Seraphina set her teacup down with a graceful little clink, the sound sharp enough to make her own words seem more important.
"Well," she began, wearing that practiced royal calm, "it's been far too long since I last visited the Misty Lake. I think I'll escort your group there myself."
Lyra blinked once. "You… personally?"
Seraphina nodded, adopting her most solemn tone. "The children carry the Vale name and the Empire's hopes. They deserve protection, the kind only I can offer."
Ah yes, Lyra thought dryly, the 'I must suffer for the people' speech. Classic Seraphina.
The Empress continued, with increasing dramatic weight. "If any threat arises, I'll be there. No guards, no escort, only trust and faith. A ruler's burden must sometimes be carried in silence."
Lyra pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. Silence, right. Until she starts complaining about the tea quality halfway there.
"Elara," Seraphina said, turning to her scribe with divine seriousness, "send word to the council that I am entering deep meditation for clarity of spirit. I must not be disturbed."
Elara blinked. "Your Majesty, should I… list your destination?"
Seraphina gave her the kind of saintly smile that could melt marble. "No. The Empire must not be distracted by my absence. Let them know I am training hard to keep the empire safe, and ask them to pray for a lasting peace."
Pray for peace, Lyra echoed internally, or pray no one finds you before you escape the city.
Seraphina continued, layering the drama thicker. "And no royal guards. Their presence might cause disturbance. I'll need a serene environment, I have to get stronger, for our people."
Lyra folded her hands demurely. She's really leaning into this. Maybe I should applaud.
Seraphina, in her head, was already humming. If I'm lucky, the council won't realize I'm gone until tomorrow. That's at least one full day without petitions.
Finally, Seraphina turned toward Lyra, in all sincerity. "You understand, my friend. The safety of your children, of the Empire itself, comes before all else."
Lyra inclined her head, managing to sound utterly reverent.
"Of course, Your Majesty. Truly, such sacrifice moves me to tears."
Seraphina smiled graciously, utterly pleased with herself. "I knew you'd understand."
Oh, I do, Lyra thought. I've seen you pull this same trick three times and count it as diplomacy each time.
Then, after a pause, Lyra added aloud with just the faintest twinkle in her eyes,
"I shall inform the children at once that we are blessed to travel under the Empress's divine protection. They must know how grave your burden is."
Seraphina's eyes flickered with amusement for just a heartbeat. "Yes. Quite grave," she said smoothly. "But such is duty."
Lyra smiled, sipping her tea. "Truly, Your Majesty, the Empire could never hope for a more… dedicated ruler."
Their eyes met. Both women kept their faces perfectly composed.
Inside, both were laughing.............
.............
Later, Empress Seraphina decided it would take her about a week to clear her mountain of paperwork before she could begin their journey to the Misty Lake.
While Seraphina worked through her scrolls, Lady Lyra decided to enjoy the grandeur of the city.
Kael, Temari, and Safrene went with her, and Elara, the Empress's patient scribe, took charge of guiding them through the marble streets and shimmering plazas of Solaris.
They visited markets that glowed with floating lanterns, listened to musicians by the fountains, and returned each evening full of laughter and gossip.
Ethan, meanwhile, had declared war on the Vale carriage.
For all its noble polish and velvet seats, the thing rode worse than a farm wagon. Every bump on the road rattled his spine, and his tailbone had begun lodging official complaints.
And that was on smooth, paved streets. The road to the Misty Lake was a trader's path, half rock, half regret.
"No," Ethan muttered, rubbing his aching back. "I refuse to die by pothole."
"You could always walk, host."
"Shut up, if you don't want me to give you a body and ride horse carriages everyday for a year"
Ethan decided to rebuild the suspension system entirely, to create something that might actually protect him from the empire's concept of "roads."
But there was a problem. He only had enough copper and zinc to craft one more Magitech Energy Core Mk2, and no materials to forge the parts he needed.
Aimi chimed in,"You could ask the Empress for assistance.Her behavioral profile suggests she might either refuse you politely or give you far too much."
"Far too much sounds like my kind of problem."
