Aefia's mouth open and shut, but no words came out. Then, she gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into a fist.
"You!" She muttered under her breath, slowly turning her head over her shoulder. "Did you just... Call me an idiot?!"
Helio's face suddenly paled as he took a step backward while trying to hide his blade. Then his eyes drifted to her sides, where she was holding two blades at each. It felt like his soul left his body.
"Oh... Oh no..." He tried his best to force out a smile. "What? Idiot? Who said that?"
"No don't act so innocent!" She shouted back, turning fully towards him and pointing an accusatory finger at his direction while he looked away, suddenly finding the tree trunk very interesting. "Hey! Are you even listening?!"
"What? Oh! Yes! Yes, that is nice!" He panickingly blurted out. Then, shit... Why did I just blurt out whatever was in my mind?!
Aefia turned suspiciously silent, her eyes following his line of sight. A smirk settling onto her face as her eyes widened in surprise.
"The tree..."
Helio suddenly shifted his gaze back at her, curiously.
"THE TREE IS NICE! THE TREE HAS NEVER INSULTED HIM! THE TREE IS HIS NEW BEST FRIEND!" She shouted out, storming towards his direction.
"I CAN EXPLAIN!" He held his hands out in surrender, waving them frantically. "Look—Aefia—my love—my terrifyingly armed bride-to-be!" Helio stammered, his voice dropping an octave as he tried to regain a shred of dignity. "In my defense, you were slouched over groaning like an eighty-year-old grandmother! How was I supposed to know the ghost who just leveled the Mides palace was my fiancée... complaining about lower back pain?!"
Aefia let out an indignant gasp, clutching her chest. "Lower back pain?! I was chained to a stone wall by my wrists for hours, Helio! I just dismantled an entire battalion of anti-magic guards, blew up a mountain crystal reserve, set fire to an entire dynasty's ancestral portraits, and walked out the front gates! I am allowed to have creaky joints!"
"You burned down an entire royal estate and your primary complaint to your fiancé is ergonomics?!" Helio shouted, throwing his hands up in utter disbelief. He stared at her, a mixture of profound relief, sheer exhaustion, and absolute awe washing over his face. "Do you have any idea what it looked like from the eastern ridge? The sky turned purple and crimson! The entire south wing collapsed! The ministers are probably jumping out of windows as we speak!"
"And you are here admiring tree trunks?!"
"THEY ARE VERY RARE INDEED!"
"Oh, absolute brilliant deduction, Helio!" Aefia declared, throwing her hands up in dramatic, sarcastic flair. "Give the man a prize! He found a log that doesn't talk back! Truly, a peak intellectual breakthrough for my brilliant fiancé!"
"I SWEAR I DIDN'T KNOW!" He protested.
"Really?! Like my hair isn't an uncommon colour?! Seriously! I had to deal with a fucking serial killer, escaped out of prison with work still left to be done, and I come out to find my fiancé! Not recognizing me and admiring a fucking tree!" She stepped right into his space, pointing her index finger ar his nose.
"I need support Helio! Support! Not 'yes that is nice'!" Aefia tapped her feet rhythmically on the ground.
He stared down at her wide eyes, then let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, I get it now." He lifted his hand to pull down her finger from his face.
"You were just mad and you had to dump it somewhere, so that is now me."
"Took you long enough to realize!" She huffed, folding her arms and stepping back. Then, lifted a hand to pinch the bridge between her eyes. "Ugh... Things have been so hectic... I am drained."
He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and rocking her side to side. "You are going to make everyone in the palace jump out the window while cursing under their breath at you." A smirk taking root in his lips as he leaned forward to kiss the crown of her head.
"Good," Aefia snorted. "Saves me the trouble of throwing them out myself." She shifted her head slightly, looking up at him. Her height stayed three inches shorter as always.
"What are you even doing out here in the woods, anyway?" she asked softly, raising an eyebrow. "Searching for more trees to socialize with, or were you actually looking for me?"
Helio let out a long, shuddering sigh, his shoulders slumping as he gently reached out, his fingers carefully tracing the edge of her jaw—avoiding the dried blood on her skin.
"You could say that I came to personally confront the current Mides King. Took me a while to realize all this was a plan of yours. I didn't know at first that you would expect me to lead an entire army. How were you so sure?"
