Eventually, after polishing off a few slabs of salmon, Countess Reinford was finally done with her explanation of the Western Holdings’ inaction. Halfway into their conversation, the Oracle had joined the conversation. Her face betrayed nothing, like the Pinnacle, but Gaius could tell that the pair wasn’t all that composed as they tried to be.

The two rulers of the Mortal Light Dynasty, scared. Once again, Gaius was reminded that Orb wasn’t a simple place. And more importantly, it seemed that his guess was correct. Pinnacle Kolya and Oracle Galina knew far more than they let on. Far, far more.

“Gaius.”

The boy looked up. Countess Reinford had walked over, and from the nervous look in her face, she too had cottoned onto the possibility that the two rulers of the North knew what was going on.

“You know, then,” said the boy. “It’s likely that they’re not going to tell us, though. When you contact your liege, you should just tell her that the Pinnacle probably knows, and that’ll be it. Us low-level peons aren’t expected to know all that many things, after all.”

A bitter look flashed across the countess’ eyes. “I’m not a child. I’m someone related to the royal bloodline, a peer of the realm. And yet, there are still secrets I don’t know. I am a countess, and yet…”

“Petulance isn’t going to get you anywhere,” Gaius answered. “Besides, is Queen Hyperion keeping this a secret from just you? Or are the other nobles in the dark?”

“She issued her orders to everyone. Only those who were already in the know would understand. The others, like me, can only make guesses.” Reinford grimaced and sat down on a nearby seat.

“Not all that important after all, I see.” Isabelle picked up her glass of water and sipped from it. She had been sitting with Nakama, eating with her and making sure that the little girl didn’t eat all too fast. “Seems to be the fate of the younger generation.”

“Anyway,” Gaius cut in, before Reinford could blow her top, “I think there are some introductions in order.”

He gestured at Xanadu, who had been looking at Countess Reinford the entire time. “This is Xanadu, the Phantom Blade. One of the Lifespring’s killers and the saviours of the Eastern Territories.”

“The what?!”

“The Lifespring’s murderer,” Gaius replied helpfully, savouring the shock that began to appear on her face. It wasn’t something he saw every day, especially since revealing anywhere else would have only earned him strange looks. And of course, he would only do that if Xanadu was in earshot, since it would have been speaking behind her back otherwise.

“I knew you were going to say that,” Xanadu replied. Rolling her eyes, she motioned at Reinford. “Who’s she?”

“Countess Reinford of the Western Holdings,” Gaius replied. “You might have seen her with a bunch of underlings holding on to a red carpet, if you came on the first day of school.”

“Oh, that horrible, nauseating sight?” Xanadu turned to the countess, and looked at her from head to toe. “Wow. I didn’t expect someone with unassuming looks like yours to be that high-profile. Compensating for something?”

Reinford spluttered twice, and her face turned red. “Nauseating?!”

“Well, yeah,” Gaius said. “Pretty sure most of the students who saw that had the same thought as we did. Why would you do such a thing?”

“Huh? That’s natural! Back in my country—”

“That’s a common practice?!” Xanadu blinked twice, and then took a few steps back.

“Only for the aristocrats,” Isabelle supplied. “It seems to enable an inflated ego for the younger ones, which can be rather unfortunate.”

“Ahem. I’ve always wanted to try this.” Gaius cleared his throat. “In this very room, we see a countess in her natural habitat. Accustomed to being the centre of attention and flattery, this new environment, the ‘Mortal Light Dynasty’, will prove to be a challenge.”

The Pinnacle cut in and said, “Oh, is that David Attenbor—”

“Pinnacle Kolya, I see you’re done,” said Xanadu spoke, interrupting him before he could finish his words. The Pinnacle jumped — clearly, he hadn’t noticed her up until now — and then took a few steps back.

“Sofia, dear.” The Pinnacle turned to the Oracle. “What did I say about telling me before inviting godslayers into my immediate vicinity?”

“It’s okay, she won’t bite.” The Oracle turned to Xanadu. “Right? We’re friends, after all.”

“What makes you think I’m gutsy enough to attack the ruler of a nation in his capital?” Xanadu asked.

The Pinnacle turned to Gaius, who said, “What? You were asking for it. And your citizens even encouraged me too. Don’t look at me like that.”

“Gaius was an exception,” the Oracle said. “And you had it coming, all things considered. Doing that to someone not me was simply asking for it, wasn’t it? And even then, there’s a time and place for that.”

After ragging on Pinnacle Kolya for a few minutes, the Oracle turned back and cleared her throat. “Right. Xanadu, you and your crew took out the Constellations, right? Are you able to tell us why now?”

Everyone turned to the Phantom Blade. Gaius had been curious about why she had been on a warpath against the Constellations, but she had been tight-lipped until now. She had hinted a lot to Gaius; this whole thing probably had something to do with the great gods, but it seemed that now that the entire thing was over, she probably wasn’t going to be censored anymore.

She cleared her throat, and even Nakama, who had been engrossed in eating, put down her fork to look at Xanadu with wide, clear eyes. “I’ve been thinking of how to say it, but in the end, the story’s too convoluted for me to distil easily.”

“Why not start from your beginning?” Pinnacle Kolya suggested. “That would be easy.”

“For you to say, maybe.” She took a deep breath. “I guess I’ll start with my true awakening, then. Do we have a glass of water around here?”