Gineber pushes Axiel's chest away from her. The queen lowers her gaze like she can't hold up the weight of her own actions.
"We can't continue with this, Axiel."
"Continue with what? I'm just a loyal guard escorting Her Majesty on her usual evening stroll," says the captain, extending his arm. Gineber bites her lip in hesitation, but eventually accepts Axel's gesture and wraps her arm around his. Both leave the shadows of the hedges and resume their walk along the cobblestone path. Fireflies flit through the garden, and so does an unseen gaze that the couple is unable to perceive.
"If someone saw us and said something, we'd be in serious trouble."
"If anyone saw us, they'd have to deal with me," Axiel asserts with calm confidence. "Gineber, the nobles may mock my humble origins, or consider me a commoner lucky with a sword, but I have more influence and friends than you realize."
"You're an fool, Axiel. Most likely, we'll end up executed for treason, and my children will live under the suspicion of being fruits of dishonor."
"Your father would never allow an executioner to touch a single strand of your silver hair. Blood is thicker than water."
"They'd execute you, which would be the same thing. The pain would make me jump from a tower window, whether from the top of this shapeless rock they call a castle, or from the silver bell towers of my homeland"
Axiel stops to wrap his arms around Gineber's waist. They face each other; Gineber has tears in her eyes, while Axiel remains as calm as steel.
"If you suffer, I've failed, my love. We'll be together," Axiel assures with complete certainty.
"We'd have to be reborn and—"
Axiel silences Gineber with a gentle kiss, then leans in and places another on her forehead.
"We'll be together in this life, I promise."
"Oh, Axiel… You're an fool," Gineber repeats, burying her face in the captain's chest. It's clear the queen doesn't believe Axiel's promise even if she wanted to, but as she laments, the captain's gaze burns with cold determination.
Jimbo slowly returns to the dungeon, processing what just happened.
«I don't need to process anything. It's NTR!» he exclaims, clutching his non-existent head. Of all the tags he knows, this is one of the worst. But it's more than just infidelity—it's betrayal. People could die over this. «I have to tell Hilda; she'll know what to do.»
Sooner or later, he had to reveal his ability to see beyond the dungeon. Now, with this, he can redirect the captain's rage and suspicions toward the unfaithful couple. Jimbo visualizes the scene.
«That's right. I am the all-knowing, all-seeing eye—ACK!»
He imagines a sword piercing his crystal. On the way to the core room, Jimbo considers and organizes what he'll say to avoid an abrupt and cruel ending.
Obviously, Hilda isn't happy when Jim's voice starts speaking in her ear. The captain grumbles in sleep, turns her back on Jimbo, and pulls the linen sheet over her head. But when Jimbo assures it's an emergency, she jumps up as if she had a spring in the back and grabs the longsword resting by the bed.
"An attack? The dark elves are back?" she says, hurrying to put on the boots.
«Nothing like that. I need to tell you something»
Hilda slows her movements, and with each new word from Jim, the woman's expression grows darker; her gaze sharpens when Jim reveals the ability to see the surface without assistance. Hilda opens her mouth, but falls silent as Jimbo continues and recounts what he saw in the castle's inner courtyard. First, Hilda's face lights up with surprise, then darkens again, leaving a cold gleam in her eyes. The woman rises from the bed; the sword whistles when she draws it.
"A calumny of this magnitude could mean your destruction, Dungeon Core," Hilda says, pointing the blade at Jim's presence. "You cast suspicion not only on the knight's honor, but also on her majesty the queen's."
Hilda walks forward with her sword outstretched. Jimbo steps back in tension, even though he knows the steel cannot touch him. When he reaches the core, Jim hides like a snail retreating into the shell. The tip of Hilda's sword gently grazes the crystal, and Jim shivers.
"Are you prepared to risk your life on that dangerous accusation?!" the woman exclaims, her single eye looking like a dragon's.
Jim hesitates. For a moment, he thinks about regretting it and saying it's all a joke. But no, the annoyance of being attacked for being honest outweighs his fear.
«It's the truth! And I had no reason to tell you anything, but I did! And now your reaction makes me think maybe I should've kept to myself the news that a man who isn't the king is groping the queen!»
