Lola’s handoff was smooth, the kind you’d see in some high-gloss product launch video. The mic was suddenly in my hand, and for half a second, I could almost pretend I belonged here.

  I straightened, gave the crowd my best confident smile, and let my voice carry. “It’s amazing to have so many of you here tonight! Friends, allies, and… well, some people I’m still figuring out, but I’ll get there.” A ripple of polite laughter.

  Good…?

  I shifted my weight, glancing over the crowd. “This isn’t just a company party. It’s not just a Rimelion gathering either. Rimebreak is… both. We’re a kingdom and a company. The kind of weird hybrid only possible because some of us live in two worlds… one of magic, and one of social media.”

  Faces in the crowd leaned in. I caught a few laughs, a few curious looks. The kind of audience tilt that meant they were waiting for more.

  “When you join Rimebreak, you’re not just clocking in. You’re joining a banner… one that flies in Rimelion’s skies and over Earth’s skylines. We win together, we grow together, and, yes, sometimes we exploit loopholes together—” a few knowing chuckles “—but always in the service of building something that lasts.”

  The stiffness in my shoulders eased. I was rolling now; the words fitting into the cadence Lola had drilled into me earlier.

  It was the kind of speech you’d expect a corpo CEO to give. Blah, blah, synergy, blah, shared vision, blah. I spared everyone the details here because, trust me, you’ve heard it before. And okay, technically I was more like an owner than CEO… but I was also the face of the company, so I had to sell the image.

  “And now…” I shifted my grip on the mic. “Most of you have heard the rumors, or our memo. But I want to confirm it and make it very clear. Rimelion is a real world. It is not a game created by Nathanco. And despite the fact they banned me…” I smiled thinly. “…I’m back.”

  A low ripple ran through the crowd… a mix of surprised murmurs, hushed excitement, and the sharp intake of breath from someone who’d just realized what that meant. Glasses clinked as people turned to whisper to their neighbors.

  “You can think of this… as a trick if you want not to believe me. But here I go…”

  I drew in a deep breath, locked my focus on Rimelion, and the banquet hall vanished. In an instant, I was back in the Wolf’s Fang Inn, the rough grain of the bedframe at my side, the faint scent of wood-smoke in the air. Rimelion’s magic wrapped around me like a familiar coat.

  We’d gone back and forth about this for days. Lola thought it was best to just show them… the kind of proof that didn’t need a press release.

  So, I let myself vanish there. Then, I closed my eyes again, zeroed in on Earth, and willed myself back.

  It would’ve been awkward if I couldn’t return… but after a heartbeat of vertigo, the inn vanished, and I was staring out over the crowd again from the stage. Hundreds of eyes were fixed on me.

  “Awesome, right?” I smiled nervously, scanning the faces below. “So I’m now officially a citizen of Rimelion. An NPC… if you still call them that.”

  The crowd broke into a mess of sound… excited shouts from one corner, laughter in another, people talking over each other like they were trying to be the first to figure out what this meant. I nodded at them as if I’d just planned all this chaos. “It’s our shared secret, right?”

  At the same moment, there was a thunk on either side of me, followed by the heavy fwoosh of fabric sliding down. Two massive banners unfurled from the ceiling… snowflake logos in pristine white, each topped with a crown, all set against deep red.

  My Rimelion banners.

  That threw me for a loop. But then—

  Fwoosh.

  Straight across from the throne, on the far wall, another banner dropped. This one wasn’t just a logo. It was… me. A full dignified pose, all regal angles and impossible lighting, looking way cooler than I ever had in my life.

  “Lola?!” I blurted, accusing her by pure reflex.

  But it wasn’t Lola.

  Lisa strode toward me as if she were walking onto the main stage of her own festival. Without asking, she plucked the microphone from my hand, spinning toward the crowd with the grace of someone born to work them into a frenzy.

  “Glory to Rimebreak! GLORY TO THE QUEEN!” she bellowed, voice booming through the hall.

  Overhead, half a dozen of her drones zipped into formation, creating holograms of snowflakes falling and casting my banners in golden light. Champagne flutes went up like drawn swords, the crystal catching and scattering the glow into a thousand tiny stars.

  “Come on, people! With me!” she whooped, stomping a boot on the stage for rhythm.

  “GLORY TO THE QUEEN!” the crowd roared back, the words hitting like a single crashing wave. I saw that Riker joined in, laughing openly as if he’d just been given the punchline to the best inside joke of his life.

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  I yanked the microphone back from Lisa as if I were reclaiming stolen property. “Guys, guys! I’m not a villainess building an empire!” I tried to defend myself, but it was like shouting at a storm… the chants of Glory to the Queen! Rolled right over me, louder now that Lisa had them riled up like a halftime crowd.

  I could’ve kept fighting for control… or I could just slip back into the plan before this turned into a full-on coronation mosh pit. I chose survival.

  “Alright,” I said, forcing my voice up and over the roar until it cut through. “Here’s the part Lola actually wanted me to say.” I glanced down at the holo-tablet in my hand… my corporate lifeline. “So, and this is even new to me…” I flicked a quick look at Lola, who gave me the tiniest, most innocent smile. “We’ll have hundreds of gen. two capsules in the basement you’re free to use to enter Rimelion anytime you want. We’ll even try for gen fours, if we can… we’re already talking with the government.”

  That got a murmur; not the wild chant kind, but the focused hum of people turning to whisper Did she just say free to use capsules?

  I glanced toward Riker. He gave a small nod, smug as always. So Lola had clearly looped him in on this, and I was just the lucky messenger. “So that’s the Earth part,” I said, raising my voice again. “Now…”

  Deep breath. The Rimelion part.

