Corvina struck a match, which burned brightly in the darkness, and lit her cigarette. She took a deep drag, blowing the smoke into the night. Then she held out the cigarette to Anne, offering to share.

“Oh, no thank you,” said Anne, holding up a hand. “I don’t smoke.”

Outwardly, Anne was calmly smiling.

Inwardly, she was still freaking out a bit.

Oh my god she’s a smoker, too? I always thought characters who smoked were really cool and sexy. I know it’s not good for you in real life but—oh fuck, does lung cancer exist in this world? But shit, she looks so cool.

“Are you sure?” said Corvina. “It’s hard to get a hold of tobacco in this country, you know. You may not get many other opportunities to try it.”

Anne had never even tried smoking in her previous life, and she was fairly certain the Saintess hadn’t smoked, so this body probably wasn’t used to it. Anne basically had no idea what to expect or how she’d react and she really didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of Corvina.

But on the other hand… smoking the same cigarette as Corvina… wasn’t that like the coveted indirect kiss?

Blushing furiously, Anne held her hand out to take the cigarette from Corvina. She held the cigarette between two fingers, trying to look like she knew what she was doing. Carefully, she raised the cigarette to her mouth.

She immediately broke into a coughing fit the moment she tried to breathe in.

Corvina giggled a little, taking the cigarette back from Anne, whose eyes were watering.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Corvina. “It takes some getting used to.”

“Aaaah, you must think I look ridiculous now,” said Anne, covering her face with her hands.

“Not at all.” Corvina leaned against the balcony, turning her head away from Anne. “I think you look cute,” she said, quietly. Anne, peaking between her fingers, couldn’t see Corvina's face, but she could see that the back of her neck was turning red.

Stunned, Anne scrambled for something to say. “Tobacco is rare in this country, huh? Where do you get yours from?”

“An ally of mine smuggles it in from Quellinia for me, ” said Corvina, still not looking at Anne. “It's a bit expensive, but it’s my only vice. It helps me center myself at the end of a long day.”

“Well, you live a pretty stressful life,” said Anne. “I’m sure no one would begrudge you a vice or two.”

“Hmm,” said Corvina.

Corvina continued to smoke her cigarette and Anne had the sudden realization that she had been so caught up in the excitement of the sudden decision to go to Corvina’s house, that she’d forgotten to think of anything to actually talk to Corvina about.

“Um, your butler seems like an interesting person,” said Anne, thinking of how he’d winked at her.

Corvina finally turned to look at Anne again. “He’s actually my uncle.”

“What? Really?”

Corvina nodded. “On my mother’s side. Do you know much about my mother?”

Anne shook her head. Corvina’s mother had only been mentioned in passing in the original novel. There weren’t many details.

“She worked at a brothel here in the capital,” said Corvina. “A high-end one that caters to nobles. It’s technically illegal to operate such places but my maternal family held a lot of power in the criminal underworld, which is how my mother got such a… prestigious position. They really do treat their workers well there. Compared to similar places. And they use advanced alchemical contraceptives, which is how they manage to pull in so many noble clients—mistakes like me are not supposed to be possible.”

Corvina took another drag of her cigarette. Staring off into the darkness, she continued. “I’m still not positive if I was an accident, or if my mother stopped using the contraceptives on purpose, intending to use me as some sort of leverage in some scheme. Either way, when she found out she was pregnant, the people who ran the place helped her hide it. For a while. All the way until I was born. Shortly after my birth, the Emperor’s men broke into my mother’s room. But she had known he was coming, and her allies had helped her flee. But she left me behind. And the Emperor thought I was cute so he took me in. He's told me before that if he hadn't liked the look of me, he may have chosen to have me killed instead. But I think he was actually fond of my mother. And my uncle says my mother knew he was too vain to kill his own flesh and blood anyway, but I wonder…”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Where’s your mother now?” asked Anne.

“She fled to another country, I think.” said Corvina, closing her eyes. “I’ve never been able to find out which one. Uncle Ulrich claims he doesn’t know. He stayed behind because he felt sorry for me, abandoned by my mother like that. And he didn’t trust the Emperor to be a good father to me. He kept his distance while I was in the palace, but as soon as the Emperor built this place for me, he got a job here. He’s been looking after me ever since, as my butler. And as my spy master. He uses his underground connections to run my intelligence network.”

