Cheering Up

"No, I should say that anyone with normal taste and eyesight wouldn't dislike it!"

"Really?"

Manus thought about it and felt that made sense.

Take himself, for example. He wasn't particularly fond of jewelry, but when making mechanical watches, he still considered pure metal watches too monotonous. Even adding an eagle to the dial did little to change that.

So, based on Ravenclaw House's representative colors, he replaced the hour markers with sapphires and changed the hands to Klein Blue structural coloration.

That made opening the watch face far more pleasing to the eye.

"Then what color gemstones do you like?"

"Huh?"

The implication behind those words was far too obvious. Lily's eyes widened.

"Th-this... wouldn't be appropriate, would it? They're too expensive, and even if I got one now, I wouldn't have any use for it. I should wait until I can earn money myself and buy one later."

Manus thought about it. A thirteen-year-old really had few occasions to use jewelry.

"All right, then."

"..."

Lily suddenly regretted it a little.

She knew Manus's family was especially wealthy. She could have accepted it for now, then bought him a gift in return once she earned money later.

Even though she had no opportunity or occasion to wear it now, it was a gemstone! It would still be beautiful just sitting there to look at!

Forget it, forget it. Lily, you need aspirations. Your first piece of jewelry should be something you earn the money to give yourself!

Lily silently encouraged herself, then began listening to the lesson seriously.

Manus was listening seriously as well.

Although Kettleburn was not particularly steady by nature, to the point that he had lost one hand and one and a half legs over the years while dealing with Magical Creatures, that in itself