The sounds of sizzling meat filled the air as Dia entered the living room, and her nose twitched. It was Schwarz’s favourite breakfast, as usual, and her tummy rumbled at the prospect of bacon and eggs. The past two days had been nice and languid, and no one had objected when she said that daily trainings would be put on a pause until an appropriate date.

Yawning away the fatigue of last night, which had been spent on reading books and nibbling on night snacks, Dia sat down on the dining table and glanced at the weird, board-like artefact that Schwarz had been using to communicate with the two lovebirds at Vacuos. There, unfortunately, weren’t many ways to communicate with the lovebirds at Monsville, but the duo favoured by a divinity each weren’t going to step out of their home anytime soon anyway.

“Dia?” Schwarz called out. “That you?”

“How did you guess?” Dia replied, before looking at the table. Lightly charred pieces of sliced bread lay on the plates, and a nice pot of Somi soup sat in the middle, giving off a nice scent. Scooping up a small bowl for herself, she drank from the bowl, and then said, “What happened to the chef?”

“He’s on leave for the next week or so,” Schwarz replied. “The cleaning staff are training at the backyard, as usual.”

“As usual…” Dia shook her head. “Well, we are going to leave after Farah returns. No point spoiling someone’s leave for that, is there?”

“Exactly.” The bartender strode out of the kitchen, his body covered by a frilly, flowery apron. The lacy strings ended up in a nice bowtie, and Dia smiled. “You tied that by yourself? Never thought you were good with strings.”

“You can blame Claud for that. He liked to tie me up when we were a bit younger. Something about knowing how to untie oneself being crucial to escaping kidnapping attempts.” Schwarz cackled. “He’s really weird at times.”

He picked up the Trading Board, glanced at it once, and then did a double take.

“What’s wrong?” Dia asked. “Did something happen?”

“Yeah.” Some dark emotions danced in Schwarz’s expression. “According to Claud, a gigantic purple dome just showed up in the middle of Vacuos. Quite a few people have gone missing. Presumed dead. The five grand skies tried to get rid of it, but they never struck at the end. The divinities are alarmed. The place is now swarming with familiar spirits, apostles and the Blessed of the various divinities.”

“…That can’t be good for business.”

“Which is why Claud and Lily are spending the next few days lying around or whatever,” Schwarz replied. “Still, they sent a calling card to Risti’s father; they’ll be visiting in a few days.”

“My father?” Risti entered the living room at the moment. “What happened to my father?”

“He’s safe, don’t worry. The two of them have made contact with the Association President; they’ll be meeting up for a talk or something soon. Claud wants you to tell him everything you want to say, so that the two of them won’t end up sharing a cup of awkward tea during the meeting.”

“Oh.” Risti let out a sigh. “Thank the Moons. They’re safe.”

“Mhm. Anyway, I was just saying that a purple dome just swallowed a good bit of Vacuos — buildings, people and all,” Schwarz continued. “No one knows what’s the dome’s deal, but it’s probably dangerous.”

“A dome?” Risti pondered for a moment. “Can you help me ask Claud and Lily what they felt? Especially if there’s something like a chill, or a feeling of wrongness.”

Dia’s ears twitched once as Schwarz looked at her suspiciously. The bartender fiddled with the Trading Board for a while, and then said, “You sound like you know something.”

“Yes. But I can’t tell you.”

Schwarz met her gaze, and then smiled. “Thank you for being honest. At least you didn’t lie or anything.”

Dia felt a bit guilty in that instant, but there were more important things to handle. The fact that Risti had posed this question meant that she suspected the Aberrations, the name for beings corrupted by the immense power of Limbo.

Limbo was the designation for the world outside their world. Risti and Nero were senior agents of the Eternal Bulwark, protectors against the incursions of that pale white world…and executors of anyone who fell to the temptations and corruptions of that insane place. Schwarz, however, remained in the dark about Limbo, since knowledge of that place could lead one to corruption easily.

After all, the only thing that was needed to be corrupted was a single thought. Risti and Nero had, more than once, visited death to people who dared to induce negative mana reactions — Dia knew that Nero and Risti had killed a few of them during and after the Trial of Aeons.

“Sorry,” Risti replied, unaware of Dia’s inner thoughts. “I wish I can tell you, but you won’t like what comes next.”

“I’m a professional bartender. I don’t take offence at people hiding secrets from me.” Schwarz winked. “Come on. Let’s hurry and have our breakfast. Bacon and eggs are best when hot and sizzling.”

Cutlery clinked as Dia enjoyed a nice breakfast that was probably comparable to the chefs at the Lustre Palace. Was her father waiting for her to return home? What about her brother, who she had taken the fall for? The servants that had pampered her and indulged her whims as a child — were they wondering where she had gone to?

How would they react to her declaration of giving up inheritance rights?

She heaved a mental sigh, and then looked at Schwarz, who was studying a strip of bacon closely. It seemed a bit charred, and the bartender didn’t seem to quite like that fact at all.

He was a perfectionist for the weirdest of things, but again, that could apply to everyone else.

“Princess Dia…did she return home yet?” Risti abruptly asked.

“Not yet, I think.” Dia smiled. “We’ll still need to wait for Farah, though. She’ll be sad if we left early…”

“Mhm. I hope she comes back today, though. Nightfall and Caroline are paying us a visit during lunch. It’ll be nice if a certain countess could help us navigate the niceties of high society.”

Dia felt a bit disregarded at those words, so she cleared her throat. “I can also handle noble etiquette, alright? Come on. Sheesh.”

“…Okay.”

Resisting the urge to say anything else, Dia picked up another piece of bread and dipped it into the bowl of soup in front of her. The lovebirds — she had a feeling that there were more and more couples around her, for some reason — that were Nightfall and Caroline were going to visit them later. Nightfall wanted to hear about the Trial of Aeons, while Caroline wanted to hear about Lostfon and any developments that had happened.

Licencia was too far from the centre of the storm to hear anything significant in detail, so this was to be expected. Besides, the exclusive means of communication that the rulers of every territory employed to keep in contact had been disrupted; news in the Istrel Sovereignty stayed in the Istrel Sovereignty…at least until it entered the world outside.

Farah would have informed Nightfall about her current status too, and he would tell them about it in passing…probably.

Dia finished off her second piece of bread, before turning to her emptied bowl of soup. There was a nice, comfortable warmth in her stomach, and the lazy urge to just return to her room and plop down was on the verge of overpowering the rest of her thoughts.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t quite do that yet.

After breakfast, Dia followed Risti out into the garden. The two of them looked around in silence for a while, before Risti said, “That might have been an attack from Limbo. Or something similar.”

“I thought you’d think that way, yes.” Dia grimaced. “But a purple dome…I thought it would be white.”

“The colour really isn’t important, though,” Risti replied. “What matters is the actual details of the incident. The divinities are reacting to this really intensely. Even if I don’t know what is going on over there, even if Claud doesn’t report the familiar signs that come with an incursion of Limbo, it’s clear that something has gone really, really wrong.”

Dia shivered. “What do we have to lose?”

“Perhaps everything,” Risti replied. “It’s hard to say. More importantly—”

Her voice faltered, and her face paled. “Impossible!”

“What happened?” Dia asked. “What’s wrong?”

“The Moons…they just sent out a warning.” Risti grimaced. “A general warning to everyone who is informed. The Aberrations…the Logia…they’ve found a new way to infiltrate our world. One that doesn’t require mana-users.”

She paused. “Normal people.”

“…Impossible.”

Risti grimaced. “But that’s how it is.”