“What do you want for the dress?” Emerald asked as we walked together down a very fanciful stairwell covered in gold flowers and gemstones.

“Nothing,” I shook my head. “When I make another one I’ll give it to you.”

“For?”

“For nothing,” I said.

“Why?” Emerald inquired with a suspicious look.

“Because you’re my friend,” I said. "And I want to bind our friendship with a gift worthy of a princess."

“You literally threatened to carve my System out ten minutes ago,” she huffed.

“It's what friends do for each other,” I shrugged. “I’m helping you towards a better future, Emerald. You heard what Dawn said - I don’t want to live in a world where you’re the Admiral of bones and ruins.”

The princess sighed at me as a response.

“I’m surprised you still want her after that,” I said.

“Of course I bloody want her!” Emerald insisted. “She’s one of the most impressive artifacts I’ve seen.”

“You aren’t worried that she’s a hostile intelligence or something?” I inquired.

“A hostile golem wouldn't be able to pass through the wards of our Estate,” Emerald shook her head. “There would be all sorts of alarms going off.”

"Technically, Dawn isn't a golem," I commented.

"Doesn't matter," Emerald shook her crystalline curls. "I trust the Estate wards! Mother designed them herself for protection of her pets and things and she’s older than two centuries. She knows what she’s doing."

I looked at her wrist. There was a diamond-encrusted, platinum armacus there.

“Do you not know any fighting spells?” I asked. “You didn’t even try to stop me.”

“Mom didn’t train me much,” she sighed. “Not like Aggie. Aggie got the best tutors and first pick at everything. I don’t even know a single offensive spell. If my sister were to fail at something, then mother might finally pay attention to me.”

“I can train you,” I offered.

“Really?”

“Yep,” I nodded.

“You’ll teach me magic?”

“Eventually,” I said. “But we’ll start with mundane defense methods first to cover the bases.”

"Mundane defenses?" The princess blinked. "Why?"

"To improve your response time," I nodded. “It’s an important skill when facing an enemy. You totally froze on me.”

"Ah. Sounds good," she said.

“Do you know what this is?” I tapped my black knife.

“Looks like a knife,” Emerald replied.

"Do you know any cendai soul-magic?" I inquired.

“Mother… taught me how to see magic and how to feel my soul. She used her soul-carving knife on me, carved parts of my soul out to replace with her own constructs.”

“Her own constructs?” I frowned. “She put... soul-saplings in you?”

“Yes,” the human-chimera nodded with a shudder. “They freaking hurt.”

“Have you been to the Still Forest?” I inquired.

“No,” Emerald shook her head. “Our Estate lacks the End-Gate."

"Can you see Astral currents?" I asked.

"I can see the Astral currents of magic, but worse than my sister," Emerald said. "I can sorta see that this maid has a Vow on her, for example. It’s like a giant, barely visible, blurry blob hanging above her.”

A silver nail pointed at Voltara.

“Why did Baroness Amadea put her saplings in you?” I asked.

“Mother said it’s to make me stronger,” she replied. “I don’t feel stronger though. If anything they’re making it difficult to fire spells. Maybe I’m doing something wrong.”

I stared at her body in the Astral.

My frown deepened. There were hundreds of Dominion roots within Emerald’s body, interwoven in a very complex formation, each branch holding the other together. There was only one explanation for it - the Baroness was preparing her second daughter to become a future host for herself.

Backup. Emerald really was a backup for Baroness Amadea!

The Dominion formation inside of Emerald looked far too complex and dangerous for me to tackle. I was certain that a single strike would not be able to take it apart and it was deep inside of the girl. The Baroness would know if I tried to free her daughter.

Maybe I could somehow carefully nip at it when both of us were in Nemendias?

“I'll help you get a better grasp of your magic,” I said, my hand angrily wrapping around the ending-knife.

“Would be nice,” she sighed. "Do you want to see the gardens?"

"Sure," I said.

The princess lead me towards a much more lit area, which slowly opened up into the most elaborate greenhouse I had ever seen.

We passed by another gold statue of Baroness Amadea and emerged out of the opulent interior into an equally opulent exterior.

