3-11 Wrapping Up

Psycholor

This isn't really in celebration or anything, but the Stil character art has been finished. The artist went into this after saying that they didn't really have much experience drawing quadrupeds, but I think they did a good job, all things considered.

I've added a Stil character Bio in the Glossary now that he has an art piece.

The Beta-reader application thing has closed, and of those who applied, you've been sent a message indicating whether or not your application was accepted.

Stahlia, Ten Years Old, Eleventh Month of 947

It was just a few days after the massacre. The knights had just finished cleaning up the goblin’s former camp. Removing magic stones, burning bodies, tracking survivors. Several of them had escaped back into the mountains, further than the knights dared to go, but that was alright; we had nearly annihilated the force. Of concerning note, was the confirmed presence of two Goblin Lords.

There was the one I had killed with my magic, though it did not show up in the kill log, for reasons I wasn’t able to discern, only hypothesize. Then there was the one from the camp that Albert and his team had managed to capture, with a bit of my help. The interrogation had gone… poorly. The Goblin Lord barely spoke common, though it could speak it. However, what limited words it could use were just barely enough for it to vehemently refuse to answer any questions, even when tortured.

Eventually, Albert shipped it off to the capital, claiming that there were methods there that could be used to obtain information directly. I doubt I’ll actually be able to learn if they find anything out… Maybe I can ask Edith to pull some strings, her connections as the daughter of a duke should be able to manage something… Of course, all of this was simply what I had been told; I was grounded.

My father had, predictably, not been pleased to learn that I forced my way into the counterattack team and promptly grounded me upon my return. I was “Not to set a single foot outside the village until it was time for me to return to the capital.” That was fine with me, I had accomplished all of my goals that absolutely required me to leave the village. At this point, I was basically waiting for [Charm Resistance I] to level up.

I had gotten a single level of [Sword Fighting] at some point in the extermination battle. I say at some point because I had retreated so far inside myself that I had completely closed off any conscious sensory input; it even went to the point of overruling my [Eidetic Memory]. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t call up any memories of the battle after I had used my [Goblin Calamity] title. This wasn’t a problem per se, just frustrating, and curious, as it marked the third instance of my [Eidetic Memory] seeming to fail.

The first time was ongoing and had to do with the contents of my menus. Not that I couldn’t remember them, but the memory wasn’t clear at all. Essentially, I remembered my menus using the quality of my original memory, before I had gotten the talent. The second instance was the Goblin King that Giogi had mentioned. Up to that point, I had almost subconsciously remembered important details. I had been able to connect dots almost automatically following the acquisition of new information. That was the most worrying of the three instances, as it of course led me to question what else I might be missing.

No, there’s a fourth instance. Indeed, I could think of one more time my talent had failed; when I had checked Dominic’s ability to affect me using my divine sight. At the time, I had simply accepted that I was not being affected. I hadn’t thought about all the evidence that I had at some point been affected. It had taken Claire telling me as much through Felicity to jog my memory. Up till now, I’ve been assuming my memory is perfect, but now… I have to assume that I’m missing things. I shouldn’t question everything, that would be counterproductive. But I need to think things through more carefully, and not put so much trust in my memory.

On the subject of thinking things through more carefully, there was my remorse. Or rather, the lack of it; I had not been hit with the repercussions I was expecting from the massacre at the Goblin Camp. It wasn’t like I hadn’t gotten anything at all. My stomach had been upset by the memories of so many of them simply dying at the sight of me. I had been forced to recall the feeling of being slick with goblin blood, the way it had smelled and made me sticky as it dried. It had been nauseating.

But I hadn’t been forced to dwell on it much. Seemingly, the mental justifications that I was acting as was necessary were satisfying to the skill, and it didn’t force me to relive events again and again. And now I’m thinking about my skill as if it’s fucking self-aware or some shit. Of course, it wasn’t the case, but with how vindictive it seemed to be, it was an easy leap to make. All that, and I can’t get over Asten and Jacqueline!

As I was thinking these things, I was even now being forced to endure the feelings of sickness and the stabbing headache as I relived the memory of making my deal with the devil, signing away Asten’s soul and maiming Jacqueline with my own hands. My newly raised endurance was able to offset the symptoms somewhat, allowing me to have this side train of thought. But it didn’t cancel it out. The longer I had to endure without overcoming, the more intense the symptoms became.

