"Where did you say Eliron was going again?" Artie asked. She was sitting next to the window, servicing her long bow.

Yen, on the other hand, was sprawled over on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

"He didn’t say. He’s probably dancing around with his sword in some forest..."

"Haaaa—" she sighed tiredly. "Why did he have to take Tsukiko with him? Now I have no one to gossip with."

"You talk to the spirit? But she never responds, does she?" Artie asked curiously.

Yen froze, then laughed nervously. "Of course she doesn’t, hahah..."

’Oops... I almost went too far.’

Although Tsukiko revealed she was able to talk just recently, Yennefer had always known. She never spoke much unless it was necessary, and she had made Yen swear she would not tell anyone else...

Yen sighed again. "I wish something interesting would happen."

Swish! Swish!

She turned her attention to Ash, who was sweating as he swung his sword repeatedly.

"I don’t know if you consider it interesting, but I hear the war will begin soon." Ash said, glancing at her for a second.

"Lord Eliron said we will have leadership roles."

"Only a battle-obsessed person like you would consider war interesting, Ash. I want to tour the city, eat a bunch of snacks until I pop like a balloon."

Yen turned her attention to the girl sitting on the couch, nose deep in a book.

"You agree with me, don’t you, Ariel?"

She immediately looked up, her cheeks blushing slightly. It seemed she had been listening in on their conversation.

The girl was still shy among them, preferring Eliron’s company, as strange as it was... But slowly, she was beginning to warm up to their merry group.

"Mmmhm." She nodded. "That does sound love..."

Knock knock—!

Everyone looked at the door. ’Who could that be?’

"I’ll get it!" Ariel flew from where she was, landing softly in front of the door.

She opened it, revealing a tall figure on the other side, the person Yen least expected...

"Good afternoon!" Alex’s cheery voice reached her. "Sorry to intrude."

"Your playmate isn’t here..." Yen waved her hands dismissively in the air. "You can leave now."

Alex stared around the room, a confused look on his face. "Huh? Is this place haunted?"

"Down here, you oaf!" She raised her hand high.

Maybe it was not a good idea to insult the prince, but she was already used to playful banter with Eliron, and she always got away with it, so who cared? 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Ohh, miss Yennefer." The prince smiled as she sat up straight. "You are just the person I was looking for."

’Me, not Eliron?’ Yennefer thought.

Artie paused what she was doing, dropping her bow by her side. "And why are you looking for her?"

Alex’s demeanour immediately changed as he began to tell them all that had happened in the past three hours.

It was strange, even as he retold the gruesome story, describing the appalling state Cavil had been in, not once did Alex’s expression change.

It was unnerving.

"Our best healers have tried all they could to heal him, but nothing is working. I’m pretty sure Cavil will die soon, and I would rather not have that happen..." he sighed.

"Ciera... I’m afraid of how she will react if he were to die. She woke up a few hours ago, you know?"

His shoulders slumped as he spoke. "But she hasn’t said a single word to me. I guess she really does blame me for what happened..."

For once, Yen saw a sign of real emotion... concern, and anger?

"Hmmmm." Yen cocked her head to the side. "I only heal on Eliron’s request, though..."

Then she sighed. "Alright, take me to him..."

<•••>

The entire group must have been just as bored as Yennefer, because they all decided to accompany her to the castle infirmary.

She did not mind, it was better having them around than a bunch of strangers.

Cavil, as Alex had called him, was just as bad as he had described. But he was nowhere near the state the queen had been in before Eliron cured her.

"So? What do you think?" Alex asked. "I know it is a bit much, but do you think you can fix him?"

"Sure, this will be easy, actually."

Back then, Yen had no idea how to handle situations like this. You could not just pour healing energy into the patient, all you would do was waste mana.

There was also no conventional way to treat this particular illness. But after Eliron explained everything to her in detail, she had come up with her own method of curing it....

One that would only work for her, and that did not involve stabbing patients through the chest...

Put in perspective, cursed energy was like negative energy, while her divine mana was like positive energy.

