Dawn asked herself how did they find them at the bakery. Of course, the event was not secret but for Brody to go straight, there was suspicious. Then she saw Brian, still wearing the academy uniform, behind his older siblings Brody and Sierra and it became clearer. The stupid prince ratted on them. Not that Brian owed any loyalty to Yutis or anyone else outside his country but she felt entitled to feeling betrayed.

It was a recipe for trouble. Scratch that, catastrophe was a more likely item on the menu of that afternoon. Five Royals from three different countries, the scion of the God-Slayer, a baby dragon, and a girl pretending to be a princess. Add to the fact that most of them were trained warriors or mages or even both and the sheer dislike of the two parties facing off each other.

If things went bad, that could be the spark to draw the entire continent into war.

Aidan was glad he could give Cythrel the bracers before the shitshow started. They had several enchantments, including a protective Force-based one to resist spells and physical attacks. Sora was nimble and trained enough to get out of trouble, but the elf was basically a bystander when it comes to combat. She didn't even learn attack spells yet. Claire was in a similar condition though her status as a bona fide Princess would make attackers avoid hurting her. Plus she'd shown to be proficient with the dagger she wears under her skirt.

Pearl was an adventurer and registered hunter. C-rank by the guild's standards. Besides also being a Royal and from another country, she could hold herself well in combat and getting close to a Steam mage was terrible as their spells were devastating in short range and most of them affected areas. Attacking Pearl in this fight would make a regional incident into a global one. Given how advanced the tunnel negotiations were, with building crews already dispatched to the site, Heath could be the tipping force to make Gohar and Yutis into lifelong allies.

On the other side, the three from Heath. Brian was an idiot but he had Magma magic at his use and some weapons training. Aidan thought about buying a round of drinks to his groupies. They took it easy with the Prince and always let him win easily to curry favor and it had to hurt Brian's combat reflexes and cause him to overestimate his own skills. Brody had only the family trademark Earth magic but he was a skilled swordsman and also a registered hunter. He would be on par with Lucien in martial abilities but their stances on combat were radically opposite. While Lucien fought gallantly and honorably, Brody was a rabid ferocious animal that focused on winning at any cost. Sierra was a mage, but Aidan had no idea of her Element. Only that she had Earth affinity like everyone in her family. Aidan should've dedicated some time to researching his opposition. Skippy told him that Brody brought his sister along.

Finally, there were Aidan, Dawn, and Lumina. Yes, Lumina. Aidan could feel his very soul, or the part that was her, stir as the Princess side of him boiled in hateful ichors that would make the pits of hell feel like a hot spring bath. She wanted to make him pounce and wreck these three smug Royals, to obliterate Brody. Aidan felt as if that emotion was his. Part of him wanted to set Lumina free and watch the world burn. Having Dawn in their shared mindscape was the only thing holding him from rampaging. She was stable and her soul was fully healed unlike his but she also had the memories Lumina shared with them while she controlled Aidan's body. She remembered being mistreated and even mishandled by Brody and her body matched Lumina's. To Dawn, it felt like it happened to her due to that combination. But Dawn's own magic was sufficient to overpower the magic of everyone else other than Aidan in the room together. Hopefully, they thought.

The master baker read the situation and was trembling, imagining his brand new bakery destroyed in a raging match between teenage royalty. He had already dismissed his staff and was now alone. Smart peasants avoided contact with aristocracy like they avoided the plague. It never ended well for the peasants, and the baker was realizing the truth of that saying firsthand.

What did Aidan want? To kill Brody. He had to die. In their evaluation, he deserved to die. The three minds sharing those two metaphysically intertwined bodies agreed on that. But he couldn't just murder Brody. Oh, boy, if he could. There'd be a crater in the street by now. No. He had to make him strike first, to begin with. If Brody was the aggressor, they'd have an easier time avoiding the political implications of killing a Royal Heir Apparent would surely have. Heath would press for war, but the countries around them would have an excuse to avoid getting tangled.

