[POV Liselotte]

  The throne hall sank into a murmur of feverish activity. King William, with the steel gaze only a sovereign forged in a thousand battles could possess, called the newly arrived group of heroes to the center of the hall. The five teenagers from Terra, their legs still trembling and their eyes wide from the eruption of dark mana, walked toward him like condemned prisoners approaching the gallows. The King wanted to speak to them about defense protocols, their stay in the pace, and the responsibility that now rested on their shoulders, pulling them a few meters away from where Leah and I stood.

  I took advantage of that moment of retive privacy. The air in the hall was still dense, charged with the scent of ozone and sulfur that the Demon King’s awakening had brought with it, but my attention was focused on the woman beside me. I could feel the tension in Leah’s arm, which still wrapped possessively around my waist. Her fire-colored eyes never left Mizuki, who kept gncing back at me with a painful expression of gratitude.

  “Leah,” I whispered, tilting my head so only she could hear me. “Rex your shoulders. I can feel your fire from here, and not exactly because of the heat in the room.”

  Leah let out a long sigh, shifting her gaze toward the shattered stained-gss windows, though she did not loosen her grip. Her cheeks still carried a hint of red that betrayed her jealousy.

  “It’s difficult, Lotte,” she admitted in a whisper full of honesty. “I know you told me you don’t feel anything for her anymore. I know Edward died and that Liselotte is mine… but seeing her look at you like that, as if you were the only light in this dark world, makes me want to remind the entire hall who you belong to.”

  I took her free hand and intertwined my fingers with hers, giving her a gentle but firm squeeze. The cold of my skin seemed to calm the agitation of her mana.

  “You don’t need to be jealous, Leah. Really,” I told her, looking at her with all the sincerity Edward never managed to express in his past life. “Seeing Mizuki today made me realize something liberating. I didn’t feel that emptiness in my chest, or the anger, or the desire to be accepted. I only felt… pity. Deep, human pity. I’m not helping her because she’s her. I’m helping her because, deep down, I feel that none of them deserve to go through something like this.”

  Leah turned toward me, her expression softening as she searched for truth in my blue eyes.

  “At first, when Ulric and his group appeared, I felt a fury that almost made me lose control,” I continued, letting my thoughts flow. “They were arrogant, they thought themselves gods, and they looked down on us. Defeating them was satisfying, I won’t deny it. It was like closing a wound from my childhood. But when they left and sent this new group… reality hit me with the force of a gcier.”

  I looked over Leah’s shoulder at the five youths listening to the King. They looked so small in their overly bright armor. Mizuki rubbed her arms compulsively, as if trying to shake off a cold that didn’t come from outside.

  “Look at them, Leah. They are not heroes. They are just teenagers who were kidnapped from their homes, their schools, their families. They were forced to train for what felt like decades in an eternal void, only to be thrown onto a battlefield to die against demons they don’t understand, to save a world they don’t live in and that isn’t even theirs. It’s a cruelty I can’t ignore.”

  I felt the anger return, but this time it wasn’t toward Ulric or my past, but toward the system of the goddesses and the Church that treated human lives like wooden pieces on a board.

  “Gaia brought them here to be cannon fodder,” I said bitterly. “If we leave them alone like this, they’ll die in their first skirmish. The Church probably considers this group expendable, a necessary sacrifice to buy time. And even if I don’t have the power to send them back to their world, even if I can’t return the lives they lost… at least I’ll help them however I can while they’re in Whirikal. I don’t want anyone else to die alone and afraid.”

  Leah listened in absolute silence, her gaze filled with a understanding that made me love her even more. The fury in her eyes vanished, repced by that golden warmth that always melted my defenses.

  “You’re too kind, Liselotte,” Leah whispered, leaning so close that our foreheads touched. “Even after everything they did to you, your first instinct is to protect them. Sometimes I forget that, even if you can freeze an army, your heart is still the warmest pce I know. Forgive my silly jealousy. I just… I’m so afraid that something might take you away from me that sometimes I react like a child.”

  “Nothing will take me away from you, princess,” I replied, giving her a fleeting kiss on the temple. “They are my past, but you are my present and my only future. I just want them to survive.”

  Our private conversation was interrupted when King William finished giving his initial instructions. The heroes nodded with pale faces, and the King walked toward us with a firm stride. The court mages were already dispersing, ready to execute emergency orders.

  “Leah, Lotte,” the King said, stopping in front of us. His presence seemed to fill the hall, restoring a sense of order to the chaos. “I have decided that the best thing for these young people is to acclimate to our kingdom away from the pace’s rigid protocol for today. Leah, I will leave this group of heroes in your care. Take them to the academy, show them the facilities, and let them settle in the guest wing of the dormitories.”

  Leah nodded, regaining her posture as heir to the throne. “I will, Father. They will be safe there.”

