Chapter 143: A Brilliant Idea

She let out a long sigh.

Aware that she had been going in circles for days.

Reliving the same questions over and over again, questions that no one could yet answer.

And yet, despite the rest...

Despite the peaceful silence of the barracks...

Despite Aaron's comforting scent lingering around her...

Nothing managed to lift her spirits.

A quiet melancholy had settled somewhere deep inside her.

Subtle.

Persistent.

So she spent the rest of the day wandering through the nearly deserted barracks.

She absentmindedly flipped through a few newspapers in the small library.

Made herself a cup of tea, only to forget to finish it.

Sat in the mess hall for a while before changing her mind and heading to the kitchen instead.

Then returned to her room.

Never quite finding where she belonged.

Throughout the entire day, only one presence never truly left her side.

Phénix.

The demon alternated between his miniature form—perched on the back of an armchair or on a windowsill—and his enormous one, when he would quietly settle beside her for a few minutes without trying to fill the silence.

He didn't need to speak.

He always seemed to know when she wanted to talk...

And when she simply needed someone to stay.

His ability to respect her silence touched her more than she would ever admit.

With time, the demon had become perhaps the most unlikely ally she could ever have imagined.

They had met under absurd circumstances.

Challenged one another.

Provoked each other.

At first, they tolerated one another far more than they liked each other.

And yet...

Against all logic, against all expectations, he had become one of the few beings she knew she could rely on without hesitation.

A quiet loyalty.

Without promises.

Without grand speeches.

Simply... there.

And strangely enough, it was perhaps the kind that comforted her the most.

Even if Fenrir's voice occasionally echoed through her mind, reminding her to beware of her familiar's demonic nature, Blanche had already entrusted him with her confidence.

"She noticed that I was drinking... she figured out the thing with the boys... how did I miss it...?" she murmured.

What are you talking about?

Blanche bit her lip.

"I think Eva's jealous."

Obviously. Everyone loves you. She wants you all to herself. You saved her life, after all. And ever since then, you've been spending less and less time with her...

Blanche shot him a pointed look while absentmindedly stroking his fur, deliberately ignoring the implication.

"She spent all her time going out with guys! She's the one who abandoned me first!" the redhead grumbled.

Yes, but she was allowed to. You weren't. She's probably become dependent on your attention.

"...Excuse me?" Blanche exclaimed, staring at the demon.

He simply rolled onto his back, perfectly relaxed, inviting her to scratch his belly.

Either she was trying to make you jealous... or she was trying to get your attention. Who knows? Personally, I think she's hiding something. Maybe she's discovered something she's afraid to tell you. You should go read—

Blanche looked at him as though he'd suddenly grown a second head.

And not a reassuring one.

"Are you telling me my best friend has been hiding yet another secret from me... and this time she deliberately chose not to tell me? What could possibly be worse than discovering the magical world?"

She rubbed her temple as a sudden migraine bloomed behind her eyes.

"It feels like one of those terrible B-movies where the heroine refuses to tell her best friend some awful secret because she's afraid of losing her."

You said it, not me. The funniest part is that the source of all her suffering happens to be madly in love with her father.

Blanche groaned aloud.

"I'm doomed," she declared.

"She'll never accept seeing me with her dad. First, because she can't stand any woman getting close to him. Second, because she wants me all to herself... and him too!"

You're screwed.

A deep, rough laugh echoed through her mind.

It wasn't her familiar.

It was her god.

Blanche nodded to herself, beginning to wonder whether she was slowly losing her mind between the growing chorus of voices in her head and the increasingly tangled mess her life had become.

And at that precise moment...

She regretted ever gaining the ability to see auras.

She couldn't honestly say her familiar was wrong.

"Oh, while I think of it... did you find anything about what Father asked you to investigate?"

Her familiar flinched before answering.

You already know I didn't. Otherwise, you'd have known before he even asked the question.

Blanche detected no lie.

And yet she remained convinced the subject made him uncomfortable.

So she changed tactics.

"You're hiding something from me too."

The cat turned around, sat down, and flattened his ears.

You're not going to like this.

The man who was supposed to marry your mother before she ran away is... more or less one of the leading figures of Drakonian aristocracy. He has plenty of influential supporters, and since he has a son... your grandfather couldn't refuse the possibility of an alliance.

By alliance...

Surely he couldn't mean what she thought he meant.

"What does that actually mean?"

It means that if Winter names you heir to the throne... you'll end up engaged to his son.

"I see," Blanche cut in, exhausted.

She was getting tired of always being right.

"I've only known my grandfather for a few days... What do they think I am? A broodmare whose only purpose is to lay eggs?"

She shook her head, trying to make sense of a future that suddenly looked much darker than before.

"Besides, technically I'm already married... and my Drakion mate happens to be a damn Alpha."

Except nobody knows that.

"But what would be the point? I'd still be the Queen. He'd have no real authority, no real benefit."

The title of Prince Consort carries influence. Not as much as the Queen's, but enough. He could father an heir... and if you died giving birth, he'd either become the next king himself... or rule through your child.

Children...

That was assuming she could even have any.

Then, suddenly, inspiration struck.

Her current condition might actually become useful.

"They don't know I can't have an heir. What if they found out?"

Her familiar's grin turned positively diabolical.

Not like you can just tell them.

"What if I could? Say... forge my medical report from the accident and claim my uterus was irreparably damaged?"

The demon stared at her.

First in surprise.

Then with unmistakable delight.

Finally, he sighed.

I can't do that.

You'd need a very good hacker.

"But someone else could."

They both thought of the same person.

A certain little Pixie with access to the Dark Web...

And who would probably agree to do them a favor.

Blanche and Phoenix exchanged the exact same smile.

It was time to pay a visit...

To the North Tower.