“So what’s up?” I was currently sticking my fork into the last slice of cake that Jane had baked for us, and sitting across from the woman in question herself. Hazeel and Conrad had both long since gotten blackout drunk with Jane’s stash, telling each other their best war stories and catching up on each other’s lives. Coincidentally, both had passed out and were currently sleeping in the living room beside us.

Jane swirled a glass of wine around in her hand, staring at it as if mesmerized by the sapphire liquid. “I’ll be blunt with you. I want you to promise me that you’ll come to the Azure Continent back from time to time to visit my granddaughter.”

I stopped my fork inches from my mouth and put down the slice of cake. “That’s it?” I cocked my head to the side and watched the calm expression slip from her face.

“That’s it!? You’re acting like I’m asking for a small favor here! Do you have any idea how busy you’ll be from now on!? First on reforging your blade,” she said, pointing to Dantae’s sheathed form on my back, “but not to mention what comes after.”

I shot up out of my chair, my fork clattering to the floor. “You know my future?” The demoness smirked and crossed her legs.

“Of course I do. Did you think I’d just let one of my benefactors go without at least knowing what lies ahead of them in the future?”

I leaned over the table so our faces were right next to each other. “Tell me what you know. Please, it’s to help another world like I helped yours.”

Jane poked my forehead and pushed me away. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself. I can’t tell you what the future will entail, or else I’ll end up like that.”

She pointed to her fireplace. “In flames?” I guessed, and her smile returned.

“No, but close.” She leaned back in her chair and took a big gulp of the sapphire alcohol. Dragon’s Tears, as she called it. She set the glass down on the table and exhaled before responding, “As ash.”

“Ah, I see.” I looked her dead in the eyes as I responded. Jane then started to laugh for seemingly no reason, and wiped away tears in her eyes.

“I can see why my daughter and Hazeel are both so fond of you. You’re an interesting person with a unique perspective.”

“Am I really?”

“Of course! I can’t think of how many other people would just react with a simple, ‘I see,’ when told someone across from them would erupt into a pile of ash.” She smiled at me, and I was once again reminded of how much her face looked like Bella’s.

Or, I guess, how much Bella’s face looks like hers.

“Ah, if only I were a few centuries younger. I might’ve been tempted to go after you like Hazeel. Alas, I’ve already experienced my soulmate with my husband, so there’s no longer any room for you.”

I shrugged, and she smiled, picking up her glass once more. “So… what ever happened to your husband? I notice you never mention him, and whenever the subject comes up, other people who would know are especially quick to change the subject.”

She immediately stopped taking her drink, and set the glass down solemnly. “There’s a reason for that.” She sighed. “I guess it’ll be alright to tell you. Not that you have a vested interest in this world beyond what it can do for you, anyway.”

I shrugged, fully accepting her accusations and pulled my chair in. We sat in silence for a moment, but I was more than willing to let her have all the time she needed. After some more contemplation, she opened her mouth to speak.

“My husband’s name was William Azeur, the founder of the Azure Empire and progenitor to its rulers.”

“Wow you’re older than I expected.” I let that errant thought escape my lips and Jane softly dug her sharp fingernail into my forehead.

“You’re quite the rude child, aren’t you?” She took her nail away, letting a tiny pinprick of blood trickle down. The look in her eyes changed and she sighed. “Sorry, I got a little carried away with my strength there.”

I chuckled and wiped away the blood. “Please, that’s not even close to the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. Don’t worry about it.”

Jane gave me a sad look and shook her head. “Just because it’s not the worst thing, doesn’t mean that it isn’t bad in it’s own right. Learn to take care of yourself more. My husband certainly didn’t.”

I took a drink of water and said nothing, opting to wait for her to speak on her own. Finally she took another drink of Dragon’s Tears, and emptied the glass. “William was an interesting man. He had so many quirks, so many things that made him funny, and I loved him for them. He was, and still is, the funniest man I’ve ever met. Unfortunately…”

She trailed off, and abruptly stood up. She walked up to a cupboard, and pulled out another bottle of the damned drink before filling her glass. Seemingly satisfied by the weight of her cup, she took that in one hand, the bottle in the other, and returned to her seat.

“Unfortunately, what none of us realized… what I didn’t realize, was that all those quirks I loved were caused by a mental illness, one that ate away at his reasoning and left him a bitter and nonsensical person.”

She looked at the glass and set it to the side, forgoing it in favor of drinking straight from the bottle. “The first emperor of the Azure Empire became its first tyrant, and he changed the structure of the republic to a monarchy to give himself absolute power, a tradition that’s been kept with the more recent rulers.”

