Nvili stood on the boat’s bow, admiring the horizon. He’d always liked horizons, especially on the ocean. He liked how straight the line that distinguished land and sky was. There was a clear, inarguable dichotomy between the elements that made up the view. He thought it was shame that no other lines in life were drawn so cleanly.

He didn’t know what to feel about overthrowing a seemingly stable government just for some money. There’d probably be a genocide in there too at some point, all for a paycheck. Was that really okay? The people around him seemed to think so, but he wasn’t so sure.

Of course, it wasn’t purely for the coin. Even though he was only in his early twenties, he already had several times more money than he’d ever be able to use. He could have said no and been done with it, but he hadn’t.

He didn’t know why he’d said ‘yes’ to the mission, and that bothered him above anything else. Was it out of habit? A sense of duty perhaps? Maybe it was just pure greed. He didn’t know. Nvili’s best friend, Saul, was there too. He worried that by agreeing to partake in the mission, he’d pressured his friend into doing something he otherwise wouldn’t have.

In recent months, those kinds of thoughts had grown more and more until he couldn’t ignore them anymore. He worried about what direction his actions were leading him.

One of his coworkers, the stony-looking Rivv, came up behind him and broke his chain of thought, “A Messenger Bird just came by. Canta thinks it’s important so we’re meeting under the deck.”

“Understood.” The started walking towards the meeting room, “What’s the outlook?”

“Not sure what to make of it. It’s from none other than Alissa Grivelspyre. A warning, we think.”

“A warning?”

“We’ll go into detail in the meeting room. Canta has been analyzing it for a while now, she’ll know more.”

“Right.” Nvili didn’t know what to make of it. The fact that she’d been able figure out their route and gotten a message to their ship was unsettling enough, but a warning? Other than something along the lines of “I’ll kill you guys if you come here,” it was hard to imagine what she might have to tell them.

♦

It had been a few days since Ronny had seen Alice. He knew that she was supposed to be somewhere in the palace, so it seemed strange that she hadn’t even stopped by to say hello. Especially since he and Enzi had been getting injured so frequently.

That was why he decided to visit her before going into the forest that night, just see how she was doing. The question, though, was how to find her. General Risitro and The Queen were only people in the palace that knew her true identity, and he wasn’t really in a position to just show up to the throne room and ask where she was.

It was a good thing that they were as resourceful as they were. After a full day of pointing out Enzi’s horns to everyone they came across, rumors started—especially among Demons. It didn’t take long for Risitro to catch wind, and by the time evening rolled around, Enzi found himself laying in a secluded little room with the general sitting across from him.

Risitro sounded less confident than usual. It was almost as though he was scared of something, “You claim that your horns have changed to bear the mark of royalty?”

“I’m not making any claims. All I’m saying is that my horns have red rings on them now. You can interpret that how you want to.”

Enzi was indeed different than the last time they’d met. Not just in appearance, but in demeanor as well. Risitro noticed that he was more meticulous in choosing his words now, “You have indeed changed somewhat, though I think that’s mostly unrelated to the horns… On the topic of the horns though, I see that they are indeed authentic. I hadn’t expected you to lie, but I still hadn’t expected your claims to be genuine.”

“So they are real then. If these are indeed the mark of royalty, what implications will that have for me?”

“First and foremost, I’m interested to know if you did anything special to acquire them. Secondly, it’s likely that my father will command you to go back to Sundenspur for an audience with him. You might be added to the line of succession—or killed. I can’t control him.”

Enzi frowned, “I can’t answer your first point right now, but you should know that I won’t return to Sundenspur. Regardless of the King’s demands.”

“I see.” The Prince took a moment to think, “You know… If I were entirely loyal to my father, I would have you executed for saying something like that. Consider yourself lucky that I have goals of my own. Goals that I could use someone like you for.”

“I’m surprised that you can tell that to a peon like me. I’ll consider myself lucky then.” He continued, “Anyways, is there anything that these horns do? Or are they just for decoration?”

“I’d like to know that myself. You don’t seem to have any mana, so probably not… but I wouldn’t be bewildered have something that’s never been seen before though.” He paused, “Say, did Ronny McKitty have a part in your transformation?”

Enzi looked up at the ceiling, “I don’t know…”

“I see,” Risitro rose from his chair, “Thank you for your time. I’ll keep this out of The Queen’s ears.”

Just as The Prince was about to reach for the doorknob, Enzi remembered Ronny’s request. “Where is Alice?”

Risitro shrugged, “Hmm… I don’t believe in lying, and since you know her personally, I suppose you—or more precisely, Mr. McKitty, who I’m assuming told you to ask—can be allowed to know. She left the palace yesterday. Nobody knows where she is.” He left the room before Enzi had a chance to respond.