Many trucks pull up at a town in the outskirts of Texas, causing the residents to gather around the commotion in the night. Then an Eylstadt Royal Guard comes out with a loudspeaker, "Attention please, we are from Eylstadt. You might have seen some of us come by earlier, asking to inspect your heaters and power plugs. Now, we are here to deliver portable power stations and the adapters needed for you to power your heaters."

The crowd starts cheering in relief. Some start to move towards the trucks, but are stopped when the guard speaks again, "However, we do not have a lot. Each household gets one set, so please form lines and send one representative with your address card and we will hand them out. Please use the supply sparingly as well, it will not last if you plug it into the heater non-stop. But do know that Princess Finé is still working on it and these are just to tide you over."

There are some groans, but the people start to queue up. Distribution proceeds smoothly and although the Royal Guards are watching out for anybody snatching some or queueing twice, nobody does.

Hours pass and the last set is given out. The guards double check that every address has been crossed out as they begin to pack up. Then a man shuffles up to them. "Excuse me…"

Some guards turn to look at him. Then one puts her hand up and gestures for them to continue packing behind them. She walks up to the man and greets, "Yes sir, how can we help?"

"I just wanted to check if the other towns also got these supplies. We're not the only ones without power, so…"

"Worry not. The guards that were here earlier were just a small squad. We gathered the list of towns affected and sent squads to investigate every one of them, to make sure that we would have the suitable adaptors for each and every one. Everybody will be getting a set."

"What…?" he leans forward as he blinks a few times. "You supplied the entire outskirts? Even just the investigation would have required so many people! How did you manage to get all that done in less than a day?!"

"You may not have realised it as this town did not have them, but we sent paratroopers to the towns that could not be covered by our initial group. Though we have limited trucks, so giving it out is another thing. Once we're done here, we're going back to the cargo planes to restock and head for another town."

The man falls to his knees. "Thank you… Thank you, all of you… so much…"

The guard kneels down and puts a hand on his shoulder. "No problem, but we'd like to thank all of you as well. You were all so orderly and patient so it really sped things up here."

"Heh…" he sniffs. "With people like the White Agent doing all they can for others, and now Princess Finé and Eylstadt doing all this for us, the least we can do is to not screw each other over. We are all in the same situation. If anybody takes an extra, somebody else will not have any. Some people may grumble that it's not a lot, but you have no idea how much this means to us after weeks of hopelessness. Really, you should tell more people how much you're doing. I'm sure many more will come to thank you."

"No need," the guard pats the side of his shoulder. "That isn't what we're here for. Now if there's nothing else, we have to get to the next town."

Finé crosses her arms as she sits back with her brows furrowed. A big yawn escapes her as her eyes shut and her head droops slightly. Shaking it, her hand stretches through the piles of papers on her desk to reach for the cup of coffee that has multiple mouth marks due to her drinking from it numerous times already. She takes a big gulp before smacking the cup back down with a thud. Letting out a sigh, she goes back to typing on the computer.

Then her phone rings, buried somewhere in the mess. Without looking away, she brings a finger to quickly swipe to accept the call, put it on speaker and then return to the keyboard. "This is Princess Ortfiné Fredericka von Eylstadt. How may I help you?"

"O-Oh! Sorry! I didn't realise you were that busy! Sorry, I'll let you get back to work."

"Huh?!" Finé jerks her whole body to face the phone, seeing Izetta's face on the video call through the piles of papers. "Wait, Izetta!"

"Y-Yes?" Izetta jumps, but her finger is still hovering over the end call button.

Finé rubs her face with a hand while the other picks up the phone. "Sorry," she mutters as her hand slips down her face and she angles the phone properly, "I didn't realise it was time already."

Izetta gasps to herself as she sees Finé's face. Her hair is dishevelled, eyes are baggy and back is hunched. "Finé… you don't look so well…"

"I'd think not," Finé chuckles.

"…Did you not sleep yesterday after we ended the call? I know you told me you'd be busy gathering data, but this is…"

"Yeah, sorry… I totally forgot that it was about time for this…"

Izetta shakes her head. "I don't mind. We should end the call though, so that you can get some sleep..."

"I can't," Finé looks to the computer screen, "I still need to finish compiling this in time for tomorrow."

Izetta's face shakes slightly, due to her fingers tightening around her phone. "…I can appear. I'm sure they'll listen to the White Agent."

"What?" Finé sits up and refocuses on the phone. "Izetta, you don't have to. They would also wonder how you got knowledge on the topic even if they did hear you out."

"I can walk around the outskirts and pretend I have a mission. Then somebody there will talk to me and I can say I got the info from them. I…" Izetta's head slightly bows, "I don't want to see you suffer anymore…"

"Izetta…" Finé gives a small smile. "Izetta, look at me, please?"

Izetta slowly lifts her head.

"I appreciate the thought, really. But this is my duty. Even if it's not for my countrymen, I should not abandon people in need. And this experience will make me stronger, so that I can tackle even bigger problems in the future. So trust me, this is my trial to conquer, just like all the other trials you've overcome by yourself."

