It was the day of the gala, Harlan wore a tight fitting black suit with a red undershirt and white vest that Sepul had made for him.

It was intentionally made in such a way that Harlan needed to restrict his movements to avoid tearing it.

Sepul said he wore one some 200 years ago when he was involved in the royal court so he could learn how to appear as a proper and uptight prick.

Harlan wore his white rose pin over his heart, his crest was emblazoned on the back in a large design.

He had heard people didn’t care for his design, so he would make sure everyone knew exactly who he was.

He didn’t care overly about style, but he had what he liked and if others didn’t like it that was their problem.

Amber wore a Black dress with long black sleeves that transitioned into red at the forearm.

From just above her neck to her waist down the center there was a white Y pattern.

On her back was of course Harlan’s crest.

Ximena and Yara wore dresses in a style preferred by the golden.

They were respectively deep green and deep blue, both had spinklings of gold in a pattern to invoke a rolling dune and were made of multiple layers of a nearly see through silk.

It was tight around the waist and went down to above their ankles, not low enough that they needed to worry about stepping on them however.

They each wore a half cape of fine silk in a brighter color than their dresses which covered only one shoulder.

Around their waists they wore sashes with what Harlan assumed to be a symbol for their village or town since they both had the same one of a snake coiled around itself sleeping.

It too was of course, Golden.

The group consisting of Amber, Harlan, Ximena, and Yara, were waiting for Sepul.

The gate offices were somewhat noisy compared to normal, they had received their orders for who was to arrive and when, now they were double and triple checking their notes to make sure the son of a one person didn’t show up at the same time as the daughter of somebody else.

He didn’t begin to understand whatever esoteric order was made out of why one came first and when.

“That suit looks good on you.”

“Thanks.”

Adina and Zella wanted to be there to see everyone off at least.

“Who knows, maybe someday you can see me in formal wear.”

Adina was anxious.

While nothing had happened since Sepul had a conversation with Brimstone, it would be the first time Harlan wouldn’t be anywhere near her in months.

So she fished for some parting compliments.

“I don’t think I would care for that anyway. You look fine in whatever you wear.”

Harlan guessed at what she was doing, so he played along.

“Oh, and before I forget. Take this.”

He handed her an orb made from light steel, it was no bigger than his fist and if one looked very closely it had fine details of feathers and eyes.

He had found out that even though the gem itself held the spells, once it was transplanted into another item and the soul grew into it, there would be a sort of resonance between metal and spell, boosting the power of an element by anywhere from 10% to 30% depending on the spells used.

“What does this one do?”

“If you need it, just use it. Stay safe.”

He knew what the reaction would be ‘how could you hand her a device that cost over a thousand gold coins and was loaded with a semi-sentient soul and spells from an archmage?’ so he didn’t say what it would do.

“Appropriately ominous. I will always keep it on me.”

“Good. Zella, I have one for you too.”

“Thanks?”

Garad couldn’t stop Harlan from spending his money, but it made him question if he should try harder to stop him when he spent enough gold to build a small fort on items that Harlan wouldn’t even explain what they did, just calling them a protective device.

They spoke for a few more minutes before Sepul arrived and whisked them away to the palace.

Harlan looked at the walls, then when he stepped outside of the gate room he knew exactly where he was.

He never got the chance to explore fully, but he had almost lived here for 3 years.

Sure he spent time in the facility, but since he didn’t need to sleep often he would spend days in the palace and Rosewell would show him around to destress him.

Outside of the gate room there were two people, Rosewell, and Safira.

Harlan froze.

It had been a long time, he didn’t know how to react to seeing her.

She stared at him and he could feel that she was happy.

“Now, where is that sharp tongue of yours? I hope the academy hasn’t clipped your wings, though from what Cynthia tells me you’ve not changed much.”

“Sorry, I was simply stunned by your beauty.”

Harlan bowed deeply, the seams on his suit telling him exactly how far he could go.

