It took three weeks to plot and execute but, finally, my revenge was in place. As Duex, I'd initiated a public works project which involved building a garden park next to the river above the halfling quarter. It had been a pain to design without excessive magic item use and only appropriate local plants, but the end result was lovely.

My garden design knowledge was limited, but the skeletons and Lepusan had worked together to make up for that. The end result was lovely and only needed a couple water stones to maintain.

The crowning achievement was the pavilion. I'd had to have all the precut lumber delivered as part of market day. I couldn't just place a whole building instantly in such a conspicuous place.

The extra work hadn't been a problem, though. If anything, it made the project a bit more fun than usual. Anticipation about the grounds and building being opened had been building since construction began.

Now it was showtime. All of the Lepusan and most of the town skeletons had shown up for the grand opening.

Dressed as Deux, I was standing in front of the pavilion. The entrance was symbolically closed by an oversized bow. Instead of cutting it like they would on my homeworld, I pulled one of its tails to unravel it instead, officially opening the space for public use.

Around me, the townsfolk, skeleton and Lepusan alike, clapped. I beamed, watching Andrea bounce excitedly in place while Chris just looked confused. I'd taken the ideas in his text and built everything but the brothel. Despite trying to hide it, Andrea was smiling as she came over to me.

"This is really nice!" She said, louder than she intended. She blushed, and I wanted to pat her on the shoulder but refrained. She knew I was 42 under the Deux appearance and our relationship was still somewhat awkward.

"Well, I'm glad you like it. Chris passed on your idea, but I wasn't sure if I got the spirit of it right," I chirped. Andrea looked shocked, and so did Chris. A moment later, she was grinning and dragging him by the arm to go look at everything.

"In-interesting revenge," Henry muttered quietly as we watched the pair.

"It's called killing with kindness. He'll be too flustered to try anything like it again for a bit," I said with a smile. Chris looked happy to have Andrea's undivided attention but kept shooting me looks of confused mistrust. As if he couldn't parse what sort of dark sorcery I was up to.

"And here I always just used a kn-knife," Henry replied dryly.

I laughed and looked toward the crowd building in the pavilion. It was an open-air affair with bench seating tables at one end and a dance floor and raised platform for performances at the other.

A band began to play, and I was happy to see people not just enjoying the pavilion, but groups spreading out quilts for picnics in the park as well. I'd put out the idea but hadn't been sure if anyone would go for it.

Lots of things from my old world caught on like wildfire, toaster pastries, for example. Plenty failed, though. I could never tell what would be met with enthusiasm until it happened.

"Do you like boats?" I asked Henry.

"I d-don't mind them?" Henry replied. I took him by the hand and led him away. A dock had been added to the waterfalls pool. Next to it were racks of colorful boats.

They would be a pain to carry back up from the lake, but it was fun for a special event. Once we got in, we let the current carry us instead of paddling. It was a slow ride, and we waved at the watchers in the pavilion who waved back or cheered.

"This is nice," Henry said as he lounged with me. I'd gone with a shallow draft gondola style with a small sunshade at the back. They wouldn't be practical, but I hadn't made them with that in mind in the first place.

Looking at the scenery of the valley, my mind started to wander a little. I found myself looking at the mystery countdown.

"S-something going on?" Henry asked. He knew the difference between me working mentally and just staring into space.

"It's just the countdown getting to me," I replied honestly. I did my best not to, but it was impossible to ignore it all the time.

"D-did Aaron d-decipher the runes yet?" Henry asked gently. He pulled me a little closer in a reassuring hug—a gesture which I deeply appreciated.

"They're a bit complicated," I summarized. I wasn't in the right headspace to explain it adequately. They seemed to function like roman numerals but not exactly. Aaron still needed some information to fully grasp them. Thinking about that didn't improve my mood. It was nerve-wracking to know so little.

Part of me wanted to do what I usually did and pretend I was fine until I couldn't anymore. It wasn't a sinister impulse like wanting to go toward my core. That didn't mean it wasn't something awful in its own right, though. It was a habit.

"I'm scared. Having it tick away like that when I don't know what it's for is maddening," I said finally, pushing back against my old bad choices. There wasn't a reason to pretend I was okay. It wasn't reasonable that I would be, and I trusted Henry. I let myself enjoy the hug and the feeling of comfort it gave until I noticed a flicker of motion.