“Brave heroes and common soldiers alike came forward in order to reclaim their livelihoods, but by that time the king was too far gone to go down without a fight. Luckily I never had a child with him.” I looked up at that last line.

“What do you mean? Are you not also the mother of the Azeur bloodline?” I looked at her incredulously, but she shook her head.

“Nothing of the sort. That was a woman named Cecilia, who was concubine to Azeur while I was his wife. Once political strife arose and I left him, he took his frustrations out on Cecilia in the bedroom, which, from what she told me, she was more than happy to accept.”

I stared at her, dumbfounded. “Then who was Rora’s father!?”

Jane flashed a self-deprecating smile and shook her head. “I know who it is, not that it would help much. He isn’t someone notable, just someone I took a fancy to about thirty or some such years ago.”

The gears instantly clicked in my head and I looked over to Conrad, lying on the floor with a flushed face and a smile on his lips. I didn’t look back at Jane as I asked, “Did you ever tell Bella that he was her…”

Jane shook her head. “No, I didn’t want to shame myself in front of my granddaughter, having the child of a man without ever marrying him. Not that he never tried.” She smiled softly this time, warmly, and a sigh escaped her.

“If only I’d opened my heart a bit sooner, maybe I would have accepted his proposals. By that time, he was my tenth partner and I didn’t think that I deserved his love and affection.”

“And you still don’t feel that way?” I asked the demoness, but she remained silent in the face of my question. Taking another sip from the bottle, she sat up and looked me in the eyes.

“To be honest, I don’t know. I’m scared to find out how he feels about me now, but there’s nothing I can do. Ah, I should probably tell you this.”

This time I sat up to match her posture while listening. “Rora wasn’t the first child I’d had. I mentioned before that Conrad was my tenth lover, but I didn’t have so many children. Rora was only my fifth, and the only child of mine to ever conceive one of her own.”

She paused, but I said nothing. Taking it as a sign to continue, she said, “You may run into some of my sons or daughters while you are travelling the Gold continent. They are a restless bunch, and don’t tend to stay in one place for too long, so you might not encounter any at all. That being said, I don’t think fate is so kind as to spare you from running into more Clairbornes.”

She smiled at that last thought, and stood up at her seat. “Come now, it’s getting late. My main message still stands: please visit my daughter from time to time. Don’t let her become lonely and vindictive, like William. You’re the first friends she’s ever made in her life. Not that she won’t make more, but your first is always special.”

I brought my cake with me as I followed her up the stairs and into the room I had woken up in during my very first days in this dimension. She left after saying goodbye, and I soon finished my cake and was lying down on the large, soft bed. It had been a long time since then, and I definitely grew as a person since arriving. That being said, I still had a long road ahead of me, and whether or not that ended in success or failure, I would see it through until the end.

---

I woke with a start as I gasped for breath. I tried to turn my head, but something was holding me in place. With great effort, I craned my neck and got my nose out from whatever was smothering me long enough to get a breath. Now with air finally in my lungs, I calmed down and took stock of the situation.

Hazeel had climbed into my bed, which I’m assuming happened at some point during the night. Her right leg was currently resting against the left side of my body, and her left was draped over my abdomen. She was hugging my head in a vice-grip, and smothering my face in her breasts.

Sighing, I teleported to the bedside, causing her to mumble something unintelligible before turning over away from me. I sighed, and headed downstairs to find both Conrad and Jane waiting… only, something was different.

Jane was sitting in Conrad’s lap, and he had an arm around her waist as they sat drinking coffee.

Conrad noticed me first and waved with his free hand. “Ah! Leon, my boy. We made a cup for you as well, please get it off the counter if you’d like.” I walked over and picked up the cup of black magic before turning back to face them.

“So… care to explain what happened, Ms. Clairborne?” Her face lit up crimson and Conrad laughed at her.

“That’s Mrs. Clairborne now, boy. I proposed to her last night after hearing your conversation. I never knew that Rora was my daughter, although I had a feeling. We’re officially engaged, and she’s going to be moving back to Songrande with me.”

Jane hid her face on Conrad’s shirt, causing me to smirk. “And you were being so melodramatic last night about how Hazeel and I needed to keep Bella company. Just do that yourself you overprotective grandmother.”

Conrad laughed once more. “She’s always been afraid that Bella wouldn’t want to keep her company after she grew up.” He hugged her closer. “Now that I’m here, she won’t ever have to worry about that again.” She looked up, regaining her composure, and the two shared a quick peck on the lips.

