We were still hugging.
I had no idea how much time had passed since Morgause had asked me to stay like that a little longer, but I wasn’t particularly interested in finding out. After all, I had the Demon Queen in my arms, her face resting against my shoulder and both hands still clutching my dress.
I had experienced considerably worse afternoons in this castle.
A lot of them ended in fire.
Some ended with me dead.
This one, on the other hand, involved Morgause pressed against me of her own free will. I didn’t need to be an expert to know which of those three options I preferred.
So I stayed still.
Morgause had stopped crying a while ago. Her breathing had become slow and peaceful, her shoulders no longer trembled, and little by little she had started resting more of her weight against me. At first, I assumed she was simply relaxing after everything she had told me.
A few minutes passed.
Then a few more.
The light coming through the windows began to change.
Eventually, I looked down.
“Morgause…”
No response.
I waited a moment before trying again, a little louder this time.
“Morgause?”
Nothing.
I tilted my head just enough to see her face. Her eyes were closed, her expression completely relaxed, and her breathing continued in that slow, steady rhythm I had been feeling against my neck for a while now.
I stared at her as my brain slowly put the pieces together.
And then I realized it.
Morgause had fallen asleep!
In my arms.
The Demon Queen had fallen asleep while hugging me.
My heart attempted some kind of dangerous maneuver inside my chest.
This wasn’t just progress anymore.
We needed a new category.
Attempt number thirty-four: I made the Demon Queen feel so comfortable with me that she fell asleep while hugging me.
Orbit was going to cry when I told him.
Maybe I would too.
Later.
Once I was done enjoying this historic moment.
The only problem was deciding what to do now.
Waking her up was completely out of the question. If a beautiful woman fell asleep voluntarily in your arms, waking her was probably a violation of some fundamental law of romance.
I could also try to move away.
I looked at Morgause’s arms around me.
What a horrible idea.
That left exactly one option.
I would stay right where I was until she woke up.
Much better.
I settled back carefully and took the opportunity to look at her. Without the stern expression she usually wore, Morgause looked different. Calmer. Maybe even a little younger. A strand of red hair had fallen across her face, and for a moment I felt the urge to brush it aside.
My hand moved a few inches.
I stopped.
No.
I had already learned during attempt thirty-two that doing things around a sleeping Morgause could be interpreted in ways that were unfavorable to my survival.
No kissing her.
No touching her horns.
No finally checking whether they were sensitive.
And definitely no taking advantage of the situation to conduct research in any other areas of scientific interest.
I had principles.
Not many.
But I had some.
I rested my head against the wall behind me and closed my eyes. I only meant to rest for a moment while I waited for Morgause to wake up. Five minutes, maybe ten. I wasn’t particularly tired.
That was what I thought.
The warmth of her body, her quiet breathing near my neck, and the silence of the room turned out to be far more effective than expected.
My thoughts began to slow.
Then blur.
And at some point, they simply disappeared.
When I became vaguely conscious again, everything came back in fragments.
First, I noticed Morgause’s warmth was no longer pressed against me, which earned a sleepy protest that never quite became words. Then I felt something slide beneath my knees and another arm wrap around my back.
My body lifted.
I opened my eyes just enough to make out red hair in front of me.
Morgause.
She was carrying me.
My brain tried to produce something romantic, clever, and memorable for such an occasion.
“Mmmh…”
Magnificent.
Years of experience seducing the Demon Queen, and that was the best I could manage.
“Go back to sleep,” Morgause murmured.
That, at least, I understood.
A direct order from the Demon Queen.
As a responsible heroine, naturally, I had a duty to obey.
I rested my head against her. I could feel the gentle motion of her steps, her arm supporting me, and that familiar scent far too close to my face.
I tried to open my eyes again.
I couldn’t.
I fell asleep once more.
When I truly woke up, the first thing I noticed was that I was comfortable.
Too comfortable.
That was already suspicious. The castle floor had never been this kind to me during any of my attempts.
I moved one hand and my fingers found soft fabric.
Sheets.
I frowned, still half asleep.
I opened one eye.
A dark canopy hung above me.
I opened the other.
All right.
I was definitely in a bed.
Then I breathed in.
And recognized the scent.
My entire body woke up at once.
I sat up and looked around the room: the curtains, the large wardrobe, the table by the window, and that door I remembered perfectly well from attempt thirty-two.
No.
I looked at the sheets.
Breathed in again.
It couldn’t be.
“This is…”
I swallowed.
“This is Morgause’s bed.”
I needed a few seconds to process that.
Then I needed to say it again.
“I’M IN MORGAAAUUUSE’S BED!”
I immediately slapped both hands over my mouth.
Too loud.
I waited.
No one came in to kill me.
Excellent.
I looked around again.
Morgause had carried me to her room.
