I rose, brushed imaginary dust from my cosplay skirt, and strode toward them. Time for an adult to discipline the children.

  “Okay, so what’s going on here?” I flicked my gaze between them like I was refereeing a slap-fight. “Ian? Damon? Lucas?”

  “It turns out,” Damon spat, his arms folding tight across his chest, “that my demotion is thanks to Ian here.” His chin lifted, defensive. “He sent me against you. I’m innocent.”

  “They used me the same way they used you, you—!” Ian’s voice pitched up, but he cut himself short when my glare hit him square in the face. He shifted his weight, muttering through his teeth. “I don’t know who they were, but they weren’t on Nathan’s side.”

  And then, right on cue, Riker decided the spotlight looked lonely without him in it.

  “If I may…” His voice rolled over the room like the first note of an opening-night monologue. “…offer my humble opinion and perhaps illuminate a few shadows?” He drifted toward us at an unhurried pace. “I rather suspect,” he said, “that I possess certain… details you may all be lacking.”

  “Sure, go ahead.” I gave him a nod, though my eyes stayed on the two oversized schoolboys in front of me. Riker could have the floor, but I was still grading their behavior.

  Riker’s gaze swept the lobby, cataloguing faces, exits, even the placement of the potted plants like it all might be relevant later. His eyes lingered a moment too long on the security post before drifting to the secretary, then to Lunaris.

  The smile never wavered, but the weight behind it shifted.

  “As much as I adore our current arrangements,” he drawled, “and as much as I trust your security…” He leaned in… not enough to invade my space, but enough to feel pressure. “…we would be far better served in a more… appropriately secure location.”

  “Follow me,” Lola said, already moving toward the elevator.

  “Eh…” I scrambled for words, then gave up with a shrug. “You heard the… chief of staff? Is that your role now, Lola?”

  “For now, yes, Lady,” she replied without inflection. Too neutral. Weird.

  “Okay, Damon, Lucas, Ian, me, Riker, and Lola. That’s it—sorry folks, the show’s over.” I tossed a wink toward Lunaris and Iraklis. “Sorry, see you back at the party, hopefully soon.”

  We rose back to my floor, and I reclaimed my elevated seat as if it were a throne that had been briefly loaned out. Heh. Home turf.

  “Thank you for your patience,” Riker began, his tone the kind of smooth that made you check for hidden barbs. “The Ring of Smiling People is not… a coherent organization. It is rather a collection of ambitious individuals… each pursuing their own designs.”

  He gestured elegantly, first toward me and Lucas, then toward Damon. “For example, at present, the Villainess, her… underlings, and I are aligned with Jeffrey. Whereas you, Damon, stand with Nathan.”

  “Damn right,” Damon said, crossing his arms with a self-satisfied nod. “And he gave me the right to send a message.”

  Riker’s smile didn’t shift much; just a tiny upward quirk that suggested he’d already factored this into his mental script. “I don’t doubt it. Nathan’s plans are… opaque. But his actions? They speak volumes. Blocking our movie. Banning the Villainess.”

  “I’m not—” I started to protest, but the look Riker shot me said go ahead, feed me the setup. So I shut my mouth and settled for glaring daggers.

  “But,” Riker went on, “from a source I will not name, I can tell you this… there is a third party at work. Tell Nathan that another member of his… friend circle… is responsible. They pushed you. They pushed Ian. It is not as clear-cut as you might wish to believe.”

  “Wait! Nathan wasn’t the one responsible?!” I snapped, spinning toward Damon. “I thought you were acting on his orders!”

  Damon laughed. “The first almost-ban? No, but now? Hell yes, I am! I have to thank you for that.” His grin widened. “Now I have the power I always wanted.”

  My mind started racing, and I glanced to the side. The city outside the wide windows was sinking into night, the last remnant of twilight fading into deep blue, and streetlights blinked to life.

  “With power,” Riker said smoothly, his tone almost casual as he lowered himself into the chair opposite Damon, “comes responsibility.” He laced his fingers together, the faintest smile tugging at his lips. “Do with that truth what you will. But… tell Nathan to stop blocking the movie. We’ll challenge it if we must.”

