"Hmph!"

Lux, who had been shrinking into herself like a little quail ever since being brought to the council building, suddenly puffed out her chest. Rising onto her toes to face the taller Katarina, she wore the expression of someone marching bravely to her doom.

Come on.

This was a Noxian!

Demacia might be a country where the common people could live decent, happy lives, but it also denied them the resources to climb higher. Social mobility was hard. Really hard.

The nobility held power through inheritance. Sure, every now and then a soldier could rise through sheer effort, but those cases were rare, truly rare.

But while Demacia's nobles monopolized resources, they also did genuinely lead from the front.

When war came, you could always trust Demacia's noble houses. For the sake of honor and faith, they would stand in front of the people and shield them with their own bodies. They had their own sense of duty.

And Lux was the same.

As the little princess of House Crownguard, she had been taught those ideals and responsibilities from a very young age. She knew what her status represented, and how she was supposed to behave when facing outsiders.

So even though she was still scared, she forced herself to stand tall and confront Katarina.

It gave off the feeling of... a tiny rabbit trying to bare its teeth and bite back.

"You're hostile toward me?" Katarina was who she was, a prodigy trained with everything House Du Couteau had to offer. She was far too sensitive to these things not to notice, and besides, Lux's dislike was written all over her face.

So Katarina narrowed her eyes at Lux, and the pressure rolling off her appeared without her even trying.

If Lux was a little white rabbit, then Katarina was a red fox with one ruined eye.

In an instant, Lux's body stiffened. Her pout was still there, but her eyes turned even more watery, like she was about to cry.

Come on, was there anything strange about a fox eating a rabbit?

"I, I'm Demacian! I'm not afraid of Noxians!" Lux said loudly.

Katarina gave a cold laugh and looked at Logan. Logan stepped forward at the right moment and said, "Lux, as a diplomatic envoy sent by Demacia, didn't your elders tell you what you were supposed to do once you got to Zaun?"

"No." Lux had been given a way out, so she took it immediately. Avoiding Katarina's gaze, she turned to Logan as she answered.

Logan wasn't surprised.

Lux had snuck out on her own. Besides, even if she hadn't, the real backbone of Demacia's delegation this time would have been Fiora, not Lux.

Lux had only been sent as the public face of House Crownguard, a symbol meant to show how seriously Demacia took this diplomatic incident.

"There are two reasons you were sent here. The first is that the Demacian delegation stationed in the Twin Cities committed crimes recently, and your side will attend the trial and witness Zaun's judgment." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Logan paused, then looked at Katarina with a warning in his eyes. "The same goes for Noxus. Just because no Noxians were arrested this time doesn't mean Noxus hasn't done this kind of thing too. I don't want to see anything like it happen again."

Katarina's attitude toward Logan was excellent. Her relationship with her father was bad. She might have been born into House Du Couteau, but in truth, she now served Swain and was fiercely loyal to him. As a blade in his hand, the way she treated Logan reflected Swain's own attitude toward him.

"I understand," Katarina said seriously.

Logan nodded, turned back to Lux, and continued, "The second matter is that on the bridge connecting the Twin Cities, Demacia and Noxus are expected to hold talks, ease tensions between the two nations, and govern Valoran together alongside the Twin Cities."

Lux blinked her big eyes after hearing that. A teenage girl like her didn't understand these things at all, so she just looked a little blank.

"So right now, your status is that of Demacia's diplomatic ambassador. Your attitude toward Katarina represents Demacia's attitude. If you don't want to create friction, then my advice is that the two of you sit down and talk properly."

"..."

"I understand," Lux nodded.

That was her specialty, surrendering fast and adapting fast.

Both Lux and Katarina sat down, but expecting one timid girl and one icy woman to suddenly start chatting in an informal setting like this was obviously unrealistic.

Logan didn't dwell on it, and instead brought up something else.

"Lux, take some time and seriously think about becoming a professor of magic studies in the Twin Cities."

When Katarina heard that, she asked curiously, "Her? A professor of magic?"

Lux had still been hesitating, but the moment Katarina asked that, she immediately said, "What's wrong with that? You think I can't do it?"

Lux instantly got defensive. But Katarina hadn't meant it that way. She wasn't looking down on Lux. She was just surprised that the sister of that man could actually use magic.

So she couldn't help asking, "If you're going to be a professor of magic at Piltover University, then I take it you can use magic? In that case, I'm curious, little sister, does that brother of yours, the one who loves swinging around that giant sword and spinning like a windmill, know that you can use magic?"

Great question.

It hit Lux so hard she went speechless.

"Looks like he doesn't," Katarina said, smiling in a sultry, amused way as she watched the little blonde fall silent.

Interesting. Very interesting.

The next time she ran into him on the battlefield, maybe she could tease him with this.

You can shout all day that I'm a magic-wielding heretic, but if your beloved little sister also uses magic, then how exactly will you look at magic after that?

Katarina found the thought delightful. Too delightful.

