The Senior Apprentice

The next day, just after noon, Dahlia paid a visit to the Merchants’ Guild. She and Tobias had been working together under a joint registration, but now she was on her own again. She’d intended to take some time off work after getting married, but there was no longer any need for that. First, she would check her earnings from the magical tools she had registered with the guild, then she’d find out what new work was available. She made her way through the hubbub on the first floor and ascended the stairs.

“Ah, Miss Rossetti. Excellent timing.” As soon as Dahlia reached the second floor, she was greeted by the manager in charge of orders. “An order’s just come in for you from the Couriers’ Guild. They would like ten large waterproof covers for their carriages.”

“Understood. May I see the order?”

“Certainly, here you are.”

Dahlia carefully read it over, confirming that it was for the same material and dimensions they had ordered last time. She assumed it must have been Marcello who had put in the order as a favor to her. They would supply the cloth needed, and there was no issue with the delivery date or funds—Dahlia accepted the job without hesitation. She arranged to have the cloth delivered to the tower in a few days’ time.

Relieved to have found work so easily, Dahlia went to the contracts desk.

“Hello there, Miss Dahlia.”

“Hello, Ivano. Thank you so much for your help the other day.”

Manning the contracts desk today was Ivano, the man who’d been one of the witnesses to the breaking off of her engagement the other day. He seemed relieved to see the cheerfulness in Dahlia’s face, which he met with a smile.

“It was my pleasure. What can I do for you today?”

“I’d like to check my earnings for the magical tools I have registered with the guild. Could I see the contracts, please?”

“Certainly. I’ll fetch them for you right away.”

Ivano briefly disappeared into the back offices, returning with a flat wooden box in his hands. This box contained all the contracts for the various magical tools both Dahlia and her father, Carlo, had registered with the guild. When a toolmaker registered their invention, it meant they would receive a set amount of profit from the item’s sales, depending on how well it sold. While there were a number of differences, the system was similar to how patents had worked in Dahlia’s previous world. The maker would receive royalties on the item for seven years from the day of registration.

Dahlia had registered her waterproof cloth when she was eighteen, so she would be earning profits from it until she was twenty-five. The dryer that Dahlia and her father had created together had been registered ten years ago, so the contract on it had already expired. Unfortunately, the minimum age to register an invention was fifteen, so Dahlia’s name had never been on that contract to begin with.

“We have two contracts from your late father, and from you we have the contracts for your waterproof cloth and raincoat. Here is the sum of your royalties.”

After examining the documents, Dahlia cocked her head.

“What about the compact magical stove I registered last month? I don’t see it here.”

“The magical stove... Oh, I apologize, it is missing. Must be a clerical error; I’ll just go and check for you.”

Ivano stood up with a clunk of his chair. Perhaps the contract had been put into the wrong box by mistake. Dahlia settled into her seat and was waiting patiently when she heard a commotion from the back.

“I’m so sorry! I was the one who handled the registration for the magical stove!”

A young woman rushed out from the office and bowed deeply to Dahlia.

“I drew up the contract in Mr. Orlando’s name!”

“What?”

The young clerk was beside herself, almost in tears. Ivano appeared from behind her and hurried to the desk with the documents in hand. At a glance, she could see that the contract for the compact magical stove she had made was in Tobias’s name. That stove had been entirely her creation, from the initial concept to its manufacture. The only involvement Tobias had had was to check her blueprints for errors. She remembered the day she’d meant to register the stove; she’d been swamped with work at the time and Tobias had had business at the Merchants’ Guild, so she’d entrusted the task to him. It seemed he’d taken it upon himself to register the stove as his instead.

“You see, when Mr. Orlando came to register the stove last month, he assured me that he had your permission to use his name. I knew you were to marry soon, so I assumed you had decided to use your future husband’s name from now on...”

By all rights, the contract should never have been registered to someone whose name was different than the one on the specification document. Either Dahlia herself should have been consulted, or Tobias should have been asked to show a power of attorney. However, it was true that at the time, the two of them had been engaged to be married and working under a joint registration with the guild. It wasn’t unreasonable for the clerk to have made the assumption.

