Author's Notes:

Yay, 100 followers!

-STORY START-

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself unable to move and with a pounding headache. Curious, I yawned and slowly blinked my eyes open as I sat up. To my surprise, Siesta was lying in my bed, partially holding onto me like a girl would with a giant teddy bear.

For a brief moment, I struggled to remember what had happened the night before. Let's see... After returning from Mott's estate, we had made sure to greet Marteau and the other servants and tell them what happened. I distinctly remember Marteau crying tears of happiness at Siesta's return and at having heard of Mott's well deserved death. And then an impromptu party with lots and lots of delicious Albionian wine.

Okay, at least that explained the headache. Damn hangovers. But why in the world was Siesta on my bed? I highly doubt we did anything last night considering we're both fully clothed and we're in Louise's room. Speaking of Louise, she wasn't in her bed either.

"Mmm..." Siesta rolled over onto her back and slowly blinked her eyes. She glanced at me with bleary eyes before smiling slightly. "Good morning, Master Kazuma."

"Uhhh..." I slurred as I collapsed back into the bed. God, how much did I drink last night? I had always had a pretty good tolerance for alcohol, so I rarely, if ever, got hangovers. "Don't... You don't need to call me master..."

"Okay, Kazuma," Siesta said cheerfully. All signs of sleepiness had vanished from her face. Was this the power of a maid? To be able to go from being tired and sleepy to being awake and energetic in an instant? How frightening. And enviable.

"Sorry, Siesta," I groaned. "But I can't seem to remember much about last night. What happened? Why were you sleeping in this room?"

"Mou..." Siesta pouted. Even through my sleepy, hangover induced state, I couldn't help but draw parallels to her expression and my younger brother, Ren's, back on Earth. They both tried so hard to look angry, but it just didn't work with how adorable they were. "I guess it can't be helped. I don't think I've ever seen anyone drink as much Albionian wine as you did. You told me to just sleep in this room for the night since you didn't have time to talk to the headmaster about me getting my own room."

"Oh right," I said vaguely as the memories of that moment began to surface in my mind. "And Louise just let you sleep here? That's surprising."

"Ah, actually," Siesta fidgeted nervously. "You killed her and threw her out the window."

"Oh. Is that a-... Wait. I DID WHAT!?" I blurted out in shock and bolted upright, a look of horror spreading on my face. I did not much like the pink-haired girl, but that didn't mean I wanted to kill her. In fact, if I were to choose, it would be just the opposite. I had meant to protect her.

I had never considered myself to be a bad drunk. In fact, I tended to remain in control of my body whenever I drank. But I did drink a lot more than I ever had before last night, if the level of the hangover was any indicator. Was it truly possible that something inside me snapped from all that alcohol and made me do that?

Siesta began giggling and I looked at her with the same look of horror. And then I understood.

"Ha. Ha." I said in a flat tone. "Very funny. What happened really?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," Siesta chuckled softly. "Miss Valliere decided to allow me to sleep here after you asked her."

"Where is she now?"

"I'm not sure," Siesta admitted. "She woke up around around four hours ago to eat breakfast and to train."

"What time is it now?" I asked as I pinched the bridge of my nose in a futile effort to relieve the headache.

"I think it's about one o'clock," Siesta answered. "And since this is my first day as your maid, is there anything you would like me to do for you?"

"Something to help this hangover would be wonderful," I muttered. "And maybe something to eat too."

"Understood," Siesta said as she climbed out of bed. "Please wait here for a moment then. I'll be right back."

-SCENE BREAK-

"Mmm... This is good," I said as I sipped some hot tea that was doing an absolutely marvelous job in taking away the edge to my hangover. In front of me, set on a table, was a tray of food; a bowl of soup, three loaves of bread, a chunk of soft cheese. A simple and light meal, but absolutely delicious and filling.

"I'm glad you like it," Siesta said as she stood dutifully by the table. "I made it myself."

"Did you?" I said before biting into the cheese. "Good job."

Siesta smiled and nodded in acknowledgment of the compliment.

"By the way," I said, "we should discuss your job."

"Of course," Siesta agreed and nodded.

"So what skills do you have?" I asked. "I need to know what you can do before I give you any jobs."

"Well, I'm a skilled cleaner and a passable cook," Siesta said. "And I am also knowledgeable about wines because my dream is to one day open my own winery."

I glanced at Siesta, then at the food I was eating. Passable cook my ass. She was a damn good one. Admittedly, she was not as good as Marteau, but then again, I haven't met a single person in all the worlds that was as good as him.

