The weeks following the meteor shower were filled with a quiet, comfortable warmth. Kenji became a regular fixture at the Cartographer's Guild, granted access even to Genevieve's private study. Their conversations flowed easily from celestial mechanics to court gossip, their intellectual partnership blossoming into a genuine friendship. The line between work and companionship blurred into a pleasant haze. For Genevieve, the halls of the Guild no longer felt so lonely. For Kenji, the affection meter ticked slowly upwards: 78... 81... 84... It was steady, but it had stalled short of the final phase. He needed a catalyst.
The catalyst arrived like a thunderclap.
Kenji was with Seraphina, reviewing shipping manifests, when the news broke. "Count Borin, head of the Royal Astrologer's Guild, has formally challenged the validity of Lady Beaumont's new celestial navigation charts before the Royal Council," Seraphina read from a dispatch, her expression unreadable. "He calls them 'unreliable woman's fancy' and a danger to the Royal Navy."
Kenji's blood ran cold. This wasn't a scholarly debate; it was a public execution. Borin was a staunch traditionalist with the King's ear.
He excused himself and rushed to the Guild. He found Genevieve in her vault, standing amidst her life's work, her posture rigid, her face pale with fury and humiliation.
[Keen Insight Activated]
[Target: Lady Genevieve Beaumont]
[Emotional State: Cornered, Betrayed, Powerless. Her academic arguments are useless against political slander.]
[Deepest Fear: That her entire legacy, and that of her husband, will be undone by the ignorance and misogyny of a jealous rival.]
She looked at Kenji, her composure cracking. "He's not just questioning my data, he's questioning my honor. He wants to set cartography back fifty years and drag my name through the mud. And the Council… they listen to him."
She was a scholar, not a brawler. She had no weapon for this kind of fight.
Kenji's mind raced. Comfort wasn't enough. Sympathy was useless. She didn't need a confidante right now. She needed a champion. She needed a weapon.
"Then we don't fight him in the Council chambers," Kenji said, his voice cutting through her despair with cold, hard certainty. "We fight him on the open sea."
Genevieve stared at him, confused.
"You can't win a political argument," he explained, his plan forming with crystalline clarity. "So we make it a practical one. We force them into a demonstration. A challenge so simple and so public that even a fool can understand the result."
He leaned forward, his eyes blazing with intensity. "We propose a race. Two identical Royal Navy cutters. One navigates using Count Borin's 'approved' methods—coastal maps and dead reckoning. The other will use only your celestial charts. They will sail a treacherous route at night, to a specific set of coordinates and back. The first ship to return to port wins."
It was an audacious, incredibly risky gambit. It meant putting her entire reputation on a single, public trial.
"That's madness," she whispered, though her eyes betrayed a flicker of desperate hope. "Who would captain the ship using my charts? No naval officer would risk his career on such an unproven method against a direct order from the Council."
"I will," Kenji stated simply. "I've studied your charts. I know how they work. You can teach me what I need to know. The rest is just mathematics and trust."
This was the moment. The final threshold. He was asking her to place her entire life's work, her honor, and her future into the hands of a merchant's aide she had known for a few short months. He was asking for a sacrifice of absolute faith.
Genevieve searched his face, looking for any hint of doubt or deception. She found none. She saw only unshakeable confidence in her, and in her work. He was not just defending her; he was willing to stand with her, to fight for her, to risk public humiliation right alongside her. In a world of posturing nobles and condescending academics, he was the only person who had become her unwavering ally.
Her heart, which had been frozen with fear, began to beat with a fierce, resurgent warmth. The loneliness that had defined her life for so long was finally, truly gone.
A slow, determined smile spread across her face. "Madness," she repeated, but this time, her voice was strong. "An absolute, beautiful madness. Let's do it. Let's show them all what the heavens can really do."
In that instant, as she placed her faith and her future in his hands, a glorious, final chime echoed in Kenji's mind.
[ULTIMATE TRUST ESTABLISHED!]
[The target has willingly placed her professional legacy and personal honor into your hands, seeing you as her sole champion.]
[HEART PHASE ADVANCED!]
[Lady Genevieve Beaumont: [Phase 5: DEVOTION].]
[Affection: 100/100 (Her Champion)]
[Congratulations! The heart of the S-Rank target, Lady Genevieve Beaumont, has been conquered. She is now a cornerstone of your future.]
[Awaiting formal addition to [Harem] pending resolution of the current crisis.]