"…Okay," Izetta adjusts her phone to show her face better. "But if you do need help, please just call me. I'll always be there for you."

Finé puts her forehead to her phone. "I'm already getting help from my father and the ministers but…" Letting out a long breath, she murmurs, "But being reminded that my girlfriend fully supports me and will be there when I finally get home, makes me so, so, happy."

"Mm," Izetta nods with a faint blush. "I… I love you, Finé."

Flipping her hair back, Finé smiles, "Thank you Izetta, I'm feeling refreshed now so I'll get back to it. Love you too."

"…Just, try to get some sleep, okay?"

"I will, I won't be able to present this to the government coherently if I work throughout the night. I just need to polish it a little more and then I can rest a little. Alright," Finé slaps her cheeks, "I can do this."

"Now that we have covered the scheduled topics, I would like to begin on the presentation I said I had prepared earlier," Finé prefaces as she stands up. When none of the Texas governors object, she goes to the front where the projector screen is as a Royal Guard loads the slides.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed one last time, she looks back at the audience and shows the first slide, causing some people to shift in their seats. "I believe you remember that I brought up that the people on the outskirts are suffering greatly due to having a power outage. I would like to stress that I am talking about an outage, not just a shortage."

The next slide comes in with a line graph that stagnates throughout the years, but then suddenly spikes this year. "This graph shows the number of problem reports related to electricity at the outskirts. Note that this year has several times the number of reports of any other year, and that we are not even through with winter yet. All of this data is collected from verified sources such as the official call centres, though if you want to check it, I can provide all the data. This applies to any other slide as well."

Another graph appears, but this time the line plummets at the current year. "This is the amount of electricity generated by the power plants near the outskirts. You may say that this winter isn't over yet, so the amount generated will be low. But I have isolated the dates to be during the first two weeks of winter, so each set has the same amount of days. As you can see, the power plants are generating far lesser electricity than usual."

Finé continues going through the slides, covering any potential reasoning for the outage of power. The governors that looked away at first, assuming that Finé would be wasting their time, slowly sit upright and concentrate on the presentation. They then take down notes while their eyebrows furrow, processing the information. Some look on with wide eyes, impressed by the amount of detail and objectivity there is.

"And that concludes the presentation," Finé flicks to the end screen as she takes a small bow. "Are there any questions? Again, I can provide all of the data used, should you wish to verify it."

The governors are silent for a few moments. Then the governor in the middle raises his hand. "Princess, are you saying that you collected and processed all of this data within two days?"

"Well, I did not do it alone. I have many capable people from Eylstadt that helped with this effort."

"Although none of this concerns Eylstadt?"

Finé swallows. "It may not concern us directly, but we are going to be allies, are we not? I can speak for my country when I say that we are concerned about this issue as well. Although it does not affect us directly, we would be uncomfortable with an ally that does not take care of its own people. If you choose not to take action even in the face of all this evidence, we will seriously reconsider signing the treaty tomorrow, for we would be unable to count on you to support others."

A few governors' faces turn hard, but Finé stares back at them. Then a governor clears his throat and everybody turns to him. "You have certainly demonstrated a very strong case, Princess. Which we will definitely look into, immediately," he stresses as he looks at the others who nod solemnly. "We understand that you have put in a lot of effort for this and we appreciate it, but we will have to contact you through the day for some finer details."

"Yes, of course. I appreciate that you're willing to listen and take action for those in need. Eylstadt may be limited in what we can do due to our lack of raw resources, but we are always willing to help in whatever way we can. Let us be united front for our citizens."

Finé gets into the car and promptly dumps her head onto the headrest. She closes her eyes as she lets out a breath while the Royal Guard closes the door and goes to the other side. The chauffeur flicks the last switch and adjusts the mirror to see Finé sinking into the seat. "Where to, Princess?" she asks softly, not wanting to wake Finé up if she fell asleep already.

"Back to the hotel, please," Finé mumbles as her eyes crack open.

"Princess, please take it easy and rest now," the guard that comes in from the other side offers as she settles in and puts Finé's seat belt on for her. "You've done your part. You made them listen."

"Yeah… but it's not over yet," Finé exhales as she closes her eyes again. "I can rest a little, but they'll probably contact me for details and data as they investigate since I already did all the groundwork. Can one of you stay in the room with me? If I fall asleep and the phone rings, I want to be woken up immediately."

"Of course, Princess."

"Thank you," Finé gives a small smile as she relaxes back into the seat. 'At least I didn't have to use my trump card. If they refused to listen, I would have to give the full report to the news centres I tipped off yesterday. They would have a field day exposing it to the world and it would definitely generate enough attention to get it looked at, but the government would be put in a bad light for a long, long time. No doubt they would realize that I caused it and they may never want to ally with Eylstadt, but if I had to…'

The next day, the signing of the treaty between Eylstadt and Texas is shown on live television. After all the cameras are turned off, Finé makes a beeline to the washroom where she washes off the heavy makeup used to doll her up. She stares into the sunken face in the mirror with a deep sigh. Slapping her cheeks, she spurs herself on, "Come on, only half a day more. I can collapse after this. Now I need to make sure everything is in place here."