She let out a sigh, before burying her face right back at his shoulder. "I just placed all my bet and trust on you, and then waited. I had a feeling your curiosity would get the end of you."
Helio chuckled, the vibration rumbling warm and steady against her cheek as he tightened his arms around her, holding her close against the crisp woodland chill.
"Curiosity, huh?" he murmured, resting his chin lightly atop her dark hair. "You make me sound like a stray cat following a trail of fish, Aefia. Though... I suppose when the trail consists of exploding crystal reserves and crimson skies, it's hard not to follow."
He moved slightly, shifting his weight so he could look down into her hidden face. "Do you have any idea how much convincing it took to mobilize the border regiments on nothing more than a 'hunch' that my terrifying fiancée was about to tear a kingdom apart from the inside?"
Aefia didn't lift her face from his shoulder, but he could feel the slight curve of her lips pressing through the fabric of his shirt. "And yet... here you are. At the exact right tree, at the exact right time."
"Hm... maybe because I have an idea of how your mind works," Helio said softly, his voice losing its playful edge as he gently stroked the back of her head, his fingers threading through her tangled hair. "You never just survive, Aefia. You orchestrate. When I saw the south wing detonate, I knew you weren't running away—you were sweeping the board. So I positioned the troops along the eastern pass to cut off the ministers' escape routes and secure the outer perimeter."
Aefia finally pulled her face back, tilting her head up to look at him. Despite the dirt smudging her cheek, the faint copper scent of drying blood, and the redness under her eyes, she was still able to smile after such a long fight.
"So you actually did your homework," she purred, a faint, smug smirk tugging at her lips. "I suppose I can forgive you for the tree incident. Almost."
"Oh, thank the heavens," Helio placed a hand over his heart with mock relief. "I was worried I would have to sleep in the woods with my new best friend tonight."
"Don't tempt me," Aefia snorted, though her body betrayed her exhaustion as she leaned a bit more of her weight against him. "Where is the vanguard stationed?"
"Two miles north, hidden in the ravine," Helio replied, his expression turning serious as he smoothed down the collar of her sage green vest, carefully avoiding the healed red skin on her throat where Kazimir's blade had bit. "The ministers are in absolute panic. Reports are already circulating that the King was found incapacitated in the dungeons, and with the royal crests burned to ash, half the noble houses are preparing to surrender before your army even reaches the gates."
Aefia let out a low, satisfied hum, resting her hand over Spectrum's hilt at her hip. The dark blade pulsed faintly, as if agreeing with the turn of events.
"Good," she whispered, her garnet eyes flashing with cold, decisive authority. "Let them tremble. They supported a monster in the dark, so they can watch their kingdom crumble in the light."
Helio looked down at her—at the girl who had survived a locked closet on another world, escaped a serial killer in a dungeon, and somehow still had the mental strength left to act human—and felt a profound, overwhelming pride surge through his chest.
"Come on," Helio said gently, lacing his fingers securely through hers and pulling her toward the path leading north. "Let's get you to the camp. I will have the medics look at those wrists, get you a warm coat, and find you the biggest plate of food in the province."
"And a chair with proper lumbar support?" Aefia called out as she let him lead her through the trees.
Helio laughed, the sound echoing brightly through the quiet forest. "Only the finest throne I could find."
A few steps later, he felt a tug at his arms. Looking over his shoulder, Aefia had stopped dead on her track and fixed him with a death stare.
"Is something wrong about that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's nothing," Aefia grumbled, though her garnet eyes still darted a sharp, narrowing glance toward his face before she broke into a quick, light jog to catch up. She fell into step beside him, the soles of her boots crunching rhythmically against the dry pine needles carpeting the forest floor.
Helio watched her out of the corner of his eye. The contrast between her cold, terrifying efficiency in the palace and her current, slightly pouting demeanor was almost dizzying. He adjusted his grip on her fingers—and paused.
His thumb brushed against the bare skin of her left ring finger. The familiar, smooth metal band that was usually there was entirely gone. He immediately froze.
"Aefia," Helio asked, his tone dropping into quiet curiosity. "Where's your ring? Your hand feels... empty."
Aefia didn't look at him, her gaze fixed stubbornly on the winding path ahead.
"Kazimir," she said simply, her voice dropping into a flat, unimpressed monotone. "A few days after I was locked up, the bastard came into the cell and pried it off my finger."