"I see," I said as I drank another sip of tea. "That's good. Then let's talk about your salary."

"You can pay me whatever you think is fair," Siesta smiled.

"Oh, really?" I said as I stood up and took out the bag of gold from beneath my bed. As I opened it, Siesta's eyes went wide at my wealth. "You said before that 100 gold coins was about two or three years worth of salary for you, right?" Siesta nodded as she continued gawking at the pile of gold. I took out a handful of gold coins and placed it in front of her. "Then here. Ten gold coins every month will be your salary for now."

"T-t-ten gold coins?" Siesta said, still in shock at the bag of gold. It occurred to me that Siesta had likely never seen this much gold in a single sitting before. Or rather, she had never seen this much gold in her entire lifetime. "That's too much, Kazuma!"

"I have a little over 10,000 gold coins in here," I said casually. "That means I can pay you 1,000 times. But before I come anywhere close to that number, I'll probably have gotten even more money. So don't worry about it."

Siesta's jaw was hanging about as she slowly nodded and took her salary with a slow, deliberate motion, holding it with almost reverent awe. "How did you get so much money, Kazuma?"

"The reward for capturing Foquet," I said as I tied up the bag and pushed it beneath my bed again. "The others got recognition, but all I wanted was the money."

"So you were the one who captured Foquet!" Siesta said triumphantly. "All the other servants had already been suspecting as much. We thought that you were the one who did all the work and the nobles simply stole credit for it."

I shrugged, but didn't answer. Instead, I simply finished off the last of the meal Siesta had placed before me. Siesta, however, seemed to take this as an admission to the truth, and she smiled more broadly, and looked at me with admiration.

"Thanks for the meal," I said. "If you would just put this away for me?"

"Of course," Siesta said.

"Thanks," I said. "After you're done with that, you can do what you want for a while. I'm going to go the library."

"I didn't realize you read?" Siesta said curiously.

"On occasions I do," I said with a shrug. "It's not the highest thing on my priority list, but it's a decent way of killing time."

"In that case, I have several books I think you'll be interested in," Siesta said with a sudden and strange enthusiasm.

"Maybe next time," I said evasively. My instincts were warning me not to take Siesta up on this offer. "Anyway, I'll see you later."

-SCENE BREAK-

When I entered the library, it was almost devoid of all life, save for the librarian, an old, thin woman with a beak-like nose, and a few students. Amongst them, I noticed that Tabitha was there too, quietly reading as always. Stacked up in a tower in front of her was about seven books.

I went over to a nearby shelf and picked out a random book. Afterward, I walked over to where Tabitha was and sat myself at her table across from her. Tabitha made no movements indicating any acknowledgment of my presence. Even so, it almost felt as if she was keeping a careful eye on me.

I flipped the book open to the first page. Almost immediately thereafter, I closed it again and sighed silently.

"Not reading?" Tabitha asked softly.

I looked up to see Tabitha watching me with expressionless eyes.

"I can't," I shrugged. I had assumed that since I and the Halkeginians could understand each other, that our language would naturally be the same. Unfortunately, however, it appeared that was not the case as I could not read a single word of anything that was written in the book. I wonder if the reason why we could understand each other was because of the spell that summoned me here in the first place?

Tabitha nodded and grabbed the topmost book of the book tower and handed it to me. "Pictures."

I took the book and opened it. Like Tabitha had said, there were pictures. Lots of them. It seemed to me like it was some kind of children's story book, judging by the way that every page had a picture and only a few lines of words at most.

Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to read it and try to piece together the plot the best I could. It seemed that the story was about a swordsman who had come to a village, whereupon the villagers had begged him for something. That something turned out to be a request to rescue a girl from a dragon.

In the ensuing fight, the dragon struck down the swordsman a dozen times over, but each time the swordsman stood back up and attacked again. Finally, in a classic case of deus ex machina, the swordsman's sword began glowing and allowed him to pierce the dragon's throat, where previously the sword had been unable to put a single scratch on the creature.

Once he had returned the girl to the villagers, they had offered him rewards of gold and treasure, but he refused and simply rode off towards the setting sun in the horizon.

I closed the book and sighed. What a stupid hero. Why wouldn't he accept the reward? He had done something he had no obligation to do for a bunch of people he did not even know purely because they asked it of him. It was only natural to be compensated for risking your life for such a request.

