Chapter 1038
The missions never came every day, so most of her year was taken up by downtime. Her missions were few and far between, leaving most of the year as her own to waste.
Back then, when she’d lived in this courtyard, she’d been just a little girl. He was barely older a teenager at most-yet it was he who had taught her so much, changed her life’s path in ways she couldn’t have imagined. He’d been her mentor, her guiding star. No wonder her feelings for him had always been so deep and different from anything else.
Uriah came over, carrying two chairs, and set them under the porch eaves. He waved her over, and Mavis joined him. Together they sat, gazing out at the riot of blossoms filling the garden. Mavis had always loved roses, ever since she was a
child.
Yet aside from the ones in this very yard, she’d never grown them anywhere else. She found comfort in their blooms, believed they could heal almost any hurt. But she also knew flowers weren’t food, and she’d needed to worry about survival more than beauty, so growing them herself had always felt like an impossible luxury. In the end, she’d deemed it too much trouble to bother.
Now, seeing these flowers thriving, lush, and full of life—felt almost unreal, as though she’d stepped back into another lifetime. She had assumed they must have all withered away years ago, but someone had cared for them. They’d grown robust, their blossoms even more beautiful than she remembered.
“I remember the first time I saw you,” Uriah said, voice soft with nostalgia. “I thought you were a stray kitten or puppy, half-dead in the grass. It gave me a fright, and when I realized you were a child…well, that shocked me even more p>
“After I brought you home, I was terrified you wouldn’t make it,” he went on. “I called a doctor. Did everything I could. I was so sure you weren’t going to survive p>
“But you surprised me. Day by day, you got stronger, learned to eat on your own, move around by yourself. You went from this skinny, dirt-smudged little thing to a round-cheeked, bright-eyed girl p>
He smiled. “But you sure had a temper on you. Stubborn as anything p>
“Was I, really?” Mavis murmured, searching her scattered memories. “Was I that stubborn p>
“Unbelievably stubborn,” Uriah
replied with a chuckle. “You wouldn’t talk to anyone, didn’t want anyone to come near you. At first, you wouldn’t
even touch the food I brought
always looking at peopl
like
expected the worst p>
“Don’t tell me you don’t remember-you bit me, remember?” He held out his forearm, pointing to a faint, old scar. “Right here. The mark’s still there if you look close p>
Mavis stared at the faded crescent of teeth. She suddenly felt a little sheepish. “Honestly, I don’t remember that at all p>
Parts of those early days were just a
blur to her. Maybe she’d been too young, or too shaken and starved,
remember much. What she trulyne
recalled was the time
after moments spent with him as she grew stronger, blossoming under his care.
The truth was, Uriah hadn’t exactly been the picture of easy temperament as a boy himself. He might’ve been young, but he always spoke like a grown man, and his stern lectures could be genuinely intimidating.
She’d been a little afraid of her old teacher. But even then, she’d known he’d never really hurt her, and so she’d learned to accept—even appreciate his scolding.
“I’m sorry,” Mavis said quietly, out of nowhere.
“Sorry? What happened to the fierce little wildcat that bit me?” Uriah laughed, shaking his head. “I haven’t forgotten you once told me you’d gnaw my arm off, you know p>