<Author's note: Chapter has been significantly revised 3/8/22>

“The Azure Mountain Orchids only grow on the mountains to the east, but few adventurers have accepted any contracts,” Violetta said, completely avoiding eye contact by looking at her feet. “So… every merchant in town is out of stock…”

Her voice was quiet, hesitant. Thankfully I had years of practice fine-tuning my listening skills.

“What?” I asked.

The girl jolted, her face going slightly red from the prospect of having to repeat herself.

“You have the last Azure Mountain Orchids in town. May I purchase three of them?” she said, loudly and clearly and with direct, if anxious, eye contact.

She was cute. Adorable even. I could see how men would fall instantly for her passive yet simultaneously radiant charm.

Which begged the question of why she wasn’t followed everywhere by residents of the CELL-inn or other hopeful adventurers.

Her hair was pink, smooth, glistening and well kempt. Her dress, lovely and white, reached down to her feet, where most of the dried blood stains were concentrated, and was hugging her body perfectly. A pink ribbon tightened the dress around her, to which she attached a purse. And then there were her breasts. Clearly at least a D, and quite firm without the support of a bra underneath the white fabric. My favorite kind.

“Um... please?” she added with a forced smile.

Now that she was actually looking me in the eyes, I could tell a lot more than from our previous brief encounter. They shone with kindness and the soft feminine care I had seen in her before, but this time there was… timidity? Uncertainty? There was no hint of the determination of the girl who ran around doing everything in her power to help the wounded.

I was growing more curious about this girl with every new piece of information.

What was so special about her that drew the personal attention of the goddess of love herself to a simple, though cute, mortal girl?

I guess first I’d test how much pressure she could handle.

“Are you some kind of healer, Violetta?” I asked, looking at her the same way I would look at any girl that aroused my curiosity this much. A look that was pure passion, that both scared and aroused at the same time.

“Uh, h-how do you know my name?”

Mostly scared.

“You told me last night,” I replied, with the same look and slower, deeper tone of voice. “Don’t you remember?”

The girl was most definitely intimidated.

“Oh. Um… maybe. I don’t really remember. It was a very long night…”

“Yes. You were rushing around, trying to help every single injured adventurer. It was quite impressive.”

Normally I wouldn’t try and bring a conversation to a man dying at both our feet, but this was an opportunity for a genuine compliment to her character rather than to her looks.

“I… uh… tried…” She had by now reverted to feet staring.

 

So, she could take the pressure of my desire and couldn’t handle a genuine compliment, and was avoiding answering questions.

This was not going to be easy.

“That’s the best anyone can do,” I reassured her. “What do you need the flowers for?”

“For an ointment… one that can wash the stains from my dress…” she said, still somberly looking at her feet and the stains just above them. She was also fidgeting, swaying this way and that. She really wanted to leave.

“It’s ok… they’re not that important. I can wait for the merchants to restock. I’m sorry for bothering you…” she said, turning to walk away.

She had completely passed her limit. I had to release the pressure.

“Hey look, I’m sorry for asking,” I said, switching to a more light hearted tone. “I can give you the flowers you need.”

“Oh?” she ohed, turning back to me with relief. “Thank you.”

“But,” I began, eliciting a worried look from her. I smiled to try and east it. “You’ll need to answer a question for each flower I give you, alright?”

“That’s really not necessary. I can pay for them, honestly, I just need two or three,” she said, still fidgeting and swaying nervously.

This one needed a lot more empathy huh.

“Look, I know it’s a really weird offer coming from a complete stranger.” Step one, acknowledge this is weird. “You don’t know me, you just need the flowers, I understand.” Step two, show you understand her position. “I just wanted to know a little more about this brave girl Violetta.” Step three, move the conversation along while once again complimenting her character.

“Um…” She looked like she wanted to leave again.

“Don’t worry, they’re not gonna be weird. Just regular questions,” I assured her with the most genuine smile I could muster. I would need to dial back the pressure of my desire back quite a few notches.

