aglaea merely smiled at her, saying nothing.

That smile made Cipher feel a bit uneasy.

She immediately snatched up the bolt of satin and turned to bolt, but after only two steps, she seemed to remember something and turned back to ask, "Tailor, that Dean of yours... when is he coming back?"

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

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

"He will."

"How can you be so sure?"

"He said he would return."

Cipher stared at her for a long moment, then gave a soft huff.

"You certainly trust him."

Just then, the voices of a few passersby drifted in from outside the shop door:

"Did you hear? The Royal Treasury has been cleaned out!"

"Cleaned out?! Are you joking?"

"It's true! They only discovered it during the morning count at the palace; more than half the treasury is gone!"

"Who would be bold enough to do that?"

"No idea. They didn't leave a single trace behind, and the Soul Masters guarding the vault didn't even see a ghost."

Hearing the passersby's discussion, Aglaea's hand trembled, and her gaze fell back upon Cipher.

Seeing Aglaea look her way, Cipher's tail went rigid, and her ears flattened against her head.

But quickly, she lifted her head, looking at Aglaea with a hint of anxiety: