“Wait!” He jolted up. “What the hell did you mean by that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Katalina! What did you do to her?”

“So that’s how a person in love acts like.” Haein nodded with newly found understanding. She resembled a scientist witnessing an experiment.

“Don’t make me ask again.”

“Relax, will you? She’s fine, I just sent someone to delay her in case she tried something like this.”

Tapping her temples, she made a smirk. With a finger, she poked his stinging cheek.

“You’re not the only one with a communication network.”

“I know. I copied yours,” replied Francis.

“Where are my royalties?”

“No need to give it to you. You are a royalty.”

“Oh my. Is this the ‘you are my world’ statement I’ve read so much about?”

“You’ve been reading too many romance novels.”

“But they’re just so addictive.”

“Well...” Francis sighed before taking his next words. Never in his life, or lives, would he have expected such a situation. He imagined what Ashley would say. That insane queen of organised crime. “I’ll show you a romance that you’ll never forget.”

Trying to emulate her movements, he pushed the empress down onto the cold ground. Her calm eyes met his. But the facade of coolheadedness and stoic faces broke swiftly. She raised her hand to her mouth, as if trying to suppress boisterous laughter. Against the cold wind, the blood rushing towards his cheeks and ears fought against the ambient temperature.

“Good attempt, Fran.”

“It was worth a shot.”

“Let me handle the romance instead, yeah? You just stay there and look cute.”

“Duly noted,” he muttered. He released his stance and sat back down.

“My Lord! I apologise!”

“No matter. Come to the north wall.”

Out of the corner of his eye, the lady clad in armour rushed towards him. Her brown hair flowed with the wind. If she wore a helmet, much of her beauty would be concealed. Though, on a battlefield, there was no need for beauty or aesthetics.

“My- Oh, uh, I greet you, Your Majesty.” Katalina gave a respectful bow.

“Please, you’re his favourite. No need to be so formal.” With a wave of her hand, Haein broke tradition once more.

“Oh, is that so?” she asked with a shred of doubt in her voice. Her eyes were full of suspicion as she approached closer.

“So what did she do to you?” Francis asked, changing the subject.

“You still don’t know your companions?” Haein shook her head. “Two words. Battle fetish.”

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“I beg your pardon?” he asked.

Francis looked at Katalina for some kind of elaboration. But with what looked like shame, she turned her head away.

“Battle. Fetish.”

“It's hard to deny,” Katalina said.

“So... You really like fighting.”

“That’s the reason why I was under the Rayleighs. Your family is like the stars above the sky. Beautiful, and we want to reach them.”

“Has anyone been successful? In defeating one of them?”

“A few. Your family isn’t invincible.”

“That’s incredible.”

“Oh but, no one has bested your sisters in combat. Not yet.”

“Do you want to defeat them?”

“Of course. Beating a Rayleigh in a fight is one of the highest honours someone can get.”

“I’ll be betting against you if you ever decide to fight them. With your skillset, maybe Estelle would be a better match.”

“Maybe, though I agree with your words. At my current skills, I do not think I could even knock one of them down.”

“So did you beat your opponent?” Francis asked.

“I did!” Her attitude shot up when a fight was brought up. Her eyes sparkled with excitement and eagerness. The passion that burned in her was rather hard to miss.

“How did you win?”

Katalina giggled like a young schoolgirl playing on a slide. She went into vivid detail. Stances, openings, counters, defensive maneuvers, even the type of sword her opponent used. At a certain time of the conversation, he could no longer tell if it was a conversation about sword fighting or chess theory.

“So when he whipped out the Anderssen’s Defence, I knew he was trained in the Northern Arts. Naturally, I had to counter with the Solotzy, which let me smack his defence away. But his defence was just a feint, and he took advantage with my attack with Bennoli’s Parry, which actually isn’t a parry.”

He wasn't sure when he just started nodding and going along with her words. Well, as long as she enjoyed it. Watching her was more than enough to entertain him. Agrippa, Souji, Straughon, Wangshi, Jun-Gyeong, Lopez, all sorts of names started flying out of her mouth. He had to do a double take when they started sounding somewhat familiar though.

“Sounds tough. Good job, Katalina. You deserve a win.”

“Heheh. Thanks, My Lord.”

“You know, if someone saw us, would they think that this is during a war?” Francis posed a question.

“Everyone needs a break after seeing the tragedy,” Haein commented. She stood up and stretched, her joints popping with a deep breath.

Haein extended a hand to help Francis up. Once he reached out to her, she gripped his right hand with a tight force.

“Hey,” she started, “Can we promise that you won’t directly or indirectly hurt me? And I won’t hurt you directly or indirectly.”

“Uh.” Francis tilted his head in slight confusion. What brought this up? Maybe she was feeling apologetic about hitting him earlier? “Sure, I can promise that.”

Something felt off. For a brief moment, he spotted a long chain leading from her chest, down to her arms, through the held hands, and into his own chest. Something wrapped around his heart, tightening his chest.

“What the hell did you do?”

“It's... Existence Covenant. If either one of us beaks the agreement without the other’s consent...”

“The criminal’s heart explodes.”

“Yes. I hope that doesn’t happen to either of us.”

“That seems insanely powerful... Magic spell? Ability?”

“Not really powerful. It basically only works on you.”

“What? Why? Is it just ‘This can only be used on someone you truly love’ kinda thing?”

“I don’t know how to say this kindly, so I’ll just say it. You have about the same magical resistance as a rat.”

Though he already knew it, hearing it from her still hurt. He touched his chest. Were her words true? Or a mere bluff? And what about the definition of harm? There were so many questions and no answers in sight.

“So... If you slapped me, would that count as hurting me?”

“It depends on intent, and consent. There are certain situations where one must hurt another for the greater good, like surgery. If both parties involved agree with it, the consequence will not kick in.”

“And intent?”

“That’s if the other party cannot consent. So if you are unconscious, and there’s an assassin attacking you. In order to save you, I have to fight the assassin, and you will probably get hurt. My intent is to save you.”

“And it won’t kick in. Right, I get it now.”