Another massive thanks to Shishou for betaing this chapter!


Unlike most, Yor has never found death to be worth fearing. It has been by her side ever since she was young, and by now she almost finds a degree of comfort in its stable presence. In a world where war can erupt at any moment and right can become wrong at the drop of a hat, it is reassuring to know that death will always be fair and consistent. She knows it is strange of her, but being raised as a child assassin has admittedly skewed her perspective a little more than most.

It is due to this that despite being mere centimeters away from death just a minute ago, she only feels a sense of euphoria rushing through her for managing to successfully pull off the perilous gambit.

She couldn't contain the beam that spread across her face as Loid finally, finally admitted it. She broke past his lies and forced him to reveal the truth – and without a single ounce of interrogation training at that. Not bad for a first attempt.

Granted, the Shopkeeper would've probably had a conniption if he saw this display, but that's okay. She already committed treason. Reckless – and arguably suicidal – behavior was nothing compared to that.

"Is your neck okay?"

Loid's question startles her back to reality.

"It's fine," Yor replies, smiling.

"You're bleeding," he counters.

Yor touches her neck. Her hand comes away tinged with red. "Only a little," she dismisses. "It'll heal. I've had worse."

Her nonchalant manner seems to anger Loid, for he purses his lips into a frown. "It was far too close," he says. "What if I hadn't stopped you in time?"

Then she would be dead, obviously. She knew Twilight would've been able to see through any bluff, so she went in fully resolved to carry out any threat that she made.

"I did what I had to do," she says simply.

Loid bites his lip in an uncharacteristic display of emotion for a master spy – and she's startled to see traces of distress in his eyes.

"You nearly died," he whispers. "If I had hesitated for even a split second more..." He looks at her with a haunted expression. "Even if I wasn't the one wielding the blade, I would've had blood on my hands. Your blood."

Yor lets out a long drawn-out sigh as she slumps forward slightly, her tense muscles finally relaxing. She looks down, and suddenly she is no longer the Thorn Princess but rather Yor Forger.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," she says quietly. "I didn't mean to place you in such a position. I just... I didn't know what else to do."

Loid releases a deep breath of his own. "No, it's my fault. Because of my lies, you had no choice but to use such a risky scheme. I was the one who pushed you to this point. I apologize, Yor."

Yor smiles humorlessly. "We both messed up, huh."

"Monumentally so," Loid agrees.

If only they were truthful to each other from the beginning, then this whole situation could've been avoided. Instead, here they were, in an abandoned building where she nearly stabbed herself in the neck just minutes prior while sitting on his lap...

Wait.

Yor flushed bright red as she realizes with a start just how compromising their current position was. She hadn't registered it earlier due to being focused on executing her plan, but now... Yor suddenly became acutely aware of how she was still sitting on his lap, his hands tied behind the chair, their faces so close their foreheads would touch if she just leaned in a little...

"Is something wrong?" Loid asks in concern. "Your face just went red – "

"N-Nothing!" Yor manages to stammer out, her entire body going tense as she tries to figure out how to extricate herself from this position without giving anything away. "I-It's nothing!"

"You sure?" Loid begins to lean in, presumably to get a closer look – oh to hell with it – only to blink as, with a yelp, Yor launches herself back, backflipping in the air before landing a solid three meters away.

Loid blinks. "Is... everything okay?"

"Yes!" Yor coughs into her fist. "Yes, everything is fine."

"Right..." Loid casts her another questioning look but decides to drop it. "Anyhow, do you mind untying me? I haven't had any blood circulation in my arms for the past few hours."

As she cuts him free of his bonds, she takes the time to recover her composure. By the time the ropes fall to the ground, she's calm again.

"So," she says. "Should we talk?"

"I think we should."

There is a long moment of silence.

"Who are you?" Yor asks when it becomes clear Loid wasn't going to speak first. "Why did you marry me? What is going on?"

Loid hesitates, rubbing his wrists. "I…" He sighs. "I don't even want to know how many directives and statutes I'm breaking by telling you this… but you deserve an explanation."

He takes a deep breath and his expression shifts.

"I am Agent Twilight of WISE. I married you for my mission, Operation Strix. The objective of the mission is to gather intelligence on Donovan Desmond, the leader of the National Unity Party, to see if he had any plans on inciting war between the two countries. To that end, I needed to marry someone so Anya could enter Eden Academy, and have her become an Imperial Scholar so I can attend Eden's private events where Desmond will be present. From there, I could then extract vital information, and be in a position to influence him and potentially prevent war if necessary."

