A few days went by after the princess's birthday party, before a letter came to Lord Paul and I for a second and more private audience with the crown.

Uncle Paul and I walked down the same corridor, to the same room where we had been received by the princess the previous time. There was no one to greet us this time, as we were immediately invited to a seminar room within which was a large and long table upon which were seated the Grandministerers, and at the very head of which, upon his throne-like seat, was seated the king, while beside him stood his half-brother, the Holy Paladin.

The entire display reminded me of Cabal's reunion, as I recognized a few familiar faces among the men seated at that table, including Grandminister Summerhall. The obvious difference between the two reunions was the stiff formality with which the men who shared the table with Uncle Paul that day behaved at this table.

"So any advice for today’s meeting?" I asked, murmuring, as we entered the room.

He glanced at me from the corner of the eyes and simply answered, "Just smile, if possible, politely."

Seeing the stiff expression on Summerhall's face along with the satisfied expression on the few faces I remember seeing cheering and applauding at Amberham’s speech as they rose from their sitting position, I understood what was on the way, and so did, obviously, Uncle Paul.

"Gentlemen, please," Uncle started, prompting the men to sit back in their seats, before Uncle, his eyes set on the opposite end of the table, proceeded to pay his respects to the king, and so did I. With a motion from the king, we were invited to take seats, and so, we obliged.

"Before we start this discussion on the matter that brought us all here together, I would like to state that I am grateful to the crown for its decision to permit this audience."

"It was nothing, Lord Douglas; his highness understood that flatly refusing your query would leave a stain on the beneficial and mutual relationship between the crown and the Douglas conglomerate," said no one else but the Grandminister Amberham on behalf of the king.

"My request during that impromptu audience was merely to venture a suggestion, one that I honestly believe would relieve the crown of a needless conflict. It goes without saying that I would’ve dared not let this matter interfere with my relationship with the crown that did so much for our Douglas family."

"We all hoped so too, Lord Douglas."

"There was no need to doubt; in fact, Your Highness, gentlemen of the court, I have come to realize the boldness and the inapropriate nature of the demand I made the last time, so I was hoping to hop onto this opportunity to, this time reasonably, reformulate my request in more appropriate and reasonable words."

The moment Uncle finished, Grandminister, as an impatient child, jumped on the opportunity to spout, "There is no need for you, Lord Douglas, to waste your words. The court has taken your demand into consideration and has already made up its mind."

"By that, what must I understand?"

"The crown has made the clear and concise decision to not hand over the apostle Djeem, the accursed remnant, to your family, as you had last time requested," the man said, in an almost challenging manner.

But Uncle remained calm, adding, "I understand that, but perhaps with the new suggestions I might’ve come with, perhaps the throne might change its min-"

"There is no change of mind, Lord Douglas; the court has made up its mind, and voiced its answer to you. Questioning the court’s decision is gr-"

"I was not questioning anything, Lord Amberham. I was simply requesting that the Crown listen to my words."

Ignoring the Grandminister, Uncle addressed the King directly, "Your Highness, I believe you understand the implication of my demands despite the brash appearance of my words. I dare request your highness to give me a chance, and reconsider this decision. If it may ease your highness’s heart on the matter, I and the Douglas Conglomerate are willing to subsequently cover whatever expenses or endorsement that might come out as a consequence of this request of mine."

"It is not a question of money, Douglas, when wi-" Amberham, once again, antagonistically jumped on the opportunity to go against Uncle, but at a simple motion by the king, he went silent, allowing the king to speak.

"I had seen and still see the relentlessness with which you took that matter to the crown. I know you were expecting a positive answer from me. So, may I ask, what exactly is the rush for? I would like to know, so please speak the truth. Be honest."

"Your highness, my request revet a single and simple purpose: the one to avoid conflicts upon our beloved Altaira. I desire only peace; therefore, my suggestion."

"Only that?"

"Only that, your highness."

The king and uncle looked at each other for a moment of silence as though a silent judgement took place before the king proclaimed, after a glance at his brother, "throughout the years, decades, centuries, and millennials, through pain and sometimes with laughter, my forefathers and I have understood that in front of these forces, we understood that there was only one other power. In the face of death, there is only death to survive. In front of these powers, you say, threatening our kingdom's peace, there is only us."

"It is that shared belief and shared culture that connect us and those who came before us. That belief and that culture, which have survived throughout the centuries, are the best weapons in the world we can ever have against those who are threatening to destroy it."

"Surrendering the very thing that represents our very history and culture is an unthinkable thing for each one of us. We will fight, if need be, to protect that which has forever held us together."

"These are the reasons we've given you this audience, Lord Douglas, to tell you about the collective thoughts of the men who share that very table. I, as their king, wanted to tell you this on their behalf."

"So I take it that there is really nothing that can be done to change your mind?" Uncle said, for the first time I had seen, sad if not simply disappointed.

The king did not speak out his answer, but both Uncle Paul and I understood what his final answer was. Having come to this point, I had been expecting him to, in one way or another, glance my way to give me some sort of signal, but that never happened until we reached our carriage on our way to the Douglas Castle.

