Nil was hugging me while he happily nuzzled me. Dork. His devious schemes were evolving at a dangerous pace with this latest maneuver of his; it astounded me how he managed to be so devious. AAAAARRRRGGGGHHH! The day barely just started! Oh look at me, I’m a sappy dork with gorgeous amber eyes. Using it to his advantage; it was such an underhanded tactic from him. He was so relaxed into me as breakfast began approaching it gave me this odd fuzzy feeling. Why did I like how relaxed Nil was? Nil had virtually no tension in his body as he leaned into me.

  I did appreciate Nil in moments like these. Nil also had amazing insights when it came to . Some of trying to turn myself into a small soul to move and float around in a manner similar to . Why had I not thought of it? Nil just seemed to grasp some part of most people didn’t. It was obnoxious when he was an enemy, but as a boyfriend and ally Nil was invaluable. Why did I refuse to give him a chance last time? It was not exactly the plan this time around; it just felt kind of happened. I likely could make his idea work; I just needed some time to workshop it. Nil tapped my shoulder as time for breakfast had finally arrived, so I took a minor step back and gave him space to stand up. Nil took my hand and, in an instant, we were in the dining room. The two of us took our seats as we were the last to arrive.

  Across the table from us Nez and Nox had clearly still been arguing about Nez taking the position as dean for the proposed academy. The nosy part of me wanted to pry into it. The smart part of me knew the two were doing their best to not let it spill over, but they likely had been arguing immensely about the subject. It seemed fairly straightforward. Granted, there might have been some facets I hadn’t known about. Ryker and Magus Supreme Praecan may have been guests at the castle, yet the two were keeping fairly to themselves. Nautilus and Helga were at the table, sitting happily next to each other. Now that I thought about it, had Magus Supreme Praecan encountered Nautilus? That would be an incredibly awkward conversation more than likely. Breakfast was somewhat quiet, as no one wanted to really discuss things from the simmering tension between Nez and Nox. As soon as Nil was done eating, Nez quite pointedly took him for some lessons. I fought the urge to sigh. Should I ask Krahinn for some insight on ? He had the compendium he’d occasionally divulge information from, though his general stance was we needed to be able to develop our own answers better before he’d give more unfettered access to it.

  “Lass, yer wit’ me.” Nautilus barked, breaking my concentration.

  “Yes ma’am.” I complied. I gave my dad a quick hug before following Nautilus.

  “So, what did the Crown Prince tell you this morning that has you in such a good mood, Lady Luna?” Helga snooped. How did she know?

  “What makes you think he said something?” I challenged. Helga leaned on Nautilus who began glaring at me.

  “Grublin, don’ make me pry i’.” Nautilus snapped at me. That was so unfair. Helga took full advantage of Nautilus willing to spoil her at nearly every opportunity.

  “Using Nautilus like that is cheating.” I grumbled at her.

  “Oh well, as I want to know, and I have the best girlfriend in the world.” Helga taunted with a massive smile.

  “He said a nice compliment and gave me an interesting idea I was hoping to work on.” I answered her. Helga mulled it over for a few moments on whether or not she wanted more information.

  “Lady Luna, do you know who that is?!” Magus Supreme Praecan interjected, looking wildly concerned at Nautilus. Yay! I was getting to at least see this!

  “Why ‘ello to ya too.” Nautilus stated drily, glaring at Magus Supreme Praecan. Ryker was next to her, looking like he had sucked a lemon.

  “I am sorry, did you not pillage countless Institute of Mages’ ships?” Magus Supreme Praecan shot back to her.

  “I apo’ogi’ed. Gran’ed, he died no’ long afte’ but i’ still counts.” Nautilus defended herself.

  “Magus Supreme Praecan, let me properly introduce Naval Admiral Nautilus, personally appointed by Crown Prince Nil.” Helga told her with a saccharine tone.

  “Ah. Crown Prince Nil.” Magus Supreme Praecan quipped, keeping her face neutral. Ryker’s face appeared downright offended at the information. His gaze was oddly bitter as he looked between Nautilus and me.

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  “Wha’s tha lads pro’lem?” Nautilus inquired as she noticed he was glaring. Her silver eyes were ignited with while she obviously debated getting violent.

  “She’s scary.” Ryker replied. Nautilus had her much less than amused expression.

  “Don’ lie t’ me lad.” Nautilus snarled as she began exerting .

  “Do not think you will bully my ward! He’s a kid and you should be the bigger being!” Magus Supreme Praecan snapped at Nautilus, standing between them looking ready to answer Nautilus’s challenge.

  “He’s an ill be’aved lad. Tha’ glarin’ an’ lyin’ ain’t a good look. Imma drop i’ here but do no’ think it cause of you.” Nautilus retorted with an even stare.