I handed the book back to Tabitha. She took it and replaced the book back onto the top of the tower without ever looking up from her own reading. The library doors opened quietly and I glanced over my shoulder to see Kirche enter.

"Ara?" Kirche said as she came up to us. "Darling? What are you doing here? I thought you would be preparing for the Evaluation Fair."

"What's the Evaluation Fair?" I asked curiously.

"It's a contest in which the students have their familiars perform in order to impress the audience," Kirche supplied. "Given that a familiar is indicative of a mage's power, it is quite an important event, especially to the government officials who come looking to recruit students after they graduate. Oh, and I heard that Princess Henrietta is coming herself to hand out the prize this year. Valliere hasn't told you anything?"

"No, actually," I frowned. "She hasn't. We haven't really been talking much since the Mott incident yesterday."

"Huh," Kirche frowned. "That's weird. But then I guess that means you can come cheer for me, darling!"

"I guess so," I said. "Uh, out of curiosity, what is the prize?"

"A trophy and being allowed to kiss the princess's hand," Kirche said. "Though only the boys really care about that second part."

What a lackluster prize.

As if she read my mind, Kirche captured me in a hug that buried my arm in her breasts and said, "It's almost disappointing, isn't it? That's why you should give me a prize if I win, darling!"

"Oh? What kind of prize did you have in mind?" I said playfully.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Kirche purred.

"Ahem."

Both Kirche and I turned to see Siesta standing there. Though she was smiling, it was clear to see that it was anything but friendly. In fact, it was the type of smile used when attempting to conceal an annoyed anger.

"Master Kazuma," Siesta said tersely. "Miss Valliere is requesting that you return to her room."

"Uh... Right," I said. For some reason, the sheer amount of silent anger that was exuding from Siesta like water leaking from a crumbling dam was enough to scare even me. "I'll just get going then. See you later Kirche, Tabitha."

"Don't forget the promise, darling." Kirche winked at me. Tabitha, on the other hand, made no acknowledgment, but for a slight nod.

I quickly turned and caught up to Siesta who was already leaving the library. "Are you okay?" I asked tentatively as we left the library.

"Of course I'm okay," Siesta huffed. "Why wouldn't I be okay? It's Master Kazuma's decision if he wants to marry that noblewoman."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said in surprise. "Let's back up a bit. I am not looking to marry her. And quite honestly, I don't think Kirche wants to either."

"As you say, Master Kazuma," Siesta pouted.

I scratched my head and sighed exasperatedly. I didn't really want to, but I suppose that way would be the fastest method of quelling Siesta's anger. I put a hand on Siesta's shoulder firmly and turned her around to face me.

"Were you jealous, Siesta?" I said in a low voice as I cupped her chin with my fingers. "Of Kirche?"

"M-m-master Kazuma?" Siesta stuttered in surprise as her face flushed red.

"Not Master Kazuma," I chided gently. "Didn't we agree before? It's just Kazuma."

"Master Kazuma," Siesta said as she pulled away from me. "I think this is highly inappropriate since you already have a lover, Miss Zerbst."

"Ah, so you are jealous," I teased.

"I am not!" Siesta pouted again. "It is simply a matter of propriety."

"Is that so? But you know, she and I aren't actually lovers, which is why it's okay for me to do this." I leaned in and placed a kiss on Siesta's forehead.

The maid, whose face was already flushed red, turned several shades redder as she let out a surprised, wordless sound. "K-Kazuma?" she said as she looked up at me with her chestnut colored, doe-like eyes.

"Let's go, Siesta," I said briskly. "Louise is waiting, isn't she?"

"Y-yes," Siesta nodded dazedly. "Right. We should get going then."

-SCENE BREAK-

"There you are," Louise said as we entered the room. "Hm? What's wrong with the maid?"

I glanced aside at Siesta and noted that her face was still a bright red.

"It's nothing," I said. "What did you call me for?"

"Today's the day of the Evaluation Fair," Louise said briskly. "Do you know about it?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Kirche told me. It's a contest to show off the familiars, right?"

One of Louise's eyebrows twitched at my mentioning of Kirche. Or rather, the implication that I had been with Kirche until I was called here.

"In any case," Louise said, "we're not going to compete. Just go up there when it's your turn, introduce yourself, and walk off stage."

That was highly unusual out of Louise. I had thought – expected – that she would have told me to go out there and win. Quite frankly, I could probably easily win if I demonstrated my powers. I didn't particularly mind listening to this set of orders since it would make it easier for me, but still... Very unusual.

