Christina watched me for the first few bites, then started on her own food, though she kept her leg pressed against mine under the table.

“You know what I realized yesterday?” she suddenly spoke.

“What?”

“We’ve never actually taken a proper break together. Not since we started this whole thing.”

“We took a break last month,” I replied.

“That was four hours. And you spent two of them reviewing containment array specifications,” she rolled her eyes at me.

“The specifications needed to be reviewed.”

It’s not like I don’t trust my subordinates, but I want everything to be perfect.

“I know. But that’s my point!” She set down her fork and turned to face me more directly.

“When this is over, when we’ve actually taken down the Primordial Court and restructured their base to ours, I want us to go somewhere.”

A trip…?

That could be quite relaxing.

“Where?”

“I don’t know yet. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere without intelligence networks or weapons development or anyone who knows who we are.” She paused.

“Maybe one of the outer provinces. The ones near the edge of divine territory.”

…That’s quite the worst choice possible.

“Those provinces are politically unstable.”

“Exactly. No one will be looking for us there. We can just… exist. For a while.”

I considered this.

“How long is a while?”

“A month. Maybe two.”

“…That’s a lot of time.”

“The organization will survive without us for two months. That’s the entire point of the department structure. Christina leaned closer, her voice dropping.

“Besides, I want time with you where you’re not the Godking-in-waiting, and I’m not your strategic coordinator. Just us. As people. As gods who happen to love each other.”

“I am always myself.”

“No, you’re not… since we got here, you’re always scheming up simple, and always trying to find a way to get stronger.” Her hand found mine again.

“I want to see who you are when there’s nothing to fight for. When you can just… be.”

“I do not know if I know how to do that.”

“Then we’ll learn together.” She smiled.

“That’s part of the point.”

I turned my hand to hold hers properly.

“…After the invasion.”

“After the invasion,” she agreed. “That’s the deal. We take the Court, we survive, and then you’re mine… ONLY MINE, for two months. No arguments.”

I guess I can’t bring the other girls then.

“Agreed.”

Her smile widened, and she leaned in to press a quick kiss to my cheek.

“Good. Now tell me what you think about the rotation plan. Actually, tell me. I know you’ve been analyzing it since I mentioned it.”

She was right.

I had been… after all, nothing can go wrong in this operation.

“The forty-person insertion is sound,” I said. “But it assumes the Court does not have secondary verification systems we have not accounted for.”

“They do. Three of them, according to our sources. The first is a divine signature scan at the entrance. The second is a behavioral analysis array that tracks movement patterns. The third is random spot-checks by security personnel.”

“And you have solutions for all three?”

“The signature scan is handled by the identity arrays. The behavioral analysis is handled by our people, spending the next six weeks studying archived footage of Records Department personnel. Movement patterns, speech patterns, even how they hold their tea cups.” She paused.

“The spot-checks are the risk factor. We can prepare for most scenarios, but random variation is random.”

“What is the estimated failure rate?”

“Twelve percent chance of detection during the first week. Eight percent during the second week. Five percent after that, once our people have settled into their roles.”

“Twelve percent is quite high, no?”

“It is. But it’s the best we’re going to get without inside cooperation, and inside cooperation creates its own risks. Loyalty is difficult to buy when the price might be execution.”

“That’s true,” I nodded.

Christina picked up her cup and took a drink, her eyes moving to the window.

“I keep thinking about what happens after we’re inside. The Court has approximately two thousand combat-rated gods in its primary stronghold at any given time. We’re inserting forty. Even with superior technology, those numbers are not favorable.”

“The numbers change once we control their infrastructure.”

“Explain.”

“The Court’s defensive systems are designed to repel external threats. They are not designed to handle internal compromise. Once we have access to their control systems, we can turn their own defenses against them. Barrier arrays can be inverted. Weapons platforms can be redirected. Communication networks can be severed.”

She nodded slowly.

“That’s what I thought too. But it requires us to reach the central control nexus, which is located in the High Chamber, which is guarded by at least four 8✯ True Gods at all times.”

“Then we need a distraction.”

“A significant distraction. Something that pulls their attention away from the High Chamber long enough for a strike team to breach it.” She turned back to me.

“I have an idea about that, too.”

“Tell me.”

“What if we don’t just insert forty people? What if we insert forty people and simultaneously trigger a border incident on the eastern frontier?”

I looked at her.