“Um. I guess that’s alright so,” she said, finally looking up at me again. “What do you want to know?”

“What brings you to Ratia?” A general question first.

“I… I came for the library. I heard there are some books I need here.”

“I see. So you’re a healer? Or some kind of student?” Then move to the specific.

“I’m an acolyte of Athena, goddess of wisdom. I suppose I am a sort of… scholar?”

And finally, to the personal. “Really? Why Athena specifically? Out of all the gods out there.”

“Um. I mean, we don’t really choose who we serve. The gods choose us. Athena chose to bestow her blessing upon me, and I had the choice of whether to accept it or not.”

“I’m sorry, I’m something of an outsider in these lands.” Which was truth. I also didn’t really know about the relations between the non-traffic-accident-victim inhabitants of Mithuna and their gods. “I meant, why did you choose to accept her blessing?”

“Hmmm…” Violetta thought to herself for a few moments. “It’s not common to receive a personal blessing from the gods, and I was always very interested in books and knowledge, and how it might allow me to make other people’s lives… better I suppose. If that makes any sense.”

An adorable, lovely girl with a passion for helping others. A servant of another goddess.

Was Aphrodite just jealous Violetta chose her coworker? Maybe I should meet this Athena.

“So you like helping people, want to make the world a better place,” I assumed.

“Y-yes. I guess you can say that.”

There was something else there, though.

Answering questions as part of a game is always inherently easier than answering them straight up. But she was still struggling, even just to keep the eye contact. Almost as if I was scaring her by merely standing next to her.

“So, um. I answered five questions already,” she said, fidgeting like a rabbit on the run.

“Technically you asked four. That last one was an assumption. You merely confirmed it.”

“O-oh…” And back to looking at her feet again.

“I’m joking,” I said, half laughing to diffuse to lower the pressure even more. “You can take as many you want. I have too much to carry anyway.”

“T-thank you!” she exclaimed quietly and quickly set to the task of picking the best orchids.

She seemed to relax while examining the flowers. She even showed a faint hint of a smile.

Ah. She was an over-thinker too. A distracting task needed to calm her down.

“What do you need so many flowers for?” she asked.

I was caught off guard.

As she picked her flowers, she suddenly seemed almost like a normal girl.

Maybe I finally managed to convince her I wasn’t dangerous.

 “They are for my harem of lovers,” I said.

“I see,” she said drily.

Finally! She was opening up.

“I’m joking,” I laughed. “The man didn’t have change for gold, so I ended up taking his entire stock.”

“I mean, you could give them out to people if you don’t need them,” she said.

And I could also give her the whole bouquet up front, but having her earn the flowers with questions made them worth more, and me less simpy.

“I appreciate your kindness and worry for me, but I already have too many girls in this town who want to receive a flower from me. I couldn’t possibly handle more.”

“I’m sure,” she said very drily again. “Maybe you should just give them the flowers then.”

I was starting to like this girl. Even though everything she said was still with her head buried in flower picking.

“That’s a good idea! You give good relationship advice.”

“Well, I read a lot,” she said, sort of nodding.

“I like you,” I said. “At first I thought you weren’t very talkative, but when you open up a bit you’re like one of these roses.”

She needed to be reminded this was still a conversation between a man and a woman.

 “Um, thanks,” she said, reverting to the nervous tone of before.

I guess even flower examining wasn’t enough to help her handle a romantic compliment.

Could she handle a tease? Probably not. Not yet.

“Do all acolytes of Athena wear such beautiful and lovely dresses, or is this all you?” Another compliment to something that wasn’t her outward beauty. Which was considerable.

“I designed this one myself actually. I read some books about sewing but I ended up hiring a tailor to do the job. The white symbolizes Truth.”

Ah! So I just needed to find the right compliment topic.

“And what does the pink stand for?”

“The pink… is there because I like the color,” she said, giggling. This time it was a real giggle.

“A scholar, a herbalist and a fashion designer. An impressive set of skills for a young woman such as yourself.”