The gardens outside of Palais De La Solstice were absolutely sublime. I saw black-lace covered maids in the distance, polishing statues, watering the flowers and trimming the bushes into shape. Thousands of colorful arboretums grew around gothic gates, fountains, gold statues and ancient, massive trees. Sunlight danced on tamed bushes as warm wind played with blades of grass.

"The wardstones create the setting of eternal summer here," Emerald said. "Even during the coldest months when snow storms come from the glaciers it is perfect temperature in the gardens."

"Must be nice," I commented.

"It is," she nodded. “It does get a bit boring after a while though.”

"How far do the gardens go?"

"Very far," Emerald replied. "I was born here and I don't think I've seen them all. The Estate's grounds are a well-decorated labyrinth, made to confuse enemies. The palace isn't a single building, it is a vast complex of structures, interconnected in unexpected twists and hidden pathways."

"Folding magic?" I asked.

"Yeah," my silver-haired guide nodded.

After a while of exploring the garden, we retired beneath a fancy gazebo, sitting down on stone benches that were somehow made incredibly comfortable with runework hexagrams. I copied the hexagrams into my notebook. Emerald observed me curiously.

“You can see magic that well?” She asked.

“Yep,” I affirmed. “It took a lot of practice and getting smacked by Eunice, but I can see the echo of magic that the runes on these benches cast into the Astral.”

“Wish I was taught by the great arch-cendai,” Emerald sighed. “Mother rarely teaches me anything. I think she expects me to learn everything from humans in Nemendias.”

"You'll catch up in no time," I commented. "Don't worry. Chimera are excellent at magic and you're half-chimera."

The princess cast a hopeful glance at me.

“How many maids are in this place?” I saw yet another extremely pretty, lace-covered maid doing gardening near us.

“I don’t know and don’t really care,” Emerald shrugged. “More than nine thousand? Mother's constantly buying new ones for her collection.”

“You know... if I were you, I’d organize them to do things for me,” I said.

“What kind of things?” the princess inquired.

“Fun things,” I shrugged. “I’d also make friends with all of them, see what personalities and skills they have and figure out how to best utilize them.”

“They’re so boring though,” Emerald said. "No real personality to speak of. It's hard to get a fulfilling conversation out of them, even if I order it."

“Voltara’s not boring,” I waved a hand at the maid standing beside me.

“Yeah she is,” Emerald yawned.

“Voltara, what do you want to do?” I asked.

“I’d like to learn magic with you,” the maid answered. “I want to discover my affinity and not simply be a Vitality maxer. I want to hunt monsters in the Dungeon and get stronger.”

“Pfff, good luck leaving the Estate,” Emerald commented. "The black-lace Maids don't get to depart from this place."

“I want to see Illatius and model lots of pretty dresses and punch my father in the face for selling me,” Voltara said, ignoring the princess. “I want to assist you in Nemendias and help you make lots of friends. I want to sit in a cafe and drink coffee and watch the sunset over the mountains and not worry about tomorrow or orders.”

“You will,” I smiled. "I'll make sure that you do."

“There is definitely something wrong with this maid,” the little human-chimera squinted at Voltara. “What in Eunisii’s name have you done to her?”

I smiled, not saying a thing.

The gears in Emerald’s head turned.

“Voltara, leave,” she ordered.

“No,” the maid replied, not moving a muscle.

“What in the endless Astral?” Emerald growled. “You can’t just disobey my direct order!”

She glared at the maid who silently looked back at her, eyes hidden beneath the lace mask.

“...not unless mother told you to only obey only Juni,” Emerald concluded. “Damnation! I see what’s going on here… mother modified your Vow! That's why you...”

She really didn’t, but I didn’t tell Emerald otherwise.

“Hey, Emmy, do you know anything about Undertown?” I asked.

“Emmy?” Emerald turned away from the maid towards me.

“It’s the cute version of your name now, live with it,” I winked.

The princess stared at me for a moment and then sighed. “Undertown is the capital’s prison.”

“Prison?” I tilted my head.

“Yeah,” Emerald nodded. “The worst of the worst humans that refuse to follow human rules or whatever are thrown down there. I was surprised when mother mentioned that you’re planning to make your Barony down there. What are you going to do with all of the criminals and the wardens?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

“You don’t have a plan for it?”