“The eastern frontier is three provinces away.”

“Exactly. It’s far enough that it won’t seem connected to a personnel rotation at the central stronghold. But it’s significant enough that they’ll have to respond. The eastern frontier has been volatile for months. One more incident won’t seem unusual.”

“Except this incident will be us.”

“This incident will be us,” she confirmed.

“We send a secondary team to hit one of their border outposts. Make it look like a territorial dispute with the Eastern Coalition. The Court sends reinforcements from the central stronghold, including some of those 8✯ guards. That’s when our people inside make their move.”

I considered the variables.

“The timing has to be precise.”

“Down to the minute. That’s why I need your combat assessment. How long can a secondary team hold a border outpost against reinforcements?”

“Depends on the team composition and the outpost’s defensive capabilities.”

“Assume a team of twenty. Mixed star rankings, heaviest at 6✯. Outpost has standard defensive arrays but no divine-tier barrier systems.”

“Four hours if they are trying to hold. Thirty minutes if they are just trying to create chaos and withdraw.”

“Thirty minutes is enough. The strike team inside only needs twenty minutes to reach the High Chamber once the guards are pulled away.” She set down her cup.

“It works. The math works.”

“The math works if nothing goes wrong.”

“Nothing ever goes perfectly. That’s why we build in contingencies.” She shifted closer, her shoulder pressing against mine again.

“That’s why we have the counter-resonance weapon. If one of the 8✯ guards stays behind, forty seconds of disrupted authority output is enough time to bring them down with conventional attacks.”

“Assuming the weapon works as designed.”

“It will. I’ve watched the tests. It works.”

I looked at her.

“You have a lot of confidence in technology that is still in development.”

“I have confidence in the people who built it. Your people. Our people.” Her hand tightened around mine.

“And I have confidence in you.”

…Those words are just increasing the pressure on my shoulders.

After all… I don’t plan to tell Christina about the Outer Gods, as I will deal with them all by myself.

I’m absolutely sure that I cannot beat them… but I have a plan in mind, and if it works… I’ll be able to at least seal them for a while, until I get strong enough.

…Or if anything goes wrong, I’ll call… Yennefer.

I unconsciously touched the collar on my neck… a black crucifix with a line of Yennefer’s blood in the middle.

As long as I insert divinity to it… she’ll instantly be summoned by me.

Christina noticed the movement, and her eyes followed my hand to the collar, causing her expression to change.

“You’re doing it again!”

“What?”

“Going somewhere else in your head. Thinking about things you’re not telling me.” She paused, studying my face.

“There’s something you’re not saying.”

I didn’t answer.

She watched me for a moment longer, then sighed and shook her head.

“No. You know what? No.”

“What?”

“I’m not doing this right now. I’m not letting you disappear into whatever secret plan you’re keeping from me.” Her hand came up to touch my face, turning it gently so I had to look at her.

“Let’s just stop talking about this and focus on each other now.”

“Christina—”

“I mean it. No invasion plans. No technology assessments. No, whatever is going through your head that makes you touch that collar like it’s a lifeline.” Her thumb moved across my cheek.

“Right now, in this moment, I just want you. Present. Here. With me.”

I looked at her.

She was serious.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yes. Just us.”

Her expression softened immediately, and she smiled.

“Good. Because I’ve been talking about work for twenty minutes and I promised myself I wouldn’t do that.” She shifted closer, moving from her chair to settle in my lap instead.

“So now you have my complete attention. What are you going to do with it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Liar. You always know what to do.”

“….”

Instead of replying, I simply lifted her chin slighly, causing her to laugh softly and wrap her arms around my neck.

“So, you knew after all~”

She kissed me before I could respond. Her fingers threaded through my hair, and I pulled her closer instinctively.

When we broke apart, she was smiling against my mouth.

“See? That’s not too difficult, is it?”

“…You’re annoying.”

“Absolutely.”

She kissed me again, deeper this time, her hand moving to cup my face.

“Though you could stand to do it more often.”

“Noted.”

She grinned and pressed her forehead against mine.

“I love you. Even when you’re keeping secrets. Even when you’re impossible. Even when you show up late and bruised to our dates.”

“I love you too.”

“I know you do.” Her hand slid down to rest over my heart.

“I can feel it. Right here. Even when you don’t say it.”

…I’m sorry that I can’t be as enthusiastic as before.

I need to solve the matter of my race quickly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep