Morning came, and Marshal Luwdig Staufer came into the room. Eris, as well as Armand, woke up when he entered. A smile crossed the normally stern man's face. He looked at the arquebus that was pointed at the door. Armand gazed at it as well.

"Well, it's good to see you're awake, Armand," Marshal Staufer said. "Though, you don't seem to be too surprised to see Eris' defenses."

"I would be more surprised if she hadn't set up something like this. I know my fiance very well," he replied.

Marshal Staufer nodded.

"Right. You spent some time at her family's lands a while ago," the commander recalled. "Well, at least you're doing better now. You'll still need some bed rest, but the magic's working its charm."

Armand nodded, glancing at the magic circle around his bed.

"It worked, but if I wasn't a moroi, I'd be dead. Marshal Staufer probably thinks I just got lucky. Then again, I did get lucky. If it was anyone other than Eris who was there when I first woke up, I'd be killed and my body incinerated," he thought before speaking. "It's amazing what magic can do these days."

"Rozwialzly would have come over here and healed you himself, but Her Majesty's been keeping him busy," Marshal Staufer explained.

"His duty to Her Majesty should come first. I'm glad he stuck to it," Armand said.

The commander nodded.

"So am I. Well, I'm sure you and Eris want some alone time together. You didn't get to spend as much time as you'd like at the festival, and there isn't much for me to catch you up on," he stated.

"I would very much like to talk alone with my beloved Armand," Eris confirmed, giving him a slightly threatening smirk.

Marshal Staufer gave her a warm smile.

"Ah, my wife gets like that sometimes. You've got yourself a good woman there, Armand," he said.

The Concord boy internally cringed when he heard Marshal Staufer say that. Just how deep did Eris' manipulations go?

"I'll leave you two alone here," Marshal Staufer stated.

With that, he left the room. Eris turned to Armand. She wanted to let her emotions take hold, to cry, to talk about how much she missed him, to fall into his arms and have him hold her...but Eris knew Armand did not trust her. He'd think this was just some manipulation. So, Eris held herself back and brought things to another topic.

"When are you going to turn me into a moroi, Armand?" she asked.

"Probably never," Armand answered.

He held up a hand before Eris could say anything.

"First, I can't turn you into a moroi. Only strigoi can turn people into moroi. And, as I'm sure you've noticed from the fact that I have a heartbeat, I'm still alive," he explained.

Eris narrowed her eyes.

"Armand, are you telling the truth, or do you just not want to turn me into a moroi?" she asked.

"I'm not lying. And it's good that I can't turn you into a moroi because you turning into a strigoi could only end badly. Being a strigoi is a horrible thing. You are cursed with a painful thirst for blood that can take decades to control," Armand answered before thinking. "And that's when they try to control their bloodthirst. I doubt Eris would bother trying. She'd probably treat the commoners in her family's lands like livestock."

Eris paused for a moment before speaking.

"As long as I have you to guide me, I am certain that I can make it through any bloodthirst," she said.

"Armand is probably worried that I'll slaughter commoners to take their blood. I might do that, but only if I had to. There's no point in killing subhumans who should be slaving away on the farms," Eris thought.

She then gave him a smile.

"Besides, we can just use animal blood, right?"

The boy shook his head.

"Moroi can drink animal blood. Strigoi need human blood," he said. "And aside from the bloodthirst, you'll need to be careful around holy symbols. The gods despise the undead, and when their symbols are held by those they favor, strigoi will burn from their touch."

That caught Eris' attention.

"Hold on a second! The gods hate the undead? Then, why don't we use holy symbols on Nosfer?" she asked. "Aren't you favored by Chronos, considering how he let you turn back time?"

Armand nodded.

"I'm about as favored by him as I can be, but holy symbols don't work on Nosfer," he said.

Eris blinked in shock.

"They aren't undead?" she asked.

"No. They are undead," Armand answered. "The main theory among the fighters is that they're protected by a god of their own, perhaps a god of undeath? Maybe the Bird of Death they serve is actually a god?"

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A grimace crossed Eris' face. Fear flashed through her, but she forced it down.

"That would be troublesome if we are up against a god," the girl said.

"There's no damn way I'm letting Armand fight the forces of a god on his own. I'll find some way to be by his side when the armies of monsters come," Eris thought.

Armand sensed unease from Eris.

"It's just a theory. For all I know, the Nosfer could be affected by holy symbols and just know some magic to negate its effects. The burning the gods give undead is only slight, after all," he spoke before thinking. "I should at least give Eris some comfort. If nothing else, she stayed by my bedside most of this time. And she is my fiance."

"Yes. We'd better hope that the Bird of Death isn't a god," Eris nodded.

A hint of regret flowed through her.

"I should have paid more attention to the disasters the last time around, but I can't let Armand know that. He'll...hold on, why can't I let him know that? I'm trying to be more honest with him. This is my chance," she thought before speaking. "I should have paid more attention to the disasters the last time around."

Armand blinked in shock.

"Eris actually admitted that? I never thought she would. No, this must be some sort of trick. She must have some plan in mind. Then again, Eris might have to deal with the disasters now that we're getting married, and she knows it. That sort of regret is understandable, even from someone like her. But why is she admitting it to me? This must be part of some scheme," Armand thought before speaking. "You should have. But it's a bit late for those regrets now."

