"T-thank you very much for your help! I'll pay you back some day!"

The half-elf was bowing to them. As soon as the beginning event of the Selection ended, she had come and asked to talk with Priscilla, and her servants privately.

Heitor had wondered what she wanted, but in the end she just wanted to express her thanks. How very Deirdre of her. Cute.

Priscilla however, was very much not cute. "No need to thank me, I did not wish to help you in any way. Those men were just annoying me with their prattle, that is all."

She grinned. "But if you insist on paying me back, do so by never again showing me that dirty half-devil face. It makes me wanna puke." In the end, even when she did something good, Priscilla was gonna be Priscilla.

She winced. "Oh, oka—."

But Heitor quickly interject. "Please don't listen to her, your face is beautiful Lady Emilia." Seriously. It was almost scary how beautiful it was.

Emilia's eyes widened. "T-thanks...?"

But going against Priscilla had its consequences. "Oh? Are you challenging me, piggy?" Why was she talking like a time-stopping vampire!?

And why did he decide to jump from one scary situation to another!? "Well, I—."

This time Emilia was the one who came to his salvation. "You shouldn't call him a pig... He was being really loyal to you!" Was he though!? Because he definitely didn't feel loyal to her at all! In fact, if Emilia was feeling up to hiring, he would gladiator volunteer for a spot!

Priscilla glared at the poor elf. "Hah...?" She stretched that word out like she was the protagonist of a delinquent manga. "You think you can comment on the relationship between me and mine servant?"

"N-no... but..." Her face gained some resolve. "I owe him a lot too, so I won't let you be mean to him."

Al sighed. "Geez, catfights are scary." He looked like he owned a cat, and that cat had died. "Oi, cousin, how do I adopt a cat?" What kind of question is that!?

Heitor grit his teeth. "If you are talking about Priscilla, she is the one who adopts you." As it had been clearly established. "Also, why are you here?" It's not like he had actually helped in the whole Selection thing!

"Entertainment." This guy...! "And the last time I let you guys alone, I missed interacting with a fellow countryman. So give me a break." He was glad Subaru never met this traitor.

Heitor's eye twitched. "Sorry, but your entertainment has to end." He needed to put a stop to Priscilla's and Emilia's bickering.

So he cleared his throat. "Excuse me Lady Emilia?"

The blushing half-elf jumped a little in surprise. "Yes?" She had gotten way too mad with Priscilla, he could almost imagine cartoonish steam coming out of her ears.

It was both cute, and admirable. "About the piggy thing... it is what it is, so don't worry about it." Though he was glad someone was finally defending him.

The girl deflated like a despair filled balloon. "Oh, okay..." Ah, she thought he was picking Priscilla's side huh?

And the woman that defined the word Pride certainly seemed to think so, considering there was such a smug grin on her face. Though then again, being smug to the point of being annoying was just her natural state of being.

Now... how to go about confronting her?

It was funny. He had just participated in a shouting match with the men who ran this country, and yet he was more afraid of pissing her off. Probably because he had actually seen her kill someone before.

It was time to channel his inner Ike and act like he wasn't trembling on his boots. "And Lady Priscilla I... I won't accept the aid of anyone who thinks elves are subhumans." Geez, he even stole one of Ike's iconic lines!

It brought a smile to Emilia's face. "Mister Heitor..." Did that make throwing his life away worth it?

Not really, but it was a nice consolation prize.

And there came his death. "You dare to talk back to me, piggy?" He half expected her to go back to calling him a mutt.

He slowly and hesitantly nodded. "Yeah, you heard me." He might have also taken a step or two towards Al. But it definitely had nothing to do with using him as a meat shield!

Almost as if to test him, her glare became fiercer. As fierce as that of a lion.

He stood his ground.

She smiled. "My piggy can be so stubborn... but very well, I shall allow the half-elf's presence." She looked at Emilia. "Besides, I must admit that you gained a bit of my respect girl. Coming here must have taken some courage... even if it is mostly idiocy."

"T-thank you...?" Her second thanks sounded a lot more confused.

Heitor chuckled. "Honestly..." Seeing someone else have to deal with Priscilla was kind of refreshing. In a fucked up way. "Hey, Lady Emilia. I had an idea..."