When they met, they would naturally cancel each other out, so all she had to do was push mana through every single mana vein in his body, pushing the cursed energy to his core, and then nuke the entire thing!

’It’s as simple as that.’

Oh wait... maybe it wasn’t as simple as she thought...

"You already look so confident." Alex smiled with relief. "Alright then, I’ll leave you to it. Thank you once again."

He was about to walk away when Yen held his shoulder, a mischievous smile on her face.

"We’ll discuss payments at a later date..."

Alex sighed. "Yes, yes... And here I was thinking you were doing this out of the goodness of your heart."

She frowned. "What do you think I am? An angel?"

"Alright, chop chop!" Yen clapped her hands, drawing attention to herself. "All of you, save for the healers, leave us."

<•••>

Alex left the infirmary and immediately climbed up the stairs until he got to the top of the castle. He stood in front of the door to the council room, already hearing the sounds of argument inside.

If there was a traitor among them, it was likely one of the very nobles discussing the fate of their kingdom.

It was sickening to think they had been living with a traitor, and Alexander felt even more disgusted that he had not figured it out up until now.

He pushed the door open and stepped inside, a small smile on his face as he shut the door behind him.

He caught his father’s gaze as he entered the room, and, not wasting any time, he walked up to where his father was, observing the heated debate.

"We can’t just agree to one man’s greedy demands! What else will he ask for in the future? The throne? The princesses’ hands?!" One of the lords was standing, barking out his opinions.

Another noble stroked his lush beard as he spoke. His voice was calmer than the first, but he had more of a presence about him.

"But we cannot deny that he is powerful. Shall we force him to aid us then? I am sure there is an artifact in the royal treasury that can bind—"

"How long are we going to bicker amongst ourselves if we already know the best possible choice?" Alexander cut in, interrupting the man.

"Dear members of the council." Alex spoke, his voice jovial but firm. "I am afraid it is about time we wrapped up this meeting and approve of Lord Eliron’s demands—"

"My prince." Lord Warren stood up, interrupting Alex just as he had interrupted the last speaker.

The grand marshal’s face hardened, everyone could feel the palpable tension in the room.

Lord Warren’s voice was deep and authoritative, a disapproving frown etched on his features.

"Don’t you believe it is poor manners to interrupt your elder while he speaks? Not only were you late, you have not accorded us the respect worthy of the—"

"Be quiet when I speak, Warren." Alexander replied in a sinister tone, shocking the entire council.

A heavy pressure descended on the room, causing the lords to stifle a breath. The king gave Alex a wary stare, it seemed even he was surprised by his sudden outburst.

’What is this feeling?’ Warren thought, trying his best to keep his composure.

He was a decorated warrior, one of the best in the kingdom. Many monsters and humans alike had fallen by his hands, yet, why did he feel paralyzed in his presence?

It was as though he had been set before a primal beast.

They had always known the prince to be the playful sort, never taking anything seriously. But right now, the pressure he was giving off... it was even greater than the king’s.

"While we sit here bickering like children, our enemies have already begun to set things in place."

He glanced at Lord Warren. "Do you know why I was late, Lord Warren? It would interest you to know that there are—"

Something suddenly flashed in Alex’s vision. He turned to the window, his eyes widening.

"Get down!"

BOOOOOOM!

A large fireball pounded into the council room, shattering the glass and filling the room with a scalding heat.

Alex saw the glass fragments as they flew towards him, the fire as it consumed everything, and the splintered, burned wood— just before he was thrown back by the resulting shockwave!

**

Alex coughed, a ringing sound in his ear as he stood up from the rubble. He glanced around the room, the table had been shattered, nearly everything was on fire, and thick smoke was oozing out of the space.

"D-dad?"

"Argh, fuck!"

Alex turned to the direction of the voice, only to see his father standing up from the rubble.

Then his ears caught something else, the sound of panicked screams—

He ran towards the destroyed window, holding the molten edges like it was not a thousand degrees hot, and when he peered through it, his breath caught in his throat.

Flying right above the castle, sinister red eyes staring down at it, white scales gleaming like marbles, was a colossal beast of legend.

A true dragon.