At the end of a dark tunnel, hidden behind a pile of debris, there was an elevator. It was hardly big enough for the three of us to fit inside, but it seemed to have no trouble ascending once we had piled in. After 32 seconds, the door opened to a luxurious room filled with light, where a very small Noble with a gleaming silver frame scurried to and fro.
“...TALAVERA! Thank the Lord! Where the hell have you been?!”
“I went out to fulfill your request, Your Eminence. You asked me to bring you the Servant called ‘Meissen’, and I have—”
“Oh, just put them down somewhere; I can’t think about that right now! This is a crisis; my brain is melting down; I’m going to die…!!”
“...With all due respect, Your Eminence: what have you done this time?”
“...gkmmg mrrfdd…”
“I beg your pardon…?”
“I’M GETTING MARRIED!”
“…”
“DON’T look at me like that; you knew this was gonna happen sooner or later! Although I was beginning to think that the Empress Tianqi would never like me...after the way I embarrassed myself at the Summer Equinox ball…”
“...Your Eminence—”
Stolen story; please report.
“But then, I went over to his house to return this shrimp fork that I borrowed, and the conversation went one way and then another and it came up and I had to say yes!!”
“Did you now…”
“He said I have ‘a penchant for humiliation that he finds an attractive quality’...that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me…!”
“I see...”
“But what I didn’t anticipate was all the...THINGS, that I have to do now that it’s official! We have to go to four parties this week alone! His Servants keep sending me information about the wedding date! Other people actually want to talk to me now...!!”
“Your Eminence…”
“I’M DROWNING!!”
“...First and foremost, please try to calm down. At the very least, try to panic quietly.”
“…Okay...”
“Secondly, I feel it needs to be said: this is not a good time for marriage.”
“I know, I know...once again, the throes of passion have kicked in the kneecaps of logic and reason…”
“The Empress Tianqi is not even a member of the POOL. How do you expect to keep your activities secret from him?”
“I don’t know…”
“If you attempt to induct him as a member, what will happen if he refuses?”
“I don’t know…!”
“This could very well spell the end of the organization...”
“...Y’know, at this point you’re just giving me more things to panic about...”
“Alright...forward the information to me, and I will handle the wedding preparations from here.”
“Thank you, Talavera…!”
“In return, I must insist that you to attend to our guests. You may not get another chance to perform this experiment anytime soon.”
“Oh, right, right...well, c’mon to the darkroom then. Let’s get this over with.”