He continued. "How about we introduce ourselves? We more or less already know each other's names, but I figured it would be polite." He wanted to know more about her.

He didn't know what role Emilia had on this strange world, but it was definitely an important one. Maybe she was a villain, maybe a possible protagonist, or maybe just a side-character that would get a lot of attention, but without a doubt someone important.

The same applied to all other candidates as well of course. He would need to find a way to get closer to them as well.

Emilia nodded. "That sounds wonderful..." She took a deep breath. "Well, I'm Emilia, a silver haired half-elf, so I don't blame you if you feel uncomfortable, but I'll do my best nonetheless!"

He gave her a thumps up. "I'm Heitor! A guy from another world with a crazy set of abilities!"

"Eh?"

The gladiator snorted. "So we are going it like this huh? I'm Aldebaran, but feel free to just call me Al, Lady Emilia. I'm from the same world as Heitor over there."

"Eh...!?" The anime reaction he wanted to see!

Priscilla rolled her eyes. "Contain yourself, half-devil..." She clicked her tongue, remembering her earlier promise. "Half-wit." That's what she came up with!? "They are simply from beyond the Great Waterfall."

Emilia covered her mouth in shock. "Truly!?" That must have sounded crazy to her.

It was the truth though, and one that sounded annoying to hide. "Yep. Please don't think negatively about my comments on being a child of Volcanica by the way. I genuinely do live here in Lugunica..."

"O-of course I won't!" Good to hear! That could have landed them in some trouble. "But to think you two are from another world... I can't believe it!"

Priscilla's eye twitched. "Forget about them, half-wit. You have yet to hear my word." She got mad because they weren't paying her attention, didn't she? "I am Priscilla Barielle, the one who is loved by this world."

Emilia tilted her head. "A-are you also from beyond the Great Waterfall, Lady Priscilla?"

"No."

"Oh. Okay." One could almost visibly see Emilia's excitement disappearing.

Without a doubt, for Priscilla, being considered inferior to her pig and her whatever Al was, was unacceptable. "You... do you even have something in that head of yours?"

Emilia pouted. "O-of course I do! It's just that I'm feeling a bit perplexed after learning of people who came from outside the Great Waterfall... I don't even know if it's the truth..."

"It is." A strange voice resonated from the crystal, and then a cat came out of it. "These three aren't liars Lia, nor do they have bad intentions, but... be careful with your rival."

His appearance made Heitor freeze for a moment.

Puck, the Beast of the End. This monstrous thing was what was connected to Emilia. Heitor didn't know if he wanted to call him a weapon, but if he did count as one, then he was far more terrifying than the Yang Sword Vollachia.

The cat laughed. "And this Heitor guy is terrified of me, so it's all gonna be alright."

Priscilla had the audacity to slap the spirit. "Do not presume you have the authority to terrify my servant, pathetic spirit." There was no way she knew what he could do.

Puck covered his head, afraid of any other mighty slaps. "But I didn't do anything though!? It's not my fault if the guy is afraid of cats!"

Emilia admonished him. "Puck, if you spooked Heitor, you should apologize! Dunderhead!"

This girl... was the type who said dunderhead? It was over, Intelligent Systems had fallen farther than he could ever imagine into the waifu bait hole. Without a doubt many old Fire Emblem fans were screeching right about now while they played this mess on a Switch Two.

That amazing thing aside, he scratched his cheek. "No need for that Emilia, I was afraid for no reason..." He crossed his arms. "I'm new to this world, so I'm not used to flying cats and stuff. Right Al?"

The gladiator was staring right at the cat. "Yeah... It's outright disgusting." That... didn't really sound like he was afraid.

Puck shivered. "Geez, I'm not popular around here at all! Lia, please don't hang out with these delinquents!"

The saintly elf came to their defense. "T-they aren't delinquents! They helped me during the Selection..."

"That's why I'm calling them delinquents though." The hell was that supposed to mean? "I'm kind of grateful, I guess, but I won't forgive people who put my daughter in danger." When did this become family talk!?

A gleam of realization passed through Priscilla's eyes. "I see... Al was right." And then her face became clouded with far more anger than he had ever seen. "You're disgusting, completely and utterly filthy."

