Shi Jinghua fainted. Actually swooned into her husband's arms, where he carefully lowered her to the ground. Pan Zixin sighed, supporting his wife’s head in one hand while using the other to wave cool air into her face. Meili wasn’t sure what that was supposed to accomplish, but it looked like a well-practiced motion—he’d done this before.

Jiaying’s father gave her a stern but gentle look.

“Was that really necessary, Jiaying? I know your mother can get carried away, but—”

“You could have spoken up any time, Dad.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I thought it would be best for the two of you to work things out.”

She crossed her arms and huffed.

“And the fact that she tried to slap me didn’t change your mind?”

Meili started.

“Oh right!”

She begrudgingly extricated herself from Jiaying’s grip and knelt down next to Shi Jinghua. Pan Zixin eyed her warily, but didn’t move to stop her as she took Jinghua’s hand, and looked it over. It was already starting to swell a little bit, and Meili grimaced as she sensed a few small fractures in the wrist.

“Yeah, I thought so... Do you mind if I heal her hand? It’s broken.”

Pan Zixin furrowed his brows.

“Did she really try to hit Jiaying that hard?”

“Eh...yes and no? People tend to put a lot more force into it when they expect the target to yield, and I had to move pretty quickly to block it, which magnified the strength of the blow. Like swinging a hoe expecting soil and hitting a big rock instead.”

“So...you broke her hand?”

Meili huffed.

“I’m fixing it, aren’t I? It was an accident.”

“I think I’d rather have Doctor Luo or Master Xin take a look at it.”

Jiaying rolled her eyes.

“Dad, she’s a qi healer with the exact same training as Xin Wei. Just let her help.”

He frowned for a moment, then nodded to Meili. With a quick circulation of Wood essence, Shi Jinghua’s hand was as good as new.

“There. All better!”

Pan Zixin blinked.

“Just like that?”

Meili scratched the back of her head and chuckled.

“Not to brag, but I’m pretty good at this.”

Jiaying puffed out her chest proudly.

“I will brag. Yoshika is most likely the second best qi healer in the entire continent, surpassed only by Lady Lin Xiulan, the Flowing Purewater Sect’s best healer and Xin Wei’s mother—who, by the way, is also here in Jiaguo.”

Her father stared dumbly for a moment before his expression gradually dropped into a deep frown.

“It’s all true then, isn’t it? You weren’t just saying that to shock your mother.”

Meili scratched her cheek.

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not be publicly linked to Yoshika. This is my civilian identity.”

“I’m not sure I understand—I thought the beastkin woman speaking to Master Xin was the leader of the settlement. Are you telling me she’s a decoy?”

Gossip traveled fast in the caravan, it would seem. Meili shook her head.

“It’s a long story, and I can explain it later, but we’re both me. Also, you should get into the habit of calling us half-spirits instead of beastkin. We find the latter insulting.”

“I see. Jiaying, your partner is a—half-spirit?”

Jiaying scowled at the note of disapproval in his tone.

“How is that somehow a bigger deal than the fact that she’s a woman?”

He sighed and shook his head.

“No, you’re right. I’m sorry again. This is just...a lot to handle at once. Perhaps it’s best if you go for now. I’ll try to talk to your mother, and we can meet again to discuss things once we arrive in town.”

“Fine. Come on, Meili, I think we’re done here.”

Meili bowed hurriedly as Jiaying began walking off without her.

“It was, um, nice meeting you!”

He gave her a thin smile and a curt nod before she ran to catch up with Jiaying.

“Ancestors, I am so sorry! I didn’t know it would go like that!”

Jiaying sighed and shook her head.

“I’m the one who should apologize. I did know, and I should have warned you. My mother is just...like that, and my dad...”

She huffed.

“He’s normally so strong, but around Mom he turns into a meek little kitten.”

“You shouldn’t talk about your parents that way.”

“No, you’re probably right. Sorry, I’m just still a little upset. Why can’t she ever approve of anything I do?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Meili wrapped one arm around Jiaying’s side and gave her a gentle squeeze.

“I don’t know, but I’m proud of you for standing up to her. And, it definitely made me feel warm and fuzzy when you introduced me as your girlfriend—I know that took courage.”

Jiaying blushed.

“I feel bad for doing it out of spite. I shouldn’t have used you just to shock her like that—you deserve better than that.”

Meili hugged her again, nuzzling her head against Jiaying’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, I forgive you!”

Jiaying returned the hug and smiled.

“Thanks. And thanks for being here with me. Right now, though, I think I just want to go home and forget about it for a bit. I wonder if Narae is up for some sparring practice.”

“She always is, but are you really going to vent your frustrations out on a little kid?”

“Of course not—she’s probably going to kick my ass like she always does. That flight is so unfair!”

Meili snorted.

“How about I teach you a technique that can counter it?”

“You would do that to your own sister?”

“She could use a couple lessons in humility, to be honest. She’s been getting a big head lately.”

Family woes forgotten for a moment, the two of them returned home together, taking their time and chatting happily. Jiaying’s parents had been a disappointment, but it didn’t matter as long as they still had each other.

----------------------------------------

The group from Qin hadn’t even arrived yet when Melati brought another report.

“Another group of humans is coming!”

Eui looked up from her painting—a simple landscape attempting to capture Elder Qin’s ever-popular garden. She’d been trying to follow Jiaying’s advice about picking up some kind of hobby. The garden was a reminder that Elder Qin had once shared a similar lesson with them, that immortals needed to keep themselves grounded, lest they forget their beginnings entirely.

“Who is it this time? I hope Yamato hasn’t decided to make an early move.”

Melati shook her head.

“Nope! It’s half-spirits coming from the east. Melati sees lots of animals and wagons, and the pretty fox lady!”

