The next couple of weeks went by in a blur.
At some moments, Noble felt like time had all but stopped, while at other points it felt like a lifetime had been packed in a single second.
Her days were divided between Crestfall's royal business, scouring the library to find evidence of the heart, and training with Sarai.
The first took up far more of Noble's time than she would have liked.
Just now, Noble exited from yet another tedious-but-necessary conference with her advisors. Even as a queen, much of her day was paperwork and administration.
The storybooks made it seem like a glamorous job, but to do it well required a vast amount of patience and a steep learning curve.
Each morning there was some meeting or other that required her attention. This one had to do mostly with the proper water distribution among the city quadrants. Since Noble knew so little about the topic, she was little help on how much more farmers should get than the other sectors.
Noble allowed her advisors to figure it out amongst themselves. Before she left, the new Royal Secretary assured his Queen that he would gather any other necessary information and have it for her to examine by the end of the day.
'He is a vast improvement over Asa.'
Taking a deep breath, Noble hurried into the hall with Kosi following dutifully behind. Though Noble hadn't needed an excuse to leave, she had used the Symncus's whimper as a signal that he was done being cooped up.
So was she.
"We will pass by the garden for a moment so we can both get some fresh air." Noble patted Kosi's golden mane. It had regrown nicely and was softer than ever.
He purred softly under her caress.
"I like you too, big guy. Let's go!"
The Queen had places to be, but her sanity was worth a few moments of silence.
Her days were very packed.
She couldn't afford to relax more than a moment or two. The time for the next attack from the mountains was looming near. While the exact day and hour were unknown, the people of the city began to grow restless.
On one hand, the citizens looked forward to the attack because their meat supply was running low. But on the other hand, the attacks meant loss of life and violence outside the city walls. There was always the lingering fear that something might get through the barrier.
It was a justified fear, though Noble would never admit that as Queen. She had seen the weak spot in the runes. The ring was not impervious to attack.
It could take another hundred years to break. Or it could stop working tomorrow.
That was why Noble had ordered Counsel to find an Awakened who might be able to repair the damage. A mason was found, but his flaw made him move at a snail's pace. She only hoped he would be successful before the appointed time.
'At least Theo has men guarding the break at all times.'
General Theo had done all that Noble asked and more. She had wanted him to work with her to form a coordinated plan for using Crestfall's army, but Theo had gone a step further and reformed the ranks of the soldiers to meet their objective.
Now each company of men had a specialty which could be mobilized when the need arose.
Emira hadn't chosen her new general on a whim. Theo was both competent and capable of leadership.
Heading into the garden courtyard, Noble felt the sun caress her skin. She breathed the fresh air. It was so different than the filtered air of the NQSC.
It was refreshing, invigorating even.
Kosi seemed to think so too. He ran about the plants like a kitten chasing a butterfly.
At that moment, it was hard to imagine that she was in a nightmare. 'This. This is nice. I wish it could always be like this…'
'Aw, Noble, I had no idea you cared so much,' came the sarcastic response in her head.
A moment later Noble felt Nickel's presence come within range of the wall.
'While I'm very fond of you, I was speaking of the weather, garden, and Kosi…' Noble rolled her eyes.
'Sure you were.' Nic appeared at the top of the wall. In his black cape, he looked like a wraith against the muted colors filtering through the invisible barrier.
'I doubt you came just to try and look cool. What do you have to report?'
Crouching, Nic disappeared from view just as the patrol passed. His silent words continued to stream through [The Other's Voice].
'Don't tell Sarai, but I foiled yet another assassination attempt against Emira before it happened.'
Noble frowned. 'Another one? That is the fourth one in two weeks. Surely that cannot be normal.'
'There is a very dedicated contingency that is committed to killing the former queen. I have been able to blend in with their lower ranks but no one will tell me who their leader is. If I find out, I'll take care of them and the whole organization should crumble.'
Noble knew better than to ask what he meant and simply nodded. Sarai would be protected at all costs.
'Tell Fireshing to remain aware of her surroundings. I know she spends her days in that protected library, but even that won't stop a real lunatic.'
'I'll let her know, but she can take care of herself.' Noble lifted her face to the sky, soaking in the sun's rays. 'How are the citizens of Crestfall?'
'Your opening of the royal kitchen to not waste food has made you even more popular. You know you are an actual queen, not a pageant queen, right?' Nickel scoffed.
Beauty pageants had not happened in either Awakened's lifetime, but that didn't stop webtoons from forcing their male heroes to disguise themselves and compete in them to save the day.
'There are some similarities. I have to dress up in pretty gowns and say all the right things. And the competition to get this spot was rather heated..." Noble smirked.
Ignoring her pun, Nickel went on. 'Well, the city already looks like a different place than when I came.'
The woman's smile faded. 'Different better or different worse?'
'I suppose if I had to pick one, it would be better. Emira seemed to have lost touch with the people. Your recent changes to improve their quality of life are annoyingly good.'
Noble leaned against the wall or the courtyard. 'I'll take the compliment. Is there anything else?'
'Just that the farmers think their crops will fail if they don't get more water.'
'Already on it.' Noble crossed her arms in satisfaction. Nickel was an invaluable wealth of information, but Noble liked it when she was occasionally a step ahead of his intel.
Nic grunted. 'Then I'll be off. If anything noteworthy happens, I'll come back within range to contact you. I'll leave you to deal with your lapdog instead.'
Noble furrowed her brow. 'Kosi is far from a lapdog. I am glad he didn't hear you say that. You'd hurt his feelings!'
'As much as I would love to make a Transcendent Demon angry, I wasn't talking about Kosi. I was talking about him…'
"Your Majesty!"