She was feeling weightless throughout the next day as she worked the infirmary. She had been surprised to hear that Orion would be making the supply trip to Lestallum today, and she feared that maybe her father had caught onto her stealthy behavior.

She spent some of her time in the study after lunch, though she was surprised when she received a visit from the king.

"Good afternoon, my daughter. How is the research going?"

Nyxia had handwritten notes and piles of books stacked in front of her. One might have thought she was a scientist going mad, trying to collect too much information at a time.

"Well, I've made some progress, but any results I've come up with still don't seem right." She sighed, leaning back in her chair.

"I'm certain that Ignis is a patient soul. He'll wait as long as he needs. But please, don't overwork yourself. You have your own well-being to take care of, as well."

"Thanks, dad."

He then paused, his eyes casting down a bit. "Did someone give you that necklace?" he asked. Inside, Nyxia panicked. She had completely forgotten to take it off. Her father knew too well she wasn't one to commonly wear jewelry.

"Just an admirer," she murmured.

"Or your date from last week?" he asked curiously. Nyxia remained silent, too thrown by surprise to come up with a clever answer. "While I do understand you're an adult and perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, if there's a man out there who is interested in my daughter, I should be introduced to him. Don't you agree?"

Yes, dad. I really think you should meet my boyfriend. Imperial Chancellor, Ardyn Izunia. You'd really like him.

Not.

"I'll see when he's available next, dad."

She needed to play her cards carefully. She couldn't exactly see Ardyn whenever she wanted. It seemed like he came and went as he pleased, and the more Nyxia thought about it, the more she truly believed that imperial business kept him away from her. Maybe she was young and gullible, but of this, she was certain. Still, she adored him, and though it sickened her to think about loving a man who was partially responsible for the fall of Insomnia, as well as the death of so many people (including her cousin), she still wanted to see the best in him.

After all, he was still human, just like the soldiers of Niflheim who had managed to take sides with the Glaives.

She was a poor excuse of a Curian princess. What had Anastella sacrificed herself for? Certainly not for Nyxia to fool around with the enemy. After all, there was solid proof in Insomnia right now that Ardyn's alliances were against the Glaives. He had insisted that they were "punishing him", and they would always see him as the bad guy, no matter what.

They didn't see him like she did. They had never seen the gleam of compassion in his eyes. They had never heard him confess how he would put his life on the line for someone he cared for, and they never saw him actually do it.

Nyxia witnessed it all. She struggled day and night over these thoughts. Finally, she confronted the only individual she could trust with this information.

After three days and three nights of battling uncertainty, she sat with Rubia in her room. "I know you're not supposed to be a guardian of love or anything like that, but...I don't know who else to ask. What should I do?"

"First and foremost, you are the princess of Curia, yes?"

"I am."

"Then, your duty is to your people. Not to yourself or your heart."

Nyxia remained quiet. She wasn't exactly expecting that, but the carbuncle wasn't exactly wrong.

"You have lived so much of your life wanting to be like Lady Lunafreya. She was in love, too, and at that, she was in love with a good guy. But she still put the health of the world before all of that." Nyxia closed her eyes. She didn't want to say it out loud, but Rubia was absolutely right. How could she have been so selfish? Lunafreya Nox Fleuret had been the complete opposite. She loved the world and everything in it, and in the end, she sacrificed herself for the greater good, washed away by the wrathful waves of Leviathan.

She felt the push of tears wanting to come forth, but she fought them back.

"Are you saying I should leave him?"

"I'm saying you should right the wrong...before it's too late."

Nyxia found it hard to come to terms with the fact that she had been making a terrible mistake all of this time. Deep inside, she thought maybe she always knew it. Her naive, teenage heart just didn't want to believe it.

She would never know love like this again. Ardyn meant well for her, and she had to turn him away to put her duties as princess first.

Would he understand?

Nyxia couldn't begin to imagine how he would handle it. After all, he had been gone for almost a week now. She had made her decision, and yet it continued to weigh down on her as long as she couldn't find that closure.

Instead, she tried to make due by finding distractions. She ran errands - a lot of them, and she had convinced her father that she was ready to dedicate herself to Eos, not a man in some silly girl's fantasy.

Her father supported her in her decision, entrusting her and Thage with another mission, this time to Tenebrae, where they had been assigned a hunt for daemons. There were no Glaives to accompany them this time around, but they seemed confident that they would be successful, nonetheless.

