"To the Holy City of Valios-2"

"No taverns? What do you mean?" Sigmund questioned. When he asked Nathan about it before, his face showed that he was very sure of it.

"This is a sacred and holy city, so places like taverns, which serve liquor for leisure purposes are not allowed. Here, wine is being blessed in the Sanctuary, and is being used for prayer offerings and marriage rituals. It has always been this way since after the war."

"I see… Then we will have a hard time finding her relatives…" Ivory sighed.

Seeing her disappointed face, Preston assured, "But since I am General Bronzelain's younger brother, I have a wide range of connections in the cities, so I am sure we can find them. Do not worry about it," he then stood up and opened the turquoise-painted window. He called out to his Servant, "Mermaine, come here."

Mermaine, his Nymph Servant, had been hanging out on the rooftop before she was called in by her Master. Her long, plum purple-colored hair swayed as the cool wind blew it. She responded enthusiastically, "Okay, Master Preston!" With her small, bare feet, she ran down the stairs.

When Mermaine reached the living room, Preston noticed her feet. He got a little annoyed and scolded her, "I told you to get used to wearing footwear when you're on land."

"Master, I apologize!" she kneeled down.

Ivory was surprised to see the Servant following her Master very obediently. At the same time, she found Mermaine so pretty with her long wavy hair hanging loosely on her skin-tight nude garment and her long skirt also looked like a black moor goldfish's tail. Her shoulder armors were made of spider conch shells, and her gauntlet and breastplate were made of overlapping, flat capiz shells.

"Get up, don't apologize. I am only reminding you," he felt bad that his Servant was acting too hard on herself. He helped her to get up and tiptoed to pat her head because she's taller than him. Preston then turned to his guests, "This is Mermaine, my Nymph Servant. Mermaine, they are our guests from the Land of Olivea. Treat them with care."

"Yes, Master!" she beamed a smile to Ivory and Sigmund.

"Mermaine, I have a task for you. I want you to go to the city guard chief and tell him to meet me here tomorrow morning. Come back before supper."

Mermaine nodded at him with a smile, and she headed out.

"It's only been a few weeks since I summoned her…" Preston explained. "By the way, I am a first year at Qawiun Academy."

"What?!" she was surprised that he already had a lot of influence in his Land, but then she realized that Lucius was also the same. She told him, "Oh, I mean… It must be tough, traveling for seven hours everyday," replied Ivory.

He shook his head, "I have my own carriage, and besides, I am staying at Lucius' house twice a week, so it wasn't too tiresome. I told him that if he needed help, I'd gladly help him anytime, whatever it is. Are you going to spend the night? I shall prepare the room-"

"No, sir Bronzelain, thank you for your generous offer," Ivory said. "Since we are already here, we want to make the most out of it, and we might roam around 'til late at night. We wouldn't want to bother your rest."

"Oh, if that's the case, I would like to recommend the Valios Lighthouse. I hope you'll find the chance to climb to the top of it despite the long line of city visitors which is overlooking the city. You'll see the city lights, and also feel the cool wind from the sea..."

Ivory and Sigmund listened carefully to Preston's recommendations. They knew they had gone there to search for Euphorie's relatives, but of course, they would like to take the opportunity to go sightseeing.

The young gentleman also gave them a copy of a map of Valios City drawn in a scroll. He promised to meet them in his house with the city guard chief tomorrow morning to start their search, and suggested that they should find an inn before sunset, so the two of them headed out after a short while.

And so, they followed the map heading to the inns. Fortunately, it was only the afternoon, so they had easily found a place nearest to Preston's house. After reserving the room, they roamed around the city.

Ivory walked side by side with her Servant. She noticed that the pathways were a bit crowded and deduced that the people walking along the pathway were city visitors judging by the way they dressed. She compared them with the locals of Valios City who wore only simple, single-colored tunics.

"Sigmund, I want to buy souvenirs for my family," she looked around and saw carved rocks shaped like shells and stars, painted in colors of pink, blue, or yellow.

As they viewed the stalls one by one, a subtle smile displayed on Sigmund's lips when he saw Ivory getting excited at the souvenirs. He stared at her amorously and wondered, if he's a human, could he be standing beside her as her lover?

"I'd like seven of these pretty blue shells," Ivory told the shopkeeper, and she gave a total of three silver coins. "Thank you!" and she placed them in her brown knapsack.

"Why did you buy so many?" Sigmund curiously asked as they started walking forward.

As she replied, she counted using her fingers, "I bought shells for mother, father, Gracie, Flynn, and.." then she gave a lonely smile. "The other one is for Katie."

"I see…" The Vampire Servant then noticed the extra shell-shaped stones, "And the other two are for?"

"Lucius and his mother Diana, of course. I shouldn't forget them."

"Why don't you buy something for yourself?" he suggested, "After all, we wouldn't know if we'll be back here or not."

"Hmm, you're right. There's no guarantee that Euphorie is my relative," Ivory then pulled Sigmund's arm to go back to the previous shop. She picked two yellow-painted star-shaped rocks, then paid the shopkeeper.

"I said buy one for yourself. Why did you buy two of those?" the Vampire Servant cocked a brow.

Ivory placed one of the stars in her knapsack. She beamed a smile and extended her arm to him, giving the other one, "For you, Sigmund. Your souvenir."

Although he didn't want to show it, Sigmund was actually touched by his Master's thoughtfulness. His ears turned red from embarrassment, "Dimwit, you don't have to buy me one, you know. You'd waste the coins."

But Ivory took his left hand and placed the star, "I insist!" she held his big hand with her small hands, "Allow me to show to you how thankful I am to have you by my side… Okay, Sigmund?"

"Well, what can you do without your great Servant?" Sigmund chuckled. "I know you can't live without me, Ivory."

It was as if time stopped that very moment as the two gazed into each other's eyes. The pathway was crowded and noisy, yet they couldn't hear a thing but the beating of their hearts.

As Ivory held her Servant's hand, she could really tell that he's right. She really couldn't live without him anymore.