It was evening before we saw hide or hair of our friendly neighborhood moon elf. Contrary to my expectations, Eina stumbled in through the doors of the room, and staggered forward several times before finding her way to the round table we had met at only one night before.

“What in the hells happened to you?” Hazeel was at a loss for words upon seeing the drunken elf, and frankly, so was I. We had left her perfectly under control last night, so I wondered what had changed since then.

“No~thing much.” Eina sat down hard into her chair, causing the table to violently wobble.

“Ok, if this is nothing, then why aren’t we dealing with the person you presented yourself to be as yesterday?”

Hazeel’s question seemed to strike at something in Eina, who set down a piece of paper onto the table before curling up into her own arms.

I picked it up, while Hazeel and Vanessa leaned into my shoulders to see it for themselves. “To the ignoble Eina Moonrose,” I began reading, “Your crimes against humanity, and demihumans alike have not been forgotten. The sin of carnage still rests on your shoulders. To atone for these sins, only the forfeit of your free will shall be necessary. We have included a slave collar spell within this parchment, you need only pour some magic in for it to activate. Once it does, we will reveal our true selves.”

“When did you get this?” Vanessa asked, tossing the letter into a voidspace that she opened up behind her.

“Ah…” Eina reached for the letter before sighing, and putting her head down on the table once more.

“Last night I assume. After I went to sleep, I woke up and it was on the nightstand next to the bed. I didn’t even sense an intruder yesterday.”

I closed my eyes in thought, but Hazeel decided to come to a conclusion on her own. “Then, it can’t be the prince or princess of the Gold Continent.” I didn’t realize how she could possibly come to that conclusion, and apparently, neither did Eina.

“What the hells do you mean!? There’s no one else who could have possibly done it!” Eina stood up furiously, causing her chair to clatter against the stone floor.

“Eina, calm down.” Hazeel stood up from her chair and looked directly into Eina’s eyes. Her voice had a certain sense of gravity to it, and the moon elf’s knees began to shake under the pressure that Hazeel was exuding.

Hazeel sighed and sat back down, much to Eina’s relief. “Gods, you freak!” Eina shouted, tossing a small glass at Hazeel, who dodged it.

“You need to calm down, Eina, or I will make you. Believe me, you wouldn’t like that one bit.” Eina bit her lip, hard enough to draw blood, and picked up her fallen chair before taking a seat in it once more.

“I… am… calm.” Eina spoke through gritted teeth, and she drummed her fingers on the table forcefully. Vanessa and I shared glances, but Hazeel didn’t seem the least bit concerned.

“In the first place-!” Eina began, shouting at Hazeel. She seemed to catch herself from the outburst and coughed to reset her tone. “In the first place, how can you be so sure that they aren’t the culprits. There is literally no one else who could have the power or clout to do all these things to me.”

Hazeel shook her head. “In truth, I do have a general idea of who is behind all this.” Eina’s eyes went wide, and I looked the wood elf in the eyes.

“Why is this the first I’m hearing of this?” I asked, and Hazeel merely shrugged.

“It is exactly because of what I said in the statement. I have a general idea, and need some more time to prove that general idea right or wrong.”

“Ok, I trust you.” I said, and Eina’s jaw gaped at the exchange. “Listen, I get that you’re trying your best, but I don’t want to keep being harassed if-”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Vanessa said, and stood up. “I’ll be following your every move and guarding you from the shadows.”

Eina looked unsettled and said, “Oh, please, that’s really not necessary.”

“Nonsense.” Vanessa replied, and gave the moon elf a once over. “I’m great at covert operations, so I doubt you’ll even notice where I am at all times.”

I was stumped as to when Hazeel and Vanessa had discussed this, so I turned to the former for answers, but all I got was a look of confusion in return. So it wasn’t discussed beforehand?

Vanessa stood up, and walked next to Hazeel. She whispered something into the wood elf’s ear that made her eyes widen, and look up at Vanessa. Dantae smiled, and walked over to Eina before touching her shoulder and warping them both out of the room.

“What was that about?” I asked Hazeel, but she simply averted her gaze from mine.

“Vanessa wanted to give us some time together, so she thought she could kill two birds with one stone and watch over our reluctant client while she’s at it.” She completed, but I could tell that I was still in the dark over the entire reason.

“Hazeel, what are you hiding from me?” Despite her dark complexion and aversion to embarrassment, she couldn’t help it that her ears were dyed in a mixture of caramel and crimson.

“V-Vanessa felt bad that she had been hogging you since we set out from Rexir’s hometown last month, so she wanted to give me a few nights alone with you, after we have investigated a little, of course.”

I nodded, and brought my arms around her. She flinched, but didn’t resist as I pulled her back into my chest. “Thanks for putting up with that, Hazeel. I know you went out of your way to give the two of us some space, and we both love you for that.”

I hugged her tightly, with both my arms across her shoulders and above her chest. Resting my head on hers, I gave one of her ears a light kiss, which sent out a shriek from the startled elf.

I let her go, but she didn’t move from my lap. It was only after I mentioned that I had an idea of where we should go first that she shakily got up, and took my hand. I made sure to intertwine our fingers as I opened up a portal, and together we walked out into the best place I could think of: Rexir's place. Or, to be more specific: the Minami’s Palace.