"Who is she?" Azael asked.

Lucas was quiet for a moment. Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a small crystal device. Smooth and flat, fitting neatly in the palm of his hand. He pressed a careful thread of mana into it.

A holographic screen bloomed open above it, soft and luminous in the night air.

Azael looked at the image.

He went quiet.

The woman in the photograph was there. Ther was no other word for it. She was stunning. Her hair was long and straight, white as fresh snow, falling past her shoulders in a clean, unbroken line.

Her skin was a deep, warm dark tan — rich and flawless, without mark or blemish, the kind of complexion that looked like it had been painted deliberately. Her face carried a quiet maturity to it, elegant and composed, the kind of beauty that didn’t ask for attention but received it regardless.

She looked somewhere around twenty seven or twenty eight. Her gown was black, and the figure beneath it was noticeable. Sensual in a way that was entirely natural rather than performed.

But what Azael’s eyes caught first, what made him actually look twice were her ears.

They were long, pointed.

"...Is she a dark elf?" he asked.

"Yes," Lucas said simply.

"I didn’t expect that."

"Most people don’t. After all this is somethjng thats happening first time in history. " Lucas looked at the image for a moment before closing the device. The holographic screen folded away into nothing. "She’s from the Elven Empire. One of the dark elf kingdoms– Nocthariel. Her name is Sylvara Dawnveil. Princess of House Dawnveil."

Azael let the name settle.

"And the marriage is political?"

"It’s historic, actually," Lucas said. He leaned back against the railing and folded his arms loosely. "This would be the first interracial marriage between royal families of two different kingdoms. Human and elf. It’s never been done before– not at this level. Both sides are trying to move toward a closer alliance, and this is the bridge."

Azael’s brows rose. "I thought humans and elves were neutral at best. Not unfriendly, just... distant."

"They were. But things are shifting. Both kingdoms see value in the relationship now." Lucas exhaled slowly. "And so here we are."

Azael looked out at the night city below for a moment.

"She’s genuinely beautiful, Lucas," he said. "I mean that plainly. You’re not exactly suffering in that department."

Lucas let out a short laugh. "Yeah. Maybe."

"What do you mean maybe? Look at her."

"I know what she looks like, Azael." Lucas’s voice wasn’t sharp, just tired around the edges. "And she’s not a bad person either. Not even close. In elven culture, marriage is — it’s sacred. Completely. Both men and women commit to one partner for their entire lives. No exceptions. No alternatives." He paused. "She doesn’t love me. Not yet. But she’s trying. She takes it seriously. The commitment, the effort– she’s genuinely putting it in. I can see it."

Azael listened without interrupting.

"And that’s what makes it harder," Lucas continued. "If she was cold or indifferent I could– I don’t know, distance myself from the guilt. But she’s trying. She’s starting to warm up to me. And I’m sitting here carrying feelings for someone else."

"And if you marry Maria as well," Azael said, following the thread, "then by elven values, you’ve already broken something that can’t be repaired. Not in Sylvara’s eyes."

"Exactly." Lucas looked at him. "You understand it."

"Now I fully understand why it’s weighing on you."

Silence settled between them for a moment. The city lights below flickered gently in the breeze.

Then Lucas turned to him with a direct look.

"What would you do? If you were in my position honestly."

Azael considered this genuinely for a few seconds.

Then he said.

"I’ll be straight with you. I’m not as good a man as you are. If it were me." he paused briefly.

"I would marry both of them. And I wouldn’t pretend otherwise. I’d put every effort into loving them equally, into building something real with both."

He glanced at the spot where the holographic image had been. "And someone like Sylvara. Devoted, loyal, genuinely trying? If I had a wife like that, I would do everything in my power to make her happy. I’d love her so completely that when the time came to ask her about Maria and I would ask, I wouldn’t just act and she’d already trust me enough to consider it."

He said it the way someone states a straightforward plan. Not boasting. Not ashamed.

Lucas stared at him.

Then he started laughing– a genuine one, surprised out of him.

"That is absolutely not what I expected you to say."