It looked as if she was about to summon her sword. "To think I would ever meet a rat so ugly... It's outright disgusting, Al put it into words perfectly." Oh, it didn't look like she was about to summon her sword anymore.

Because she actually did do it.

Al put her a hand on her shoulder. "Hey princess, I agree with you, but killing a spirit like that would be seriously troublesome, so let's calm down and—."

She picked him up by the hand, and threw him to the wall. "Silence Al." She did it so casually that it made him almost forget that Al was a grown man. She was way too strong.

The knight was alive, but groaning in pain. "Ah... a gift from the princess." Now this is what a disgusting lustful pig looked like!

Emilia snapped. "Stop! I won't let you hurt Puck!" She was clearly surprised at the sudden immense hostility, but it was only natural to defend the spirit that had called her 'daughter'.

The spirit that was also completely and utterly silent.

Priscilla's body was twitching with anger. "Do not even try to get in mine way, half-wit. I'll do you a favor and get rid of this parasite. You may thank me once again when it's done."

"Don't call Puck a parasite!" If Priscilla was fire, then she was ice...

Their auras were beginning to interlock, creating a strange effect on the air. Heitor just knew it would mean his doom.

So once again, it befall upon him to calm the situation down. Although this time it was far more serious. "Hey, you two... Lady Priscilla, what is this about? I'm really lost." Hopefully she wouldn't throw him away like she had done with Al.

Priscilla clearly considered giving him the Al treatment... but changed her mind. "Isn't it obvious? Put your brain to work piggy. Why didn't this rat lend his so-called daugher aid during the election? It takes one look to see he is strong, and therefore could have shifted the conversation in her favor. So why didn't he do it?"

Because...

Huh? Why didn't he do it? He was super strong, like endgame, nation threatening monster strong. Maybe Emilia didn't want to appear like she was abusing power to run for the throne? That sounded reasonable...

Heitor looked down. "I... don't know..."

Priscilla huffed. "Because this rat has no trust in his daughter. He saw his inaction as protecting her, isn't that right?"

Puck nodded. "Ayup! You're pretty good at reading people." He wasn't scared of Priscilla at all. "Since Roswaal isn't backing Lia anymore, I didn't want to get her involved into something as scary as politics, so I washed my hands off it."

He continued. "She wasn't even supposed to be here you know? Lia had to walk here because she didn't have cash... and we barely made it! She doesn't have servants like Priscilla does, no bodyguards, no anything. So her name getting around could be dangerous."

"Of course, Lia being Lia, she doesn't understand her situation too well." The elf couldn't help, but look grief stricken at Puck's nonchalant insult. "So even though I told her it was useless by now, she still came here and humiliated herself."

For a moment he actually seemed angry. "I wanted to kill those guys who wouldn't stop insulting my daughter... but I couldn't show up. That's why I'm thankful and mad at you two. Thankful for defending my daughter, mad for putting her in this situation."

Oh... So in essence, he was a overprotective dad who thought his daughter couldn't handle what was coming, and so was hoping she would fail in the first, and least dangerous step.

Back in the palace, when the crystal had shined... what had Puck whispered in her ears? Probably something like. 'I told you so.'

He could see what Priscilla had seen, this guy really was a little rat. "Wow, you're..." He looked at Emilia. "Are you okay with this?"

Emilia nodded. "Y-yes..." She didn't look or sound like she was okay with it. "Puck told me before I left, so... I knew what to expect. A-and if Puck doesn't believe me, I don't want to force him, so..."

Heitor smiled. "I get it, don't worry Lady Emilia." But he wasn't happy with it. "Um... Lady Priscilla, since Lady Emilia understands what's going on, could you drop the sword?"

Especially because she shouldn't be using the Yang Sword Vollachia in the first place! Priscilla was always a crazy nutjob, but this was a step too far! What if Emilia recognized it!? That would mean the end of Priscilla's campaign.

Priscilla glared at him. "Do not misunderstand, piggy. I was not about to kill the rat as a favor to the girl... And if I was going to do such a thing, now that her words have reached mine ears, the death of the rat would be all but guaranteed."

