Fenrir woke just as the first sun rose, as always. Feeling a strange softness beneath his head, he opened his eyes to realize that he was sleeping on Yerin's lap. After a moment of disorientation, Fenrir sat up with a jolt as he realized what had happened last night. Recalling his nightmare and his tears, the boy's face turned tomato red from the bottom up. Anyone who saw him would feel as if it was steaming, and one could almost hear the sound of a kettle screaming in the background. Fenrir stared at her for a while. Somehow, he felt a strong emotion of trust for the girl, even though they had only met recently. Though he did not realize it himself, his subconscious mind had become almost dependent on her; it was like a drowning man clinging to a piece of wood. After a while, the boy unclasped his cloak and wrapped it around Yerin's shoulders, shielding her from the chill of early Incipere. Then, he walked into the forest, going to forage for breakfast ingredients.

~~~~~~~

When Yerin awoke, she felt surprisingly comfortable and warm, and smelled the delicious scent of Fenrir cooking in the air. Given the fact that she had slept outside, even with her warm travel clothes, she had expected to wake up cold from the still slightly chilly air of Incipere. However, she could not just leave the boy alone in the night, and it was not quite cold enough for her catch a cold in mid-Incipere, especially with her travel clothes designed for earlier in the season. Opening her eyes, Yerin realized that she was wearing Fenrir’s cloak. Under the enticing smell of Fenrir’s cooking, she could smell his scent from the warm garment wrapped around her.

Her face flamed red.

Standing slowly, she went to return Fenrir’s cloak, and the boy welcomed her with a bowl of stew that smelled far better than any of the other meals he had cooked recently. Somehow, despite Fenrir’s masculine aura, Yerin thought that this must be how a man felt when he woke in the morning to a warm meal prepared by his wife. As she realized what had just gone through her head, her face turned red again and she wondered what was wrong with her. Before last night, she had been able to boisterously talk and laugh with the boy, but now Yerin kept blushing from even looking at him too long.

"Do you not like it?"

The question froze the thousands of little Yerins running around screaming in Yerin's mind. She felt her mind clear from the voice, and the uncertainty in it made her want to hug Fenrir. She took a mouthful of the stew. It was good enough that Yerin almost wondered if she was eating the food of the gods. The taste was so delicious that she almost collapsed out in bliss. Now that her mind was more or less clear from Fenrir's Fae voice, the girl realized that the stew was emitting a smell so good that, had her mind been in a calmer state, she would've drooled a waterfall. In fact, though Yerin did not know, Fenrir had cast a spell so that the smell wouldn't spread too far and attract animals; just the residual aroma that made it past the spell was enough to slowly awaken the others in the camp. Yerin had awoken first because she had been much closer than the others.

~~~~~~~

Watching Yerin wolf down the food he had cooked, Fenrir felt strangely happy, with a warm sensation in his chest that he couldn't describe.

Eventually, the other travelers woke, and upon entering the range of the barrier they immediately rushed over to the pot of stew. Chaos ensued as they clamored over the food, and not a single drop was left in the pot. Of course, Fenrir had set a portion aside for each person, but he hadn't separated portions for second servings.

Grand Duke Aelis, who woke later than the others, nearly cried when he realized that he could've gotten seconds.

~~~~~~~

Once more, the trip was uneventful. By dusk, the caravan was only half a day's journey from its destination. Normally, they would have encountered some small villages and farms at this distance, but the forest was unsettled ground because, for some reason, all domesticated plants were unable to grow in its soil. Added together with the fact that it stretched all the way to the cliffs of the Edge, which was considered bad luck, and that it was rife with bandits, people preferred not to live there. However, the forest separated House Aelis from the capitol, and traveling around would be far too much of trouble. Combined with the fact that the Aelis house was a combatant house, the group did not particularly fear bandit attacks, and so chose to travel through the woods. The young miss was going to the Academy, after all. To get used to the new environment, she would need some free time before classes started.

~~~~~~~

After Fenrir had gathered the ingredients and begun cooking dinner, Fenrir and Yerin began their spear lessons. The boy was a great teacher, so Yerin's skill with the spear had improved almost 50% compared to when she had sparred with her father only one day ago.

Upon seeing this, Trevor's eyes widened to the point that they seemed on the verge of popping out of his head, and his jaw opened so wide it might be able to swallow a rabbit whole.

And then, immediately afterwards, he rushed over and asked Fenrir to teach him as well.

He was from a combatant house, after all. He was far more straightforward than other nobles, and the art of the spear was essentially his life.