Sinclair felt it sincerely necessary to barge in on another meeting. They also felt it necessary to leave their horses in the center of the table when they ambled off, forgetting to remove the bag of letters from the back of their chariot. Shocker, though they usually had enough respect for the nobles to move their animals to the side. However, Sinclair seemed to be apathetic today.
By contrast, Inei thought it was a great idea to whine and complain for the next five minutes while the fairy walked away, and one horse fell asleep with its rear right in front of him.
Standing up to move away from it, he commanded, "Ophelia, kindly fetch that messenger and ask them to move their horses. We can't continue the meeting like this. These beasts are distracting and unsuitable for such a setting."
"Of course, Your Highness."
Jisoo snickered in the background as I got up from my chair and entered the hallway, almost too eager to have a reason to escape. Smiling to myself, it faded when I realized I had a dilemma on my hands.
*Where would two fairies be hanging out? They could be in the pipes, for all I care, and I wouldn't be able to fit.*
Thinking back to numerous encounters from before, I first went to Akiyoshi's room and knocked gently. He opened the door, as stoic as ever.
"Yes?" he said rather curtly. His hair and attire appeared orderly, not a single strand or string hanging suspiciously.
I was glad to see him outwardly collected, but I was always nervous around him. Flinching, I asked, "Are Sinclair and Leo in there? Your dad would like to see the messenger, sir."
He had to check inside since they could show up at any time. As he moved away, I took the opportunity to sneak glances into the area. Everything was clean-cut, and the floor was so spotless that even a speck of dust would appear to be an atrocity.
*Everything's strangely normal with you again.*
"No,"—he returned to the door as his voice became sweeter, and I pretended to idly stare at the door frame—"they aren't. Would you perhaps like to come in for a cup of tea, though? I'm sure they'll make a lap eventually."
That was such an oddly nice gesture from the prince that I was taken a little aback. I didn't know what questions to ask him, so I stumbled over my words. I wanted to outright refuse the offer, but I didn't intend to anger or disappoint him after seeing his muddled room.
"Uh, sure in a moment? Let me go get the messenger first." I pointed behind me with my thumb and backed away slowly as I gave in. "Don't wanna cause any delays, sir."
Akiyoshi almost grinned. Almost. "Okay."
He shut the door lightly as I ran off, and I considered how an expression of happiness was odd for him. It was hard to imagine why he was acting so kindly towards me, but I wondered if it had to do with Jisoo and me accidentally finding out something personal. The thing was: I still didn't know *why* he fell into disarray.
***
I descended the stairs aimlessly, stopping when I heard a loud crash on the same floor as I was. While I was stunned, there was another bang. I ran down the hall, and the noises grew in volume until they rattled me.
*I'd expect that in a saloon or bar but a castle…?*
I stopped. I was encapsulated in a field of deafeningly loud explosions, the omnidirectional bass blasting my eardrums feet away from the epicenter. Beside me, the door read: *Explosives, Enter at Your Own Risk.*
*Doesn't the military have a better place to store their shit?*
Most importantly: Why did Inei have a labelled room of things to burn down the whole castle? And why weren't they in a basement instead of an unlocked side room? I'd have to ask Akiyoshi about that sometime when he didn't seem as volatile.
Standing outside, I listened carefully for a safe time to enter through the creaking door, watching it miserably try to bear the strength of continuous blasts. Between every bang came the sounds of mingling laughter, dark and twisted in their almost sadistic enjoyment. I took one of these opportunities to walk in, and I swallowed.
*Whoever this is sounds insane.*
Actually, they *were* insane.
"Leo! Sinclair! What are—"
My uniform felt hot, so I peered at the bottom of the cape and shrieked. It was a bad day to wear the extra piece of fabric.
"Fuck! My clothes are on fire!"
The fairies, who previously chuckled heartily, gawked at me in horror as I tried waving around the blazing garment. I accidentally made the embers larger in the process, and I attempted to detach the silk from me since I knew I could easily replace it. (Replacing myself, however, required a lot more steps.)
"What hap—"
"Sinclair, stop the damn explosives!" Leo commanded, and Sinclair complied as their face went pale.
Leo dropped a bucket of water (which I had no idea where he got it from) on me, drenching every article of clothing I wore but successfully putting out the fire.
"Geez, Fifi! What are you doing? You could have gotten killed!" Leo squared up in front of me, using his height to cast a shadow over my body. "If you and Koharu weren't seeing each other, I'd have gladly slapped you. There's a sign out there for a reason." He sounded more like a bratty mother than genuinely angry, so it was hard to take him seriously.
