The door to the command center slid open with a sharp hiss, and the soldier on duty nearly fell out of his chair.
"C-Commanding Officer Lysera? What are you doing here? You applied for leave today."
He stammered, eyes wide.
Lysera frowned.
"I what?"
The young man blinked, glancing at the tablet in his hands as if double-checking reality itself.
"You sent a formal leave request. Approved just this morning. Said you'd be unavailable all day."
"I most certainly did."
Lysera said coldly, stepping further into the room.
The officer straightened up immediately.
"So why…are you here?"
She gave him a withering look.
The man hesitated, then lowered his voice.
"Was it an emergency? Did something happen?"
"The alarm. I came because of the sudden breach alert."
Lysera said crisply.
The soldier stared at her blankly.
"Ma'am… there's been no breach."
Silence hung in the air between them like fog.
Lysera narrowed her eyes.
"The system triggered an internal defense response twenty minutes ago. I traced it to this district. Don't tell me I imagined it."
"I wouldn't dare. But if no one else got that alert… either it was routed to you directly… or someone tampered with your systems."
The soldier said quickly, then frowned.
His eyes went wide with realization.
"Ma'am, is someone playing a prank on you?"
Lysera's expression darkened immediately.
"No one with a functioning survival instinct would even consider it."
She turned to leave but paused mid-step. A thought drifted through her mind—unwelcome and annoying.
Fearless. Annoying. Blonde.
Irielle.
She hadn't seen the elf in days. Come to think of it, she hadn't thought about Irielle in days either. That, clearly, had been a mistake. A critical one.
Lysera's jaw tightened.
The soldier on duty noticed her sudden stillness.
"Commander? Did you think of someone?"
"Focus on your duties. This is not your concern."
Lysera said sharply.
He saluted immediately, relieved to be dismissed from the conversation.
Lysera left without another word, her boots clicking briskly against the stone floor as she made her way through the compound. Her pace quickened with each step until she was practically sprinting.
A pit of unease had settled deep in her stomach.
She didn't run. Not unless it was a battlefield or a code red alert. But right now, with every second that passed, her instincts screamed at her to hurry.
Something had gone wrong.
She reached her residence in record time and pushed open the front door—only for her entire body to freeze.
Her senses flared instantly. The presence she'd left behind inside—the one that had been resting quietly in her spare room—was gone.
The house was quiet. Too quiet.
A chill slithered down her spine.
She stepped in carefully, scanning the living room. Nothing was out of place… except for the single sheet of cream-colored parchment resting on the central table.
Her jaw tightened the second she saw the elegant, looping handwriting. She didn't need to read it to know who it was from.
But she read it anyway.
[Dearest Lysera,
Since you forgot to introduce me to your little guest, I decided to introduce myself instead! She's absolutely charming, by the way. Don't worry—I'm treating her with the utmost care. If you want her back, well… you know where to find me.
Fondly,
Your only and only ]
Lysera's eye twitched.
She folded the note in half with cold precision and placed it gently back on the table.
Then stood there.
Trying very hard not to act.
This wasn't the first time Irielle had pulled something outrageous. The elf loved provoking her—especially with teasing games. She thrived on them.
And normally, Lysera didn't give her the satisfaction of reacting.
But now…
Now, she couldn't ignore it.
Her muscles tensed. Her instincts were clawing at her mind. She needed to move. Now.
She couldn't explain it.
That human girl—Kana—was a stranger. Lysera hadn't known her for more than a few hours.
She was unregistered, unverified, and confusing. She couldn't even prove her identity with proper credentials.
But Lysera couldn't stop thinking about her.
The memory of Kana's flustered face. The way her eyes had widened when Lysera leaned too close.
The odd warmth that had settled in Lysera's chest when she realized the girl wasn't dangerous, just… lost.
And now she was gone.
Taken.
By Irielle.
Lysera's hands clenched into fists at her sides.
This wasn't about procedure anymore. Or responsibility. Or logic.
It was personal.
She turned on her heel and stormed back toward the door.
For once, she didn't bother with armor.
Fifteen minutes later, Lysera was walking briskly down one of the merchant streets in the heart of the elven district, drawing glances with every step.
Her expression was tight. Focused.
People stepped aside without needing to be asked.