  “And I assume when you said you apologized, you meant to Grand Archmagus Solomon?” Magus Supreme Praecan verified.

  “Ya. I go’ a pardon and I ain’t givin back wha’s mine.” Nautilus replied. Magus Supreme Praecan took a deep breath.

  “I guess that is all in the past now. As there is some looming threat I do not fully grasp, but I do see the need to prepare and not allow events from long ago slow us down. I am sorry for my initial comment.” Magus Praecan apologized sincerely. Nautilus got less intense after that.

  “I accep’ ya apo’ogy.” Nautilus confirmed with a polite nod.

  The two were still kind of glaring at each other, but it was more cordial than before. Ryker only looked more annoyed. He always was a bitter individual from what I could remember, but this felt disproportionate. Was how he was acting what caused me to use ? Something about it just felt off to me, but I couldn’t put my finger on what. I mean, Modinar was eviscerated by the Void King, and he lost his family to it, so him being bitter was understandable. Why was I thinking that? Maybe I should try talking to him. It was a bit difficult as he was a guest with someone proposing a massive favor towards them. Talking to him would be a bit improper at the moment, and Empress Senna would not let it slide as she knew I know better. I knew Ryker looked at Nil with thinly veiled contempt which Nil was thankfully too oblivious to overly pick up on. After the proposal was more properly settled I could talk with Ryker more directly to better gauge the issue. Was I just being paranoid?

  “We must be off, as we need to go into town today. It was lovely meeting you officially.” Magus Supreme Praecan stated as she took Ryker and left.

  “Ho’eful’y those tw’ don’ stick aroun’.” Nautilus quipped as soon as they were out of ear shot.

  “Don’t focus on them dear, you did great as a Naval Admiral.” Helga praised while kissing Nautilus on the cheek. Nautilus made a small, happy little smile in response.

  “Okay.” Nautilus acquiesced, giving Helga a deep, passionate kiss back. Nautilus was always quite the affectionate one. The two did a quick nose nuzzle before focusing back on what they wanted previously.

  “Now, before we got distracted, someone deflected the answer to my question.” Helga hounded me, smirking at me.

  “I answered it.” I tried, knowing it was likely quite in vain.

  “No, you gave me an answer. I want a more complete one.” Helga demanded. I looked at Nautilus who gave me a look I was all too familiar with. I let out a defeated sigh.

  I informed her.

  Nautilus checked. Helga noticed we were talking mentally and looked annoyed.

  I confessed, blushing as I began remembering how sincerely and sweet he was being. Nautilus was battling to keep her face under control as her lips were twitching wildly from the news.

  Nautilus teased me. Her and Krahinn both enjoyed calling Nil spineless when it came to me.

  I tried. I knew it was a fruitless argument with her.

  “What are you two discussing?” Helga grumbled. Her face made it apparent she knew she was not getting the answer she wanted.

  “Imma ha’e t’ let grublin keep her answe’. I’ll ma’e it up t’ ya late’.” Nautilus promised her. Helga let out an annoyed sigh.

  “Fine. I would like to one day have a better explanation as to why.” Helga conceded. And on that day, Helga would likely explode when she learned Nil’s true age and how cognizant of his torment he was. Granted, he got a lot better about it in the last few years.

  “Than’s fer unde’standin’ dear.” Nautilus replied as she kissed her again.

  “So, could you two help me develop a ?” I requested to change the subject.

  “Luna, you can just ask Nautilus directly. Do not feel the need to include me in that as we both know I will be little help on that front.” Helga informed me.

  “You sometimes have decent insight and contribute to the overall morale.” I defended myself.

  “You just like the snacks I make.” Helga shot right back.

  “I would say maintain sustenance and Nautilus’s morale.” I tried. Helga was giving me a wildly unamused stare.

  “Sure.” Helga taunted. Nautilus looked at me as she chuckled a little.

  “Wha’s tha idea lass?” Nautilus asked to move the subject along for me.

  “That I could somewhat replicate Lux’s and turn into some sort of soul wisp ball thing. It would let me fly and move around a lot faster.” I explained. The two of them nodded a bit.

  “So, ya can go as’ tha bird wit’out th’ climb?” Nautilus checked with a shiza eating grin.

  “Perhaps. It could have other uses.” I attempted. Both of them made their belief of that statement apparent as they looked at me.

  “Luna, don’t lie to our faces.” Helga chided me.

  “Yes, so I don’t have to climb the stupid castle each time.” I confessed with a heavy sigh.

  “Aight. C’mon, we can defini’ely work on it. Prolly ain’t gonna finish t’day.” Nautilus told me as she began walking to the courtyard.

  “Should I bring snacks? Or other morale boosting material?” Helga asked mockingly.

  “That would be nice.” I answered, hoping she would bring the snacks.

  “Too bad.” Helga informed me. Nautilus chuckled as we walked to work on the .