The message arrived by hawk. Royal seal. Heavy parchment.
Naofumi didn't open it at first. He just stared at it, jaw tight. Kaley leaned against the inn's windowframe, arms folded.
"Let me guess," she said. "We've been summoned."
"How do you always know?"
"Because when power isn't sure what you are, it wants to look you in the eye."
He cracked the seal. Read it. Grunted.
"We're being asked to escort someone. Official business."
Kaley raised a brow. "'Asked'?"
"Summoned."
Raphtalia shifted beside the hearth, voice soft. "Do we have a choice?"
Kaley didn't answer.
Naofumi folded the letter carefully. "We go."
The rendezvous point was a fortified village near the capital's southern road. Tense. Overstaffed. Too many guards for a simple escort mission.
Melty stood at the center of it all—young, noble, posture crisp despite the wind tugging at her cloak.
She turned the moment Naofumi stepped off the cart.
"Shield Hero. Thank you for coming."
Her eyes flicked to Kaley. And lingered.
"You're the one from the reports."
Kaley said nothing.
"I requested your party because you're already watched by everyone who matters. If this goes wrong, they won't blame me."
Naofumi's eyes narrowed. "That's one way to build trust."
Melty's tone didn't waver. "I'm not trying to make friends. I'm trying to survive the court."
Raphtalia stepped forward, curious. "What exactly are we escorting?"
Melty turned. "Me. Back to the capital. Quietly. Without knights."
The road was winding. Through low woods and old ruins. Too quiet.
Kaley walked at the rear, occasionally glancing at the mirror she kept hidden beneath her cloak. The Void pulsed near her skin—not loud, but alert.
Raphtalia noticed. "Is something wrong?"
Kaley met her eyes. Said nothing.
But Raphtalia saw it anyway—the tension in her shoulders, the way her fingers twitched near her sword.
She moved closer.
A few steps behind. But closer.
Kaley didn't stop her.
The ambush came just before dusk.
Bandits. At least, that's what they looked like. But Kaley moved before they struck.
Slash Dash. The first three dropped before they even screamed.
Naofumi planted his shield.
"Keep Melty safe!"
Raphtalia took position beside him. Kaley moved through the trees like wind through silk.
She didn't kill all of them. Just enough to scatter the line. The rest ran.
But not before one of them shouted:
"They said she was a weapon! They said she was his slave!"
Kaley froze.
Then finished the last one with a precise, silent stroke.
When it was over, the forest went still.
Naofumi approached. "You okay?"
Kaley's voice was even. "They weren't here for Melty."
Melty swallowed. "No. They were here for you."
Raphtalia stood behind Kaley now. Hands clenched. Protective.
Kaley glanced at her.
Something flickered behind her eyes.
Not rage.
Not fear.
Recognition.
They made camp at the edge of the woods.
Melty stayed on one side of the fire. Kaley sat on the other, mirror propped against a tree stump. Naofumi sharpened Raphtalia's blade in silence.
Kaley stared at the reflection.
It stared back.
"You're bleeding into them," the Man in the Wall whispered. "One day they'll wake up and see what you really are."
Kaley didn't respond.
She turned the mirror face down.
And for the first time in weeks, she lay down beside Raphtalia.
Not far.
Not close.
Just enough.
And when Raphtalia shifted in her sleep—closer still—Kaley didn't move away.
Naofumi watched the fire.
And quietly moved his shield so it faced outward.
Toward the trees.
Toward whatever came next.