Rosemary's small face flushed with a hint of excitement. She didn't notice as the poor little bunny in her arms was squeezed between her forearm and chest, turning what should have been a soft touch into a guillotine of flesh.

Forgetting to say a word of explanation, she dashed into her grandfather's shop with his watch in hand.

Sofia didn't seem very offput being left alone with Ryker though this could be said to be their first time in such a situation. She watched as he packed up his things, taking a curious glance as some of the delicately carved wooden sculptures that peeked out from his large wooden box.

"Rosemary is too good for you," Sofia suddenly said. "Though, I have to say, your sculptures are very good. Maybe if you could afford some better materials your future would be brighter, but you might not have the strength to carve so well if you used them."

Ryker stretched his back, placing his two palms behind his waist and pushing. He always maintained perfect posture even when sitting on the ground like this, but that didn't mean he could do without some stretching.

"There's only one woman in this world too good for me, and she happens to be my fiancée." Ryker replied casually. "So, you could say that the world loves me."

"Fiancée?" Sofia blinked in surprise. She scanned Ryker up and down as though this was the first time she was seeing him. "You have a fiancée but you spend your daily wages on food and women? What kind of man are you?"

"Hey, hey. A man's got to eat."

"In a brothel?"

"Have you tried their chicken?"

Sofia's eyes almost rolled to the back of her head. She was the subject of not a small number of looks as people busied the streets, but she almost hadn't realized that her entire focus was on the young man sitting before her despite the fact he hadn't looked up even once.

"Do you really expect me to believe that you only go to the brothel to eat?"

"When did I ever say that? Are you slandering me?"

Sofia was left speechless. Saying that he didn't do anything but eat in the brothel was slander? What was wrong with this man?

"Either way, don't go harming Rosemary. She's too innocent for the likes of you and her mother would probably try to kill you. Focus on your fiancée."

Ryker stood and Sofia found herself with a large shadow cast over her. The sight of Ryker's twinkling, pale blue eyes looking down at her made her frown.

"Sure, I'll leave her alone as long as you go on a date with me."

Sofia scoffed. "You want to take me out on a date wearing that?"

"I don't have to be wearing anything if that's what my little attitude queen prefers."

"What did you call me?!"

Ryker burst out into a fit of laughter. Sofia seemed like an annoying archetype, but she was quite soft on the inside. That said, Ryker would much prefer to play around with her than Rosemary, not because of the mother Sofia mentioned, but just because she really was too innocent.

…

"He really fixed it?"

Old man Bowan looked down at the ticking watch in shock. He would usually be dotting on his granddaughter by now, but at the moment he didn't even have eyes for her. He rolled it between his fingers as though he couldn't believe it.

The shop was filled with a billowing heat, a roaring furnace churning in the background and glowing red metal sitting off to the side where Bowan had left it. Any other young woman who walked into this place would have long since been dripping with sweat. Rosemary, however, seemed unaffected, her pretty brown eyes blinking in confusion as she observed her grandfather.

"Isn't that what he was supposed to do?"

"No… I had already thought of it as a scrap metal ornament when I handed it over. I already handed it off to Master Aylard for weeks, but he said it was a lost cause. I thought that since the brat helped you out the other day and since he's been hounding me for so long, I might as well let him ram his head against a wall. But this…"

Rosemary didn't know what to say.

Master Aylard was a Mystery Craftsman, one of only three their Smoke Tower City had. Much of the industrial machinery that their city rode the backs of were designed by those three, making them three of the most important figures here.

Rosemary couldn't believe that she had forgotten something so important. It was rare for her grandfather to contact her mother these days, but he had made an exception just for this pocket watch. She hadn't seen his reaction when he learned it was impossible, but he must have been devastated.

To accomplish something that Master Aylard had failed in… It could only be said that this was either a miracle, or Ryker's skill was shocking to an extreme.

"Grandpa, he…?"

"Don't ask me. I have no idea where that kid comes from or what his purpose here is, but I would advise you against getting too attached."

Rosemary blushed beside herself. If her grandfather didn't know her so well, she might have been able to play it off as being a product of the heat. Unfortunately, she was aware of her folly almost immediately.

Rosemary wasn't quite sure what to think. She had never said anything about Ryker, knowing that her mother would be up in arms about her falling for a sculptor. As her maternal grandfather, Bowan understood his own daughter quite well.

The current Mistress Joseph had managed to marry up in life, catching the eye of a wealthy businessman after his wife passed. The product of their marriage was Rosemary, and ever since then, Mistress Joseph had been hellbent on assuring the family's trajectory remained upward.

Bowan found it too difficult to confront his daughter about such things. After all, it was his own failure as a father that bred her hatred of the poor and weak so thoroughly. By the time it had taken hold of her psyche, bordering a near obsession, it had long since been too late.

What was pressing, though, was that Bowan was implying the exact opposite about Ryker. But, why would Ryker spend his days on the dirties, cobbled roads of Smoke Tower City, sculpting trinkets, if he had such status?

Also, wouldn't someone of status have at least a Spirit Beast infant by their side? Ryker didn't have even that.

Seeing his granddaughter's confusion, Bowan shook his head.

"Focus on nurturing the little pipsqueak. It shouldn't be long before it can step out of the Infant Stage and be mature enough to contract. Don't be rash when that day comes, be sure to come back here."