Alex had only been in his room for an hour or so when he heard knocking from outside. It was not a knock on his door, but a knock on the door on the outside.

He walked out and saw the two older men confused. “I’ll go check,” Alex said and walked to the door. He opened it and was surprised to find the orange-haired young woman from earlier standing out.

Her eyes suddenly widened and her mouth opened but nothing came out of it. The man next to her quickly leaned over to another person Alex only then noticed had been standing behind the woman.

It was a woman with a young face but was of clearly older age. Much older. She had pink hair in a tight curl, sprawling around her and she wore a pink robe with flower patterns on it.

The patterns reminded him of a flower that his mind picked up faster than he could have. It was the woman that he recognized as the flower. A plant turned human.

Baleful Pink Witchflower.

Alex did not need all of that to recognize who this woman was. Her face was all that he needed anyway.

“It is an honor to be in your presence, senior Pinkflower,” Alex said quickly. This was one of the 10 stars of Alchemy, just like his master.

Pinkflower, the older woman, looked surprised. “You recognize me? Impressive. I haven’t been out of my home in a long time.”

“I recently saw your image on a painting, senior, and I remembered it,” Alex said. “You look the same as you did in that painting.”

The woman smiled. “I’m glad you recognize me. My disciple here seems to have been in contact with you recently and wishes to say some things to you. Would you mind listening?”

Alex blinked. “Of course. What is it?”

He turned to look at the young woman in front of him, who at this point seemed to be on the verge of tears.

“I… I would like to apologize to you,” the young woman began, “for deceiving you.”

“Deceiving me?” Alex asked.

“Yes, I deceived you,” the young woman said. She eyes her master who waited cross-armed and continued. “I made you believe that the berries you gave me cost less than what they actually do. I… am sorry for not paying what they were worth.”

She fell into a bow, asking for forgiveness.

Alex didn’t know what to think at the moment. “Um, I knew what they were worth when I gave them to you. I chose to let you keep them for that price since it seemed like you needed it.”

The young woman looked up, surprised. Her eyes widened slightly as she turned to look at her master, hopeful that this would be the end of it. But her master simply stared daggers back into her, making her turn back around.

“No, it doesn’t matter if you knew it or not. I still tried to deceive you and succeeded. I would like to return these two to you and ask you for your forgiveness.”

She pulled out the box he had given her, with the two berries inside.

Alex didn’t know what to say. “Did you not need it?” he asked.

“I do,” she said.

“Then you should keep it. You must be poisoned, right?” he asked.

“Huh? No, I was just going to try and make a pill with it,” she said.

Alex was taken aback. “Oh… so it was nothing urgent?”

“No,” the young woman said.

“I see.” Alex took back the box and brought out the spirit stones he had been paid. Pinkflower stepped up. “That won’t be necessary. You may keep those, young man. It will be a good lesson for my disciple,” she said.

Alex shook his head. “I would rather not owe anyone anything, senior. Please take these back,” he said, handing them over to her, instead of the disciple.

“What’s going on?” Silvermist asked as he stepped next to the door.

The woman looked inside and her eyes widened. “Brother Silvermist?” she asked in a shocked voice. “What are you doing here?” “I’m not the one standing in front of my door, sister Pinkflower,” Silvermist said, equally surprised. “What are you doing here? And what do you want with my disciple?”

“Disciple?” Pinkflower asked, her eyes narrowing to look at the young man once more in a new light. “What is your name, child?” “I go by Dawnblade, senior,” Alex said.

“Well, if the tournament was about manners, your disciple has mine beat,” the woman told Silvermist. “She bought something off your disciple and tried to deceive him for the price.”

“This girl?” Silvermist asked. “What’s your name, young lady?”

“Shao Humin,” the young woman said in a very low voice, more embarrassed than she had ever been in her entire life.

“And young Shao, why did you deceive my disciple?” Silvermist asked.

“Be-because I didn’t want to pay him in full,” Shao Humin said.

“Why is that?” Silvermist asked.

“Alright, stop hounding my disciple. That’s my job. Worry not, she will get a much more severe punishment later on,” Pinkflower said.

At this point, the young woman had begun tearing up. Her eyes were fully moist.

“Alright, alright,” Silvermist said, changing the topic. “You don’t leave your home that often. Why are you here? For the festival?”

“Yes,” Pinkflower said. “My disciple grew up secluded and doesn’t understand the world as well as she should. I am taking her around to get her used to the world.”

“Oh, was she born into a rich family or what?” Silvermist asked.

“She is from the Split Sky realm. What do you think?” Pinkflower asked.

Silvermist frowned for a moment. “Shao… Shao… Sh—” His eyes widened. “The royal family of the Sword Continent? This young girl is a princess?”

“Not from the direct line, but a princess nonetheless,” Pinkflower said. “She grew sheltered and more than a little entitled. I’m trying to make her learn the way of a regular person. She’s gonna make me work harder than I’m going to make her work.”

“Sounds like a pain,” Silvermist said with a bit of a chuckle.

‘Split Sky realm? Sword Continent?’ Alex raised his eyebrows upon hearing that. Maybe it was a good place to visit. It sounded like a good place to train his sword. “Anyway, I can expect to see you in the festival then?” Pinkflower asked.

“Absolutely. We wouldn’t miss it after coming all the way here,” Silvermist said.

“Great. I will see you later, then. I still have to punish my disciple,” she said and brought away Shao Humin.

“See you then,” Silvermist spoke loudly to the retreating women and went back inside.

Alex remained outside for a bit with the box in his hands. He had tried to be helpful today, and show a spirit of giving. Instead, he had gained something in the end.

Was this how it was supposed to go?

He couldn’t help but chuckle as he found the entire scenario too funny not to. The young woman was so close to sobbing from embarrassment.

“Well, I guess that’s another opponent for me to compete against,” he thought and sighed before walking back into the room.