Embla opened the curtains slightly, letting in the natural light from the outside. She placed a bouquet of fresh camellias on the table. She looked down at her sleeping team leader and sighed. It had only been about three hours since the medics discharged Embla from the hospital. A bishop had come and healed her arm but she was advised not to move it for a while to allow it to properly get back in working order.

“Hey, Yuki. I know you’re asleep so I’ll be in and out before you know it. I just want to say thanks. Thanks for standing up for us,” Embla said, sitting in the chair next to the bed.

Yuki’s chest rose up and down gently as Embla spoke.

“I heard from the doctors that it might be a bit before you can get back out there and fight. Apparently, overloading yourself can put your body out of commission for two weeks,” Embla said. She reached forward and gently grasped Yuki’s hand. “Since you couldn’t fight… Red won the tournament so technically, our entire party won. Red’s at the Guild handling our funds since you’re kinda bad with money you know.”

“I’m… not… that bad,” Yuki groaned. Her eyes fluttered open wearily as they adjusted to the light. “Hey, Em.”

“Yuki! You’re awake!” Embla lunged forward and wrapped her in a hug.

“Hey, I thought you were still- ow!” she winced. Embla let go and leaned back into the chair.

“Sorry! I forgot that your body would be sensitive! The doctor said that your mana to prana ratio was still equalizing,” Embla said.

“Yeah, the first few days were hell but now, I feel a lot better,” Yuki said. She reached for the adjuster and elevated the head of her bed. “You’re out?”

“Yeah, they discharged me three hours ago so I figured I’d come pay you a visit,” Embla said, smiling.

“Where is everyone?” Yuki asked.

“They didn’t come to visit?” she asked.

“No, they did. I was just wondering where they all went,” Yuki replied.

“Well, Red’s at the Guild. Cal and Pandora went to get food for us. I went home and got a change of clothes.” Embla gestured down to her current attire. She was no longer wearing her old clothes. Those clothes were ruined in her fight with Kaguya. Instead, Embla had taken to wearing a black hooded hunter’s outfit with red embellishments at the sleeves. Her outfit still had a chest window and she wore black shorts that went to her mid thigh rather than her initial leggings. She had long black stockings with her usual boots.

“Wow, did you just buy this?” Yuki asked, admiring the needlework.

“No, I found it on our doorstep. It’s from Koji,” Embla said. “It’s really light and in the note, he said that my sister had some mythril interwoven into the fabric to make it more durable so it’ll be harder to stab me!”

“Your sister sounds nice,” Yuki said.

“Yeah…” Embla trailed off and smiled sadly.

“We’ll find her. Don’t worry. After this, we can ask my mom if she has any clues. Your sister was in Alfheim, remember? If anyone knows, my mom might,” Yuki said. “So… tell me. I’ve been out of it for a few days. What’s been going on?”

“Well…”

----------------------------------------

Koji sighed. He looked up from his desk and saw Valentina moping at hers. She had a stack of paperwork in front of her and she was speeding through it. Yet, Val had a burnt out and impatient look on her face. The appearance of the draugr in the city had kept her swamped. She was the sole authority on the topic due to her mission that spanned seven years.

“Val, go and visit Em,” Koji said, walking over to her desk.

“Huh?” Valentina looked up at him. There were dark bags under her eyes, signifying that she had barely slept in the past week.

“Come on. Go take a quick nap then go visit Em. I heard she just got discharged today,” Koji said, snatching the pen from her hand. “I’ll have Azalea take care of some of this while you’re gone.”

Valentina let out a sigh of relief and leaned back in her chair. “Thank Odin that you exist! I’m going to nap here if you don’t mind. Wake me up in about 2 hours.” She got up and shuffled over to the sofa in the office and promptly collapsed.

Koji let out a small laugh and grabbed a blanket from one of the office closets. He walked over and placed the blanket over her before returning to work.

----------------------------------------

“Oh, I haven’t had goulash in a while. Thanks for getting this, guys,” Yuki said. She smiled and put a spoonful of food in her mouth.

“No problem. We’re just happy you’re fine enough to eat that,” Pandora said. She took a bite of her food.

“So, where’s Kaguya? Is she in the same hospital as me?” Yuki asked.

“Um… about that,” Red said.

“What?” she tilted her head in confusion.

“She’s been out for a while. She recovered faster than we expected. She’s been with her Majesty ever since,” Red said.

“Yeah, when we went to check on Embla, your mom was yelling at her. Didn’t want to get involved so we hightailed it to Embla’s room,” Cal said. “Let me tell you, I thought I was gonna die when I saw how angry your mom was.”

“Err… so she’s at the ambassador’s manor?” Yuki asked.

“Yeah. I think her Majesty might drag her back to Alfheim after what she tried to do to you.” Red crossed his arms and shook his head.

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“Well, I can still feel that-”

A knock on the door interrupted Embla’s sentence. They all gave each other a confused look.

“Are you expecting any other visitors?” Pandora asked.

“What? The hell would I know? You guys and Mom are the only people who check on me.” Yuki gave Pandora a deadpan look.

“I’ll get it!” Embla jumped out of her chair and walked towards the door. She grasped the doorknob and opened the door. Her eyes grew wide and she took a step back. Cal and Pandora got up from their chairs and began powering up. Red remained seated, stealing glances from Yuki every few seconds.

Kaguya stood in the doorway with a stoic expression on her face.

“What are you doing here?” Embla asked. She clenched her fist and glared at the woman in front of her. Red and black lightning crackled around her fist. Something that Cal and Kaguya both noticed.

The latter sighed and raised her hands. “I’m not here to fight. I want to talk to Yuki. In private, if that’s fine.”

