Sophia Elise the Eighth was not having it.
This last released volume of a Crane Flies Across a Mercury Sky was thicker than she expected—for a very good reason of course.
Volume Fifteen was the arc of Goddess damned arcs; stuffed with flashbacks and as many fight scenes as the past five volumes combined. This was the main characters’ defining moment, embattled and outnumbered five to one in a fight against an army of demons within the ancient Redwood Shoals of northern Tianci.
This story is ridiculous. Sophia pridefully tries to grab a shred of cultural superiority from her own homeland. Martial arts masters punching holes through demons whose skin was compared to steel? Warriors on flying swords? So unrealistic… ugh, I should stop reading this garbage right now!
She turns to the next page, still engrossed.
And so the Fourth Princess of the Ensolian Imperium swallows this massive pill of pride with nothing but saliva and quiet admittance. Ok credit where credit’s due, this is pretty good.
Her consciousness committee, in the midst of watching this in her theater of the mind with popcorn and fruit seltzer, sends up a correction. Nah, this stuff is really, really good. Better than that manhwa garbage. The worst part is that this volume’s probably gonna end on a mid-fight cliffhanger, and according to Zai the next one won’t come out for another two months.
Sophia’s dropped stories for less, but this was her first real foray into Tianci literature. A hint of misplaced nostalgia and attachment to this one novel series that had given her a peak to their southern neighbor.
She very subtly smiles to herself. Goddess, if we’re gonna spend the rest of our lives out here this ain’t too bad of a consolation. And this is considered a penny novel of the Dominion too. One has to wonder what epic tales await up the ladder of quality…
The cracking sound rattles the windows to this bedroom, like a series of sharp knocks against glass. In less than a millisecond she’s off the floor and onto her feet, a cat peeking its head of messy blonde hair from behind its supposed “bed” and towards the window.
Gunfire. Some part of her panics. It has to be, right?
But there’s nothing outside, the heat and silence a conclusion to that sharp staccato of musical notes cutting through the night.
A few seconds before someone bangs at her door with an insane desperation, this Fourth Princess once again jumpings in shock at this new sound.
“Sophia!” Zai’s voice, muffled through the redwood, resounds with an almost panicked edge. “Are you alright?!”
His tone is more concerning than anything else, this ensolian girl with her back to that raised bed frame answering with some level of confusion. “Y-yeah?”
“Are you sure?!” Zai asks, the sound of shuffling behind that door less of two footsteps and more of a body flopping on the ground.
Where is this boy going with this…
“I’m sure? I-I think?”
That single hesitation, derived from a rock bottom self-confidence, agitates that young man even more and he tries the doorknob.
Sophia immediately panics. Goddess he cannot see the state of our room.
Oh he will see the state of our room. Part of her committee explains, drawing evidence from her short-term memory. Did you remember to lock the door tonight? You know, the one thing keeping him out right now?
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She didn’t lock the door, leaving Sophia to watch in horror as this intruder crawls in.
Crawls in, because this Crown Prince was literally on the floor prone like some Imperial Marine on a demonstrative live-fire training exercise with bullets flying over their head.
“Z-zai?”
“Keep your head down.” He barks at her with an uncharacteristic sternness.
“What’s happening?!”
“I don’t know.” He actually moves towards her, into this rot nest of unwashed sheets and discarded clothing. “Just stay there.”
He makes a beeline towards her, atrociously moving through this trench of cloth and literally—
Oh Goddess why is he…
He literally crawls atop her, peering over her head and out towards the window. Sharp eyes scanning the world beyond the eastern wing, looking through the pale blue light of Unudo for a threat.
A threat.
Sophia clenches her hands over her mouth, speaking with a sharp squeal. “W-what’s happening?”
“That was gunfire.” Zai whispers back, his breath so close against her. “That had to be gunfire.”
And they lie in this completely compromising position, tangled amongst whatever awful floor bed that Sophia had constructed tonight.
He’s quite warm, and that scent of sandalwood on his clothing was even more distinct now that he was this close to her. And at this range, she could almost feel his thin chest rise and fall, the hot sweat from his face fall onto her exposed collarbone.
Sophia Elise the Eighth closes her eyes, feeling the brush of his thigh against hers, the body heat of him flowing through her like a soft bath.
This was all doing something awful to her stomach: her gut twisting, pulling, bopping; something quite inappropriate given this situation.
Because if he just leaned down just a few inches lower, and moved his left hand onto her waist and his other onto her lower…
Why are you thinking of the forbidden thing? Are you seriously thinking of that right now?! Her internal monologue caves her skull in with a wooden bat. We should be panicking HARD because there’s gunfire outside and you're sitting here getting all frisky in your mind about…
Someone is at the door frame.
A shadow, broken by long sleeping robes and arms behind her back.
Those blue eyes staring at the two on top of one another within Sophia’s mess of a bed, clearing her throat with some level of impatience. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
They both stop and awkwardly turn towards her.
Elodie adjusts her stance slightly, revealing the two items behind her back: a cast iron frying pan and a small bag of something. “I was going to ask if you two wanted some popcorn? I was making some earlier and… well you probably heard some pop. I was wondering if you wanted any, now that I’m probably going to be cooking more anyway.”
The Fourth Princess catches the inconsistency in that question, in that offer. A vast and deep intelligence coming together for this analysis. If she was making popcorn, why wouldn’t she bring the finished product here? Why would she bring the very pan, which would be quite hot and sticky with the residue of oil, with her? And what would compel an agent of the Imperium to disturb her two royal masters in the literal dead of night, when everyone would logically be asleep, with such an odd request?
The thought process presenting this cross examination dramatically points at the jury of Sophia’s mind. Unless, she was trying to hide something with this excuse!
And the other thought process on the prosecutor’s stand wags its fingers. Nice argument there. However, right now she probably thinks you’re in the middle of having the heir making activities with your politically married husband. Cause, he’s on top of you, you’re below him; this is three points of contact away from actually crossing the line. Hells if you had a saliva trail running between your mouths it would look less compromising.
You should come clean and tell her the truth.
And Sophia Elise, the Fourth Princess of the Ensolian Imperium, clears this misunderstanding with the subtlety of a grenade thrown into a crowded room. “Agent Elodie, Zai and I are not having sex.”
This Agent of the Silver Hand, for perhaps the first time in years, flinches with a shut left eye and a cough. A composure forcibly held together at the words from this Princess, and she simply just allows herself to ignore that with gritted teeth and go to the Crown Prince of the Tianci Dominion. “I am certain there is no threat at present, and if there were any threats the Legionary and Guardsman are… taking care of it.”
She playfully spins the heavy cast iron pan. “So if you can, come to the living room. I think having some popcorn and conversation would be the safest activity to be doing tonight.”
