Standing in front of the familiar door of the smithy-tavern, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. It was probably going to be fine since Semier didn't know about Glacia, but I was still worried.  

'What's the worst that can happen? He's not crazy like Evanos...'

I opened the door, only to find the tavern empty. It was understandable, considering the current time. It was still mid-afternoon, so the alcoholics that most likely frequented this place still hadn't come back from work yet.

Well, the tavern wasn't completely empty, as I could see Semier wiping some glasses behind the counter.

"Theodris, what brings you here?" He said without even looking up. "Is the scabbard not enough for a dowry."

"For the last time, I'm not Theodris, and there's nothing between Syl and I."

I wasn't particularly frustrated since I'd gotten used to it by now.

"Sure, sure."

Then, he finally lifted his gaze from the glass he was wiping. Once he did, however, his eyes widened like plates. He was so surprised that the space above his head flickered, and his halo unwittingly showed itself. 

His body trembled and he pointed a finger at the annoying little child holding my hand.

"I-Is she—"

"I know what you're thinking. No," I cut him off before he could come to the correct but annoying conclusion. 

"Really?"

"Yes."

Seeing Semier closing his eyes like that, I thought I'd succeeded in defusing this situation. However, it seemed that I was wrong. Very wrong.

"Helen, come here!"

As soon as Semier finished his shout, a bat flew from a ceiling beam and landed right on the counter. Then, it turned into a woman with blood-red eyes and black hair donning a waitress attire.

"Yes, Master. What did you call me for?" The woman said as she made herself more comfortable on the counter.

Semier ignored me completely and asked, "We still have a sample of the little lizard's blood left, right?"

"Yes, Master."

"Great. Then, I'm counting on you to do Blood resonance."

As Semier turned his gaze to me again, I scoffed.

"What now, you want my and Glacia's blood too?"

"Her name's Glacia? Indeed, that's what the little lizard would name her daugh—"

"Just answer the damn question!"

Scratching the back of his head, Semier chuckled. "Yes, I want your blood and my granddaughter's. Just a drop though; that's all Helen needs for a Blood resonance."

I sighed. "Do I have a choice?"

"Of course not." He said with a nonchalant tone.

Seeing that I couldn't escape this situation, I decided to give in. "Fine, I'll tell you the result beforehand. It will come back as positive—both for my and Syl's blood. But it's not the way you think it is—"

"HAHAHAH! I KNEW IT!"

Semier ignored the second half of my speech and disappeared from the spot before reappearing right beside Glacia, spooking her. Then, she picked her up by her armpits and spun around with a goofy smile on his face. Though, the smile soon turned into a bit of a frown.

"Hic! I can't believe this day finally came. If only Melissia was here to witness this..."

Seeing the famed Archangel slowly (understandably) losing his dignity over a very cute child, I coughed loudly to catch his attention again. After he put Glacia down, I said,

"Ignore the child for now. I want you to help me with something."

"Sure. That's the least I can do after you brought my cute granddaughter here."

I hid my annoyance and took out several rare materials and a rough drawing of the artifact that I wanted to make.

Semier looked through the materials and drawing with a confused gaze. Before he could ask anything, I spoke.

"It's for a hairpin. As you can guess from the drawing—" I glanced at the clockwork drawing on the table. "—It got something to do with Time magic."

"And what do you want the artifact to specifically do?"

"I want it to be able to store and release Time mana at will. Also...make it so that it can counter extreme cold."

As if something clicked inside his mind, Semier grinned widely at me.

'Oh no, don't tell me...he noticed?'

And my worst fears came true.

"So, you want to make something good for the little lizard?"

Well, he got me there.

"Yes. Now, are you going to help me or what?"

"And there you were, denying your feelings for h—"

"Are you helping me or not?!"

Semier chuckled. "Alright. I'll have it done in a day—"

"No, I want to make it myself. You can instruct me, though."

Semier looked like he wanted to say something, but he ultimately decided not to and just nodded.

As I followed him into his smithy, I couldn't help but lament at the situation I'd placed myself in.

'I hope this works...'

The ONLY reason why I wanted to make Syl an artifact like this was because of Glacia. You see, despite having set the terms for my "legal" killing of Glacia, I knew that Syl would definitely be mad at, or even resent me if I'd killed Glacia.

So, this was a peace offering of some kind.

After rationalizing my own actions in my mind, I entered the smithy with Semier, leaving Glacia behind inside the tavern. And although I was somewhat worried about leaving her alone, I deicded to put such worries aside upon seeing Semier's nonchalant expression.

'That's right, Semier wouldn't let any harm come to Glacia. I'm sure he had it all figured out.'

Right?