"That's fine," I said, "but why?"

"Don't you remember what Osmond said? The fact that you can use Ancient Magic should remain a secret," Louise said.

"True," I said. "I just didn't expect you would agree with him."

Suddenly, four knocks rapped on the door in an unusual pattern.

Knock! Knock!... Knock!... Knock!

Louise's eyes went wide and raced to the door to open it, nearly knocking me and Siesta over in her dash to do so. When the door opened, standing there was a mysterious cloaked figure. A thief? An assassin? I narrowed my eyes and silently prepared to launch an air blade at a moment's notice.

"Louise Francoise," the stranger said in a feminine voice. "It has truly been a long time."

"Who are you?" Louise narrowed her eyes. Clearly, this person had not been the one she was expecting.

"Has it truly been so long that you would forget about me?" the stranger said sadly. She stepped into the room and gently closed the door behind her, before throwing back the hood of her cloak to reveal shoulder length brown hair and a face with delicate, refined features.

"Princess Henrietta!" Louise looked shocked for just a moment before immediately falling to one knee to bow. "Forgive me. I did not recognize you underneath that cloak."

"You know the princess, Louise?" I asked curiously.

"When we were young," Louise said, never raising her head, "I had the honor of being her playmate."

"Louise," Henrietta said sadly, "can you not simply say we were childhood friends? Were we not – are we not – best friends? If you were to renounce your friendship with me, I fear I would no longer find joy in this life anymore."

Louise remained unmoving for a moment before saying, "The marriage with the Germanians?"

"That's one cause, yes," Henrietta said. "I am to go to Germania after the Evaluation Fair in order to do the final negotiations for the marriage and alliance, but I arrived here in secret and earlier than officially planned just to see you, my dear friend. So please, rise."

Slowly, Louise rose to her feet and looked at Henrietta. "Thank you and congratulations, Princess," Louise said stiffly. It was evident for all to see that she did not truly mean it. "As your friend, I am happy for you."

"I thank you, Louise Francoise, but there is something I want to speak to you about. It's a matter of the utmost importance and secrecy." Henrietta said gravely. She glanced at Siesta briefly.

Taking the hint, Siesta bowed respectfully and quickly escaped the room. I turned to follow her.

"Ah, Mister Familiar, please stay," Henrietta said suddenly. I stopped and turned around, raising an eyebrow. "A familiar and a mage are as one. What I say to Louise, it is perfectly acceptable for you to listen to as well."

I nodded and closed the door and leaned back against a wall, listening in carefully.

"Louise," Henrietta said grimly. "What I am about to ask of you is very dangerous and requires the utmost secrecy. As such, if you deem it too dangerous to your life, I beg you to simply refuse."

"Nonsense, Princess!" Louise declared. "I am your friend and loyal servant. Simply command, and I shall go."

"Such loyalty!" Henrietta said gratefully. "Ah, if only I had more subjects such as you. Subjects I could trust. Then, here is my request. As you know, I will be marrying the king of Germania," Louise made a disgusted expression, "in the near future. But there is a... problem."

"Problem?" Louise asked. "What problem?"

"It's... a letter," Henrietta said quietly. "One I gave to Prince Wales of Albion many moons ago. As you know, Reconquista is on the verge of victory. If they find that letter, they'll use it to destroy the marriage and make Tristain vulnerable to an invasion. You must find that letter."

"I will accept this mission," Louise said. "And I will succeed."

"Louise, my friend, my dearest friend," Henrietta said. "Once more, I beg you. If you accept this because you feel that you must obey me, I ask that you refuse here and now."

"We will succeed, Princess," Louise said. She hesitated a moment, before continuing. "But before that, there is something else I must confess to you as well."

"It sounds serious," Henrietta said with concern. "What is it?"

"Your Highness, you know about Lord Mott, correct?" Louise said.

"Louise!" I hissed.

"No, Kazuma!" Louise hissed back as she shot daggers from her eyes at me. "I will hide nothing from the princess, and she must know about this."

"Louise?" Henrietta frowned. "What are you talking about? Does it have something to do with Lord Mott's recent murder?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Louise said. "The truth is, it was my fault. My familiar invaded Lord Mott's home and murdered him."

Dammit, Louise. If you just hadn't said anything, no one ever would have known it was me.

Henrietta looked at Louise, then at me. "I see. So you're the one who did... that to him." Henrietta's face turned slightly green. I couldn't blame her. After what I had done to Mott, even Siesta had been forced to look away in horror and disgust, and she had hated Mott the most out of anyone.

