Chapter 99: Chapter-99

It was a self-deprecating smile, small and tired, the smile of someone who had been running for a very long time.

“How likely is it,” he said quietly, “that leaving this world would help? It doesn’t matter where I go. He follows me. He’s always followed me. And the system’s eyes follow ’him’.” He shook his head slowly. “I don’t even know what to do anymore. All I do is run, and all he does is chase. Run and chase, run and chase. That’s our routine. That’s been our routine for—”

He stopped himself.

“A long time,” he finished.

Heena studied him. “Your mission here is complete, right?”

He nodded slowly.

Heena held his gaze. “And you didn’t leave this world because of him. Didn’t you?”

Estov opened his mouth, closed it.

Then, after a long pause, he said quietly, “He’s… quite cute. And I wanted to spend some time with him.”

Heena stared.

Then she burst out laughing—not the cruel laugh from before, but something genuinely warm and disbelieving. “You ’old couple’. You’ve been together, on and off, for at least a hundred years across different worlds, and you’re ’still’ not satisfied? You’re hoarding time like a miser hoarding coins!”

Estov laughed too, reluctantly, leaning back into the sofa cushions with a wince. “You know… when you find someone you love, you’ll understand exactly what I mean.”

Heena’s laughter faded into a soft, amused sigh. “Whatever,” she said, standing up and smoothing her jacket. “If you want to survive the system’s eyes right now, then stay in this world. I’ll handle it.”

Estov’s head snapped up. “You’ll… ’handle’ the system’s eyes?”

“Don’t look so shocked,” Heena said. “I’ve caused so much chaos in this world already that the system’s attention is entirely occupied with ’my’ mess. You’re practically invisible by comparison. So as long as you stay close and don’t do anything catastrophically stupid—” she gave him a meaningful look “—you should be fine for a while.”

Estov was quiet, studying her face as if looking for the trick.

“Besides,” Heena added, “it’s not a big concern. I’m focused on completing my own mission and eventually leaving. Until then, one more person hiding in my shadow is hardly noticeable.”

Estov’s eyes narrowed curiously. “When are you planning to leave? Do you have a timeline?”

Heena fell into a brief, thoughtful silence.

Then she said, very calmly: “I’m going to get married. Have children. Raise them until they’re capable of running the empire themselves. So…” She tilted her head. “Roughly fifteen more years, I think.”

The silence that followed was absolute.

Estov stared at her.

And stared.

“You’re going to,” he said slowly, “get married.”

“Yes.”

“’Again.’”

“Yes.”

He blinked. “To which one? The five—”

“Oh, no,” Heena said, waving a hand dismissively. “I’m leaving those five useless deadbeats.”

Estov opened his mouth.

Closed it.

Opened it again. “Then who—”

Heena smiled, slow and wicked, with the expression of someone who had already made up their mind and was simply enjoying the delay before saying it out loud.

“I’m thinking,” she said, “of marrying the prettiest one who’s come my way recently.”

The smile widened.

“Someone with blue eyes. Very nice jewelry. Excellent taste in dancing partners.”

Estov’s eyes went round.

“The ’prince’?!” he nearly choked. “You’re going to marry Prince Larus?!”

“He’s very handsome,” Heena said serenely. “And he doesn’t bore me. That’s a rare quality.”

“You have ’five husbands’!” Estov practically shrieked, then caught himself, lowering his voice to a furious hiss. “Five! Currently! In this palace! Who are already losing their minds over you dancing with the man!”

“Yes, well,” Heena said, picking up her bag from the settee with a serene expression, “that’s rather their problem, isn’t it?”

She headed to the door.

“Rest here,” she said over her shoulder. “And Estov—”

He looked up, still visibly processing everything.

“Tell your dragon to be quiet,” she said. “I run a respectable palace.”

She walked out.

System 427 fell into step beside her in the corridor, ears flat.

“Host,” he said carefully. “Were you serious? About Prince Larus?”

Heena smiled and said nothing.

The system covered his face with his paws.

“We are absolutely doomed,” he whispered.

.

.

.

An hour later

Now that Estov and everyone else was out, Heena had literally thrown System 427 out the window—’literally’, the lion-shaped bundle of light went sailing into the bushes below—because she wanted to work. Finish this final stack of documents so she could spend her evening properly: watching handsome men dance, ideally with a glass of wine in her good hand.

She was on the last document. The final signature. Freedom was one pen stroke away.

Then the door ’slammed’ open.

Heena’s hand closed so hard around her pen that the ornate ivory casing ’crunched’ and splintered. Ink sprayed across the parchment. She looked up with eyes that could have frozen hell itself, bared her teeth, and spoke two words with absolute, murderous certainty:

“Execute him.”

The guards stationed outside rushed in immediately, grabbing the intruder by both arms.

“Your Majesty,” the man said, his voice utterly flat, devoid of inflection or fear. “Are you quite certain you wish to kill me?”

Heena paused.

She looked—actually looked—at who they held.

Her secretary. The efficient, greedy, overworked secretary who had just yesterday accepted a tripled salary to hire seven subordinates and do her job for her.

He stared at her from behind his glasses, tie slightly askew, expression completely blank.

“Well,” Heena said, leaning back in her chair and tossing the broken pen aside. “You dared to enter my office without permission. I think that’s a perfectly reasonable cause for execution, don’t you?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he said, turning his head away as if preparing for the blade. “Quite reasonable. I am ready to die.”

He actually started to walk away with the guards.

“As you wish,” he added over his shoulder. “Though I do recall that the remaining ten thousand documents requiring your signature are currently locked in my office. I suppose after my execution, Your Majesty will have to process them herself. Along with the trade agreements. And the tax reforms. And the diplomatic correspondence.”

He took another step.

“Wait,” Heena said.

The guards paused, confused.

Heena smiled, warm and sudden as sunrise. “Secretary. You can’t even handle a joke. I was only teasing.”

She stood up, walked over to him, and clapped him on the shoulder with her uninjured hand. Just a friendly, affectionate gesture between employer and employee. “I was just joking. Release him, guards. We’re only playing. Get lost!”

The guards looked at each other, bewildered, but obeyed. The door closed behind them.

The secretary looked at her, still expressionless. “It’s fine, Your Majesty. Truly. You can just kill me. It would be easier than the alternative.”

“Come now,” Heena laughed, a light, musical sound. “Joking around is good for the health. Laughter makes you live longer! Didn’t you know?”

The secretary stared at her for a long moment, then sighed. A tiny, exhausted sound.

He straightened his tie, adjusting it with precise fingers back to its proper position after the guards had mussed it.

“So,” Heena said, returning to her seat and picking up a new pen. “What are you doing here, sweetheart? Missed me already?”

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