Ashen saw the fist heading his way and was about to dodge, but in that flicker of a second, he put himself in Braun's shoes; and the moment he did, he involuntarily froze, letting the fist meet his cheek.
Braun's eyes widened the moment he felt the contact. It seemed he himself hadn't recognized what he was doing until after he had already landed the hit.
"Sorry…" A downcast look appeared on the old man's face, and he seemed to age by decades.
Ashen shook his head with a wry smile, looking barely fazed. "I deserved that one, after I boasted so easily about how I would take care of her."
"Even so… I shouldn't have acted on impulse and hit you…" Braun shook his head bitterly. "I just snapped the moment I heard the news, and before I knew it… my fist was greeting your face… hah…"
"Yeah… my reaction would've probably been more violent, so I won't blame you for that one." Ashen used his thumb to wipe the small bruise.
Braun closed his eyes and tried to regulate his breathing. Ashen stayed silent, allowing him the time to regain his composure.
Eventually, he reopened his eyes. "Can I ask how this came to be?"
"…It is my fault." Ashen debated how to answer before settling on a slightly altered version of the truth. "My constant disappearance had made my sister make irrational decisions, and the recruiters from this side latched onto that to drag her here, using her worry for me…"
Braun listened intently, not interrupting.
"In the end, in the last year, when I failed to return to Esperra, things escalated to the point where she decided to follow me here, despite the dangers I had warned her about…"
"And where does my daughter come into all of this?" Braun asked, the frustration bleeding through despite his effort to hold it back.
Ashen's voice hardened. "Just like my sister was looking for her brother, your daughter was looking for her father. And… I used that to make her accompany my sister, in hopes that they could help and lean on each other during the tutorial phase, and maybe even beyond."
"..."
Crack—CRACK—!
Braun barely held himself back from resorting to violence again. But the cracking of his knuckles under his own grip made it clear that his restraint was costing him.
In the end, he managed to rein it in. With a deep exhale, he said, "Ashen… I want you to know that my daughter is my last reason for existing in this wretched world."
"Even my efforts here… deep down… they are my vain delusions of being a man and a father that could stand proud before her if I ever go back."
"So let me tell you something…" He looked at the younger man with a dead look. "If anything happens to her… anything that takes away the slim chance of ever seeing her again… then I will not have any more reason to live."
"By then, my blood… and hers will be on your hands. I just want you to know that."
Ashen could only nod stiffly.
"Then… can I have your word that she will remain at least alive?"
"Yes."
"Alright… I trust you, Ash."
With that, he stood and started walking further away. Ashen watched his desolate shell until it rounded the corner, and offered nothing but a bitter exhale.
'My dear Lucia… whatever preparations you made, I hope they are enough to keep her alive… for the sake of whatever sanity I have remaining…'
***
The talk with Braun left a bad aftertaste in his mouth, but that alone wasn't enough reason to halt his duties.
As he walked down the halls of the administration building, he turned his thoughts quietly toward the upcoming meeting with the demi-humans and whatever demands they might present for their previous assistance.
His shadow stirred.
Ashen didn't bother looking down. He had sensed her presence long before the movement even registered. There was only one person he knew with this particular habit of appearing out of nowhere.
Sabrina fell into step beside him, her uniform immaculate and her expression carrying its usual composed blankness.
"Brina." He reached over and ruffled her hair with familiarity, like he had done it before, and would do it again regardless of the consequences.
The consequences, as always, were a faint pink that climbed her neck and stopped just short of her ears. Her posture didn't shift by a millimeter.
"Master," she acknowledged, in a tone that communicated both greeting and the complete absence of comment on the hair situation.
"Missed you," he said simply. Then, after a beat: "How much time do you have left? As mine, I mean."
The pink, which had begun retreating, reconsidered.
"One year," she said, in the same impeccable professional tone.
"One year…?" He let the words sit as if tasting them. "…That's a bit too soon."
She said nothing, but the blush was still not retreating.
"Here's a thought." He tilted his head toward her with a mischievous expression. "Why not dump your mistress and stay permanently? I swear not to overwork you."
Sabrina was quiet for a beat.
"All you would have to do," she said, still in that perfectly level tone, "is not return me when the time comes. As of now, I am technically yours, master. If no one corrects that…" A small pause. "I would continue to serve faithfully."
Ashen's eyes widened. "Ohh… that's a genuinely good idea. We just play dumb, hehe—"
"Of course," she added, in the same polished tone and no change in cadence whatsoever, "that would require you to handle the wrath of a Sin Lord."
"Pfft!" The laughter came out before he could stop it. He pointed at her, reproachful. "You naughty maid. You dare play with your master's feelings? Just you wait."
