.

.

"Wherefore are all those nobles staring?" Audulie asked, standing in the middle of the ball. Jacob smirked and leaned toward her.

"They think you are my newest lover."

"Oh, I think I shall be sick," Audulie said, disgusted. Jacob laughed, bowing his head.

It was the evening after Gautier's coronation, all the noble houses descending upon the capital to pay their respects. Gautier stood, the crown upon his brow and his scepter in his hand, while Mebuki clapped wildly, cheering for him.

"Whooo!" Mebuki clapped. "That's my big brother!"

"It's so nice to see the Sevran siblings all together," a noble whispered. Indeed, they were a sight to behold: golden-haired and beautiful, the two youngest cheered as the eldest took the throne.

Audulie stood back and watched, a small smile on her face. Lady Mayumi gripped Jacob's arm as she leaned toward him. She said something to him, smiling happily at him. Jacob beamed back at her, and Audulie was struck at how happy they looked, the two of them looking on as Gautier took the throne.

"They are a happy couple, are they not?" Count Blanchefort said, and Audulie looked up, surprised. Count Blanchefort smiled. "We all feared the worst with him. Thank God his sister brought him to heel."

"But is it not scandalous, the two of them being related?" Audulie asked. Count Blanchefort shook his head.

"I know not of Jacob's parentage. But he is anchored now; without tethers, he is a dangerous and audacious man."

In the corner, Zachary and Bianca were holding their little girl; Count Blanchefort excused himself, going to speak with his daughter and grandchild.

"Are we leaving soon, Princess?" Tomoko asked. Audulie nodded.

"Indeed. As festive as these celebrations are, I quite miss having a working toilet."

xXx

.

"Are you sure it is alright to take that long a trip, with Mayumi being so heavily pregnant?" Gautier said. It was a three-day trip by carriage to the territory of Arno from the capital, which was the location of the rift. Jacob spread his hands.

"Mayumi insists. She does not wish to give birth here, she says she'd rather give birth in Tokyo."

"Probably in want of an 'air conditioner' or her precious toilet," Gautier sniffed.

xXx

.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Mebuki said to Gautier. She looked like a potato roll, waddling up to Gautier to yell at him. "I'm not staying in this backwards country where half the women die during childbirth! I wanna go to Tokyo. I'll come back after giving birth."

"You will have the best royal physicians," Gautier said.

"You guys share a fucking sponge to wipe your ass," Mebuki said.

"What?" Gautier said.

"All I'm saying is, I don't wanna die because the royal doctor didn't wash his fucking hands."

"You realize I am King, correct? Anyone else would be beheaded if they talked to me like that."

She popped prenatal vitamins sent to her from Arno, purchased by Zachary during his many sojourns. "Will you not chew this root to soothe your ailments?" Gautier said. "Certainly something more natural would be better than that 'pill' contraption. My wife has taken it both times with no ill effects."

"I'm not chewing on a dirty root, I'm taking prenatal vitamins."

"Haa." Gautier rubbed his head.

The nobles whispered. Jacob seemed oddly sanguine about the whole thing, which led to more vicious gossip. "Of course he doesn't care whether Her Highness stays at the palace - he has a lover in Arno, he is going there to visit," they said.

xXx

.

Mebuki and Jacob arrived at Arno. Flat stretches of land with fields of tall, green grass, the outskirts of Arno was as beautiful and peaceful as ever.

But when they arrived at the village, everything was transformed: instead of packed dirt roads and villagers working in dusty stalls, the roads were paved with cobblestones. There were sulfur streetlamps lining the village square, and the feel of the village felt like something from the 1800s.

"It looks like the Duke wasn't kidding when he said Arno was modernizing," Mebuki said to Jacob.

They changed into modern clothes at the castle, then proceeded to the rift. At the crest of a grassy hill, Jacob helped Mebuki out of the carriage. The rift shimmered like an oil slick in a body of water, and a few knights stood vigil in front of it.

Audulie had gotten them a month-long lease to a Tokyo apartment, one where they could stay while she finished out her last few weeks pregnant; Audulie had also secured them proper documents, which would let them easily get into the hospital system.

"So you're gonna be a month in Tokyo; are you nervous?" Mebuki asked. Jacob squeezed her hand.

"Not so much nervous as I am anxious because you are pregnant," Jacob said.

They walked into the rift. The knights had grown accustomed to this: how the rift would seem to bow and involute in on itself as people passed through it.

In the royal palace at the center of Lahoz, Gautier looked out of the window and into the royal courtyard. The palace gardeners were taking care of Audulie's rose garden, while behind him, his wife was nursing his second child.

"Will she be alright?" his wife asked. Gautier stepped beside her.

"She will be fine," Gautier said. "She is with Jacob."

And Prince Albert ran up to hug Gautier by the legs. Gautier smiled and patted Prince Albert's head.