Eventually, it would overwhelm me, and I would be forced to once again turn off my remorse. I just don’t get it… I did what was necessary with the goblins. I did what was necessary with Asten and Jacqueline; we would have died if I hadn’t done what I did! Why is that not enough!? As I was thinking those things, a particularly bad cramp caused my gut to spasm. My headache intensified to the point where I was starting to have trouble thinking.

I just want to move on… I’m sorry… so, so sorry… Accompanying those thoughts, I gave up for the night and shut off remorse. This is awful. Jacqueline approached me, and I looked up at her with a pained expression. Her missing left arm was the first thing I saw, causing me to grimace involuntarily; I wasn’t sorry about it at the moment, my grimace was related to the pain I had just experienced. Jacqueline noticed where I was looking and shook her head.

“Lady Stahlia, I have told you; I forgive you for what happened then, and Asten would as well, were he here.” She looked like she was pained by my reaction upon seeing her arm.

That’s the thing though… You don’t know what happened, so you saying that you “forgive me” doesn’t mean anything. And there is no way in the nine hells that Asten would forgive me either… I had a sudden thought then; Jacqueline was my only confidant. Technically, Claire was as well, but anything I told her would also be heard by Felicity, and while I could simply order Felicity not to say anything, I knew that I didn’t like doing that.

But even if I wanted to, I couldn’t tell Jacqueline things, not while she was still under Dominic’s influence. I… I might be able to do something about that, but I haven’t had a chance to test it, so I don’t know what would happen… As I was forming a plan, Jacqueline had finished wiping off my sweat and redone my clothes. …I’ll ask her then, and do what she thinks is best; at the end of the day, if it backfires, it’s her life on the line.

“…Jacqueline, do you trust me? Answer without consideration of our relationship…” I spoke in a small voice, given what I was planning, I was incredibly nervous.

Jacqueline raised an eyebrow, “Yes, of course, I trust you Lady Stahlia? Why would you feel that I do not?”

I shook my head, “No, Jacqueline. I’m not trying to imply you don’t trust me… I’m just… clarifying. What would you say if I told you I have been keeping secrets. From everyone. From you.” I raised my head and fixed my gaze on Jacqueline, who looked at me unwaveringly.

“I would assume you had your reasons… though if I am to continue answering without consideration to our relationship, I would have to say that I… I would be hurt.” She kept her voice steady, but by the end, there was a bit of a crack to it.

I nodded, accepting her answer, “Jacqueline, do you have the [Charm Resistance] Talent?”

“I do have it, the last time I was appraised it was at rank two.”

I nodded, “Jacqueline, I have reason to believe you are being charmed. Will, will you let me try something to remove it…? I haven’t tested this, and there could be side effects…”

Jacqueline gave me a long, questioning stare. After a brief moment of consideration, she knelt in front of where I was still sitting and grasped my hand. I’m glad to see she thought about it before just agreeing out of loyalty.

“Lady, no. Stahlia, I’ll accept whatever it is you want to try… if it means I can gain your full trust.”

Her words made what I was going to say next catch in my throat. I didn’t mean to imply that I didn’t trust you… I… damn it all… Once again, like with the goblins, I was feeling regret that was slipping through my remorse. Emotions are so much more complicated than I ever could have thought.

I took a deep breath, “Alright… I’m going to start out by appraising you with my Blood Magic.”

Jacqueline nodded and closed her eyes, accepting my mana into herself without resistance.

Name/Age: [Jacqueline], 28

Species/Level: Human(Pureblood), 48

Ability Values:

Special: Charmed(Dominic, Weak hold)

Skills: [Display 10 per page]: Critical Correction[Blades]*,

Clean Killing*, Shadow Step*, Dagger Mastery*, Shadow Walk*, Finesse Fighting*, Fancy

Footwork*, Shadow Form*, Sword Mastery*, Actor* – Page 1/4

I swallowed as her stats displayed to me. Level 48… I’m only level 20, and without her stat bonuses from talents and skills, I already outclass her in a few areas… As expected, I couldn’t see her class, nor could I see her talents. I quickly tabbed through her skills list, looking for anything that might be providing the boosts she had; I was particularly intrigued by the times two and times three multipliers on her dexterity and intelligence.

As it turned out, the times two multiplier came from her [Fancy Footwork] skill. I already knew that the next skill I was buying would be [Mana Crystallization]; I could use the extra mana alongside my Blood Magic to exceed the x2 modifier, and mana would also serve other uses; I could cast more complex spells if I had a larger pool. But I made a note of that skill to acquire after I got another slot.