Sabrina looked straight ahead and said nothing, which was the most dignified possible acknowledgment that she had done exactly that on purpose.
They walked on like that; bantering in the easy, circular way of people who had already established their rhythm… until the administration building came into view and the meeting he had been putting off could no longer be deferred.
***
The demi-human delegation was already assembled when they arrived.
Ashen had prepared himself for demands. That was the natural order of things; assistance in a crisis always came with an invoice once the dust settled. He had spent part of the walk arranging what he could afford to give, and what he would have to refuse.
So when the snakekin representative, who presented himself in a precise and warm facade without being fawning, laid out their proposition and ended with a tighter alliance as the sole request, Ashen's first instinct was to check whether he had misheard.
He had not.
They did not ask for a tribute or territorial claims. Not even resource rights. They only asked to keep the alliance between them going: Dwarf labor and infrastructure support, civilian access, and mutual Narkal cooperation along the shared border; In fact, they were even pushing for a stronger relationship.
Ashen let the silence sit for a beat.
The snakekin smiled through it, clearly enjoying the effect restraint had on him.
Ashen looked at him. "That is the request?"
"It is."
"No strings attached beyond border support and open trade?"
"Beyond those realities, no."
'if they are setting a trap… it surely is one hell of an expensive one…."
"So this is supposed to be generosity."
"No," the snakekin said. "I would call it smart instead, Lord Hart. We simply recognize your strength and potential. Consider this an investment in a relationship with a future powerhouse before the rest of the world catches on."
Ashen only offered a faint smile for that, inside though, the irony wasn't lost on him. 'How come foreign races are investing in me before even my own race…?'
"If you feel uncomfortable with Demihuman presence in your territory, we can also always remove ourselves, my lord. As long as our alliance stands," the snakekin added after a bit of thought.
"There is no need for that." Ashen shook his head, "I'm not so ungrateful as to kick the people who aided me in my time of need purely based on prejudices."
"...It's just that, as a small land, getting intimidated by your mighty empire is inevitable, don't you think?" Ashen confessed without shame.
Every demihuman stood up straighter, pride evident in their gazes. Even the snake wasn't immune. The foxkin delegate's tail gave a faint flick, snapping the snakekin out of his misplaced arrogance. "Lord, you don't have to worry about the empire. More often than not, it is sensible toward any potential allies, especially during these hard times where we already have enough enemies."
Ashen leaned an elbow against his armrest. "Is that so…? Then, I can only take advantage of your generosity and try to live up to your investments."
That, at least, was honest.
He exhaled once. 'Well… either way, I would be a fool to reject such an opportunity.'
The room's tension eased at once.
They spent the next while hammering out the specifics, such as adopting some of the demihuman market in Solmara and allowing new species to integrate in their territories.
The negotiation went on like that for a while; tense in places, clean in others, never quite reaching conflict. By the time the final terms were shaped, Ashen had agreed to something that was, by every reasonable measure, a favorable outcome
Which only made it more suspicious.
'What are you actually after?'
The question stayed buried.
"Happy alliance," Ashen said.
The snakekin inclined his head. "To a lasting partnership."
Ashen's gaze moved across the room.
He was not looking for anything in particular; just checking the room after the matter had settled. Who had moved, who had not, who had been silent for too long…
His eyes landed on the corner.
An elf sat apart from the delegation, still and silent, eyes closed, arms folded. He had noted her when he entered and marked her as security. The obvious answer.
Then her eyes opened.
Ashen's mind locked onto the sight at once and he felt his own body about to tremble in shock. Lucid Dreamweaving slid over the reaction before it could reach his face, letting the Daydream state take over; the inside of him went alert while the outside stayed calm.
The elf looked straight at him.
Ashen held her gaze for a second, then gave a polite nod. "Excuse me."
He turned back to the delegation. "The terms are acceptable. We will have the final draft prepared."
The snakekin's eyes lingered on him for a moment. "Then we are in agreement."
"We are."
Ashen offered his farewells, then left with Sabrina at his shoulder at the pace of a man who had concluded a perfectly ordinary meeting.
Only the quiet tightening at the edge of his expression suggested that it had not been ordinary at all.
***
The street outside offered no audience.
Ashen walked three blocks before his pace slowed, and three more before he finally spoke; quiet enough that the words barely left him.
"That was no elf."
The afternoon carried on around him without care.
"That gaze…" A faint smile tugged at his mouth, though it never fully formed. "Only that self-righteous fool looks at people like that."
He glanced once toward the building behind him.
"Under all that ridiculous disguise…" He let out a short breath. "There's no doubt."
"That vampire is Regina."