Am I in my bed? Do I have to go to school?

  Someone was telling me to take my medicine...

  Mhh. I must be sick, then. I don’t have to go to school!

  My mind felt utterly foggy, like I was under some dizziness spell. The voice was male… but it wasn’t Pa.

  Is this the doctor?

  I opened my eyes—and saw stars. Real stars, scattered across a sky that wasn’t quite right. I blinked a few times, but they stayed there, twinkling in a strange, unfamiliar pattern.

  Where am I?

  Then it clicked. Right. I’m not on Earth.

  But… then where?

  I turned toward the voice, still dazed, and saw a blond man—absurdly handsome, like he’d stepped straight out of a fashion ad—kneeling beside me. He was dressed in what looked suspiciously like house pajamas and held a spoon with a small amount of something glowing faintly.

  “Thank the Gods you’re okay!” he said, his beautiful blue eyes lighting up with relief.

  He gently pushed the spoon toward my lips, and I accepted it without protest.

  How could I refuse?

  “You have severe mana poisoning—you need to take your medicine,” the blond angel said, nodding wisely.

  I slurped the spoonful down. The taste was... strange. Like lemon juice mixed with honey—and just a hint of lead battery acid for good measure.

  Before I could fully react, the confusion deepened. A breathtaking elf girl appeared behind him, moving with a grace that couldn’t possibly belong to this world. A divine grace.

  Her eyes lit up when she saw me, and she gave me a ravishing smile that nearly made me melt on the spot. I swallowed hard.

  “Good girl,” the blond Viking model said, clearly pleased. He looked like he might pat me on the head, but restrained himself at the last second.

  “Oh, finally! My sweet little savior has recovered!” the angelic elf exclaimed, her voice honeyed silk.

  I must be sitting on a cloud. Being treated by angels.

  There had to be a mistake. How did I end up in heaven?

  I blinked. Wait... I knew that face.

  My mind scrambled furiously, trying to rewind recent events and reinsert me somewhere into the correct point in the space-time continuum.

  Details began to sharpen, as if someone were slowly removing a filter from a fogged-up camera lens.

  “Ju?” I murmured.

  She giggled—light and crystalline, like a glass bell.

  My left cheek was itching terribly, and I instinctively tried to scratch it—only to jolt in shock when I discovered my hand was tied to the bed.

  “Hey! Why am I bound?” I snapped, turning indignantly toward the Viking.

  He sighed.

  “To stop you from hurting yourself. You were scratching your skin off,” the alchemist explained patiently. “I’ll unbind you—but no scratching, okay?”

  I nodded quickly, eager to be free, and turned back to the stunning elf girl.

  “Yolanda? You’re okay?”

  Hadn’t I put her in my inventory? Could someone survive that? Or was it a one-time fluke?

  “I’m very fine,” she purred, leaning playfully over the alchemist’s shoulder and giving me a mischievous wink. She was dressed in what a certain kind of boutique might market as a sexy negligee.

  Before I could react, the spoon was back in my mouth—he’d snuck it in again, and I reflexively swallowed.

  “There you are!” the alchemist said with a proud smile, dabbing at my chin like I was some dainty, bedridden patient. Oh well, I was still bound.

  While he unbound me, my mind slowly began to function again. Maybe that stuff on the spoon had helped.

  I looked around and realized, with growing clarity, that I wasn’t lying on a cloud somewhere in the sky. Faint red light filtered through a window, dimmed by thick draperies. Probably sunset. I lifted my eyes—and saw that the "sky" above me was just the ceiling of the room. But it wasn’t entirely my imagination—tiny lights twinkled faintly above, arranged in constellations. He’d enchanted the ceiling to mimic the night sky. A sky simulacrum.

  This had to be his bedroom.

  “Can you talk? Or should we let you rest?” the alchemist asked gently.

  I nodded. “I can talk,” I confirmed, and used my newly freed hands to push myself upright against the pillows. I was in a large double bed, wearing a loose-fitting set of men’s pajamas. Judging by the size, they had to be his.

  “What spell did you use on her?” he asked.

  I blinked. That’s his first question?

  “I resurrected her,” I said, still a little dazed.

  His eyes widened. “You resurrected her highness? You can resurrect?!”

  “Her Highness?” I echoed, confused. We were supposed to be incognito. As far as he knew, I was just a wealthy merchant with a sick relative in need of treatment.