“What’s going onnnnnnn?” Hazeel stretched towards the end of her sentence, walking into the room clad only in her lingerie. Conrad blushed and Jane covered his eyes.

“Gods damn you woman! Have some decency!” Jane complained to the wood elf, but her armor of sleepiness was all but impenetrable.

“I smell coffee~ahh.” She yawned and glommed on to my back. “Leon, coffee please.” I sighed and handed her my cup, an action that managed to drive the gremlin off my back.

She walked out of the room as I shouted at her, “Finish whatever you’re doing in half an hour! We’re leaving for the docks soon!”

A muffled, “Ow,” as she walked into the bannister was my only response. I turned back to continue my conversation with Conrad and Jane about their planned wedding. I was happy for the two of them, and promised to go when they formally sent out the invitations.

Thirty minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Hazeel and myself were standing outside of Jane’s mansion, as the demoness handed us a small bag. “You’re sure you don’t want to come with us? It’ll be way faster than taking horses to the capital.”

Jane shook her head and smiled. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m alright. I’d like to enjoy my ride with Conrad. Given how much time we’ve spent apart, we have a lot of catching up to do.”

I nodded and opened a black hole behind Hazeel and myself. “Got it. If you ever have a problem, send one of your magic messages to Hazeel and she’ll relay it back to me.”

“Will do.” I stuck out my hand for a shake, and she pulled me in for a hug. “I’m going to miss you Leo. It truly was a pleasure meeting you.”

I smiled, and Hazeel and I said our final goodbyes as we walked through the portal.

“Gods’ rotting corpses!” Brago Shields gasped as we stepped into Bella’s throne room. To him, it probably looked as if Hazeel and I had stepped out from nothingness itself. Brago looked at me in particular with reverence and disbelief, but I promptly ignored him and set my sights on my actual target.

“Why can’t you two enter the castle like normal people?” Bella sighed and beckoned us towards the throne, by which a very portly man was kneeling. The man got up, and glanced from Bella and back to us multiple times.

“Queen Belladonna, these people are…?” Twitching like she had just gotten awoken from some stupor, Bella shook her head and pointed accusingly at us.

“I’m so sorry Count Verde, every time these people come in, I slip back into bad habits. However, I did promise them something, and it would be remiss of me not to deliver. I hope we can continue our conversation another day.”

The count bowed low and deep, a graceful smile on his face. “Think nothing of it. Know that I think of you as my niece. I don’t know if you remember but you used to come over-”

“And play with Jess when we were both little toddlers. I remember.” Bella smiled warmly. “I want to have dinner with you at some point. I’ll send a messenger within the next few days, please accept, and feel free to bring your close family with you.”

The man smiled, bowed, and exited the room. Bella then turned to us, and held out what looked like two plastic membership cards. “Here is your travel permit, signed directly by me. The battleship, the Queen Rora, is waiting for you at the docks. Off you go now.”

When we stayed standing in front of her, she turned her head away. “I said go. Leave. You are no longer-” She was cut off as Hazeel embraced her from the side.

“I’ll miss you so much Bella!” Bella started to tremble, and turned back to Hazeel with tears in her eyes.

“I don’t want you to leave!” She sobbed. “I want to continue travelling with you!” She continued to cry, but I knew she couldn’t just up and leave, which she also knew deep down.

Hazeel continued to hold her until the end of her crying fit, and when they separated, both of them had red and puffy eyes. “We’ll come back.” The two turned their heads to look at me. “This won’t be the last time we meet, I promise. And besides, I’m probably going to need the backing of a country to reclaim my world. I just hope you’ll have my back at the time.” I opened a portal and beckoned Hazeel forward. The wood elf gave Bella one last hug before coming to my side.

“Goodbye Leo.” Bella gave me a sad smile. That look was replaced by one of bewilderment as I teleported to her side and hugged the demoness.

“Goodbye, Bella.” She smiled and started tearing up again as we walked through the second black hole of the day.

Stepping out a moment later, we were at the docks of Songrande, being stared at by some very bewildered fishermen. “They- they just-!”

“Out of thin air!”

“They can’t see it?” Hazeel asked as she walked behind me towards the Queen Rora, a magical battleship that the former prince, Bella’s father, had created.

“Nah, normal people can’t see the black holes. That’s what makes them so dangerous.” We each flashed our cards and took a parcel of paper from the man standing outside the ship, and walked on board.

“Huh, that was easier than I thought.” Hazeel said, dumbfounded.

I nodded in assent as the ship started to leave the port. “Yeah, the action is always the easy part. It’s the waiting that’s hard.”