"Yes I am," I admitted. "I killed Mott."

"You realize that you've just admitted to committing a crime deserving of either life in prison or execution," Henrietta said without rancor.

"You're welcome to try," I said with a small smile.

"He is my familiar, and a familiar's actions are his master's responsibility" Louise said quickly in a firm, determined voice. "All blame lies with me, Your Highness. Please punish just me."

Henrietta considered Louise for a moment with an expressionless gaze. At the same time, I also stared at Louise. I couldn't help but raise my recently lowered opinion of Louise. It was touching that she would try and take the blame for my actions.

Henrietta turned back to me and said, "And why did you decide to take such action?"

"I feel that it is important to note that he had used unfair laws to legally kidnap an innocent girl and force her into being his personal sex slave," I said. "And given the same situation, I would kill him again."

For a moment, Henrietta looked at me with an appraising gaze. At the same time, I studied her as well. If she tried to imprison or execute either me or Louise, then I would have to kill her too. However, randomly, she started laughing merrily instead.

"Princess...?" Louise looked at her friend confusedly.

"Ha... Forgive me, Louise," Henrietta said. "Unfair laws indeed. I had long since suspected that nobles would one day suffer for abusing commoners with such unjust laws. It appears that Mott had the distinction of being the first to receive retribution."

"Princess?" Louise said with consternation. "Shouldn't you be more upset? What we've committed is a crime!"

"Why?" Henrietta blinked at her friend in surprise. "Mott was a disgusting man. Have you never heard of what he's done? The girl that your familiar – Kazuma, was it? - rescued was not the first and would not have been the last. He's done unspeakable things to nearly a dozen other young commoner girls, but has always escaped justice because of his status. And besides, a crime is only truly a crime when bad things are done to good people."

"And yet, the laws that protect scum like him remain in place," I pointed out.

"For now, perhaps," Henrietta agreed. "Once I become queen, however, that will change. It must change."

I smiled and nodded approvingly at the princess. It appeared that this woman here was one of good morals and would make a fine, just leader. It would be people like her that would change the opinions of the commoners about nobles for the better.

"But, Princess," Louise said. "A commoner killing a noble is still a heinous offense!"

"Louise, my friend," Henrietta shook her head with an amused smile. "That is exactly the type of attitude that engenders hate from the commoners. Do not mistake my words; murder is always a very serious crime. But consider this: If a commoner kills a noble, they are punished with excruciating torture and death. If a noble kills a commoner, he might be reprimanded with words, but will otherwise be let free."

"But that's because..." Louise began to say.

"Because we nobles are Brimir's chosen people?" Henrietta finished shrewdly. Louise nodded. "That is an insufficient excuse. Justice is blind, Louise. Nobles, commoners, justice makes no distinction between the two. And I doubt that Founder Brimir would think it right to allow crimes such as kidnapping and rape to go unpunished."

"That's true, but still," Louise said slowly, almost hesitantly, "condoning the murder of nobles by commoners sets a bad precedent."

"True," Henrietta acquiesced. "But condoning the abuse nobles dole out to commoners is even worse. And one day, the anger of the commoners will reach a point where they will rise up against us nobles and destroy us."

"Princess!" Louise looked shocked at the very thought. "Commoners defeating nobles is impossible!"

"Why?" Henrietta said with plain surprise. "Your familiar proved it otherwise, did he not?"

"But that's because... well..." Louise squirmed as she struggled to answer.

"Because he's from another world? Or because he can use Ancient Magic?" Henrietta finished for Louise once more. This time, both Louise and I looked at Henrietta in surprise. "I met with Osmond before I came here. He explained to me about everything." Henrietta looked at me. "I am curious, however. How is it that you can use Ancient Magic?"

I scratched my head. So much for keeping this a secret, Osmond. "Technically, it's called fuujutsu," I said, "and it means 'Wind Techniques.' There is also enjutsu, suijutsu, and chijutsu; fire, water, and earth techniques. A lot of people who know of the supernatural can use one of those four in my world. I don't actually know what Ancient Magic is really like, so I can't comment on similarities and differences between the two."

"Fascinating," Henrietta said and nodded once. She turned back to Louise. "But you know, Louise, even if the commoners don't have skills similar to Kazuma, they can still one day overthrow nobles."

"How could that even be possible?" Louise said incredulously. "It's a known fact that a single skilled mage is as strong as a hundred commoners."

