Dawn brought with it the first stirrings of the Blackforge household. Astrid woke up early and, as usual, checked her daughter's room, which was usually empty. Astrid was used to finding Dalia sleeping in her office or in some corner of the workshop, but this morning finding the bed empty was a relief, not a worry. Although Astrid was happy with the idea of having grandchildren, imagining her daughter with a man she had just met didn't thrill her at all. Determined to find them, she first went to the office, which was cold and empty. Astrid's last option was the workshop. A workshop where all her worries would be solved. She quickly went downstairs to reach the patio, where she met Peter, who was already stretching before starting the day.
— Astrid — Good morning, Peter, do you know what time Dalia and Neo went to sleep? —
— Peter — Good morning, Mrs. Astrid, when I went to sleep, Miss Dalia and the young man were still arguing in Mr. Durman's workshop. —
Her suspicions were confirmed when she opened the workshop door and found Dalia and Neo. They were fast asleep on the sandbags, curled up together. Her eyes couldn't believe it; her little girl looked happy sleeping on top of that boy. A hint of a smile spread across her face when the icy morning wind sent a shiver through her. After a brief sigh, she searched the workshop for some blankets and gently covered them before letting them rest.
Dalia felt the weight of the fabric on her shoulders and forced herself to keep her breathing steady. She had woken up a few minutes earlier.
(— Dalia — I don't understand... Why is it so easy with him? I've never been one to seek out company, and yet here I am... feeling more comfortable than ever. His breathing, the warmth he gives off, the way his chest rises and falls with each breath... it's as if his presence has found a way to fit perfectly with mine.
I can't stop staring at his face. Why? He seems so peaceful. What could he be dreaming about? Is he dreaming about me? Where did he learn blacksmithing, or how did he master the runes? Why is he so easy to talk to? Does he know how to cast magic too? He has a quick mind, skillful hands, and knowledge beyond the ordinary.
For the first time, I've found someone who understands me. Someone who not only challenges me, but is a step ahead of me… and that baffles me. I've always been the one who leads, the one who knows more, the one who solves things before others. But with him… with him it's different. Why do I feel like I can trust his every word? Why, instead of wanting to overtake him, do I want to follow him? Why does it seem so easy to get carried away?
But what if he wakes up? What if he opens his eyes and finds me staring at him like a fool? I'd jerk away. I'd play dumb, tell him I fell, say something absurd. And him? What would he do? I don't want to think about it. Just... a few more minutes. Then I'd get up. —)
For Dalia, solitude had never been a bad thing. She didn't seek it out, but she didn't avoid it either. Others always called her strong, independent, a woman with ambition... but in reality, she was simply in her own world. Books, forging, runes... Men her age only knew about swords and fighting; they believed runes were "unimportant details." They were loud, brutish, and impatient. And she had neither the patience nor the desire for them.
The barest hint of a smile appeared on her face, but she quickly erased it when she noticed her aunt's figure at the entrance to the workshop. She stayed still. She didn't want to be discovered. If she was, she'd probably say something annoying.
As if reading her thoughts, Astrid quickly left the workshop. Dalia didn't need to see her aunt to know she had a certain air of mischief about her. Astrid gave a small, nasal laugh before silently retreating. Dalia closed her eyes, snuggling just a little closer to Neo.
(— Dalia — Just a few more minutes... then I'll get up.)
The day had to begin, so Astrid headed to the kitchen. There, Joan and Eliza were already busy, and Astrid began to organize the day. After an hour, Durman appeared in the kitchen, sleepy.
— Durman — And those two? — I ask, scratching my stomach.
— Astrid — Sleeping in the workshop. — He said with superiority.
Durman froze.
— Durman — How? — His expression hardened, sleep left his body in an instant, and without wasting a second, he ran to the workshop.
— Astrid — "No, Durman!" I shouted, without Durman paying attention.
Durman opened the doors wide, to find his "little girl" pressed up against that boy.
( — Durman — Neo may be an Envoy of Tolmas, a prodigy, and all he wants, but that doesn't give him the right to sleep with my girl. Not under my own roof. Not without my permission. — ) Without hesitation, he bent down and shook Neo by the shoulder.
Neo opened his eyes with difficulty, only to meet Durman's glare. He blinked a few times, not fully understanding the situation. Then, he quickly glanced over.
(●— Oh… no… this isn't what it looks like. This isn't what it looks like! Why the hell is she so cozy?! Why the hell do I look like I'm hugging her on purpose?! —)
Neo panicked, and before his body could process a logical reaction, he simply jumped off the sandbags, standing tall like a soldier. Durman glared at him.
Dalia, for her part, grunted softly and shifted among the sacks without opening her eyes.
(— Dalia — Uncle Durman… leave me alone… I want to sleep a little longer with him… — )
Without another word, Durman calmly picked Dalia up in his arms and carried her back to his room. Before leaving, he gave Neo a stern look.
— Durman — You and I will talk later. —
Neo gulped, expecting the worst. After Durman left, Astrid appeared, leaning against the workshop door with an amused expression.
