By the time I returned to Valcrest, I had reached an important conclusion.
The mission in Bellor had gone well.
No one died.
No one drew a sword.
Twelve demon civilians made it back to their side safely.
By my standards, that was practically a diplomatic masterpiece.
I walked into the common room with that sense of accomplishment still comfortably settled in my chest.
Then I saw the other four Heroes.
Blazer was sitting on the edge of a table.
Elizabeth stood with her arms crossed.
Sogard was leaning by a window, biting into an apple.
Monkar was eating what looked like a concerning amount of bread.
All four of them looked at me at the exact same time.
I stopped.
“What?”
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes.
“So now you work for the demons.”
I blinked.
“What?”
Sogard took another bite of his apple.
“I heard they made you a general.”
“What?!”
Blazer raised one hand.
“My version says you abandoned Aldren and moved into Morgause’s castle.”
I considered that.
“Well, that one doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Nellie!” Elizabeth snapped.
Monkar looked up from his food.
“I heard you got engaged to her.”
The room went silent.
I slowly turned toward him.
“Where did you hear that?”
Monkar shrugged.
“In the dining hall.”
“Who said it?”
“I didn’t ask.”
I placed a hand over my chest.
“People think Morgause said yes?”
Blazer covered his face with both hands.
Elizabeth pointed at me.
“That’s what you’re worried about?!”
“It’s important information.”
“They’re saying you switched sides!”
“That’s also important.”
Sogard lifted his apple.
“But apparently less so.”
I pointed at him.
“Stay out of this.”
“I’m already here.”
Great.
I rested my staff against the wall and sat down.
“I do not work for the demons.”
Blazer lowered his hands.
“That’s exactly what someone who works for the demons would say.”
“You know perfectly well what happened.”
“Yeah. That’s why this is funny.”
Elizabeth exhaled through her nose and sat across from me.
“What exactly did you do?”
“I helped supervise the return of twelve demon civilians.”
“That doesn’t explain the rumors.”
“I also publicly said they were still people.”
Sogard tilted his head.
“Ah.”
“What does ‘ah’ mean?”
“I see where it came from.”
“I didn’t say anything controversial!”
All four of them looked at me.
I frowned.
“Well. It shouldn’t be controversial.”
Monkar swallowed before speaking.
“Are the civilians alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then you did the right thing.”
Just like that.
I looked at him.
Monkar had already gone back to his bread.
Something inside me loosened.
Elizabeth’s shoulders dropped a little too.
“I don’t think protecting them was wrong,” she clarified. “I think the problem is that you do everything as if the rest of the world is going to interpret your actions exactly the way you do.”
“That’s not true.”
Blazer looked at me.
“Attempt number thirty-five.”
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“It has quite a lot to do with this.”
Sogard took another bite of his apple.
“Did you do anything wrong?”
“No.”
“Then we have a perception problem.”
The door opened.
Caelum walked in.
“That can also be a serious problem.”
Sogard looked at him.
“I said it was a problem.”
Caelum was carrying another folder.
My good mood died a little.
“More paperwork?”
“This time, the paperwork is about you.”
“Worse.”
He approached the table.
“The rumors from Bellor have already reached several parts of Valcrest. Some versions claim you acted under direct orders from the Demon Queen.”
Blazer laughed.
“That one’s new.”
Caelum continued.
“Another claims your presence in Bellor was part of a secret agreement between you and the demon kingdom.”
“And the engagement rumor?” I asked.
Everyone looked at me.
“I just want to know how far it spread.”
Caelum closed his eyes for a moment.
“Yes. That one has spread as well.”
I felt a smile trying to appear.
Elizabeth noticed.
“Don’t.”
I straightened my back.
“This is terrible.”
“Exactly.”
“It could become a diplomatic incident.”
“Exactly.”
“People might think I betrayed Aldren.”
“Exactly.”
Elizabeth studied me for a few seconds.
“You’re not thinking about any of that, are you?”
“I’m thinking about how to tell Morgause that apparently we’re already engaged.”
Blazer dropped his forehead onto the table.
“I knew she was going to say that.”
Caelum pinched the bridge of his nose.
“There is more.”
Naturally.
There was always more.
“Several officials want to speak with you.”
My smile disappeared.
“About Bellor?”
“About your relationship with the Demon Queen.”
The room became noticeably quieter.
Even Blazer lifted his head.
“What do they want to know?” I asked.
Caelum looked at me with absolute seriousness.
“What exactly that relationship is.”
Oh.
That was a problem.
“What should I tell them?”
“The truth.”
Silence.
Blazer started smiling.
I pointed at him.
“Not a word.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“But you want to.”
“Desperately.”
Caelum frowned slightly.
“Is there some reason the truth would be inconvenient?”
Everyone looked at me.
I looked at everyone.
Well.
The truth was that I had tried to win Morgause over thirty-five times.
I had snuck into her castle.
I had woken up in her bed.
We had saved each other’s lives.
She had admitted that I made her want things a queen couldn’t afford to want without thinking about the consequences first.
And I intended to marry her.
Someday.
Eventually.
Once she agreed.
“We need a second option,” I concluded.
Blazer burst out laughing.
Caelum opened his mouth to respond, but someone knocked on the door.
A soldier entered holding a dark envelope.
“Heroine Nellie. A demon messenger delivered this at the entrance.”
Every eye in the room turned toward me.
Then toward the envelope.
My heart gave a small jump.
I took it.
The seal bore Morgause’s crest.
“Oh.”
Blazer was already on his feet.
“Open it.”
“Back off.”
“I want to know what it says.”
“It’s private correspondence.”
Elizabeth leaned across the table.
“Now it’s private.”
“It was always private.”
Sogard bit into his apple.
“Thirty seconds ago, you wanted to announce to everyone that you were engaged.”
“That was different.”
I broke the seal.
There was a single sheet inside.
Only a few lines.
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
Nellie.
Stop causing diplomatic incidents.
—Morgause.
I stared at it.
Blazer tried to look over my shoulder.
I shoved him away with one hand.
“What does it say?” Elizabeth asked.
“Nothing important.”
My eyes moved lower.
There was another line beneath the signature.
And let me know when you’re back in Valcrest.
I read it again.
Then a third time.
I felt my smile return.
“Oh.”
Blazer froze.
“That face again.”
I folded the letter.
“Classified information.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
Blazer tried to snatch it.
I jumped to my feet.
“Stay away!”
“I just want to read it!”
“It’s from Morgause!”
“Exactly!”
I ran around the table.
Blazer chased after me.
Elizabeth started yelling at both of us to stop acting like children.
Sogard stepped aside just in time to avoid getting caught in the middle.
Monkar kept eating.
Caelum watched the chaos with the empty expression of a man reconsidering every decision that had led him into that room.
Eventually, I managed to hide the letter inside my clothes.
Blazer stopped.
“That’s cheating.”
“That’s strategy.”
“What did it say?”
I smiled.
“That I should stop causing diplomatic incidents.”
Elizabeth threw both hands into the air.
“For once, I agree with her!”
“And that I should let her know when I get back to Valcrest.”
Silence.
Blazer closed his eyes.
“Ah.”
Elizabeth looked at me.
“No.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You’re smiling.”
“My face is free.”
Caelum sighed.
I pulled the letter out just enough to look at that final line one more time.
Let me know when you’re back in Valcrest.
Maybe Morgause was right.
Maybe all of this could turn into a political disaster.
Maybe I really should start thinking a little more before I acted.
I looked at the letter again.
And smiled.
Well.
I could start tomorrow.