But this isn’t what I’m doing here. Right, let’s get this over with. I ignored the vague sense of apprehension I had and fired a thought at the appraisal screen. “Invoke Divine Authority, display the target’s life points.” A brief stab of pain lanced through my head, bypassing my endurance stat. When it faded, I saw a new line had appeared between the special section and the skills, “Life Point Balance: 986”.

Accompanying this was a notice box similar to what had shown up with Rosin several months ago.

“Request of Authority Holder to display Target’s Aggregate Soul Potential Received.

Valid Authority: {Divine Authority[Class Features]} Confirmed.

Target of Action [[Jacqueline], Human[PB], 28y] Has 996 Life Points Available.

Expending Ten Life Points to add Life Points display to Target’s System Profile.”

I felt a cool sensation on my upper lip and realized my nose was bleeding. Right, it did that last time. I’ll go through with this for Jacqueline’s sake, but I sure hope I live to regret the decision. I steeled myself, and sent another thought command, “Evolve [Charm Resistance] to [Charm Immunity].”

I had no idea whether or not this would work, I personally lacked the life points to test on myself. Even so, I needed to clear Jacqueline of Dominic’s charm if I was going to be able to tell her the things I wanted to. In theory, White Magic would have a spell under the Holy Element that could cleanse the Charm status ailment, but I had a strong suspicion that Dominic’s charm would be above what any normal spell could handle. A Miracle might work, but I would sooner actually marry him than ask the fucked-up gods for their help.

Just as I was thinking that it wouldn’t work and that I had overestimated the scope of my skill, my head exploded in pain. It was the worst feeling I had ever experienced; tens, no hundreds of times worse than my remorse headaches. I felt my legs give out, and my arms lost their strength. I crumpled to the floor like a puppet that had had its strings cut. Looking out at the world as if submerged in deep water, I saw Jacqueline picking me up.

Her words were distant, but I could just barely make them out, “Stahlia! Stahlia! What did you do!? Oh, gods what did you do!?” She’s worried about me… The only thing that was clear in my foggy state, the only thing that I could make out perfectly, was the new notification.

“Request of Authority Holder to Forcibly Evolve Target’s Talent to Skill Received.

Valid Authority: {Divine Authority[Class Features]} Confirmed.

Target of Action [[Jacqueline], Human[PB], 28y] Has 986 Life Points Available.

Expending 600 Life Points to Evolve [Charm Resistance III] to [Charm Immunity]…

… … …

ERROR: Authority Holder does not possess enough Divine Element. Expending Life Span to compensate.

Operation Completed, [Charm Resistance] of [Jacqueline] successfully evolved to [Charm Immunity].

The Charm effect created by [Dominic von Francois] has been removed.”

I groaned out in pain and fell unconscious.

★★★★★★

Stahlia, Twelfth Month of 947

I woke up in my room. I tried to sit up, but found that I couldn’t muster the energy to lift my head. My head is still throbbing… I knew there would be a cost for me… but I wasn’t expecting it to be this bad. I recalled the notification I had received just prior to my passing out. Lifespan huh… I grimaced and opened my menu. Apparently, I had hurt myself in a unique way, possibly an injury to my soul, because just opening the menu caused me a mild headache.

Life Summary Screen:

Life Point Balance: 277 (+10)

Name/Age: Stahlia von Ris, 12 (+2)

Gender: Female

Class/Level: Custom Class, 20[MAX] Experience: 31000/31000

Species: Human (Pureblood)

Social Strata: Nobility (Baron Ris, Drakas Kingdom)

Starting Gift: Small Seed [LOCKED]

Title: Goblin Slayer*[Swap Title]

Ability Values:

Fighting Style: Drakan Style* [Swap Style]

Talents 5/5: [Browse Talents] Prodigy III*, Eidetic Memory II*, Stealth V, Charm Resistance I*, Flexible I*, || Monster Handling III*, Dagger Fighting V*, Sword Fighting II*, Unarmed Fighting IV*, Alchemy Correction IV*, Teaching II*, Mana Efficiency III*, Fire Magic III*, Water Magic II*, Earth Magic II*, Wind Magic II*, Ice Magic V

Skills 4/5: [Browse Skills] Divine Authority[Class Features]*, Finesse Fighting*, Blue Blooded*, Kinetic Perception*, [], || Language Proficiency[Central Human]*, Fighting Style[Shadow Blade]*, Fighting Style[Drakan Style]*, Blessing of Winter*

Talents Experience: [+]

A quick scan of my character sheet revealed that nothing major had changed; I only noticed two things. I had gained an extra ten Life Points of my own, I had gotten ten before when I leveled up [Sword Fighting] once during the extermination. And I had gained two years to my age. So, either two years have passed while I was unconscious… or when I expended “Life Span”, I lost two years.

