26 Jet Black Soldier

"Varis." Alec scowled, "Now is not the time."

"How did you know we were here?!" Roko cried as he stumbled up.

"Roko, please." Corissa puffed out her chest proudly, "How long have we known each other?"

"A little over a week."

"Wait really?! Its felt so much longer!"

"Yeah but seriously how did you find me?"

"I mean the fact that you just seemingly gave up on looking for Alec was a huge giveaway." Corissa crossed her arms, "Once I knew you were nowhere in the city, I knew something was up. At that point it was just as simple as going over what you talked to me about and piecing it all together."

"So you just went into the sewers?" Lavinia blinked, "A princess like you?"

"I mean yeah." Corissa replied, "Why not? Also who are you? Are you Red Wind?"

"Not anymore."

"Oh."

"Wait you know about Red Wind?" Roko frowned, "How much do you know?"

"Well we ran across this group of soldiers in the sewers. They seemed pretty hostile so after Varis beat them all-"

"All alone?" Lavinia said to herself, "Goddamn."

"-we interrogated one of them and got pretty much the whole story." Corissa finished.

"A whole platoon of Red Wind soldiers couldn't beat one measly knight?" Alder scowled.

"That's Varis for you." Alec sighed.

"Alec, I'm not at full power after my sudden resurrection."

"I know. Go back. I'll handle this."

Alder looked surprised but quietly disappeared into mist once more. Corissa stepped forward, looking towards Alec with a sad sympathy, "Your father told me everything, Alec."

"Did he now?" Alec frowned.

"Your mother. She married a knight but became a rebel. It put your father in a very difficult position. I can understand why your mother became a rebel. But your father has never gotten over what he did either. That's why he ran away with you after that day. He escaped to Cordis and gave up everything to try and start a new life with you. He-"

"He killed my mother, Corissa." Alec scoffed, "He killed the only person that ever took care of me. And after so many years of never being there, he thinks he can just come in, kill my mother, his wife, and just start acting like a father after all that?"

"I know what your father did is unforgivable." Corissa bit her lip, "But he did genuinely care for you and take care of you all these years."

"If by take care you mean forcing me to be a knight and getting on my case about discipline and order. What a load of crock. You think that man ever cared about what I wanted?"

"He just wanted what was best for you."

"He killed my mother Corissa! How are you going to say that a man who killed my mother is thinking of the best for me?"

"That's..."

"If you're still thinking he's some sort of good man, how about I tell you this?" Alec snapped, "Do you know why he introduced me to you, Corissa?"

"Huh? Wasn't it because we were the same age?"

"Because he wanted us to get married, Corissa." Alec smirked, "It was a play for power."

"T-That's..." Corissa's face went red, "That's not..."

"Well, I can't say meeting with you was a bad thing." Alec smiled, "That said, I think I should get going now."

Alec reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll, "Do you think you know what this is?"

"A gate scroll?!" Roko cried.

"Got it in one." Alec said, "This leads straight back to the Red Wind's base in...well where ever they are."

"You're just going to go off and join the revolution?" Roko frowned.

"What me? Nah, I have no interest in their little political squabble. I prefer a more stable position of living."

"What do you mean?"

"I suppose I can tell you what it is I want now." Alec said as he removed the ribbon holding curled scroll, "Think of it as a reward for beating Alder."

"What you want?" Corissa gulped.

"Yep. And it has nothing to do with my father, I can tell you that."

"And what is that exactly?" Roko scoffed, "World domination? Do you want to become a king?"

"What? God no. Do you know how much responsibility that is? I would die if I became king, are you crazy?"

Roko said nothing.

"No, what I want is an easy, simple life. Something with a plentiful salary with good job security while still allowing me enough free time and flexibility to do what I want. Something with easy, simple work that I could do without straining myself."

"Um...and what is that?" Lavinia asked, befuddled.

"An adviser!" Alec announced with a proud grin, "There's no job quite like one where you're considered important by the most important person in the country. Plus you get to live a luxurious life in a royal castle without having to deal with the politics and other kingly stuff."

…

"I hate you." Roko scowled.

"That sounds like a you problem." Alec replied as he unrolled the scroll and summoned a portal in midair.

"Wh-Wait!" Corissa cried, "You can't just-"

"See ya Corissa!" Alec waved cheerfully, "One day when I finally get my life together let's get married! We can live the easy life together! I'll see you then!"

"Wa-What?!" Corissa yelped as she face went flush as Alec stepped through the portal and disappeared.

…

"Corissa, we need to have a talk." Roko said, "Your high charisma is really starting to become a problem."

"Eh-wha-I-I'm sorry?! I think?"

"Aaaaahhhh! We've finally arrived!" Helena cried as she stretched her arms.

"We literally just took a few steps." Roland frowned as he appeared behind her, "Spatial travel sure is handy."

"Hey guys!"

"Corissa!" Kaguya smiled as the princess ran up to them, "Roko and Varis are here too. How wonderful."

"It's been a while!" Helena said as she hugged Corissa tightly, "Nearly a week since you two left."

"Here." Kaguya handed Roko a scroll, "This will be your return ticket to the school."

"We all have one." Momo said as she held up a scroll of her own, "We have some spares but don't go losing yours alright?"

