The sun is licking the horizon while flooding the landscape with intense orange glow.

In the middle of a spacious room with a checkered pattern tiled floor stands a single short oval coffee table. The surface is lacquered with dark burgundy-colored shellac and the sides have floral motifs carved into them. Next to it is a dark couch made out of leather.

On it, sitting in silence with one leg over the other, is Xlara. She moves her leg up and down, as if setting a rhythm with her foot.

｟Clack｠

The door to the room unlocks and a tall man enters. His steps are slow but loud against the floor as he approaches Xlara.

He's an imposing figure, with medium-length pointy ears, short black curly hair, and brown skin. His eyes are dark grey, a shade darker than Xlara's when in their natural state, almost pure black when not directly lit. He sports a dark brown coat covering most of his body, giving him a look of a gloomy tree trunk sliding across the floor.

Xlara turns her head towards him, with the usual expressionless look on her face.

「Hurry」 she commands impatiently, a tinge of irritation in her voice.

From behind the man's back, a head pops out — pale skin with dark purple hair reaching down to her neck, and two twitching cat ears protruding out the top. Feline yellow eyes pierce through Xlara with child-like interest and her small, girly button nose wiggles, sniffing the air.

「Ever so impatient, nihihi, shouldn't nya be resting?」 the catkin muses, revealing four small protruding canines.

Her steps behind the man are light on the floor and almost inaudible.

「I don't believe I called for you,」 Xlara says without making eye contact with her.

「Nyow nyow, let me in on some fun too,」 the catkin says with sparkles in her eyes and a grin that forms dimples in her cheeks.

The man looks at Xlara with a worried expression.

「Are you alright? I heard-」

「Will you hurry already?」 Xlara interrupts, her voice, while quiet and monotone, it bears a slight anger that not everyone would be able to pick up.

The man picks up his pace and, having reached Xlara, looks around her inquisitively.

「I'm sorry I took so long. Where is it?」 he says with a timid, slightly squeaky nasal voice.

Xlara points at the table, directing their gazes towards a small and bloodied fingernail placed on a piece of cloth.

「Ew, how much more of him are nya gonnya take? That's torture!」 the catkin stares at the nail with a mixed expression of disgust and bewilderment while standing next to the man. Her height, ears including, reaches to about the man's shoulder.

「It's fine. It's the only thing I am good at,」 the man says, forcing a strained smile on his face.

「Can you start already?」

Noticing Xlara's impatience, the man quickly takes out his hand, revealing fingers covered in bandages, bloodied around the tips. He holds it over the nail before starting an inaudible mutter.

A vortex of black smoke swirls around his hand, encircling it, and soon after the fingernail starts twitching before also being engulfed the same way.

Silence fills the room for a few moments before the sounds of two muffled female voices start to come from the nail.

「Eh— m-me?」

「Who else? Come here and show me your arm」

Sounds of shuffling follow.

「Wait, what— —doing? —should —focus— yourself.」

「It's fine— mine will— —do it after.」

「Yes, as I thought. You — use magic you can't— or this happens. I still — belie— were able to get through the —. You'll —me all about that later, but—, let me heal you.」

「Whoa, what!? You have healing —gic!?」

「Fortunately, the cuts are small and aren't—. This should only take about — to heal up. — shirt.」

More indistinct shuffling cuts off the voices.

「W-wait... ouch」

「Bear it, you need to lay—」

「Uww—」

Suddenly the fingernail starts folding into itself while turning an ashy burnt color. The sounds cut off and silence looms over the room once again.

Everyone looks at each other with solemn faces, without uttering a single word for a long while. The air is tense but finally, the silence is broken when a single droplet of sweat rolls down along the catkin's face before falling off and hitting the ground with an unusually loud tap.

「D-did she just say healing magic?」 the feline asks with an anxious face, the playful demeanor long gone, 「Wait, d-does that myean the Hero is here...?」 she adds, her face turning grimmer.

Xlara furrows her brows and winces while staring at the crumbled fingernail.

「Shit,」 she curses with a sharp, quiet voice before getting up quickly.

「I'm going,」 she adds out loud as she starts heading towards the door with quick steps, her face expressionless but gleaming with perspiration.

The man takes a seat and stares at the ground wide-eyed with both hands on his temples. The catkin embraces herself while standing and mutters in an apathetic laugh, 「Did we just poke a beehive? nyahaha...」

「What are we going to do now... Do we back off?」 the man asks quietly, his voice trembling.

「Nya... probably,」 the feline responds with a resigned expression.

§§§

Around that time, when the sun was still licking the horizon, its rays shone golden light onto the facade of the hidden mansion. If one were to step through the massive front door and head down the corridor, or even peak through one of the windows, they would see Rosaria sitting on the couch in the living room. They would notice she has changed into wearing a simple light pink one-piece that has a waist-high slit exposing her bare leg. Across the room from her, Percibell is lying sleeping on another couch while muttering something incomprehensible. Her modest chest is moving up and down rhythmically, while her head sometimes turns side to side.

The door opens abruptly and in comes Xal.

「What happened to the barrier?」 he asks as he's approaching Rosaria.

Rosaria turns her head with a relieved smile before frowning for a moment and staring at him with a doubting look on her face.

「How did you know?」

「The mana... it is fluctuating in some spots—,」 he replies with a little hesitation before cutting himself off once he takes a good look at the princess. 「What the hell is this? Tell me what happened, 」 Xal commands with brows furrowed.

At that moment, Percibell starts shifting on the couch, 「Mmh... myuaa,」 she mumbles as she gets up, yawning with stretched arms above her head. She then looks around the room side to side a few times with tired and unfocused eyes while mumbling and wiping off her drool.

