In the dark of the night, illuminated only by the few street gas lamps and the Essence lanterns mounted in front of the horseless carriage, they went to the campus instead of Bezzias' mansion, more specifically to the Gadgeteering building. In the lobby, they found the other two researchers and one very special guest.

"Welcome back!" Glom smiled and studied their faces. "I believe your expedition was fruitful."

"More than fruitful," Nero answered, but he was staring at the beautiful guest.

"Let's go to the lab. The place here is too exposed," Tinkwezilsky said, waving a hand to call everyone into the elevator.

The guest flew next to them and hugged Nero's neck from the side, pressing her tiny head against his ear. She let go and fluttered in front of the couple.

"Oh, hi! Nero son of Byron. Lovely Altia! I hope you don't mind me here!" Amaryllis, the master of the Adventurer's Guild said.

"Amaryllis, how are you?" Altia said before Nero could recover from the mental damage.

"Hello, guild master! No, we don't mind at all," Nero answered.

"A. Ma. Ryl. Lis!" She corrected him, singing the syllables of her name and wiggling a finger back and forth. "You can call me by my name."

"Good. We need to move!" Bezzias gently pushed them forward.

Everyone made themselves comfortable in the lab while Amaryllis flew laps around the renovated Essence Infusion Chamber.

"So this is the thing that tells the level of people even if they don't want to! So cool! What does this do? And that? And why is this pipeline here?"

Flustered, Tinkwezilsky was trying to stop the pixie from taking the device apart. Bezzias was the one to draw the guild master's attention away from the contraption.

"So, Nero. Show us your special guest!"

He opened the portal. Just the mana flow was enough to make the pixie lose all interest in the gnome's device. She flew through as soon as the portal stabilized. A sharp and long squeal came from the spatial opening.

Nero shook his head. "I guess we should go in, gentlemen. Altia?"

"The spatial geometry of the rift is amazing. It is folding space inward," Tinkwezilsky mumbled. "You guys should look it. There's a connection but it isn't using tridimensional space.

Altia held Nero's arm and used two mana potions on him. "Give them some time. How's your mana? Keep the portal open."

They went inside, leaving the three professors studying the portal with their [Essence Analysis] Skill. hey heard the humming and saw a blur swirling around the shelter. Serena was standing in front of the portal.

"Hello. Is that a pixie?" The princess asked.

"Yes. Amaryllis, Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild."

Serena's mouth opened, making the letter 'O'. Amaryllis hovered next to them after another minute of exploration. She was dripping water from her gossamer dress but was otherwise dry.

"Your Highness princess Serena!" She chimed. "Oh, dear child! I am overjoyed you are safe." Tears rolled down the pixie's face. Amaryllis hugged Serena and then held the nereid's cheeks. "You are safe now. We will watch over you."

Nero looked around. All the women were crying now. Relief for the princess, empathy for the others. He let them have their moment.

"I have the most wonderful friends. A thing most royalty will never know, Amaryllis," Serena reached out and held Altia's hand.

Amaryllis looked up at the starry sky blurring and moving along with the waves above. The stars were brighter than they should be but it didn't have to be realistic. It just had to follow Nero's wishes. And Nero wanted big bright stars that cast enough light to see at night.

"You do, my dear child. You do." The pixie then floated next to Nero's face. "This is a thing of wonder, Nero. I can see the love you two have for Serena written in the walls of this pocket dimension."

"Thank you," Altia sniffled and wiped her tears. "That we do. She is like a sister to us."

The pixie shuddered as if hit by lightning. "That! That might work!"

"What might work?" Nero asked.

"The way to make them stop chasing the princess is to kill the princess," Amaryllis said in the same tone someone chooses work clothes.

They were shocked. Nero jumped and stood in front of Serena. The two girls didn't react at all.

"Oh, that is so sweet!" She pointed at Nero trying to protect Serena against someone like her. "I'm not killing anyone, relax. Not Serena, if any. We just need to make the world believe the princess is dead. Then she'll be free, see? get those eggheads in here. We need to TALK!"

They went into the treehouse to get comfortable at the living room Amaryllis took three three-seat velvet couches made of dark wood with gilded filigree out of her belt, something that left Nero awestruck, wondering what else was in the dimensional pouch of the pixie. Then she left Altia awestruck when she told her the couches were a gift. Nero kept the portal open, paying the twelve mana per hour of upkeep with the help of Altia's potions.

The pixie took control of the talk and made everyone tell their stories. Serena glossed over the cruel parts but Nero and Altia reported everything, even the black cards Nero used. Strangely enough, they were not tired even though the sun was rising outside.

"So," Amaryllis said. "I don't want to pressure you into making a choice, Serena my dear. Either path has its good and bad. You can keep hiding but Coriander will spare no effort to get your Skill cards. You and me, we understand how they think. If you raise your level and equip them, they will keep trying to kill you for fear you'd become a beacon of your people and later stage a coup. Which you might do, I'm totally behind Queen Serena. You know as well as I do what it entails.

"Or you give me the cards, we report princess Serena dead, and you start a new life with a new name. As a commoner. I'll make sure Coriander knows better than chase after you. You'll be free but stripped of your status."

The nereid looked into the pixie's eyes. Both sets had tears in them. "I want my life back. Can I have that?" Serena sniffled.