Anne was certain none of these details were in the original novel, or she would have remembered them. It was too heartbreaking... Anne wanted to give Corvina a hug and comfort her and promise never abandon her, but she didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. She was worried she’d just end up making Corvina feel worse.

But it was strange… in the original novel, Corvina had been rather terse. She rarely spoke much at all, and when she did it was really carefully thought out. And yet here she was, being uncharacteristically candid with someone who, when you got right down to it, was still mostly a stranger.

“Why would you tell me all this?” said Anne. “I mean, I’m glad you would share with me, and I’m sorry for what you’ve been through, but… you probably don’t talk about this sort of thing very often, right?”

Corvina leaned her head on one hand, looking at Anne again. “I wonder…” she said. “You know, there are only a handful of people in the world who I've ever allowed to see me wearing glasses or smoking. And you’re right, I almost never speak of my mother. So why am I okay with showing you these sides of me?”

Anne thought about it. “Maybe… um… you don’t think I could use any of these things against you because you think I’m too weak to be a threat to you?”

“You are the Saintess, you know,” said Corvina.

“Yeah, but I don’t really hold any power in the church,” said Anne. “I’m just a figurehead, really.”

“You’re still an important person,” said Corvina. "And I'm usually especially careful around important people."

“Then…” Anne thought harder. “Could it be that you actually trust me?”

Corvina smiled a little and shrugged. “Who knows?” she said. “Trust isn’t so easy for me. But… I think I want to trust you.”

Anne felt her heart clench in her chest. “Well, I trust you implicitly!” she said.

Corvina shook her head. “You probably shouldn’t,” she said. “At least not yet.”

“Oh yeah!” said Anne. “That 'test.' I’ve been so busy, I haven’t been thinking about it all. But you know, I talked to that alchemist like you said, and nothing’s happened yet.”

“Hmmm,” said Corvina. “She may need an extra push then. Do you have any big public church events coming up?”

“Well…” Anne though. “I’m supposed to perform my first miracle in the capital in a few days,” said Anne. “That’s probably the biggest.”

“That’s perfect,” said Corvina. “Send her a personal invitation, as the Saintess, to come see your miracle. I guarantee you that will get results.”

Anne nodded. “Got it! I’ll send the invite tomorrow.”

There was another lull in the conversation, but Anne wasn’t as bothered by it this time. She really did feel refreshed just from spending time with Corvina. Sure, she’d probably be extra sleep deprived tomorrow, but it was definitely worth it.

“Anne?” said Corvina.

“Hmm?”

Corvina stubbed out her cigarette on the balcony railing and stood up straight, looking Anne directly in the eye. “Can you show me a miracle right now?”

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

Meanwhile, Helen, Ulrich, and Agis were all sitting around the servant’s table in the mansion’s kitchens, sharing a pot of tea.

Agis had enjoyed chatting with Helen the last time he’d followed Anne to Corvina’s estate, but something about the butler’s presence made him nervous.

“So, Prince Agis,” said Ulrich, with a pleasant, yet somehow threatening, smile. “How are you liking the capital city?”

“P-prince?” said Agis. “I’m no prince. Definitely not. I’m just the Saintess’s... bodyguard.”

Ulrich ignored him. “What have you been getting up to while you’re here? Anything fun?”

“Um… seeing the tourist sights, I guess?”

“Ooh, that is fun,” said Ulrich. “Which ones?”

“Statues… mostly… I guess…”

“We do have some great statues." Ulrich took a sip of his tea. “Have you just been sight-seeing, or have you been doing… anything else?”

“Why are you asking me so many questions?” asked Agis.

Ulrich shrugged. “It’s not often that the third prince of the elves, Agis Clearshot, ends up in your kitchen. I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I didn’t try to gather some information.”

“Your job as a… butler?”

Helen stood and picked up the tea pot from the middle of the table. “More tea?” she said to Agis.

He nodded, and held out his cup.

After she poured, Helen leaned down to whisper in Agis’ ear. “Don’t worry so much. Ulrich seems kind of scary at first, but he’s actually really nice once you get to know him.”

Agis looked from Helen’s smiling face on one side of him to Ulrich’s smiling face on the other side of him and didn’t feel at all reassured.

He hoped Anne was almost done with her conversation…