After returning home from shopping, they’d eaten, and then had some fun under the sheets. Thio was at his limit and, seeing that Caroline was still giving him lustful looks, decided she needed a distraction.

Getting up, he suppressed a groan and hobbled to his dresser. As Caroline’s strength came back, she sometimes forgot to adjust her… affections… and so he suffered.

He’d rather die than admit it to anyone though. He was already a physically weak, if he couldn’t endure the love from his wife, how could he call himself a man? So he endured and walked around like a grandpa until he could cast a minor healing spell on himself when his wife wasn’t looking.

Rummaging through his shirts, he pulled out a small box. Caroline, who had been laying on the bed lazily and watching him with hungry eyes, sat up.

“What have you got there?” She asked, her gaze brightening with curiosity. She’d not expected him to be hiding something in his clothes and was immediately interested in what he was doing.

Thio sighed inwardly with relief. Other than that first day, Caroline turned out to be easy to distract. As long as whatever he was using could occupy her attention for more than five minutes, he was almost always guaranteed success. He walked back over and sat next to her somewhat gingerly.

When he opened the box and pulled out what was inside, Caroline gasped and here eyes widened. Pleased by her reaction, he handed it over to her.

It was a long silver chain, with six exquisitely shaped charms attached. Each silver charm was in a different shape: fox, sparrow, bear, mountain and star, a crown, and a snow flake. In each charm was a different gem. Two were red, two were blue, another was yellow, and the last was a white crystal color.

She stared at the charms in wonderment and brought them closer to get a better look. The detail work was amazing. The fox, sparrow, and bear looked like they could start moving at any moment. The mountain and star was expertly designed so that she immediately recognized what they were, and of course the crown and snow flake were gorgeous.

“Do you like it?”

She looked up at him, eyes shining. “I do!”

“It’s for you.” He took it from her and motioned her to turn around so he could put it on. “Make sure to wear it all the time.”

“Eh, all the time? Is that wise?”

“Don’t worry, it’s got an anti-theft spell on it and the material it’s made out of won’t break easily. I made it for you to take adventuring, after all. I’d be and idiot not to make sure it was sturdy.”

After he’d finished with the clasp, he gave her a pat on the shoulder. She turned around and laid on her back, fiddling with the necklace.

“These are like your military ones aren’t they? You didn’t have to make them so fancy.”

Even though she said that, it was clear she was really happy with how it turned out. She’d already lifted the chain up to look at the charms again.

He chuckled. “They’re actually better than mine.”

“Better?”

“Hm.” He confirmed with a nod. “Better quality metal and gems meant I could stack more spells on them.”

Caroline lowered the chain and blinked at him.

“Did you enchant these yourself!?”

“I did.”

“Since when could you—”

“I believe I mentioned enchanting my own, didn’t I?”

“Ah!” Her mouth dropped opened. She’d completely forgotten that part of the conversation. Apparently she’d totally missed the significance of what he’d said at the time too.

“Does that mean you can enchant things?”

“Some things. You remember when I was allowed to build my own staff?”

She nodded. It was one of the few times she’d heard him get really excited about something work related. He’d devoted a whole letter talking about materials he wanted to use (half of which she’d never heard of). He’d even sent her sketches and asked for feedback on which design looked best.

“Mages are expected to know how to make and enchant their own staffs. Our weapons are comparatively frail compared to the Army. So if they break on a mission, we need to be able to make replacements on the fly. Obviously we need to know how to enchant to do that.”

Caroline’s eyes rounded. “Woaaaah— that’s so cool! You can do everything!”

Thio felt his ears burning, he coughed and turned his head slightly to hide his embarrassment.

“It’s not really that impressive. We’re only taught how to enchant things that can be used for a staff. I was curious if those skills crossed over, so I meddled with my military charms and when that worked naturally I knew I could enchant yours as well. But people who make a living off enchantments do a lot better than the average Mage. It’s an emergency measure for Mages to know, that’s all.”

She hummed slightly at this and then smirked. He often downplayed his own abilities, and without a frame of reference she’d believed what he said, but after talking with Sentra she knew better.

“But you’re not an ‘average Mage’, are you? I bet this,” She held up the necklace, “would impress even a professional.”

“..I doubt that.”

“Should I take it to an Accessories Shop and have them evaluate it?”

He frowned. “I’d rather you didn’t.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly in amusement. “Why not?”

Thio pursed his lips, realizing she’d got him.

Sighing, he said in defeat. “…I used enchantment techniques on that necklace that civilians aren’t suppose to know about…”

Caroline’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“..yes, so I’d appreciate if you didn’t go around showing it every and anyone.”

She stared at her necklace and then at him before cautiously asking, “Is it… legal… to give me something like this?”

At this he turned around and laid on his back, not looking her directly in the face.

“It’s designed to know when you’re in danger. You don’t have to do anything, it’ll just know. And then it’ll let me know and I can come to you.”

“That’s nice but… is it legal?”

“It even has a defense and attack booster built in. Isn’t that great?”

“..you..”

“…there’s a temperature regulator too…”

She gave him an exasperated sigh. They were both quiet for a bit, her playing with the charms in the silence.

“What are the chances of someone noticing?”

“A really good enchanter might notice if they’re given a chance to get a close enough look at it.”

“…I see.” She lowered the necklace. “I’ll make sure to keep it under my clothes then.”