— Astrid — So… How far did you go with my daughter? — she asked in a suspiciously casual tone, crossing her arms. Neo, still confused.
— We fixed the glasses and then created these stoves. —
Astrid let out a small laugh.
— Astrid — I meant something else. Did you end up sleeping with Dalia? —
Neo turned red as a tomato and shook his hands frantically.
●— No-no-no-no-no! We were just working! —
Astrid laughed even more. At that moment, Durman returned to the workshop, ready to give Neo a good talking to, but a man walked in behind him, panting.
—Ruki (Blacksmith Guild Manager)— Sir, you need to go to the merchant guild immediately. It's urgent. —
Durman clenched his jaw and balled his fists tightly before giving Neo one last warning look before hurrying off. Neo let out a breath he'd been holding when he received a pat on the back from Astrid.
— Astrid — Looks like you're safe… for now. —
●— For now? — Neo let out a worried sigh and rubbed his eyes, still groggy from the interrupted sleep.
— Astrid — If you want, you can go sleep for a while. I can show you where the room is…—
●—Yes! —Neo responded immediately, interrupting her without thinking.
— Astrid — …Dalia's. —Astrid raised an eyebrow mischievously.
●— No, no, no, no, no! —waving his hands— I just want to sleep for a while!—
— Astrid — What do you mean you won't sleep if you go to his room? — Astrid let out a low, mocking laugh.
— Astrid — Come on, I'll show you a guest room. —
Still somewhat embarrassed, Neo followed her silently, grateful that at least he could sleep a few more hours before Durman returned.
— Astrid — By the way, what are those "Stoves"? —
●— They are a… appliance? or a household device, used to heat food without having to light a fire, these actually work with mana so they would be "domestic mana"? —
(— Astrid — Electro… what? —)
●— Dalia insists on a system of concentric rings that transmit heat gradually. The idea makes sense: by adding or removing rings, the temperature can be regulated. However, there's a fundamental problem. It requires the user to manually manipulate the flow of mana. While for someone with advanced mana control, this wouldn't be an inconvenience, for the average person, it's an impractical system. Furthermore, if the user loses control of the energy, the device could overload or become unstable.
— Astrid — oven —
●— I, on the other hand, opted for a more automated and efficient solution. Tonight I discovered that not only can Magiston or artificial Magiston be carved, but we can also carve any other object as long as we place a "Simulate" rune before any writing. My design uses a Magiston crystal and two throttle and check valves.
(— Astrid — Artificial Magiston? Valve of what? —)
●— Using the control elements, my design sends mana from the Magiston to four steel plates carved with runes, two of which are used to control thermal conduction and insulation regulation. Basically, by varying the thermal resistance of the plates, they were more or less conductive, and with two more steel plates glued to the first two, I generated heat. This was transmitted to the upper ones. To be honest, I think this invention is better than any ceramic hob on Earth.
(— Astrid — Ceramic hob? From the earth? —)
●— Physically, it's the one with the two circles, one larger than the other, with two handwheels to control the temperature and two 3/2" valves with interlocks to select which "fire" to light. For now, everything is mounted on a wooden slat. But I've already fine-tuned the details, going over the rune lines again and again, making sure the alignment was perfect.
Astrid walked beside Neo with her arms crossed, listening intently to every word as he explained how each of the inventions worked. Although she tried to keep her expression serious, the way Neo spoke, excited and unaware of how much he was rambling, was overwhelmingly amusing.
When she finally finished her explanation, Astrid let out a small sigh and smiled sideways.
— Astrid — Well, well… — he murmured in a tone that oozed amusement.
— Astrid — So you spent the whole night "playing" with Dalia and those... What did you call them? Stoves? —
●— Yes, exactly. It took us several hours to adjust the temperatures… —
— Astrid — You're quite resilient, Neo. All night adjusting temperatures, without a break, and yet, here you are. I wonder… if Dalia also "lasted" until the end?
Neo went blank for a second, then her face went from confusion to a deep red as she understood the implication.
●—Hey!... W-Wait! It wasn't anything like that! We were just working! Seriously! — Astrid burst out laughing.
— Astrid — Calm down, calm down. Don't get so worked up, kid. I'm just saying that after all that "heat" with that stove, I wouldn't be surprised if Dalia got a little worked up too.
●—Mrs. ASTRID!, please —
She covered her mouth with her hand, feigning surprise at his overreaction.
— Astrid — Oh, sorry. It was just an innocent comment. — Then she winked at him.
— Astrid — Don't worry, Neo. Next time I'll bring you a couple of blankets… —
— Astrid — Although I doubt they'll need them. — She said, murmuring.
Neo covered his face with his hands, groaning in embarrassment. Following Astrid's instructions, Neo opened the door, hoping to find an empty room where he could rest. However, as soon as the door opened just a few inches, his body froze.
Dahlia was there, asleep in the bed. Her hair was spread out on the pillow, and her breathing was calm and deep. The dim light from the hallway illuminated her face for a moment, and Neo felt the wind knock her out.
