章 43: This Might Be The Best Day Of My Life
Daisy was sick of traveling. She and Ira had been on the road for weeks in the heat and she wished for nothing more than some good old air conditioning!
Knowing she would be taking Ira to the academy to he could start in the fall, Leo had already sent her quite a lot of money to help with travel expenses. He promised that everything was taken care of on his end so all she had to do was come.
Even so, she packed two trunks of clothes and other necessary items like blankets that she didn't want to part with after spending so much time working on them. Everything else stayed behind.
She had essentially given the farm to a very surprised but touched Callum Krinzel. Elsa and Marie were both married now and didn't need to work at the farm anymore but he promised to keep on the farmhands that had been hired to replace them.
Daisy wasn't attached to the farmhouse as much as she thought she would be. To be fair, she was used to moving and avoiding forming attachments.
Still, it had been the longest she had ever lived anywhere and she would miss the place but it was time to move on. She cared more about living her dream near the person she loved most than holding onto a piece of land.
"Are you alright, Miss Veronica?" Ira asked with a frown, catching onto how miserable she felt physically.
"I'm just really hot," Daisy explained. "I'll be fine."
"Here, let me help!"
A cool mist began raining down on her and she sighed in contentment with her eyes closed before something hit her. There was no way those spray bottles with the little battery-operated fans used for keeping people cool existed here. How was this happening?
Her eyes snapped open and she saw that Ira was holding his hand up in front of her. He was making it happen which meant…
"You're a water mage?!"
Ira nodded as he continued misting her. "My mother was a water mage so I knew I had the ability to become one but I was never interested in learning until you got me that book. I was reading about various applications of magic and discovered that water magic can be used for healing.
"I think that would be very helpful as a doctor, don't you? I started experimenting a bit using some of the information from the book about the fundamentals of magic and haven't gotten very far but I'm sure I'll improve as I keep studying."
Daisy shook her head in wonder. He had been practicing all this time and she had never noticed! She supposed he must have done it without any witnesses around.
It might be because he didn't want anyone to know he was a water mage but considering he told her so easily it was more likely that he didn't want anyone to potentially see him fail. He had always been picky about that and didn't like people watching him do things he wasn't immediately good at.
"Totally," she agreed. "That's really cool, Ira!"
Ira smiled in response. "Thanks. I'm hoping there is at least one other mage of some sort at the academy who can help teach me more. If not, I'll have to search for more books on magic and keep learning on my own. Are you feeling better now?"
"Much. You don't need to keep misting me forever. I don't want you to get tired holding your hand up like that."
He stopped and she immediately felt the loss of the ongoing coolness but at least all of the water on her face hadn't evaporated yet. That should last her for a while.
Ira continued misting her on and off for the rest of their journey when she got too hot and she desperately wondered what she was going to do on her way up to the capital without him there. At least it should be a bit cooler once she arrived since it was further north.
Watching him stand in front of the entrance to the academy with his trunk, she felt even more like a mother bird watching its baby take flight than she had when Leo first left her. He looked so small yet so confident.
"Don't worry about me, Miss Veronica," he said as he took note of her expression. "I'll be perfectly fine."
"I'm not worried about that! I was simply thinking how much you've grown since you first came to me. I'll send you my address once I arrive so be sure to write and update me about your studies, okay?" she asked, feeling a bit choked up.
Ira nodded and hesitantly reached out to hug her. "Thank you for everything. I know you only hung around Cloverfield as long as you did for my sake. Go have a great life with Mr. Leo."
Daisy nearly laughed. It wasn't like that but she couldn't explain herself since she was so deep in the charade.
"I will. Study hard!"
The boy nodded before taking his trunk and going off in search of someone to take him to the registrar's office. As he walked away, she felt rather bereft. That wouldn't last long though since she would be seeing Leo in a matter of weeks.
She turned and headed back out in search of someone traveling to the capital. There ought to be merchants traveling through there sooner or later. It shouldn't be too hard to find somebody.
Daisy did end up finding passage north and spent another miserable few weeks on the road—made worse without her built-in spray fan—but eventually it did get a bit cooler and that helped. When she finally arrived in the capital, she wasn't sure what exactly she was supposed to do since she had two trunks with her.
It took quite a while to lug them to military headquarters but she was finally able to set them down when she arrived and looked up at the man behind the desk. "Hello, I'm looking for Major Leo May. Can you tell him Veronica is here?"
The man peered at her curiously and was about to say something when someone else spoke up from behind her. "I'll take her, Narrin. She's Major May's fiancée."
The man's eyes widened. "My apologies, miss! Please follow Captain Conrad to the major's office."
Daisy turned and looked at the man behind her. He was tall, well-muscled, and completely covered in freckles. It had been a few years but she recognized him and not only by his name. He was one of the few people Leo mentioned specifically by name in his letters but he used to be much ganglier.
She smiled at him. "Congratulations on your promotion! It's nice to see you again."
"You as well, Miss May. I'll get your trunks for you; I'm sure they're heavy. I hope you traveled comfortably?" Conrad asked politely.
"As comfortably as I could considering the heat."
"Ah, that's understandable. Right this way."
He led her down a labyrinthine set of hallways before knocking on a door indistinguishable from any other aside from the name plate. She was practically tingling with excitement. Leo was behind that door!
Conrad knocked and a sharp "what is it?" could be heard from inside. He grinned as he opened the door. "Special delivery!"
"Conrad, what—" Leo immediately faltered when he caught sight of Daisy waving at him with a smile so wide it threatened to split her face.
He looked so grown up! His hair was cropped short, likely to combat the summer heat, and he was wearing a crisp uniform with a gold leaf on the upper arm of each sleeve where his silver stripes used to be. He seemed to have grown a few inches as well and was tanner than he had been when she last saw him (though to be fair, it had been winter).
He immediately crossed the room and lifted her off her feet in a hug so tight she thought her bones might crack. She was too happy to care and hugged him back every bit as tightly. It was so, so good to see him!
Daisy thought her heart might burst. After so much time apart, they were finally together again! Happy tears leaked out of her eyes without her consent.
"I'll leave you two be," Conrad said with an obvious smile in his voice.
He set the trunks down and shut the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, Leo sighed happily. "Daisy! I was starting to think you would never get here. Did everything go alright? How are you feeling? Do you need a drink or something to eat? I can send someone to get something for you."
She laughed at his fretting. He was as sweet as ever. "I'm fine! I'm just happy to see you."
"Me too. This might be the best day of my life."
"…isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"
Leo set her down so she was sitting on the edge of his desk and looked her in the eye. "Not at all. I finally have you back and we're never going to have to be apart again. How is that not the best day ever after how lonely I was without you?"
Daisy couldn't argue with that. His warm gaze reflected his earnestness and her heart skipped a beat. No one had ever cared about having her around this much and it meant the world to her.
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