Summoning what little courage he had, Ethan went to Seraphina's study. She looked up from a stack of glowing parchments, expression perfectly composed.
"Your Majesty," he began carefully, "I'd like to request access to some metals, maybe a bit of iron or wood, for… engineering purposes."
Seraphina didn't even blink. "Take him to the west vault," she told an attendant. "Let him have what he needs."
Ethan blinked. "That's it? No questions?"
"Would you prefer I lecture you first, little Vale?" she asked, amused.
He decided not to test his luck.
The vault turned out to be less a storeroom and more a dragon's dream. Piles of ores and crystals gleamed beneath enchanted lamps. Coins, gemstones, and metals of every shade filled the air with faint mana hums. Strange relics floated in containment fields, pulsing with quiet power.
And in one corner… bones.
Long white ones, some too large for any known beast. One looked suspiciously human.
Ethan froze. "That's definitely a femur. That's a human femur."
"Ninety-three percent probability, that's human host"
"Perfect. I'll just pretend it's a fancy walking stick."
He tried not to look at the jars of floating, possibly sentient body parts and focused on the good stuff, steel, silver, gold ingots. Copper, iron, various crystals, luminous pearls created small hills of their own. The Vale household was rich, but these?
"The difference between millionaire and a billionaire"
Enough materials to make a thousand ideas real.
His mind began racing.
He could build more Energy Cores. More power. Enough to run hidden crossbows, smoke bomb launchers, flash detonators, maybe even a prototype railgun.
And if he could manage a smaller core structure, perhaps the first piece of a proper exosuit..
Aimi rolled her virtual eyes "Ethan!"
"Don't stop me, Aimi, I can see it. A magitech carriage that defends itself, glides on mana suspension, maybe flies a little if I push the output…"
"You have one week."
"Ah. Right. One week."
Reality crashed down hard.
"You also require sleep. Food. Possibly sanity. Don't collapse before the journey even starts"
"Fine. Fine. We will do as much as we can while not killing myself"
He spent the next few nights buried in his workshop beneath the palace. Blueprints spread across the tables like a sea of parchment. Quills scratched. Mana sparks flickered. The air smelled of oil and ozone.
"Shall I begin calculating recoil compensation? It will take around 30 minutes"
"Yes, I need to catch some shut eyes anyway" Ethan started walking towards his bed, humming a tune.
By dawn, the workshop glowed with soft blue light. The new carriage designs were complete, smoother suspension, adaptive cushioning, hidden weapons, and a sleek new power system built from ten Magitech Core Mk2s.
When the Empress and Lady Lyra finally came to see what Ethan had been working on, the carriage gleamed under the afternoon sun. It looked regal enough to belong in a royal parade, but the real beauty lay in its sleek and seamless, Ethan's new suspension system.
Seraphina stepped inside first, the seats adjusting to her form with a soft hiss. She let out a pleased sigh. "This feels divine. Lyra, you must try it. I could meditate here for hours."
Lyra followed, testing the seat. "Comfortable, smooth… impressive work, Ethan."
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck, grinning. "Glad you think so. I was tired of getting my bones rearranged by road bumps."
Seraphina's eyes gleamed as she noticed a small control panel near the armrest. "And what do these do?"
"Those are…wait!"
A sharp thunk echoed. A spear shot from the carriage's side, impaling a distant wooden pillar. Seraphina's expression turned positively delighted.
"Oh, this is marvelous," she said. "Bring more targets!"
Within minutes, the guards had lined up fresh dummies across the courtyard. Seraphina tried every switch and lever, launching bolts, smoke bombs, and flashes of light. Each time something exploded or flew, her laughter rang like bells.
Lyra merely watched, shaking her head. "You've just given the Empress a new hobby."
Ethan groaned. "I was going for defense, not entertainment."
By dusk, the courtyard was littered with splintered wood and fading smoke. Lady Elara appeared, clutching a stack of documents. "Your Majesty, the council insists…."
"Tell them, their Empress is currently testing defensive protocols for the nation's security." Seraphina interrupted, firing one last bolt.
Lyra smiled faintly. "You're impossible."
Seraphina's reply came smooth and certain. "That's why I'm Empress."