Without a second thought, he quickly closed the door, leaning his back against it as if he had seen a ghost.
●— "Astrid, please don't play with me anymore!" he pleaded in a desperate tone.
Astrid, amused, let out a laugh.
— Astrid — Oh, Neo… you're too easy to provoke. Come on, I'll take you to another room. —
Neo followed her with a frustrated sigh. Walking through the hallways of the house, Astrid led him to a door on the other side of the house and calmly opened it.
The interior of the room was modest, with a neat bed in one corner and a worktable completely covered in papers. Diagrams, formulas, and notes were scattered across the surface, some even falling to the floor. Neo immediately recognized Dalia's handwriting.
— Astrid — This is one of the guest rooms… although Dalia uses it as an office. So there are some of her things in there.
Neo frowned, looking at the notes with interest. They were definitely calculations related to metallurgy and runes.
— Astrid — Some nights she sleeps here too, but that shouldn't worry you. You seem to be used to sleeping with her by now. —
Neo whipped his head around to look at her, his face red with indignation.
●— "Astrid, that's enough!" he exclaimed, putting a hand to his face in exasperation. "This room is fine! I'm just going to sleep."
Astrid smiled with satisfaction and leaned against the door frame.
— Astrid — As you wish… — Then, before leaving, he added in a mocking tone—
— Astrid — Rest, Neo… although if you can't sleep without Dalia, you know where her room is. —
Neo glared at her, but Astrid was already walking away with a mischievous laugh.
Huffing, Neo flopped down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
( ●— That woman is worse than the most difficult Lanlan cube or integrodifferential equation of complex numbers… — )
Finally, he closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that he could lock himself in the room and go to sleep in the other dimension. But he was so exhausted that he didn't even consider the option. His normally agile mind simply surrendered to the exhaustion. After all, cities were exhausting enough on their own… and he'd finished using up what little energy he had left.
As Astrid returned to her daily chores, a hand caught her. The door slammed shut as Astrid was practically dragged into the room. Dalia, arms crossed and glared, immediately faced her.
— Dalia — How dare you bring Neo into my room?! —
Astrid didn't even flinch. Her face was calm, the kind of calm that made even the fiercest warriors weigh their words.
— Astrid — Good morning to you too, dear. —
— Dalia — Don't change the subject. You could have taken him to any other room, but no, it had to be mine! —
Astrid put a hand to her chin, pretending to think about it.
— Astrid — Hm… we could say it was an accident. —
— Dalia — It wasn't! —
— Astrid — Okay, it wasn't — she conceded with a mischievous smile — But is it really that bad? Nothing happened… or did it? —
Dalia snorted and looked away, too quickly for her own good.
— Dalia — Of course nothing happened! — Astrid smiled.
— Astrid — Wow, what a disappointment…—
— Dalia — Astrid! —
Astrid giggled, but then her expression softened. She walked over to her niece and brushed a strand of hair back with a motherly gesture.
— Astrid — Dalia, I know this makes you uncomfortable, but tell me the truth… Do you like Neo? —
— Dalia — That's beside the point. —
— Astrid — Ah, then yes. —
Dalia clicked her tongue, but the blush on her face gave her away.
— Dalia — Astrid, seriously… I don't want to talk about this. —
— Astrid — Well, I do — she said bluntly — Because I know you, Dalia. And I know you like him. —
Dalia opened her mouth to protest, but Astrid silenced her with a look.
— Astrid — You spent all night working with him, and don't tell me it was just work, because I saw you this morning. I saw you sleeping, peacefully, curled up against him. — Dalia pressed her lips together.
— Dalia — I don't know, Aunt. He's… different. He's not like the others. — Astrid nodded.
— Astrid — Exactly. — Dalia sighed, crossing her arms again.
— Dalia — Last night… while we were working… there was a strange moment. — Astrid raised an eyebrow, expectant.
— Dalia — I don't know how to explain it. It was... like a game of looks. We were so focused on our projects, but every time we got up to look for this or that, our eyes met. When I realized it, he would look away, and I would do it too. As if... as if...—
— Astrid — Listen to me, Dalia. This boy has impressed your uncle. So much so that he doesn't just want him as an apprentice, but as a disciple. Do you know how difficult that is? — Dalia nodded.
— Astrid —Your uncle sees something in him, and so do I. — Dalia looked down.
— Dalia — It scares me to think what would happen if I lose control of the situation — Astrid gave her hands a gentle squeeze.
— Astrid — Sometimes losing a little control isn't so bad. — Dalia sighed, without responding.
Astrid smiled sweetly and patted him on the shoulder.
— Astrid — Think about it, dear. But not too much, or you'll let it slip away. —
Astrid left the room, leaving Dalia alone with her thoughts and her heart beating faster than she would like to admit.
Dalia sank onto the bed, arms crossed over her face, trying to gather her thoughts. But there was no way. Neo was there, in her mind, etched like a stone statue.