Dahlia felt a familiar headache coming on. It certainly wasn’t unheard of for married couples to both register their inventions under one name; it made finances much simpler. However, Tobias had never once mentioned anything like that to her.

“I understand what’s happened. However, I never at any point gave Mr. Orlando the rights to my invention. Furthermore, we are no longer engaged; we have no relationship of any kind. Can you tell me what needs to be done in order to correct the name on the contract?” Dahlia asked calmly, refraining from blaming anybody for the error.

“Please allow me to apologize as well; we are truly sorry for this oversight,” said Ivano with a bow. “If you would be so kind as to wait here, I shall go and request instructions.”

If you send a creation out into the world, then you carve your name into it and take responsibility for what you have made—that was what Dahlia’s father had always taught her. It seemed Tobias, his former apprentice, had forgotten that lesson. That saddened Dahlia more than anything else.

A short while later, Ivano escorted Dahlia to the office of the vice-guildmaster, Gabriella. With its luxurious, geometrically patterned carpet, beautifully carved white table, and white leather lounge suite, the room was designed for ease and comfort. However, the air at that moment was horribly tense. Gabriella rose from her seat as Dahlia was shown inside.

“I’ve heard the whole story,” she said. “Dahlia Rossetti, in the guildmaster’s absence, I offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of the Merchants’ Guild.” Gabriella bowed deeply and did not move from that position.

“Vice-Guildmaster, please, there’s no need for that!” Dahlia insisted, flustered. Gabriella’s gorgeous ivory-white hair was almost brushing the surface of the table. Regardless, the woman did not move for several seconds. When she slowly straightened up at last, she let out a despondent sigh.

“I really can’t apologize enough. I never dreamed we would put you in such a position. I shall certainly ensure this never happens again without the proper procedure.”

Gabriella beckoned for Dahlia and Ivano to join her and take a seat at the table. Ivano, already looking fatigued, laid out the documents and began to explain the next course of action.

“I have examined the documents related to the compact magical stove, and there is no question that the blueprints and specifications document are written entirely in your hand, Miss Dahlia. We also have the testimony of the staff member who accepted the registration. As such, we are in a position to immediately file an official objection against Mr. Orlando and correct the name on the contract. As a penalty, Mr. Orlando will be temporarily barred from entering into any contracts with the guild, and the staff member responsible for this error will be demoted for—”

“As long as I can have the name corrected, that’s enough,” Dahlia interrupted.

Ivano stared at her in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

“You’re well within your rights to sue for fraud, you know,” Gabriella added. “Since this occurred while you were still engaged, there will no doubt be some dispute over who said what. However, if you’d like to pursue action, we will be more than happy to appoint an attorney for you. And we will cover all expenses, of course.”

“I appreciate your consideration, truly. But if I were to do that, it would mean the end of his career as a magical toolmaker.”

“Indeed. Were he to be found guilty of contract fraud, the Merchants’ Guild would certainly never deal with him again,” Gabriella confirmed, slightly narrowing her dark-blue eyes. “You cannot still be fond of him, surely.”

“As my former fiancé, no. Quite the opposite, in fact. But...he was my senior apprentice.”

Tobias had begun his apprenticeship under Dahlia’s father at age nineteen, immediately after graduating from college. When she’d first met Tobias, her father had introduced him as her senior apprentice. With a clock in one hand and a sheet of metal in the other, he’d awkwardly bowed to her. She remembered thinking it rather unfair that he should be called her senior—she’d been learning her father’s craft since she was a little girl, after all. But she had only officially become his apprentice two years after her college graduation, having spent time as an assistant to one of her professors. In that sense, Tobias was indeed her senior.

“If he were to cancel the contract voluntarily and then I re-registered the product, could Mr. Orlando and the staff member both be spared the penalties? I don’t mind if the past month is deducted from the registration period.”

“If that’s what you wish, then we cannot object,” Gabriella replied.

“Then I’ll go and see Mr. Orlando right away and request that he cancel the contract.”

“We can summon him here instead if you’d prefer. Or I’d be happy to accompany you.”

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine on my own. That said, if things become complicated, I’ll take your advice on how to proceed.”