  Damon leaned back, shoulders loose, his grin deep. “Stop? Sure. She just needs to leave the game.” He jabbed a finger in my direction. “That’s all Nathan wants.”

  “It’s not a game,” I said, the words heavier than I intended. “I live there.” I could feel the truth of it in my bones.

  “Yeah, right.” Damon’s smirk didn’t falter. “You hacked it, faked not being a player to avoid ban, and now you’re playing the innocent. Nice move with the UEE, but you can’t fool me.”

  I just stared at him, baffled. Yes, he’d never been the brightest in the class, but back then he’d been… humble. Now, there was nothing but swagger. First, he’d had the power to ban people. Now?

  The power to enforce whatever Nathan told him.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Will I change? The thought crawled in, uninvited. I lead people now, whether I like it. That means power. The power to change lives. Damn it, I can’t become like him.

  “Is there anything else I can… do?” I asked, exhaling the weight of it all.

  “Sure.” He tilted his head like he was offering a favor. “Say I was right… that you faked your player status somehow. I might tell Nathan you tried to cooperate. He might even stop blocking your movie, NoobJohn.”

  Silence. We all stared at him.

  “What?” Damon shrugged, all innocence. “Hard to believe my generosity? We used to be friends.”

  I took a long inhale, letting it fill me before glancing at Riker. He was already watching me, his expression one of mild amusement, as though the whole thing were an entertaining chess match. He gave a small nod.

  “You were right, Damon,” I started, keeping my voice level. “I could have handled our… first meeting better.”

  Damon gave me a smug brief nod. “It wasn’t my fault, okay? They forced my hand…”

  Lucas raised a hand. “Damon. Contact Nathan. Jeffrey talked to him.”

  “Wouldn’t really—” Damon stopped mid-retort, glancing at his holo-phone. His face drained faster than cheap whiskey. “Don’t know what strings you pulled, but you’re free to… release that movie. Won’t even block you from buying the new-gen capsules. And your ban is lifted.” His tone was halfway between disbelief and nausea.

  Then, with an awkward blink, he added, “Ah! Expect us to join Count Itzel. Whatever you’re trying to do, we’ll stop it.” He smiled as if he thought that was a mic drop. “I’ll be also…” His eyes darted to the screen again. “Uh… what? Okay, that’s weird…” A shake of his head. “You don’t need to know that yet.”

  Riker clapped. “Well! What a marvelously productive evening! One could say 200 hundred chapters long! Plots untangled, secrets revealed… why, it’s almost enough to make me forget we have a party waiting for us!” With a flourish that was entirely unnecessary, he gestured toward the elevator. “Come, Miss Charlie and entourage, let us return to your spectacular soirée!”

  We headed for the elevator, Lola trailing at a pace that could only be described as reluctant sloth. When we hit the lobby, Damon’s smug rebooted instantly. “Now that I know it wasn’t my fault, I hope to meet you all at the bar. Yeah, and see you on the battlefield!” He gave a little wave and strode out as if he’d just won something.

  “Go ahead, I’ll join you shortly,” Lola said, her voice oddly tight. Tearful, even. Before I could ask, she slipped away, and the door shut behind her.

  “I still hate him,” Ian muttered. “I’m sorry—”

  I raised my hand, cutting that off before it could turn into a therapy session. “Let’s enjoy our party. There’ll be enough work tomorrow.”

  The VIP elevator doors slid open, and Riker strolled out first, beaming. “Wise words! Thank you for inviting me.”

  “I’ll…” Lucas glanced at me, then around the room. “I need to meet Pearl. Check up on her. Maybe convince her to come here. We should be in the clear for now… Jeffrey pulled through.”

  I stepped out with Ian and shot Lucas a curious look. “Good job. What did we promise him?”

  “Well…” Lucas’ eyes flicked to the elevator buttons as if they held the secrets of the universe. “We… IOU?”

  “A favor,” Ian almost giggled. “Damn, he’ll come for your kingdom.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Should I mention to Lunaris what a prick you were?”

  Ian raised his hands in surrender and melted back into the crowd, vanishing just as the elevator doors closed on Lucas.

