To Regain What Was Lost

The morning was filled with a refreshing coolness, a simple temperature that could be experienced nearly every day, yet Rowan relished in it. Although he was indoors, being near the window let him feel the slight wisps of chills that manage to slip into the room. The nights were warmer than the morning, from what Rowan had perceived, most likely since the servants were still bustling around and kept the fires going to heat up the castle. Now that the sun slightly peaked over the horizon, nearly everyone was still asleep and the fireplaces now only had ashes within them.

It was interesting to have felt the transition from warm to cold. For a year, he had physically felt nothing. Everything was once again new. He spent the night simply marveling over the changing temperature or feeling the texture of the soft flowers behind him and the hard wooden table underneath.

He knew this would eventually get old, but it still excited him nonetheless. Rowan looked forward to when he would regain all his other senses, the sooner the better. It would also heighten his chances of freeing himself from this wretched mirror, at least, that was what he presumed.

His thoughts were interrupted by a slight rustling of blankets, Rowan unconsciously focused his attention on the dew-covered garden as the man nearby slowly got up and spoke in a hoarse voice, "Good morning, Rowan. How are you?" Although Rowan put his awareness onto the garden, his sight still fell on the newly awakened Luken. His hair was a bit ruffled and clothes slightly disordered giving a certain appeal that Rowan couldn't quite put his finger on.

Despite all the inner embarrassment (and confusion over that embarrassment), Rowan answered perfunctorily, "I'm doing more than fine, thank you for yesterday."

Perhaps due to the lethargy of just waking up, Luken did not feel the bashfulness from Rowan and continued on with his routine of preparing himself for the day. To this, Rowan could only endure his shyness of Luken. He became increasingly aware of what Luken does and it was to the point of troublesome.

Rowan was conflicted on what he was feeling, was it even natural? Maybe this shyness would eventually go away with time. That thought was a bit... unbearable, but he had plenty of time to analyze his feelings later. Now was not exactly ideal. He couldn't speak nor move freely, once he regained everything that he had lost, he would be able to go through with his thoughts and feelings.

Coming to that conclusion, Rowan pushed any remnants of that feeling and thoughts to the back of his mind. Since he couldn't act on it, just think of other things!

Luken, on the other hand, finally managed to completely wake himself up with a splash of chilling water onto his face. He finally felt a sliver of a familiar emotion from the connection with Rowan. It flashed by quickly and he wasn't able to completely grasp it, but he felt that he had experienced that certain emotion. It was a unique one, something that he had been experiencing since he had become more familiar with Rowan.

A longing to be closer.

It would be a lie if he said he wasn't happy with Rowan feeling the same. He could already see the future. They would become close friends and confidants! Hand in hand, Luken would help Rowan remove Olinthus from the world's map. With a little planning and a little brute force, it should be easily accomplished.

While Luken was thinking of how to show off his domineering side even more, like a peacock proudly showing off his feathers, Rowan already thought of the next steps of getting back his human form.

When Luken had inputted magic within him, it only took that amount of magic to fully regain his sense of touch. However, he was unsure if it would take that same amount to unlock his sense of smell and taste. Either way, after he absorbed the magic, Luken and he could only repeat the process until there are any noticeable changes and act accordingly.

Anticipation rose from within him, he couldn't wait till he could be free. He waited for so long with no expectation and the possibility of freedom was just a step away. However, his good mood from last night faded once he made eye contact with someone outside in the flower-filled garden.

After Rowan moved into Luken's room, no one was permitted in the Royal Garden, even the gardeners tended elsewhere and servants avoided that area. So, that person in servant clothing stuck out like a sore thumb. Although her hair was shoved into a standard maid's cap, blue baby hairs still stuck out and the clothes were ill-fitting on her as they were a little too big for her size, indicating that she was unfamiliar with the servant garb of Nelumbo. Her eyes were widened to the extreme, yet were unable to contain the happiness at seeing the wooden mirror leaning next to the window.

The awkward maid quickly fled the vicinity, Rowan felt both anger and irritation burst from within himself.

She was Miss Brooke Cascade, the little envoy from Olinthus. And she was clearly happy about "confirming" Olinthus's suspicions of their "stolen magic mirror." Things will no longer be peaceful. Rowan internally sighed and began to scheme for preparing against Olinthus.