"You asked for honest."

"I did." Lucas shook his head, still smiling. "You know, part of me wishes I could just hand the arranged marriage to you."

Azael pointed at him immediately.

"Don’t. Don’t even joke about that. I don’t mind the idea in theory but your mother would have me buried somewhere scenic and permanent."

Lucas’s eyes lit up.

"Right– you were flirting with my mother earlier." He gave Azael a look of genuine amazement. "You actually did that. In front of everyone."

"I was paying a compliment," Azael said, with great dignity.

"You told the Empress of the known world that you’d follow her anywhere and it would be the greatest honor of your life."

"...Compliments come in different sizes."

Lucas laughed again. "You have actual nerves. I’ll give you that."

Azael smirked slightly.

"I’ll tell you something. I do have a preference for mature women. Your mother is well. Objectively remarkable. But I have no serious intentions there. Obviously. No matter how much she’s beautiful."

"Obviously," Lucas agreed, still amused.

"Good. As long as we understand each other."

Lucas leaned on the railing again, looking out at the city. After a moment he said, still grinning.

"Tell you what. If you ever actually manage to charm my mother. Genuinely seduce her, I’ll owe you. I’ll let you handle convincing her to release me from the arrangement so I can marry only Maria and won’t hurt Sylvara."

Azael looked at him.

"So you’re giving me, a son’s permission to seduce your mother."

"When you say it like that it sounds worse."

"Because it is worse."

Both of them looked at each other across the railing.

Then Azael said, with complete seriousness.

"We aren’t even blood related. And by your own admission she doesn’t think of me as actual family. So technically...if i seduce her i will help you get out of that arranged marriag."

"Azael."

"I’m just saying. Technically."

A beat of silence.

Then both of them burst out laughing at the same time properly, the unguarded kind, the sound of it carrying out over the balcony and into the quiet night air.

"Hahaha!!"

"Hahaha!"

It went on for a while.

Eventually it faded into the comfortable residue of shared laughter, both of them leaning against the railing with the easy looseness of people who have moved from strangers to something closer in the space of a single evening.

Lucas exhaled slowly, a last trace of the laugh still on his face.

"I feel better," he said. Quietly and genuinely. "I didn’t realize how much I needed to say that out loud to someone." He looked at Azael. "Thanks for listening."

"Anytime," Azael said.

And he meant it.

Lucas pushed off the railing and straightened, rolling his shoulders once. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"I’m going to bed. Long day." He glanced sideways at Azael with a tired smile. "Have a good night. And try not to charm anyone else before morning."

"No promises."

Lucas shook his head, laughing quietly to himself as he turned and walked back toward the corridor. His footsteps faded down the passage until the night was quiet again.

Azael stayed on the balcony a moment longer.

He looked out at the city below. The lights scattered across the dark like something spilled and breathed in the cool night air slowly.

’He really is a good person,’ he thought.

Then, after a while, he turned and walked back inside.

Lucas left while Azael remained alone at balcony. Looking at the city calmly.

Azael had barely turned from the railing when he heard footsteps.

He looked up.

Celestia walked onto the balcony with the same unhurried composure she carried everywhere, as though the night air and the quiet had simply arranged themselves around her arrival. Her silver braid rested over one shoulder, and the dark fabric of her gown moved softly with the breeze.

Azael straightened immediately.

He bowed properly, without hesitation.

"Your Majesty."

Celestia came to stand beside him at the railing. She looked out over the city below, her blue eyes calm and unreadable in the night light.

A moment passed.

Then she said, simply and without particular weight.

"I heard everything."

Azael stayed very still.

He wasn’t sure how long she had been standing there. Long enough, clearly. The question was exactly how much that covered.

The part about Lucas and Maria.

The part about Sylvara.

Or the part about her.

He kept his expression composed and said nothing, which felt like the only reasonable option available to him at this particular moment.

Celestia didn’t look at him.

She simply stood beside him, looking out at the lights of Valemyr spreading across the darkness below, her expression giving away absolutely nothing.