“I don’t think that is true. But I suppose we should talk later. Safira will show you to my father’s chambers, I will be the one leading your friends around.”

“You two will be just fine. Rosewell is a good person, I think.”

Safira didn’t care much for his joke, but Rosewell laughed, but it wasn’t a joke.

He couldn’t be sure, but maybe he had been overthinking everything she had done.

Maybe she really was just nice.

As usual Safira didn’t say a word as she moved through the halls guiding him.

She knocked on the door to the king’s personal room and he gave them leave to enter.

“Safira, you may go.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

She was unhappy to leave Harlan, of the few guards who had seen him often during his stay she was the one who most believed he was more of a threat than an asset past a certain point.

But she was also absolutely loyal and would not question an order.

“Please, sit, have a drink.”

Harlan found that the king had a kettle in the same design as Harlan’s, but it had been made by royal blacksmiths and mages.

They sat in front of a fireplace roughly 3 feet apart from one another with a small side table between them.

The room was lit by only magical lights, the king didn’t like sleeping in a room with windows so he had the room across from his own turned into his new quarters.

Inside the kettle was vanilla tea, Harlan sipped it after giving the time for the ring to work its magic.

It was not bitter.

“I am sure you are wondering why I’ve called you here. And please, be stark and honest, there is no one here who cares about how you talk to me.”

“Thank you, but I am wondering what they are doing here.”

Fragile peace stepped out of a fold in reality where she remained hidden, behind her were a few guards, each of them wore a simple crown of fig branches and held no weapons, wearing only half-plate.

It was quite odd, and some might even consider them cowards for having nothing to defend themselves.

In the times where the world was flooded with monsters, every man woman and child held a weapon on their side so they were ready.

In the modern era this meant most people in general kept something on them at all times.

To carry nothing would be a signal that you don’t intend to fight, for a noble this would reflect poorly on them since they were always at war.

Yet for her and her guards, they were there for peace, and they expected their host to keep them safe.

It was left unsaid, and Yggra wouldn’t mind, but coming without weapons was putting a lot of faith in them, which she hoped would be repaid in good faith.

“My apologies, he asked that I not reveal myself so he could test your abilities.”

“That is fine.”

Down to his bones his instinct asked that he remove her head from her shoulders, yet he had no issue pushing that aside, it was just a feeling, and he was no animal.

“As for why I am here, I wonder, why do I fear you? And why do you maintain such a bloodlust towards me?”

“I believe that it would be politically problematic if I explained both of those things.”

“I can handle whatever you can say.”

“Forgive me for being uncouth, but I’ve seen what your country is through a good friend of mine. I simply cannot trust your word that this wouldn’t be a bigger issue than you seem to think..”

She seemed to want to pout, she was a year younger than him still, but she remained calm as she remembered everything she had been taught.

“What would be enough to make you believe that you can trust me?”

“Tell me, what do you know of Adina? Has her name ever come across your desk or throne or whatever you have?”

She closed her eyes and cocked her head to the side, after a moment she shook her head.

“Then you have nothing that I want. You can judge a nation by how its people act, and I would be lying if I said I trusted anybody from Reino without a good reason.”

Yggdra chuckled, technically she was queen of the entirety of Reino, yet Harlan barely registered that fact.

She was a 13 year old girl who was trying her best to act like a leader.

“I have gold, I have metals, I have gems. What about those?”

“I have gold, I have metals, I have gems, what about them?”

Harlan could tell that she didn’t like his answer, on the other hand, he found it funny.

One of the guards raised his hand and was given leave to speak..

“If this girl, Adina, is in Reino, or a citizen, would it not be best that you answered The Grand Saint?”

Harlan’s face did not change, no shadows darkened, no flames flickered, yet his eyes could not lie.

They turned from a lazy fog to a maelstrom in an instant.

“Could you explain what exactly you mean by that?”

“Well, as she is under our authority, would it not be better that you don’t offend the leader of our nation?”