"…"

"… too much?"

"A little, yes," Yor says a little faintly. "So the whole point of this 'Operation Strix' is…"

"To ensure the continued preservation of peace between Ostania and Westalis," Loid pauses. "And," he continues in a quieter tone, "it was — or will be — a total success."

"The treaty," Yor realizes.

Loid nods.

It's… it's not as bad as she expected. She was worried that he would be some nefarious evildoer, but if what he says is true, then… well, she's not exactly against peace herself. Of course, there's always the possibility that he's lying to her, but she chooses to believe him.

"Why did you pick me to be your wife?"

"Coincidence," Loid smiles at her disbelieving look. "It's true. I met you in the store when I was purchasing supplies for Anya, and I guess things just worked out."

"I… see. And Anya?"

"Picked her up from an orphanage because she was highly intelligent. Which may have been a fluke, considering her most recent grades…"

"Does she know about anything?"

Loid shakes his head. "I told her that we had to lie to you, but I didn't say why, and she never asked."

Yor can't help but chuckle at that. "Children."

"I'm not complaining."

There's a brief moment of silence.

"What about you?" Loid asks. "What's your story?"

Yor hums. "Most of what I told you was true. I really did need to find a partner because my coworkers were getting suspicious of me for being unmarried, and I didn't want my brother to worry. The only thing I lied about was my job."

Her gaze sharpens.

"I am the Thorn Princess of the Garden. My missions generally consist of eliminating corrupt officials and criminal elements. For my most recent mission, I was tasked with the ambush and capture of the enemy spy Twilight. Everything was going according to plan until your disguise got ripped off and I realized it was you. Then..."

Her eyes flicker. "I decided to go rogue and take you to one of my safehouses. And... well, you already know everything that happened after that."

Loid nods before rubbing his face tiredly. "I really dropped the ball on this one," he sighs, his voice heavy with regret. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Yor smiles. "I doubt either of us were expecting the Thorn Princess to get sent onto a mission to hunt down Twilight."

Strangely, Loid frowns. "What about your brother?"

Yor blinks in genuine confusion. "Yuri? What about him?"

"Err..." Loid makes a vague gesture. "You know..." He trails off awkwardly as she continues looking at him uncomprehendingly. "Never mind."

Yor tilts her head but drops it when he doesn't say anything further. "Why did you try so hard at the end there, anyway? I swear you were trying to make me actively hate you or something."

"Ah," Loid scratches his cheek awkwardly. "That's because... I was. Trying to make you hate me, I mean."

Yor blinks. "What? Why?"

"Because the Garden is most certainly after you by now," Loid says bluntly. "I needed to make you hate me so that you would not hesitate in turning me over to the Garden. This way, at least you and Anya would be safe."

Yor stares at him incredulously.

"And you lecture me about nearly killing myself?"

"In my defense, I was confident that I could escape the Garden. You, on the other hand, straight up shoved a knife at your throat."

"You idiot!" she says, conveniently ignoring his words completely. "You stupid, reckless, self-sacrificing idiot!"

"That should be my line."

They glare at each other for several moments. Then the ridiculousness of the situation set in and the ice in their gazes begins cracking until their shoulders are shaking from the sheer absurdity of what just happened.

"We're really idiots, aren't we," Yor giggles.

"A spy and an assassin walk into an abandoned building," Loid grins. "They both try to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the other."

"That's terrible."

"Terrible only because it's true."

Yor shakes her head ruefully. "What even are the odds that we get married like this?"

"So small there probably aren't enough significant figures for it."

"... do you regret it, though? Getting married?"

Loid stiffens for a second before smiling. "No. No, I'm glad we did."

Yor smiles. "I am too."

They fell into a relaxed silence, both of them feeling much more comfortable now that there are no more secrets between them. It had all been unraveled, the lies and deception and subterfuge pushed out of the way to lay bare the truth beneath.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you become an assassin?"

"Because I needed to be able to take care of Yuri."

Loid blinks. "And you chose assassination as your job?"

Yor shrugs. "I was a child, Loid. There already weren't many options, and I was rather inept at everything other than killing."

Oddly, Loid tenses up. "A child? How old were you when you first joined the Garden?"

"Umm..." Yor touches her chin in thought. "I was twelve, I think? I don't really remember, honestly."

Loid looks at her, and an indecipherable emotion flickers across his eyes. "I see," he says quietly. "It must've been difficult."

"Not really. Most of my targets underestimated me due to my age."

"That's not what I meant."

"Huh?"