While Katarina was still smiling to herself, Logan looked at her and said, "Katarina, Demacia is sending Lux to teach at the Twin Cities' university. Is Noxus not planning to send someone too? Think about it, if Demacia has someone stationed here and Noxus doesn't, then over time the Twin Cities' relationship with Demacia is obviously going to become closer than its relationship with Noxus."

"That can't be what Swain wants, right?"

Katarina narrowed her eyes.

She wasn't a naive sweetheart like Lux. The moment she heard Logan's words, she understood what he was getting at.

He wanted her to stay in the Twin Cities.

But Logan was right too. Noxus had gotten here first. Why should Demacia be the one to build the closer relationship with the Twin Cities?

Since Swain had vanished and then returned, Katarina had been able to clearly feel just how much importance he now placed on the Twin Cities. So building a strong relationship with them really was important.

Changing how she sat, Katarina rested her chin on her right hand. Red hair spilled lightly across her brow as she puckered her tempting red lips and blew a strand aside, smiling at Logan as she said, "And what position are you planning to give me at Piltover University?"

Logan looked at her. Talking with an older woman really was more direct than talking with a little girl.

With Lux, he had to coax and guide her. With Katarina, all he had to do was lay the interests out on the table.

"Reconnaissance, counterintelligence, information gathering, that sort of thing. I'll have Headmaster Heimerdinger approve it and give you a separate department at the university. What do you think?"

Katarina answered in a playful tone, "Is that really the kind of thing a Twin Cities school is supposed to teach? I know your schools quite well."

"A normal school also wouldn't go out of its way to hire an assassin and a mage as teachers," Logan answered calmly.

Normal or not, that was hardly the strangest thing here. In a world where magic and martial force were the norm, the Twin Cities' tech tree had been wildly abnormal for a long time already.

Finance, astronomy, history, mineral studies, mechanical engineering, alchemy, outside the Twin Cities, where else in Runeterra were those subjects being taught like this?

And now, teaching magic and reconnaissance as formal disciplines didn't really conflict with anything either. After all, there were more and more long-term outsiders settling in the Twin Cities. Were they really supposed to come here and then all start studying hextech?

In the future, Zaunites and Piltovans would gradually fade into the background, and in their place there would be something new:

People of the Twin Cities.

That would include Noxian refugees, people from smaller nations, Ionians, and even some Vastaya. There were plenty of Zaunites who were absolutely into women like Sett's mom. If they could happily bolt half a machine shop onto their own bodies, then why would they be put off by beastgirls with fluffy ears and long tails?

And because of that, Logan wanted the new Twin Cities to truly become a place where everything could flourish.

Katarina didn't agree immediately. Instead, she said, "Allow me to inform Commander Swain first. If he approves, I would be honored to take a position in the Twin Cities."

"Good. Then I'll have someone notify him in a bit," Logan said at once when he saw that she wasn't against the idea.

Katarina paused, then laughed. Swain valued Logan, and Logan valued her, so she really was pleased that Logan thought highly of her. It meant she had value.

But showing that too openly would have been inappropriate, so Katarina changed the subject and asked with a smile, "Then on behalf of Mr. Swain, let me ask you something, Logan."

"Go ahead."

"When are you planning to hold your wedding?" Katarina's question stunned the room. Then she added, "Noxus has already prepared a gift. Isn't the fact that both Demacia and Noxus are here partly because they were meant to witness that event too?"

This wasn't Katarina's own idea. It was Swain's.

Seated high in his stronghold, Swain knew what was happening everywhere. He naturally knew about Logan and Jinx, and about the promises Logan had made.

So Swain genuinely believed that part of the reason Demacia and Noxus had both come this time, with Ionia also nearby, was to witness Logan's wedding.

And the moment Katarina said that, Jinx, who had been off in a corner eating, sat bolt upright.

Her legs, which had been thrown carelessly up onto the table, dropped neatly to the floor. Her back straightened completely. When Silco, Vi, and Vander instinctively looked over, she nodded hard, her little mouth slightly open and her eyes overflowing with joy.

"She's right. Logan, you and Jinx have been out playing long enough, haven't you? Between Ionia and the Freljord, the two of you have gone through several cities, Bilgewater, Ionia, Noxus, the Freljord. You've been out there for more than half a year. That honeymoon of yours has gone on long enough," Silco said, stroking his chin with a serious expression.

Logan and Jinx had returned so suddenly, and it had happened right in the middle of this whole mess created by Demacia and Noxus. Silco had been so focused on dealing with that that he had actually forgotten what Logan had said before, that once he came back this time, he would get married.

But now that Katarina had brought it up, Silco immediately started pushing it.

Old Vander did the same. His big rough face carried a deeply emotional look as he said, "A few years slipped by just like that. Logan, you and Powder really should get married. If you drag it out any longer, she's going to go from being a girl to being a grown woman."

Now that the topic had landed squarely on him, Logan honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

What was that supposed to mean, that if he dragged it out any longer Jinx would go from girl to woman?

Vander, you're really overthinking it.

Forget thirty, even if she was forty, Jinx would probably still look exactly like that. The main universe basically set her up that way.