"Can't we just use one scroll?" Roko asked, "We could all use the portal."

"After security improvements, this has become necessary." Mikado explained, "At least for the time."

"Seems like the connection from the school to here is working fine at least." Roko sighed, "Good thing I didn't mess this up or something."

"Aw, don't you worry about it." Helena wrapped an arm around Roko's neck, "Even if you did mess up you'd find some way to make it right again."

"All he had to do was apply a seal." Roland muttered, "Even I could do that."

"N-Now!" Corissa announced, "You all must be tired of standing in the field in front of Cordis gate. Let's go back to the castle now shall we? There's going to be a lovely feast tomorrow to celebrate...well to celebrate. I'm sure we all have our own preparations to make but for now, let's take some time to relax."

"Sorry for making you come with me, Roko."

"It's no problem." Roko said as Corissa handed him another bag of groceries, "Things have been pretty quiet since we resolved the Red Wind incident."

"We still have a lot of preparation for the party tomorrow." Corissa said as she reviewed the checklist, "There's still a bit of shopping we have to do."

"I'm just a normal person so I can't hold a lot."

"That's okay, We can just leave the rest to Varis."

Roko glanced over at Varis who has almost disappeared under the sheer amount of bags wrapped around his arms and carried in his hands.

"I almost feel sorry for him."

"If he has a complaint, he can voice it anytime." Corissa said, "I'll help carry some bags too so let's get this done."

The two followed Corissa to the next stall where she began comparing melons. Roko watched her silently.

"Where do you think he's gone now?"

"Hm?" Corissa looked up, "Who?"

"Gloine."

"Ah. You're not going to call him Alec?"

"It certainly would be easier but calling him Gloine seems to annoy him so I'm going to keep calling him that."

"You can be surprisingly petty."

"I just don't like him."

Corissa giggled, "Well, I don't think he will be with Red Wind for long. He wants to avoid the politics and nothing gets more political than the power vacuum after a successful upheaval. I doubt the work to get someone on the throne would be worth it to Alec no matter how much he liked a person."

"You certainly seem to be confident in that evaluation."

"Hehe. That's because I've known Alec for a long time. I may have been away from home for a while but he hasn't changed a bit."

"Even after making a pact with a demon and going off to become an adviser to some country?"

"Okay, the demon might have been a bit extreme but it's exactly the kind of thing he would do."

"...You still see him as a friend?"

"...I mean..." Corissa caressed her hair shyly, "Yeah. He might have made some questionable decisions but he's still a good guy at heart you know. It might be hard to believe after everything that you've been through but he is really harmless and fun to be around."

"Those are probably the last words that I would have used to describe him. More like lazy and exacerbating."

Corissa laughed, "That is also a good way to describe him."

Roko looked at the laughing Corissa and felt a twinge of guilt. Not because he thought any different about Alec but because seeing Corissa laughing now, he could see the kind of positive influence he had been for her. Neither he nor Varis would be able to make her laugh like that.

"Something wrong?" Corissa asked, noticing Roko's silence.

"Nothing. I still hate the guy."

"I mean, after all you've been through, that's fair."

After returning to the castle and dropping off the groceries, Roko, Corissa and Varis were returning to their rooms when they spotted their friends huddled together in deep conversation.

"Something wrong?" Corissa asked as they approached their friends.

"Huh? Corissa?!" Helena looked up, surprised, "Um..uh...no, nothing's wrong, everything's fine."

"What were you talking about?" Roko asked.

"Mmmmm..." Kaguya looked conflicted, "Maybe we can speak about this later?"

"Did my father do something again?" Corissa asked, concerned.

Everyone looked away, unable to look Corissa in the eye.

"I knew it!" Corissa cried, "Oh, that...oooohhh, I'm going to have a word with him!"

"Wait, wait wait!" Momo yelped, "You don't even know what happened!"

"Did he ask the knights to marry Corissa?" Roko asked.

Everyone looked away again.

"Oh god." Corissa covered her face, "Not again."

"To be fair, he said we weren't the best option." Mikado added.

"The nerve." Roland muttered.

"More importantly." Helena coughed, "He seemed like he really didn't like Varis so we were thinking."

"Of what?" Corissa asked as she looked up.

"Of setting you two on a date! Just to mess with the king."

"And also because we support your relationship." Kaguya added.

"So how about tomorrow, you and Varis go out on the town by yourselves for a bit?"

"Oh, I already asked him out once. He rejected me."

"Yeah yeah so you two...wait what?"

"Um...I asked him out and he rejected me?"

Helena, Kaguya and Momo stared at Corissa with a stunned silence.

"Let us borrow him for a second."

"O-Okay?" Corissa said as Momo and Helena dragged Varis a couple of feet away before she could say anything.

"What do you thi-" Corissa flinched as Helena whacked the back of Varis' head with a loud thunk, "What do you think they're talking about?"

"Who knows?" Roko sighed.

After a very energized conversation with Varis suffering a series of slaps and hits on his armor by the princesses, they returned with a somehow remorseful looking Varis.

"Okay." Helena smiled, "Everything should be fine now. When you're feel ready, do try to ask Varis out on a date again sometime. I promise it will go better this time."

"Um..."

"When you feel ready."

"O...okay?"