***

Inside the carriage.

"What will happen from now on?" I ventured to Uncle.

"To be honest, I don't even know," he said, gazing outside, before pausing and taking a deep breath. "However, I believe it is time for us to return to where Rebecca and the others are."

"Do you think they will attempt anything against them?"

"That,… I wouldn’t be able to tell. But I can't afford to have them pull something else against me right now, given that none of my words seem to reach the king.

The night after our audience with the crown, Uncle and I made the rest of the trip to the castle in a silent and awkward mood, and upon arriving at the castle we split up, with me heading for my quartiers.

On one of the balconies of my room, sitting atop a balustrade, peeling an apple, I contemplated the illuminated city despite the cloaking darkness of the night. I was thinking. Thinking of what would happen from now on.

From what I understood from today's audience, the negotiation dissolved into a failure. The royal family won’t hand over Djeem’s remnant, yet the mother needs it, meaning that I am left with no other choice but to seize it, obviously by force, which meant that blood would be shed. The very thing Uncle didn’t want to see happening, as, of course, the crown will not simply allow Djeem’s remnants to be so easily seized.

While peeling the last bit of apple skin, the knife's blade clumsily veered off its path and landed a cut on my palm. Blood came out of the wound, but soon, using my powers, the wound simply healed to the point of leaving not even a cicatrice, as though it never happened.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I have changed. I've come a long way to the point where I can no longer consider myself to be merely human. I can still pretend it is still the case, but deep down I know very well it is not.

Indeed, I no longer have any qualms about killing, whether it's monsters or "fellow" humans, but the last vestiges of my humanity keep me from needlessly spilling blood, which, given what I've become, may appear to be a hindrance, a handicap. Yet I must say that I remain heavily relieved of its existence.

While I was contemplating my peeled apple and the knife, I felt a familiar tingling sensation, which was quickly followed by the rifting sound of a portal being opened just above me. Out of thin air, a portail opened, and a girl fell from it. Reaching out, the girl fell into my arms.

With a familiar smile on her face, she announced, "Surprise!" while reaching onto me for a hug.

"Nia…"

I looked up, a positively surprised smile on my face, at the rift that had previously torn above me; it quickly faded away.

"You weren’t expecting to see me tonight, weren’t you?"

"I certainly wasn't. How? " I asked, as it had been almost a week since Uncle and I moved to this Douglas castle, a castle that Aryan had never visited, meaning that he had no other way to teleport Nia here the way he so freely did in the main Douglas castle.

"We had free time, Aryan and I, the other day, so I took him on a trip across the Grand Duchy to this castle."

Translation: I dragged him across the duchy, from the Douglas main castle to this one.

"Poor Arte. Not that I’m complaining," I said, putting her down.

She, just as I did a moment earlier, went to take a seat atop the balustrade, to then reach onto the apple I had been peeling, to then take a bite, and then propose to me, with a smirk on her face, "Want a bite?"

I didn't see any reason to refuse this generous offer, so I took a bite from her hand before closing the distance for a warm embrace.

"So what’s new?"

At the mention of that question, she let out a sigh before taking a mouthful of her apple and venting out to me, "Still nothing. We were waiting for a move from their part to strike, but there seems to be nothing happening. "

"You look exasperated."

"It’s because I am. I admit that parts of this mission are particularly enjoyable for me, but retrieving remnants is my top priority. The sooner the better."

Thinking about the mission she was personally given by the mother, I couldn’t understand the motive that pushed her to take that matter so personally.

"Well, I’m the one to say that, but the one truly deserving of complaining is obviously Shania. She is the one who is stuck in that establishment, doing the hard work, while all I do is complain.

"Don’t be too harsh with yourself; it is what it is; if there was any other way, I’m sure you would’ve seized it."

"There is one…"

"Which one?"

"The one to nuke that place off the map. It will force them to come out of hiding, won’t it?"

Hearing this suggestion, I looked at her, speechless.

"Hey, don’t look at me like that. I was just kidding."

"Eh, is that so?"

"There’s no way I would do that. There’d be too many casualties among innocent bystanders if I were to do that. So no, I wouldn’t do that. But…"

"But?"

"I admit I considered it," she smirked, "and on your end, what's new? Did things work out fine for what you and Maa's brother sought an audience with the king for?"

"New, huh? I do have new ones, but not a single good one. To be honest, just like you did, I too have considered, and seriously should consider, that this time brute force may be the only way out of this."

"So it didn’t work then?"

I shook my head.

"So you, too, are facing a dead end? Well, welcome to the club," she teased, before standing up, still atop the balustrade, and declaring, "Though both our situations are, to put it mildly, both deplorable, let's not let this affect us too much. I'm confident that our situation will improve... eventually. Eh, what’s with that look?"

"Nia, you do realize that with you up there and me down here, I can see what’s beneath your skirt?"

