Rosaria looks at Xal, his body leaned back and eyes staring absentmindedly at the ceiling.

「What are we going to do...?」 the princess asks him.

Xal responds with silence, gaze still fixated at some point in the plasterwork. In a moment, Rosaria instead turns to Shanii with raised eyebrows.

「Did he need you for anything else...? Don't tell me you plan to stay here forever,」 she asks with accusing eyes.

Shanii responds with a placid smile, turning to Xal, who still hasn't changed position, and then back at the princess, lowering her head, looking a bit unsure of what to say.

「I need her,」 Xal suddenly voices.

He puts his hands together and, with furrowed eyebrows, leans forward on the table behind his knitted fingers. Although he wears no glasses which could reflect the interior lighting, his eyes themselves show the same sparkle — a grand plan in store.

「I need her powers. She will be aiding in my search of something here, in Wilderness,」 he adds.

「Search of what?」 Rosaria asks, puzzled.

Xal stares at her in contemplation for a brief moment before casting his gaze back to the table, prompting the princess to grind her teeth.

｟cough｠ ｟cough｠

Shanii coughs twice and shoots him a scrutinizing look, but Xal pays her no mind before moving the conversation along, 「With Hero having made his move, we can't just sit here idly. We'll have to leave in two weeks, me and Shanii. You stay here with the elf, you had your matters with the Nightslayers.」

A loud bang pierces the room when Rosaria abruptly hits the table with her palms, but is apparently not strong enough to knock over the tea set.

「Yes, I did, but why won't you tell me? It's as if you don't trust me!」 Rosaria shouts with a shrill voice.

「Not now, Rosaria」 Xal looks at her with a tired expression and leans back into the chair.

The princess bites her lips while staring daggers at him, fuming, and points at the woman beside her,

「Why alone with her!? Can't we look all three together!? I don't approve of it!」

「What...? Didn't you just hear? There's no time to waste, we need to start moving, and it needs to be fast. Besides, what does it matter if I'm alone with her?」

Rosaria grits her teeth and hisses, 「Then at least... t-take Percibell with you」

「She would only get in the way. Listen, we can't risk that Nightslayer interrupting us. I trust you will resolve it properly」

「Hmph!」 the princess pouts before rising and starts walking out of the room with thumping steps, almost running into Shanii in the process, the latter quickly sidestepping and bowing respectfully.

Silence fills the room once more, but only for a brief moment when one, then two, then three taps resound. Xal notices how Shanii is hitting her tentacles against the floor while looking at him with barely concealed fury in her eyes.

「Xalvari,」 she calls out, her voice hoarse and ominous.

「Now you too?」 Xal replies while rubbing his forehead.

「Akhashal'ai, what the hell happened to you!? That's Princess Rosaria! How dare you disrespect her like that?」 she scolds him and taps the floor one last time with increased strength.

「Well, was I wrong? I thought we would've had a year or two, but those bastards are right around the corner! I need to prepare myself to fend them off or I'm dead!」

「This and that are two different matters! The sacred blessings of the Crown and the royal blood in her—」

「Screw the crown! The Kingdom! All of them! You should know what they did to me,」 Xal yells, shoving the tea set off the table with his arm, which causes the cups to break and spill tea all over the floor.

In a different room, Percibell's keen ears discern the sharp sound of shattering glass, and her body deflates at the side of the bathtub she's been preparing.

Shanii yelps at his outburst and quickly falls down on her knees before grabbing the cross on her chest and frantically sliding her palms together, eyes shut tightly.

「Stav-razia Algeth! Stav-razia Algeth! Goddess of peace, bring thy servants repose in this turbulent hour, hear the calling of the trembling voices. Grant us mercy of your calmness, ward us from the chaos, bring us...」

She continues praying while Xal ignores her and walks out of the room with a sour expression.

「Hey, Rosaria! Come here, I need you!」 Shanii hears him growl.

A few minutes later, a violent thumping sound echoes through the walls, followed by a short high-pitched scream, jolting Shanii out of prayer.

Slowly turning her head with disbelief, she stares at the wall, expecting more violent sounds to follow, but for a while is only met with silence.

「Nnh! ❤」

A moan suddenly comes through the wall, followed by a faint but rhythmic knocking sound, like pieces of wood colliding with plasterwork. More intense sounds come through, as if two people are wrestling each other. Their voices are joined by sounds of falling decorations and swift thumping steps.

「No... no... Xalvari... you wouldn't...」 Shanii voices with wide open eyes and hands covering her mouth.

「Ahhn.. ❤ Noo...! Right there! ❤」

Rosaria's voice clearly gets through, making Shanii shift her expression from one of incredulity to confusion.

