Max walked through the castle’s long hallways with a smile so ridiculously wide that he was starting to suspect it might get permanently stuck on his face.

He still felt a strange warmth in his chest. Light. Pleasant.

Which was a blatant lie, considering he had technically just discovered he was living inside a potential interdimensional catastrophe and probably had an almost impossible mission ahead of him.

But still.

He had kissed Elanor.

The princess had kissed him.

Twice.

Max brought a hand to his face.

"Okay," he muttered to himself.

"I’m not surviving this."

His smile widened even further.

All the nervousness that had been destroying him minutes ago had vanished as if by magic.

Now all that remained was a strange sense of calm.

Well. Relative calm.

Because somewhere in the back of his brain, a rather unpleasant mission window was still glowing.

Max sighed.

’I need to make the most of whatever time I have here.’

His expression softened a little.

He turned a corner, still smiling like an idiot.

And then he heard a voice launching itself down the hallway.

"DADDYYY!!"

Max barely had time to process it.

A small figure came sprinting at full speed and practically launched herself at him.

"Whoa!"

Max threw his arms out on pure instinct and caught Moonlight before the two of them ended up smashing into the floor.

The little dragon girl wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

"You’re back!"

Max let out a small laugh as he adjusted her more securely in his arms.

"Hey, Moon."

She pulled back just enough to look at him with her huge eyes.

"I was worried," she said, puffing her cheeks out slightly.

"For you. And everyone else."

Max smiled warmly.

"I already heard everything went well," she continued.

"Well..." Max tilted his head slightly. "That depends heavily on your definition of ’went well.’"

Moon frowned.

Max raised a hand and started counting on his fingers.

"We entered the black market."

He raised another finger.

"We rescued the damsel in distress."

Another finger.

"There were a few minor inconveniences."

Moon narrowed her eyes.

"What kind of inconveniences?"

Max thought about the massive fire, the criminal cult, the giant impaled orc, the near-total party wipe, and Dorian becoming an emotional criminal.

"...Minor ones," he repeated with complete dishonesty.

Moon stared at him for a few seconds, clearly unconvinced.

"I wanted to go with you," she finally muttered.

And there it was. That tiny jealous tone.

Max recognized it immediately.

Moon crossed her arms, still being held by him.

"I could’ve helped."

"I know," Max replied.

And it was true. She probably would have helped a little too much, actually. Which was maybe exactly the problem.

Moon sighed, but then her expression quickly shifted into something much more excited.

"But it doesn’t matter!" she announced.

Max raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? It doesn’t?"

Moon shook her head energetically.

"The king promised me something."

She leaned in toward him as if sharing classified information.

"He said that when Neros came back..."

She paused dramatically.

"...he was going to order him to give me sword lessons."

Max blinked. Then let out a small laugh.

"Seriously?"

Moon nodded so hard she nearly shook herself right out of his arms.

"Yes!"

She grinned widely.

"He said it would be a royal order."

Max couldn’t help thinking the obvious.

’The king really does have a weakness for girls and dragons.’

Or worse yet: dragon girls.

That combination was simply too powerful.

Moon raised a finger with absolute seriousness.

"So next mission..."

She pointed at him.

"...I’m not staying behind."

Max pretended to think deeply.

"Hmm."

Moon waited for his response with an intense stare.

Finally, Max smiled.

"Of course not."

He tucked a strand of hair behind one of her ears.

"You’re a great adventure partner."

Moon immediately lit up at those words.

"I knew it!"

She hugged him again.

"We make a great team."

"We make a dangerously questionable team," Max corrected.

"But yes."

Moon let out a small laugh.

Then pulled back a little.

"Where were you going?" she asked.

Max adjusted his posture as he resumed walking with her still in his arms.

"I wanted to go see the king."

Moon tilted her head.

"Why?"

"I want to make sure everything’s okay," he replied.

His expression softened.

"And while I’m at it, check on Chloe too."

Moon nodded.

"I’ll come with you."

Max smiled.

"Weren’t you doing something?"

"I’m waiting for Frida," Moon explained.

"She’s fixing Neros’s sword."

She paused briefly before adding, completely serious:

"He apparently doesn’t know how to go on a mission without breaking it."

Max laughed.

"That is painfully accurate."

He remembered the miserable state the weapon had been in after the infiltration.

"He’s pretty rough with it," Max admitted.

Moon nodded naturally.

"Very."

"But..." Max continued, looking ahead as they walked through the corridor.

"...he’s going to be a great teacher for you."

Moon smiled again, looking genuinely excited by the idea.

"I want to become stronger," she said.

Max glanced at her.

"You’re already pretty strong."

"Stronger," she corrected.

Her tone was firm.

"I want to be able to protect my friends."

Max felt a small ache in his chest.

"That’s a good motivation."

Moon raised an eyebrow.

"What was your motivation for getting stronger?"

Max fell silent for a second.

Good question.

Originally, it had just been survival.

Not dying miserably in a world he knew far too well.

But now...

He glanced toward the castle’s enormous windows.

"I think..." he said slowly.

"...now I want to protect my friends too."

Moon smiled, satisfied.

"Then we have the same motivation."

Max laughed softly.

"I guess we do."

They kept walking together through the castle.

Guards and servants continued greeting Max as he passed, though this time he was actually registering a little more of what was happening around him.

He felt light.

For the first time since arriving in Eldoria, he had the strange feeling that he belonged here a little more.

Which made everything emotionally so much worse.

Because it meant losing it would hurt even more.

Max lowered his gaze slightly.

No.

He wasn’t going to think about that right now.

Atlas had given him a mission.

Moon looked at him.

"What are you thinking about?"

Max smiled again.

"That I have a lot of work ahead of me."

Moon tilted her head.

"Boring work?"

"Probably."

She made a face.

"That sounds awful."

Max laughed softly.

"Yeah."

Then he looked at her conspiratorially.

"But there will probably be adventures too."

That instantly fixed everything.

Moon’s eyes lit up.

"Perfect."