“Complicated, hm? All right, then.”

Dahlia said her thanks and set off immediately, leaving Gabriella and Ivano standing side by side in silence as they watched her go.

“I don’t believe she has any lingering fondness for him. Indeed, I wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to punch him in the face, yet there she goes. Is that how things are between apprentices?” the man mused.

Gabriella smiled weakly. “I don’t think it’s that. I’m not sure if she’s aware of it, but the one she’s trying to protect is probably Carlo.”

“Her father?”

“Yes. If his apprentice, Tobias, were to give up the craft or have his reputation tarnished, Carlo’s good name might be tarnished too. Or perhaps it’s just that he’d be disappointed. I think that’s what’s going through her head, even though she might not be conscious of it.”

“I see. That does make sense, in a way.”

Ivano looked away and closed his eyes for a moment. He was remembering a man with sandy hair and a warm, gentle smile—a magical toolmaker in the prime of his life. When he’d suddenly collapsed in a hallway of the guild one early summer day, Ivano had been the first to run to his side. After only a few ragged gasps, without even any final words, he had gone still before Ivano’s eyes. By the time the doctor arrived, the man was already long gone, beyond the help of anyone.

“Carlo... He was still so young. He must have felt such regret.”

“He should have had another twenty years. Ten, at the very least, before he passed on.”

Gabriella went to the window and opened it to let in some fresh air, though barely a breath came in. She stood gazing down upon the street, watching Dahlia’s retreating back.

Dahlia decided to go to Orlando & Co. on foot, as it was only a few minutes’ walk from the Merchants’ Guild. Though made of wood, it was a fairly substantial building with three floors. Dahlia was intimately familiar with the place. After the death of Tobias’s father, she had come here often to help Tobias sort through all the company’s records and accounts. The moment she stepped inside, several heads turned to look at her. As soon as they realized who she was, the onlookers’ gazes became tinged with a mix of emotions—curiosity, sympathy, and here and there, scorn. Quashing the urge to turn tail and run, Dahlia stood upright. She remembered the promise she’d made to herself the day her engagement ended. She wasn’t going to let a thing like this get her down.

“Why, hello there, Miss Rossetti.”

A woman approached her with a very wooden smile. It was Tobias’s mother. Just a few days prior, she’d happily called Dahlia by her first name.

“I’m awfully sorry things didn’t work out. What with Emilia being related to Lord Tallini, it just didn’t make sense for us as a company to stand in their way... Besides, the engagement between you and Tobias was only a matter of convenience, wasn’t it? I’m sure you’ll find someone else who’ll make you very happy.”

Dahlia could tell she was being pitied, yet it was also abundantly clear that the Orlandos were taking no responsibility for recent events. It was amazing how things changed as soon as nobility was involved. It took all of Dahlia’s might to maintain a neutral expression.

“Yes, well, it’s water under the bridge now. I have a matter relating to the Merchants’ Guild that I need to discuss with Tobias. Is he in?”

“The Merchants’ Guild? Of course, you two must have some unfinished business. I’ll fetch him for you.”

The woman seemed reassured by Dahlia’s calm demeanor. She had a clerk summon Tobias immediately.

“Dahlia? Do you need something?”

Tobias appeared, looking uneasy. Well, she could hardly expect him to greet her with a smile, considering all that had happened between them in the last few days.

“I’ve come to talk to you about the contract for the compact magical stove.”

“Oh... Oh, that!” The color drained from Tobias’s face, and he looked around in obvious discomfort. “Sorry, can we talk about this in private?”

He ushered Dahlia into the nearest reception room. Once they were seated on opposite sides of the table, Tobias bowed his head low.

“I’m sorry, I completely forgot to tell you about that. It’s just a misunderstanding, I swear.”

“What are you talking about? I heard what happened from the person who took the stove’s registration. You told her you had my permission, so she registered it without confirming with me.”

“Erm...it’s because I planned for us to have our own company once we were married. I thought it’d be easier if we put everything under my name.”

“You mean that once we were married, you intended to register everything I made under your own name?”

“Well, yes. We’d be working together as a company, so I thought we’d either use my name or both names on everything...”