  I was left standing alone in the crowd at my party, still riding the leftover buzz from the elevator drama. Before I could even start thinking about what drink to grab next, someone tugged on my sleeve.

  “Miss Charlie?”

  I glanced sideways and found myself looking up, annoying, but not unusual, at a girl who seemed to have walked straight out of a pastel dream.

  Pink hair streaked with soft blue framed her pale face, her vivid violet eyes were catching the light. She wore a short plaid skirt, a grey hoodie with the sleeves pushed up, black thigh-high socks, and chunky white sneakers accented in pink and blue. A few delicate silver earrings winked against the glow of the chandeliers.

  She was the kind of cute that balanced on the knife-edge of trouble. This party’s dress code was basically “full Rimelion cosplay” or “formal wear,” nothing in between… except for her. And a few other chaos agents, apparently.

  “That’s me,” I said, tapping my crown and motioning for her to follow me toward the VIP area. She didn’t have a pass, but the security guys waved her through without blinking.

  Perks of having the queen literally invite you in.

  “Thank you!” Her smile brightened as she scanned the area. “I’m Sylvia Yuki, and I think I've found a relic!” She almost bounced on her heels. “I was walking around the ruins of your city… Yarriw! It was so beautiful! And then I saw these murals about an old queen…”

  Her words tumbled faster as she described it, how she’d been piecing together the story, searching for hidden details, when enemies surprised her and killed her before she could escape. I took a chair, no need to perch on the throne, and waited for her to sit across from me.

  She didn’t.

  Instead, she shifted from foot to foot, her energy sparking like a static charge. “But before they killed me,” she said, “I found something! There was a clue to finding the sword called Lithorien! I even got a quest. It’s legendary!”

  Her excitement was infectious; I felt my heartbeat pick up.

  Wait, Lithorien.

  My mind stalled. That was the legendary scaling sword wielded by Magic Swordswielder Yuki, the very one fighting style I wanted to use as the blueprint for Lucas’ magic swordsman build. My eyes widened before I could stop myself.

  “You’re the Magic Historian, Yuki!” I blurted.

  She blushed but nodded, a little shy smile creeping across her face. “That sounds… wow. I really like it, Queen!” She grinned. “So, that’s what I, uh… wanted to ask…” Her voice dipped into something almost shy enough to melt the floor. “Quest says… end of dungeon. Looks hard.”

  Oh. Ohhh. Could I get her on my side? Into my kingdom? “So you need someone to go there?”

  “Someone I can trust not to steal my sword,” she added softly.

  I nodded, feeling a warm, almost fizzy rush in my chest. “And you decided to ask me?” Trust like that… it hit different.

  “You have better items…” She shrugged. “And you gave Tramar that picky hat.”

  I fought the urge to facepalm and lost. “That?! Of all the things; there were so many items, and people… you remember an old, stupid hat?”

  “It’s cool!” she protested instantly. “I found a detail about the previous owners. Wanna hear?”

  Before I could stop her, she plopped into the chair and launched into a rapid-fire history lesson. A string of wizard names flew past me like a flock of spell-slinging pigeons. I did not know who any of them were. I’d read a lot of books in Rimelion, sure… but whatever ancient tome she’d dug up in those ruins was clearly out of my league.

  Truly, Magic Historian Yuki.

  While Yuki rattled on about the illustrious career of Wizard Kaloe the Scarred, I kept nodding along, dutifully agreeing that yes, of course he was equally proficient in fire magic and… cleaning magic. Because apparently that was a thing.

  That’s when I spotted movement; Lola, finally emerging from upstairs after… whatever mysterious “chief of staff” business she’d been dealing with. She didn’t cut in, didn’t smile, didn’t even sit. She just stood there, her posture taut, waiting for Yuki to run out of historical trivia.

  I raised a hand. “Hold that thought, Yuki. I need to talk to Lola.”

  Yuki nodded, and I joined Lola. “How are things? Everything okay?”

  “No, Lady.” Lola’s voice was calm, too calm, as she stepped forward and handed me a holo-tablet. “I don’t think I’m a good chief of staff.”

  She pointed at an file.

  “Here is the spreadsheet of where I failed, Lady.”

  …What?

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