Reivan would have liked to bask in the afterglow of discovering his unborn child's conception—and maybe rubbing Helen's stomach like fathers in movies did to their pregnant wives—but he was, sadly, a very busy person. It wasn't obvious from how much free time he seemed to have sometimes, but he was the ruler of a nation.

  Even if he was functionally a figurehead plus a glorified attack dog.

  Which was perfectly fine for him because he was good at those things. It was much better than being stuck in a role that didn't match him and doing a shitty job at it.

  "All clear," Reivan whispered from underneath his thick hooded cloak. "No espers in this batch of refugees."

  "Noted. I'll inform their wardens that they can all be let inside." Xander, also heavily cloaked and standing right next to him, nodded while taking out a pocketwatch with a dream crystal embedded into the bottom. These ingenious things allowed knights and other important personnel to use dream crystals under the guise of checking the time.

  'Those are great. I should prepare one as a gift to Elsa. I think she prefers silver a little more than gold...Though she did like that rose gold necklace I gave her a few months back, so maybe that'll be better. I personally prefer gold though, so we can't match in either case.'

  Really, nothing inspired innovation more than war. So much new stuff was popping up. Some of which, in hindsight, could have been invented long ago but only showed up now because everyone's think tanks were working at accelerated capacities.

  From the corner of his eye, he spotted something interesting in Xander's pocketwatch. Hidden behind the hinged cover was a delicate miniature portrait. There absolutely weren't cameras that reliably printed out such small photos, though. Squinting, Reivan realized that the "photo" was actually a hand-drawn sketch of a few young women.

  Realization struck soon after; the young women were likely Xander's family. One of them was undoubtedly his wife while the rest were his daughters. Strangely, they all looked young even though Xander's wife definitely wasn't, so she must have been drawn with her younger self as the muse.

  'Did he do it himself...?'

  Either way, it wasn't Reivan's business to snoop. However, the idea of putting a hand-drawn portrait of a loved one underneath the pocketwatch's cover was great. It was kind of like a locket. He'd make sure to keep it in mind for gifts. Now, he just had to find someone good at drawing—and perhaps that someone just happened to be his temporary guardian knight?

  Reivan put it away in the back of his mind for now. Gifts and whatnot could wait for later. "We’re done here. Let’s go.”

  Xander dipped his head a bit and put away his watch. “Understood.”

  Both of them then vanished into the shadows and exited the refugee camp where all newcomers seeking asylum in the Hierarchy of Samsara were quarantined—but only until Reivan could confirm whether or not they were freaking possessed, that is.

  Quietly, the two slid back into Lageton and made a beeline for the Samsaran Palace, which had about a hundred sky arks floating above it at the moment.

  “Phew.” Reivan sighed as he shed his cloak, arriving in a place where he didn’t need to hide. Unable to help but whistle at the daunting sight of so many boats floating in the sky, he turned to his bodyguard. “Seems everything’s ready. Let’s go?”

  “I still believe that we should assign more bodyguards.” Xander offered with barely disguised hesitation. “I alone am not enough.”

  “You’re still on about that…?” the prince raised a brow, exasperated. “We already sparred and everything.”

  “You defeated me.”

  Reivan rolled his eyes. “Which isn’t strange, mind you. I can, theoretically, beat a lot of people. Still, you did well. And this was a spar too, so we were both holding back a lot of our cards anyway.”

  “But as a bodyguard, I am inept. If someone strong enough to give you trouble shows up, I would not be much help.”

  “That’s not true. I fight them, and then you sneak up and stab them in the back. The other way around is fine too, no? We have great synergy, I think. I mean, just earlier we snuck around in tandem.”

  The knight didn’t look very convinced, but Reivan couldn’t really do anything at this point. Truth be told, this particular topic has been brought up multiple times already. And Reivan had already exhausted the bucket with all his reasons in it.

  Sir Xander definitely wasn’t the strongest senior-grade knight out there. But the man had a wealth of experience, was comfortable in Arkhan because he’d spent so much time deployed here, and had the very rare [Darkness] attribute that would allow him to move around undetected if certain conditions were met.

