The excitement that had been building inside of me for the last few weeks, bubbling with suspense, could no longer be contained. It bounded through my veins, tugged at the corners of my mouth to keep them in a fixed smile, and had my body shaking in delighted anticipation.

Today was the day I finally received my promotion and became a Head Perfumer at the Velux Emporium. No longer would I have to share a workshop with three other perfumers or have to fight for the attention of clients. Now, nobles from kingdoms far and wide would get their noses on my scents. Common folk rarely had the money for magic-imbued perfume, making my clientele a limited pool of people. This was my chance to make my name familiar in prestigious shops and stalls.

Another Head Perfumer recently settled down to retire, opening his spot up for another talented apprentice to claim. Due to their high demand, positions like that never stayed open for long and the meeting I had been summoned to that morning whispered promises of it rightfully being offered to me.

I bundled my cerulean skirts into my hands as I raced up the cobbled stairs of the Emporium entrance, waving and grinning at the other perfumers I passed by. Instead of the joy I greeted them with — the feeling that set my soul alight with a warm flame, the embers rising to brush against my heart — their expressions only held confusion and concern. Did they not know what was about to happen? Had they not heard me blabbering about the promotion I was getting for the past week?

Even as I entered the Velux Emporium, my smile wasn't returned. Some apprentices even appeared to hold watered sympathy in their features. Perhaps everyone had just been kept in the dark about the recent retirement. That had to be it.

After breathlessly climbing the spiralled stairs that led to the top of the Emporium, a small attic large enough for only one room, I reached up to knock on the Emporium Manager's office door. However, when I touched the polished, ebony wood, I found the door was already open.

Inside, Dorros Reydi — the owner of the establishment that I had learned to adore as my second home — sat slumped at his desk with his head in his hands. His fingers rubbed circles in his temple, shifting his receding, silver hair with the movement. Light splotches were scattered across his dark, wrinkled skin — a canvas speckled with moonlit stardust.

"Good morning, sir," I announced my presence as I nudged the door open. "You wanted to see me?"

Despite having the choice of any room in the grand building — one that I personally thought was the highlight of the entire Kingdom of Yuris — Dorros had chosen a small corner tucked away from the lively magical experiments and chatter of apprentices. The walls were adorned with a faded brown, a repeating, square pattern detailed across it. Several shelves were nailed into place in a neat line along the left side of the office. They were home to Velux Emporium's most famed perfumes, each bottle unique to the scent that resided inside. One was a vibrant orange and shaped like a fallen star, another was simple in shape yet coloured with the gradient of dawn, and my favourite was a faint lilac with a bottle moulded to look like a cupcake.

Behind the desk the manager sat at was a round window with a view that snatched my breath away every time I surveyed it. It overlooked the shopping district of Yuris' main city, allowing you to watch potential clients go about their lives.

"Ah, Elvira." He offered a weak smile, his thin lips wavering at the effort. "I did summon you here this morning. You might want to take a seat for this." Disappointment laced his tone.

"What's wrong?" I pulled out the chair as he suggested, perching myself on the emerald, cushioned seat. Everyone had seemed to be on edge while I had made my way here. Was there something they knew that I didn't?

"There have been some unfortunate changes for a while, at least until another Head Perfumer steps down." Dorros' opening words wrenched my happiness out of me as if it were a trespasser on foreign land. They wrapped it up in chains to haul it across a frigid cold and seal it away in a secured prison.

"What?"

"The Royal Family has decided to fill our empty position with their own Royal Perfumer. For what reason, I'm honestly not entirely sure. But, he has claimed the workshop that I would have offered to you." He fiddled with the lid of his pen as he met my gaze with earnest sincerity.

No phrase nor sound could form in my throat. Nothing could convey the fire that had been snuffed out. The room faded away around me, my senses replaced with a white, hot fury.

"I know this is heart-breaking." Dorros reached across the desk to awkwardly pat my hand. "I really would rather have you in the workshop instead of... whatever man the royals have sent our way. But not even I can go against a Royal order."

I had been replaced by a Royal Perfumer. Did this new perfumer have the skill to be in the position I had dreamed about for nearly two decades? Or was he merely shoved into the title because he had the privilege of first claim?

"As soon as another space becomes available, it will go to you without hesitation. I promise." The manager's brows increasingly furrowed as he waited for a response, any sign that I had processed what had happened.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat, I stood from my chair and made my way back towards the stairs. There was no way this perfumer was better than me.

"Wait, Elvira! Where are you going?" Dorros chased after me, his short legs struggling to keep up with my pace.

"To greet the new Head Perfumer, of course. It will be nice to see how he's settling in." With the anger that coursed through me, I didn't recognise my own voice. The sharp bite to my reply slaughtered any comfort the manager had prepared.

