Chapter 236: Achoo!

"I prefer to think of it as aggressive, unsolicited enrichment. Now, run along. The portal is closing, and I have a great deal of plotting to do. Tell the Elders I send my deepest, most insincere regards."

With a flick of Roan’s wrist, the mana around Elias violently snapped shut.

The envoy didn’t even have time to scream before the spatial fold collapsed, sucking the terrified, stressed-out mage back to the Eastern Spire, leaving his glowing clipboard clattering on the floor.

Roan Charte stood alone on the balcony.

He looked down at his own hand.

He remembered the feeling of the tiny girl’s presence. The echo of Cecil.

The terrifying, delightful glare of the Northern Reaper.

"A tiny little Sovereign with a fake water core, guarded by a father who would freeze the sun for her," Roan murmured to the moonlight, his smile softening into something far more genuine, and far more dangerous. "Oh, Seraphina von Nacht. We are going to be magnificent friends. Whether your father likes it or not."

With a final, sweeping flourish of his dark coat, the Archmage stepped into the shadows, dissolving into the night air, his mind already spinning a hundred intricate, chaotic, hilarious plans to breach the impenetrable fortress of the Nacht Capital Estate.

While the most powerful, chaotic Archmage in the East was currently mapping out an elaborate infiltration of her personal life, the Sovereign of the North was entirely, blissfully preoccupied with a much more pressing matter.

Sugar.

The heavy, black carriage of the Vanguard rumbled steadily through the paved, winding streets of the Capital’s high-noble district, heading back toward the safety of their estate.

The magical suspension absorbed the bumps of the cobblestones, creating a smooth, rocking, incredibly cozy atmosphere inside the warded cabin.

Seraphina von Nacht was sitting in the direct center of the plush velvet bench.

She was currently surrounded by a literal hoard of stolen, high-society contraband.

Before Kaelus had whisked her away from the children’s pavilion, Seraphina had executed a flawless, rapid-fire tactical sweep of the dessert buffet.

She had utilized her small size, her innocent face, and her terrifyingly fast hands to essentially mug the pastry table.

She was currently holding a pristine white linen napkin that was bulging with five chocolate eclairs, three strawberry tarts, a handful of candied sugar-plums, and a very squished, but structurally intact, slice of the Emperor’s personal vanilla-bean cake.

Duke Kaelus von Nacht was sitting right next to her.

He was not sitting across from her at the desk.

He had abandoned his usual, imposing posture entirely.

He was slouched slightly against the velvet cushions, his long legs stretched out, his heavy cape pulled around both of them like a protective cocoon.

He had his left arm wrapped securely, tightly around her small shoulders, keeping her tucked flush against his side.

The terrifying, homicidal adrenaline of the balcony encounter had finally faded, leaving behind an exhausted, incredibly tender need for physical proximity.

"You are going to make yourself ill, Seraphina," Kaelus murmured, his voice a low, rumbling vibration against her side.

His violet eyes watched her shove an entire candied sugar-plum into her mouth, his tone completely devoid of any actual disciplinary authority.

"I have a very fast medicine-bolism, Papa," Seraphina mumbled around the sugar, chewing happily. "The extra sugar gives my dark mana fuel. It’s basically a tactical requirement."

"A convenient physiological excuse for your gluttony," Kaelus scoffed softly, though a fond, weary smile touched his lips.

He reached out with his free, black-gloved hand and gently wiped a smudge of chocolate from the corner of her mouth.

He leaned his head back against the velvet cushions, closing his eyes.

"I am sorry, Mushroom," Kaelus whispered into the quiet, insulated cabin.

Seraphina stopped chewing.

She looked up at him, swallowing her bite of plum. "Sorry for what, Papa? You didn’t do anything wrong. You rescued me from the boring shiny people."

Kaelus kept his eyes closed. "I promised I would not leave you alone in the dark. And yet, I allowed the Emperor’s political theater to separate us. I left you unguarded on a balcony in a palace filled with vipers. I felt... I felt your distress. I felt your mana spike. When I saw you standing by that railing, looking at the shadows..."

His voice cracked slightly, the memory of the suffocating terror tightening his chest. "I thought I had failed you."

Seraphina’s soul melted.

She carefully set her napkin of stolen pastries down on the velvet bench.

She turned, crawled fully into his lap, and wrapped her small arms tightly around his neck, burying her face into his velvet collar.

"You didn’t fail me, Papa," Seraphina promised him, her voice fierce and completely sincere. "You came right when I needed you. You always come. I wasn’t scared because I knew you were going to find me. You are my grumpy hedgehog. You always find me."

Kaelus let out a long, shuddering sigh, wrapping both of his arms around her, holding her so tightly she could hear the steady, reassuring thrum of his heartbeat against his chest.

"I will always find you," Kaelus vowed, pressing a heavy, lingering kiss to the top of her dark hair. "Even if I have to tear the Capital down to its foundations."

They sat there in the dim, rocking carriage, wrapped in the unbreakable warmth of their chosen family. The toxic, exhausting politics of the Emperor’s Banquet faded away.

The snobby noble children, the whispering courtiers, the underlying threats, none of it mattered in the quiet safety of the carriage.

Seraphina snuggled closer, her eyes drooping slightly as the heavy dose of carbohydrates and the emotional crash of the evening finally began to catch up with her.

She rested her cheek against his shoulder, perfectly content.

And then, entirely without warning.

"Achoo!"

Seraphina let out a sudden, full-body sneeze. It was a tiny, high-pitched, incredibly cute sound, but it was powerful enough to jerk her head back.

Kaelus instantly went rigid.