The castle's back halls were strangely quiet.
Even with eight of us walking, there was something soft in the air — thick carpeting underfoot, insulated stone walls, too many layers of warded silence. But the moment we passed the threshold to the royal sparring grounds, the quiet cracked open into space.
A giant room, more like a stadium carved from marble and myth.
Dozens of training dummies scattered across a floor gridded with ley-lines. Ceiling sigils rotated like constellations above us. Floating observation boxes sat sealed in glass high along the edge, a place for nobles to watch, far from danger but close enough to taste power.
We'd barely made it five steps in when Julius's aura tilted toward me.
"Annabel, I—"
"I wanna go shopping tomorrow," Salem said, cutting him off.
Her mana swept in from my other side — quick, sharp, and slightly possessive. She stepped between us like a wall, brushing past Julius without even looking.
Then she a hand around my waist.
"I mean just the two of us," Salem continued, trying to sound casual and completely failing. "We've only trained for a year straight in that academy. It's not illegal to do something normal."
Her voice was level. Her mana was hot.
It swirled around me, heated, coiled, a blend of yearning and don't you dare say no.
"…Of course," I said, smiling. "Just us."
Salem relaxed. Not all the way. But enough.
I turned slightly toward Julius, sensing his pause.
"What were you going to ask?"
His outline shifted, weight settling back, aura dimming.
"…Nothing important."
I tilted my head. "You sure?"
He nodded. His mana pulled inward like a closed book.
I let it go.
⸻
Evening came fast.
And so did the food.
We walked into a dining hall the size of a cathedral. Tables of gold and obsidian curved like waves, wrapping around fountains of sparkling mana-water. Floating trays brought dish after dish — sizzling meat, jeweled fruits, spiced breads with glowing crusts.
I made a noise halfway between a gasp and a squeak. "This is so good!!"
Kate grabbed my arm and half-dragged me to a seat in the blink of an eye.
"You sound like you've never eaten," she whispered, laughing.
"Not like this," I whispered back, already reaching for a slice of something that smelled like roasted honey salmon.
Julius's steps approached from behind. I felt his aura shift forward, ready to take the seat beside me.
Then…
Shadow.
Salem appeared out of nowhere, sliding into the seat with enough speed to steal breath from the air.
She clung to my arm without hesitation.
Firm. Warm. Anchored.
Alven made a sound like a barely contained laugh. "What's up?"
"Nothing," I said slowly.
"Nothing," Alven repeated, grinning. "Just that Salem looks extra clingy today."
I tilted my head toward her. "I don't mind. I think it's adorable when a demon older than me acts like a small child."
Salem's mana ignited. A flustered explosion of fire curling inward.
"I—I do not act like a child!"
"Oh," Rōko cut in from further down the table, "but you totally do."
"And only around Annabel," Kate added with a grin.
Salem sputtered. "You're all delusional!"
"She's gonna combust," Julius muttered, chewing on something spicy.
Fay sipped a floral drink. "Let her. It's cute."
"It's not cute," Salem hissed, her voice going a note too high to be convincing.
I laughed.
I couldn't help it.
The mana around me shimmered with heat, joy, teasing. Every outline was familiar now. Every blur was home, for just a little while.
Even William was smiling faintly, his outline relaxed, no longer wound tight with diplomatic tension. Rōko was already piling her plate like she planned to make the kingdom go bankrupt. Alven was swapping food from other trays when he thought no one was looking. Kate kept nudging Julius with her elbow every time he looked too serious.
And Salem…
…was still clinging to me.
Maybe tighter than before.
"After this," I said softly, "we go back to the academy."
Fay groaned. "Don't remind me."
"But this is nice," I said. "This moment."
And it was.
Even if chaos waited in three days.
Even if everything broke again.
This was still ours.
At least for tonight.