The king stood tall in front of the royal garden's fountain, hands behind his back like he was presenting a military line-up.
"Princess Lumière," he said proudly, "may I introduce our... esteemed guests."
She clapped her hands like she was waiting for a magic show.
"This," he gestured, "is Lucen—uh... something divine, I forgot."
Lucen bowed dramatically. "Lucen, the voice of Veritas. Perfection incarnate."
She blinked. "Ew. Humble much?"
He smiled. "Greatness cannot hide."
The king moved on quickly. "This is Lady Aelira. One of our world's most potent healers."
Aelira offered a small nod.
Lumière tilted her head. "She's pretty. Looks sad though."
Aelira flinched, just a little.
And then—
"And finally," the king grinned, "the one you've traveled to meet. The man of miracles."
He gestured toward me with theatrical flair.
"The Yes King."
I didn't know what to do so I just... gave a thumbs up.
Seriously. A full thumbs up.
Lucen muttered, "Embarrassing."
Lumière lit up. "So it's true, huh? You say it—they do it?"
"Uh... pretty much, yeah."
She bounced on her heels. "Cool! I wanna see!"
"…What?"
"Do it! Command someone!"
Oh great.
I glanced around the courtyard.
My eyes landed on a knight standing nearby. He was tall. Serious. Not a guy I'd usually mess with.
I cleared my throat. "You there."
He stood at attention. "Yes, my king?"
"Slap Lucen."
Lucen turned slowly. "What."
SLAP.
The sound echoed off the marble walls.
Lucen staggered, mouth open in betrayal.
"You absolute cretin—!"
He pointed at the knight and channeled his creepy god voice.
"You will regret that for the rest of your life."
The knight blinked—
Then broke.
He dropped his sword, clutched his head, and fell to his knees sobbing like he just kicked a puppy.
"I… I didn't mean to… I can't live with myself…!"
"Whoa—whoa, cancel! Cancel that!"
Lucen scoffed. "It doesn't work like that."
Aelira facepalmed.
Lumière was delighted. "That was amazing!! You're like—unstoppable!"
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Y-Yeah, it's cool until people cry…"
Lucen adjusted his collar. "If you are done using divine abilities for party tricks, perhaps—"
"Shut up," I muttered.
Then I glanced at Aelira.
She was smiling too. Kind of. But it didn't reach her eyes.
The laughter stopped in her throat.
Like something caught.
Last night's dream... it was still haunting her. She looked down at her hands.
Not a healer's hands.
A child's..
Lost and broken. And no one noticed but me.
I didn't say anything.
Not yet.
But I'd ask her later. When we were alone.
For now—
I put my hand on her shoulder. She blinked and looked at me.
I gave her a small smile. She didn't smile back.
But she leaned into it.
Just a little.
---
[To be continued…]