"And two hundred years ago, that ratio used to be one mage being stronger than five hundred commoners," Henrietta said. "One hundred years ago, that number fell to three hundred commoners. And in this century, it's down to one hundred. Next century," Henrietta shrugged, "who knows how low that ratio will fall? Do you know why that is the case, Louise?"

"Because technology marches on," I answered for her. I was truly amused at how Henrietta was completely ripping apart everything Louise had believed prior to this day, to this moment. "Whereas magic stagnates. There isn't much room to truly innovate or make progress with magic. But science and technology keeps on progressing, improving. It keeps evolving."

"Just so," Henrietta agreed. "Long ago, commoners were stuck using primitive weapons, such as bows and swords and clubs. In that time, the power of magic did not simply reign supreme. It was absolutely godlike. But then commoners invented weapons such as cannons and firearms. With it, they were able to stand up to mages, if with limited success. And then they improved it. And they keep on improving it. Sooner or later, they'll progress to the point where magic will cease to become the absolute power that it is. You've seen that weapon from Kazuma's world... what did Osmond call it?... that 'rocket launcher' in action. A mundane weapon, yet so advanced that we cannot even begin to comprehend it. Can you truly say that what I claim is not true?"

Louise seemed to ponder this for a moment, but with a look of frustration on her face. Her pride as a noble was strong, and it seemed difficult for her to admit that one day commoners could become stronger than nobles.

"One last thing before I leave," Henrietta said. "Are you planning on competing seriously in the Evaluation Fair?"

"No," Louise answered. "I thought it would be best to keep Kazuma's magic a secret, like the headmaster suggested."

Henrietta nodded approvingly. "That's good. Then, I'll return after the Fair is over to discuss the specifics of the mission."

-SCENE BREAK-

After the Evaluation Fair (which Tabitha won) was over, Louise and I returned to her room and waited. After twenty minutes, four knocks rapped on the door like before.

Knock! Knock!... Knock!... Knock!

I quickly went over and opened the door, allowing the cloaked Henrietta to come in, before closing it.

"Alright, here are the details of the mission," Henrietta said without preamble as she took off her cloak. "You will be accompanied by Viscount Wardes, the Captain of the Griffin Knights, and take a ship from La Rochelle and infiltrate Albion. From there, you'll need to make your way to Londinium and gain audience with Prince Wales. Once you do, tell him in secret that you need the letter I gave him." Henrietta slipped off from her finger a ring with an exquisitely beautiful, sparkling blue gem set upon it. "Show him this as proof that your word is true."

The door suddenly flung open, and all three of us whirled around to see the one who stumbled in: Guiche.

"Princess! Please allow me to go on that mission as well!" Guiche said as he quickly, if clumsily, dropped to one knee and bowed.

I cursed myself for not thinking to set up a kekkai to ensure that no eavesdropper could listen in. How foolish of me.

"Guiche!" Louise said angrily. "How dare you eavesdrop on us!"

"Guiche? As in the youngest son of the Gramont family?" Henrietta said.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Guiche said enthusiastically.

"Then I would of course welcome your aid in this matter, so long as you ensure this all remains of the utmost secrecy," Henrietta said smoothly.

Oh, she was good. If Henrietta simply refused to allow Guiche to come, it was highly possible, likely even, that he would leak information about this secret mission, either purposefully or accidentally. On the other hand, she couldn't simply execute or imprison him either without just cause. In the end, the best method to keep this a secret was to let him come with us, in which case the only people he could leak the information to were those who were on the same exact mission.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Guiche said eagerly.

"As for your reward." Henrietta held out one hand in front of Guiche, and he took it with one of his own and placed a kiss on her knuckles with restrained excitement. She turned to me and held out her hand in the same fashion.

"I don't bow," I said as I eyed her hand. "And neither do I make shows of subservience. Though if you truly want to reward me, a bag of gold on my return will be sufficient."

At that, Henrietta's eyebrows both raised in surprise. Behind her, Louise palmed her face.

"Forgive him, Princess," Louise said hastily. "My familiar is headstrong... and greedy."

"But honest," Henrietta said with a smile as she dropped her hand back to her side. "I can appreciate that. Very well. Will 500 gold coins prove sufficient?"

"700," I said.

"550," Henrietta counter-offered.

"600," I said.

"I accept," Henrietta said. Once more she held out her hand to me. However, this time it was with the palm to the side, a gesture for a handshake made to seal the agreement.

I took the hand and shook it. "Deal."