Helio's grip tightened instantly, a flash of genuine anger darkening his green eyes. "He took it?"
"Worse. He explicitly bragged about selling it off to some shady black-market fence to cover his gambling debts," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Said something about how a prisoner didn't need high-grade magical silver where she was going."
The sheer audacity of it made a vein throb subtly near Helio's temple. His jaw clenched tightly for a second, the urge flaring hot in his chest before he forced a long, theatrical breath out through his nose.
He turned his head to look at her, forcing his lips into a light, dramatic smirk. "You know... taking my ring and selling it off like that... I am starting to think Kazimir might actually be madly in love with me."
Aefia stopped dead in her tracks again, her jaw dropping as she stared at him in utter disbelief. "He... what?"
"Think about it!" Helio insisted smoothly, placing his free hand over his heart with an exaggerated nod. "He steals my mark of engagement, keeps it close, and liquidates it just to spite me? It's classic behavior. Too bad for him, though—I already rejected his hypothetical suit long before he even got the chance to ask. My heart belongs strictly to terrifying women who burn down palaces."
Aefia stared at him, her eyebrows twitching as her mind tried to process the sheer, unadulterated absurdity of his logic. "Helio... he is a literal serial killer who tried to bleed me dry against a stone wall. What part of that translates to romantic rivalry in your brain?!"
"A tragic, unrequited love story," Helio declared solemnly, nodding to himself as he kept walking. "Truly heartbreaking."
"You are completely insane," Aefia muttered under her breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I am surrounded by absolute lunatics."
Yet, despite her sharp words, the tight line of her shoulders relaxed just a fraction more. She let him pull her forward again, letting the ridiculous commentary slide only because she was far too exhausted to launch a proper verbal counter-attack.
They walked in relative silence for another ten minutes, the canopy above growing denser as the path dipped into a shadowy ravine. The adrenaline that had carried Aefia through the prison break, the royal throne room, and her arson spree was finally, irrevocably wearing off. Her limbs began to feel as though they were filled with wet sand, every stride taking twice as much effort as the last.
Without warning, Aefia slouched dramatically forward, her knees buckling slightly.
"Stop," she groaned, her voice muffled against the back of her hands.
Helio spun around instantly. "What's wrong?"
Aefia lifted her head, her heavy eyelids drooping over her garnet eyes. She gave him a flat, uncompromising look. "Carry me."
Before Helio could even open his mouth to answer, she took two shuffling steps forward, bypassed his outstretched arms entirely, and hauled herself right up onto his back. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, hooked her knees around his waist, and resting her forehead against his shoulder.
Helio blinked in surprise, catching her thighs just in time to stabilize them both. "Well... alright then. No warning necessary, I see."
"Shut up and walk," she mumbled into his shirt, her voice already sounding thick with heavy, inescapable sleep. "My legs have officially resigned. You are my horse now."
Helio let out a soft, affection-filled laugh, adjusting her weight higher against his back so she wouldn't slide down. "Yes, Your Highness. Whatever you command."
He resumed his steady march up the ravine trail. With every step he took, the tension in Aefia's body visibly melted away. Within a few dozen paces, the irregular rhythm of her breathing gradually slowed, evening out entirely.
She was completely, utterly fast asleep.
By the time it was nearly afternoon, the canvas tents and flickering campfires of the border regiment vanguard came into view. Soldiers in silver-and-blue armor stood at attention as their commander approached, their eyes widening in shock at the sight of the notorious, blood-splattered Imperial Crown Princess piggybacking casually on their leader.
Helio held up a quiet hand, silencing the guards before they could utter a single loud greeting.
He carried her straight into the main command tent, stepping over map tables and scrolls before carefully lowering her onto a plush, fur-lined cot set up near the center pole. Aefia let out a soft, discontented murmur at the loss of his warmth, curling immediately onto her side and pulling her knees toward her chest.
Helio smiled softly.
Fetching a basin of warm water and a clean cloth, Helio knelt quietly beside her cot. With gentleness, he wiped away the dark smudges of soot from her cheeks, the dried crimson streaks from her jawline, and the dirt clinging to her hands.
"Your Grace?" A guard stood outside. "May I submit the reports now?"
Helio didn't even look over his shoulder, but his brows furrowed in irritation. "No. I am busy.