She had put me in her bed.
Her bed.
The place where she slept every night. Where she lay down. Where those same sheets touched her body. Where she probably wore something comfortable and light that—
I lightly smacked my cheeks.
No.
We had just shared one of the most intimate and emotional moments of my life. I was not going to immediately desecrate it by turning it into material for my fantasies.
Then I looked at the pillow.
I leaned closer.
It smelled like her.
Oh, this was dangerous.
I leaned in again, purely to scientifically confirm I wasn’t imagining it.
Yes.
Definitely Morgause.
I buried my face slightly in the pillow.
I needed a second sample.
“I knew you were going to do something strange.”
I lifted my head so quickly I almost fell out of bed.
Hellista stood by the door, holding a cup of coffee. Her dark circles looked exactly the same as always, and her face carried the patient exhaustion of someone who had probably expected this outcome before she even entered.
I slowly pulled away from the pillow.
“Before you say anything, I can explain.”
Hellista took a sip.
“I’d rather keep a few mysteries in my life.”
“Good choice.”
I fixed my hair, then remembered something far more important than my dignity.
“Did Morgause bring me here?”
Hellista let out a small sigh.
“Her Majesty woke up before you, decided leaving you asleep against a wall wasn’t an acceptable solution, and carried you to her chambers. She also ordered that no one wake you.”
I felt my heart become endangered again.
“She carried me herself?”
Hellista’s expression suggested she was reconsidering how much she should tell me.
“Yes, Nellie. Herself.”
“And exactly how? Because I remember something about an arm under my knees, so I’d like to confirm whether—”
“I’m not reenacting it for you.”
A wasted opportunity, but I decided to appreciate what I had.
Morgause had carried me.
To her bed.
And forbidden anyone from waking me.
Attempt thirty-four was destroying every previous record.
Hellista set her cup on a small table and gathered several documents.
“There’s food waiting in the dining room. You may eat before returning to the city. I have work to do, so someone else will escort you.”
“I can find the dining room by myself.”
Hellista gave me a long look.
“You’ve spent thirty-four attempts proving that letting you wander this castle alone is a bad idea.”
I had no response that wouldn’t make my position worse.
As she organized her papers, something slipped a few inches between them.
Thicker paper.
I caught sight of a rune-decorated border and two magical fighters facing each other inside a small arena.
A Runic Duel flyer.
My eyes dropped just enough to read:
REGIONAL TOURNAMENT — THIS WEEKEND
Before I could make out anything else, Hellista calmly slid the flyer between two reports.
Her expression didn’t change at all.
She simply looked up at me.
We stared at each other for a moment.
I remembered Blazer studying the participant list for the upcoming tournament with his finger very casually resting over RED HORN.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Hellista tucked the documents beneath one arm.
“Whatever conclusion you just reached inside your head, I would appreciate it if it stayed there.”
I smiled.
“I haven’t said anything.”
“That’s exactly why I’m concerned.”
She added nothing else.
Very discreet.
Too discreet.
Blazer would definitely be interested in that information.
Though it might be far more entertaining to keep it to myself for a while.
Hellista opened the door.
“Thundery, you can take her now.”
A woman was waiting in the hallway.
She was tall and wore dark armor lighter than what an ordinary soldier would use. Her black hair was streaked with vivid blue, and two horns curved backward from her head.
The moment her eyes found mine, they went wide.
A thin arc of lightning traveled from one horn to the other with a sharp electric crack.
“No way!”
I blinked.
Thundery strode toward me and looked me up and down with such intensity that for a second I wondered if I had forgotten to put on a piece of clothing.
Then she frowned.
“I thought you’d be taller.”
I stared at her.
“Excuse me?”
Hellista lifted her cup slightly toward the newcomer.
“Nellie, this is Thundery, captain of the inner guard. Thundery, I assume you don’t need an introduction.”
“Of course I don’t need an introduction!”
Thundery pointed at me with both hands, visibly excited.
“I’ve spent months reading reports about her! ‘Intruder on the north wall.’ ‘Intruder found inside the kitchens.’ ‘Intruder bypassed three security posts with teleportation.’ There was an entire week where I had to rewrite two complete security protocols because of you!”
I placed a hand over my chest.
“I’m glad to know I’ve had a positive impact on castle security.”
The lightning between her horns grew slightly brighter.
“It was not positive!”
I liked her immediately.
Hellista walked past us.
“Take her to the dining room. Preferably through the hallways.”
Thundery straightened at once, recovering an almost military rigidity.
“Of course. She’ll reach the dining room without deviating a single step.”
Then she turned toward me and pointed at the floor in front of her.
“You will walk beside me. You will not open any doors, you will not disappear, you will not use movement magic, and if I see so much as the beginning of a teleportation circle, I will personally grab you and carry you to the dining room.”