Ever since the day they’d broken off their engagement, Dahlia had been exasperated with and bitterly disappointed in Tobias many times over. However, the cold fury she felt now was a first.

“If you send a creation out into the world, then you carve your name into it and take responsibility for what you have made—that’s what father always taught me.” Her emerald eyes were icy as she stared Tobias down. “I wouldn’t have minded so much if you’d used both names, but yours alone? If one of my tools registered in your name turned out to be faulty or, gods forbid, caused an accident, how would that information get back to me?”

“I’d just tell you myself if that—”

Tobias halted and stiffened. He was being far too casual with someone who was as good as a stranger now.

“Cancel the contract for the compact magical stove today, please. Once you’ve done that, I’ll re-register it myself.”

“I’d... rather not...” To do that would mean admitting his own misdemeanor. His working relationship with the guild would be damaged. “This all happened while we were still engaged. How about we say I had your permission, keep the contract as is, and I buy the rights to the stove from you? You can name your price—the company will buy it.”

“No, thank you. If you wait until an official objection from the guild, there will be serious consequences. I’ve been told I’m also within my rights to sue for fraud, if I wish.”

“But you wouldn’t do that...would you? Are you that bitter about the engagement after all?”

Dahlia dropped her gaze and sighed deeply. “It’s not about the engagement. What bothers me is a self-respecting toolmaker like you putting your own name on something you didn’t make. As your fellow apprentice, I’m disappointed in you.”

“My fellow apprentice? Right. I see. That’s all I ever was to you, right?” Tobias looked away, his hands clasped tightly together. “And there’s nothing I can say to make you hand over the rights to the stove?”

“Nothing whatsoever.”

“Even if Orlando & Co. were to stop doing business with you?”

“That’s correct,” Dahlia answered without a moment’s hesitation.

She had been prepared for that possibility from the start. She could find another supplier. If she spoke to the Merchants’ Guild, they would be able to put her in touch with another trading company. If that didn’t work out, she could concentrate her business with the client base she’d built up with the sales of her waterproof cloth. She could even switch to selling her services in processing raw materials. Her income might take a hit, but she was confident she could survive. If she was going to make it on her own as a magical toolmaker, she couldn’t shy away from this challenge.

“Besides, your new bride wouldn’t want you to keep any ties with me, would she?”

Dahlia hadn’t noticed her in the office, but she knew Tobias’s new fiancée was here in this building somewhere. She sincerely hoped she wouldn’t have to see them together.

“Dahlia...”

“I expect you to resolve this matter at the Merchants’ Guild by the end of the day.”

With that, Dahlia stood up from her chair. Her vivid red hair swished around her shoulders as she turned on her heel, leaving Tobias stunned as he stared after her. He could barely believe this was the same Dahlia he’d always known.

Left alone in the silent room, Tobias slumped into his chair. Why had it turned out like this? He knew he was the one at fault, but this all felt like too much.

Dahlia was the daughter of Carlo, the man who’d been his master in magical toolmaking. He and Dahlia had first met in the workshop at the Green Tower. Carlo had introduced Tobias as his apprentice, and Dahlia had timidly bowed to him. She’d struck him as a very subdued-looking woman—plain, if you were to be less kind.

They’d only really begun to talk when she’d started working on her waterproof cloth. She’d been drying slimes all over the roof and in the garden; clouds of slime powder had filled the air, making him cough. He’d fondly watched over her as her senior apprentice while she threw herself into her research with almost childlike enthusiasm.

But then, when Dahlia was only in her teens, she registered her waterproof cloth and raincoat with the Merchants’ Guild and gained her first contracts. At the time, Tobias still hadn’t gotten a single one, and suddenly the role of “senior apprentice” began to weigh that bit more heavily on him.

Their engagement came about not due to mutual affection, but at the urging of their fathers. When Carlo first approached him with the proposal, he accepted with little hesitation. If he was honest, it may have been the prospect of becoming Carlo’s successor, rather than Dahlia’s husband, that attracted him more. It was only when they’d stood together as a couple that he’d noticed Dahlia’s height.

“You’re awfully tall, aren’t you?” he’d commented, letting his discomfort slip out.

