“So. What do you want?”

“Um. We grew up together in the same orphanage.”

“But it wasn’t an orphanage, actually a place to traffic children?”

“Yes! Exactly! How did you know?”

“I had to deal with one a week prior. So what is it? Rescuing kids or revenge?”

“Um. Here’s the thing. We got bought by a rich man, but our friend wasn’t.”

“They stayed at the orphanage?”

“She’s still there. But. She’s lived there all her life. And she asked us for help after getting...”

“Raped by the orphanage staff?”

He nodded. Hye-Sung shot a side glance, as if gauging a reaction. Meanwhile, Frances rubbed her forehead.

“Christ. Why is it always like this? I’ll deal with it in due time. Anything else?”

“Uhm. Bahamut also said that...”

She saw his Adam's apple move. His cheeks flared up with red. He turned around, as if to confirm some premeditated plan. And he began to unbutton his shirt.

“And what are you trying to pull now?”

“Um. Bahamut said that I should try to appeal to your feminine side.”

“Yeah no. Put your damn clothes back on. I’ll have to beat that lizard up.”

“I-I didn’t mean to offend, Lady Rayleigh. But, if I may. Should you be cursing the gods like that?”

“Don’t care.”

Frances sent them off with a shoo. She stared at the ceiling from her bed. The cold crisp air blew in from outside. Hye-Sung leaned against the wall, watching the resting empress.

An hour passed. Then two, and close to three. Before Frances fell asleep though, Hye-Sung made her move. Throwing the blanket up, she snuggled right beside her. And with those piercing eyes, she stared at the empress.

She only woke when the carriage bumped into a rather large rock. It sent her flying. She hit her head against the hard interior, and sat up straight.

“Christ!”

“We’re on our way to Limβurs,” Hye-Sung said.

They were alone. Katalina, her sisters, all gone. Frances rubbed her head.

“What did you say to them?”

“That swords are literally worthless there.”

“Well, I won’t exactly deny that. I take that you’ll be able to stop anything suspicious going on?”

“Unless you have the unfortunate luck to meet someone near Noah’s level.”

Frances chuckled. The snow piled up outside the windows. Despite the sleep and rest, her body still ached. And it would ache even more, what with another carriage ride.

They sat opposite each other. To be fair, it was a carriage made for only two people. For perhaps three small ones. The animals outside ran around; birds swooped up and down, catching rats or other small animals.

“And here we see Frances in her natural habitat.” Hye-Sung put on a vaguely British accent. A nature documentary’s commentator, but not the cockney that the taxi drivers wielded.

“Hah! You can’t do a British accent. Especially not David. Should we talk then? Better than sitting in silence.”

“In that case, allow me to ask you about your previous life.”

“Didn’t you work with my type of people a lot?”

“But I’m not involved. Plus, your girlfriend’s kind of a big name, at least to me.”

“What’s she like there?”

“The Thorn Queen, she’s ferocious. Left Russia, and landed in Japan for a brief moment. Caused quite a bit of disruption in the Yakuza, before joining up with the Chinese Triads to take over the entirety of the Japanese underworld.”

“Christ, she’s different. Her power only expanded to the city and the region. And nowhere near Japan.”

“Huh, they’re that different?”

Hye-Sung leaned forward. She crossed her legs, and fluttered her eyelashes.

“Right, what do you want?”

“Tell me everything about your love life with her. It's rare to have a functional relationship in that world.”

“I mean, for one it was incredibly abusive. But it only worked because the two of us were insane.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know me well enough to know that I’m probably more ‘out there’ than others.”

“We all are. But why did it work?”

“Hm. She’s weird. Obsessive, and also very protective. Either way, it was a transactional relationship in the beginning. She wanted to conquer me, and I wanted to make sure my sister stayed safe.”

“And she gets off on power, but not blind obedience,” Frances continued.

“She wants to break and corrupt you?”

“Essentially. Should I call her cultured? I know that she really likes to slowly get someone to be more- you know.”

Hye-Sung sighed. She leaned back, and a switch seemed to flip in her mind. A spark burned in her eyes.

“So what kind of things did you guys do? You said that she hit you a lot right?”

“Oh far more than that.”

“What? How fucked up is she?”

“For reference, when she hit me a little too hard and I started to cry, she... Uh, threatened to have my sister raped and killed in front of me. And then pulled a gun to my head.”

“Holy fuck.”

She took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. Her eyes flickered back and forth. She seemed oddly like a mix between a curious reader and a critical psychologist.

“Alright. So she’s fucked up in the head.”

“Anything else you wanna know?”

“Out of curiosity, what sort of gifts does she give you?”

“Ahh. Ahhh... Remember how I said that she got off on power? She gave me a collar, once.”

“There are so many issues with your relationship.”

“Obviously. But it was fun. She needed fixing, but unlike naive people, I don’t have the wrong idea that I could fix her.”

“Oddly enough, I think the two of you are the only people that could have made that work.”

Frances rested her head against the cool glass. Her hair drifted by her face. The horses neighed outside. Small bits of snow floated down.

“Anything else you wanna ask?” Frances glanced at her face.

“I have a whole lot of questions.”

“Then ask away.”

“Tell me if you’re ever uncomfortable.”

“That’s what she said too. Whenever she got into new territory, she makes sure to not ‘break’ me.”

“PTSD’s a dealbreaker for her?”

“Yeah. Cause apparently, if you’re part of the crime family, you can’t go to a therapist without either you or the doctor dying.”

“So that’s why so many of my patients feel so hollow.”

“Speaking of which. If I’m correct, you’re a general surgeon right?”

“Yup. Unsurprisingly, injuries and gunshot wounds aren’t rare. Oh but I can do basic surgeries too.”

“What’s that?”

“It's like this. There are things that need specialisations. Brains, hands, all that shit. But if your issue is appendicitis, I can just cut that right out for you.”

Hye-Sung mimed her wielding a scalpel. Her smile as sweet as honey, and she reached for the empress’ hand. With a touch so warm, she forced Frances to see her eye to eye.

“By the way.” She motioned to the empress’ chest. “Do they not offer breasts?”

“You mean when I transitioned?”

“Yeah. The people I know in my previous world wanted breasts. Did the doctor not have that service?”

“She does, she does. Magic is incredible, you know. But I opted not to.”

She raised an eyebrow. Crossing her legs, she scanned Frances from head to toe.

“Why?”

“It makes it easier to go back if I need to.”

“You want to be able to transition back?”

“Yeah of course. If the annoyance of periods ever pushes me back there.”

“Most people that transitioned would rather die than go back.”

“I’m not most people. I prefer this, but I don’t mind being a man too.”

Hye-Sung nodded. The city ahead was approaching. Tall stone spires loomed in front. And in the air above it, though faint, there was a slight shimmer. Once Hye-Sung noticed her wandering eyes, she touched the empress’ cheek.

“Listen.” Her warm hands clasped the side of Frances’ cheeks. “You shouldn’t ever stay in a relationship as fucked up as that, alright? If Haein, empress or not, ever crosses a line, I will make sure she suffers.”

“Damn. Why are you acting like this?”

“You’re my friend, Frances. And also I quite admire your girlfriend. And I have a bone to pick with abusers.”

“What’ll you do to them?”

“Depends on what you allow.”

“Then I’ll show you why even my girlfriend was worried for my mental health after I told her my torture plans.”