Thanks to him, she had grown comfortable with gathering mana in her core, but she had been stuck at that stage for a long time.

Hoping a special lesson might help her progress, Shiloh readily made plans with him.

The morning of the appointment, Shiloh rushed out of the house and was surprised.

Owen had parked a carriage in front of the house near her shop and was waiting.

Dressed neatly in a black jacket and white shirt, he broke into a bright, flushed smile the moment he spotted Shiloh coming out.

He had clearly said to dress comfortably.

She felt a little self-conscious having come out in a simple wheat-colored dress.

“Where are we…… going?”

“Want to get in first?”

Owen held out his hand instead of answering, gesturing for her to board the carriage.

Shiloh hesitated and placed her hand on his palm.

The carriage carrying the two of them swayed gently like a cradle as it left the capital.

The carriage stopped at a valley at the foot of a hill on the outskirts.

“We’re having the lesson here?”

Shhhhhh.

The waterfall roared as it plunged down, and the place was quiet without a soul in sight.

Shiloh had been about to ask Owen what kind of training they were doing when something occurred to her and she paused.

‘Is he going to teach me how to use water mana?’

Since she had apparently done water magic before, a secluded valley might be the ideal place.

“Sit here.”

Owen spread a large cloth he had brought from the carriage over a flat rock.

Now that she looked, he had a basket in his hand.

“What’s that?”

Shiloh tilted her head.

While she blinked with a puzzled expression, he took off his jacket and set it aside, then pulled a paper-wrapped sandwich, figs, and a flask of drinks from the basket.

“Let’s eat before we start.”

“Wow…… what is all this……”

“It won’t taste as good as what you make, but eat plenty.”

Owen pushed the bread toward Shiloh’s mouth.

“I’ll eat it myself.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

Every time something got on her lips, Owen wiped it with a handkerchief and fussed over her like a sweetheart.

Each time he did, Shiloh hesitated and pulled back slightly.

Even so, the ham, cheese, and strawberry jam sandwich Owen had brought was delicious.

They say the best food in the world is food someone else has made for you, and it was sweet and savory in a way that kept drawing her back.

“How is it?”

The corners of Shiloh’s chewing mouth curved upward.

“It’s good.”

“Yeah?”

Owen’s lips curved up in turn.

As they ate the sandwiches together, Owen began rambling about small things unrelated to magic training.

How he had mistakenly thought she was a very cold person when he first saw her.

How his dog had just given birth to eight puppies.

Even the absurd mistake he had made on his first day at the magic tower.

It was an outdoor lesson that didn’t feel much like a lesson at all.

“Nice to be out here, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Shiloh nodded vigorously.

After they finished eating, Owen tidied up around them, and the two of them sat side by side with their bare feet in the stream.

“You’ve done enough training gathering mana in your core. Shall we try something different today?”

“What?”

“Just a moment.”

Owen stood up with a serious expression, rolled up his trousers, and waded into the stream.

Shiloh was watching his retreating figure when,c

Splash splash.

“Ah, it’s cold!”

Owen spun around without warning and slapped the water hard, sending a spray flying at her.

Shiloh scrunched her face and shrank back, and Owen burst out laughing.

“If you get mad, do the same to me.”

Owen gave her no time to recover and splashed her again.

Hit by a large wave of water, Shiloh couldn’t even open her eyes properly and rubbed her soaked face.

“Just you wait.”

“Bring it on!”

Shiloh drew in a deep breath.

She gathered her dress in one hand and lifted it, then splashed the water as fast and hard as she could.

But Owen darted deeper into the stream and barely got wet at all.

“……”

Shiloh glared at him, panting and pouting.

Owen cackled as he waded further in.

“If you’re mad, use magic.”

“I can’t……”

“Why not?”

While Shiloh stared him down without answering, Owen came close again, splashed a large wave at her, and retreated.

Now the hem of her dress, her hair, and her shoulders were all completely soaked.

Owen burst into laughter, and Shiloh clenched her fists.

She bit her lip and worked out a plan in her head.