  ‘Ah. But the [Darkness] attribute isn’t all that rare now. There’s an entire race that gets it for free and they procreate by laying eggs.’

  Still, Xander was pretty great in his opinion.

  Reivan shrugged and boarded the sky ark waiting for him on the ground, his insecure knight in tow. This sky ark wasn't his personal one since that one had been made by an Ascendant, and so was banned from being used in the war. Because of that particular limitation, none of the sky arks would be high-performance—though they would surely do their job well enough.

  Throwing a glance up at the sky, he flicked the bead of sweat running down his cheek away with mild irritation. It seemed this budding nation of his still wasn’t free from this accursed heat. With a flick of his wrist, cold air surrounded him and helped make things more comfortable, though he refrained from including Xander in the area of effect because the other man liked being hot more than being cold, apparently.

  Once they made it up to the sky ark’s deck, Reivan mostly saw other knights, who were all about to salute and maybe line up too if he hadn’t signaled for them to stop. There was a place for formalities, and he didn’t consider this ship one of them.

  Upon the captain’s confirmation, the sky ark took off and joined the massive flock of three hundred sky arks, each with at least a hundred people in them. Some had a hundred and fifty, though he wasn’t sure which ones or how many.

  In the next minute, the arial armada sailed across the clouds as one.

  ‘Man, I wonder how intimidating this looks from an opponent’s point of view…?’

  Every single sky ark was identical too, which was a deliberate arrangement.

  It was, after all, extremely dangerous for the sky ark you were on to be draped in gold and other distinguishing features. Such a foolish thing would be tantamount to yelling “Here! Important people are on this ship! Oh, please target this one!” to the world. A decoy strategy using this concept as a ruse was viable, but Reivan ultimately decided that it would be far too cruel to the ones who would have to board the decoy ship.

  As such, even Reivan and everyone else of importance were riding ships that looked exactly the same as every single one in the Armada. To the extent that at some point, nobody would know who was on which ship.

  ‘That would be a good thing though.’

  The fewer people knew which ship he was on, the better. Knights were fine, but most of the people here were battlemages and enlisted sorcerers—meaning it wasn’t impossible for them to sell Samsara out to Argonia in exchange for a big fat bag of riches. A nice mansion in Pentagoria with servants at one’s beck and call sounded a lot better than toughing it out in the ruins of Arkhan.

  Reivan wouldn’t put it past Argonia to try something shitty like that. Though with that said, it was a tactic Reivan would have happily employed against Argonia if he could.

  Speaking of enemies, the initial plan was for the Samsaran forces to take a small group of people and sail by water, following the southern coast to their destination.

  But Reivan made the snap decision of throwing that plan out the window and just storming in full force. After all, he was all but certain that a massive Argonian army like the one he helped fend off was heading downward on the other side of Arkhan. That meant that he couldn’t afford to dilly-dally. If he was late by a day, or maybe even a few hours, his destination might be a graveyard by the time he arrived.

  Additionally, Prince Axion hinted that more espers were lurking around Samsara. Meaning it was impossible to hide Samsara’s deployment in the first place. Since that was the case, they may as well just cut across the land using sky arks, which was the shortest route to the alleged southwest secret golem base.

  Everybody else in his little council thought it was a good idea, so he ran with it.

  Thankfully, Jiji had prepared things extremely well. Reivan was able to leave with an armed and ready force within hours of returning to Lageton.

  ‘Speaking of my sister, I didn’t see her for some reason…’

  It wasn’t like she was the only one he didn’t visit. Helen, of course, had to be left behind and he didn’t even allow her to see him off because she might just throw caution to the wind, boarding the sky ark with him. It was a clever bit of forced self-compliance on her part but also showed her surprisingly selfish side—because even she wasn't confident she could stop herself if she saw him off.

  Then there was his other lover, Elsamina, who had her own responsibilities to attend to. Sadly, he hadn’t had the time to check in on her personally, though Gwen assured him she was doing perfectly fine.

  At the back of his mind, he blamed those pesky Magus Families. He had spent quite a few minutes exchanging pleasantries and playing niceties with them, which was something he had to do because they were investing a lot in this operation. Most of the people aboard his armada were part of their clans, after all.