They knew better.
It didn't take her long to find the place. Irielle always operated from the same spot when she was in the mood to cause trouble—a lavish estate on the edge of the inner city, with silken banners draped across the archways and music always playing faintly in the background.
The front door was open.
Of course it was.
Lysera stepped inside without knocking.
A servant blinked at her in surprise but said nothing as she swept past.
She knew where Irielle would be.
And sure enough, just beyond the main hall, through a doorway that led to the sunken lounging room, she spotted them.
Irielle.
And Kana.
Kana was sprawled across a plush bed, looking half-suffocated in a pile of cushions. Her expression was dazed.
Her shirt was slightly rumpled. And Irielle—smiling with all the innocence of a cat beside a birdcage—was resting beside her, one arm curled possessively around Kana's waist.
Lysera stopped.
Her eye twitched.
Kana noticed her first.
Their gazes locked.
Then, quietly, Kana mouthed: help me.
Lysera exhaled slowly.
"Irielle."
The elf blinked up at her and gave her a dazzling smile.
"Lysera! You came. I was wondering how long it would take."
"Let go of her."
"Oh, but I just got comfortable—"
"Now."
Irielle pouted.
"You're so grumpy when you're jealous."
"I'm not jealous. I'm furious."
Lysera said through gritted teeth.
Kana let out a squeak as Irielle pulled her closer.
Lysera's hand twitched toward her blade.
Irielle only smiled wider.
Things were about to get complicated.
The air shifted.
The light chatter and background music evaporated in an instant, replaced by a silence so heavy it felt physical. Even the sunlight filtering in through the gauzy curtains seemed to dim slightly.
Every eye in the room flicked between Lysera and Irielle.
And then to poor, helpless Kana, still half-buried in cushions, very much not in control of her life.
One of the workers—an elven woman with sleek lavender hair—offered Kana a mournful look, as if silently whispering good luck, sweet child, before she ducked out of the room. Another followed.
Then two more. Within seconds, the room was nearly empty.
'Take me with you! Don't just leave me with the chaos twins!'
Kana thought, despair building in her chest.
She tried to shift subtly, but the second she moved, Irielle's arms tensed around her middle like a vice.
A beat passed. The way Irielle leaned in, whispering into her ear, almost made it feel like a steamy romantic moment.
Kana blushed.
"Um, maybe this isn't—"
The world spun.
"Hang on!"
Irielle shouted, grabbing Kana with both arms and yanking her across the bed just as something crashed into the cushions they'd been lying on.
Kana yelped as they flipped sideways and landed behind a decorative column. Feathers from the exploded pillows floated through the air like snow.
"Irielle! Stop dodging and return what's mine."
Lysera's voice rang through the room, sharp and precise.
"Rude. She's not an item, she's a gift!"
Irielle huffed, already grabbing Kana's wrist.
Another blast of compressed energy hit the wall beside them, shaking the entire structure. Kana clung to Irielle on instinct, more because she didn't want to be flung across the room like a ragdoll.
"Shouldn't you not be arguing in the middle of this?!"
Kana shrieked, barely managing to keep up as Irielle darted again, leaping over an overturned chair and sliding under a dining table.
"I'm improvising! It's all very romantic, don't you think?"
Irielle grinned.
Kana opened her mouth to say absolutely not, but before she could speak, Irielle lunged again, dragging Kana up into her arms bridal-style and leaping toward the second-floor balcony.
For some reason, despite the whiplash-speed movements, Kana didn't feel dizzy. Her body adjusted instantly—vision clear, stomach stable, muscles sharp.
Her stats.
Right. Her high stats.
At least that part of her life made sense.
Not much else did.
They landed with a soft thud on the second floor, Irielle barely even panting. She looked down at Kana, eyes gleaming with mischief.
"You're taking this well."
"I'm literally being kidnapped during a domestic."
Irielle gave her a wink.
"It's a romantic domestic."
Another crash below them. Lysera was gaining.
"Hold on tighter. You really don't want to fall right now."
Irielle said, shifting Kana's weight.
Kana groaned but did as told.
"I can't believe I'm surviving my first real fight… like this."
And then they leapt again, chaos trailing behind.
___
Because of all the comments, i was able to do an extra chapter today. Remember, PS works even better.