I awoke in a position snuggled up between several girls in a bed as large as mine back home. It was able to fit all thirteen women with some lying awkwardly on top of one another. The last thing I remembered was using my fear ability on them with everything else as an incoherent blur. I wondered about how we arrived at this outcome and got up without disturbing them to let them sleep longer.

Luckily there was a private shower room available for use. A nice warm wash always set me in a great mood. I picked out a set of clothes to wear from my ring after exiting the shower. All of the women were still resting in a deep slumber with a few of them shifting around to make themselves more comfortable. I made my way to the hallways that led me here and hoped to find Eris and the others, following the path back to the main room we had dinner in last night.

I followed the smell of food accompanied by the sound of chatter coming from the room on my left. I sneaked towards the entryway of the room at the mention of my name.

“Where is Volatis and why isn’t he here with us?” Eris’s words carried an unsettling sense of weight.

“He’s no longer any of your concern.” The nonchalant reply sounded like Ella.

“I won’t ask twice.” The sound of scattering tableware was followed by a harsh thump. It sounded like something expensive was being flung across the room.

I felt obligated to hear out an answer and held back the urge to poke my head out into the doorway, ending the tense situation. “He’s been undergoing the test that I’ve prepared, since last night. I will have one of mine fetch him for you, but do try to calm yourself.” Ella’s tone remained haughty like everyone was beneath her.

The feeling of having someone watch out for me of their own accord was new to me. It was a nice thing to experience though I rather handle the situation and not have Eris start a fight on my behalf.

“Did you just tell me to calm down, I swear if you did any-” That was my cue to pop out, it was strange to see Eris so wound up.

“Hey…, everyone! What’s for breakfast? Uh…, Ella there’s broken glass near your feet. Be careful.” My awkward introduction caught both of them staring at me with a mix of emotions. Eris settled back down into a cross-legged sit as her face harbored annoyance.

Ella on the other hand looked stunned with a loss of words, but that only lasted a brief moment before she had the servants cleaning up the shards of glass off the floor.

I made my way to sit after Selka called out my name and offered her greetings. Jade stood up to let me sit beside Eris, taking the spot to my right to sit down.

“I’m not sure what Ella put you through and I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused.” Jade spoke as I couldn’t help eyeing Eris to my left, more concerned about what was eating away at her.

“As I said, we will have a long discussion later.” I spoke without looking at Jade and fixed my sight on Ella.

“Interesting, seems like her reason for following you wasn’t completely unfounded.” She said that while looking at both Jade then Eris, settling back on me. “How did you beat my flower garden?” She used the same condescending tone from earlier when speaking to Eris.

“You’ve been nothing but rude to me and my companions throughout our entire stay here. There is a limit to my patience.” I threw both rings she gave me last night with them clattering on the table directly in front of her. That smug look remained on her face without a lick of remorse, and that did it for me.

“Let me show you how I handled them last night.” This time I held nothing back. Every ounce of emotion burst forth, fully intent to see her bawling in a helpless fetal position.

The sound of a pop caused both of us to look down. The gemstone on her ring cracked with a visible line running down the center of it. The moment she moved her hand to inspect it, a weird shimmering object settled along my throat. The touch of cold steel connected to a hand and the figure appearing together at the same time.

My thoughts immediately went to trying to figure out where this mysterious enemy came from. There was no heartbeat even after their sudden appearance.

“You need to get that temper of yours under control. That’s no way to act as a guest here.” Ella’s voice was unphased about my attempted attack.

It wasn’t until she spoke that I caught a faint and very slow beat coming from the assailant. It made me question if this guard was here the entire time, even last night during our dinner, and that I happened to not notice him due to lack of awareness.

“Ah uh, you don’t want something bad to happen to your master, right?” Ella directed that to Eris who had stood up, about to answer the new threat.

I raised my hand to let her know that it was fine and to stand down. “Now that you know how I dealt with your little test, do you mind?”

“Much better behavior. As long as you don’t do that again, then we can wrap up your silly outburst.” Ella waited for my response and all I wanted to do was remove that narcissistic smile off of her face though did my best to hold back for now.

“Fine, but don’t push your luck.” If anything I was more concerned about everyone else aside from Eris on the off chance my life did get threatened to a deadly extent.

“I suppose that will suffice for one such as yourself. Return.” The masked guy faded back into stealth acting like some kind of shadowy bodyguard.

“Now that I passed your test and you won’t be getting Jade back, will you support us?” I made sure not to let any profanities slip from my mouth.

“Letting you keep Jade as your slave was one thing, however you’ve yet to gain my support.” Ella sipped on her drink while mentioning bothersome technicalities.

“Are you serious?”

“Though if you help with one of my issues I may reconsider.” Ella finished sipping her drink and continued her proposal. I didn’t like how this was turning into a wild goose chase but even still Jade declared this our best option.

“Sure, I’ll help but only on the assurance that you will support us from then on.” I almost wanted to take out an MRE, not trusting the food presented in front of us anymore but decided against it. In the end, if we were going to end up working together a basic level of trust was going to be needed.

My intention was to first discuss it with the others and to verify if there really was no other option than to work with Ella. I would rather her end up as an enemy so that I could get rid of her. The last thing I wanted was to have to hold back the constant urge to punch said ally. Let’s just hope her request to fulfill isn’t utter nonsense.