Rene sat on the bench outside the gazebo for a few minutes after Adelinde left.

She had heard stories about Aurik Qrian. Lord and Lady Dazuz thought he was promising, at least—one of the many orphans brought in by tales of luxury, albeit one that was born into nobility instead of adopted like most. She wondered what he found appealing about it; she remembered Lord Dazuz complaining that he didn’t have a lot of self preservation. After all, it took a good amount of idiocy to attack the queen, then vaguely explain your reasoning in court without really saying anything to help your case.

Watching the performers leave the gazebo and bid goodnight to the others around them, she caught herself wondering what Adelinde had seen in Aurik. He never gave Rene the best impression, at least, in their brief meetings. She didn’t think it was money; he seemed a bit lacking in tact and charm. An omyn bragging about not dreaming was…definitely a distinguishing character trait, and not in a positive way—most omyn didn’t even bring it up, much less said it often enough to spark an argument.

She could definitely see what Aurik saw in Adelinde, though. Rene kept forgetting why she was there when she saw her playing the piano—their little conversations were so mundane, but she liked being able to talk to someone without eventually being told to do something. It almost reminded her of Hannah, but…with an immediate click and a lot less annoyed sighs.

And with that thought, she remembered Lord Dazuz’s warning—then she remembered that she did actually confirm a small piece of information, and proceeded to ignore the final clause of the order for now. She couldn’t quite do much more than that at this point.

Rene got up from the bench and finally left the music district, walking back to the Dazuz mansion and keeping by the lit street lamps on the side. She went from fitting in to sticking out over the course of a twenty minute walk.

She entered the mansion through the front door, for once, to the mild surprise of the guy watching it. He just blinked at her until she gave him that learned look of Dazuz disappointment, then he let her in. She opted to get the report done and over with as soon as she could.

And, of course, when she actually went to Lord Dazuz’s study, she found no surprise at him answering her knock. Sometimes she wondered if he ever left for anything other than eating.

“Come in.”

Rene opened the door with long-gone caution, then closed it behind her again. Lord Dazuz sat behind his desk, waiting for her to say anything.

She doubted herself for a second—recalling the conversation so she could summarize reminded her of the feelings therein—then reasoned she had to say something since she already came here.

“The odds are in our favor for the kid,” she said. “But the queen doesn’t know for sure yet.”

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“He seems to have some potential, at least?” Lord Dazuz asked.

“She said he slept well; didn’t seem to have nightmares,” Rene explained. “She can’t confirm until the kid can honestly say if he dreams or not.”

“That’s the unfortunate thing,” Lord Dazuz mused, sighing and leaning back in his chair. “We have to wait another decade just to see if the boy managed to get enough blood for the kind of odds we need.” He smiled at her, albeit coldly. “Although, perhaps fate will be kind and give us another person like you—in exactly the right time and place, with exactly what we need, without any connections tying them down. Before the boy is old enough, preferably, so we can avoid the royal family altogether.”

Rene murmured some kind of agreement mostly out of habit, then stood there a few seconds before Lord Dazuz waved her off.

“You don’t have to visit the queen quite as often,” he said. “Just enough to keep her trust. Aside from that, you’re free to leave.”

Rene nodded and turned to towards the door, but he spoke up again.

“Ah, before I forget.” His voice held enough feigned care—honest disdain—that she found it a bit hard to actually look back at him. “Happy early birthday. I’ll be sure to have Elina give you one of her old dresses.”

“You don’t have to go through the trouble,” Rene replied, somewhat tense. “I don’t need anything.”

For one, if she was given anything she would be expected to wear it at least once; for another, Elina’s outfits tended to be so elaborate and form-fitting that they wouldn’t seem right on Rene anyway. She had a feeling her adopted sister’s simple dresses had more elaborate things sewn onto it than most people could even dream to have. Rene would always be waiting for a question on why she never wore it or yelled at for ‘ruining’ it.

Lord Dazuz chuckled, although she knew he had fully expected the reaction. Third reason to decline: even if Rene wanted it, it would never come. She doubted if Elina even knew which room was hers.

“Maybe it’s more fitting to make Leo give you one of his daggers.” He said it like a joke, but his expression implied otherwise.

“Only if you want to pay for extra locks or security,” she replied coldly. He laughed as if she didn’t mean it.

And he knew she was only here because she was promised safety and comfort. That seemed more and more hollow with each day that passed.

She briefly wondered at what point she changed—at what point she decided that she was getting tired of receiving and relaying orders—and realized it overlapped with when she met Adelinde.

Rene left the study, once again closing the door behind her and going to her room. She had the smallest room out of everyone—itself existing mostly to fill in empty space after everything else had been made—but she still found it comfortably sized. Her bed was in one corner, and the dresser was across from it.

Sitting on her bed, she looked at a collection of papers and pictures—of fairytales and of Eyset, mostly. She had a single damaged picture of her and Hannah; she still couldn’t entirely believe the Dazuz family let her take that with her. It was a remnant of why she agreed to help, sure—but it was also a reminder of what she would be satisfied with instead.

She glanced at the calendar by the door. She hadn’t noticed the twenty-first was only a few days away.

Maybe she could spend that time with Adelinde. Even if she would eventually run out of excuses for Lord Dazuz for the semi-frequent appearances in the music district, she might as well visit the person she should credit for no longer being completely satisfied here.