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‘Dinner’ was but a word for kings. The banquet was huge, and Vincent had lost count of how many courses he ate. He felt sleepy and heavy and exited the reception room, taking refuge in the same hideout he had used on the fateful night he realized he loved Irene. Like back then, there was another person present. This time, it was Selim. The old man was dozing, and Vincent let him be.

He sighed, annoyed with how much time nobility invested in parties and socializing. In normal circumstances, Vincent enjoyed parties and a drink, but a new element had appeared that made his mind unable to enjoy too much company. Irene had dressed in an even more enticing garment, with a deep decollete and higher heels… To Vincent, she looked like a new version of the woman he loved, and his intention was to manifest his enthusiasm privately.

“What religion are you?” Selim asked, opening his eyes abruptly.

“Goodness, you startled me…” Vincent jerked. “I don’t know, actually… Never saw myself as belonging to a specific denomination… My father is Catholic, and my mom is a Hussite, the modern church. Not that she’s practicing. Hussites are—”

“Beauhemia’s mainly Hussite,” Selime said. “With a Byzantine Orthodox minority.”

“That’s interesting,” Vincent said. “Maybe I’ll attend a mass to see the differences… err…”

“You don’t know much about the Earth’s church in the first place, right?”

“Yeah…” Vincent sighed. “Even when my folks went to a church or another, I was pretending to go for the toilets and ran away to play with my friends. You’re a Muslim, correct?”

“I’m a Catholic. Selim is a Muslim.”

“You’re Hubris?” Vincent gasped.

“Shhh! You’ll wake him. His mind is asleep. I decided to stay and help Selim a while longer.”

“O… K…” Vincent grimaced. He found the situation awkward. “A Catholic, you say.”

“Yes. I’m Irish, as a matter of fact.”

“Nice…” Vincent said. He had no idea if the Irish Catholics differed from the rest, but their beer was good, and that was enough for him to like them.

“Have you made progress on your quest?” Hubris asked. “It’s a manner of speaking. Since I’m your assistant, I have access to your logs. I want to say that you should work on it.”

“Say… Are you guys… err… spying on people in their intimate moments?”

“Not necessarily.”

“What do you mean by not necessarily,” Vincent hissed, his eyes bulging in anger.

“I mean, we don’t care so much about that. But if… err… we’d try, the system will apply a filter. We see only a blob of fog around the bed, and our hearing is impaired.”

“Well done, System,” Vincent raised his thumb toward the sky.

“Are you going to try advancing your quest?”

“I guess I could…” Vincent closed his eyes, trying to feel Irene’s presence somehow. He knew she was close, a few dozen feet away in the ballroom behind. And he was certain that thinking about her beauty, how resplendent she was in her evening dress, would make his task easy. It didn’t.

“You’re not doing it right,” Hubris said through Selim.

“How do you know?” Vincent hissed, convinced that focusing more on details like her luscious lips and perfect skin would help him get it at the next attempt.

“I have a similar skill about feeling the location of my family.”

“Do you Archetypes still have sex or something?”

“Close your eyes and listen to my voice,” Hubris said in the coldest tone Vincent had ever heard him speak. “Good. Now imagine Irene like she is now. Perfect… Beautiful… Young… Think about how time will pass… You will have high and low moments. Arguing, making up… You will battle enemies together… Her parents making you some problems… yours doing the same… You will have kids… And she’ll be tired, and her eyes will show their first goose foot wrinkles, and maybe she’ll put on a little weight, but for you, she’ll seem as beautiful, and even more… You’ll help her with the babies… hopefully not dropping them on their heads like you did with your sister… Your kids will do all the silly things you did or more… and you’ll try to warn them against repeating the same mistakes, only to fail… And one day, you’ll be old. Your parents are dead, the kids living on their own, and all you’ll have will be holding her skinny hand, more bones than flesh, and the memories. Imagine Irene old… wrinkled… maybe sick… but next to you, and then you will know how much you love her.”

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Vincent burst into tears uncontrollably. He hid his face in his palms, then squeezed his fists and rubbed them into his sockets in a futile try to plug his crying. But at the same time, he could see Irene in the ballroom, puckering her lips while explaining political ideas to the prince-priest. Then there was Lila, dancing on the streets of Krivoburg with a gypsy band playing and following her. Why? It didn’t matter, she was beautiful. At the city gates, Raya shouted at Sergeant Thomas about the garrison’s lack of discipline.

Then there was Shelly, his ex. Crying. Or smiling? Both. Inside a hospital? No, it was too informal. A clinic, maybe. A doctor was showing her something on a screen. An echography. She was pregnant. A warm feeling spread inside Vincent’s chest. Concentrating on his ring, he connected it to Ludwing’s.

“Hey, man!” the king said. As usual, colloquial words sounded strange in his mouth. “I’m not with your parents. If you want to talk to them, call later."

“It’s OK. Can you make a phone call for me? And try not to eavesdrop on what I’m speaking?’

“Sure. I will activate my audio filter.”

“There’s no such thing,” Hubris said.

Vincent sighed. “Give me a moment.” He concentrated on Shelly’s location again. She had exited the doctor’s office and was now walking toward her car on a street, massaging her belly. “OK, write the number down,” he told Ludwing.

“I have perfect memory. Just say it.”