  After that, he had to appease a very excited Iselle, who assured him that as soon as Sir Vino and Sir Gregory returned, she and the other darkin would fly day and night to catch up with the flock of ships.

  He really liked the energy and the enthusiasm, but he felt bad because he couldn’t tell them not to exert themselves. Since the Samsaran Expeditionary Forces no longer followed the southern coast while maintaining low altitude, their traveling time would be drastically cut down. Meaning the darkin would have a much harder time catching up. In the end, they really would have to fly tirelessly to catch up.

  ‘Fucking Argonians…’

  Reivan massaged the bridge of his nose. He could already tell that, by the end of his little stint as the Hierarch, he was going to be extremely racist toward imperials. Hell, maybe it wouldn't take a whole year of doing so to turn him into some milder version of Hitler—because it was going to be hard to trump that historical asshole.

  Gwen, a girl born from an Argonian mother, would obviously be an exception in his hatred for imperials. The blood of Aizen ran in her veins, as far as he was concerned. And she was raised in Aizen too, so she was a child of the kingdom through and through. Anyone who tried to contest that fact would have to face his wrath.

  “It will be a very long trip, Your Excellency.” Xander gestured at the entrance to the passenger cabins below the sky ark’s deck. “Why not take a rest for now? This is one of the standard sky arks, so it won’t have impressive quarters though.”

  “It doesn't really matter to me,” Reivan said, but he made a beeline for the cabins anyway. The lengthiness of this voyage was never in doubt and he'd much rather spend that in a somewhat relaxed state rather than standing around up here. Maybe he could read a book the old-fashioned way instead of blazing through it in mere minutes.

  ‘Ah. That actually sounds really nice.’

  It had been a long time since he’d last sat down and enjoyed some reading. A prince’s job was never done, so he lacked opportunities to really sink into his old hobby.

  Also, it was hard to spend hours looking at a book when he could be looking at either one of his lovers instead. Maybe even get up to some shenanigans too. No man would choose a book over Helen or Elsa, whether or not it led to physical intimacy. Honestly, watching them go about their day was equivalent to enjoying the most famous painter's masterpiece. Heck, if he was more artistically inclined, maybe he'd be the one doing the painting.

  Reivan’s steps halted as he caught a familiar scent. His mind hadn’t gone senile yet, so he remembered who it belonged to. But the person’s presence here didn’t belong here, so he could only frown in self-doubt. Was he going senile? Already? He wasn’t even twenty years old, so that was quite alarming if it was true.

  ‘Yeah, there’s no way that’s it.’

  “Excuse me,” he called out to one of the nearby knights and asked. “Is my sister aboard this ship?”

  The knight, slightly surprised at being suddenly addressed, saluted before replying. “Yes, Your Excellency. Lady Jiji boarded shortly before you did.”

  “Did she now,” Reivan said dryly. "How lovely."

  Perhaps realizing something in Reivan’s reaction, the knight uneasily slumped his shoulders. “Was she not supposed to, Your Excellency…? She came aboard so confidently that we just assumed...”

  Reivan forced out a chuckle as he waved his hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like any of you here are allowed to stop her anyway. This is one hundred percent her fault.”

  ‘That little…’

  If memory serves him right, this wasn’t even the first time she infiltrated his ship as a stowaway. Seriously, did she just have a thing with ships? Why couldn't she come along normally? That brat truly drove him mad sometimes.

  Following her scent, Reivan burst into one of the cabins with a frown. “What the hell are you doing here!?”

  Jiji, wearing a knight’s military uniform as she primly sat on a cabin bed, looked up from the white kitten she was belly rubbing. “Yani. You shouldn’t just barge into a lady’s room, y’know? It's very impolite and ungentlemanly behavior, but I'll forgive you because it's you.”

  “Oh, I didn't know I was talking to a lady. I could've sworn you were just a stowaway.”

  “I understand that you are agitated. Mostly because you worry for my safety.” Jiji gently set her kitten to the side of the bed, ignoring its adorable protests. Then she gazed at him somberly. “There’s a story behind this.”

  Reivan scoffed, crossing his arms. “Let’s hear it then.”

