"Elda!"

Duchess Meriwa Ozeryn entered the residence and immediately wrapped her arms around Sedna in a tight hug. Her silks pressed suffocatingly close, the familiar scent of jasmine oil radiating from her hair.

"M–mother?" Sedna managed, taken aback. "Welcome back."

However, the duchess kept her arms clasped about her. Time did not seem to be a deterrent to how long she planned to hold Sedna hostage in her grasp.

"Dear, you do see me as well, I hope?" Duke Cassian Ozeryn, her father, asked. He stood awkwardly beside Sedna. "I've been gone longer, no?"

Sedna's father had been away taking care of matters regarding the mines for the last two moons and only returned last night, in time for the Summer Festival that was taking place today in Genise.

Duke Cassian wasn't blessed in terms of height, standing at barely eye level with Sedna. However, he was loving, compassionate, and the one whom Sedna expected to exhibit the sort of unrestrained behavior her mother was currently displaying. This morning, he had twirled her around when he witnessed her walking on her own two feet without the need for crutches.

Apart from the improvement in her health, Sedna was thankful for the new rule that allowed her to see her father again. In the other iterations, he had already been gone. He had died in 783 of the Adovorian calendar year, a year before the original loops began, in a mining accident where a cave suddenly fell in and the entrance couldn't be cleared in time. Over thirty other people died.

Everyone always envied the Ozeryn Dukedom for its possession of so many mana stone and precious gemstone mines. However, the glamour of Ozeryn's jewelry stores did not extend to the actual labor required to mine the stones. It was dirty and hazardous work that, unfortunately, resulted in death more often than not, due to forces and events that could not be foreseen.

Sedna's eyes narrowed.

Or at least, could not be foreseen before.

Having regained hope for herself, her view had expanded to encompass those around her.

I can save them. I can save Father.

"Mother, release me," Sedna said, voice low and edged. This was the extent of her patience. "You are suffocating me."

"Ah—I apologize." The duchess's grip faltered. She drew back, and her face, for a moment, carried the same look as when every cure failed, when Sedna's body continued to unravel despite all her efforts.

It sent a shiver up Sedna's spine.

"What is it?" Sedna whispered in their secret tongue.

She was suspicious about this avalanche of emotion her mother was showing. It was unlike her. Sedna's own cynical disposition had been taken after the duchess, after all.

"Later," Meriwa replied, her mask sliding swiftly back into place. "We'll talk later."

Then she turned toward her husband and accepted his embrace.

"Our Sedna looks so much better, does she not?" she said brightly, reverting to the common tongue.

"She does." Cassian's smile was soft. "I read the letters, but to see it with my own eyes… it is shocking. A miracle."

"Since you're here, will you be attending the royal banquet?" the duchess inquired, pulling away.

However, Sedna already knew the answer.

Her father offered an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid we'll have to divide and conquer. I must attend to our neighbors from the United Republic of Nales."

"Very well," her mother replied.

Two hours later, the carriage rolled out of the Ozeryn residence in the capital with only Sedna and her mother inside.

"Mother, what was that earlier?" Sedna asked.

The duchess leaned her cheek against one hand, her gaze drifting past the window. Buildings gave way one by one as their carriage climbed toward the palace. Above, the evening sky was an ambient hue of cotton-candy pinks, ribbons of gold, and striking blue.

"I told you; I was visiting an old friend," her mother said.

Sedna inclined her head. "I recall."

The visit in itself was peculiar, as it had never occurred in prior loops that managed to progress this far.

"You went to Vertes," Sedna continued. "To see Count Havenik Aerik and his family."

Sedna did recall the conversation where her mother told her of her plans, but she was too self-absorbed to pay attention. It was the butler who informed her where her mother had disappeared to so unexpectedly.

"We go far back," Meriwa admitted, shifting slightly as the carriage jolted over uneven stone. "But it had been too long since I last saw him. His letter was… troubling. I went to hear the details from his own lips."

"What was so alarming?" Sedna furrowed her brows.

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"His son died," Meriwa said simply. "He was only twelve years old."

"Oh," Sedna said; however, she didn't see the alarm yet. Death, while an unfortunate and painful event to most, was ultimately not abnormal. Even for those who had not yet reached their coming of age.

Perhaps it was the matter of the death?

"How did he pass?" Sedna pressed.

Her mother drew a deep breath. "A horde of undead attacked the boy."

At this, Sedna's mouth twitched.

In the previous loop, her aunt's intelligence had informed her of the undead attack at Luca Frey's villa. And Sedna herself had been on the receiving end once as well of such an attack. At the time, she had even welcomed the bite of death, if only to escape the torment of her failing body for a single loop.

"But that was not the most concerning part," Meriwa continued, her voice dropping low enough to be nearly lost beneath the wheels' rumble. "Havenik confided that his son had claimed to have come back in time. And he proved it by foretelling events that later came to pass."

Sedna's breath caught in her chest.

An Awakened?

Her pulse quickened, thrumming in her eardrums.

"And he is only twelve?" she murmured.

Her mind churned at the implications of this.

So young. And naive. He confided in his father—a grave mistake given the Count's loose lips, having told a friend—my mother—with whom he'd gone without contact for so many years.

"Was," Meriwa corrected quietly. "Havenik seemed to believe his son's incredible ability drew the attention of some darker force."

With a father whose lips were so loose, just how many more now know about the boy being an Awakened?

Sedna clicked her tongue.

Well, the worst possible individuals already know.

