Night fell as dinner was served, and when they were done, Page still had a major problem.

“Should I still go to work tomorrow?” she wondered aloud. Even with Minimine’s tip, her control wasn’t perfect. Minimine helped guard against the random lashing-outs of her magic right now, but goddesses ought to have busy schedules.

“That’s the question, huh…” Kalender said. He turned to Minimine. “Is there anything we can do for her?”

“Yellow demons,” Minimine said. “They know better than me. There are some in this country.”

Not just Kalender, but Page, Jyn, and Lilia all said at once: “Demons?”

“They do not belong here,” Minimine explained, but that was all she was willing to explain. She looked to Kalender. “Ask the Inquisition.”

The implications of her wording struck Kalender’s curiosity, but she didn’t seem to be treating it with any urgency. He’ll find out more when there’s an opportunity, he thought to himself. For now, “You…don’t happen to know any?” he asked.

“No,” Minimine replied. Well, technically. Even as a goddess, she was neither omnipotent nor omniscient, and although she knew a certain former yellow demon, that one wasn’t due to come down here for a while.

On Kalender’s part, he easily knew a couple of people from the Inquisition, but he didn’t know where the local Combat Maid usually was.

“Jyn?” he called. She met eyes with him, and with just that, she understood that he was asking her if she could do the thing where they go into a dark alley and call for a shadow agent.

She looked out the window. “It’s far too dark. They will be too busy with hunting down spies to pay attention to us.”

“Who’s ‘they’?…” Page quietly asked. She looked between everyone, but they were all preoccupied by their own thoughts.

Kalender looked out the window, and it was just piercing darkness out there. Could this wait until tomorrow? He looked to Page, and he caught her biting her lip. She did that when she was absentminded, deep in thought. Her attention, at the moment, kept rubber-banding right back to the predicament she was in.

Not to mention, there was a very real risk that this wasn’t going to be the last of the Wisdom of Three’s effects. The first effect had been mundane, even if fantastical, but this second effect dealt something close to danger for everyone, even if emotional damage scarcely killed anyone outright. The next effect, however, might do just that if they weren’t prepared.

There was one last person whom he could ask, but she was at the castle. “I guess I’m asking Arpeggio.”

He put down his bowl and stood up, surprising Page. “Wait, now?” she asked.

“Better deal with your issue sooner and all,” Kalender said. He reached for a scabbard and holster, but before he put them on, he eyed his padded leather armor hanging by a hook on the wall. What were the chances of being attacked in the dark around here?

“I’ll go with you,” Jyn said. She reached for her own sword and armor set, tipping the balance, in his mind, in favor of spending an additional two minutes buckling up.

Lilia started to eat faster, biting off the last spoonful as Jyn started clipping on her armor. The snappy clicking noises were a lot more satisfying than just tying cords.

“I can’t believe you’re all leaving me.” Page fake-pouted. This got a chuckle out of the crew. “We’ll be back soon,” Kalender said.

Three marched out of the room, and only two were left. Minimine looked at Page. “Hello,” she said.

***

Harmony at night was a different beast. On the path to the castle, there were few people, and the only light came from the lamps of a few stalls. People flocked to those stalls like hunters seeking refuge around campfires, as if each stall was a checkpoint, and at any point in the stretches of darkness between them would be someone desperate enough to end your life.

The night-goers were of a different mix of folk, too. There were more men lined up behind certain stalls, Kalender noticed, but when he saw groups of women come and point at a few, who would then stand then follow them off into the dark … any world had them, it seemed.

As they tread through the dark, even the sound of a rat scurrying past them was enough to send Kalender’s adrenaline skyrocketing. In hindsight, they could’ve waited for tomorrow morning to take care of this issue … but then something might happen to Page before then. He pressed on.

Ahead of them, Lilia stopped. Her hand was on the hilt of her sword, and she was twisting left and right, looking for something along the tall roofs above them. This got Jyn and Kalender stopped and looking around as well, but even after a moment, there was nothing.

“What was it?” Jyn asked.

“I felt watched,” Lilia said. “I don’t know from where. I can’t tell.”

“The castle’s close,” Kalender said. Jyn and Lilia nodded, and the group moved on, wary of the night.

Arriving at the plaza, something like blue fireflies swarmed the area, lighting it up. It was such a different sight that Kalender had stopped in tracks, almost getting left behind. Jyn looked back, and saw his wide eyes. “Magic,” Jyn said. This got Kalender moving again.

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The guard at the castle’s gate recognized Kalender and his companions near-instantly. Without even a greeting nor challenge, the drawbridge simply opened for them. They looked between each other before going through. There was a Maid waiting on the other side.

“Good evening, Champion Kalender, Knight Jyn.” She squinted at Lilia. “…Tourist Lilia . Please follow me.”

The three looked between each other. The Inquisition’s scary.

They followed the Maid through the castle doors, then up a set of spiral steps until they reached a small door midway up. The Maid knocked 2-3-1.

“Let them in,” the woman on the other side said. Kalender recognized that voice, but from where—oh.

The Maid opened the door, and there was Amelia Thronekeeper in full battle regalia, relaxing with a book in front of a fireplace. The warm glow of the fire reflected off the inlaid gold foils of the book. She closed it, looking up to Kalender and his group with sharp eyes.

Before she could say anything, however, Jyn immediately dropped to a knee for the Esteemed Sentinel.

“Stand,” Amelia said, “and sit.” There was a couch across from the carved armchair she used, so that’s where the three sat. Kalender and Lilia, though nervous, sat down with little fanfare. Jyn, however, waited for the two to sit down, looking for confirmation from Amelia’s expressions. There seemed nothing wrong, so she relented and sat, as well, keeping her hands together on her lap and her head slightly bowed.

