"Rikuuu~!"
I was mid-bite on a giant turkey leg when Princess Lumière popped her head into the dining hall.
"I've decided!" she beamed. "I'm going with you guys!"
I choked. On air. And turkey.
"What?"
She twirled like it was a fashion show. "Adventure! Danger! Screaming! I want in! You have room, right?"
Lucen sighed. "This group is turning into a traveling circus."
She pointed at him. "I'll be the adorable mascot!"
Lucen: unamused.
Me? Still dying.
The king laughed in the background. "She's made up her mind. You'll be fine."
Fine?! We had a half-emotional healer, a literal cult leader, and now a chaos goblin with royalty status.
Yeah. Totally fine.
---
We were set to leave at sunrise.
So obviously… we started packing at sundown.
Lucen had two bags filled with "divine essentials."
Lumière packed four.
Aelira… packed nothing.
She just sat on her bed, staring at the floor.
Something in her posture said don't ask.
But I did.
"…You okay?"
She didn't answer.
I walked in. Closed the door.
"Aelira. Talk to me."
Still nothing.
I knelt in front of her.
"You can't travel with us like this. Not when your heart's still stuck back in that dream."
She blinked. Once. Twice.
Then whispered. "It wasn't just a dream."
Her voice cracked.
"I never got to say goodbye, Riku. One second we were together… and then I was alone. I woke up here. Alive. But empty."
I didn't know what to say.
I'm not a therapist.
I'm barely a person.
But I sat next to her. Let her lean her head on my shoulder.
"You don't have to let it go," I said. "But you do have to live. For them. For you."
"…Even if it hurts?"
I nodded.
"Especially if it hurts."
She sniffled. Wiped her face.
"…You say that like you know pain."
I smirked. "I was rejected by three girls in a row and then died via vending machine."
A pause.
Then—soft laughter.
"There's my girl," I said, nudging her.
"Shut up."
But she smiled.
---
At dawn, we gathered outside the gates.
Lucen looked majestic as ever.
Lumière was bouncing with excitement.
Aelira stood beside me—stronger. Different.
She held my gaze and said softly, "Thanks."
I gave her a thumbs up.
Lucen groaned, "Again with the thumbs up."
I grinned. "Tradition now."
And just like that, we stepped onto the path. Into the unknown.
With a healer who had just begun to heal, a lunatic who believed in himself way too much, a princess way too excited about danger…
And me.
The awkward guy in a crown.
The Yes King.
And somehow… this mess felt right.
---
[To be continued…]