  “It all started eighteen years ago in a land far to the eas—”

  “That’s too far back!”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Jiji giggled, a triumphant smirk on her face as if she’d gotten the exact reaction she’d been aiming for. Clearing her throat, she continued. “Yani, who am I?”

  Reivan’s brows furrowed, wondering if he should play along or grab her by the tail—which would undoubtedly get her begging for release. After a fierce internal debate, he chose to play along for now. But only for now.

  “You are Jiji Aizenwald, princess of the Aizen Kingdom," Reivan said, before promptly adding, "and also my sister.”

  “Adopted sister, need I remind you.”

  “...Uh, yeah. Wait, why are you the one pointing that out?”

  Reivan had never been in an adopted child’s shoes, but he imagined that they wouldn’t particularly like it when their adoptedness—if that was even a word—was brought to the surface. That was mainly why he skirted around it and gave anyone who voiced it aloud the stink eye. His entire family felt similar. They had all accepted the warbeast sisters into the fold and didn’t want them to feel alienated.

  Sure, the girls were perfectly aware that they were adopted. But having it shoved into their faces or being used against them was something to be avoided. Yet here she was, pointing it out on her own. From her tone alone, it was like she was swinging the word around like a blade—like a weapon.

  As if it provided her an advantage.

  Jiji peered at him with a smile, clearing her throat to catch his attention. “Right, so I’m the princess. Now, aside from being pretty, smart, and reasonably capable in battle, what other skills do you believe I have as a princess?”

  “Administration…?”

  “Yes, but what else? Hint: it’s what I helped you with the last time I stowed away on a sky ark you were on.”

  “...Diplomacy?”

  Jiji nodded. “Correct. And diplomacy mainly deals with foreign parties, right?”

  “Uh-huh. Where are you going with this?”

  “Shush. I’m getting to it. Now, on this trip to Southwestern Arkhan, what kind of parties are you meeting? Foreign or…?”

  Reivan sighed, having put the pieces together by now. “Foreign. And lemme guess, helping with that is your excuse to come?”

  Jiji grinned, taking the white kitten from the bed and presenting it to him. “Ding ding! You got it right. For your prize, you get to do whatever you want with this white kitty for a minute.”

  “You’re such a…” Reivan was practically drowning in exasperation, but his gaze fell on the very confused Sen, who was cutely looking up at him without really knowing what to make of the situation. “Hm. Fine. I’ll take it.”

  Seizing the cat into his arms, he rubbed the kitten’s familiarly soft fur. Though it was brief, Sen had been his spirit beast for a while, so he liked to think they still had some rapport from that time—which, from the kitten’s pleased reactions, seemed to be the case.

  ‘Hm. Cats are pretty okay too.’

  In the eternal feud between cats and dogs, he was firmly on the latter's side. But cats weren’t so bad either. Really, who said you couldn't like both?

  Jiji watched him pet her kitten, smiling all the while. “By the way, I heard about Helen’s pregnancy. Congratulations are in order.”

  “...Word travels fast. It’s only been hours since we found out.” Reivan raised a brow but let it fall quickly after, his hand still focused on trying to pry out please purrs from Sen. “But thanks. You’re going to be an aunt.”

  “No, I’m not. Because by the time the baby’s born, I would have already relinquished my royal title.”

  “Is that so? That's… Hm? Wait, what?” He froze in place, doubting what he’d just heard. Sen mewled in a complaint about the halted rubbing, but his attention was on another different white cat. “Did you just say you’re relinquishing your royal title…?”

  Jiji nodded. “That’s right.”

  “But why…?”

  “Because I’m an adult now,” she said matter-of-factly as if that was an argument that made it obvious she’d won. “The royal family kindly took me in, an orphan, when I was young. They raised me as their own and I’m very thankful for that. I will never forget this for as long as I live and nothing I can do will ever repay the favor in my heart."

  "Then—"

  "But now, I aim to make something of myself," she cut him off. "Without entirely cutting ties, of course.”

  Reivan’s jaw slackened a little as he rubbed the back of his head, no doubt getting spirit beast fur all over his own. However, it probably wouldn’t matter as much since the color of his hair and Sen’s fur weren’t that far apart.