"What was the boy's name?" she asked. She would need it for the next loop.

"Francis," her mother replied.

Francis. I need to inform Luca Frey. But how? He has dropped off the face of the earth. Even my aunt's intelligence network cannot trace him.

Her gaze drifted to the window. Outside, Prince Chase Daylan stood a little away from the palace steps and entryway, surrounded by his zealous disciples of the Paragons of Rahosm Temple. Their white and gold robes gleamed in the last of the evening light, a spectacle she had become accustomed to witnessing.

And that lunatic knows nothing either, even if he insists he is Luca's closest friend.

A couple of days ago, Chase had dropped by her home unannounced, as was his normal tendency, to inquire if Sedna knew of Luca's location.

But the only concrete conclusions that Sedna arrived at were: Luca was alive and in no immediate danger. The reasoning was that the loop didn't restart, and Micah Frey's calmness, despite his younger brother's absence, confirmed as much.

The carriage slowed to a halt. The door swung open, and the coachman offered his hand. "Princess Sedna."

She accepted the aid with practiced grace. Golden light spilled over her as she stepped out of the carriage. Music floated out from the palace, mingling with the hum of laughter and lively conversation.

Her gown shimmered in the lamplight—brilliant gold and white silks draped elegantly, cinched at the waist with a dramatic blue sash that cascaded to the floor like a waterfall. Matching sapphires twinkled on her neck, ears, and wrist, while golden threads wound through her glimmersteel-blue hair, catching the glow of every passing light stone.

Heads turned as she and her mother ascended the marble staircase toward the great banquet hall. Her brilliant outfit likely accounted for some of the attention—she was not oblivious to how striking she appeared this evening. Yet she knew the actual reason was simpler: the absence of crutches and the miracle of her steady stride.

"The Ozeryn princess walks—today is full of the most unexpected surprises," a man remarked, his voice carrying just far enough for Sedna's ears to hear.

"What other surprises?" a woman asked, her red fan flicking open with a practiced snap.

"We were at the auction," the man replied with a laugh. "Expecting to acquire a new mage. Instead, they announced there would be no auction at all, only a bidding war to compensate one! And moreover that any abuse to their mages will be met with strict retaliation. Can you imagine?"

"Oh, but while unusual, the reason is rather romantic," another woman chimed in, leaning closer. "The Head of the Spiders Syndicate, they say, fell in love with a mage. That's why the entire syndicate has been… rearranged."

"To rearrange an entire business model on such short notice?" the man muttered. "Just how extraordinary must this mage be?"

"Perhaps he was bewitched," a third woman suggested, her voice tinged with glee. "Ah, speaking of the unusual. There's been strange whispers of a serpent god in East Genise."

Sedna scoffed at the ridiculousness she'd overheard.

Claude Noire? Bewitched? What nonsense.

The man was heavily protected against all artifacts, potions, and spells. Not that it stopped Sedna's aunt from attempting to probe his mind each time she saw him with a new device.

But fallen in love… that is equally unexpected. Who could possibly…?

She frowned as she recalled Claude's visit to her residence in the prior loop, the odd conversation still sharp in her memory.

"Sedna, this way." Her mother's guiding hand drew her back to the present.

They moved to their banquet table and sat, only moments before a commanding voice rang out across the hall.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Duncan's voice sounded across the banquet hall. "May I present to you, Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Evelyn, and her esteemed fiancé, Micah Frey!"

The great doors swung open. Chairs scraped as the hall rose in unison, and a wave of applause broke forth as Princess Evelyn appeared in a gown of crimson that matched her long hair, and phoenix eye gemstone jewelry to match her fiancé's golden blonde hair. Micah Frey wore a white suit with a ruby flower pin and matching cuff links, complementing the crown princess.

"They certainly are an attractive couple," Sedna's mother murmured beside her, clapping politely.

Evelyn and Micah entered arm in arm, moving with regal precision. After brief courtesies with Princess Naomi at the head table, Evelyn lifted a glass of wine and began her speech.

"I'm having a hard time hearing her," one of the elderly gentlemen at the table grumbled. "Where has the mage that she always has with her gone?"

"Don't worry, it's the usual speech regarding a plentiful harvest, unity, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera," his wife replied.

Where is Julius?

Sedna noted his absence as well.

Odd. He was around in past loops.

"May this banquet be a night to celebrate the past, embrace the present, and allow us to move toward a future filled with many hearty harvests," Evelyn concluded, her eyes looking directly at Sedna.

Hmmm?

The hall thundered with applause, yet Sedna's gaze remained fixed on the crown princess, who, against all expectation, was walking directly toward her.

"Your Royal Highness, a pleasure—"

"A splendid speech—"

Voices erupted from Sedna's table as the crown princess appeared, ahead of the expected schedule of the table rounds. But aside from the briefest of nods, the princess's hazel eyes never left Sedna.

A chill prickled down Sedna's spine when Evelyn leaned in, close enough that her breath grazed Sedna's ear. The gesture was far too intimate for their acquaintance level.

"He's in my study. He wishes to speak with you." The words were scarcely more than a thread of sound, laced with runic magic to evade eavesdropping.

Who?

The question nearly left Sedna's lips, but the answer struck her before it could form. Who else could compel the crown princess of Adovoria to play the role of a mere messenger? Who had tamed the lunatic prince of the Daylan Dynasty, transformed the vicious Claude Noire into a leashed hound, and managed to gain the protection of an immortal and mythical phoenix?

Who other but Luca Frey.

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