However, with Thage leading the way, Nyxia found her skin crawling more and more with every step she took deeper into the ruined city. Wraiths weren't far from here, and by now, she had grown quite accustomed to their presence.

The ruins of Fenestala Manor consisted of empty, unfurnished halls covered in ash and decay. It was the perfect haven for daemons, and it was no wonder they had been sent here. Tenebrae was once a flourishing nation - where Lunafreya and her family once resided. It was terrible to see the outcome of Niflheim's influence here, too.

As they passed through the numerous chambers, Nyxia had her sickle at the ready. Then, from the darkness came a wisp of movement, snatching the weapon from her hand and running off with it.

"Hey!" she yelled angrily. "Get back here!"

She was already running after the goblin when she heard Thage calling after her. The corridors branched off in so many directions, it was hard not to get lost. As she followed the daemon's trail to the topmost tower of the castle, Nyxia forced herself not to look down. She used a spell, casting fire at the imp in hopes of hitting it. The ball of flame missed, only causing the stone wall that it hit to crumble.

She had to be careful, otherwise she might take down this whole estate.

Nyxia examined her jump before she would make it, trailing after the mischievous goblin as it would continue to avoid her. She jumped onto the balcony, given better footing as she would charge at it again. It was far too fast, and using spells was too much of a risk.

As the goblin leapt away from her, it shot out a ball of fire back at her feet, and Nyxia cried out suddenly. The walkway beneath her shattered apart, leaving her with nowhere to stand. She tried to run back, but the balcony only continued to crumble beneath her until she would fall. Her back slammed into the sloped roof of a tower, and she slid downward. She desperately tried to grab onto something - anything. Then, her backside slid off the edge.

She screamed, then, a hand grabbed onto her wrist from inside the tower. Finally, Thage had found her...

Except, it wasn't the guardswoman at all.

Her fingers grabbed for his wrist, and as he began to pull her up, all Nyxia could think about was how Ardyn had always been there to help her. He knew when she was in danger, and he was always there in an instant.

"I have you," he said. The tower shook, causing Nyxia to lose her footing as she tried to climb the stone.

"Don't let go," she pleaded in panic. Again, he would pull her, and as she reached the ledge to be pulled inside, she stumbled into his arms.

"I would never let you go," he whispered into her hair. Her heart fluttered. How was she supposed to do what was expected of her when he said things like that?

Again, tower shifted. Nyxia staggered, following as Ardyn would pull her down the stairs. The entire section of the castle was collapsing around them. Even the steps beneath their feet broke apart.

Suddenly, Nyxia tripped, twisting her ankle on a support beam. She cried out in pain, realizing she couldn't put any weight on it without losing her balance.

Before she could fully recognize that her ankle was broken, Ardyn swept her off her feet and carried her further down. The walls fell around them, crumbling to the earth as they made their descent.

Then, she was all but shoved towards the open hallway, and she fell to the floor. Behind her, rubble fell in a loud heap of dust and debris, and she panicked as she looked back to the blocked stairwell.

"Ardyn!" she cried out. Only silence responded, and as she crawled towards the pile of fallen stone, she was trying to pull the boulders away. If he was buried in there, she had to get him out.

"No..." she choked, trying to pull herself together. "No, no... you can't do this to me now..."

"Nyxia?" came Thage's voice from beyond, but the princess was still determined to unearth her rescuer. Ahead of her, however, floating in the chasm left behind as the tower had opened up, were two wraiths.

Nyxia growled in pain, summoning her staff from the void as she would use ice spells to try and defend herself. Even as she was sprawled on the floor, she tried to fend them off.

Even still, they began to suck the life out of her, their presence enough to make her feel incredibly exhausted.

Thage, who had somehow managed to retrieve her princess's weapon, hurried up beside her, scooping her into her arms before she would retreat. However, Nyxia protested violently. "NO!" she screamed out, and as she nearly escaped the large woman's grasp, landing on the ground only caused her an immense amount of pain as she landed on her wounded foot. She collapsed in tears, and again, Thage picked her back up. They escaped the castle, and with Tenebrae left in more disarray, Nyxia felt all shades of defeat as she was put in the passenger side of the car. As Thage drove them to safety, Nyxia felt too weakened to stay awake any longer.