Looking down, I saw that the digits of the count down had changed. The ones in the week indicator turning into a matching set. Aaron hadn't deciphered all of the runes yet, but he'd figured out a couple of them. The ones I was looking at indicated zero.

I was out of weeks and into days. That only lasted a moment before it changed again to indicate hours. I sat up so fast I nearly capsized the boat.

"AH!" Henry held onto the sides until the boat stopped swaying. A moment later, he was holding my face trying to get me to focus. He'd probably been talking, but I didn't hear it.

"I-I'm okay," I said without conviction.

"42, what h-happened?" Henry asked, not buying what I said.

"The countdown changed… I think I have a day left before it reaches zero," I explained finally.

"What do you want to do? What can I do?" Henry asked me, immediately looking for a solution. Neither of us had any idea what to do, though. Since the countdown had appeared, I'd been trying to figure out what was going on without success.

"I want to finish this boat ride and have a fun day," I said finally. All of the terror in the world wasn't going to stop the countdown. No more than it would tell me what it was for.

"A-are you s-sure?" Henry asked in surprise.

"I'm already texting Aaron the changes… and that's all I can do about it. Hopefully, it's nothing serious in the end. But if it is, I don't want to waste time worrying about something I can't change," I explained. I felt horrible but making a choice brought a little lightness with it. Running around frantically today wouldn't be any more productive than previous days.

Henry studied my face, his expression flickering between worry and anger. I could relate to that. The situation was unfair but out of our hands. It was a struggle for him to accept that there was nothing to be done. Yet, in the end, he nodded.

"As you wish," he said finally. The atmosphere between us was gloomy, but I smiled anyway. I couldn't ask for more under the circumstances. We drifted to the lake eventually and floated a while before getting out at the new dock.

With that activity done and no specific plans, we spent the rest of the day half-heartedly doing random things. Neither one of us could concentrate properly, but we still tried to cheer each other up.

Despite the uncertain mood, once sunset approached, we returned to the dungeon. Only I didn't teleport us directly to my apartment in the palace of shadows.

Instead, we ended up in a round chamber with a sculpted spiral staircase in the middle.

"42?" Henry asked, looking at me curiously. I dropped my Deux appearance, my version of slipping into something more comfortable.

"Come see," I said instead of explaining. I floated swiftly up the stairs, and Henry came dashing after me. At the top, we exited onto the smooth marble foundation of a ruin.

"W-What is..." Henry started only to fall silent. There wasn't much to see, just the foundation, a bench, and a few pillars overgrown with climbing roses.

"You mentioned that you missed having a spot to watch the stars," I explained. It had been an off-hand comment, but I'd filed it away for a rainy day. I'd recalled it when doing my date night renovations. Stargazing had seemed perfect.

With the countdown racing toward zero, it still did.

"It's lovely," Henry said softly. He explored for a few minutes before taking a seat on the bench. I joined him, and we held hands as we watched the sunset over the valley. As the last bit of light disappeared and the stars revealed themselves, I involuntarily looked at the count down.

Aaron still hadn't fully deciphered the runes, but he'd figured out enough for me to know how much time was left. Just a few minutes now. Seeing that I was at a loss for what to do.

Henry hadn't asked how much time was left since I'd told him I wanted to continue with our day. He'd been diligently trying to respect my wishes despite the circumstances. Now I wasn't sure if I should tell him or just let the time run out.

"Henry..." I started only to falter.

"42?" He inquired gently after a moment.

"I love you too. I should have said it the first time, but I was… Flustered? I'm not exactly eloquent even when I'm not. I'm also woefully inexperienced," I said instead of mentioning the rapidly dwindling time.

"I'm fairly certain you're the first person I've been with in two lives," I added. I couldn't be sure, but I felt like it was a safe assumption going by my abysmal lack of charm.

I'd been overthinking the matter, as usual. Love wasn't a single universal fixed state. It was enough that I believed I was in love to call it that. It was also terrifying, which was a little bit hilarious after everything else I'd experienced.

"Then I'm the luckiest man in both," Henry replied. I was stunned for a moment, then hugged him as I started laughing. His bastard of a father must have had no chance against him in a game of comebacks.

Henry hugged me back, and I heard an unfamiliar system alert sound. A pleasant three-tone little number that proceeded a prompt.

[Notice]

[Patch Available

Upgrade interface to activate patch]

I stared at the pop-up for a small eternity before looking down to where the countdown had been. It was gone now, like some kind of bad joke from the system.

If I ever got ahold of whoever was responsible, I was going to wring their neck.