I couldn't stop looking at my new necklace. For the last couple of days, my hand always found its way to the rose quartz, playing with it until I was satisfied. At that point I was sure it had become one of my nervous habits.

My fascination with the necklace was such that instead of hearing Demian's words, I was remembering the moment Almec gave me the gift. In one second the conversation with the cook had my full attention, and in the next, it had become background noise.

I just nodded while Demian took over the talk. He probably kept narrating some of the events he experienced during the storm, updating me on his situation. At first I was interested to hear how the strong winds and snow hit the town, but when he began to detail each meal he prepared while he was locked up my attention was diverted to my memories.

"Are you still here with me?" Demian asked me, waving his hand in front of my eyes. "Was it too much food talk?"

The guilty tone in his voice made me shake my head immediately.

"No, I got lost for a second." I took another sip of the tea that wasn't even warm at that point. "I'm still not used to so much cold, I swear that at times it freezes my neurons."

"If you had told me, instead of agreeing to come and have tea in the garden, we could have had it inside."

"No, it's okay. I was already tired of being locked up."

The storm had stopped the previous afternoon, but not without leaving a giant pile of snow that covered the entire pack. The sooner residents began cleaning streets and fixing the damage caused by the wind, the sooner we could all return to our normal lives. For that reason Almec left the mansion early in the day to help with the reconstruction.

He insisted that Faustina and I stay inside our home at least until the streets were safe to travel on. I thought boredom was going to drive me crazy until Demian and Khalia appeared at the front door.

"I totally get that, I also missed the fresh air. But I imagine that at least you had a more entertaining few weeks than mine." He winked at me and pointed to my necklace. "I'm assuming Almec gave it to you."

"Yeah, he made one for Faustina too," I answered, unable to contain my smile.

"Can I see it up close?"

I moved my hand away from my neck and Demian moved to the chair next to me.

"The rose quartz looks familiar to me," he said after a few minutes. "I could swear I've seen it before, I think I know where I know it from. Come with me."

He guided me to the first floor without saying anything else, my constant questions were ignored as Demian pulled my hand to make me hurry. We stopped in a hallway that had the walls filled with photographs, one next to the other they were framed in gold, and below them the names of the people in the photo were indicated.

"It should be around here," Demian muttered, walking alone down the hallway, suddenly he stopped and made a sign to come next to him. "I found it!"

The photo in front of him was beautiful. A little Almec stood between his parents, smiling as he held a teddy bear. But what caught my attention the most was the ring on his mother's hand.

"Almec's father gave her that ring on the day of their engagement," Demian said. "When she died the ring was damaged and only the rose quartz was left intact."

I picked up my necklace and placed it next to the photograph, the similarities were so many that it was impossible to deny that they were the same stone.

Why would he give me something so important?

"It feels heavier now," I whispered.

"Well, it cannot be denied that sentimentally it has important weight but if Almec gave it to you then it is perfect for you."

"What was she like? Was there anything they enjoyed doing together?"

"Why are you asking? Are you planning something in that little head of yours?"

"Maybe, it depends on what your answer is."

"Berenice was a wonderful woman, she had infinite patience and even greater kindness. Almec always followed his mother everywhere, even when he started training with his father he always made time to spend with her. They loved drinking tea together. Berenice was a great expert on the subject, she had tea leaves of all flavors, and a day could not go by without those two sitting down to talk about anything with a cup of tea in their hands."

"I wouldn't have expected him to be a—"

"Tea lover?" Demian interrupted me with a smile on his face. "He hasn't been drinking much since his mother died."

That was the perfect opportunity, just what I was looking for. Almec deserved to be taken care of from time to time, he always insisted on doing all the hard work, and he rarely rested.

An afternoon having tea together in a cozy place sounded wonderful, I even knew where to go to get the herbs. I just needed an alibi to get out of the mansion.

"Let's say I want to go out to buy what I need to prepare tea for Almec, is there any chance you can help me cover my absence?" I asked Demian, giving my best smile.

"If Almec asks, you were very tired after the storm, you went to take a nap, and you asked that no one interrupt you."

I gave him a big hug. "Thank you, I owe you a favor."

"Don't even mention it, the kid deserves a break."

***

Myra was an excellent seller. I only went to her shop looking for any type of tea she recommended and she ended up showing me all the flavors so I could choose the one I liked the most. That's how I brought back a beautiful wooden box filled with black tea leaves. I didn't have any idea about how it would taste but the captivating aroma reminded me of the scent that had been following me for weeks.

Dark chocolate and mint, every time I smelled it through the hallways of the mansion I had to stop myself from running behind the mysterious scent.

