The night was dark and unseasonably cold. King Rufus Andorin felt a chill trail up his spine and was grateful for his thick robes.

He had prohibited all entry to the third floor of the west wing, and so he encountered no one. No one but his shadow, who was following silently from somewhere unseen.

Presently, he was returning from meeting face to face with the Orc Lord of this generation. Visiting without bringing along any guards felt risky at best, but he couldn’t allow word of this to spread to even a single additional soul. Harboring a monster—let alone such a high-profile one—was akin to heresy, after all.

He could see why. King Andorin wasn’t a particularly religious man, but even he thought that thing was an affront to the gods.

Within a few hours, she made herself at home in another nation’s palace. She held herself tall, even in hiding: proud of her overwhelming power; proud of her ability to mimic a person’s civility. While at the same time, she delighted in seeing how she struck fear in the actual owner of this palace.

The more King Andorin had balked at her, the brighter her smile and more accommodating her words. But it wasn’t kindness Andorin saw in those sharp yellow eyes—it was mischievous scheming; childish plotting. She wanted something from him. He had been buttered up countless times in the past by more skilled actors: he was more than accustomed to picking up on disingenuousness.

My doubts are settled. She instigated this war somehow. I’m not sure how she got Claymore to cooperate, but the harpies are likely moving at her command.

From what King Andorin had gleaned of the Orc Lord’s personality, he was convinced she was toying with them.

The only problem is that I don’t know yet what she stands to gain from this. By making her fight directly against her allies and using stalling tactics against Claymore’s archers, maybe I can buy enough time to find out.

The king shuddered. With every move the Orc Lord made, he was unable to choose anything except for the path she had laid out for him. Perhaps, if he were a more exceptional king, he would’ve been able to find an alternative… But he was an average king, that was all.

Though the middle-aged monarch still felt fear in his bones, he resolved himself to unravel the monstress’s plans this time and find some way to escape. He would have to negotiate with the Orc Queen a few more times to lay the correct ground work, so he resolved himself for the sleepless nights ahead.

***

A young kitchen maid stormed in and threw herself against the table, slapping it with the palms of her hands.

“Did you hear?!” She began gossiping in a single breath. “There’s a secret lady hiding in the palace!”

The scullery maid she was nearest to, stopped her hand from peeling potatoes with a confused look.

“A what now?”

With a cat-like grin, the gossip happily went on.

“You’ve noticed we’re preparing more food these days, right?”

“I mean, maybe? It’s not that much of a difference.”

“It’s at least one person’s worth, though!” The gossip insisted, threading her fingers together and leaning in ominously. “Also, his majesty has told all the servants to stay out of the third floor western wing.”

“Isn’t that because it’s unused?”

“But some of the cleaning maids told me they saw his majesty heading that way at night!”

A wide and calloused hand snatched the gossiping maid up by her dress collar. She squeaked in fright at the head chef glaring at her.

“Run your lips all you want,” the old woman scolded, “but do your work!”

After basically being thrown, the gossip scrambled for a knife and a basket of carrots that needed scraping. She quickly got to it and smiled like she had done nothing wrong.

“Chef Aggie~ Do you know anything about his majesty’s secret lady?”

The head chef snorted, pulling out a rolling pin and some dough that had finished rising from the early morning.

“I saw that you were late again this morning, and don’t think I’ll forget it,” she said gruffly. “But…” a small, mischievous smile graced her plump lips, “one of his majesty’s handmaids told me he was sweating and weak-kneed when he came back to his room.”

The gossiping maid squealed in triumph and chatted her tongue off while scraping carrots. The poor scullery maid, who was forced to listen to her fantasies, buried her blushing face more in her work the wilder they got.

Outside the kitchen, Prince Corinth stood still, listening to the cheerful gossip. The servant accompanying him repeatedly glanced over in worry, trying to gauge his mood.

Father wouldn’t hire a mistress, the third prince decided. Mother died almost two decades ago, and he stayed faithful all that time.

But the rumor that someone was secretly inside the palace might be true, and he decided to look into it personally.

Once the voices had died down a bit, Corinth continued with the reason he had come all the way to the kitchens in the first place.

“Your highness!” The servants stopped their work long enough to bow and greet him, but he didn’t want to interrupt, so he waved them down with a smile and they went back to what they were doing.

“What brings you all the way here, your highness?” The head chef looked genuinely puzzled.