She hadn’t replied.

After they became engaged, whenever he wanted Dahlia to do something, she almost always would. She would question him about a request from time to time, but she never once pushed back. It seemed Dahlia respected him as her senior and would be the kind of wife to follow him one step behind, quietly supporting him.

Then came the sudden death of his father, followed a year later by Carlo’s. After his father had passed away, Dahlia had often come to help with the day-to-day business at Orlando & Co. Even when Carlo passed as well, Dahlia had soldiered on without any kind of complaint.

At some point during all this, Tobias found himself becoming irritated with her. He kept asking more of her. He told her to dull down her wardrobe. He told her not to drink more than two glasses of wine. Whatever he asked, she did it. That was why he was convinced that she’d agree to what he’d done with the contract, even if she only found out after the fact. Thinking back, Dahlia had never asked anything of him or imposed upon him in any way.

There was a simple explanation. All along, she’d thought of him only as her senior apprentice, nothing more. She’d become engaged to him only because her father, their master, had said she should. She would probably have agreed to it no matter who he’d been. In fairness, he would probably have agreed to marry Carlo’s daughter regardless of what she’d been like too.

Emilia had changed everything. This petite young woman had just appeared at the company one day. She had light, honey-colored hair and bright brown eyes. She made mistakes now and then, but she always worked her hardest.

“Goodness, a magical toolmaker? That’s amazing!”

He couldn’t forget the way Emilia’s eyes had sparkled when he’d first spoken to her.

She was the daughter of a nobleman and his mistress. Her parents had been forbidden to marry and forcibly separated. Due to her mother’s ill health, Emilia had been forced to quit high school to care for her. Since her mother’s death, she’d been scraping by on her own. She was looking forward to learning the ropes and doing her best at the job, she’d said. Before Tobias knew it, he was smitten. He wanted to support her like an older brother and gave her advice wherever he could.

There was something Emilia happened to say in conversation, just a few days before Tobias was to register his marriage to Dahlia:

“I’ve always lived in rented rooms. I’ve never even seen inside a family home before.”

Tobias invited her to live in the new house on the spot. Then the young woman burst into tears and confessed that she was in love with him, and in the end, Tobias found himself proposing to her. It was wrong of him; he understood that. And yet, no matter how many times he thought back on it, he couldn’t imagine himself doing anything different. Emilia was the one—the only one—to whom his heart belonged.

He had been sitting in the empty room deep in thought for some time when there was a timid knock at the door. He invited whomever it was to come in. The door opened, and the young woman who’d starred in his reflections crept hesitantly into the room.

“I’m sorry to disturb you.”

“Oh, Emilia... They told you to stay in the back until Dahlia left, did they?”

Emilia had just happened to be out of the room when Dahlia had arrived. It seemed she’d been ushered away and told to stay out of sight. Thankfully, she’d only come out once she was sure the coast was clear. The last thing Tobias wanted was for Emilia and Dahlia to meet.

“I’m sorry Tobias, I couldn’t help worrying... Could I...Could I ask what she came to talk to you about?”

Her bright brown eyes glistened; she looked terribly uneasy.

“It was about our toolmaking work. The engagement’s all taken care of already; you don’t need to worry.” Tobias forced a smile.

Emilia cast her eyes down and clasped her hands tightly. Upon her wrist gleamed a gold bracelet set with carnelian stones the same color as Tobias’s eyes. Even though it had belonged to Dahlia first, Emilia had been overjoyed to receive it.

“I’m so sorry...”

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for.”

“But this all happened because I fell in love with you, even though I knew... I knew you were already engaged, but I couldn’t help myself.”

Her voice trembled as tears slid down her porcelain cheeks. Tobias reached out and gently wiped them away.

“You did nothing wrong. I’m the one to blame for all this.”

She felt so small and soft as he hugged her to him. All Tobias knew was that he had to protect this woman at all costs. This feeling, this love, was as real and true as anything he’d ever known. And yet, underneath it all, there was a small and gloomy voice that wouldn’t keep quiet.

Dahlia, it said. All I wanted was to be more than your father’s apprentice. Just once.