Jimbo doesn't need to breathe, but feels himself running out of breath. Hilda stares at him for a full minute with a narrowed eye… until finally the woman's expression relaxes.
"Very well, I'll investigate the accusation," she says and sheathes the sword.
«That's it? Don't you need me to swear on my name or something like that?»
Hilda returns to the bed to remove the single boot she managed to put on.
"If you lie to me, I'll find out, you'll prove yourself untrustworthy, and pay the consequences. But if you tell the truth... you'll have served the kingdom well."
«So you believe me?»
"I'll talk to Axiel after sunrise to hear his side of the story. Now, please, I need some quiet to sleep—it's been a long day."
«I thought this was supposed to be your day off»
Hilda grunts without elaborating and sets her sword aside at the bedside. Jimbo gets too close, and she waves her hand as if shooing away a mosquito.
«They're cuckolding the king! Don't you take it too lightly?»
"It's a women's issue. Just because I rush over won't stop the queen from being dishonored—it doesn't work like that. Just… don't mention this to anyone until I've cleared things up, understood? Maybe you misinterpreted what you saw; you are a crazy experiment after all"
«Sure, sure… Misunderstanding. Good night, Captain»
Hilda lifts a foot onto the bed, but stops, and slowly turns her attention back to Jimbo.
"Since when can you look up?"
Jim trembles at the woman's sudden seriousness.
«Uh... Just a few days.»
"I'll only say this once. You can snoop around within your limits. But if you change or manipulate anything without permission from above, I'll consider it an attack"
Jimbo nods several times. Hilda goes back to sleep.
...
Two people wander through the dark streets. Harris leads the way, holding a simple ether lantern that lights the path with an aquamarine glow; behind him follows a woman with a weary face, dressed in a simple deer-skin tunic. The woman pauses for a moment to offer her prayers to the trinity of skeletons impaled on wooden logs at the end of an alley.
"Sister, please don't linger too long. This neighborhood is dangerous," says Harris, keeping an eye on the shadows peering down from the rooftops.
They continue to an old cabin hidden deep within the walls. Harris knocks three times on the door with loose hinges before entering. The ether illuminates the figure curled deep inside, practically hidden among the folds of the sheets, revealing only the bandaged stump of her thigh.
"Is it her?" asks the Lacrimossa priestess, the crying goddess.
Harris nods in total silence. The lie he told the priestess was that his friend, in addition to being maimed, has a horrible skin disease, and no other priest agreed to come and cure her. It is partly true; the priestess of Lacrimossa was the only one to agree to help, and without asking for a donation. The woman extends both hands and prays her goddess to give her the power to heal. The ether gathers and channeled from a higher plane of existence. A sacred light bursts from the priestess's palms, enveloping the amputated stump like an embrace.
The priestess keeps her eyes closed throughout the process. She is no sorceress; she doesn't need to study anatomy for the tissues to regenerate and the bones to connect properly—all the work is done by the omniscience of the goddess.
The warmth of the magic fades from the woman's palms. When she opens her eyes, she turns pale upon seeing the color of the skin on the leg now exposed from the sheets. Navy-blue flesh. The woman stifles a scream and collapses into a sitting position. Harris kneels beside and takes her hand.
"Please, sister, she's not like the rest of her people; she's one of the good elves."
The priestess pulls back her hand as if Harris's touch burns her and quickly stands up.
Skill: Shadow Feint.
Requirement: Level 14.
Cost: 14 Ether.
Description: Uses the shadows to appear behind the opponent.
Shadowkiss appears behind the woman and, without blinking, plunges the plenilunium dagger into her, driving it deep enough to reach the lungs and twisting it before pulling out. Harris manages to catch the priestess before she hits the ground.
"No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Harris says, trembling, as the woman in his arms spits and chokes on her own blood, looking at him with tearful, increasingly desperate eyes.
"You saw how she got up and prepared to run. She was going to accuse me! They'd execute me for what I am, and you for treason against mankind! Shadowkiss says, leaning forward with a hand on her chest.
The priestess stops writhing and gasping. Harris gently lays her on the floor and stands up. He shakes head.
"I made a mistake, I made—"
Shadowkiss steps in front and cups his face in her hands. When the dark elf's lips press against Harris', all his stress and torment evaporate as if they had never existed.