“Zath, you can’t possibly be serious?” I placed my hand on my hips and tilted my entire body to the right, “we didn’t have a threesome,” I said with a raised eyebrow while staring the maid down, “and why would Capscaria even try to spread that sort of thing? She’s married.” I emphasized, “that’s the worse thing that could possibly spew out of her mouth, and she already said something about the Demon Lord so…”

“Well, maybe she was misremembering things?” My maid suggested, completely ignoring the last part of my sentence.

I nodded at her, “I guess that does make some sense but not enough,” I narrowed my eyes, “seriously, do you really think that some stuck up noble would just throw away their marriage and ruin their name?” I snorted, “what’s next? The skies are gonna rain fire?”

Well a fire rain is a possibility in this world but that’s not the point. And Everlast is a floating city anyway, which means that by technicality, it cannot have rain since it's above even the lightest rain clouds.

“I guess it is bad for Capscaria’s current marriage but I personally don’t think it’s a bad thing, especially if she wants a divorce,” I rolled my eyes, of course Zath would say that, why she wanted to imply that Capscaria is unhappy is beyond me though, “and it’s not like there aren’t rumors about you running around out there already, so she’s not really changing much at the end of the day, I say I’d agree with her personally,”

Yeah… just because there are already rumors of me going around out there doesn’t mean I want to add another one- is something that I didn’t want to say because Zath had a point, I managed to live past the rumors and have since learned to ignore them so what’s one more? Sure it involves my love life but I’m pretty sure there were people out there saying that I’m a slut who kills the people who fuck me so that they don’t spread the word or something- so overall, that’s nothing new.

Still a piece of shit move on Capscaria’s part though, and after I’ve helped her too. But-

“Fair point,” I conceded, it’s entirely Capscaria’s fault but again, it’s not like she’s here so I can’t really talk to her, might as well move on and deal with this on another day. “So with that being said, why does Dad want to call me?” I asked again because Zathania caught me just as I was about to train, so I’m not exacty fit for a court audience right now, and preferably, it would be great if I didn’t need to go there at all.

I continued pushing my point, “I mean, it’s not like the threesome thing is bad right? Dad has a bunch of concubines! And sure, Dad’s also pretty traditional, but that doesn’t mean that he hates same sex relationships?”

No really, since Demons exists, people usually just turn their hate to the damn things instead of some mundane shit like being gay, and usually, same sex marriage is only hated because the couple can’t have a child- which means that they can’t produce a soldier that will go out into the world and fight Demons for the betterment of mankind.

Thank Goddess for mutual enemies?..

… Well… the genocide is also bad-

“I don’t know?” Came Zathania’s uncertain answer, “but you’re right, you won’t really get punished for it. I think.” She looked down and eyed the floor, her expression thoughtful, “but if you want my opinion… then I think it’s because they think you decided to have sex with a married woman.”

“Ah fuck.” I kept saying that but never realized just what it actually means.

I dashed out of my room without bothering to change out of my sportswear, I didn’t want to waste time now, not when Dad is probably seething at the fact that I just made two houses fight each other. And worse, he’s in the middle of the crossfire because of me, and that means he’s extra mad 2x.

I ran past all the maids cleaning our quarters, a sleepy Amber, a Pearl who didn’t look like she slept, and a yawning, but aware Ruby, all of them quickly avoided me as I rushed out while they tried to stop Zathania, keyword here is tried because one is sleepy, the other one didn’t sleep, and the last one is drowsy- all of them failed to even grab hold of her and Zathania simply dodged them without any effort on her part.

She’s definitely getting punished for that later.

When I reached the stairs, I jumped down from the highest point and to the floor, I almost knocked a surprised maid when I did but who cares about that, I had a meeting with the king, which is more important than the tray of food she was carrying- actually I grabbed a toast slathered in cream cheese and a cup of coffee from it.

It’s expresso, nice.

A few turns and a straight path later and I was in front of the double doors that led to the throne room, which were open, with the guards that would usually be placed in front of it when closed positioned on the other side, staring at me with the rest of my family.