  As for the kitten, she had already jumped out of his grasp and taken up a spot under the cabin bed for some reason.

  “Yani…” Giggling at his dazed state, she continued. “I’ll be relinquishing any benefits I’ve been given because I was part of the royal family, but I will keep all the things I gained from my own merits. My position here in Samsara is one of them. You didn’t pick me because I was your sister, right? You picked me because you trusted me and my ability.”

  “Of course…”

  There was also the fact that she volunteered for the role, but Reivan wouldn’t have taken Jiji along anywhere if she was ill-fit for the job. Take her elder sister, for example. Even though he considered Mimi a sister too, it wasn’t as if he dragged her with him wherever he went.

  If Jiji hadn’t been as competent as she was, then Reivan would have chosen someone else. Someone similar to Dame Gwendolyn, if he had his say. No doubt, there were more people like her in the knighthood, he simply hadn’t looked around enough yet. Or maybe his brother was hiding them so he wouldn't snatch them away. With a bit more digging and begging, surely His Royal Majesty—the King of Aizen and Granter of Brotherly Burdens—would spare him a few.

  “I can understand your point of view here…” Reivan bit his lip in thought before sighing. “But I still don’t think you need to resort to something like this. We’re family, you know? Despite you and Mimi being adopted.”

  “It’s not like I’m throwing that away.” Jiji smiled as she stood up, stepping a little too close to him. She was so close that their noses were almost touching… or not. The height disparity was too high, so her face only reached up to his chest.

  Still, the sudden intrusion into his space caused him to back away, only to be stopped by the literal wall. The sky ark was made with military practicality in mind, and that meant all the cabins had just enough space for a person to sleep in but not enough to have much room for walking.

  And so, he had few avenues of escape.

  The curl of Jiji’s smile changed, and so did the way her eyes shone under the cabin’s light. And in that moment, he couldn’t help but appreciate how nice she was to look at—and how she seemed to invite the looking.

  “I still intend to be part of the family, you know?” she whispered as she poked his chest, sending proverbial electricity throughout his body. “Just… through a different path. Get what I mean?”

  Reivan scoffed in an attempt to hide his inner thoughts. “I’m not quite sure…”

  “Really? Then take a guess. If you get it right… Just like earlier, I’ll let you do whatever you want to a white kitten. But this time, you get to choose which kitten in this room you want.”

  Her provocative words were the last draw, mostly because he knew—no, felt—that she was serious. He’d caught on to her feelings a while ago and shoved them to the back of his mind, thinking it was just a phase she was going through. Or that she’d grow out of it by meeting more people, men in particular.

  But it seemed as if he’d been naive. Because Jiji hadn’t grown out of it. And for some reason, she was out for him now.

  “I’ll pass! I’m gonna go back up to the deck!”

  Reivan grabbed her by the shoulders and gently pushed her away before sliding out the door. There would come a time when he would have to rip out the bandaid over this particular issue. But today was not the day. Not when they were headed to a potential battlefield. And definitely not when a fight could erupt literally en route to said battlefield.

  Inaria huddled up in a corner of the massive underground storage vault, her back against a crate full of golem guts—nuts and bolts and all manner of other mechanical bits and bobs she didn't know the name of.

  Her rhythmic breaths came out as white mist because of how cold it was here. She didn’t really get it, but apparently, the place was like this so that humidity or something didn’t cause the stored golem parts to rust.

  What she did know was that staying here was a lot better than the suicidal act of living in an eternal sauna—which was basically what the outside world was like, at the moment. Truly, she wished it was just an “at the moment” kind of thing. Because she didn’t think she’d last long if she kept on living like this.

  All her inner complaints aside, this place was home for now.

  And that was a sentiment shared by a lot of people, not just her. Because there were thousands upon thousands of people huddling in their own little corners and waiting for salvation that may or may never arrive. Inaria got her own little corner because she was a battlemage, resting after a round of patrols in the storage vault to make sure everyone was behaving.

  Which they were, thank the stars. But she supposed that anybody could see that lowering their head was the best thing they could do. After all, nobody in their right mind wanted to get kicked out of the vault and straight into the proverbial cooking pot that was the outside world.