Finé gets into the car and it drives off to the outskirts. She makes a call to a news centre, asking if they were informed of any actions by the government. If they did take action, they would be sure to publicise it to gain public favour and so the news centres should have been informed. Even if they only credited Eylstadt a little, Finé does not mind. All she wants now is a proper investigation for the people suffering, the credit and reimbursement can come later.

As they near the power plant, Finé gets her makeup redone to look presentable. Satisfied with the confirmation from the news centres, she heads to the power plant to talk to the workers there to see if anybody has come to investigate. If they did come already, she would ask for the records to verify with the electricians back in Eylstadt. Meanwhile, other squads of Royal Guards are doing the same at different areas of the outskirts. Finé feels bad and promises to compensate them for all the extra work they are doing, but they are just proud to serve a Princess that goes this far for others.

The roar of a private jet can be heard by the crowd as it approaches the Eylstadt runway. With a loud screech, its wheels slam down and it begins to slow down as it coasts across the runway. Although it comes to a complete stop, the rumbling of its engines can still be heard as they power down. The crowd goes closer to the jet as the whirling dies down. Finally, the door clicks and it lowers itself, forming a staircase to the ground.

Members of the Royal Service stream out of the jet with their bags. As the last few leave, Izetta takes a step forward. Then she looks back to Bianca and Finé's father who nod to her. Returning the gesture, Izetta heads into the jet quietly.

As Izetta enters, she turns to see Finé still strapped in her seat. Seeing her hair splayed all over and her face haggard, Izetta can't help but frown. Although she really wanted to see her girlfriend in the flesh again, she did not want Finé to be like this. Looking over to the overhead compartment, Izetta sees that it is empty. Then a Royal Maid shows Izetta that she has Finé's bag and she leaves.

Izetta goes over to Finé, softly undoing the seatbelt. Then she scoops Finé into her arms and after cradling her a little to make sure that Finé is secure, Izetta walks out of the jet.

As the sunlight shines down, Finé whimpers as a hand goes over her eyes. "Izetta…?" she mumbles as her eyes open by a crack.

"Yes, it's me," Izetta smiles as she rubs Finé's back. "I'll take you to bed, so you can just go back to sleep."

"Is my father here? I want to talk to him first…"

"Yes, he's here. I'll bring you to him."

Izetta carries Finé over to where her father and Bianca are. As Finé sees the figure of her father get closer, she blinks to open her eyes more.

"Father…" Finé mutters as she turns to face him. "Thank you for letting me go… I learnt so much… and I felt like I finally made a difference…"

Finé's father gently strokes her forehead. "You did. I'm so, so proud of you. You're really becoming an excellent queen."

Bianca says nothing, but she bows in respect.

"Hehe…" Finé giggles as her eyes start to close again.

"Okay, go to your room and get some well-deserved sleep," Finé's father soothes, "I cleared your schedule for a few days, so don't worry about anything and just rest and relax."

"Thank you," Finé nods. "Then…" she rolls over and hugs Izetta tightly, letting out a large breath of contentment.

"I-I'll bring you there now then," Izetta blushes slightly and starts walking.

They are quiet for most of the journey, with Izetta not wanting to disturb Finé and Finé soaking in the touch of her girlfriend once again.

"I missed you…" Finé whispers as they pass through a corridor. She gives another squeeze, "So much…"

"I missed you too…" Izetta comforts her by rubbing her back. "I'm so, so happy that you're back now…"

The two enter their room and the guard closes the door after them. Izetta brings Finé to the bed and places her on it tenderly. But then as Izetta starts to pull back, Finé's arms hold her in protest.

"Izetta… Kiss me…" she murmurs.

Izetta smiles. "As you wish."

Their lips interlock deeply. Finé's tongue goes in almost immediately after, causing Izetta to let out a muffled gasp, but she quickly does the same. Their arms, lips, tongues and bodies savour the other fervently, desperate to satisfy their repressed hunger. All they wanted now was the pleasure of being with each other.

Eventually they break the kiss, both of them left breathless.

"Izetta…" Finé pants as her arms fall and her chest heaves, "Can you… stay… for a while…"

Izetta takes a deep breath, recovering her composure from seeing Finé laid out like this right in front of her. "Of course," she soothes as she straddles to the other side of the bed. Tucking them in and bringing Finé into her arms, she coos, "There's nothing more I want to do than to cuddle with my girlfriend who's worked so incredibly hard."

Finé simpers as she snuggles into the hug. "It was worth it… I got a glimpse into the burden you bear… To save others…"

"You did save them, thousands of them." Giving Finé a peck on the forehead, Izetta praises, "You did very well, so just get some well-earned rest now."

"Heh heh…" Finé mumbles, "I love you…" Then she nods off and her breathing deepens, falling deep into slumber.

"I love you too," Izetta whispers as she gently strokes Finé's hair. Looking at the pure exhaustion that remains on Finé's face, Izetta's face falls. 'Now I know why she was so worried about me. I don't want her to be so drained ever again… Well, at least I'm still getting stronger, so she'll never have to see me like this…'