“How bold of you, Kalender,” Amelia continued, “to come and visit my daughter in the middle of the night.”

This is it, Jyn thought, the Sentinel has taken Kalender’s friendship with Arpeggio as a slight against the throne, and he will be executed for it! However, before she could enact her plan to beg for Kalender’s life in exchange for her own, Amelia said the strangest thing.

“So? How has she been faring these past few days?”

Jyn looked—respectfully—between Amelia and Kalender.

Kalender scratched his cheek. “Oh, um, she’s a little stressed”—mainly because of you, but he didn’t mention that—“but she’s managing.”

“I see.” Amelia nodded coolly. “I will tell you what I think, Kalender.”

Jyn’s hairs stood on-end. Being addressed by name multiple times in a row by royalty was absolutely a death sentence!… or maybe she was just disappointed in Kalender? That made no sense, though.

“I think,” Amelia leaned forward, a gleam shining from her eye like from a blade’s edge, “you are suppressing your true emotions towards my daughter.”

To this, Kalender could only feel absolutely hassled. He knew, from the depths of his soul, that he would have to explain everything from the beginning; if not now, then soon. Despite that, if it was for the sake of his friendships, he would endure.

“I’m really not,” Kalender said, to which Amelia raised an eyebrow. “It’s just…well.”

“Well?”

Kalender wasn’t sure if he wanted to say this … but this was the natural consequence of things, and he had to accept it. “It’s just… I find it fun teasing her.”

Amelia’s book dropped from her lap, opening flat on the page about “fake feints,” an advanced technique where the sword wielder pretended to be less-experienced, making a sloppy feint, causing the opponent to drop their guard, and foolishly receive what was a real attack all along.

“Impossible,” she said. “Arpeggio? My Arpie? On the defending side?”

Kalender just…shrugged. There…wasn’t really anything to say about it. “It’s true.”

Never in Amelia’s career as a mother had she ever heard anything remotely like this. She’d always believed that Arpeggio’s defenses would crumble against a man, one day, but she’d imagined something more like the climax of a glorious castle siege, and less like a child sneezing on a sand castle. This wasn’t romantic at all, but she’d take what she could get.

On the other hand, this man in front of her struck her as odd. His connection to the divine besides, wasn’t this just a regular young man? Certainly, he was well-behaved, comparable to some court nobles, but even in that regard, he was unremarkable.

She eyed his companions. Lilia sat with her hands together on her lap, but otherwise her shoulders were relaxed, and she seemed to pay attention to the conversation. Jyn, on the other hand, was frozen stiff in front of authority, as expected of a Knight of Lyrica—ah? A quick Appraisal said otherwise. That was unexpected. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots.

This man was unexpectedly popular…in a way. Well, it was just one woman at the moment. Certainly, she wouldn’t ever allow Arpeggio to elope with him, though it fortunately appeared she wouldn’t have to take any proactive action to have to separate the two, if Kalender’s claims were to be believed.

Still, she didn’t understand him. She had read the reports about him. Unlike a court noble, he held such a different set of beliefs that he actively rejected the allure of the curse, and even declared a god his enemy.

“Doesn’t Arpeggio’s appearance stimulate you?” she flatly said, more curious than anything.

A short silence wafted between them. If Kalender understood Amelia’s face correctly, she was asking something else beneath those words.

“I just want real friends,” he said. Those words ripped through Amelia’s armor like it was paper, striking straight at the entire history of her life. Kalender looked down at the floor. “Arpeggio’s pretty, but…that’s not what I’m looking for, in the end. I wouldn’t miss a chance to make her feel like I really care about her. When I know that she knows that I really care about her, that’s…what makes me happiest, I think.”

He looked up. He didn’t expect Amelia to be in a contemplative pose, covering her mouth, looking off to some indeterminate middle distance. It was in this moment that she finally understood that, hidden behind the simplicity of this man’s existence, was a way of life that ignored the frills and ribbons, the parties, the champagne, and the empty flattery. He thrust his life forwards like a stiletto that only meant to be happy.

She would have to think about this for longer…somewhere else. She looked back to him. “Did you come here for something else?”

Kalender hesitated. Was Amelia someone in-the-know? She was important, but how important?

“If I may,” Jyn said. She knew precisely who Amelia was. Amelia looked to her, so Jyn continued, “Esteemed Sentinel, we’re looking for yellow demons.”

Amelia smirked. “It has something to do with demonic empathy magic, does it not?”

Kalender, Jyn, and Lilia were all eyes-wide. Inquisition scary.

Internally, Amelia rejoiced that she’d managed to impress Amelia’s first friend. “So? Tell me more.”

“Right,” Kalender said, seeing that Jyn was a little too shell-shocked to respond. “We have a friend who accidentally gained empathy magic.”

Lord Shal-yen had informed Amelia about a matter like this some time ago. This was likely the exact same case. “I already know the details. I will have the yellow demon assist.”

All Kalender, Jyn, and Lilia saw was a woman who’d just heard one thing, and immediately extrapolated everything else. Inquisition scary.

Just then, Arpeggio burst into the room. News had just reached her that Kalender and co. had reached the castle, but that her mother had diverted them to one of the towers. How appalling! How rude! “Mother! You cannot just forcibly disappear my fr—Kalender and his friends like that!”

Amelia smirked, equipped with the knowledge that Arpeggio apparently had weaknesses, after all. She looked to Kalender. “Didn’t you say Arpie was pretty?”

“H-huh? Y-yeah,” he said.

“W-what! What are you—this isn’t worth it. I surrender. Good bye, two of you.” Arpeggio up and left, closing the door behind her. Interesting. Amelia would have to explore this avenue of attack further.