“I missed this.”

“Me too, Shinsuke.”

Mizuki and I shared a smile as we boarded the morning train bound for St. Cirelia.

For the first time in days, my journey to school wasn’t a lonely trek. Once again, my best friend had joined me on the trip, and our tradition since childhood was reformed as if it had never been broken at all.

To say the least, it had taken a heavy effort to get some sleep after returning from her apartment the evening prior. All I could see when I closed my eyes were flashes of Mizuki harming herself as her anguished cries echoed in my head. In that moment, I needed to be present and alert to be as supportive as I could be for her. But when I finally laid down for the night, the fear I felt seeing her like that finally struck me. How easily she had resorted to hurting herself made me feel sick.

The unnerving truth was that while I thought I had seen her through the worst of her suffering, I didn’t have a clue how much influence her mother still had over her. I had never seen her as bad as she was during that breakdown, and I never wanted to see her like that again. Whatever it would take, I was going to help Mizuki through her pain. And now that Evangeline was in the picture, I hoped her friendship would help Mizuki heal as well.

Speaking of Eva…

On the way to school, I informed Mizuki of the ominous text I had received the night before concerning Eva being pursued by “strange men”. I had zero doubt in my mind that those men were Cynthia’s Royal Secret Guard, and I expressed that belief to Mizuki.

We kept our eyes peeled the entire way to St. Cirelia for Cynthia’s agents in black, but neither of us noticed anything out of the ordinary. Even after arriving at school and during all our classes, the two of us remained vigilant. By the time the final bell had rung, there was still no trace of any agents.

With nothing to report, Mizuki and I made our way out to the field behind St. Cirelia where Eva was once again training. Upon spotting us, the camo-clad girl flashed a bright smile and sprinted up to us.

“Hey guys!”

“Hey, Eva,”

Mizuki reddened a bit and crossed her arms. She averted her gaze before offering a, “hey,” of her own in response.

“Come here!” Eva said, pulling Mizuki into a tight hug. “I was worried about you until you texted me last night! You gotta talk to your big sis Dioli!”

“Um…o-okay,” Mizuki whimpered, her body tensing in Eva’s arms.

I felt a smile invite itself upon my lips. It seemed like Eva was getting a little too good at bringing those out of me. But as much as I enjoyed watching her express concern for Mizuki, I decided I should probably end the moment. After all, my poor childhood friend looked frozen stiff by the warn affections of her “big sister”.

“So, you wanted to talk, right?” I asked.

“Yes,” Eva replied, releasing a visibly relieved Mizuki from her grasp. “After we talked yesterday, I thought I’d pick up some groceries before heading home. But I quickly noticed these men in black suits and sunglasses tailing me everywhere.”

Just as I thought.

“I had no idea who they were, but—”

“I do,” I interrupted.

“Huh?”

“They’re the Royal Secret Guard, and they were definitely deployed by the Princess.”

Eva curled her finger and put it to her lips. “Yeah, I was thinking that’s what those guys looked like, but I wouldn’t have imagined the Princess sent them. I thought maybe you had a security detail from the royal family, and they were just scoping me out since we were alone together or something.”

“Oh please, don’t make me laugh. You think they care about me enough to give me a security detail? She sent them because she’s spying on me—well, both of us, now.”

“I don’t get it,” Eva started. “Why would she want to spy on us?”

“She’s concerned about my training for the gauntlet.”

“Is that it?” Eva laughed. “With me in charge, she’s got nothing to worry about.”

“Well, I didn’t actually tell her that you were training me.” I confessed.

“Huh? Why not?”

“Because I don’t need her breathing down my neck during the process. She’s going to be obnoxiously nosey about it all if she finds out.”

“Too late.”

An unmistakable voice drew our attention a short distance up the field. There, Cynthia stood, wearing that same striped tank top and denim shorts from our meeting in Crystal Park. She was bookended by two members of the Royal Secret Guard. I groaned as she gave them both a dismissive nod, dispersing them to surveillance positions on the field just out of earshot.

“So, are you done sending goons after people now?” I asked.

“The idiots weren’t supposed to chase her. I already reprimanded them for that. Regardless, I told you I’d find out what you were keeping from me,” the blonde bragged.

“Congratulations.”

Cynthia scoffed and directed her attention at the others. Eva bowed immediately, while Mizuki crossed her arms and pursed her lips.

“You may rise,” Cynthia said, sounding a bit flattered.

Eva obeyed and stammered, “w-wow, it’s really you, Princess von Eisenhardt…!”

“Your reputation precedes you as well, Ms. Dioli. The youngest recruit to the Steylian Royal Army in history and both a magic and combat prodigy. You’re pretty incredible, aren’t you?”

“Oh, you’re too kind!” Eva chuckled.

Cynthia centered her jade eyes on me and asked, “how in the world did you convince Evangeline Dioli of all people to train you?”

“I found him interesting and wanted to help him out!” Eva interjected.

“And I want to help her too,” I added. “So, the terms of our little deal have changed.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about. You have some nerve praising Eva for being the youngest ‘recruit’ to the SRA when you know full well that she was taken advantage of. Last time I checked, normal recruits don’t sign contracts binding them to at least fifteen years of service.”