She would pretend to be angry, lure him close, then drench him the moment he let his guard down.

Shiloh pressed her lips together tightly.

Owen had waded deep into the stream and stopped, turning to look at her.

“Shiloh, are you angry?”

“What do you think? My hair and clothes are soaked! Do I look like I have nothing better to do?”

“Sorry. It was just a joke……”

Shiloh had come out of the water and was standing stiffly on the bank with her arms crossed.

Owen grinned at the sight of her pouting.

“You’re acting, aren’t you?”

“Does this look like acting? If I catch a cold and it affects the shop, are you going to take responsibility?”

At Shiloh’s sharp voice, Owen came toward her and scratched the back of his head.

“You’re really upset. I’m sorry.”

At that moment,

Whoooooosh.

Shhhhhh.

The stream water around Owen suddenly surged upward into the sky and came crashing down on him in a torrent.

Roarrrrr.

“Aaah!”

Owen staggered from the deluge and toppled, falling into the stream.

Shiloh rushed through the water with a stunned expression and went to him.

“Are you all right, Owen?”

Shiloh grabbed Owen’s arm and helped him up.

“Bluh…… bluh……”

Owen could barely open his eyes and shook his head rapidly, rubbing his wet face with his palms.

The neatly pressed white shirt was soaked through and clinging to his body.

The shirt had turned semi-transparent, and his upper body, more solidly built than she had expected, was embarrassingly visible.

But Shiloh was far more shocked by what had just happened.

What had just occurred?

“Are you all right?”

“Hah…… hah……”

Owen seemed shaken too, his chest heaving as he breathed in ragged gasps with his mouth hanging open.

He suddenly looked at Shiloh intently.

“Shiloh……”

“Yes?”

Shiloh looked at Owen with wide eyes.

Their eyes met.

The corners of Owen’s eyes flushed red.

“You did it.”

He wrapped his arms around her, soaking wet.

“I knew you could.”

“……”

“Thank you, Shiloh.”

Tears gathered at the corners of Owen’s eyes as he held Shiloh tightly.

Shiloh blinked her wide eyes from inside his wet embrace.

Then she pulled back belatedly and pressed both hands over her mouth.

“That can’t be. I used water magic?”

“Yes. Congratulations.”

“Oh my goodness! Owen, this is all thanks to you!”

Shiloh stared at him with wide eyes, unable to believe it.

Owen lifted the corners of his mouth at her still-dazed expression.

“Don’t forget me later, Shiloh.”

Shiloh, still blinking in disbelief, grabbed his arm and asked with a flushed face.

“Owen, what else can I do with water magic?”

*

In the dim early morning hours, Shiloh took a bite of the canelé she had baked the day before and chewed slowly.

Her expression in the lamplight grew progressively stiffer.

“It was crispy on the outside yesterday, but it’s gone soft after a day.”

Shiloh slowly clicked her tongue and shook her head as if giving up.

Her shoulders drooped as she sat at the round table in the shop.

Texture was the most important thing about a canelé, and after a day the moisture trapped inside had spread outward, turning it into a soggy pastry.

“Even stored next to the refrigeration magic stone, it’s come to this?”

Shiloh’s furrowed brow refused to relax.

After baking canelés here for the first time yesterday, she had spent the whole day in a state of elation.

The preparation process for making canelés had been that difficult.

She had personally drawn the shape of a mold with vertical grooves for a metalsmith and commissioned copper cookie molds.

She had also been meticulous in selecting the rum and vanilla beans, the key ingredients that gave canelés their signature aroma.

It was a lot of work, but she had wanted to make canelés the traditional way and serve them properly.

“The ones I ate yesterday were truly delicious……”

It was Shiloh’s principle to serve bread baked the same day, except for breads meant to be aged, but there were so many pastries to bake for the tea party that she had thought she could bake half the canelés a day ahead.

Confirming that it was indeed impossible made a sigh escape her.

Canelés were notoriously difficult to store, so this was a result she had anticipated to some degree.

On top of that, this area was near the coast and tended to be humid, making the canelés even more prone to going soft.