Loid doesn't elaborate, and Yor shrugs after a moment. Probably just a spy thing. Speaking of which...

"What about you?" she asks. "Why did you decide to become a spy? You never struck me as the particularly patriotic type."

Loid is silent for a long moment. "We were a happy family once," he finally begins, his gaze becoming distant, unfocused. "My mother enjoyed cooking, and my father would often tell me stories about our history." His eyes flicker. "They both died in the war, leaving me all alone. For the longest time after that, I hated Ostania, enough for me to become a soldier and fight. I lost track of how many I killed. I was driven purely by hatred and the desire for revenge."

Yor flinches, looking down.

"Then I met Franky."

Yor snaps her head back up in surprise. "Franky?!" she blurted out in shock.

Loid laughs. "Franky," he confirms. "He was an Ostanian soldier who I met on the battlefield, and he changed my mind on everything. He made me realize that we were all human, just soldiers following orders. He's a good man. A few weeks after I met him, I was recruited by WISE to become a spy. I wasn't sure at first, but in the end, I agreed."

He rubs his left eye, as if remembering an old wound. "I may have become a soldier because of patriotism, ideology, and my pursuit of vengeance, but by the time the recruiter approached me, I didn't care about any of that anymore. To tell you the truth, I couldn't have cared less which country won the war."

"Then why?" Yor whispers.

"Because information is power, and I needed power," Loid smiles. "Because I wished to create a world where no child would ever have to experience the horrors I did. A world where no child would ever have to cry."

Yor drew in a sharp breath, her eyes widening slightly.

"█████ couldn't do that, Sergeant Spoofy couldn't do that, but I thought… perhaps Twilight can."

「」

"What will we do about the Garden?" Loid asks.

They had made their way back to their apartment taking a long winded route that involved the underground subway system, secret tunnels, and sewer passageways. Tedious, but a surveillance detection route was necessary to avoid detection.

"I can make up an excuse," Yor says. "Say that I was trying to track you down, or that perhaps you got the drop on me. It should work."

"I hope so," Loid says grimly. "I had expected them to put a hit on you already."

"I've been loyal for decades. They'll give me the benefit of the doubt," Yor says confidently. "Not all missions go according to plan, and you're Twilight, after all.

"Fair enough," Loid says as turned the corner to enter a familiar corridor. "Anya should still be at our neighbor's apartment."

Yor nods, stepping forward to knock on the door. A moment later, the door opens to reveal their neighbor, Mrs Schmidt, an old grandmother in her sixties who often babysat Anya when both of them were busy.

"Loid!" Mrs Schmidt exclaims. "And Yor. Why hello there."

"Hello," Loid smiles. "Sorry for the lack of contact, but we got caught up in work, so we weren't able to take Anya home last night. Thanks for looking after her."

"Oh, it was no problem, no problem at all," Mrs Schmidt smiles before frowning. "Though I do have a bone to pick with you, Loid. The men you sent to pick her up last night were very rude. Not polite at all. They need to learn some manners – Loid? What's wrong?"

Loid was completely frozen.

"Men?" Yor breathes. "What men?"

Mrs Schmidt blinks. "They said they were good friends of Loid. They even left a letter for him. I have it here somewhere..." She disappears into the apartment and returns a few seconds later with a sealed envelope in her hand.

Loid snatches it from her hand, immediately noting the expensive high quality envelope.

"Is something wrong, Loid?" Mrs Schmidt asks, worried.

Despite his rising panic, he forces it down and smiles. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just thinking about how to lecture them about their manners," he laughs. "Again, thank you."

They leave, quickly rushing back to their apartment. The door slams behind them as Loid tears the envelope open and holds out the letter for the two of them to read.

Thorn Princess,

We have Anya Forger. Please bring WISE Agent Twilight to Headquarters in the next 24 hours, lest further action be taken.

I await your arrival.

Shopkeeper

"Fuck!" Loid swears loudly in an unprecedented display, his fists clenched.

Yor, for her part, has gone completely silent, her body language strangely relaxed. Loid is about to say something when he notices the look in her eyes and instinctively takes a step back at the sheer rage immolating within them.

"Well," Yor says, her voice measured and terrifyingly deadly. "It appears we have some killing to do."


You know, this fic was originally meant to be finished in about a month or so. Only 2k word chapters, right? Should be a breeze, right? Apparently not lmao. For what it's worth, it is fully plotted out, and will be finished

Anyway, Yor and Loid finally work past their misunderstandings and lies, just in time for the Garden to kidnap Anya...

This will definitely end well.

Thanks for reading!