I gave the guard on the left side of the door my empty coffee cup and walked forward shamelessly before bowing to the King, “I’m sorry I am late, father, and I would also like to apologize for my state of dress, I was about to train, and when my maid reached me-” said maid came out of the double doors panting after I said that, she nodded in confirmation to my words, “- I was already on my way to my personal training room.”

“...” Igneous remained silent, which means that he’s probably angry, “cut the formalities, Neo.” I stood up and relaxed my entire body, “I never knew you were…” His face looked like he was swallowing something bitter, “...a lesbian-”

“I’m not.” I said with crossed arms, “and I didn’t have a threesome, I only helped Capscaria because she was drunk.”

“Of course,” he replied calmly, “but if you wish to be as such-” didn’t he hear me? What the fuck old man? “- then I, nor the rest of your family will not stop you,” would a slow nod be bad here? Or will not acknowledging the King’s words be worse?

I settled for replying with words, “whatever it is that Capscaria said,” I started to say, “is not valid because I’m pretty sure that she was drunk and was misremembering things,” I pointed out, repeating Zath’s words, “I just brought her to my room last night because she was wasted, nothing else happened after I did,”

“... Is that so?” Igneous looked thoughtful and I hopefully thought that things would be fine but that hope was quickly dashed away-

“Sorry father, but may I cut in?” A formal sounding Pearl- oh wow, how the hell did she put on make up that fast? Did she do it while she was walking here? - said before walking into the throne room with tired steps, “I do not know why my sister wishes to hide her preferences,”

“I’m not hiding anything.” I defended.

“But I assure you that I saw her kissing her dance partner last night-” now that got the attention of everyone else in the room because I don’t just pick dance partners in social gatherings, let alone kiss them. Damn it Zath… “-which is a girl.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Okay that one was supposed to be a joke-” I tried to defend.

“Was it?” Pearl narrowed her eyes and I tried not to look at Zathania as I gulped, I mean… yeah? But I’m pretty she’s gonna get hurt by me saying that. Point being- “Because you were laughing and giggling as you danced, you didn’t sound like you hated it, nor did you act like the situation was funny.”

- It was supposed to be a joke damnit! That’s why I was laughing! Because my maid and my closest friend decided to disguise herself and ask me for a dance! The entire thing was fun to me but why- I looked Zath in the eyes, she looked conflicted and I will ask her about this later, why was she even in the ball in the first place?

I sighed, I hate it when my problems pile like this, “I didn’t- hate it, I mean.”

“And there you have it.” Pearl said as if she just unveiled some massive secret, “your daughter wants to marry girls, that is why she never picked any of the marriage partners that you presented before her,”

I closed my eyes- at this point, why not? It’s better than admitting I’m older mentally and don’t really want to marry or even be in a relationship with a bunch of teenagers.

But even then- “I’m not really a lesbian though,” I defended one last time and everyone started to look tired but no one said anything so I took that as a cue of them thinking things through, “I’m just… not interested in anyone at the moment.”

“And the kiss?” Pearl asked with a raised eyebrow.

“That one doesn’t count.” I raised a finger, “and will never happen again until I die of old age,”

“Sure,” she rolled her eyes before turning around, she started walking back to the throne room’s doors, I assume to go back to her room and sleep.

“And Neophyte, thank you,” for what? I wanted to ask but she beat me to the punch, “I… shouldn’t have treated Capscaria like that, even when she said those words.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I waved her off, “she kind of deserved what you did honestly, but not being thrown away like that.”

“I suppose.”

When she left, I turned back to my father to ask for permission to leave but he was faster, “you can go back to training, Neophyte.”

I nodded, didn’t say anything more, and left.

Going back to my room was much slower than it was last time, and compared to my sprinting spree earlier, I moved like a slug as I walked through the halls of the castle with Zathania in tow, I did my best to avoid looking at her even when I wanted to ask her several things- I was ignorant, not stupid, and when she decides to leave all those breadcrumbs behind, I can obviously put them together when I put my focus into doing so, as for where it all leads… well, I don’t think I want to talk about it in the open, which is why I waited until we got back to my room but before that-

“Neophyte.” Amber sounded pissed so I had no choice but to face her and… oh fuck, that maid earlier was carrying food to her? What the hell? What are the chances of that? “Care to tell me why you not only jumped down from the top of the stairs like some sort of street rat running away from the guards but also stole food like some orphan from my personal maid?”

