Chapter 1997: Chapter 1997

The final negotiation with the Believers of Lies was something Jenkins had planned long ago. It had always seemed distant, yet suddenly, the day was upon him.

If all went according to plan, every last detail before the final battle would be settled today. If not, he would likely have to unleash the full might of his divine authority.

Waking in Alexia's bedroom at the break of dawn, he found himself wondering what the man he would be in twenty-four hours would be thinking. He reached for his pocket watch on the nightstand, but his hand only found a ball of soft fur.

Chocolate, curled into a sleepy ball, let out an impatient sound. A small paw emerged from beneath its head and nudged a lady's pocket watch toward him. Jenkins glanced at it—still early.

Perhaps Chocolate's protest had been a bit too loud, as Alexia stirred beside him. She tilted her head to look at him, then swept a cascade of hair from her face with a graceful arm.

"You're not about to say I was lying on your hair, are you? Because I most certainly was not."

"I was going to say, I thought you would have gone home last night," Alexia replied. "Don't you have to prepare for this morning?"

Her voice, thick with sleep, held a charming languor.

Seeing it was still early, he slid back under the covers, pulling Alexia into a deep kiss, which she returned with equal passion. But their moment was cut short as the door swung open and Dolores's cheerful voice rang out from the threshold:

"Tutor, I have news—oh, I'm so sorry..."

Jenkins heard the sound of a door being hastily shut. Fınd the newest release on novel-fire.net

"Does she never knock?"

"This floor is for Dolores and the other princesses' chambers. Only maids ever come here, and by this hour, I'm usually already up reading. I'll have a word with her."

As they spoke, they both sat up in bed, only to see a blushing Dolores standing just inside the now-closed door.

"Did you expect her to close it from the inside?"

Jenkins asked, turning his head.

"No," Alexia admitted. "I expected her to run off beet-red, wait until she was sure you had left, and then return—still beet-red—to ask me a few questions no proper lady should."

Dolores pretended not to have heard, fidgeting as she stared down at the red carpet. Her gaze was fixed there for two reasons: one, the carpet was strewn with an untidy mix of clothing—she had never seen a lady's nightgown and a man's shirt lying in such intimate proximity—and two, she was acutely aware that besides herself, everyone else in the room was completely undressed.

"Oh, Dolores, could you please step outside for a moment?"

Alexia asked, her voice tinged with exasperation as the princess remained rooted to the spot.

"Oh, are you two going to... right. I'll come back in an hour..."

"No, we just want to get dressed. You can come back in five to ten minutes," Alexia corrected her. "And if we were doing what you're so vividly imagining, you wouldn't be able to return until just before breakfast."

Like a diligent student working on an assignment, Dolores quickly began calculating in her head just how long that would be.

Jenkins nervously pulled the blanket higher, earning a sarcastic remark from Alexia about being a "ridiculous, posturing man." In the end, they just let Dolores say her piece before sending her away.

The princess had brought new intelligence from the north. At around two in the morning, scholars from the High Tower had sent word of a breakthrough in their research on the Reverse-Fated Ritual. The report was extensive, but the gist of it was a complete confirmation: the tower had nine levels, and each one corresponded directly to one of the Savior's Emblems.

The intelligence on the Mysterious Realms provided by the Believers of Lies had been instrumental. Using it as a new line of inquiry, the scholars had not only confirmed the findings of Magic Miss and her associates—that the nine realms were interconnected—but had also concluded that despite being linked, each individual realm still possessed only a single entrance and a single exit. That much was immutable.

This meant that even though the nine realms formed a single, colossal meta-realm, each individual section could connect to no more than two others. Once inside the metal tower, there was effectively only one path forward: straight through all nine of them.

It sounded like a tower-climbing challenge, and confirming this was incredibly valuable to Jenkins. While the Mysterious Realms were known to suppress abilities—even those of a Savior—they had no such effect on numbered items.

This was particularly true for Bestowals. Jenkins's ability to resonate with all of them was his greatest assurance. It gave him the confidence that even if he were forced into this tower challenge, he would have the means to turn the tables.

No, that was his second-greatest assurance. His greatest was the drop of divinity he possessed.