I closed the menu in order to get rid of the headache and nestled myself as best I could with my limited movement. I was tired, starving, and just in general uncomfortable. I couldn’t put my finger on what was bothering me. Well, I can probably discount that it’s been two years; I’m weak, but I can move. If I had been immobile like that for so long, I wouldn’t have any muscles left. I don’t think my Strength Stat would be able to bolster me to this extent if I didn’t have any muscles, to begin with.

As I tried to ignore my stomach, I heard a knock at the door. It swung open, and I perceived three shapes entering. Jacqueline, who was accompanied by Felicity and Rosin. I tried to nod my head in their direction, to let them know that I was awake. But all I managed to do was move my chin a bit. But that was enough; Jacqueline was well trained and able to spot small movements like that, and Felicity had Claire sitting in her head, who was an adult and thus more perceptive overall.

First Jacqueline gave a start and veritably flew to my side, a few moments later, Felicity exclaimed and came running over. This left poor Rosin on his own, but he quickly came to the conclusion that “something” was happening and came running to my side, “‘ello… eryone…” talking was difficult, I still lacked the strength to move my mouth much more than the smallest amounts.

Jacqueline quickly shushed me, and passed Felicity a washcloth; apparently, I had been out long enough for Felicity to have learned how to wipe a limp body down because she was fairly efficient. Of course, that assumes Claire is properly doing her job, and Felicity hasn’t acquired any talents… or it could be the result of one she already had from Jacqueline.

I groaned and tried to thank Felicity, only for Rosin to shove his hand over my mouth, “Miss Jacky said to be quiet!”

I felt my mouth pull up into a faint smile, and if I had been able I was sure I would have laughed. Fine, I’ll behave. I lay back and let the three of them fiddle with me until they were content. Well, Rosin and Felicity did the fiddling, Jacqueline took on a supervisory role, ensuring that they didn’t hurt me in my weakened state. After a little while, the two of them left the room.

“Alright Stahlia, Felicity is probably going to go and tell your parents that you’ve awoken. Don’t speak. You’ve been unconscious for almost three weeks; it is now the fifteenth of the twelfth month. Sieg has been here periodically to check up on you, but he has no idea what exactly has happened; you’ve physically aged considerably while unconscious, a fact that I have hidden from your parents. I imagine it was the result of whatever you did to me, which did work; I feel like a fog has cleared from my mind. I’m sorry I brought Dominic and Asten out that night…”

Wait, I’ve aged…? So I didn’t just spend my lifespan, but I also physically aged…? That would explain how weak I am right now. I can’t imagine what she means by “considerably”, but it must have taken a lot of energy. And if it’s the fifteenth, that means my birthday was yesterday. So in total, I lost a bit more than a year of my life. I guess that’s not terrible… it could have been a lot worse… Especially if I had granted Rosin a class. Holy fuck, a year for a skill, then what would a class be!?

My thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock at the door, and Jacqueline cut herself off, terminating her whispered stream of exposition. My mother and father entered the room, the latter adopting a stance near the edge of the bed, while my mother sat down on the edge and reached out to stroke my face. I could see that her eyes were red and puffy, and she was making no attempt to hide the dark circles that were visible beneath them.

Right, what happened to me is basically the same as what happened to Rosial from her perspective… Suddenly falling unconscious and then not waking up, I’m sure she was worried beyond belief. I opened my mouth to apologize to her, when she covered my mouth, “Don’t say anything. Just rest, and regain your strength.”

I closed my mouth and let her continue stroking my cheek; if it would calm her down then I didn’t mind, it wasn’t like I was wearing any make-up or anything. My father was apologizing for being so harsh on me and talking about how he knew I was only acting out of a desire to do good for the village. No! That isn’t right! I desperately wanted to tell him that he was wrong; that he hadn’t been too harsh on me.

To tell him that I understood why he had punished me for forcing my way into the extermination team. But if I did that, if I tried to talk, I would upset my mother further. So I bore it in silence, inwardly grimacing at every self-deprecating remark my father made, and every praise he leveled in my direction.

