“ we go now?!” Lisa squealed, her voice brimming with excitement. It might’ve been adorable—if I wasn’t currently being smothered.

  I mumbled something in protest, but let’s be ho, I wasn’t putting much effort into it. I had… two good reasons to let it slide.

  “This duct directly viotes imperial protocol!” the attaché decred, his voice crisp and authoritative. “Such behavior toward nobility stitutes a grave breach of court etiquette. The Imperial Court expects representatives to maintain de at all times, regardless of circumstances.”

  At his outburst, Lisa loosened her hold just enough for me to breathe again, her head tilting in fusion as she g him. “What’s wrong?” she asked, blinking ily.

  I had to fight back a grin as I finally got a proper look at her. She was wearing a fiery red mage outfit that looked like it was designed for a battle and a catwalk. The plunging nee, the high-cut sides, the long thigh-high boots—sorry, I mean fire boots—screamed sexy.

  Thanks, game.

  The attaché, however, was having none of it. His face turned a shade of red that almost matched Lisa’s outfit, arembled as he pointed a shaky fi her. “This is no way to treat imperial nobles!”

  Meanwhile, the rest of the room barely reacted.

  Lo was scribbling notes like she was oblivious to the chaos, Lucas was engrossed in rearranging the map pieces, and Mi? Mi just gred at the Lucas like he was sidering making him the map’s casualty.

  Lisa cocked her head and released me entirely. Then, with a sudden shift into serious mode, she dropped into the most elegant bow I’d seen all day. “I apologize, esteemed lord,” she said, her voice full of exaggerated siy. It was fake politeness, but damn, she sold it. “My behavior is inexcusable, but I will correct it at once.”

  The attaché froze. “The bow is aowledged, though it scarcely mitigates the earlier impropriety,” he stated, his tone ical and precise. “A full report of this i will be dispatched to the Imperial Court for formal review.”

  Meanwhile, I straightened up, brushing myself off and trying tain a shred of dignity. “I’m sorry, Lisa,” I said, clearing my throat. “The teleport will be ready tomorrow evening.”

  But, of course, Mr. Fancy Clothes couldn’t resist jumping in. “No, the teleport will be ready around tomorrow afternoon,” he corrected, puffing himself up like a rooster announg dawn.

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Ah, I wasn’t talking about that,” I said, turning to Lisa with a small smile. “I meant my personal one.” As I shrugged, I gave her a pyful wink. “I promised t her to a powerful… let’s say mage.”

  Lisa’s face lit up like me at the Patrick’s. She nodded enthusiastically, practically vibrating with happiness. “Yay! Thank you, cute princess!” she chirped, g her hands together.

  “Personal teleport?” Mi asked. His gaze narrowed slightly, as if calg the potential. “It would be advantageous.”

  Oh, yeah, it would. Too bad the Prince was sleeping like he just ran a marathon and only three times a day. I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, the door swung open, and Katherine sauntered in, her presence as subtle as a meteor strike.

  “Ahoj, people!” she called out, her voice bright and cheerful.

  The attaché mumbled something under his breath—probably another pint about de—while Lucas immediately yelled his usual over-the-top greeting and moved a horse-shaped figure on the map. Mi, the disciplinarian, promptly plucked it off and put it back outside the map boundary without so much as a g Lucas.

  The man was the symbol of no-nonsense.

  “Hi, Katherine!” I said, grinning at her as I turned bai. “So, Mi, about the teleport—unfortunately, it’s extremely limited. No military application. Sorry.” I gestured toward Lisa and Katherine, who had finally stopped moving long enough to take in the room. “But these two are the ones I mentioned earlier. One’s my court mage, and the other…” I let the words hang dramatically before smiling. “My c-bearer.”

  Katherine blinked, looking utterly lost. “Wut?” she asked, tilting her head in fusion. Her armor—if you could call it that—was as impractical as ever. It g to her like a sed skin, leaving very little to the imagination. “Wat’s a fg-bearer? Wat fg?”

  [Pyer Lisa is now your court mage.]

  Before I could respond, the attaché took it upon himself to educate her, stepping forward with all the self-importance of a lecturer addressing a . “The fg-bearer,” he began, his voice practically oozing reverence, “is a very important position. A valiant warrior who bears the fg into battle. They are the first to meet the enemy and pnt the fg, boldly inviting them to engage in honorable bat.”

  It wasly accurate. Okay, it wasn’t accurate at all. But as Katherine’s face lit up with excitement, I decided to let him have this one. Why ruin her mood?

  [Pyer Katherine is now y-bearer.]

  “Beautifully said, attaché,” I lied, giving him a polite nod. “Katherine, you’ll need my batached to something, but don’t worry—I’ve already prepared a letter for the quartermaster. Just show it to him, and he should help you.” I stressed the should because, knowing my luck, the quartermaster would be just as passionate as the rest of the fort’s staff.

  “Thanks! Yar awesome!” Katherine excimed, her enthusiasm practically radiating from her as she sprioward me. Before I could react, she ed me in a hug so tight it could’ve qualified as a grapple.

  “Heey!” Lisa chimed in. She followed suit, throwing her arms around me in a hug of her own. “And me?”

  Pinned between them, I was officially under siege. I raised my hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, enough!” I ughed, extrag myself with as much dignity as I could muster. “Lisa, you’ll get your css tomorrow. Now, both of you, listen up.”

  They stepped back, and somehow they calmed down their antics.