  He caught the unspoken question in my face and smiled faintly.

  “My lady, I was at the stadium the day before. I saw your performance. I know who you are. There’s no need to keep up the charade—not after everything that’s happened.”

  I sighed and exchanged a glance with Yolanda. She only shrugged, a knowing smile tugging at her lips.

  I scratched at my cheek—and he gently caught my hand.

  “Please try not to scratch yourself,” he said softly, then immediately launched back into his thoughts. “So resurrection does contain the sickness!”

  Of course. All he cared about was the medical results of his little “experiment.”

  “What do you mean by contain?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

  He beamed, clearly pleased with himself, and began explaining with animated hand gestures. “The sickness is no longer active. Even Her Highness’ libido appears to have normalized.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “So she’s cured?” I asked, glancing at Yolanda—who, behind him, was making an absolutely smug face.

  He didn’t answer right away. He hesitated, thinking.

  “It’s as if the sickness has been… frozen. Caught in a specific state. She’s no longer contagious, but some of the compounds characteristic of the illness are still present in her blood. Honestly, we’re in uncharted territory here. I can’t say for sure.”

  I waited.

  He finally added, “It will probably still affect her longevity—but no longer at that accelerating pace. More like… one and a half times normal aging, maybe.”

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  I let out a sigh. Now I understood Yolanda’s smug expression from behind him.

  She leaned even further against the sexy Viking, her body pressed lightly to his. I almost snorted.

  “So, we can save on the potion,” she added sweetly.

  He sighed, and his face immediately soured—like he’d just bitten into a lemon.

  “About that, Your Highness… I’d like to keep the potion, if that’s agreeable. I need it to cover the damages to my workshop. Also…” He hesitated. “Was that assassin truly a vampire? Did I see that right, or was I hallucinating?”

  I nodded. “Yes. And a high-level one.”

  His eyes lit up, as if that were somehow good news.

  He turned to Yolanda, their faces now almost touching. “Would Your Highness be willing to let me keep the vampire dust?”

  Yolanda met his gaze and gave a careless shrug. “Sure. You can keep it.”

  He turned back to me, grinning like he’d won a prize. “That more than compensates for the damage. Have you had any chance to assess the vampire’s level?”

  I shrugged and scratched at my scalp. Again, his hand reached up to gently stop me—but this time, I still managed a satisfying scratch.

  “Somewhere around level seventy-something,” I said.

  His eyes went wide. “No. That can't be! That’s why—” He stared at me. “You… you killed a level seventy vampire assassin?”

  I snorted. “Yeah. And he tasted like shit! Buaaah!” I shuddered dramatically, shaking my head in disgust.

  They both froze, staring at me like I’d said something unthinkable.

  What? It’s normal to eat your prey.

  *

  We learned that he could use the vampire dust to craft amulets capable of repelling vampires up to that level—which covered most normal vampires, excluding only the truly ancient monsters.

  There were other applications too, but that was the most lucrative. He even promised to refund the cost of the potion once he started making sales.

  He also swore to keep the princess’s condition a secret, though I had a sinking feeling this whole mess was destined to turn into yet another legend about those depraved elves.

  By the time we left, night had fully fallen and the Kargath celebration was already over. The potions had helped—I was feeling much better, even if some itching still remained. Now free from the alchemist’s supervision, I scratched without restraint—finally to my satisfaction—leaving red streaks across my skin.

  The warlock teleports were still functioning and would remain so for another couple of days. After showing the badges we’d received from Fiona’s administration, we landed smoothly in the grand entry hall of the palace.

  On the way to our rooms, we had to exchange pleasantries with several nobles—far too many of whom seemed eager to brag that they’d spoken to the beautiful elf princess.

  Small talk has a special talent for draining me faster than any physical exertion. By the time we finally stepped into the anteroom of our apartment, I was exhausted.

  Which is why my heart nearly stopped when I heard voices.

  Who was in there?

  Then I remembered. Oh, fuck. The peasant girl. She must still be waiting for my decision.

  But… who was she talking to?

  Once we stepped inside, the situation became clear: she was talking with Ju.

  “Hello there!” Ju chirped the moment she saw us. “How was your day? Did you two have fun?”