I smiled.
“That last part sounds rather intimate.”
Thundery’s eyes flew open.
“THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!”
A small thunderclap echoed through the hallway, and several strands of her hair rose from the electricity.
Hellista kept walking without looking back.
“Good luck.”
“You can’t just leave me like this!”
Hellista raised one hand in farewell and disappeared down the corridor, still carrying her documents beneath one arm.
For a moment, I caught another glimpse of the corner of the flyer.
I smiled.
Then Thundery moved in front of me, blocking my view.
“Right. Let’s start over. I’m Captain Thundery, and my only responsibility for the next few minutes is getting you to the dining room without causing another security incident.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Thundery took a deep breath.
“Thank you. That was surprisingly normal.”
We started walking.
I waited five seconds.
“Want to know how I got in this time?”
Thundery stopped.
Her eyes lit up.
“Yes!”
Another arc of lightning jumped between her horns.
Her expression immediately changed.
“No! Wait. As captain, I should not want to know that in that way.”
I laughed.
“There’s another tunnel.”
Thundery spun toward me so quickly I nearly heard her neck crack.
“WHAT?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You just said there’s another tunnel!”
“You must have misheard me.”
“Nellie!”
I kept walking while she hurried after me.
The rest of the trip was surprisingly entertaining. Thundery kept trying to maintain that rigid captain’s posture whenever she remembered her rank, but all I had to do was mention one of my infiltrations and she immediately started asking questions with obvious curiosity before getting annoyed at herself for wanting the answers.
When we finally reached the dining room doors, she crossed her arms and gave me a serious look.
“I want to make something clear. I approve of absolutely none of what you do.”
“Understood.”
“You have turned my job into a nightmare.”
“Also understood.”
A small bolt of lightning traveled across her horns.
“And I am going to find that tunnel.”
I smiled.
“Good luck.”
Thundery narrowed her eyes.
For a second, I thought we were about to argue again.
Then her expression changed slightly.
“Although… there is something strange.”
“What?”
She glanced toward the dining room doors.
“Last night, Her Majesty personally changed the guard orders so no one would enter her chambers while you were sleeping. I’ve never seen her do anything like that for someone she supposedly wants kept out of the castle.”
My heart did something dangerous.
Thundery immediately raised a finger.
“Don’t make that face. I’m not saying it means whatever you’ve probably already decided it means.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“Your eyes are practically screaming.”
I liked this woman a lot.
Thundery opened the doors.
“Go inside before I regret telling you that.”
I did.
And stopped.
Morgause was sitting at the far end of the table.
Her hair was perfectly arranged again, and she had recovered almost all of that stern expression I knew so well. Only her eyes, still slightly swollen, betrayed what had happened a few hours earlier.
There were two plates in front of her.
Two.
I looked at one.
Then the other.
Then at Morgause.
Oh.
Were we eating together?
Morgause looked up.
“You finally woke up.”
I glanced behind me.
Thundery was already closing the doors while making a very expressive gesture for me to just go in already.
I turned back to Morgause.
“I was told I should eat and then leave.”
“Correct.”
There was the Morgause I knew.
Then she pointed to the chair across from her.
“But sit down first.”
I obeyed immediately.
One did not argue with such a romantic order.
For the first few minutes, we ate almost in silence. Surprisingly, it wasn’t uncomfortable. Strange, yes. A few hours ago, Morgause had cried in my arms, then fallen asleep while hugging me, and finally carried me to her own bed.
Now we were sharing a meal as though all of that were perfectly normal.
I had approximately two hundred questions.
For once, I managed to keep them to myself.
Every so often Morgause would glance up at me, then return to her plate just a little too quickly.
Suspicious.
And adorable.
But mostly suspicious.
Eventually, she set down her utensils.
“Nellie.”
I looked up.
“Yes?”
Her expression had changed.
She wasn’t irritated or embarrassed. She looked like she was trying to find the right way to say something, which was so unusual for her that even I understood I should stay quiet.
“There’s something I’ve never understood about you.”
That narrowed the possibilities very little.
Morgause continued.
“You were summoned to this world to kill me. I’ve rejected you thirty-three times. I’ve thrown you out of this castle, set you on fire, and killed you more times than should be necessary for a person to understand a message.”
“I’m very persistent.”
“I’ve noticed.”
I would accept that as a compliment.
Her expression became serious again.
“And yet you keep coming back. Even after everything you know about me and everything I’ve done to you, you return again and again as though nothing could make you change your mind.”
This time, I didn’t joke.
Morgause held my gaze for several seconds before slowly taking a breath.
“So I want to understand something.”
I set down my fork.
“What?”
There was a brief pause.
Then Morgause asked a question I had, surprisingly, never prepared myself to answer.
“Why did you fall in love with me?”