Finally, my parents both retired for bed, it had taken Jacqueline gently letting them know that I should rest. I had actually begun to fear that they might stay the entire night. Jacqueline, who was staying to care for me through the night, took a seat on the edge of my bed, “Stahlia, how are you feeling? Some color has returned to your cheeks.”

I tried sitting up and found that I was able to barely move a few inches, though this was still an improvement from before. Next, I tried speaking, “H..ungry… and… sore…”

Jacqueline nodded, “I imagine you would be; I told you that you grew rapidly in just a few weeks. In your case, you gained a few centimeters, and have filled out a bit more. I have no idea where the energy came from, but growth isn’t free. Sieg gave you some supplemental potions I provided the recipe for. Do forgive me, but I said it was something you were working on.”

I grimaced, not as a way of chiding her but because I knew the likely origin of those recipes; they would be used during Shadow Training to prevent various maladies. After a moment, the rest of what she had said sunk in, the part about me having filled out a bit. I felt my cheeks flush faintly, and asked a question that had been bothering me, “You… said you were… hiding… this… from my parents…?”

Jacqueline was able to intuit the second half of that question, namely, “How?” She answered both questions for me efficiently while preparing some sort of thing for me to drink. If I had to guess, it was more of the supplemental potion she had Sieg make.

“Simple really, I was the one responsible for caring for you. Your father obviously wasn’t in the room while I was bathing you, and I prevented your mother from coming in by citing her weak constitution when you were younger. She took my worries to heart regarding that. Unfortunately, Lucy has been a bit of an issue. I couldn’t prevent her from noticing that I was making alterations to your clothes.”

I questioned Jacqueline about those alterations; I couldn’t deny that I was curious. According to her, I had graduated from my training bra to a real one, though I was still smaller than I should be based on my memories of character creation. She had also adjusted my shoes a bit so that I would stand a few centimeters shorter; this would help hide my growth spurt. My clothes had been altered so as to obscure my new figure.

It was Jacqueline’s plan to slowly undo the alterations over the next few months and use the excuse that I was experiencing a growth spurt. Since I didn’t have any better plans, I agreed to hers. By the time we were done discussing these things, I had recovered my ability to speak, although I was still weak.

“Jacqueline, could you please go and get Felicity? She should be here for this as well.” Jacqueline looked at me curiously, but did as I had asked; likely she intuited that I was asking for Felicity because I was about to make good on my unspoken promise of trusting her more. Jacqueline was loyal to me alone now that she had [Charm Immunity], and Felicity could be ordered to keep her silence.

A few minutes later, Jacqueline returned with a very sleepy cat-kin. I had Jacqueline help me up into a seated position while Felicity woke up; Claire likely had some inkling of what was about to happen, because Felicity looked like she was having an internal conversation. Watching her facial expressions change so randomly is amusing, but it’s something she’ll have to work on.

Finally, everything was ready, and I took a deep breath, “Jacqueline, Felicity, I’ve been keeping some pretty big secrets. For starters, Felicity, I knew Claire. Before she was with you, I knew her.”

Jacqueline gave me a curious look, but held her silence. She was probably thinking that I would expand and explain myself. Well, she’s right. Though I still won’t share everything, like how I used to be a man… but I think it’s time I trusted Jacqueline with knowledge of my past life. Felicity won’t understand perfectly, but Claire can coach her.

I went on to explain, in terms that Jacqueline could understand and that Felicity would eventually understand, all about how I had lived previously and died before being reborn to this life. I left out a few details, things like my previous sex, my custom class, and various irrelevant things. But I told them almost everything else. Once I started talking, it was as if I had broken through a dam and the words just kept coming out.

Jacqueline’s face changed gradually from surprise to incredulity, to rejection, and finally, a look that indicated she had accepted what I was saying. Felicity simply looked lost, but I had expected that. The point was that I was telling her, not whether or not she understood. Claire could address the latter issue given enough time. When I stopped my story to catch my breath, I met Jacqueline’s gaze. Though I wanted to look away, given how she was staring so hard at me, I held it.

Briefly, I considered turning off my fear and meeting her gaze unwaveringly, but I rejected that plan; I was still struggling to overcome my last bout of skill abuse. There was no way in hell I would use [Cold Hearted] for something so petty. After a short while, Jacqueline spoke. It was a simple sentence, but it indicated her acceptance of what I had said, and I could ask for no more than that.

“Well, that certainly explains a lot about what you know. I can certainly understand why you were keeping this secret, thank you for telling me.”

I nodded before taking another deep breath, “That’s not all though. I’m sure you figured it out, Jacqueline, that I lied about what happened in the forest… With Sitri.”