  ‘I’m so tired…’’

  Inaria’s eyelids were heavy from lack of sleep and her limbs felt sluggish. She forced herself to look around, even when her fatigue desperately tried to get her to rest.

  Past the boxes and house-sized crates were people, people, people, and then more people. Sometimes they were dead people too, and the people next to them wouldn’t notice until rations were handed out. And the horrifying part was that some of the people must have known that their neighbors were dead, but simply didn't care enough to do anything about it.

  If Inaria hadn’t taken the battlemage examination without her father’s blessing, she may have ended up as one of these people. Just another damsel in distress. A piece of driftwood in the throes of a raging river, with no control over where it ended up.

  Or maybe she'd be one of those corpses instead. Honestly, that seemed likelier. After all, she would have been made to marry one of her father’s political allies. Maybe their son instead, if they didn’t want the scandal of being married to a much younger woman. In either case, she would have likely been in the capital instead of the Spirit Tower.

  The capital that was apparently just a crater full of ashes now.

  ‘Father probably died in there. My brothers too…’

  It really drove the point home in her mind—that the republic was done for. And the chaos that destruction promised was already upon them all.

  Oh, sure. There were fragments of order here and there. Mayors, governors, particularly patriotic battlemages, or some other well-meaning individuals trying to be pillars of hope. The assholes who would merely pretend to help in an attempt to take advantage of the suckers who believed them had done it a long time ago. So anyone who tried it now, in this sorry state of affairs, really did mean to do some honest work.

  Few in numbers though they were, every single one gave the world a bit more hope.

  Unfortunately, good intentions weren’t enough sometimes. Inaria and what remained of her former squad had seen it on their way here—people just dropping like flies because they couldn’t take the heat. Try as they might, Inaria and the others couldn’t maintain the surrounding temperatures all day. And even if they could, they couldn’t cover large areas by themselves.

  Because of their ineptitude, people died.

  Furthermore, the heat was strange. Inaria couldn’t quite find the exact words to explain, but it felt like the heat had a will behind it. And that mysterious will wanted nothing more than to make life miserable for everyone experiencing it, ignoring any attempt at keeping the heat down.

  It had only been a few months, but Inaria felt as if she’d sweat enough for her entire lifetime.

  ‘I’m supposed to be resistant to heat too…’

  Inaria adjusted her position a little, making sure not to smother the lion cub curled up in her embrace. When everything collapsed, her bond with her spirit beast was that of a captured cub and its captor.

  But now, they were true partners.

  Caught spirit beasts were only forced into a pseudo-partnership for a year at most. Given the absolute shitfest her world became, she wouldn’t have blamed the lion in her bosom if it simply let the rest of the year die down. That way, it could then return to the spirit world and escape the aforementioned shitshow.

  Instead, her spirit beast decisively formed a true bond with her.

  “So warm…” Inaria nuzzled her face against Anton—the lion that she now treated as her partner in life. It was a name that she chose to pay homage to the Arkhanian pillar of excellence that had held everything together since before she was born.

  A pillar whose absence now caused her entire world to crash down on her head.

  “Hey, Aria. Are you up?”

  Inaria jolted in shock, her fist closing as magic power started to flood the Wizard Claw she never took off these days. When she realized who the voice belonged to, however, she gave Anton a squeeze of annoyance. The lion cub was supposed to warn her about this kind of thing because he obviously had better senses than her.

  “Oh, you are awake. Sorry for waking you up.” Aldimir apologized with a chuckle, which generally meant that he didn’t feel very apologetic.

  Alini, who was standing right beside him, knelt next to Inaria and smiled sheepishly. “I'm sorry we woke you up.”

  “Don’t be.” Inaria shook her head and stood up, prompting Anton to fall and land on his feet. “It’s my turn on patrol. I was supposed to be up already.”

  Though she didn’t mean to, Inaria’s gaze was drawn to how disheveled the two’s clothes were, the rosy blush on Alini’s cheeks, and Aldimir’s slightly winded way of speaking.

  ‘These two had sex, huh?’