The smell took over the library as I left the box on the small coffee table, next to it, a strawberry cake made by Demian and the tea set waited for Almec's arrival.

I walked side to side, trying to calm my unavoidable nerves. My biggest fear was to offend Almec by trying to revive a tradition he had with his mother. What if he thought that I was trying to replace her?

That would be a disaster, the end of our relationship, and the most embarrassing moment of my life.

"Is everything alright?"

Almec's voice made me jump a little. My hands moved automatically to fix my hair before I looked up.

"Yeah, I was just entertaining myself while I was waiting. How's the town?"

Almec took off his fur coat that was still covered in snow and left it on the floor next to the door.

"The situation is better than I expected, the damage caused by the storm will be easy to repair," he replied, approaching me. "I was surprised to see your message, I thought you wanted to see me because there was a problem and I came running to the library."

That explained why he hadn't taken off his coat sooner. Khalia was not going to be happy to see so much snow inside the mansion.

"No problem at all, I thought that after all the work it wouldn't hurt to take some time to rest." I pointed to the table and took him by the hand to guide him to one of the chairs. "Plus you promised me a reading session, did you forget that?"

He smiled and squeezed my hand. "I could never forget a promise I made to you."

"If at some point you miss it, don't worry, I'll remind you," I said, sitting next to him.

"What's all of this? I have to confess that I'm curious about the box."

I looked down and started scratching my wrist. I didn't know how to put it into words so that it would convey my idea the right way, every time a new phrase formed in my head I would discard it thinking that it might offend Almec.

"Are you feeling good?" he asked me, taking my hand and stroking my irritated wrist.

"I'm nervous," I confessed, still staring at the floor.

"Whatever is making you nervous, I assure you that I don't care about it. You can tell me anything, I will always be here to listen to you."

My heart gave a little jump and a smile appeared on my face. Almec always knew what to say to make me feel better, I still couldn't understand how someone as sweet as him considered himself a monster.

"To be honest it's a bit silly," I said, looking him in the eyes.

"Nothing is silly if it comes from you."

"Only you can say something like that," I laughed. Then I took a long breath and began my explanation. "Demian told me about your mother, I asked him if there was anything you like to do and the first thing he could think of was your tea afternoons with your mother. I know it's something personal for you, and now that I think about it, I don't know if I have the right to pry into your past, but I wanted to do something that you liked, and I organized everything so that we could have tea together. If you don't like it I completely understand, we can cancel—"

"Hey, it's okay, sweetheart, I'm not mad. You can breathe now." Almec grabbed my hands and gave them a squeeze. "I am happy because you thought of me, any gift you have to give me is a blessing in my eyes. My mother is someone very important to me, I never stopped missing her, and you are giving me the opportunity to remember her. I believe that she would have loved you."

All the tension left my body and my shoulders relaxed. With my newly regained courage I released my hands from Almec and pushed the box towards him. "That's a gift for you, I hope you like it."

He looked at me with a big smile before opening the box with an enthusiasm that reminded me of Faustina.

"Thank you, I love it. It's been at least ten years since I had tea leaves. My mother always found an excuse to buy me new combinations but since she died I haven't had the courage to visit the tea shop. I'm honored to share them with you."

"No, I'm the one who feels happy to share something so important to you. Are you going to do the honors?"

"Of course, you're going to be surprised by my skill." He joked.

"I'm always surprised by you," I whispered, paying attention to Almec who began to prepare the tea.

The aroma of dark chocolate and mint took over the library and Almec stopped his movements for a second. I thought I saw the beginning of a smile on his face but he immediately returned to his expression of concentration.

"I didn't know tea could be so delicious," I said after taking the first sip. "Maybe we should do this more often."

A lock of my hair fell into my eyes, before I could react, Almec placed it behind my ear delicately.

"It would be a pleasure for me." He didn't move his hand away from me, instead, he caressed my cheek. "If I could, I would spend every second of my life with you."

I wanted to answer and tell him that I would love to live with him too, but the lump in my throat didn't allow the words to come out.

Almec didn't say anything else either, we kept enjoying the tea and food in silence. Words were not necessary when a single look from the other could express our feelings perfectly.

"Valen! I'm bored!" Faustina's scream ruined our moment.

"Go to her," Almec said, smiling. "I've stolen you for too long. I'll take care of the rest."

"You're sure?"

Almec got up from his seat and practically pushed me to the door. "Yes, it doesn't bother me at all. But before you leave, I have a question. Did you choose the flavor of the tea for anything in particular?"

"I've been smelling that scent around the mansion for weeks, I like it so I thought it would be good for the tea."

Almec's eyes seemed filled with tears and the smile he gave me was unprecedented.

"Dark chocolate and mint. That's my scent."