...Wait.

In the main universe, the reason Jinx could still look like a teenage girl in her thirties and forties was probably because of shimmer, right?

But this Jinx had never taken shimmer. She wasn't some shimmer-enhanced superhuman.

So once she hit her thirties, would she still look like the Loose Cannon everyone knew?

Logan was thinking about that curiously when Vi's voice cut in.

"What, you still planning to drag this out?" Vi said, clearly a little annoyed when she saw Logan spacing out. "You've been sleeping in the same bed with her for years. I don't know why you still don't have any kids, but if you say now that you don't want to get married after all, then you're done for."

Vi really wasn't exaggerating.

The truth was a little different from what she imagined, but the part about sleeping in the same bed for years was completely true.

Ever since Logan first met Jinx, the two of them had been sharing a bed.

Silco and Vander both turned to look at Logan, brows lowered and expressions distinctly unfriendly. What Vi had said made both fathers tense, because if Logan had really only been fooling around, then the two doting dads would absolutely throw down with him on the spot.

And Jinx was watching Logan too.

She wasn't worried about what Vi had said. She was excited. Mouth open, grinning so wide that all her teeth showed.

And seeing that expression on her face, Logan laughed too, but at the same time, a strange excitement rose in his chest.

When a girl who has spent years desperately wanting to marry you looks at you like that and smiles like that, it's almost impossible not to feel something.

"All right."

Logan made his choice.

He really should have given Jinx a proper title long ago.

After all, everyone in Zaun knew Jinx belonged to Logan, but plenty of them had also wondered, why hadn't Lord Logan and Jinx gotten married after all these years?

With Silco and Vi watching over everything, there had never been open gossip, but in private some people definitely had thoughts.

Like whether Lord Logan was just having fun with her, because really, who would marry a crazy girl?

The thought made Logan stop hesitating.

He nodded gently, then said with a smile, "Since Demacia and Noxus have already sent representatives, Sejuani can stand for the Freljord, Akali can stand for Ionia, and Sarah can stand for Bilgewater. All of the Twin Cities' allies are here, so let's take this chance and invite everyone together."

"Vi."

"Here!"

"Get every Sump Enforcer moving. Tell every Zaunite that I'm getting married."

"You should've done that a hell of a lot sooner!" Vi answered with a huge grin.

Vander and Silco both showed relieved expressions, but when they looked at Jinx, dark lines immediately appeared on their foreheads again.

Damn it... what was wrong with their little girl? Did she really want to marry herself off that badly?

"Renata."

"Please, go ahead, Lord Logan." Renata, who always had ambitions of ruling the city herself, bowed slightly. She clearly understood that this was an important moment.

Logan's wedding was not the wedding of an ordinary man. He was Zaun's ruler, no, the ruler of the Twin Cities. His marriage would become the single biggest event in both cities.

Of course Renata took it seriously. And because she spent so much time around Silco, she had heard plenty of stories from him about Logan and Jinx.

In truth, she was a Logan and Jinx shipper too.

"Notify Mel and have her prepare. Recall Sarah from the sea. At the same time, send word to Akali and have her take a team to Ionia to invite Irelia and Karma to attend my wedding."

"Understood," Renata said with a smile.

"Silco."

The future father-in-law stepped forward with a faint smile.

"As for the date... I'll leave that to you. When the time comes, open the Twin Cities. Anyone willing to come can enter. Give them the best hospitality we have."

Silco nodded. As he stepped back, he bumped Vander with his elbow.

"What about me?" Seeing that Logan seemed to be wrapping up, Vander hurriedly stepped forward and bared his teeth. "Powder's getting married. Don't tell me there's nothing for me to do."

Logan looked at Vander, amused. Then he said, "Security's yours, old man."

"No problem!" Vander slapped his chest hard.

At last, Logan looked at Jinx.

"And now, the most important thing."

He walked over to her.

Jinx, who had been sitting upright in her seat, instinctively brought her legs together and angled them off to one side like a lady, cheeks flushed red as she looked at him.

Then Logan crouched down in front of her.

Marriage...

Between him and Jinx, they had already done practically everything there was to do, except for the final step.

Touching, kissing, all of that, they had done it all.

In daily life, if Jinx weren't so lively, they would've looked exactly like an old married couple already.

But now that he was really about to say the words, Logan realized he wasn't nearly as calm as he'd imagined.

His heartbeat sped up.

There was even the faintest thread of worry.

"Jinx, would you marry me?"

He already knew the answer.

So why, when he finally asked, did he still worry?

Logan didn't know.

But if Vi were the one explaining it, she'd say it was simple.

Because he loved her too much.

Wasn't that how it was between her and Caitlyn too? Everything coming naturally, but still full of nerves and fears and worries.

But Logan's tiny bit of worry vanished instantly.

Because Jinx lunged straight at him and knocked him flat onto the floor.

Her hands pressed down on his chest as she looked down at him and shouted, "Obviously! I've been waiting forever for this day!"

"If you waited any longer to marry me, I was gonna marry you instead!"

Silco: ?

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