The woman’s phone rang a minute later as she opened the car’s door.

“S-Shelly?” Vincent stuttered.

“V-Vincent? Is it you?”

“The connection is bad… I wanted to hear your voice and tell you I hope you’re happy. I wish from all my heart you’ll have a happy life.”

“…T-thanks, Vincent,” the woman said. He could see her covering her eyes. Maybe crying. “How are you?”

“I’m… I’m in love with a girl,” Vincent grimaced because he was in love with more than one, “I wanted to thank you for showing me how to be loved and love back… I’m happy because of that…”

“Oh, Vincent,” the woman sobbed. “I’m so glad to hear that… You meant so much to me…”

“Are you happy?”

“I am…” She was smiling now. “I… we’re having a baby.”

“Take care of you… Drive carefully,” Vincent added. Shelly had entered the car and was about to start the engine, but hearing him, she stopped, reaching for a facial tissue. “Shelly…”

“Yes?”

“Store this number in your phone. It’s a friend’s number, his name is Corvinus… If you ever have any kind of problems, call him.”

“Thank you for calling, Vincent,” Shelly smiled, using her fingers to throw a kiss gesture in the air.

He replied in kind. “Goodbye, Shelly. I love you.” He said the last words in a whisper after Ludwing had closed his phone. “Thanks…” he said to the king. “I owe you one. Want me to get your daughter to talk to you? She’s here, at a party.”

“No, it’s OK. What you could do, however, is to discreetly inquire if Szara finally made me some grandkids.”

“Sorry?”

“You have to do your homework, Vincent. Lack of information is carelessness.” Saying that Ludwing closed the call.

“She’s Half-Sidhe,” Hubris said. “Sidhes are like cuckoos. They’re all female, mate indiscriminately, their pregnancies are very fast, and then plop, before you count to three, out comes the baby. They leave it with the other parent and go away. If male, the progeny takes his species after the partner. If female, it’s a Sidhe… If Szarathrustinella is only Half-Sidhe, it means Ludwing has very powerful genes… Which is to be expected.”

“Fuck, this world is crazy,” Vincent sighed. “Whatever… Man, thank you… How did you know how to unlock—”

“Kiara and I are married… I don’t know if I mentioned that. She got very sick when she turned four hundred and had to enter the pod… Pods can modify their size and grow larger, and I went inside with her… When I said the thing about being old and holding hands, that’s exactly what we’re doing now, with our bodies frozen in time.”

“Man… I’m—”

“Sorry? What for? We loved each other for hundreds of years, and still do in here… despite she being a bickering type…”

“Thanks for your help… Please excuse me now. I’ll do my jump, then return to the party.”

“One word before that… Selim is into something… I can’t talk about it openly, but he has an… interesting theory… Don’t dismiss the man because he’s old. His mind is very bright.”

“Of course.” He stretched his new perception, searching for Lila. She was the obvious target for a jump because Irene was in the middle of a party, and Raya… He still cared for her, but their paths were meant to diverge. A moment later, he was in Krivoburg. Lila had stopped dancing. A beer in hand, she was chatting with the music band near a parc that previously had been a within the walls pasture.

“Vincent,” she smiled after getting over the surprise of seeing him appearing suddenly. “Meet my friends from the Beauhemian Bohemians Circus. Masha’s White Roar’s first tamer,” she pointed toward a woman.

“You gave him a splendid education, thank you,” Vincent bowed. “It’s only because of you he didn’t eat me when he had the chance.”

“He’s a sweet talker,” the woman winked at Lila.

“Excuse us, there’s a serious matter we must discuss.” Vincent took Lila by the hand and headed toward the nearest street. “I have a new skill… I see people I love at any distance… I saw you dancing…”

“It’s a nymph skill. It enhances the Mana flow, the leylines… Wait! You said the people you love?” she rested her hand on her chest, hyperventilating.

“Yes. I really love you… And also that I’m a stupid idiot… Irene would say that’s an oxymoron, like putting together ox and morron…”

“Vincent!” she cut his delirious rant short. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes. Me. I neglected you so much… I didn’t even tell you I married Irene—”

“Last night. She told me Ludwing ambushed you.”

“I want to catch up,” he grabbed her shoulders. “Would you be my—’

“I want to be with you, Vincent, but I don’t care about our ‘official’ status,” Lila made the quote sign in the air.

“But you won’t object to marrying me either, right?”

“No, I won’t,” she said.

“Perfect. I’ll talk to the mayor… shoot…. He’s dead…”

“His wife is the interim.”

“Of maybe Karel could do it… He’s a king, like Ludwing… I’ll have a word with him… Do you want to come to the party?”

“I still half the town to cover, Vincent,” she caressed his neck. “It’s important…”

“Take care,” he pecked her lips and returned to Pragwyn.

You have completed the first step of your Karmic quest. You are now able to travel to your loved ones at no cost in the Guildchy and Beauhemia territories. +1 Level.

“Yey!” Vincent rubbed his hands, looking around for Irene using his senses. She was already making her way toward the, pushing people away with her elbows. The banquet had ended, and most guests were now on the terrace.

Irene kissed him. Around, people giggled, but who cared? “I’m so happy with you…” she whispered in his ear.

“I’m too, but… this dress makes me loose my head… I mean…”

“I know what you mean,” she smiled. “I think we can leave the party now.”