Just getting him to strike first wasn't enough, however. There were the trade agreement and the fact that it came with Lumina's hand as a freebie. If Brody died, they'd just engage her to the next heir in line. Dawn shuddered at the thought of being engaged to Brian. The vermin would be easy to manipulate but no girl would like to be married to a vermin. No. They had to goad him into a position where he'd wager the trade agreement and the engagement. This meant they had to raise the stakes until his interests matched the value of these intangible goods.

To that Aidan would be his own bait. Scratch that, everyone agreed to be bait. He would make Brody hate him. Sora and Cythrel were in and so was Dawn and Skippy. He'd make Brody so desperate to get at them that he'd wager the treaty and the engagement to get at them.

Brody's timing was bad. Aidan wanted to progress slowly but now he already knew that everyone there was related. Skippy was in his reddish-brown coloration and maybe Brody wouldn't recognize him.

The time to think and plan was over. The initial surprise was gone and everyone was moving. Aidan shifted to magic sight and silently used the Soul Sight and Familiar Sense Link spells. As Brody strutted into the Bakery, observing the loaves of bread and pastries. He nodded and mumbled something. Then his eyes fell on Pearl, he nodded. Next was Dawn and he furrowed one eyebrow.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Lumina? You're different," He pointed out.

Dawn thought that maybe she wasn't scowling enough or wasn't looking at him with the despise the worm deserved. But it was probably the Regalia or lack thereof. She was covering her ring after all. Keep him guessing was the name of the game. He would get angry before he would get wary.

"People change," Dawn answered. "Or, most people change. You, on the other hand, seem to be the same as before. You were not invited, Brody. Please proceed to the castle if you are on official business. This bakery is reserved."

Sierra measured Dawn from the top down. Brian was just trying to soak in some bravery from his brother by partially hiding behind him. Brody laughed.

"C'mon, why wouldn't I be invited to a function when my woman was." He chortled boastfully. Every movement of his was exaggerated. Dawn's hackles rose as he called her 'his woman'.

"You shall have no women here in Yutis save for the wenches you brought from home," Dawn declared returning the upside down glare Sierra gave her moments ago.

"Or the ones I'll take home," He faked absentmindedness as he stared at Sora and Cythrel. The two girls were well-dressed but not Royalty-level well dressed. Cythrel tried to hide her bracers underneath the cloak but Brody's gaze caught it. "Show me your arms, girl" Brody told the elf.

"Oh, Look who's here," The Princess from Heath sneered. "Pearl of Gohar. I almost missed you, I don't have a habit of looking down."

Pearl laughed in defiance. "That's so typical, Sierra. Trust a Mud mage to fling gunk everywhere."

'So that's Sierra's Element,' Aidan mentally remarked.

"Always the hothead venting your sorrows everywhere, isn't that you, 'Steamy' Pearl?"

"That is me," Pearl posed. "I'm Hot and Dangerous. Much better than Clammy and Dirty like you."

Sierra hissed, unable to think of a comeback.

"Ignore them, all of you," Aidan warned his group. Sora and Cythrel avoided looking at him but Skippy kept his eyes trained on the man. The baby dragon could feel his mentor's hatred and he was tense, ready to pounce or carbonize Brody. Probably he'd do both.

*Kreeeek* - Skippy voiced his discomfort with a low tone growl. With small tongues of flame that sputtered less than a hand in front of him.

"Oh, what a ferocious sugar-frosted dragon!" Brody mocked Skippy's growl.

It was Aidan's cue to taunt Brody. "Beware, your Highness. Dragons in Yutis are known to be vicious. They especially hate strangers and carriages, for some unknown reason," He put emphasis on the word 'carriages'.