“In private? There’s no way in hell we’re going to let you talk to-”

“Okay.”

“What?” Cal and Embla said at the same time.

“I want to talk to Kaguya. Alone. Can you guys give us the room?” Yuki asked.

“But Yuki! What if she tries to-”

“Pandora. I’ll be fine, I promise. Besides, I don’t think she’s here to fight,” Yuki said, turning to her former handmaiden.

Kaguya nodded in confirmation.

“Please. I promise I’ll be fine. If you want, you guys can listen in through the door,” Yuki said.

The four looked at each other before nodding. If Yuki insisted, then they had no choice but to follow through. Putting her under more stress would only impede the healing process. The four left the room and closed the door behind them, leaving the two alone with each other.

“So…”

“I…”

The two stopped talking.

“What I want to say is-”

“There’s something that we need to tal-”

The two stared at each other before bursting out in laughter.

“You go first,” Yuki said, wiping a tear from her eye.

“I’m sorry… Lady Mizore told me everything about that night,” Kaguya said.

Yuki went silent.

“You… You didn’t leave on your own accord. She said that Lady Lilia knocked you unconscious and she gave Red an order to stash you away somewhere safe while this was all going on. Ryuusei was taken to a safe location too, the day after. I failed to mention that to you. The assassination attempt was because they found where he was being kept while you… for some reason weren’t found,” Kaguya said.

“That or they didn’t want to piss off the Sages of Midgard,” Yuki said.

“I’ve been such a bitch to you for the past three years. I didn’t even bother to get the whole story of what happened,” she said, looking down at her skirt.

“...”

“I know that you probably won’t accept this but please… forgive me, My Lady!” Kaguya got off from her chair and prostrated herself before Yuki.

“E- Eh? Kaguya! Get off from the ground! This is a hospital!” Yuki stammered out.

Kaguya looked up and saw Yuki looking at her with a worried expression.

“Kaguya, I admit that… when I saw you, I thought I could explain everything and hope for the best but…” Yuki trailed off. She gripped her sleeve and gave Kaguya a hurt look. “I didn’t expect you to develop a personal vendetta against me to the point where you destroyed the entirety of the quest system here in Midgard.”

Kaguya’s ears flattened against her head in shame.

“I knew you’d be mad but not to that extent,” she added.

“I… I sincerely apologize, My Lady. I shall accept any punishment you see fit. I have committed a grave sin against you,” Kaguya said.

Yuki remained silent and stared at Yuki for the longest time. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Even after all that, I can’t bring myself to do anything to you. It’s probably because of our relationship in the past… but if you’re really looking for a punishment, go back to Alfheim.”

“Go back?”

“Mom said I had to be the one to decide your fate right?” Yuki asked.

Kaguya nodded. Mizore had mentioned that her fate was in Yuki’s hands in between tongue lashings.

“I’m sending you back to Alfheim and cutting your pay in half for the next 3 years as punishment for what you’ve done. In addition, you will disband Celestia and hand over your quest assets to me,” Yuki said.

“I’ve stored them all at the guild. I can make the transfer to Red by the end of this week,” Kaguya said.

“You seem to be accepting all of this rather well. I thought I’d had to fight you along the way,” she said.

“I never really cared about quests. Celestia was just a band of adventurers I gathered together as a means to an end. I did care about them to an extent but we weren’t that close. We only met for quests,” Kaguya explained.

“What about Will?” Yuki asked.

“I was considering expelling him because Adori came to me multiple times with sexual harrassment allegations,” she answered.

“Oh.”

“Look, I know I keep saying this but I can’t be sorry enough. I understand that when you go back to Alfheim, you would exile me from the Summit,” Kaguya said.

“I’m not,” she said.

“Huh?”

“You’re my Lady in Waiting. Working for me for life will be punishment enough for you. I think robbing you of three years worth of quest money is punishment enough,” Yuki said.

“You really are soft. Master would have beheaded me in front of everyone for daring treat you that way,” Kaguya said.

“I’m not Mom. Besides, I’m not the one you need to apologize to. Your anger towards me was justified. I want you to apologize to Embla. She had nothing to do with this yet you took it too far. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Valkyria wanted to run you through with her lance,” Yuki said.

“That girl? She’s related to the Valkyria?” Kaguya asked.

“They’re sisters,” Yuki said.

Kaguya grimaced and gripped the hem of her robe. As she was about to speak, Embla’s voice called out. “Yuki! A nurse is here to see you!”

“Just let them in,” Yuki said.

The door opened, revealing a woman with pink hair in a nurse’s robes. She had a small tray in her hands that she set on the table. The nurse closed the door behind her and turned to face them. Almost immediately, Kaguya had gotten up. Something about this woman wasn’t right.

“I’m here to give you your medication,” the woman said.

“Medication? I just had stabilizers a few hours ago,” Yuki said, narrowing her eyes.

“Oh. This one is a long acting one that the physician prescribed,” she replied. The woman reached for the tray and unwrapped the vial.

Kaguya’s eyes grew wide when she saw the contents of the vial. Without warning, she grabbed her chair and threw it at the nurse.

Surprised, the nurse jumped back, avoiding the piece of furniture.

“Kaguya!” Yuki yelled.

“My Lady. Look at the vial,” Kaguya said.

“Wha…” her voice died in her mouth when she saw the vial. “You… You’re the one responsible for everything that’s been happening.”

“I didn’t expect you and your handmaiden to be so quick-witted. You truly deserve your title of Princess.” The woman dusted herself off. Her eyes became dull.

“Who are you?” Yuki demanded.

“Me? My name is Sigrun and I believe I’m here to administer your medicine, Princess Shirayuki.”