“The three of us, plus the count and his fiancée, who are busy flirting behind us.” Dia looked at the couple locking arms, and then turned her eyes away from the dazzling sight. “Super. And they’ve run off to pick up a toddler…can’t the two of them just get down to the baby business?”

Risti eyed Dia. “You say that now, but I’m willing to bet that you wouldn’t be pleased if Princess Dia had a child before her wedding and everything.”

“That’s impossible,” Dia replied. “You know that as well as I do.”

“…Maybe it’s not that impossible,” Risti murmured, before sighing. “At where we stand, I’ve grown aware of a few things, you know. Like…perhaps I need to apologise to the princess.”

“Apologise?” Dia echoed. “Did you do something wrong to her?”

Nero raised an eyebrow. “I thought the princess of Lustre has been gone for a very long time. How did you even wrong her?”

“Well, not literally,” Risti replied, before looking at the count and his fiancée. “I’m just acutely aware that I’ve been…holding on to an idealised image of her. That she is not just the representative, but also the standard of all that is beautiful in this world. She is…exemplary, but I’ve been using that very excellence and treating it as her natural state, when it’s probably something done out of necessity.”

“That’s not like you,” Dia noted. “What brought that on?”

“Well, after you tussle with counts, Bearers of Destiny and the Spirit Clones of the Coloured Gods, you begin to be a bit more aware of yourself and the people around you,” Risti replied, before stopping at a street stall. Buying some food, she passed some to Dia and Nero, before nibbling on a fishball. “You must have felt a bit uneasy after all that…forget it. Anyway, why are we just walking around the damn place? Aren’t we looking for assassins?”

Dia paused. “That’s a damned good point.”

“What are we supposed to be doing?” Nero turned around and asked. “Feels like we’re just strolling through Moon Street.”

“The two of us have a safehouse here,” Caroline replied.

“We use it sometimes, when the two of us want to get away from prying eyes.” Count Nightfall smoothed his clothes over. “We’re going to discuss things there. We already have a plan, after all. We just need hired muscle.”

“Me, basically.” Dia nodded.

“I definitely can contribute too,” Nero added. “I have very powerful skills designed to incapacitate targets.”

Risti cleared her throat. “Why does it sound like you guys are singling me out? I have one of the best surveillance skills in the world, so I’m definitely coming along.”

“You three can form a mercenary team on your own, to be honest,” Caroline assessed. “Bounty hunters too. Not bad, not bad. I’m feeling more confident now. What do you think, Aran?”

“I think the three of you should get more food to support my city’s economy, that’s what.” Nightfall stretched his body. “Go and buy more food. We’ll be using the safehouse for some time, and to make our lives easier, try not to go out.”

Dia couldn’t help but think that they were being unfairly extorted, but there was a reason for her to not complain either. For one, the two gluttons with her had left her with little for breakfast, and to make matters worse, their stomachs seemed to be bottomless holes that food entered but never left. In fact, they were still stuffing their faces with a mechanical cadence that was beyond scary.

As Dia purchased a nice big box of something called popcorn chicken — chicken cut into small, bite-sized pieces — she couldn’t help but think about the ongoing food crisis. While food prices were still under control, Dia had a feeling that this situation was just a fragile balance that would shatter at the right touch.

“Something wrong?” Risti asked.

“Thinking about food prices and everything,” Dia replied. “Count Nightfall, is your domain ready for any disruptions to food supply?”

Count Nightfall looked at her, his eyes shimmering faintly, and nodded. “We’re naturally prepared for such a thing. This is my city. Everyone in these walls are my people. I will not let them starve. Don’t worry, Dia.”

“We’re working with Schwarz to explore the concept of an underground food farm, as well as the best crops to grow. There are actually quite a few culinary dishes that are more ideal than the others,” Caroline added. “Aran’s really good at picking out dishes, and I’m really good at eating them.”

“Only because you’re too lazy to cook,” Nightfall replied. “You only ever cook on my birthday…I wish I can eat your food more.”

“Couples.” Nero muttered darkly.

“You’re quite the eligible catch,” Dia pointed out. “If you put your heart and mind to it, you’ll definitely find your significant other sooner or later.”

“Really?” Nero asked. “I’ll think about it. Opening myself to vulnerability is quite the scary prospect. I’m a tetra-folder with hundreds of years to go. If my lover dies before me, I think I might just go insane or something. In that case, why should I give someone my heart, when the possibility of turning mad with sorrow exists?”

“I really, really want to say that this won’t happen,” Dia replied, regarding the chunk of fried chicken in her hand thoughtfully.

“But it’s not impossible, right?” Risti shook her head. “After all, we just saw an entire city used as fuel for a blood sacrifice, as well as the many murders and kidnaps that happen all the time. Yet, these things usually go unnoticed by just about everyone.”

The three of them sighed.

In silence, the three of them plus a couple arrived at a small house. Other than a nice little garden, the house looked perfectly ordinary; there was no indication that this place was the hideout for Count and Countess Nightfall when they wanted to get hanky-panky.

“So, this is your lovenest,” Nero observed. “Are you sure you really want us to know about this place? We might just drop by at bad times.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t answer the door if you guys do drop by at bad times,” Nightfall replied. “And if you force your way in, we’ll have you spend the night in the palace dungeons, so that’s perfectly fine. Any other stupid questions?”

Nero forced out a laugh, and Nightfall turned away with a satisfied smirk on his face. “Now, roll along in. Don’t trip over anything, okay?”

Before long, the five of them were seated around a very small table, which was definitely meant for two instead. Dia, however, couldn’t find it in herself to complain, not with the count’s eyes sweeping around like a hawk, waiting for the first idiotic rabbit to hop up to speak.

The awkward silence was sporadically broken by the sounds of paper rustling. Fortunately, before the awkward silence could mature into really awkward silence, Caroline killed it off by clearing her throat.

“We’ve already narrowed down the possible locations of our target,” said Caroline, unaware of her fiancée’s roving eyes and her cowed audience. “She is hiding near Moon Street, but I have no idea why. I mean, we found her really easily…how many young women only have one arm, a sword and a mask on her face?”

“Maybe she’s trying to play that thing of how the shadow is darkest under the candle,” Risti suggested. “Unfortunately, Claud has very robust arrangements for this city…it’s nice to know that all temporary rentals must be reported, heh.”

“We also have our own secret police around the parts too,” Nightfall replied. “Mostly just informants that report to other people in my administration.”

“And you’re fine with telling us that?” Dia asked, surprised.

“Are you guys going to do anything with that information?” Count Nightfall leaned back on his chair and gestured elegantly. “No. A concealed weapon, while useful, may not be as useful as a sheathed one. Deterrence must be made known, with only the killing strokes hidden. That is the essence of maintaining security.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, by letting everyone know about the Shadows of Nightfall, everyone becomes aware of the need to stay on their toes and to remain good citizens. With the abundance of social welfare I offer, anyone who continues to partake in shady activities is almost certainly linked to dissidents to my rule.” Nightfall chuckled. “And another benefit is the mental pressure they give to weak-hearted plotters. Some of them break from their own fear.”

The relaxed smile on his face grew wider. “There are, of course, other reasons…but let’s not go into that for now.”

He tapped the map of Moon Street. “Anyway, the target is hiding in one of these three houses. We don’t want to cause any disturbance, especially since the target is alone, so we’ll have to seek out the target by sweeping these houses one by one—”

“No need,” Risti replied, cutting into his words with a confident grin. “Leave the rest to me, the expert at spying on people.”

Dia wanted to give her a thumbs-up, but considering how Risti had probably used her skills to spy on the Lustre Palace…