Chapter 318: Evelina Wants Her Ship To Sail...?

The townhouse in the capital was smaller than the estate, but Evelina preferred it for shorter stays. Easier to secure, she said. Fewer servants to bribe. Less space for enemies to hide.

I thought she just liked the balcony.

It wrapped around the entire second floor, wide enough for chairs and a small table, close enough to the street that you could hear the merchants hawking their wares and the children playing in the gutters.

On clear nights, you could see the palace spires rising above the rooftops, their golden tips catching the last light of the setting sun.

The Imperial Ball was fast approaching, and every noble hoping to attend was required to reside in the capital for the duration of the week-long event.

Evelina stood at the railing now, her white hair loose and stirring in the evening breeze. The swell of her stomach was still nearly invisible despite how long it had been.

"How are you still...?"

"My stomach?"

"Yeah."

"Magic." She glanced back at me, a hint of amusement in her crimson eyes. "It might have been months since that time I haven’t used the contraception magic, but I only got pregnant recently. Or if you want a cruder explanation, basically, imprison your sperm until I decide it is needed."

"How does that kind of magic even work?"

"Ask the succubi, not me."

"That reminds me. How’s your succubus been?"

Evelina turned back to the railing, her fingers trailing along the wrought iron.

"She’s been feeding on our constant pleasure for years now. Considering we’re... abnormally strong, I half suspect she could be a candidate for a demon prince at this point."

"You’re serious?"

She smiled, soft and self-aware. "I’m probably overestimating."

KNOCK!

KNOCK!

"Were you expecting someone?" Evelina asked.

"None that I can remember."

I straightened and stretched, then reached for the door. When it swung open, I found myself facing a face I hadn’t seen in a long time.

Phoenix Bright.

My unofficial best friend.

"Hey, I know I might be... a year late, but congrats on making it official!"

"When...?"

"You know, after the first semimonthly examination hunt? With the display you and Lady D’Arclight put on. I wanted to congratulate you then, but you suddenly disappeared on me."

"Didn’t expect you to get so close to me all of a sudden."

Bright froze at my remark. "W-Weren’t you the one being all buddy-buddy with me first? Did I misunderstand?"

"No, you didn’t." I laughed lightly. "Thank you. You didn’t have to do that. Anyway, since you’re here, are you planning to attend the ball too?"

The evening light caught the gold threading in Phoenix’s coat as he stepped inside, his usual swagger tempered by something almost like hesitation.

He glanced past me toward the balcony, where Evelina’s silhouette stood framed against the darkening sky.

"Everyone who’s anyone is attending," he said, finally meeting my eyes again. "My family would never let me hear the end of it if I skipped. Besides..."

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I heard there’s going to be dancing. And wine. And probably at least one duel before midnight."

"Only one?"

"Optimistic, I know."

Phoenix moved past me into the sitting room, his boots quiet on the polished floor. He’d changed since the academy, though it was hard to say exactly how.

His shoulders were broader, maybe. Or the easy confidence he had in the past finally settled into some semblance of calmness.

"So," I said. "Who’s the lucky girl?"

"Well..." He studied me for a moment, head tilted. "I actually want your advice on that one..."

Evelina chose that moment to drift in from the balcony, her arms crossed loosely beneath her chest.

"Lord Bright," she said. "It’s been a while."

Phoenix straightened immediately, his easy posture snapping into something more formal. Some habits, it seemed, couldn’t be broken.

"Lady D’Arclight. I didn’t mean to intrude—"

"You’re not intruding." She settled onto the settee near the unlit fireplace, one hand resting casually on the small swell of her stomach. "Cael doesn’t have many friends. I try not to scare them off."

"I’m not scared," Phoenix said, a little too quickly.

Evelina’s lips curved. "Of course not. So, what is it you want my Cael’s advice on?"

"Well, it’s something that has to do with Vivianne. I’m not sure if it’s obvious, but we’ve been pretty close, you see... and..."

The moment the name left his mouth, Evelina’s expression shifted. Not jealousy, that fire had long since cooled. This was something else.

Something that had taken root during the trials beneath the archmage’s library, when she’d watched Kevin and Vivianne fight back-to-back, bleed for each other, wake from unconsciousness reaching for the other’s hand.

She’d decided then that both of them belonged together.

And Evelina D’Arclight, even in her calmer, less... predatory years, had never quite abandoned her taste for manipulation. Other people’s happiness was simply too entertaining to leave to chance.

"Cael," she said without turning, "kick him out."

"W-Wait, what?" Bright’s head snapped between them, utterly lost. "Did I say something wrong?"

"You said Vivianne," I said, leaning against the doorframe. "That’s the problem."

Phoenix blinked.

"I... yes? She’s been my partner on half a dozen assignments. We work well together. She’s sharp, she’s funny when she wants to be, and she doesn’t treat me like I’m still the weird kid with an interesting fighting style."

Evelina’s fingers drummed once against the settee’s arm. "And Kevin?"

"What about him?"

"Kevin Illinalta." Her voice remained pleasant, almost conversational. "The dark mage. The one who spent the better part of a year training beside Vivianne, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumours of the two."

Phoenix’s brow furrowed. "Kevin’s a friend. He’s been a good friend to both of us."

"A friend."

"Yes."

Evelina rose from the settee in a single fluid motion, crossing to where Phoenix stood with that particular grace that had made lesser nobles tremble. But when she stopped before him, she didn’t loom or threaten.

She just looked at him.

"For someone so perceptive," she said quietly, "you can be remarkably dense."

Phoenix’s mouth opened wide.

"You’re saying—"

"I’m saying nothing." She turned away, drifting back toward the balcony doors. "I’m simply observing that Vivianne Crestwood and Kevin Illinalta have been inseparable since I’ve seen them. That she wears his coat when she’s cold. That he memorized her favorite tea before she ever thought to mention it."

She paused at the threshold, glancing back over her shoulder.

"But perhaps you should ask her yourself. If you’re brave enough to hear the answer."

The sitting room fell into a thick, almost heavy silence.

Phoenix stood very still, his hands limp at his sides, his expression caught somewhere between realization and outright denial. It was the kind of look men got when they’d spent months constructing a fantasy only to watch it crumble in a single sentence. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"She never said—"

"She wouldn’t." I pushed off from the doorframe and walked to the small sideboard where the wine was kept. "Vivianne’s not the type to hurt anyone’s feelings if she can help it. And you’re her friend. She wouldn’t want to lose that."

"W-Why are you on their side so much...?" He swallowed. "Is there anything that happened between them that makes them better together?"

"They are just a better fit, that’s all," Evelina replied.

And there it was. Even after years of peace and her sadism dulled to a faint edge, she never held back her words. Now, she was choosing each one with surgical care, twisting the knife as deeply as she could into Bright.

I just hope I don’t get caught in the crossfire...