“Not yet,” I shook my head. “I’m pondering things over. I’d like to make it less of a dump to begin with and then we’ll see.”

“I heard that it's a disgusting mess,” Emerald said. “I don’t know how you can stand to go down there.”

“I like a challenge,” I replied. “Anything is possible with magic and it is an overlooked and extremely undervalued place.”

“The aristocracy of Illatius might object to you cleaning up their prison,” Emerald noted. "Prisons aren't supposed to be nice. They're a punishment."

“You think I’m going to ask their permission?” I laughed.

“M-mm, no,” the princess shook her head. “But they might try to stop you. I really don’t understand why you picked a poor lowborn for your human body. You won’t have the safety net of a family title or wealth backing you up.”

I thought about what to tell the little princess to explain my actions. Thought about my future and what Dawn told us about what was coming.

“Did you already forget what Dawn said?” I asked after a deep pause.

“She said a lot of scary things,” Emerald said. “What are you referring to, specifically?”

“Revolution,” I replied.

“Revolution?”

“During a revolution, the low classes band together, rise up and execute the highborns,” I said.

“And you know about this because Dawn can see the future?” My companion glanced at the dress.

I didn’t answer her. I knew plenty about Revolutions because of my historic knowledge of how things went down in the Ukrainian USSR.

“How will the lowborn humans even rise up?” Emerald mulled. “The towers hold Undertown denizens in check. The prisoners' level cap is far too low to do anything. The Constabulary wardens crush them with ease whenever there's a revolt.”

“I doubt that a Revolution will happen tomorrow or in a year. It might take decades to ferment,” I said as I tapped the armacus on my wrist. “Magitek weapons can make spells above those of your body. If the armaci weapons become cheaper and available to many, a person’s level won’t matter as much.”

“Hrm,” Emerald scratched her face.

“Being a lowborn allows me to embrace, investigate and understand Undertown on a personal level,” I said. “I want to prevent or completely muffle a Revolution before it occurs and tears Illatius apart.”

“Ah,” Emerald nodded. “I sort of get it now. You’re pretending to be a prisoner to gain the future respect of... other political prisoners. That’s… some dedication. I wouldn't be able to do that.”

“Mm-hm,” I nodded. “If I can’t stop a Revolution, at least I can take charge of it, lead it in the right direction.”

“Can I see your other body?” Emerald asked.

“Might as well,” I nodded. “Since we’ll be studying together.”

I directed the maid to put the bag down and went into it, emerging as Grogtilda.

“By Eunisii,” Emerald tried not to gag. “She smells… so bad.”

“I’m Grogs,” I offered her a hand, smirking.

“Your human body looks… awful,” Emerald commented, backing away from my hand. “Like a corpse that’s been left out too long and started to rot and bloat. What is that horrendous smell? It’s like rotting eggs,” the princess covered up her nose. “How do you even stand it?”

“Ah… that’s probably the Debitor’s Tattoo,” I said, unbuckling the front and showing the chest-pyramid to the princess. “I don’t mind it since I can’t smell much in this body.”

“Well I mind it. It’s horrible,” Emerald commented. “Make it stop.”

“It declares me property of the Fighter’s Guild,” I said.

“Can’t you remove it with magic or something?” The princess looked green.

“Well,” I smiled. “To tell you the truth - I could cut it out, but…”

“But?”

“I won’t,” I said.

“Why?!” Emerald asked exasperatedly.

“Because it’s a symbol of my shackles,” I said. “A symbol that this body is that of a prisoner and a lowborn.”

“I don’t get it,” she shook her silver mane.

“Symbols have power,” I explained. “Especially in a Revolution. Just a few days ago I was lamenting about removing it… but now I understand things better so I won’t. Yes, I could use my knife to cut it away. Yes, I could go to the Fighters Guild to find my owners, kick their ass and have it removed, but… I won’t. Because that’s the easy path, but also a path that won’t help our future.”

“It’s part of your plan then?” Emerald stared at the tattoo. “This bloated, sickly body and that horrid, smelly black mark?”

“Yes, you best get used to it because it's part of my plan,” I nodded, finally settling on an idea.

“Which is what?” Emerald blinked.

“I plan to become a living symbol of change and you’re going to help me do it.”