Cid was feeling… unwell.

And there was a reason for that. Two, actually...

It all started when Alexia decided to drag her now-actually-real boyfriend to that brand new store called "Mitsugoshi", he thinks? In short, she got invited by her sister, Iris, and Alexia, in turn, invited him. Not like he actually wanted to go somewhere on that day, but he accepted the role, so now he had to commit to the fullest!

Unfortunately, all his past life experiences and training did not include "How to be Prince Charming", neither he was interested in things like "Being a boyfriend for dummies", and most definitely he would not find something like "Courting a princess" even if he wanted to find it. I mean, his previous world didn't even have bona fide princesses, technological progress be damned! So that meant he had to utilize his brain cogs to the fullest and draft a plan all on his own. Sure, he could call his playmates, but what could he tell them? "Sorry for pestering you guys but there's that one princess — the one over there, yes, — that really wanted to be my girlfriend, don't ask me how this happened, any tips and gear suggestions for this fight?" He had a feeling that would not end well at all.

And so he came up with this:

1. Do everything within his mob persona abilities to make her happy;
2. But do not bend, because she actually wants someone that will give his honest opinion and not a "yes-man";
3. But also make sure to not show that he's the stronger one until the Grand Reveal because she likes it that way, too;
4. But also show you're diligent in your training;
5. But also…

Now that he thinks about it, that's just like being with his sister, Claire? Maybe? Man, he really should've taken some boyfriend courses…

But as of now, everything went pretty well, actually! Excluding the fact that Alexia became clingy all of sudden. She was clingy before that, of course, but that's was all for show, and tet-a-tet the most affection she would show was petting him. Now, however? The moment he steps on Academy's territory she mysteriously appears (mob will not notice a princess in the bush, mob will not notice a princess in the bush, mob will not…) and jumps on him.

Also because of this he has less time for his Shadowy activities, but the girls seemed to be busy, too, plus they did a run just not so long ago (yeah, kidnapping incident), so he can afford himself to be lenient for a bit?

So, yeah, that's first problem out of the way.

Now the second problem is way worse.

In case you haven't noticed, he got invited by Alexia for a store trip. That's absolutely normal pair-in-love behaviour as far as he knows. The problem is the fact that she was actually invited by her sister, Iris, and they don't get along!

Not only that, but, to his and Alexia's knowledge, Iris was the perpetrator (led by that guy, how was his name again? Zalgo? Anon?) behind his imprisonment. That means that they should be angry at her for that, right? And Alexia did seem angry! But he can't afford himself to look like that, because that would ruin his mob character and get him in trouble for going against the princess, and he's not a genius (for public) like his sister that has some privileges nor he's a part of ruling family!

That absolutely sucks!

'And the fact that you try to hide behind me each time Iris looks in your general direction does not help my situation at all, Alexia!'

Of course he did not say that out loud; Iris would certainly try to get his head off for going against her cute (?) innocent (?) sister.

'And stop clinging to me like that, her gaze already made fourty seven holes in my body!'

That one was left unsaid, too.

"So what's the deal with all of this?"

…And that one slipped.

"Cough, cough", that was the elder sister, "so, as I said before, this new store is called "Mitsugoshi". Rumors say that it offers high-quality products, both food and clothes, and is worthy enough to be called as the most advanced store in the city."

Mmm? Well, now that does sound interesting…

"Yeah, so?" 'Alexia, antagonizing your sister like that will not accomplish anything! Be like me, noid and agree with everything!'

"And I wanted to… invite you to go there with me…"

"So-o-o?"

"… And your boyfriend can come, too," 'Stop staring daggers at me, it's not my fault!'

"We-e-ell, what do you think, Cid~? Wanna go there?" 'Does she want to kill me? Because that looks like she wants to kill me!… ' "Of course Iris will pay for our expenses, right?"

"Of course, I still have to make up for that incident, Kagenou-kun," 'I take my words back, Alexia, you're the best!'

"I have grim news."

It was a spacious place, decorated with most renowned works of this world. Lights were off, allowing first rays of rising sun to go through the windows to do their job and light up the atmosphere. Unfortunately, even the source of life was unable to fully banish the gloomy mood perpetrating the room.