  “And one more thing,” William added, gncing toward the windows where the red light was fading into an unnatural darkness. “While you head there, I want your presence to calm the citizens. If they ask, tell them nothing serious happened. Tell them the red sky and the eruption were an unusual reaction from a distant volcano on the borders, something the mages already have under control. We cannot allow panic to turn into revolt before our defenses are ready.”

  “Understood, Your Majesty,” I replied. “We will make the transition as calm as possible.”

  King William gave me a look of gratitude and trust before turning to his group of mages. “I have much to organize with the generals. Take care of them… and of yourselves.”

  With one st severe gnce, the King left, followed by his retinue. We were left alone with the five heroes, who looked at us as if we were their only lifeline in the middle of a shipwreck. Mizuki stepped forward, still looking exhausted, but when she saw Leah pressed against my side, she hesitated.

  “Alright, listen to me, all of you,” Leah said, her voice resonating with kind but firm authority. “We’re going to the Royal Academy. There you’ll have your own rooms, hot food, and a safe pce to process all of this. The carriage is waiting outside. Follow us and don’t separate.”

  We walked through the castle corridors toward the exit. The transition from the warlike atmosphere of the throne hall to the outside was strange. As we boarded the royal carriage, the silence was almost absolute, broken only by the sound of hooves on the pavement.

  Through the windows, we could see the capital’s citizens gathered on the corners, looking at the sky in terror. As the King requested, Leah leaned out a few times when the carriage stopped due to the crowd, speaking words of calm with a practiced but effective smile.

  “It’s just volcanic ash, don’t be afraid! The King’s mages already have it under control!” she shouted, and it was astonishing how the simple sight of their calm princess made people breathe in relief.

  Inside the carriage, I sat in front of the heroes. Mizuki was right across from me. I noticed she kept staring at my hands, perhaps surprised that someone with such cold power could radiate so much calm.

  “Liselotte…” she said softly, breaking the silence. “Thank you for earlier. I… thought they would leave us there alone. Orestia always tells us we must be strong, that we can’t hesitate… but that power we felt… it was like death itself was touching us.”

  Leah and I exchanged a quick gnce. I knew I couldn’t reveal my origin, but compassion compelled me to speak.

  “I know how you feel, Mizuki,” I replied, keeping a gentle but deep expression. “I know what it’s like to be in a pce you don’t understand, feeling like the whole world is a threat and that you have no one who truly understands your pain. I’ve been in situations where I felt just as lost as you are now. That’s why I know that, even if the fear is immense, it doesn’t define who you are.”

  Mizuki looked at me with a mixture of astonishment and comfort. To her, I wasn’t a traveler from her world, but someone with supernatural empathy, someone who seemed to have walked through the same hell they were facing.

  “It feels like you know us better than we know ourselves,” another hero murmured with relief. “It’s strange… it’s like you really know what it’s like to have everything taken from you.”

  “What matters now is that Whirikal is a pce worth fighting for,” I said, steering the conversation to the present. “Not because a goddess orders it, but because of the people who live in it. Here, you’ll find a home while you’re with us.”

  The carriage crossed the gates of the Royal Academy. The campus, usually full of life and ughter, was in a state of silent alert. We got off and began showing them around. We guided them through the grand gardens, now dyed with elongated shadows, and through the marble corridors leading to the guest wing.

  “This is the main dining hall,” Leah expined, pointing at the rge carved wooden doors. “And over there are the training fields. But for today, your only task is to rest. There will be no practice or speeches.”

  Mizuki walked beside me, a bit more recovered but still seeking my closeness. I noticed that Leah, although no longer in a jealous panic, maintained constant vigince, her hand brushing against mine from time to time to remind me of her presence. I could only smile inwardly.

  “These are your rooms,” Leah said, stopping in front of a series of doors decorated with the lion crest. “Go in, rest. Lotte and I will be nearby if you need anything.”

  Mizuki stopped in front of her door and looked at me one st time. “Liselotte… I hope we can talk more tomorrow. I feel like… like there’s a lot I could learn from you. You’ve really given us hope.”

  “Tomorrow will be another day, Mizuki,” I replied with a slight bow. “Now, sleep.”

  When all the doors closed, Leah and I were left alone in the corridor lit by magical torches. Leah leaned against the wall and let out a sigh of exhaustion.

  “Long day, huh?” she said, stretching her arms.

  “The longest of all, Leah,” I replied, approaching her and wrapping my arms around her. “But we did it. They’re safe, and the city is calm.”

  Leah rested her head against my chest. “I’m gd you told me how you felt, Lotte. Seeing them like that… also made me realize they’re just victims. We’ll protect them, not because they’re heroes, but because now they’re part of our responsibility.”

  “Thank you, Leah,” I whispered, kissing the crown of her head. “For everything.”

  Outside the academy, the red sky was fading into a deep, threatening bck, but inside those walls, for that night, there was a fragile peace.