Though she initially, upon my remark, reflexively pressed her dress down, all shame was soon overcome by her, "Oh, is that so?" She asked me back, spinning dancily around herself, "And? What of it?"

Feeling the reaction that sight provoked in me, I realized that if there was a part that remained human and vulnerable in me, it would be that part.

"Say, Ronandt."

"Hum?"

"We never visited this duchy... together, have we?"

"Well, we never had time for that. You have your mission, and I have mine. What of it?"

"Since we never had, what if just tonight we just forgot about our respective missions and…" Following where her gaze went, mine landed on the nightly city.

"What do you think?" she asked.

Aside from the fact that we didn't have much time together, the reason I remained mainly inside the Douglas castle by Uncle Paul's side was because I had been specifically requested by him to play low-key to sell myself a good image to the royal family and the crown, who were without a doubt scrutinizing my every move.

Had what happened this morning not happened, maybe I would’ve considered Nia’s proposition longer, but as of now, the moment Nia ventured her proposition, I made up my mind.

Without even hearing my answer, Nia leaped from the balcony, summoning one of her bubbles, which she used to hop on yet another of her summoned bubbles, quickly and with ease, making it past the castle walls to a nearby noble mansion rooftop.

"Sigh, seriously," leaping, in my turn, across the sky and landing atop the same mansion rooftop, beside Nia, I remarked, "could you at least give me the occasion to give my opinion."

Nia simply smiled off my complaint, and leapt into the distance.

"Where exactly are we going?'' I asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but I'm sure we'll find out... eventually," she flatly admitted.

And, as she had said, we soon found a place, in the common district, that made us stop our march.

It was an establishment that in appearance looked like the Auberge of Belltower, but the pint of beer sign at the entrance and the pungent smell of alcohol that could be felt from kilometers away suggested that the place was more of a bar than an inn.

"This place looks dilapidated."

"And reeks of alcohol."

Nia and I looked at each other, agreeing, "It’s the perfect place."

Both agreeing on that point, we entered the place.

"Good evening and welcome in, Sir, Miss what can-

The moment we first set foot inside the establishment, all eyes, from the drunkest to the soberest, went at us, leaving the early busy room in a strange silence and making us immediately feel that we didn’t belong to the place.

It didn’t take me long to understand the reason behind this, it was the way we were dressed, as both Nia and I had completely neglected the catchy noble outfits we both had on.

Knowing that something had to be done, I took a step forward and declared, loudly for all to hear, "I don't know who you are, ladies and gentlemen, but tonight, I and each of you will no longer be strangers; we will be drinking mate. Celebrate, everyone, tonight's drink is on me."

"YAAAAY!!!"

Drunken roars, uneven clapping, and half-assed whistling reverberated across the place? Having successfully shifted the room’s mood the other way around, I reached into Nia’s hand, requested the most powerful drink they had in stock, and took her to a seat I noticed across the room.

***

Drunk, Nia plunged her entire upper body into the pool, then, progressively, her entire body. After emerging, she heaved out a loud breath.

"Now, I finally feel better,... or not," she said, splashing water on me like a child.

"Hey!"

"Look, there are even fish in this pool, hahahaha...we should do this more often, no, every day!"

"Spare me. Once in a while, like once each month, not more frequently than this."

"Hihihi, you’re saying this, but you had fun, didn’t you?"

"This will most likely earn me a headache tomorrow, if it hasn’t already, but yes, I had fun. And I have to admit that it was a change from the rhythm with which my life has been going as of late."

"Same here," Nia said, glancing up at the starry sky, her body half-immersed in the fountain pool. "Say, Ronandt,"

"Hum?"

"Earlier, I said I'd been thinking about using my power to lure them out using my powers, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. What of it?"

"That wasn’t all I was thinking about..." She looked me in the eyes, and revealed, "I was also thinking that it should soon be time; I honor the promise I made to the dragons.

"You’re talking about the fire Primordial Dragon?"

"Yes, that's what I’m talking about," she lift her hand, held her palm out toward summoning from it seven uniquely colored orbs, "It’s been months since you returned them to me, meaning that they have achieved their part of the contract by returning you to my side, as I had requested them to. I had been postponing it because there seemed to be no appropriate time for it, but better than anyone, I understood that the time has come for me to fulfill the promise I’ve made. I do not know when it will be, but when the time comes, will you help?"

"Is there even a use for me to answer that question?" I reached out my hand to hold onto her cheek, to answer, "Of course I’ll be there to help out," before leaning forward, approaching my face to hers for a kiss, before changing my mind, remarking to her, "But as of now, you smell like fish."

Pouting, she once again resumed splashing the water fountain on me. It was then, with the commotion we made, that we both noticed the clunky noise of knight armor approaching, shouting, "Who goes there? This is a private property! "

"Crap, it’s this garden's owner's guards!" Nia exclaimed as she attempted to stand up, nearly falling down on her buttocks back into the pool.

Helping her out, I suggested, "Hurry up! As funny as that would be, I don't think Uncle Paul would be happy to hear that I had been sighted vandalizing some random noble garden."