Chapter 192: New Alchemy Recruit
My group and I stayed at the Droman Capital for a few weeks, although we did travel to some of the neighboring towns to check them out.
We spent my 17th birthday there, with Empress Lysandra throwing a huge banquet for us at the castle.
Before the party even started, however, Lysandra called me to the throne room, where a bunch of nobles from the empire had gathered and gifted me an adamantite sword for my birthday.
It was a short, straight sword with a dark-greenish color that was so characteristic of adamantite.
Lysandra knew that I didn’t use large and slow weapons, so the sword’s length was perfect for me, as I could swing it with one hand while holding my mithril dagger in the other.
I politely bowed to the empress in front of the nobles, not wanting to make her look bad in front of them since she was my friend. I never had a problem treating nobles with their own customs as long as they were reasonable and didn’t force me.
That night, I went outside to one of the balconies to get some fresh air when Melina came to me with a gift, which surprised me when she pulled out the handkerchief that had been tainted with blood, dirt, and burn marks, now perfectly clean again.
"Huh? Did you make a new one?" I asked, checking my pockets to look for the old piece of fabric.
Melina chuckled. "Sorry. I took it so I could fix it back up for you..." she muttered, softly placing her hand on my chest and putting the handkerchief in my pocket.