The girl nodded.

"Yes. I'll just have to deal with them as they come along," she said.

Then, Eris gave her fiance a warm smile.

"But you were on the front lines with some of them. I have the best man in the world to deal with them by my side," the girl stated.

Armand forced a blush down.

"By the gods, I liked her complimenting me like that. Why did I? She's a monster, I shouldn't enjoy her compliments," he thought.

"I can tell Armand's trying to hide an emotion. But what is it?" Eris pondered.

Armand gave her a shrug.

"Well, your options are me or Brutus. And Brutus wants you dead. So, I suppose I am the best man, given those options," he said.

Eris gave a slight chuckle. Inside, her heart clenched.

"Armand took it the wrong way! I want to let him know how much I care about him. I have to fix this," she thought before speaking. "I might not have many options, but even if I had a thousand choices, I would pick you every time. Even if I had a million choices, you would be my top pick."

"Thank you, Eris," Armand said.

Relief flowed through the girl.

"You're welcome, Armand," she stated.

Then, the boy grimaced.

"Eris, before I was shot in that duel..."

A pained memory flashed through the girl's mind.

"...you were trying to get in it yourself. You had a specific reason for wanting to get in this duel, right?" Armand continued.

"Yes," Eris nodded. "I got in this same duel the last time around. Well, it wasn't quite the same. I was older then. But he was an enemy I needed to kill either way. This time, I was planning on killing his woman too. But I didn't get the chance."

Armand entered deep contemplation.

"She didn't? Should I believe her? Normally, no. But with how injured I was, Eris probably rushed me to a doctor the moment she finished torturing her opponent," he thought before speaking. "Normally, I'd be happier that you didn't get to kill an innocent. But I doubt that woman appreciated you brutally torturing her boyfriend to death."

Eris nodded, a warmth flowing into her heart.

"Armand knows me so well. He didn't even need to see what happened to the man who dared to shoot him to know what I did to him," she thought.

Then, guilt passed through the woman.

"But that was a mistake. I got too angry. If I had just killed him and gotten Armand to a doctor, he might have woken up sooner."

Eris shook her head, putting her mind off that.

"Right now, I need to focus," she thought before speaking. "I'm certain you know who Lady Abene is. She was one of the biggest thorns in my side the last time around."

Armand nodded.

"Yes, I know who she was. She'd have been a bigger thorn if she played the political game," he said.

Anger flashed through Eris. She clenched the bedsheets so hard that her hands turned white.

"That vapid bitch doesn't have the patience to play politics if her life depended on it. She's far too blunt and direct. Lady Abene relied on her skills with a sword and what little wits she had to face me. But with how much she slept around, she'd have died of a disease before she got a chance to kill me," Eris stated. "Though, Brutus got to me before she could."

Armand felt a flash of protectiveness towards Eris. He buried this feeling.

"I suspect that Lady Abene will go after us now," Armand said.

"She'll probably focus on me. But if you're there too, that wretch won't hesitate to attack you either," Eris replied.

Then, a grin crossed her face.

"I Hope she attacks us both at once. We'll be able to cut her down if we're together!" she declared.

Armand let out a deep sigh. Eris noticed this and forced her grin down.

"There's no helping it now. Lady Abene is our enemy. How good a swordswoman is she?" Armand asked.

"The only people I'm certain are better than her are myself, you, and Marshal Staufer," Eris answered. "There are probably others, but she has incredible skill."

The girl folded her arms with a huff.

"Worse still, the bitch is great at surviving. She's more like a cockroach than a human. She can get in the way of my schemes, narrowly escape with her life, and turn up again next week to try to kill me," Eris said.

"What spell is she using?" Armand questioned.

The Hapsburg scoffed.

"If I knew that, I'd have ended it. But she outlived me the last time around, as far as I know," Eris replied.

"I'd rather make peace with Lady Abene, but I doubt that's possible. And her boyfriend certainly wasn't interested in peace with me. I'll try distant negotiating first if I can, but I won't ever trust her," Armand thought before speaking. "Do you have any idea where she is now?"

He then shook his head.

"My apologies. You don't know. If you did, you'd have already arranged for some assassins to kill her."

"I know where she is," Eris said.

Armand blinked in shock.

"You do? Then, you already sent over assassins?" he asked.

"No," Eris answered. "There's no point. If I sent assassins, they'd get killed and she'd try to get some retaliation a week later. It's best to just deal with her myself when she shows up."

The girl then laid down next to Armand, putting her head on the pillow with his.

"Let's not talk about her right now, Armand. You just woke up. I don't want to tell you about other women," Eris said.

Armand sighed.

"I'm not interested in her, Eris," he replied.

"I know that, but I still don't want to talk to you about her," she stated.

Eris grabbed Armand's hand. She held it with incredible gentleness. Then, Eris placed her head over his chest and listened to his heartbeat while making sure to avoid his wound."

"Please, just let me stay like this for a while, Armand. I'm so happy that you're alive," the girl said.

"This...is this a trap, or is this love? I can't think of what Eris could be planning if this is a trap. I'll let this be for now," Armand thought before nodding. "Just go ahead and rest, Eris. You must have stayed up late multiple nights making sure no one killed me in my sleep."

The two of them would stay like that for a while longer.