“Oh, thank you. Some people say I read too much.”

“Oh I’m sure,” I laughed. The law of state transference would be my tool to open her up farther. “They must always be telling you that you’re wasting your youth. You should be going outside, making friends, meeting with boys.”

“Yeah… that’s word for word what they say, actually.” Her giggle finally turned into the slightest of laughs.

Well, she was easing up a bit more. Maybe we were even getting close to the social hookpoint. The point at where the usual Stranger Danger walls are off and the person is willing to talk to you somewhat openly.

However.

I intentionally didn’t tell her my name so she could ask for it, but she wasn’t doing so.

I was still a stranger to her.

She finished her flower picking and stood there, checking them in her hands with glee.

That sort of feminine passion that nurses you back to health after a hard day. She was a healer. Just not the one you’d think of.

It brought an even wider genuine smile to my face.

“By the way, the questions for flowers deal doesn’t work both ways. You can ask me what my name is. Nothing will happen to your Orchids.”

“O-oh, I’m sorry. What is your name?” She was looking up at me again with nervousness, but considerably less than before. Good.

“Vladislav Bohemond the Third,” I replied. “These flowers are for my wife, the duchess.”

She stared at me for a few moments, unsure how to respond.

“I’m joking. My name is Ken. Ken Kouboku. I’m an adventurer.”

I managed to elicit another giggle.

“Nice to meet you, Ken,” she said.

Now I wasn’t a stranger anymore, and she wasn’t looking like a frightened rabbit either. An escalation was in order.

“Are you hungry?” I asked. “Flower shopping is exhausting. There’s a very good café I know a bit farther up the street. They actually have pink muffins. Have you tried them?”

“Uh, no. Not really. I would have remembered pink muffins,” she replied. “I hadn’t had the chance to explore the town yet.”

And there was my perfect opportunity for an instant date.

“Oh, they are absolutely amazing. Let me show you the place. We can rest our legs, eat pink pastries and you could tell me more about Athena.”  

Something immediately shifted in her face.

It was the same thing I saw in her before. Some… fear?

“Uh, I’m sorry. I actually need to buy some more ingredients…”

Maybe a time constraint would ease her mind? A time limit for our interaction?

“Oh, it won’t be long. I have to get these flowers to some water probably in the next hour. I’ll only have time for one pastry and your quickest Athena’s cult sales pitch.”

“They’re sold in a shop on a different side of town so…”

Yet more no.

Maybe it was a logistics issue?

“Are you in town for long?” I asked. Which I frankly should have asked far, far earlier. Logistics is king.

“For another week at least,” she said. “But I really have to go…”

She was fidgeting again, half walking away, half waiting for permission to do so. The hunted rabbit mannerisms were back in full.

Any more and she’d be literally running away.

Yeah… this wasn’t happening today.

“Maybe some other day then, when you have time to explore the city,” I suggested. “Are you staying in one of the inns?”

The most annoying thing about a world that lacked cellphones and social media, was that getting a girl’s contact information basically amounted to asking where she lived. A very high pressure question.

“Yes…” she said, with no indication of specifying which.

All I could do was show empathy. “That’s ok. I understand. I’m still a stranger to you.”

“I’m sorry but I really need to get those ingredients before sunset,” she said, taking a physical step away from me.

“I understand,” I reassured her. “You can call on me at the CELL-inn where I’m staying once you have free time and want to check out those muffins.”

“I will, thank you,” she said, bowing slightly and turning to walk away.

She wouldn’t.

“It was lovely meeting you, brave Violetta,” I said.

“It was nice to meet you too, Ken,” she said, turning around for another polite bow and then resumed her quick escape.

As she left, leaving me standing, figuratively empty handed if not physically, I realized what felt so odd. What that odd fear was in her eyes: Deep emotional trauma.

This girl was giving me more and more questions, and with them rose my desire to chase after her to answer them.

But she was not going to be easy to seduce.

I shook my head and looked up at the clouds.

Aphrodite wouldn’t pick a boring, easy target, would she?