She continued. "I wish to kill the rat simply because is an ugly sight to look at..." Her sword disappeared. "But I suppose watching the half-wit flail around with such a sad face is entertaining, so the rat lives."

He had a feeling Priscilla would enjoy novelas. "Right... thanks... I guess..."

Al approached them, a hand on his neck. "Hey princess, I'm gonna feel insulted if you let one guy calm you down after I failed completely."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you wish to get thrown yet again, Al?"

The gladiator actually seemed to consider for a moment, but in the end he stayed silent. Probably because he realized she would actually kill him if he had the gall to answer yes.

Heitor scratched his cheek. "I'm so sorry about... all of this Lady Emilia. I doubt you expected to get your dad threatened when you decided to say thank you." This was a complete embarassing mess.

"It's... fine?" Emilia didn't sound like she believed it was fine. "Nobody got hurt, so... um... it's okay." Was it though!?

Well, Heitor also kind of wanted to punch her weird cat dad, but killing the guy was a bit too much.

He awkwardly chuckled. "If you say so." This conversation went in a very different way than what he had expected. He genuinely didn't know what to say. Maybe he should just escape back to Priscilla's hotel?

Though that actually made him curious about something. "By the way Lady Emilia, did the knights escort you to a hotel as well?" Considering the way she was being treated...

She raised an eyebrow. "Escort?" And that answered all he needed to know.

He sighed. "Lady Priscilla here got escorted to a hotel where they gave her a whole security detail." He pinched his nose. "I can't believe they didn't lend you the same courtesy... This is absurd." It's almost like they wanted her to get shanked by some random robber.

That might actually be what they wanted.

She waved him off. "I'm not mad. It's not like I will stay... I arrived today, and I'm gonna leave today too, I have to go back to Lord Roswaal. So it's alright." Didn't they say that guy wasn't supporting her anymore?

He tilted his head. "I don't know if that's a good idea, you look... really tired." She arrived at the day the selection was about to start? Talk about time management. "If I was you, I would stay in a hotel just for a night."

She look confused. "But they didn't escort me to one..." Was that sarcasm?

"Just pay for one." She would need to find a good hotel of course, but she clearly needed sleep.

She looked down. "I don't have money for that..." A broke candidate!? "And it's not like any hotel would let me stay around..." Her eyes widened. "N-not because their bad! But I would lose them their customers, so..."

This girl... This was way too depressing!

But at least she had a home to return to. "I guess you're sadly right... but did this Lord Roswaal guy not lend you any money or something?"

Puck interjected, answering for him. "Nah. He lets Lia live at his house, but that's pretty much it, since he isn't backing her anymore. Didn't even lend us a carriage, so we had to run all the way here and survive off the land."

"You two are pranking me." It was kind of funny, so he wasn't mad?

"Pranking?" Puck sounded confused. "I'll have you know my daughter is a great survivalist! She used to live alone in the woods before Roswaal picked her up and dropped her you know!?"

Heitor's eye twitched. "Damn, are her bones made out of glass too!?" What kind of scenario was this!?

Though it did sound like something Fire Emblem would write...

Puck covered his ears. "Argh!? Why did you suddenly shout!?" How was he supposed to remain calm after getting all of that dropped on him!?

This... "Ugh... there is no way I can let Lady Emilia just... run back to Lord Roswaal after hearing all of that." A Fire Emblem protagonist would be better. "Hey, Lady Priscilla, can Lady Emilia stay with us for the night?"

Emilia started waving her hands around. "T-there's no need for tha—."

Priscilla interrupted her. "She may do as she pleases. But be aware that a animal adopting a stray is bound to lead to problems, piggy." He wasn't adopting anyone!?

He clicked his tongue. "Yeah, yeah..." And then looked at half-elf. "So Lady Emila, how about staying with us for the night? Just so that you can get some rest?"

"I... That does sound very nice. Thank you."

His eyes slowly opened. "Ugh..." He was sleeping comfortably, but suddenly it was like his mind had suddenly snapped awake.

It was kind of strange, but he slowly sat up. And then images cames flying to his head. Of the entire hotel, and of the assassins that were entering.

"The classic assassin chapter is here!?"

AN: I wish Deirdre was real and loved me.