「Fnaaa... mnhm,」 she concludes, her voice sounding proud as if having revealed the solution to the world's problems. She yawns once more and stretches her back.

Her gaze turns towards a smiling Rosaria in front of her, and her eyes take a short while to focus while her ears start twitching.

「Fhueeee!?」 she exclaims once the realization kicks in.

Her eyes widen and she backs away, only to collide with the backrest of the couch blocking her escape. Noticing she has no way to escape, she instead resigns to her fate by immediately prostrating herself with both feet on the couch.

「I-I'm s-s-sorryy!!」 she says panic-stricken and ears twitching more vigorously.

Xal and Rosaria look at each other, the latter not knowing whether to laugh or scold the little elf. Xal's shrugging seems to make her decide.

「Relax, I won't do anything,」 Rosaria responds with a sweet smile.

「Uwwwuu,」 Percibell, not knowing what to say, fixes her pose, trying to sit up properly as droplets of sweat roll down her face and her ears droop.

She peeks at Xal for a moment before cowering in fear. Realizing it's the first time she formally meets him, she decides to peek again, taking a good look at him.

He's tall enough to feel as if towering over her, even at a distance. His imposing, golden-brown eyes complement the dark shade of his skin, the brows locked in what looks like a slight scowl.

Having made eye contact, Percibell becomes flustered and promptly moves her eyes back down while trembling slightly.

When Xal walks up to Rosaria and sits to her right, the elf seems to move away, wanting to get away from him.

「Well, looks like something definitely happened here. You know I don't appreciate secrets, Rosaria,」 he says, ignoring the elf as he playfully flicks his index finger on Rosaria's forehead, to her displeasure.

Xal nears her face with a serious look, ignoring her pout.

「Wait, you look remarkably pale and... so weak... your mana's low too. Why?」 he says with a hand on her cheek, making her jitter.

Rosaria shows him a resigned grin, one that indicates that she can't hide anything from him.

Xal's serious gaze evaluates her for a few seconds before he commands,「Rosa, turn around.」

Curious about the ordeal, Percibell's ears stand to attention and she watches them from the far end of the couch.

With reluctance, Rosaria turns her body to face Xal before his hand moves to her waist and grabs her one-piece dress by the slit and slowly drags it upwards, revealing her naked crotch and ass, no underwear in sight, while he looks around her sides.

Witnessing this, Percibell blushes heavily and quickly averts her head while letting out a stifled yelp.

Xal continues scanning and pulling the clothes up her side until her stomach comes in plain sight. Around her flank he finds a huge bluish mark spanning the whole side, just under her ribcage, and little inwards towards the center of her stomach.

Percibell lets out a loud gasp, and her ears start trembling.

「What is the meaning of this?」 Xal asks agitated, 「who dared hurt you?」 he shouts before turning an accusing gaze towards the elf, causing her to shriek in fear.

「No wait Xal, it wasn't her,」 Rosaria tries to calm him down, holding onto his shirt.

「God damn it, Rosaria!」 he growls.

「Why didn't you tell me earlier?! What about your lightning shield?」 he asks while clenching his jaws in anger. 「Where is that vile cur, I'll kill him! Or was it the beasts!?」

Percibell watches on in astonishment while shifting her curled-up legs.

「Relax, I did use it, but she wasn't someone ordinary, so please stop,」 Rosaria pleads.

She tries to embrace him but Xal leans back to take another look at the blue mark before asking, 「Why aren't you healing it? Shouldn't you have enough mana by now?」

Rosaria looks at him suspiciously, 「What? Are you telling me you can see mana?」

「Huh? Wait... I」 Xal hesitates.

Rosaria sighs silently and deciding not to press any further, says, 「I was waiting for it to replenish before you came.」

She turns her head towards Percibell who immediately averts her gaze again.

「Show me your arm,」 she commands the elf.

「Eh, who? M-me?」 Percibell points at herself while looking left and right.

「Who else? Come here and show me your arm」 Rosaria reiterates.

Percibell hesitatingly gets up before approaching Rosaria with her arm out. Xal notices cuts and dried blood covering her fist.

「Wait, what are you doing?!」 he yells before putting out his hand, signaling the elf to stay away.「You should first focus on yourself.」

「It's fine, mine will take longer, I'll do it after,」 Rosaria responds with a calm voice.

After a few more nudges from Rosaria, Xal puts down his hand, allowing the elf to again approach with careful and fearful steps while watching out for Xal. She shows Rosaria her arm.

「Yes, as I thought. You shouldn't use magic you can't handle, or this happens. I still can't believe you were able to get through the barrier. You'll tell me all about that later, but first, let me heal you.」

Percibell tilts her head before realization kicks in, 「Whoa, what!? You have healing magic!?」

Her eyes widen with surprise.

「Fortunately, the cuts are small and shallow. This should only take about half an hour to heal up. Take off your shirt,」 Rosaria responds calmly before grabbing the hem of her shirt to help her take it off, leaving her upper body bare.

Percibell drops the shirt on the ground and anxiously peeks at Xal while trying to hide her modest chest with her unhurt arm, her cheeks and twitching ears as red as cherries.

Rosaria grabs her arm and puts it on her lap.

「W-wait... ouch」 Percibell winces in pain and accidentally steps on her shirt.

「Bear it, you need to lay still.」

「Uwwuu...」

She covers Percibell's fist with her hand until a bright, golden glow appears around them.

「S-so... you weren't lying... You really are the Princess,」 Percibell mutters absentmindedly.

「Fufufu, didn't I tell you?」 Rosaria responds, slightly amused.

Xal puts his hand on Rosaria's shoulder and leans over.

「Come on, tell me everything that happened. Now.」

Over the next hour, Rosaria recounts everything that took place since they had parted.