*"Dead Dove: Do Not Eat"…? Nobody reads notices, and if they say they do, they don't heed them.*
"Why are the two of you firing off explosives in the castle?" I tried fanning my now wet shirt off after removing my jacket. Like a cat, I couldn't stand having a layer of damp, fibrous material on me without shuddering.
Sinclair chimed in, "We put a spell on the room when we got in here. The only things that can escape are noise and some of the rumbling. The fire and debris are contained, Miss Heide."
*You've got to be fucking kidding me.*
My eye nearly twitched at them. "For heaven's sake, call me Ophelia, but what about the two of you? Couldn't those hurt you?"
Leo disappeared, and a cockroach climbed up the sleeve of my shirt. I tried to smack it as it jumped off my shoulder and transformed into a humanoid shape.
"We can always charm ourselves or turn into roaches, you know. You can't blow up a roach," Leo stated as Sinclair side-eyed him.
My face contorted as I stroked my arm to clean the sleeve. "Never do that again. I feel violated in three hundred ways by that alone."
Leo blankly replied, "Fair." He wiped his hands on his pants.
"Anyway, Sinclair," I said, turning to them, "could you move your horses before Inei literally boils in irritation? I think he's scared he's gonna get crapped on."
"But I have nowhere else to put them," Sinclair said with an exasperated tone. I never heard them get distressed before, and they always remained calm even when the advisors fell apart around them.
Leo grinned brightly, which was dubious. "Why not leave them in the Galaxy Meadow to play with the unicorns? I'm sure they'll enjoy the company."
"Oh, but will that inconvenience you in any way? It's your home after—"
"Just get them out of there!" I yelled, tired of the polite nonsense.
"Better watch I don't turn you into a cockroach and bring you to Koharu," Leo threatened, pointing at my chest. "She'd reject you immediately."
I stared him down, and he zipped off as he cackled.
*That's what you get for saying that bullshit!*
"Ah, why do you all antagonize the poor boy so much?" Sinclair broke the silence when Leo flew away, shaking their head.
I retaliated, "Why does he antagonize *me*?"
Sinclair sighed, talking in a more soft and sugary voice than before. "You know he's just playing. He's so sweet that it makes me want to protect him. If you think about it, he's probably seen every traumatic thing imaginable."
I urged them to continue.
"He's almost two thousand years old. He's watched more people come and go than you'll ever see in your lifetime. At least be a little kinder," Sinclair vaguely scolded.
I hadn't ever thought about that. I often forgot to position myself from someone else's lens. Of course, it was impossible to see things from the same physical perspective, but that didn't mean I couldn't try to mentally adjust.
*When you put it like that…*
I was about to speak when Leo returned.
"Ah, Sini!" Leo strolled over to the person in the middle of the room, stepping around wooden boxes that hardly concealed tools of arson. "I moved them for you. Froggie was very pleased to have friends!"
*Since when do you have a nickname for Sinclair?*
The other fairy replied, "Delightful!"
"Thank you, Leo. Inei was very aggravated earlier."
"Yeah, the king's got a stick up his butt today. I don't know what's up," Leo remarked. "He's probably whining about his husband again. They really need to get a castle and stop fighting."
I chuckled airily. "They do. It's a pain when they have two."
"You think?" Leo lifted his gray pant leg to expose his ankle. The skin was a searing, angry red as blood vessels patterned it like a river delta. "He accidentally spilled his coffee on me when he went on a complaining tangent. It hurts."
Sinclair laughed in the background, their curls bouncing daintily with every motion.
*Why's everyone in such a lighthearted mood? Or am I just bitter because I have to wait to see Koharu?*
"I should advise him to be more careful." I paused, recalling Akiyoshi's offer. "I shall let you two carry on, then. Prince Akiyoshi invited me to have a cup of tea with him."
*Honestly, I just want to stall in there and not get my head blown off.*
"Akiyoshi?" Sinclair and Leo said in unison, gaping.
"Did I turn bright blue or something? Yes, Prince Akiyoshi."
"Strange but enjoy your meeting, Ophelia." Sinclair smiled.
"Yeah and don't get a burn in the room without explosives unless you're dumb, Fifi!" Leo joked.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "I would like to think myself smarter than that, considering I didn't just get coffee dumped on me."
Sinclair stared me down, brown eyes sharp and intimidating.
*Oh.*
"Which isn't really a matter of intelligence but rather about the fact that Inei's dead set on being miserable today." I chuckled nervously.
*Damn, Sinclair can be scary.*
Leo laughed, enjoying the unprecedented correction. "Indeed. Now, out. I wanna see some red firecrackers." His face turned gentle and sweet. "Could you get some from that box, Sini?"
Giggling at Leo's behavior, I waved goodbye and exited the room casually as if nothing inside posed any threat to my well-being.