Through the gap in the door, she peeked on the black-haired girl.

The girl skipped through the room. Her eyes couldn’t stand still. They jumped from one object to another, and she did too. She spun around like a ballerina, refusing to remain still while these ice-blue eyes radiated whenever they spotted anything.

How could she have so much energy? And why did she run around like a monkey? Had she never seen a castle before? One day, she would have to ask her father why he let this common folk blemish her home.

Everything the girl saw, she would touch with her hands. Because she had devoured an unreasonable number of sweets minutes before, filth had made her hands sticky.

But did she wash her hands? No, she didn’t. This intruder wouldn’t care about the most basic manners if she even knew about such etiquette. But perhaps she had fooled herself to expect better from those below her.

And, of course, she muddied her most prized possession while she was grinning like an idiot.

That was enough. That girl intruded on her home, made a lot of noises, and now, she had touched the one thing no was ever allowed to touch without her permission.

Why couldn’t she go away and die?

֎

“Princess Adler.” A voice called her.

Aura raised her eyelids, her head resting on her arm.

She peered outside the car window. They had driven inside a tunnel. The light had diminished, and only the lamps that had been etched into the walls spent illumination.

“Princess Adler.” The voice repeated her name, adding a layer of roughness to it.

“Yes?”

The tiredness disappeared from Aura at once. She straightened her body and looked at the driver’s seat where Captain Fran was steering the car’s wheels.

A second later, it dawned on her that with her Fylgja active, Captain Fran wouldn’t notice that she had changed her posture. From her perspective, Princess Aurelia Adler was smiling at her without answering. It would raise suspicion if the fake Aura didn’t react during a conversation.

Had she been daydreaming? How tired did she have to be? And why did she remember the first time she met Ragna? The two shared many fond memories, but she wouldn’t count their first encounter among them. Oh, how she used to hate Ragna with every fiber of her heart.

Captain Fran sighed. “I’m a Captain and commissioner of Midgard’s police department. I’ve more important stuff to do than playing your babysitter this early in the morning.”

“I wouldn’t need a Captain as a bodyguard if you had managed to catch those conspiring to end my life.” Aura’s voice roughened, matching Captain Fran’s tone. Her illusion crossed her legs. “You may call it the height of arrogance, but my death can spark another world war. And we’re this early because the generals of our army demanded an audience with me. They think they can manipulate me to convince my father to start another world war.”

These relics didn’t see her for her merits. For them, she existed as an extension of her father, and they explained her power thus. Why did a woman’s success so often get attributed to a man? Men’s ability to try to trace a woman’s career to a man’s success was astonishing. But if a woman failed, they would put the blame solely on her. And others had it worse than her. How many had accused Ragna of sucking up to her father – figuratively and literally?

“This is what happens when you decide to ignore common sense and send Rory Skyfrost after Ragna Griffin. As far as I can see, he’s doing his best to obstruct the investigation as much as possible. Ragna Griffin’s been missing since their fight on top of the Bifröst, too.”

The illusion shrugged. “You’re complaining to the person who was in a coma for almost two months. You’d think that it would’ve deescalated tensions between the kingdoms, but the powder keg’s getting more violate.”

“Of course, it is.” Captain Fran chuckled. “Princess, you have a great future ahead of you, but you’re still a child.”

“I’m twenty-two.” The illusion smiled, and Aura’s tone remained calm while her face scowled. “If I’m old enough to be executed and get married or have my face deepfaked on a woman performing sodomy, I’m old enough to be considered an adult.”

“That’s not how it works. Death and lust give a rat’s ass about children. Princess, you’re awfully naïve if you believe that you alone could end thousand years of tensions with some feel-good speech.”

“I didn’t. But easing the tensions my failed assassination caused shouldn’t be unreasonable, right?”

“Great.” On the rear window, Captain Fran rolled with her eyes. “We’ve got ninety-nine problems, but at least you ain’t one. Starting with the dead-brain idea to let our suspect investigate himself.” She raised her voice. “Of course, he stopped. Why would he want to incriminate himself?”

“But didn’t Skyfrost halt their investigations because they had to pay for the damage the fight at the Bifröst caused?”

Captain Fran sneered. “Quite convenient, isn’t it? Just like the sudden attack on the Verne. And would you know, it just so happened that Altera Xion was boarding the ferry at that time.”

Her illusion remained unchanged, and Aura tried her best to maintain the same stature as it.

She couldn’t think about the possibility. Altera and Ragna were fine. They had promised her they would return alive. Their obligation to her prohibited them from dying.

“Skyfrost, who – we shouldn’t forget – is about as trustworthy as a priest in a kindergarten, suddenly had a reason not to investigate a conspiracy where he’s one of the prime suspects. Then, the other investigator, Altera Xion, died under mysterious circumstances. And it just so happened that Captain Nemo, who was in charge of the Verne, turned out to be the notorious pirate Dhakkar. I’m not one to believe in conspiracy theories, but that’s one too many coincidences.”

Aura lowered her eyelids. “Regardless of what truly happened, the world noticed these as well. Everyone’s wary of Vaix more than usual. Cadet Xion’s beauty had mesmerized the public. They wished her to succeed, and now, their loss strengthened their hatred.”

“Even the Allfather had high hopes for her. In my entire carrier, I’ve never seen him take interest in any potential Valkyrie. He even decided what her Bragi would be.”

“He did? That’s unusual.”

“He said he saw a grand future for her. Seems, he was wrong.” Captain Fran shrugged. “It’s a shame that she’ll never reach her full potential, but that’s part of the norm for the Bragi. Not everyone will make it. The problem’s more that we already have a low number of Valkyries. Since Graswald and Naak can’t get off their asses and recruit some into their teams, we have a great total of eighteen. That’s not counting Skyfrost and Griffin, of course. Seven Captains, three Vice-captains, and eight regular Valkyries.”

“That’s on top of the unstable situation in Aes. We’ve no idea who could be our allies. If we provide enough evidence for Vaix’s guilt, Eren will be with us. Avalon could go either way. It depends on which side they see as more lucrative. But if Avalon allies with us, Utgard will become our enemy. If Utgard is with us, Avalon will join Vaix. And lastly, Kemet-Raa would give their support to Vaix without question. They haven’t forgiven us for our actions in Baghdad.”

Captain Fran nodded. “Unlike you, I see merit in necessary war. It’s a way to secure peace as well, as paradox it might sound, and allows one to reach goals without compromise. But a world war destroys everything.”

The illusion shook her head. “And yet, the generals wish to bang the war drums.”

“They’re glory hounds. It’s all a contest of measuring dicks for them.” On the rear mirror, Captain Fran’s face grimaced in disgust. “They would gladly burn Aes if it meant that they could hang another medal on their penises.”

“Wonderful.” Aura rolled with her eyes. “What a wonderful event to start the day.”

“You can thank our system for that. It basically encourages nepotism.”

“I would rather not.”