Compared to the scholars' progress, Miss Brolignans's divination ritual had not been nearly as successful. After slipping away from King Sarlis II's residence, Jenkins had used the pre-dawn gloom to visit the base of the tower. The ritual was still in progress, and Miss Audrey stood at the edge of the square, seemingly not having moved an inch since he'd left the night before.

An entire night of effort had yielded only a single, short prophecy:

"The day of the awakening, the hour the bell tolls."

Miss Audrey explained that the ritual was not yet complete; it had reached a critical juncture. Miss Brolignans would be unable to attend the negotiations in a few hours, but Audrey herself would be there in her stead.

She repeatedly warned Jenkins not to be late and urged him to carefully consider every word he intended to speak.

That wouldn't be a problem. The previous night, after Alexia had fallen asleep, Jenkins had gone to the Astral Plane to meticulously review every word of the relevant documents. He knew the Church's bottom line and their highest demands. He was going into the negotiation knowing every detail about both his own side and his opponents. Under such circumstances, he couldn't imagine how he could possibly lose.

Since it was still early, Jenkins decided to head home. The sky was just beginning to lighten when he arrived, but the ladies of the household were already gathered at the dining table for breakfast.

"You had quite a night, didn't you?"

Hathaway couldn't resist teasing.

Jenkins picked up a newspaper and sniffed, offering no comment.

"After today's business is concluded, I want us all to have a family portrait taken. If there's time, we'll do it this afternoon. If not, then tomorrow, Saturday. Standard formal wear will be fine. The Church has already arranged for a photographer; the session will be at the church."

"Who's going to be in this family portrait?"

"Everyone who was there for dinner that night on Maidenhaven Road—the night Jessica visited. Yes, that includes Chocolate. He's an important member of this family. Oh, and Julia, please don't wear your maid's uniform. I'd like you to wear a proper formal gown."

He stroked his cat, who purred in contentment.

"I shall wear the formal maid's attire I use when accompanying the princess to banquets,"

the maid replied with gentle insistence.

"So, this family portrait will include Sigrid as well?"

Hathaway asked, raising her teacup. Jenkins blinked.

"I knew he'd do that."

Briny muttered to Julia, half in complaint. They had both suspected as much.

The weather was turning foul. Jenkins had noticed the wind picking up on his way home, but instead of clearing the thick fog hanging over the city, it had only herded in a vast bank of rain clouds.

As the family ate, raindrops began to patter against the windowpanes. Chocolate stood on the table, its ears pricked, staring out at the downpour with a sudden fascination.

"That doesn't sound quite like rain."

Hathaway remarked, her ears twitching slightly. As a follower of the God of Music, her hearing was far superior to Jenkins's own, despite the gap in their levels.

At her words, Jenkins turned his head. Tapping on the windowpane from outside was a tiny girl with wings as delicate as a cicada's. She was even smaller than Chocolate.

She had smooth, waist-length black hair, fair skin, and delicate features, and wore a simple light-blue dress. Though she held a leaf over her head for cover, her clothes were soaked through. Fortunately, the roll of papers strapped to her back seemed to have remained dry, at least for the moment.

She held the leaf aloft by its stem with her right hand while her left, balled into a tiny fist, tapped earnestly at the glass. Her mouth moved, but the sound of the rain swallowed her words completely. Her face lit up with relief when she saw Jenkins notice her, and she began to gesture wildly. Then she spotted Chocolate rising on the table and recoiled, clearly startled by the cat.

"Ah, it's the Book Fairy!"

Jenkins had met his share of fairies. Most were beautiful but malicious; a few were neutral but possessed thoroughly disagreeable personalities.

But this one was a friend. She was the soul born from the Heart Book, who, with his guidance, had come to understand her own nature and gained her freedom as a Book Fairy.

It was she who had first given him the clue that his ultimate enemy was the Difference Engine. He had thought at the time that she would stay with him, but she had declared she would only pledge her loyalty after everything was truly finished.

Chocolate tilted its head, eyeing the tiny fairy outside the window, and Jenkins knew exactly what the cat was thinking. Though cowardly by nature, it took immense pleasure in bullying creatures smaller and more docile than itself, like rabbits and squirrels.

To put it plainly, Jenkins knew his cat was an unabashed bully.

He tapped Chocolate on the head, a silent warning that this was not food and it should harbor no untoward intentions. Then he rose, crossed to the window, and slid it open, allowing the little fairy to flutter inside.