Brody was not stupid even though he made little use of his brain for the higher arts. He took two steps forward while he measured Aidan and scoffed, finding him lacking. He glanced at Brian behind him and Brian whispered something, to which Brody nodded. He locked gazes with Aidan and he felt a murderous impulse sent from Lumina inside him.

"You are the Underworld mage that saved my woman, thank you for that," Brody made a mocking bow. Or he just bowed. To Aidan and Dawn, even him taking in the air to breathe was an act of mockery. But the fact that Brody knew his Element was a bit of a surprise. Brian was really good at debriefing or there was someone gathering intelligence for Brody.

Aidan shook his head. "I saved my princess only. She is not yours," Aidan intentionally missed the proper pronoun. Brody did take note of that as he slightly shifted his shoulders to look more menacing. Aidan glanced lovingly at Dawn, stopping to stare at the posterior part of her skirt. He then licked his lips.

Dawn caught when Brody clenched his fists when Aidan stole that lecherous glance. Good. Paint a big, nice target. Wave that red cloth in front of the bull.

"Mind how you speak with your betters, commoner. In fact, there is a lot of commoners here that might require some flogging to learn respect." Brody mused.

However, not everyone present was as comfortable with the rising tension. Claire spoke in a commanding tone, "Lord Aidan, your presence here is no longer required. You can leave with your wives."

It was obvious that Princess Claire was nervous. Aidan nodded and bowed as he replied to Claire, "Yes, Your Highness First Princess. As you command." He glanced at Sora and Cythrel. The beastkin took Skippy on her arms and patted the dragon's head to calm him down.

Brody tensed his legs as if he was about to spring forward. Instead, he craned his neck and stared at Claire, measuring her. "First Princess? Did we meet before?"

Behind his older brother, Brian shuddered. The young prince from Heath was never invited to the castle and Claire was not advertised openly to the public. Since he never left the academy, he missed entirely on the former handmaid's new status.

"Yes, we did," Claire answered with an attempted deadpan face. "I was incognito working as my sister's handmaid."

"Oh. You are the shy handmaid Lumina never let anywhere near me!" Brody exclaimed, amused. "And you were her sister all along. Well, you'll be my sister as well, we'll all get along as family now!" It sounded as creepy, just like every single sound and movement he made.

It was time for Dawn to scoff. "Oh, please. Stick to doing lecherous acts with only your own sister, Brody. You will respect Claire and keep your distance or you'll regret." She pushed some mana out to make her statement heard.

That opened a second front in their confrontation. Sierra was startled as she sensed the mana from Dawn and tried to counter it. Aidan saw her construction and Dawn shot a packet of Ether mana to disrupt her spell. It made the Princess from Heath open her eyes wide. She didn't notice where it came from, only that her spell was disrupted.

Dawn kept oozing Ether mana in low concentrations to avoid making it visible and sending that mana in Sierra's direction. Sierra sighed as she felt her ongoing spells fail and dissipate, eaten by the Ether mana. They locked up in that contest. Sierra kept trying to cast as quietly as she could and Dawn pumped the air around her full of Ether mana. A keen observer would see some heat haze waving the images around the center of the bakery, the no-Princess' land between the two parties facing off. The Ether would flow in a path guided by Dawn's will and wrap around Sierra, eating any mana she poured into her spell constructs.

Aidan waved a hand behind him, indicating to Sora and Cythrel they should move behind him toward the backdoor of the bakery. "Let's go."

"Hold it right there!" Brody shouted and started to move forward, crossing the middle of the bakery. "I didn't give you permission to leave, commoner!"

Brody aimed at Cythrel and started to draw his sword as he dashed through the cloud of Ether mana Dawn laid across the room. Skippy roared and flashes of light flared between the scales of his neck. Cythrel lifted her arms to defend herself and the jewels on the two mithril bracers gleamed.

And the young God-Slayer world went red as his soul tenant flared up and demanded blood. His eyes, nose, and ears complied. Lumina's message was clear.

*** KILL HIM ***