“Mel, that’s the entire Seong clan, you’re going to need to be more specific.”

She tilted her head side to side puzzling over it. Melati had enough trouble telling people apart normally, but Goryeo’s royal family all shared a very strong resemblance to each other.

“She has lots of tails, but some of them are made of fire.”

“Eunae, then—Ja Yun will be happy to hear that. She’s been feeling a bit lonely since Rika left for Yamato.”

Eui wasn’t sure how deep their relationship was without Rika to anchor them, but at the very least it would mean that Ja Yun wouldn’t have to pine after their girlfriend alone.

Since Jia was still escorting the group from Qin, Eui decided to go meet the Goryeon cohort herself. Jia was fast enough to travel between them, but it would be rude. Besides, sending Eui—a Goryeon exile—to meet with them would send a pretty strong message.

“Is that really the kind of message we want to send, though?”

As usual, it was hard to tell the precise origin of Yoshika’s inner dialogue. Assigning specific thoughts or concerns to one of her aspects was difficult if they weren’t speaking aloud—they tended to get a bit jumbled with each other.

Eui just thought of it as speaking to the collective, voicing her responses in order to keep them distinct.

“It’s like we said, right? This is a country founded by exiles and rejects. We’ll accept people from anywhere, but they’ll be sorely mistaken if they expect to bring their prejudices with them.”

“Just try not to alienate them entirely right out of the gate, alright? We need people, and scaring them away isn’t going to help anybody.”

“I know, I know. I might not be the most diplomatic, but I'm not gonna just push everyone away out of spite.”

She ignored the doubt welling up within her. Most of it was actually her, rather than the others being critical. Eui reminded herself that she wasn’t the same scared little girl lashing out at anyone who dared approach her anymore.

Flying out to meet the Goryeon caravan, Eui wondered at how convenient it was to just fly everywhere. Even without Jia’s speed, it cut travel time down so drastically that it almost felt surreal.

Logistics were one of the most complicated aspects of running a country or a military campaign. How much would that change in a world where all the couriers could fly unaided, or had access to teleportation networks? What would an entire army with Narae’s flying technique be able to accomplish?

It was a sobering thought. Jiaguo was a place with great potential, but great didn’t necessarily mean good.

She had to set those thoughts aside as she arrived, alighting a short distance away from the head of the caravan so that she could approach on foot.

Eui casually swept her domain across the caravan to take note of who was there and find Eunae, but she was completely derailed when she sensed a pair of familiar auras near the back of the caravan.

She rushed over at her considerable full speed, ignoring the surprised shouts of the caravan guards. There, driving the wagon, she found her father, An Minjun, looking surprised but happy to see her.

Eui jumped up onto the wagon and threw her arms around him.

“Dad! You came!”

He returned her hug, laughing.

“Of course we did, sweetheart! It’s good to see that even in the lofty position of ruling a nation, you’re still my little girl.”

Eui’s mother, An Chunhei, emerged from the wagon.

“Is that Eui?! Oh, come here, I missed you so much!”

The three of them shared an embrace before Eui pulled away to address them.

“How have you been? I’m sorry I haven’t been able to keep in touch.”

Her mother waved her off.

“Oh, never mind us, dear—we’ve been just fine. What about you? Princess Seong gave us a brief summary, but what in the world happened these last two years?”

“Ancestors, that is a very long story. I’ll tell you all about it later, in private. I take it this is more than just a visit?”

Her father nodded, beaming proudly.

“Officially, this is a trade caravan escorting a diplomatic envoy, but your mother and I intend to settle, and I doubt we’re the only ones.”

Eui raised an eyebrow.

“Diplomatic envoy?”

“Eh, maybe we should leave the more sensitive topics to the princess.”

As if summoned by the mention, Seong Eunae approached the wagon and bowed politely.

“That would be best, yes. Thank you for your discretion. My apologies for interrupting, Mister An, but may I borrow your daughter for a moment? We do have some sensitive topics to discuss.”

An Minjun chuckled and bowed deferentially.

“Of course, Miss Eunae. Go on Eui, you do your world leader stuff. We can catch up later.”

Eui gave her parents another hug before hopping off the wagon and walking alongside Eunae back towards her much more lavish transportation.

“Good to see you too, Eunae.”

The princess blushed.

“Sorry for the lack of greeting. I’m glad to see you, of course, but my mind is occupied by other things at the moment.”

“Oh? It’s not like you to be so serious. Well, we’ve gotten dire news from every other country, so why should this be any different. Go on, what sort of calamity is going on in Goryeo?”

Eunae blinked.

“Are things that bad in the other nations? No—nevermind, it’s not what you think. At least I hope it isn’t.”

She cast a privacy spell, blocking anyone from seeing or hearing them, then cast about to make doubly sure that nobody else was present. Whatever she was about to say was for Yoshika’s ears only.

“Goryeo is doing well—fantastic, even. We’re prepared to enjoy a long and fruitful partnership with our allies in Jiaguo.”

Eui frowned.

“That’s not what you just cast this spell to tell me.”

“No, I just wanted to reassure you. Officially speaking, I’m not supposed to breathe a word of this to you, but it’s been tacitly accepted that I probably will anyway. Do Hye’s interrogation went...terrifyingly well.”

“And? He must have had something pretty juicy to say, to warrant all this secrecy.”

“He did, yes. Do Hye is a former god of this world, and he’s been working from the shadows for eons trying to subvert the divine seal cutting us off from the heavens.”

Somehow, after all of the things Yoshika had learned about the mysterious Grand Magus, she wasn’t even surprised. In fact, she’d have been more surprised if he didn’t have such grand origins.

“You know, that actually explains a lot.”