The sun had risen, the morning had come, and the birds were chirping. In his bed, tossing and turning from side to side, Aelir yawned as he woke up. It had been a month since he had arrived, yet he still found the soft bed strange and couldn't quite get used to it. Just then, the door to his room opened.
"Good morning, Aelir. I hope you had a good night's sleep today," said Innkeeper Gurkant as he entered.
"Good morning, Old Gurkant," replied Aelir.
Old Gurkant smiled. "Come on now, get ready. We have some very important guests arriving today, and we must greet them well."
Aelir chuckled. "Don't tell me Aunt Aynur is coming again." Aunt Aynur was a kind and cheerful woman who visited often, and she got along very well with Old Gurkant.
Old Gurkant laughed. "Haha, your playful Aunt Aynur is precious to us too, but today's guests are going to be even more important," he said with a smile.
…
Curious, Aelir quickly began to get ready and stood in front of the mirror. Looking back at him was a healthy twelve-year-old boy, taller than most his age, with black hair and black eyes—looking much better than he had a month ago. Once dressed, he went down to the inn.
The inn wasn't very large, but to him, it still felt huge. In this past month, he had learned many new things there. His diction had improved, thanks to Old Gurkant Desir, he had been eating well, and little by little, he had begun to train himself. Even at his young age, he quickly realized how great of an opportunity this was.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw Old Gurkant at the inn's entrance. Beside him stood two well-dressed figures: an elderly man and, next to him, a young girl around Aelir's age. Gurkant noticed Aelir and called him over.
"Aelir, come here. There's someone I'd like you to meet," he said.
Aelir approached, and Old Gurkant began to speak. "Let me introduce you—this is Aelir, my young friend, and we run the inn together." Then, turning to Aelir, he added, "This gentleman here is Cedric Espera, Count of Espera, and this sweet young lady is his granddaughter, Laura Espera."