Gaius didn’t say anything, and simply held her hands. In silence, they leaned on each other, looking around the place.

“Say, after this war is over, let’s go to the Crying Abyss,” said Isabelle.

“You don’t want to stay on Orb?” Gaius asked. “There’s lots of things to see and experience here. And besides, Weiwu has promised to last as long as possible.”

“I know,” said Isabelle, “but when you think about it, isn’t his fate a sad one too? We should at least let him spend some substantial time on Orb.”

“You’re right.” Gaius let out a small sigh. When it came down to suffering, Gaius had a feeling that the Chanter of Innocents probably had it the worst. He hadn’t quite understood his life so far yet, but from what he could tell, he had been drifting in and out of hibernation often, with only his subconscious ensuring that cultivation breakthroughs remained untainted by the Crying Abyss.

He would, at most, wake up for pivotal moments, and then drift back to sleep. Only when Isabelle woke him up a few years ago did he stop his hibernation, choosing to prepare for his passing instead.

Now that Gaius thought about it, his entire purpose had been to ensure that his chosen would take on the mantle of Abyss Sovereign and then last just long enough to neutralise the demon threat.

Did the Chanter of Innocents feel any regret at how his life played out? Or was he happy that he hadn’t failed in his role?

That was probably a question Gaius would never find an answer to.

“What do you think he’ll do if he has lots of free time?” Isabelle asked, a conversational tone dancing around in her words.

“Eat some ice-cream,” Gaius replied. “Wouldn’t it be a beautiful picture?”

“He might go around eating some skewers too,” said Isabelle. “Maybe visit every nation on Orb and try out their specialties. Help the people of Cybral integrate into Orb.”

“That last bit sounds like work, oddly enough.”

“I’m quite sure the Chanter of Innocents is a workaholic.”

For some reason, Gaius really wanted to see the great god’s expression if he ever heard Isabelle calling him a workaholic. It would probably be a fascinating sight to behold. After all, Weiwu really didn’t have a choice in all this, unless he wanted to doom the world.

Chuckling, Gaius was about to rub her cheeks when a set of polite knocks came from outside the little cabin.

“Are you guys doing anything lewd in there?” Reinford, who was probably right outside, asked. “If you are, remember to clean up after you’re done. Acts of gratification are apparently quite messy.”

Gaius felt his cheeks heat up. “Scram!”

“Oh, so you aren’t?” Reinford asked. “Then get the heck out of the Hallowed Oath. It’s not a cabin for flirting.”

“Ah.” Gaius and Isabelle exchanged glances, and then stepped out of the little cabin sheepishly. He had forgotten that this was actually an important place in the Reinford Palace. “Sorry.”

The countess was eyeing them closely as they exited the Hallowed Oath. “Hmm. Clothes are nice and neat, there isn’t any trace of physical activity…how dull.”

“Dull?” Gaius, despite everything asked. “And besides, isn’t it a problem if we start doing random things in there?”

“Yes, but it also means that I don’t have anything I can blackmail…uh, tease you guys with.” The countess shook her head. “How disappointing.”

“You just said ‘blackmail’, didn’t you?” Isabelle asked.

“My tongue slipped, sorry.” The countess poked her head into the Hallowed Oath. “Seems really neat in here too. Seriously? Dark place, private room, and you two just sat side by side?”

“What do you think I am?” Gaius asked. “There’s a time and place for everything!”

“Darn. I needed more material too…”

“For what?”

Ignoring Isabelle’s words, the countess ushered them out of the Hallowed Chamber. “Well, you two should go and enjoy the banquet first. Maids, escort them into the main hall.”

“Yes, mistress. Esteemed sir and madam, please, follow me.”

Under their persistent ushering, Gaius and Isabelle were forced to follow the maids along. They soon arrived at the main hall, where her parents were already hovering around the trays of food placed on the table. Their eyes were alight with the blaze of pleasure that could only come from tasting good food, and Gaius found himself looking forward to the specialties of Reinford County.

“Is this sushi?” Gaius muttered, as they drew close to the senior Reinfords.

“Sushi?”

“Yeah,” said Gaius. “It’s something I would have expected to see in the East, rather than over here, but I suppose food is one of the many things that flow from culture to culture.”

Walking over to the older couple, Gaius and Isabelle extended their greetings to the two foodies.

“Gaius and Isabelle, right?” Reinford’s mother smiled. “Thank you so much for being her friend. I was worried about here when I sent her to the Phrontistery of Scientific Reasoning, since she had a rather unique disposition, but I’m glad she has friends that can visit her.”

The Duke of Kobury laughed. “Wifey, it’s actually the distance. Unless they live here, I don’t think her international friends are going to find this trip to visit an easy one.”

“It did take us a few days of constant flight to get here,” said Gaius. “The maps can be very deceptive. Isn’t there any way to travel here at good speeds without needing the travellers to have an Engine?”

“Unfortunately, no. I think the Queen’s trying to do something about that, though.” Reinford’s father frowned, before shrugging. “Well, that’s none of my business. For you see, me and my darling are going to travel the world once Alice becomes Archduchess Reinford.”

“She’s going to overwork herself to death at this rate,” Isabelle murmured.

The Duchess of Thors cleared her throat. “She’ll be fine. She’s been training for this from young, after all. Ahh, my lovely little daughter. Did you know she wanted to take over our positions as a child?”

“She asked for it?” Gaius asked.

“To put it simply, yes,” said Reinford’s father. “We were so eager to fulfil her wish that we gave her our paperwork and responsibilities.”

“Tossed them all, more like. This is probably child abuse of an entirely different level,” Isabelle murmured.

“You can’t say that. Did you know what she did when she was eight?” Reinford’s mother sighed. “Let me tell you…”