I looked at said maid and… oh fuck me- how the hell didn’t I see that? “I can explain.”

“Do it,” She started tapping her foot impatiently.

“Okay, so you know when I rushed out of here?” Amber nodded, “and you know how I was trying to be quick?” Again she nodded, “well Dad thought I had a threesome with a married member of House Tequi and well… he called for me.”

“I thought you were trying to turn the castle into your training ground again- also, none of that is related to the food you stole.” Okay the food thing is understandable because I was just sort of hungry but what? Training? Again? Did I do that in the past? Pretty sure I didn’t. “But enough about that, let me reiterate, you said that Dad thought that you had a threesome with someone from house… Tequi?”

I winced, I mean, it’s not like Tequi is a bad house… but they are pretty influential- “well, when you put it like that then it sounds like I kicked the balls of Adamantite or something.”

“You might as well have,” Amber growled, “because you slept with a married member of a house that has a major share of businesses across Everlast.”

How can someone so calm be so threatening? I wondered as I scratched the back of my neck, “I didn’t though… I just brought Capscaria to my room-”

“The one who married into Nari? The small household?”

I nodded, “- because she was wasted and would’ve been taken advantage of.”

Amber sighed, relief flooding her features, “I heard about what she said in that carriage,” I winced again, word really does spread fast. Does that mean- well pretty sure the entire castle knows about my crass language by this point, “and saying the name of such a merciless mass slaugtherer is a big deal but Neo,” I hummed and was hugged before I could react, Amber started rubbing the top of my head, “- you did good,”

“Thanks,”

“You are welcome, dear sister,” She broke the hug and giggled, “and… next time, don’t just randomly steal my food like some sort of desperate lower class. There’s plenty of that in the kitchen.”

I didn’t know what to say, “Yes?...”

And with that minor confrontation done, I made my way back to my room, ready to face the music as well as the consequences of what I was about to do. Our relationship will forever change because of this but I still waited for Zathania to close the door behind us, and when I heard the thud, I closed my eyes and whipped my head back, time to face the music-

“Alright, can you tell me what you’ve been doing all this time?”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Don’t play dumb.” I retorted, “after everything last night and what happened this morning, it all clicked for me, and the kiss back at the dance, was it really fake?”

Zathania had an unreadable expression, she closed her eyes, “Mistress-”

“I’m not stupid, Zath.” I crossed my arms, “all the little things, even the threesome? Really? Why would you even-”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken, just give me the chance and I can explain?” Zath said quickly, cutting me off.

I nodded and gave her the chance, she heaved, “I- what I did last night was a simple joke to be exchanged between the two of us,” okay, good to have confirmation on that, “and… I do not truly know what happened with Capscaria but I did not have anything to do with the rumors about the threesome,” another confirmation, but I still need to talk to Capscaria about this. “and… as for your suspicions on the little things, I do not know about them,”

Well, the touches during dressing and the tiny flirtatious words that occasionally come out of her mouth were my suspicion but if she didn’t know about them then… fine.

I sighed, “I trust you, Zath.” I said softly, “and I hope you’re telling the truth.”

“I’m… not.” She said shakily, “just not the full truth, I suppose,”

I nodded, “then that’s good enough,” I walked forward and hugged her, “we’ve grown up together and there’s no one in Everlast that I will trust more than you.” I broke the hug and gave her a winning smile, “and between you and Capscaria, then, I would believe your word over hers.”

“Thank you, mistress.” Zath had unshed tears on her eyes, “and I am sorry.”

“Why?” I asked.

“... nothing,” she replied.

I broke the hug, “well, I guess it didn’t really hurt me in the end so if you’re worried about that then it’s fine,” I tilted my head downward and met her eyes, “god this height difference is annoying,” I said with a giggle.

“I’m fine with it, it… shows who’s the one on top when it comes to our relationship.” See? That is exactly what I meant by flirtatious words! What the fuck Zath?

I giggled, “what?” My maid asked, she touched her cheek confused, “is something wrong?”

“Nothing,” I waved her off while stifling my laughter, “Sorry about that.”

Maybe I just have a dirty mind?