Several taps on floorboards and sound of someone clearing their throat come from nearby, but she ignores them until hearing a feminine voice, distinctively different from the princess', 「Ehm... T-the bath is... ready... m-miss.」

Startled, her tentacles rise at attention while she lets out a yelp. Looking to her side, she spots the elf standing at a fair distance, close to the exit, fumbling with her hands while bearing a mortified expression. Her ears are beet-red and she avoids eye contact.

「Y-you can go take it... now.」 the elf adds through the thumping sounds coming from the wall.

Shanii switches her attention between the maid and wall in turn, while the thumping of wood on floorboards becomes increasingly ominous, each collision of the frame with the plasterwork threatening to crack the surface dividing them.

「Y-yes, yes, certainly!」 Shanii replies with an incredulous look before getting up and leaving the room with haste. She passes by Percibell, who skips away when she comes near, keeping her head down without sparing her a glance.

「J-just upstairs and the second room around the corner to the left...」 she says with a voice so low and timid it could be mistaken for a mumble.

§

An hour later Shanii exits the bathroom. Strolling along the hallway, she spots Xal walking up the stairs. She approaches him with quick steps, her tentacles helping to make her walk more like a slide across the floor.

Xal notices her and puts on a smile. His face and posture are more relaxed than an hour earlier.

「Oh, Shanii how was your bath? Must've felt good, right?」

「Xalvari?」

「Ye-」

｟Slap｠

Using both her hand and a tentacle, she slaps him across his face, the combined force causing Xal to stumble and lean against the handrail.

「Dnay-ii you filthy human-pig! If I could, I would make ghar'agair out of you and feed it to mdashaishi!」 Shanii shouts, looking at him with disgust. Her eyes and the shard embedded in her forehead glow red.

「W-what's wrong?」 Xal asks wide-eyed with shock while feeling his cheek with one hand and checking for any broken bones or missing teeth.

「How dare you taint the princess with your nhal'iak, you filthy ghennyesh」

「Taint? Nhal- what...?」 Xal says before pausing in realization, 「Oh... Wait, Shanii, it's a misunderstanding」 he adds with both hands put up in defense.

「What misunderstanding!? Depending on your answer, I might just consider exposing you to Master Kharan myself!」 her tentacles rise and curl up menacingly.

Xal stumbles a step before putting out his arms, and bending his knees, as if distancing himself from a wild boar that might attack at any moment. With a twitching, conciliatory smile on his face, he attempts to calm her down,

「H-hey don't even joke about that! Calm down, it's not what you think...! There was no coercion, she chose this herself!」

Shanii gives him a doubting look. Before long, however, her posture relaxes and her tentacles go back to their resting state.

「How is that possible? I knew she was into you, but... I thought she came along with you so she could convince you to come back,」 Shanii shakes her head. 「You want to make me believe that she chose you over the Hero? Over her fate!? Akhashal'ai, that's beyond ridiculous!」

Xal only shrugs with an awkward look.

「How long... no... how much have you done?」 she asks, a tinge of fear in her voice.

「What do you mean? Done what?」

In a single breath, she slides all the way towards him, their faces getting so close that he can smell her clean body, a sweet and slightly complex rosy aroma with a hint of a cold sea breeze, soothing yet intensifying the senses, like one of those aphrodisiacs Rosaria has tried bringing into the bedroom.

She looks him directly in the wide open, surprised eyes.

「I asked how much of your nhal'iak you've already poured into her,」 she says in almost an ominous whisper, as if afraid of angering the goddess.

「A...lot?」 Xal answers awkwardly, not exactly knowing how to reply to such a brazen question.

「Oh my goddess, Stav-razia Algeth! Stav-razia Algeth!」 Shanii cries with a shrill voice, pushing him back and getting on her knees. She grabs the cross, then clasps her hands together frantically with closed eyes.

「No... no... this can't be...! The Goddess's wrath must already be upon you. Xalvari, you're in trouble! Oh Princess Rosaria, why!? Why did it come to this?!」

「Wait, Shanii, you should know I'm not religious, besides I haven't been able to... reach the peak as of late, so it shouldn't be that bad」 Xal says with a dead-serious expression.

「Xalvari!!」 Shanii screams, looking at him with worry. She gets back up and wraps her tentacles around him, shaking him.

「Why did it have to be Princess Rosaria? It could have been anyone else! Someone not wound up in the Goddess' prophecy! Someone like... like... like m-」 Shanii says before a tentacle swiftly covers her mouth.

「What? Like who...? You...?」 Xal carefully asks with a smirk, his hand reaching for her chin, but a smack by another tentacle shoves it away.

「N-no...! Forget what I said!」 she exclaims while retreating to the handrail on the opposite side.

「I... I just want you to be careful, Xalvari... If Her Highness chose to walk this path on her own, then I have no say in her decision. But know that the Goddess won't take what you've done kindly,」 she says, sorrow in her voice.

Before Xal can respond, she slithers away to her room.