  Which wasn’t that strange, given recent events. Aldimir was, well, Aldimir. So that meant he basically tried to hump every woman that would allow him to. And he’d been trying his wiles on Alini during their travels.

  Far be it for her to notice, but Inaria realized that Alini was receptive to the advances. In a sense, it had only been a matter of time.

  ‘Good for them, I suppose.’

  Truly, Inaria felt happy for her two friends and didn’t mind how they probably shirked their duties to shag each other.

  In this harrowing crisis, they found something to take their minds off of the more tragic topics of life like the bleakness of the future, the dwindling supplies of their group, the approaching Argonian army, or Kantor’s death.

  That something good finally happened was a cause for celebration.

  Looking everywhere else besides the spots that hinted how they’d just had a good fuck, her friends did not look like they were doing amazing at all. Aldimir’s face was full of unaddressed stubble and Alini’s boots looked like they would open their maws any second now. Both of them were thinner too, and the bags under their eyes spoke of how little rest they’ve actually had.

  If shirking duties for a couple of minutes made them a little bit happier, then so be it.

  She didn’t want to admit how envious she was of Alini though. Not because she did it with Aldimir. Inaria wouldn’t want to give herself to some fickle guy like that.

  No, Inaria simply regretted how she would probably die not knowing what it felt like. She had a man too, but he was the clear opposite of Aldimir. Extremely handsome to the point that her heart raced every time she saw him, incredibly considerate, gentlemanly, and was the old-fashioned type of man.

  He said that he would cherish Inaria and only do that when they got married—which honestly sold her on the fact that she’d picked the right one. It had made her feel valued and respected, she would not lie.

  But now, she wished that she’d pushed harder. They’d had dinners privately and slept next to each other plenty of times.

  If even one of those times, Inaria had simply stripped and thrown herself at him, maybe she wouldn’t die with such regrets. Or maybe knowing what it felt like to be held by the man she loved would cause her even greater regerts? She didn’t know anymore.

  Well, sex was the last thing on her mind right now. She didn’t even know if she’d still be breathing tomorrow. In her eyes, Aldimir and Alini were a bit crazy for wasting energy on something like sex when they could be saving it for the next time they had to go out and do a supply run.

  “Let’s go, Tonton.” Inaria beckoned her partner as she walked over to where she was supposed to patrol. With a glance at her two comrades, she waved a temporary goodbye at them. “You two rest up. I’m sure you’re tired.”

  The two secret love birds slumped against the wall and sat down, as if all the vigor on their body was draining out of them.

  Inaria left them to it, her boots tapping against the stone floor with every step. Clicks and clacks echoed between the rows of tall crates as she patrolled. Eventually, the boredom and monotony of the task had her falling into the mire of her own thoughts again—which wasn’t good for someone who was supposed to be out on patrol, but what else could she do?

  Unwittingly, she pulled a small blue stone from her spatial ring.

  This was the “holostone” that her lover gave her so they could communicate whenever they were in each other’s vicinity. They were apparently rare, and only the Aizen Kingdom could produce them. So when she got it, she’d been amazed that he was prominent enough to get one for both of them.

  It had also eliminated all her doubts that he was only leading on. After all, he wouldn’t give her such a rare and expensive gift if she was just playing around, right? There was only one registered contact in the holostone, so it was a device purely for the two of them to talk. But she could have sold or traded it for a large sum that even rich people would balk at.

  In any case, she had been checking it almost religiously every time she had a moment to herself. That was even before the republic’s ruin. When she woke up every morning, regardless of where she was at the time, she would check it with hope in her heart.

  Of course, she was disappointed most of the time. Her lover was a busy man, so it couldn’t be helped. After all, he was… Actually, she didn’t know what he did for a living. He was apparently forbidden from speaking about it, which initially made her think it was something shady.

  And if it was, she didn’t care. He could be a criminal, at this point. She’d be a criminal with him.

  ‘I hope he’s safe.’

  Inaria didn’t mind if he took his time, nor did she care however much longer she had to check.

  But what she wanted most of all was for him to be safe, wherever he was. Gripping the holostone to her chest, Inaria closed her eyes and bit her lip. If there were still gods, and if they were still listening, she implored for them to save him.

  At this point, that was her only wish.