  “As I told you earlier, I’m a citizen of Rimelion now. But I’ll admit it… I fumbled at the start.” That got some curious tilts of heads, a ripple of stillness as people leaned in.

  “Imagine it,” I said, holding the mic a little closer. “Level zero. Classless. Because citizens don’t start with one. I appear in a tent, out on the steppe… and there’s a raid. Wolves howling in the dark, swords flashing in the firelight. Next thing I know… I’m captured. Turned into a slave.”

  “Skill issue!” someone heckled from the back, and it set off a wave of laughter.

  I rolled my eyes, smiling. “Ah, maybe, maybe! But I was dragged against my will by Karzi into Altandai. And that city…” My voice dropped, just a little. “It’s cursed. You can smell it in the streets. Wealth stacked high enough and slaves forced to walk in sewers that reeked worse than death.”

  The crowd reaction shifted… laughter gone, replaced with a low, uncomfortable rumble. Some people grimaced; others leaned back like they could smell it just from the way I said it.

  “At first,” I went on, “I just wanted to get out. Run. Which… led to your first quest.” My gaze was catching familiar faces. Llama was leaning forward as if he were watching the last ten minutes of a cliffhanger episode. Katherine, naturally, was raiding the refreshment table without shame.

  “But… I couldn’t ignore the slaves. If I escaped, they’d still be trapped there. No. I had the power to change that. I have the power to change the world for the better. I’m a queen—”

  I didn’t even get to finish. Lisa’s voice blasted over the hall again: “GLORY TO THE QUEEN!”

  And of course, like some cursed call-and-response spell, the entire crowd joined in. The air vibrated with it; the sound bounced off the high ceiling and back again until it was like standing in the middle of a heartbeat.

  I felt my face heating and held up both hands to calm them. “Guys! Guys! Okay… uhm… yes. So.” I took a quick breath, meeting as many eyes as I could. “We are taking the city from the slavers’ hands.”

  That earned me another wave of cheers… not mocking this time, but sharp and approving. Clapping, whistles, the stomp of a boot somewhere near the back.

  And then—

  “Ahhh, the first step toward global Rimelion domination!” Riker’s voice boomed from the speakers. I flinched. The man had somehow gotten hold of the microphone. I found him instantly and… oh, of course Lisa was right there beside him, grinning like she’d just handed a toddler a loaded crossbow.

  “Villainess!” he declared, arm sweeping toward me as if he were unveiling a priceless painting. “A bold proclamation and an excellent plan! I, for one, applaud the ambition… world conquest always plays well with the crowd!”

  The room broke into another surge of noise… laughter, cheering, a few actual stomps of approval from somewhere on the left. I made a mental note to add confiscate Lisa’s microphone to my to-do list right after burn the villainess posters.

  “Okay, okay—” I reclaimed the mic like a prize wrestled back in a death match. “So, let me welcome…” I checked my notes, then looked toward the edge of the stage where two very different personalities stood. “…Admiral Lucy, the fearless pirate captain!”

  Lucy vaulted up with the ease of someone who had absolutely boarded a moving ship before, grinning like she was already halfway to stealing something.

  “And,” I continued, “Llama. The defender!”

  Llama joined her with a steady, measured pace, giving the crowd a calm nod that somehow contrasted perfectly with Lucy’s swagger.

  “Lucy here,” I said, turning slightly, so both were in view, “mapped the Altandai. And with our chief strategist Llama, they came up with the plan to take the city. The gist?” I grinned. “Shock and awe. I’ll summon demons, everyone’s favorite uninvited guest. They cause chaos, we overwhelm the city defenders, take key points, remove the current leadership… and the city is ours.”

  That got a ripple of giggles and murmurs, because apparently “summon demons” was a lot funnier when I said it like I was reading a shopping list.

  “So,” I went on, “the long version is from Llama himself!” I handed him the mic and slipped off the stage.

  “That was amazing!” Lola met me just past the stairs, pulling me into a hug warm enough to melt the snowflake banners still hanging overhead. I leaned into her, letting the weight of the room roll off my shoulders for a moment.

  “Lady,” she said, her voice thick with pride, “that was an inspiring speech. And you said almost everything we wanted.”

  Still in Lola’s hug, I glanced past her toward the throne. The wall behind it now displayed a blown-up screenshot of Altandai’s city map. Llama’s voice carried from the stage, calm and methodical, as he tapped at certain points. Each mark lit briefly, showing guard stations, choke points, and the routes we’d cut through first.

  “Aren’t we afraid the enemy learns of our plan?”

  The voice came from my right. Fty was suddenly there, sliding into the VIP section like he’d been lurking just out of sight. He still wore his cool black suit… the kind that looked like it had been tailored to make you feel underdressed and held a glass. His gaze flicked to the map, then to me. “Not everyone here is an ally.”

  I reluctantly peeled myself out of Lola’s hug and waved a dismissive hand toward the wall. “That? Please…” I gave a little scoff. “It’s just the teaser-trailer version. Just enough to get people hyped. The real plan? We’ll see what the situation is like on the day of the attack.”

  He considered that, then gave a single approving nod. “That is true. Your speech was amazing, by the way. I feel quite inspired.” A small smile tugged at his lips. “Congratulations, and thank you for having me in your company… and your kingdom.”

  I grinned and, before he could retreat into polite formality, stepped in and hugged him. He froze for a second… clearly not expecting that, before awkwardly patting my back with one hand.

  “Thanks, Fty! It’s great to have you here. You’re the best healer.”

  “I… see…” he said, his voice doing a weird little stutter on the word.

  “Lady!” Lola’s voice cut in, her tone crisp enough to snap my attention back. I released Fty and turned toward her.

  “Yes?”

  She didn’t look up, her eyes locked on the faint glow of her holo-tablet. “Damon is in the reception.”

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