  She gestured toward Miranda. “We spent the whole day together! Imagine—Fiona herself came by after closing the festivities to check in on me. And then Therella and Kotu dropped in for a visit, too!”

  I sighed, trying to assess the situation. Was Ju in a good mood, or was she being sarcastic? How had she managed to talk to Miranda? Had there been any problems? They’d supposedly been on the same team yesterday...

  And then, of course, there was the other princess standing just behind me.

  I scratched my scalp, trying to figure out what to say, when Yolanda gently caught my hand.

  “Maybe don’t scratch quite so much,” she said. “You’re nearly bleeding.”

  Before I could respond, she activated the privacy field, expanding it to cover all four of us.

  I exhaled slowly and glanced at Julietta.

  “We need to talk. A high-level assassin tried to kill us this morning, during our trip into town.”

  Yolanda grinned.

  “Tried? If I’m to believe my senses—and our lovely baroness—he succeeded and I died.”

  Ju looked between us, eyebrows pinching together.

  “She’s… not a zombie?”

  I let out a tired snort and glanced at Miranda. Maybe I should just accept her request now—she already knows too much… if she still wants to work for me after all this.

  “No. Resurrected. But… yeah.”

  Ju’s eyebrows shot up in surprise—just as a bird flew into the room.

  Then a second one.

  They flew straight at us, and I was already preparing to launch a dark bolt—when they shimmered mid-flight and transformed.

  Instead of birds, there stood Mike. Naked. Looking awkward as hell.

  Miranda squealed and jumped to the side—as she’d been closest to him—but she seemed to calm down once Ju stepped forward and draped a blanket over Mike’s shoulders.

  “Finally, I found you!” he said between gasps, clearly exhausted from the flight.

  “What happened?” I asked. Something serious must have gone wrong. I wanted to ask why there had been two birds, but whatever brought him here was clearly more urgent.

  His eyes locked onto mine as he stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “Lores, I need your help. Urgently. They’re going to kill Elenia,” he said, looking me dead in the eyes.

  My eyes went wide.

  “Who? And why?” Ju asked.

  He sighed and let go of my shoulder, turning to her wearily. As he spoke, he adjusted the blanket around himself like a makeshift toga.

  “Duke Thorston’s men. She tried to steal from him and got caught.”

  I snorted.

  “That stupid girl! Why would she try to steal from a duke? She’s way too low-level for something like that!” I turned to the real Ju. “Have you seen the duke today? Maybe we could ask for clemency—have the sentence commuted to prison?”

  Mike looked hurt. His hands were trembling with exhaustion and barely suppressed fury. He drew in a breath to speak, but Ju cut in first.

  “We did see the duke earlier,” she said. “But I think he may have already left the palace. He’d mentioned plans to travel. And even if we tracked him down now, I doubt he’d show clemency—not for a thief, and especially not if we wake him up to ask for it.”

  She glanced at Mike with a faint frown, then added, “We could try to reach him tomorrow. I should be able to get an audience—but you know how nobles are when someone wants a favor. He might take it as an excuse to assert his authority. Especially over an elf princess.”

  I shook my head and turned back to Mike.

  “Mike, I know you care about her, but she’s a thief. My identify spell already confirmed that. We’ll do what we can, but I can’t promise we’ll be able to get her out soon.”

  He winced and stared down at his trembling hands, then let out a long, shaky sigh.

  “She tried to steal an amulet… one that protects against curses. It was on display in the Church of Light, on the duke’s estate.”

  He hesitated, then continued.

  “The duke’s a devout follower. Only those affiliated with the church are allowed to enter—and only the high priests can use the amulet to remove a curse. It’s real. Powerful. She wanted to steal it… to break my curse.”

  A rictus tugged at my left cheek when I heard about that curse. My damn curse.

  “But your curse has been lifted!” I said with a sigh. Did I misunderstand? Was it still active?

  But I’d checked. There was no curse on him.

  I checked again—still nothing.

  Tears welled up in his eyes.

  My left cheek twitched uncontrollably.

  “She didn’t know that,” he whispered, exhausted. “She succeeded in stealing it… but they caught her on the road. They had a way to track the artifact.”

  He swallowed hard, his voice barely more than a breath.

  “Please. They’re going to skin her alive tonight—when Frigg, the blue moon, rises in the sky. You have to save her.”

  I closed my eyes and sighed.

  “Oh, fuck.”