It’s finally over.

This time, for sure. Definitely.

It’s been several days since Kierra slipped those account books to the Hall. Together with Lady Filagree, they descended on Quest like a natural disaster. I heard the flames could be seen all the way from the Grand Market. The Hall is a long way from the ground. I don’t want to imagine what hell those poor hunters experienced.

Maxine is home, her cousin having been arrested and detained for questioning. The poor man might be innocent, having simply been swayed into moving money to gain the favor of a prince. If he is, I feel for him. The crown is going to want to sweep this mess up and burn the ashes. He’ll be buried with the rest of them for even a hint of involvement, I’m sure. More so if the nobles are plotting against the Guiness family.

My mild worry prompted me to send Bell to check up on her. Poor girl couldn’t fall asleep the first night she returned home. Fortunately or unfortunately, with the impromptu absence of its manager, the Guiness store was in dire need of direction and as the only Guiness available, all the responsibility fell on Maxine’s narrow shoulders. A very hefty weight that involves managing a store in one of the largest cities in the kingdom amidst rampant suspicion from her customers.

As for the prince and his entourage, I haven’t seen them. Marcus obviously won’t be showing his face anywhere, likely stowed away in a disgusting, dank basement while awaiting his execution. I gather from the rumors that Samuel was summoned to Summer Spire, so he’ll be away from the Hall for some time, undoubtedly taking his bodyguard with him.

Cecilia hasn’t come to find me. Oh, I’ve met her gaze in the Gold Dorm and shared a smile but our interactions end there. Why? That is because of the dragon in the room, Alana. My best friend doesn’t like her. That’s good enough for me. It’s a shame, but I won’t be using the invitation to her room and she doesn’t dare try her luck with the knight-to-be following me.

There is still the matter of my punishment at the Beast Sanctuary, something I’m not looking forward to at all, but Kierra assures me it’s nothing too bad.

I hum to myself as I leave the bathroom, toweling my hair dry. Kierra is sprawled on the bed, a piece of paper against her knee and a quill in hand, an inkwell lying on the bed uncovered. “What’s that?” I ask.

“I’m writing a letter,” she says. “Unlike someone, I am on good terms with my family.”

“I’m on good terms with my family.” Some of them. “In fact, I was thinking about writing a letter soon myself.”

“Uh-huh.”

I huff, just remembering to scoop up the inkwell before dropping down beside her. I try to sneak a peek at the letter but she’s faster, moving it out of my sight. “How are you going to send it, anyway? You plan on taking a trip?” I give her my best pout.

She easily ignores it. “No, dedia. Just because the humans do not have roads to my forest, does not mean we are as isolated as the merchants think. My brother is a traveler. Lives on water more than he does on land. He has…associates in ports all over the world, including the human continent. They will be able to ensure it reaches him and he will convey my regards to the rest of the family.”

“You don’t talk about them much.”

“You don’t ask about them. Perhaps worried your words might summon my mother?”

I shiver. “Don’t joke about that.”

She chuckles. “Not all of my family are quite so…extreme. My eldest brother is a winemaker, horrible at his chosen profession but full of stories. You’d love my eldest sister. A dancer of all things. Mother still can’t believe it.”

That doesn’t sound too bad.

“Ah, but there is the matter of my father.”

I freeze, full of dread. I don’t like the tone of her voice. Maybe I’m imagining things but did my wife sound…nervous? “What about him?”

“Nothing. It’s…he’s a soft-handed man. At least, to me. Unlike my mother’s other men, I am their only child. It made him a little protective. He never approved of any, hm, suitors.”

Aren’t I one of those suitors!? Oh, saints, I’m far worse. I’m the one who married her and spirited her away from home. It’s just like those songs of roguish hunters swooping through a village and running off with the beautiful daughter of the chief, dashing off with a mob holding farm tools at their backs. Except, the one at my back is an angry elf. The elf who sired the monstrosity named Kierra. No way he is normal.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about.” Kierra brings me out of my thoughts with a quick kiss before sliding off the bed. “My father disappeared during my imprisonment. No one has heard from him in two decades.”

“So, he’s not going to try and kill me?”

“Oh, I imagine he will.” And you tell me not to worry!? “However, you will be more than capable of handling him after a few years and he could be gone for another two decades. Once this year is over and you register as a summoner of the Hall, we can put into motion all those interesting ideas of yours.”

I reflexively match her smile. Together with Geneva, I’ve got interesting plans involving the other realms, both for resource collection and for the recruitment of more elementals. Some of who may or may not be ‘banned from the realm’ as ridiculous as that sounds. A few summoners make a couple of bad contracts and now an entire plane of existence is supposed to be shut off? Ridiculous.

Unfortunately, that does mean that the materials used for summoning them are…watched. One of the few groups with access to the materials I need are Hall sanctioned summoners. I suppose they believe that anyone recognized by the Hall has enough knowledge to not let an Abyss elemental run rampant on the continent. I hope so. The last thing I need is someone supervising my summons.

A few months to go and my schedule will be my own, the full resources of the largest casting institution made available for me. Then, my time at the Hall will truly begin.