I Have Time On My Side!

The night passed in the blink of an eye, or at least that's how it felt to Emily. 

Her grandmother had taken care of everything: the clothes, a bucket of water, soap... everything to ensure Emily smelled nice and looked presentable for the mage. 

However, despite all the preparations, Emily barely managed to sleep. 

The pressure of what would happen the next day, the first time in years she received such special attention, kept her awake with a racing heart. 

Every time she closed her eyes, her mind tormented her with an image of the mage rejecting her, telling her it had all been a cruel joke. 

Fear gripped her. 

What if she wasn't welcome? 

What if everything went wrong? 

Worse still, what would her grandparents think if she returned empty-handed? 

Finally, just when it seemed her body was about to surrender to fatigue, a tug on her blanket jolted her awake. 

"Get up already, girl!" her grandmother's voice echoed urgently. "The sun is about to rise." 

Emily, dazed and exhausted, slowly sat up. She had barely closed her eyes. 

As she rubbed her eyes, she murmured, 

"What if the mage isn't home this early…?" 

"Well, you wait at the door until he shows up," her grandmother replied dismissively as she set the bucket of cold water in front of her. 

The thought of waiting outside the mage's house made Emily shudder. 

'That will make me look like a stalker!' Emily thought, and for a moment, she couldn't help but let out a brief laugh at the embarrassment of such an awkward scenario. 

But then she remembered Nolan's calm expression. He didn't seem like a bad person, certainly. 

However, the rumors she had heard over the years about nobles buying commoners and using them as slaves, or even killing them without consequences, still lingered in her mind. 

'No... he can't be one of those,' Emily told herself, trying to calm down. But the fear still resided in her stomach. 

"Emily!" her grandmother shouted, pulling her from her thoughts. "What are you doing sitting there like a fool? Get washed up already! We don't have all day." 

"Yes, yes…" Emily replied, getting up awkwardly. 

Emily quickly stripped off her clothes and headed to the small bathroom, little more than an improvised room behind the bakery. 

There, the bucket of cold water awaited. The morning air was already chilly enough, and the icy water didn't help. 

When she plunged her hands into the bucket, she felt her skin immediately prickle. 

Reluctantly, she began to wash herself as best she could. The soap her grandmother had left had a strong, sour smell, not pleasant at all. Every time she rubbed it on her skin, the scent invaded her senses, making her frown. 

'I really don't like this smell,' Emily thought with disgust as she hurried to finish. 

Though the wash was quick, the discomfort of the experience lingered. Her skin still burned from the cold water, and the soap had left a sour trace on her body. 

But there was no time to complain. 

She finished dressing in the clothes her grandmother had prepared: a simple gray linen dress, and of course, the green clover-shaped ribbon she had been given the night before. 

Emily looked at herself in the small mirror hanging on the wall and sighed. 

'I don't like how I look…' she thought as she adjusted the ribbon in her hair. 

"You look beautiful," her grandmother said from the doorway, looking at her approvingly. "Now, what are you still doing there? Go to the mage's house!" 

Emily searched for the paper with Nolan's address on the table where she had left it the night before. 

But… it was gone. 

Her heart stopped for a second. 

'Where is it!?' 

She searched frantically among the things on the table, but the paper didn't appear. 

'Crap, crap, crap…!' Emily thought, terrified. 

Her gaze met her grandmother's, who was already starting to frown. 

"Goodbye!" Emily said nervously, pretending to take any random piece of paper before quickly exiting the bakery, leaving her grandmother satisfied and closing the door behind her. 

Now, standing in the cold, empty street, Emily hugged herself, trying to keep warm. 

The dawn was just beginning to light up the horizon, and with the cold morning wind hitting her face, she murmured to herself, 

"I'm screwed..."