My feet led me blindly towards the workshops and to the one which rightfully would have been mine. I had memorised this path — every painting along the way, every crack in the stone floor tiles — when I realised the previous Head Perfumer was getting old. When retirement was a very likely possibility. I had hoped this workshop would be mine for the longest time and now it had been torn from me.

As I neared the workshop, several loud thuds could be heard coming from the room, alongside the occasional shattering of glass. I pushed the door open without a knock and was greeted with utter, unbridled chaos.

What once was the shell of a vacant room was now littered with stacks upon stacks of boxes. Some were sealed and left shoved in the corner while others overflowed with vials of different fragrances, empty perfume bottles, and other random items. The only things that were unpacked were a selection of display cases hung behind the desk. Each one held a different insect, their corpses pinned on display.

A man, who paced back and forth through the carnage, picked up a heart-shaped bottle and threw it into the fire. The flames swallowed the liquid inside, consuming it with a hungered desire and turning it a violent shade of green.

"It's still not right," he murmured to himself. The new Head Perfumer pushed his sable hair out of his face as he continued to cross the room. In the emerald light of the fire, it even appeared to be a deep navy, casting an alluring glow. Under the wild strands, two pointed ears stuck out. One had a diamond stud pierced into the top, the jewel sparkling with the same madness that coursed through his veins. His sage-shaded eyes glinted with the beginnings of a scheme, one I didn't have high hopes of being successful if the mayhem I was witnessing was the result of his last one.

This was the ruin of a man that the royals had deemed worthy enough to claim what was mine. I had worked my arse off for years to build myself up to where I was now, my entire life. All it took was one obstacle to sweep my goal out from underneath my feet, plummeting me into an endless abyss that was impossible to claw out of.

The man sat down at the half-buried desk, pushed a pair of silver-rimmed glasses onto the bridge of his nose, and pulled out a notebook from the sea of boxes. The cover was stained in several different places, the pages were mostly crumpled, and scent strips stuck out of it haphazardly, but that didn't stop him from holding onto it as if it were his life's most prized possession.

Sensing my presence, he glanced up at me and then back down at his notes. "I haven't got the time for formal greetings. My name is Corvin Pethra, if you're curious. Now, please get out."

My eye twitched at the audacity this man had. I stormed up to his desk and snatched the notebook from his grasp, prying it away from his thieving hands.

"I will do no such thing. This workshop was meant to be mine." If he hadn't moved in yet, there might have been a chance for me to convince the right people to let me have the workshop back. But the once empty space was now filled with an uncountable amount of belongings.

A frown twisted Corvin's lips, his glacial eyes scanning the room. "It was very empty when I got here. Are your belongings invisible?" He lifted up a few stacks of paper to search below them. "That must be some impressive magic you've imbued into your scents."

My cheeks flamed, heat rising to them. "You moved in before I could get here this morning."

"That sounds like it's not my problem then," he answered with an infuriating smirk. "May I have my notebook back? I have perfumes I need to mix before the Miracles Festival."

I clutched the leather-bound book close to my chest, racking my brain for a reason to kick him out. A rat infestation. A toxic contamination of some kind. But my mind refused to cooperate.

Reaching over the desk, Corvin snatched his notebook back, the soft skin of his hand grazing my own. The touch sent a jolt of magic shuddering down my spine, leaving me stunned on the spot.

"Thank you," he replied with a roll of his eyes. "Now leave before I use forceful measures." The new Head Perfumer settled right back into his work, spinning a feather quill around his fingers. The shaft shimmered with azure glitter that seeped into the vane.

My hands found their way to my hips in silent challenge. "And if I don't do that?" I had seen these types of people before, clients who wagered they knew more about perfume than someone who had studied and honed the craft for all of her life. They were always all bark and no bite.

Corvin sighed deeply, reaching into another unpacked box. "Then, little nuisance, those forceful measures will come into play."

He pulled out a small perfume bottle where the glass had been shaped into an idyllic cloud. A clear liquid sloshed inside as he squeezed the teal atomiser, sending a sweet fragrance my way. Corvin covered his mouth and gripped the desk as a strong wind lifted me off my feet and shoved me out into the hallway. A whirlwind of mango, vanilla, and a few stray papers pushed me into the wall and slammed the door shut behind me.

Corvin's perfumes were concocted with an incredibly strong magic, even more potent than the ones I mixed myself. What was I thinking? Of course, the Royal Family wouldn't want basic fragrances. They would need the best of the best. Not only were they imbued with powerful magic, but there was a frightening amount of control. That was the most difficult aspect for any perfumer to master.

"I was going to try and stop you, but you stormed off too fast," Dorros explained as he caught his breath, offering his hand to help me up.

I accepted it with a weak smile, my simmering anger cooling down. Where the fury faded away, determination froze over to replace it.

If I wanted my workshop and my rightful position as Head Perfumer, I would just have to prove I was better than him.

Chapter Word Count: 2,112
Total Word Count: 2,112