"I'm afraid not. What's broken can never be mended. But you are alive." Amaryllis hovered in front of a sobbing Serena and hold the girls' cheeks. She kissed her forehead. "Lovely tiara you have there. [Dryad's Crown +2]. So cute. You deserve it." The pixie hovered backward. "You don't have to make a choice now. Think. Talk to your friends. I'll go now and make some arrangements. Professors, I must go or I'll forget what I wanted to do."

She zipped out of the house and through the portal.

"Take the day off," Bezzias said. "Stay in here, talk between yourselves, go swim at the beach down the hill. The portal is not in a bad spot and you keep spending mana potions to keep it open. We'll talk tomorrow."

Glom also stood up. Or, in his case, jumped down from the couch. "Aye. Rest. You did a crazy amount of delving."

"Let the adults do their thing. We got your backs!" Tinkwezilsky tried to cheer them but his people skills were the worst of the trio.

The three professors left. Nero watched them cross the portal then willed it shut. He looked back, Altia was consoling Serena. He felt his work was incomplete. Nero walked in front of her.

"Serena. Is being a princess that important?" He asked.

"It is all I've ever known, Nero. If I'm not a princess, who am I?"

He nodded. Nero sighed. He was about to do a very cruel thing, but he needed to put the point across.

"My father's level cap is one hundred and ninety-something. My mother's is in the hundred-seventies. I trained since I was a snot-nosed brat to become an Adventurer. Altia watched every step of my childhood."

The ape-kin girl chuckled. Nero stood up, pacing back and forth in front of the couch where the two of them sat.

"Then the day Glom came to our village arrived. I knew I would have the highest level cap of the entire village. I was even ready to join the knights if it was above two hundred. Everyone thought I would have a golden future.

"Until that day, that was all I've ever known. Nero the great Adventurer. Or a knight. I hoped to be an Adventurer. I had dozens of builds drawn, up to the fifth tier!"

There was pain in his voice. A wound he kept covered for a long time. Whatever he was, no matter how powerful he became, the truth was that his level was zero. Bezzias could call that a 'perfect bonding' all he wanted. The higher tiers of Skills and Classes were forever closed to him. he showed Serena his bracer.

"The moment this Arbitrium here came alive, my world ended. Nero Zero was born. A cripple by this world's standards. But I had people that believed in me. My dear Altia. My parents. They dragged me on. They held my chin so I could keep my head up. My parents spent their retirement funds to get me some Anima crystals so I could get a dozen Attribute points all over the place."

"Altia delved with me every day. She was my muse, my inspiration. I kept killing monsters because I believed that if I worked hard, I could earn some Accolades and maybe push forward with sheer effort.

"Then her father did me the biggest favor of all, even if it was unwittingly. He gave me an ultimatum. Defeat the yellow-grade goblin boss alone. I knew she would elope with me if I asked. I didn't want that. So, because I was a hothead, I delved to my death. My parents had to restrain Altia so she didn't follow me.

"I spent eight days killing monsters, sparing not a moment to pick up drops, hoping those Accolades would come. Hoping I could be strong enough to earn the hand of my beloved. In the end, I stumbled into the boss room without feeling ready. It wasn't a nice fight. I got this close to dying.

"But I didn't. And a miracle happened. I got my Class. I'm a [Jester], Serena."

The two

He didn't tell her the name of his unique Class. But he repeated the words written in the card that changed his fate. Words now engraved on his soul. He spoke them.

"Despised, scorned, ridiculed. The Jester cares not. Jack of all trades but master of none, he never dismays. They laugh at him, but he will be the one who laughs last."

"That's what I am. A joke. A clown. Jack of all trades, master of none. The mighty Adventurer a boy once dreamed of becoming will never be. Yet, here I am. Three hundred Attribute points. I bled for every single one of them. And I met you. Because of you, this world within a world exists."

Altia patted her head. "It was a wonderful adventure, Serena."

She made a face like she didn't understand what Nero wanted to say but she felt the emotion behind his words.

"But we didn't go through all that trouble to rescue the princess. We did it to rescue our friend. You are at a crossroads, Serena. Whatever choice you make, we'll support you."

She looked up. "What should I do?"

"We can't tell you," Nero replied. "We can tell you the choices we see though. Amaryllis gave you four. Do nothing, live as an outcast on the run, give up your title and Skill cards, or rebel and take over the country."

"Yes. What counsel would Nero the [Jester] give this princess?"

He knelt in front of her. "Cast away your titles. What good being the third princess of Coriander did to you? To be a pawn in a bigger game? A trading commodity?"

Nero took her hand. "Stop being a princess. Let Amaryllis go forward with her plan of taking your cards and declaring the princess dead. Coriander gets their heirloom, they stop looking for you. This is the path I see. Do all that, but don't do it alone. Become my sister, Serena. Let my parents adopt you. Mom always wanted a daughter. She dotes too much on Altia, my wife will become spoiled."

Altia punched him with all her might. His forty Vigor against her fifteen Strength meant he ignored her.

"I like that," She said. "Think, Serena. You'll be the daughter of [Armsmaster] Byron and [Magus] Rhynne. My sister-in-law."

She hugged the nereid. The two cried a bit more. Nero let go of Serena's hand and returned to the couch opposite to them.

"Take your time," He said.

"Thank you. Both of you. I'll give it some thought, Nero," Serena said and stood up.

They too stood up and

"I... I need some time to think. Alone. I think I'll be down in the ocean. Under the waters. I'll be back for lunch. If that's okay with you."

"You don't have to ask," He opened the door for her.