  “ander Mi is in charge of the fort’s defenses,” I said, gesturing toward him. “You’ll report to him. He knows the yout and tell you where you’ll be most effective in leading other pyers during the defense. Got it?”

  Lisa and Katherine nodded in unison, their excitement palpable. “Got it! Fg!” Katherine said, practically boung on her heels.

  Mi looked less thrilled but nodded curtly, his gaze shifting to the two women as he folded his arms. “Follow me. I’ll show you the positions and outlihe strategy,” he said, his tone clipped but professional. “If that’s all, Lady?”

  I him, and he left with a bow. As they followed Mi out, Lisa shot me a thumbs-up and a grin. “Thanks, Princess!” she called over her shoulder.

  “Ya, thanks!” Katherine added, and took out her enormous sword, imagining waving a fg.

  I turo the attaché, f a polite smile onto my face. “Thank you for attending this meeting. It was…” I paused, gng toward the door where Lisa and Katherine had just exited, leaving a trail of chaos in their wake. “…ly what I imagined, but I hope we work together.”

  To my surprise, the attaché actually smiled—a genuine one, not the smug smirk he usually wore like a badge of honor. “From the ret imperial records and preliminary reports, I anticipated… different characteristics,” he said, each word carefully measured. “While your methods deviate from standard procedure, you demonstrate a marginal petehat may prove acceptable to imperial standards.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was a pliment or a baded jab, but I took it as the former. “Thank you,” I replied, ining my head slightly. “I’ll be ready at the teleport tomorrow.”

  Then, in a moment of formality I hadn’t pnned but felt oddly right, I bowed. Just a small one, enough to show respect without overdoing it. The attaché’s expression softened further, and he gave a small bow iurn before exg himself.

  As I watched the stupid attaché retreat, his steady footsteps eg faintly in the hall, I couldn’t help but appreciate the newfound quiet in the room. The earlier chaos had settled, leaving behind an almost peaceful atmosphere.

  The only sounds now were the faint swish of Lucas shifting pieces on the map and the rhythmic scratch-scratch of Lo’s quill as she furiously scribbled notes nearby. It was oddly soothing.

  When he was gone, I turoward Lo. “Hey, Lo?” I said, my voice a little less formal now. “What do you think? How was it?”

  She closed her notes—already so full of scribbles they looked like an a scroll—and smoothly stored them in her iory. Her expression was calm and measured, but there was a glint of approval in her eyes. “Lady, you’re a natural,” she said simply. “And I hope to serve well.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but the words caught in my throat. She’d stolen the wind right from my sails with that earone, leaving me blushing like an awkward schoolgirl. “I…” I stammered, my thoughts stumbling over themselves. “Thank you, Lo. Truly.”

  She smiled at me, soft and genuine, befiving a small nod. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll attend to the paperwork.”

  “Actually,” I said, gathering myself enough to sound somewhat posed, “could you leave me here with Lucas for a while?”

  Lo’s grin turned sly, and she gave me a pyful wink. “Of course, Lady,” she said with a teasing lilt to her voice. “Enjoy your chat.”

  I stared after her as she left, w just how much she was reading into this situation. Shaking my head, I turo Lucas, already steeling myself for whatever nonsense was about to e out of his mouth. “Alright,” I said, folding my arms. “We o talk.”

  Lucas pced the demon army piece directly in front of the fort on the map. He turo me, his expression a mix of guilt and awkwardness. “Is this… about the… fear?” he asked hesitantly.

  Who knows?

  “ly…” I began, unsure how to broach the topic. I wasn’t even sure what I wao talk about with him, but since he brought it up, I figured we could start there. “But yes, we address that. You should have asked, Lucas.”

  He nodded, his shoulders sagging a bit. “I should have. I know I screwed up. But…” His face suddenly split into that ridiculously cute, foolish grin of his. “Isn’t it kind of funny, though?”

  I tried to hold onto my frustration, but his grin was tagious. Before I k, I was grinning back. “Yeah,” I admitted, the memory of earlier suddenly bubbling up. “I asked those couriers to deliver some letters, and when they came to my office, they just stood there. Totally terrified. Like I was about to smite them on the spot.”

  Lucas burst out ughing, and I couldn’t hold it iher. “And then,” I tinued between ughs, “when I handed over the letter, they bolted! They almost broke the hinges on the do to get out!”

  “They were fast, at least!” Lucas wheezed, clutg his stomach as he ughed along with me.

  “Yeah!” I grihe ughter lifting the weight I hadn’t realized I was carrying. As the ughter began to settle, a thought struck me out of nowhere. “Hey, Lucas,” I said, tilting my head. “What do you actually o do to identify items?”

  He was still chug, but the question made him pause. “Huh?” He shrugged, his grin irely fading. “I just o touch them and focus. It’ll work eventually.”

  I nodded. I wasn’t sure if this would work, but there was only one way to find out. “Lucas,” I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper. “ you… identify my cape, please?”

  His ughter died down as the words registered. “Uh, okay…” he said, shrugging again aending his hand toward me.

  I shook my head aly took his hand, guiding it to rest on my shoulder. His fiensed slightly as they brushed the fabric of the cape, but he didn’t pull away. “O-okay…” he murmured, his voice dropping to match mine.

  The room seemed to grow quieter; the moment stretg as we both stilled. I could feel the faint warmth of his hand through the material, and for some reason, my pulse quied.

  What was I expeg? Something to explode?