A look of horror fell upon the refined features of Cynthia. She snapped her gaze to Eva and asked, “Ms. Dioli, is this true?!”

Eva nodded timidly.

“I…I had no clue. I’m sorry, Ms. Dioli.”

“J-just call me Eva! And it’s really not a big deal. It was to help my parents out of poverty, so it’s okay…” A weak smile found its way across her lips as she tucked some of her pink hair behind her ear.

“It’s not okay!” Cynthia cried. “I was only a child myself when you were ‘recruited’, so I played no role in your situation, Eva. But regardless of that, this still happened under the watch and rule of my family. If I had known at any point that something so disgustingly corrupt happened to you, I would have risen hell until you were freed.”

Eva stared down at the grass, her blue eyes seeking refuge in the greenery beneath her feet.

Her fists clenched at her sides, Cynthia declared, “I swear, this really is the final straw—all of it. When I gain control of the throne, all of this is going to change. I won’t stand for it anymore!”

Wow, she really didn’t know…

“So, do you get it?” I asked. “Not only do I want money for both my family and Mizuki’s, but if I win this gauntlet, I want Eva’s military contract torn to shreds.”

Cynthia shot me a determined look and stormed up to me. “Consider it done. But I’m changing the deal too. If you want to see a single coin for winning the gauntlet, you need to start keeping me involved in what’s going on!”

“But—”

“But nothing!” she asserted. “I already told you; the implications of this gauntlet involve all of Steylia, and it definitely involves me! Stop being a damn idiot and help me help you!”

I sighed—she was right. As much as I didn’t feel like putting up with her constant nagging, she had a right to know what was going on. And based on her reaction to Eva’s situation, it was clear I wasn’t the only one keeping her out of the loop about important details. With that in mind, it was easy to understand her annoyance. Even if she hadn’t given me an ultimatum, what needed to be done was obvious.

“Okay, okay. Fine.”

“Good,” she said, her expression softening a bit. “Now, Eva, I would like to exchange contact information with you so we can also stay in communication.”

“You want my phone number? Yes, of course!” Eva shouted, practically tossing her phone at Cynthia.

“How nice of you to give her a heads-up instead of just swiping her phone and doing it anyway,” I grumbled.

Cynthia rolled her eyes and finished inputting her number into Eva’s phone. “I can’t even hear you. Quit mumbling, it’s unbecoming.”

Giddy, the pink-haired prodigy reclaimed her phone and squealed before musing, “wait, shouldn’t you also get my little sister’s info?”

“Your sister?”

“Yeah!” Eva said, pulling my flustered best friend into another unexpected embrace.

Mizuki quickly wriggled out of Eva’s grasp and fixed her wavy hair with a flick of her hand. She glared at Cynthia and declared, “I’d rather die.”

“I never asked for your information anyway, scrounge,” Cynthia said dismissively.

“Come on!” Eva whined. “We’re a team now, that means all of us!”

“Absolutely not,” Cynthia and Mizuki stated in unison.

“Mizuki is Shinsuke’s bestie, what if you need to know something only she knows? And Mimi, don’t you want to help Shinsuke? Do it for your big sis~?”

“M-Mimi?” Mizuki stammered.

“Yeah, do you like that nickname?” Eva asked with a radiant smile.

“Can we focus?” Cynthia groaned and held out her hand. “I don’t care, let’s just get this out of the way already. Give me your phone, scrounge.”

Mizuki ground her teeth, appearing ready to throw her phone so hard it would take Cynthia’s head off. Thankfully, however, she demonstrated restraint and slapped the device down into the blonde’s open palm instead.

After a few quick taps, Cynthia threw my friend’s phone at her and said, “here, take it back.”

“I’ll be sure to give you a nice nickname,” Mizuki hissed.

“Oh, I’ve already given you one,” Cynthia quipped. “It’s quite lovely a one too if I say so myself. It stands out in my address book.”

Before the thinly veiled bickering could continue, Cynthia’s phone rang. “Helena?” she answered. “What is it? My father said to do what? Okay, I’ll do it. Thank you. Bye.”

“What was that about?” I asked, anxious at the mention of her father.

“Helena said father wants me to tune into a news station. I have no idea why,” replied Cynthia.

“I got it!” Eva said, tapping into a news station on her phone. She turned her device sideways and beckoned the three of us to gather around her, a request we all accepted.

On the phone’s screen, a banner at the bottom read “breaking news, King von Eisenhardt to make special announcement!”.

Sure enough, the King appeared on the stream and spoke. “Good evening! Citizens of Steylia and beyond in every wonderful kingdom all around the world, I have an important announcement to make. The very first opponent for Mr. Watanabe in the previously announced gauntlet has been decided!”

“What?!” I cried, but Cynthia shushed me. Her expression was just as stunned as mine, though.

“Allow me to introduce the young man he will be facing!”

A picture of a blonde boy appeared on the screen, prompting a gasp from Cynthia. “Oh no…”

***

Thank you for reading! Apologies for the wait! What did you think of this chapter and what do you made Cynthia react that way?