“If you want to threaten her, just do it, don’t hide behind your weasel words. I feel quite confident that I could kill most of you before you could stop me.”

Harlan said in an even tone.

It was a quick shift in the tone of the conversation and the atmosphere in the room.

The guards reached for swords that they did not carry.

Fragile Peace however, raised her hand and they did not say a word.

“You have my word, there will be no violence towards this girl, whoever she might be. I am sorry for the words of my guard, he is from a different time in our history. I will not ask again.”

She was afraid, but Harlan believed that she was telling the truth.

“Why does it bother you so much that you are afraid of me anyway?”

“I would like to not be afraid of anyone. I hope that a talk would alleviate this, but I can see that I am not a good enough speaker to change your mind.”

Harlan wished it was so easy, that he could just tell her and everything would work out.

Adina only came to his side because Reino treated her poorly, she had nobody to act as a pillar of support.

He assumed that Fragile Peace was treated well and was a zealot, she was the leader of a nation of them after all.

“I will try to stay up to date on the news, if I can believe that you aren’t going to make a fuss over my answer, I will tell you.”

“That is acceptable.”

She looked happy after his reply, but he felt like he couldn’t truly get a good reading on her mental state for whatever reason.

The king clapped his hands, making the Reinoans jolt back for a moment.

“That is enough personal matters I believe. I have given you time with him, now it is time for my talk with him. Harlan, do you still want to kill me?”

“If I answered yes or no I would be lying. For personal reasons I do still want you dead, but I can tell that the kingdom is actually doing very well in your hands. If some of your children got on the throne it would cause me quite a lot of problems.”

All eyes were on Harlan for his honesty.

“A good answer, and one that I can appreciate. You can be practical and your emotional state has improved as my friend said it had. Now we can move onto the real conversation. Harlan, what would you say about working on the blood crystal method of communicators for Reino. They won’t use the soul version, but they are interested in the other design.”

“I don’t see what this has to do with me, you already have the prototype and you have that other researcher who can work on it.”

“A mage is a nation, I don’t have the authority to just take your invention and give it away to another nation.”

“I don’t understand, you are the king, I made it under your orders originally.”

“Tell me, if you became an archmage, and I took everything you invented and just sold them myself, would you not feel slighted? Why do you think almost every single archmage lives in the neutral learning zone, instead of as dukes or counts? My father, and his father, and his father before him, and almost every noble in this country, treats mages as resources to be exploited.

If the son of a soldier is better than the heir to a noble house and takes a spot that they believe they deserve in an academy, then that child is treated poorly both there and at home. That is what will kill this kingdom, we will not die in a war, we will end up with so many enemies within our borders that Reino will not need to lift a hand to splinter us into 13 cities to be conquered again. If I could pardon Dearil and bring him to my side I would without a second thought, but that hope was squandered the moment his family was taken from him.”

Harlan thought over everything he had heard, and he agreed.

“I will keep working on the blood crystal design. It will be more limited than the soul method, but it will make communication across nations as simple as a few spells.”

“I am very happy to hear this, I am told you can create these crystals, I would like you to make one for me. When the two of us have these devices I would like to continue talking with you about what problems you see in our nation. I agree with King Yggdra the 15th, if we are to have peace, we cannot let talented people be pushed aside by those who hold power for selfish reasons that only serve to weaken us.”

If the looks of vexation on the faces of the guards was any indication, they did not expect her to ask that of him.

“Alright. I am going to draw a little bit of blood, but don’t worry, I will heal you right afterwards.”

Lugh became like a clawed gauntlet and with a light poke she had a pinprick wound that Harlan used to make a crystal the size of a fingernail.

Then with just a touch she was healed.

After some real negotiations went on with Yggdra acting as Harlan’s aide to ensure he got a good deal, and that the kingdom got a cut.

Safira was waiting outside the door and led him to a room where his friends and sister were currently having an awkward conversation with Rosewell who seemed overly friendly to them.

Yet what struck him even before he entered the room was something else that he had not felt in some time.