Jacqueline slowly nodded, “Are you sure you want to tell me? I have to assume whatever it was, those events are responsible for what you’ve been going through every night.”

I grit my teeth and took a gulp of water from the glass on my bedside table; pleased to know that my strength was returning so quickly, “Yes, I want to tell you. Telling you this was the real reason I gave you [Charm Immunity]. Everything else, well, it was to answer your request to trust you.”

I told Jacqueline the real story about what had happened in the forest. About the deal I had made. About what I had done, willingly, to her and to Asten. This didn’t take nearly as long as the previous set of confessions, but it still took a bit of time. When I had finished, I closed my mouth and waited for Jacqueline’s response. I was sure she would judge me for it, that she would be angry.

To my surprise, Jacqueline embraced me with her arm, “Thank you for telling me the truth; I’m sure that was an incredibly scary situation. Fighting a demon by yourself, and one as strong as an Original Sin.”

I swallowed my spit as she continued, “I can’t say that I forgive you, but I can move past it in light of what you went through to tell me…”

She fixed me with a hard stare, “…It was your own impulsiveness that led us into that situation; I’m grateful that you got us out, but you owe it to Asten to never forget the result of your rashness.”

I accepted Jacqueline’s admonishments; I knew that she was speaking the truth.

“I’ll do everything I can to fix my mistake, and I swear I will never forget.”

Jacqueline nodded at my resolve, and to my surprise, she took a knee at the side of my bed, facing me.

“Stahlia, I want to once again offer you my loyalty and my blade. Not out of the desire to make things right, but to answer your trust in me.”

My voice caught in my throat as I tried to respond, but I eventually managed to choke out an answer, “I-I, I humbly, accept… Jacqueline.”

Jacqueline rose to her feet and smiled at me, “Thank you, Lady Stahlia.” It was only then that I realized she hadn’t been calling me as she usually did, marking the fifth instance of my memory failing.

I turned my attention to the cat in the room, “Felicity… about the next few months-”

“No Stahlia, you aren’t leaving us here.” The voice that left Felicity’s mouth was not her own. Well, it was her voice, but she didn’t talk like that.

“…Claire? I thought you did not like taking control like that…?”

Felicity… Claire shook her head, “I don’t. But Felicity fell asleep while the two of you were bonding, and I could tell where you were going with that. ‘Felicity, I’m going to a dangerous place, to complete a dangerous mission, I need you to stay here, where it’s safe.’ She doesn’t want to, I asked her while you were explaining your past. I explained everything to her in a way she could understand. Stahlia, I can’t even begin to describe the emotional turmoil she experienced when I said you were going to go away and fight. ‘My tousan went to fight when the evil people came, I never saw him again.’ She absolutely adores you. …It probably isn’t the smartest thing, but you should bring her back to the capital with you; have her stay with Edith at the Claurence Estate if you’re worried about Dominic.”

I blinked rapidly, trying to sort out what Claire was saying. Finally, I asked her, “Claire, how on earth did you figure all of that out?”

Claire smiled smugly, “I’ve read enough books to know what happens after the heroine confesses all of her secrets.”

I got a small bit nervous when Claire stressed the “all” part of her statement; she of course knew that I hadn’t told the two of them everything. However, it didn’t look like Jacqueline had picked up on it, she was mostly showing surprise at Felicity-Claire’s change in mannerism. Felicity was purportedly asleep, so I wouldn’t have to worry about her catching it either, though it was unlikely she would have even if she was awake.

I got the feeling it was also a subtle threat; I didn’t know why Claire was seeking to bring Felicity along to a potentially dangerous place, but the message was clear; “I know the secrets you didn’t tell. You should listen to what I have to say.”

“Fine Claire, I’ll drop the subject, on one condition. Your priority is Felicity’s safety; if it comes down to it, you will take control and run her away. I know you, and if you're willing to swear that to me then I will acquiesce to your request.”

Claire looked torn; knowing her personality, what I was making her swear was a really big ask. Finally, she sighed and nodded, “That isn’t fair Stahlia… Alright. If it comes down to it, I will. I would rather live with myself for that, than experience the anguish she would if the two of you separated now.”

Psycholor

Additionally, over the past week or so, I have been slowly setting up a discord server. I am planning to make it public alongside Monday's chapter, with the goal of creating a "hub" before the release of my second story.

Thank You to Rita935, CypressLB, Loliconhanter, and Plus1 for Beta Reading this chapter.