“I just wanted to deliver this to you personally,” he said, handing the older woman a white envelope.

She tore it open a little ungracefully, and her eyes softened. Her pay was being increased for good service. Of course a chef would feel happy, even indirectly, to hear that her food was being enjoyed.

“Thanks, your highness.”

“Don’t thank me; you earned it,” he said. “Anyway, I don’t want to get in the way of your work, so I’ll be leaving.”

He went straight to the chamberlain’s office after that, looking over the most recent documents. There was nothing overtly suspicious, but just prying at the numbers a little bit showed that they were being altered.

We’re ordering more food than before despite using the same amount as usual, even though we got in a new shipment just the other day? I don’t think so.

Normally, he would’ve suspected minor embezzlement, but after hearing rumors about a secret castle resident, that was the first thing that came to his mind.

And he heard from the servers themselves that they were making more food.

Corinth was unable to find any proof about who the secret resident was, or that they weren’t his father’s mistress, but he just had a gut feeling that that wasn’t it.

And though it was hard to say there could be anything more important than a possible intruder in their midst, Prince Corinth found something that came close. It looked like adventurers were beginning to leave the area. Perhaps it was a momentary fluctuation, but if it became a trend, then this time it would seem his brothers had stuck their noses into something they shouldn’t.

Something like a war, Corinth mused, a nervous pit settling in his stomach. He glanced over the recent palace guest list, noticing several foreign dignitaries back to back, during a season like this where very little was going on… except for the rain.

Oh gods, the young man held his mouth, his blue eyes trembling. He felt sick. Are we really going to war?

***

Vyra hummed to herself, playing cats cradle with a metal wire while reclined on the metal couch she had conjured. She had been cooped up inside for three days already, and considering how boring it was, she imagined she was doing an impeccable job at behaving herself. After all, she couldn’t do something noisy like training when officially she wasn’t here. She also couldn’t explore or borrow books. Or anything else that people might notice.

When it was mealtime, Yui Inari would deliver food to her. Eating smaller meals, three times a day, was an unusual experience after all this time spent feasting once in the evenings.

She really liked human cooking. The portions were small, but they used a variety of different ingredients and seasonings in each dish. To an Orc, whose palate could even enjoy tree bark and rotting meat, variety seemed to be the standard by which taste was measured.

There are a few dishes here that I expected to taste familiar, she thought, but they just taste “good” now.

Vyra hadn’t really noticed until now because her meals were so simple, but if she closed her eyes and sampled two completely different dishes, she couldn’t distinguish them beyond their texture. She could taste, but without any ability to actually distinguish flavors.

She probably wouldn’t have questioned it if she didn’t have vague memories of a more distinguishing palate.

Where did those memories come from anyway? Vyra wondered absently. Leftovers from some previous Orc Lord?

She shrugged. What did it matter? They had nothing to do with her current situation anyway. Might as well just forget about it.

Anyway, it’s been long enough. Tonight, when I talk with the king, I should ask to meet my potential mate. I’m pretty sure he trusts me enough by now. I’ve been really polite. And we should be allowed to meet at least once before the war starts.

Feeling cheerful, Vyra chuckled to herself and shaped her toy wire into a heart, gripping it tightly so that it cut into her fingers and dyed itself red.

Wait for me, my sweet prince.

Probably because she was bored, Vyra realized that it had been a long while since she’d last looked at her status window. She opened it up and combed her three eyes over the familiar contents. Not much had changed. Her Law was better in focus than before, and…

[Soul: Stable (29.62% Fractured)]

Huh, when did it get that high? … I'm not in any pain, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Nothing really of note.

— — —

Name: Vyra

Age: 174 days

Height: 7’10”

Race: Queen Orc; Monster

Titles:

Bizarre Architect

Necromantic Terror

Skills (Embedded): 96/infinite skill slots.

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Skills (Learned):

None

Blessings:

Perfect Omnivore (Orc)

Gift of Tongues (Orc)

Orc Leader (Queen Orc)

Family-Bound (Babylonian)

Curses:

Unending Hunger (Suppressed - Queen Orc)

Alluring (Babylonian)

Status:

Body: Energetic

Heart: Happy

Mind: Bored

Soul: Stable (29.62% Fractured)

Law: Collect power***derive***the unstoppable***of***All life carries***same value***rubble and corpses***May this***pursuit of***I give to you***my desired***intention.