Seven seats. That's how many people were here. The eight, and the most decorated one, was empty.

"Alpha-sama, what could be so bad that you have to call all of us for a personal meeting?" the one who posed a question was a beautiful, voluptuous silver-haired woman with a stash of books. Her curious blue eyes locked on the speaker as her sharp ears, the mark of being an elf, slightly twitched.

"Mmm… Got distracted… Experiment…" half-sleepy girl in a lab coat shook her head, making her brownish hair fall on her shoulders and slightly reveal a sharp ear. Her eyelids were half-closed, making it difficult to properly see bleary purple eyes scanning the room.

"Calm down, Eta, or I'll have to cut your funds again," sighed a mature-looking woman with indigo hair, her purple eyes threatening poor lab-coat as she was counting their profits.

"I am aware that you all wish to return to your duties as fast as possible, however the situation calls for our immediate intervention," the one called Alpha pressed on, her deep blue eyes forcing everyone to sit down and keep listening. Once the lab-coat's weak objections quietened down, speaker sighed as her golden locks fell over her sharp ears.

"Alpha-sama, as much as I understand where you are coming from, I have a mission given to me personally by Shadow-sama, and I can't afford any slip-ups to happen," blonde-haired beast-kin's tail was swinging nervously, as cat ears adorning the top of her head were twitching uncontrollably.

"Personally, I have no pressing issues at hand, however Zeta is right: there must a dire reason for you to call us outside of our scheduled meetings, Alpha-sama," another elf spoke up, twisting light-blue locks on her finger, her purple eyes being drawn to the body of silver-haired elf while she tried to concentrate on the feeling of slime in her body.

"Correct," Alpha confirmed, "and the situation is as dire as possible, as it concerns Master Shadow directly."

Everyone perked up.

"Master Shadow…" golden-haired beauty gritted her teeth, "has entered into romantic relationship with the younger princess of Midgar, Alexia Midgar."

Silence enveloped the room for a moment before a storm hit with unprecedented power.

"It should've been me, not her!" silver-haired bookworm screamed out.

"...Dissect her?" was the opinion offered by lab coat.

"It would be a shame to go in a direct confrontation with royalty, however…" money-maker's brain started working on possible ideas.

"I knew I shouldn't have taken so long with my work…" cat-girl hissed.

"He surely wasn't attracted by that woman's soggy breasts, right?…" the hair-twisting stopped.

"Calm down," Alpha pressed, "As much as I share your opinion on that, we can't afford ourselves to go down that way. Moreover, that is not the point of our organization," she eyed everyone, "Shadow Garden's goal is to support our most benevolent Master in shadows. He gave his life to destroy Cult of Diablos so no more children would be outcasts. He offered us all teachings and helped us become who we are now. It's thanks to him near a thousand of poor girls who were thrown out of their families for something outside of their control now have a new home and a family that cherishes them for who they are. We will not stray from this path, am I clear on that?"

Nobody spoke.

"Am. I. Clear?"

"Yes, your Ladyship!"

"Excellent. That's what we shall do: Gamma is to go to Capital's Mitsugoshi store under the pretense of check up and meet with Master Shadow to ask for further instructions. I have to admit, I fail to realize his current plan, but I hope he in his infinite kindness will grant us a detailed explanation on his sight. Later I shall speak with him personally about this situation, but as of now, you are to be our connection with him."

"As you command, Alpha-sama," money-maker nodded.

"Eta, you're to make an enhanced version of magic-suppressing cuffs. Shadow-sama mentioned once he needs them for training and other purposes."

"Mmm…" the lab-coat's eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Beta, Epsilon, Zeta, your assignments are unchanged. Proceed with your current mission."

Silver-haired bookworm, cyan-haired slime enthusiast, and cat-girl respectively nodded.

"Excellent. Any other questions before we proceed on our arrangements?"

"Umm, Delta has one?" the black-haired dog beast-kin slowly raised her hand, her lush tail wagging around.

"Proceed," Alpha nodded.

"So you said that princess girl became his concubine or something?"

"I did not say it that way," golden-haired elf objected, "but yes, that's close enough."

"So, Delta doesn't understand…" dog-girl's purple eyes blinked, "How is that bad?"