Arthur stared at Yuna, who was casually cracking her knuckles, each pop sounding like an execution bell.

He took a few careful steps back. Sweat beaded on his forehead and slid down his cheek as he kept retreating.

"Master... why are you here..." he said, forcing a shaky smile. "I mean—it’s so good to see you. I missed you so much. You won’t believe it, I cried every night just thinking about you. I missed you so, so much..."

He kept talking while his feet kept moving, widening the distance between them with every word.

Yuna arched an eyebrow.

"Is that so, huh?" she said. "Then why does it look like you want to run away from me?"

Arthur spun on his heel.

He bolted.

He didn’t even try to play it off this time—he just ran at full speed, hoping pure instinct would save him.

He made it only a few steps before his face slammed into something soft and squishy again.

"Mm—!"

He staggered back, blinking. Yuna was somehow right in front of him again, standing exactly where he had just run to.

’When did she even move...?’ he thought, horrified.

A fist dropped straight down onto his head.

"Ow—"

His vision blurred. The world spun, and darkness swallowed everything.

—

About twenty minutes later, Arthur’s eyes fluttered open.

The first thing he saw was the night sky, clear and dark, with a pale moon hanging above the royal garden.

Then his gaze lowered and landed on Yuna’s face.

In the moonlight, she looked almost unreal—pink hair falling in loose strands around her face, gray eyes softer than usual as she looked down at him. Her dark red dress hugged her figure and contrasted with her fair skin, and for a second, Arthur had to admit she looked... breath takingly beautiful.

Then he realized his head was resting on her lap.

Yuna’s fingers were gently combing through his hair, absentmindedly brushing his bangs away from his eyes. The angry expression from earlier was gone, replaced by a small, wry smile.

"Are you... not angry anymore?" Arthur asked carefully.

"To be honest," Yuna said, "I still want to pummel your face really badly. You lost so badly on your first mission you let the enemy escape, and I had to intervene and finish your work for you."

Arthur winced.

"But," Yuna continued, sighing, "I can’t blame you too much. Maybe I expected too much from you, too soon."

Arthur nodded quickly.

"That’s right, it was never my fault to begin with, it was all y—"

Yuna’s knuckles cracked again.

Arthur’s survival instincts screamed.

"It was all my fault," he corrected immediately. "Master, how can you blame yourself?"

Yuna smiled faintly.

"You really are a failure of a disciple," she said.

Arthur’s mouth twitched. He wanted to retort, but his brain reminded him that staying alive was more important.

"What about Julia?" he asked instead. "Is she okay?"

Yuna sighed.

"Because of you, she worried a lot," Yuna said. "She was even willing to go ask her father for help. But I had already sent people after you, so there was no need. Right now, Julia is probably training for the Celestias Academy entrance exam at her family manor."

Yuna shrugged.

"So there’s no need to worry. I was the one who trained you. You weren’t going to die that easily."

Arthur couldn’t help but smile a little.

With his enhanced vampiric vision, he could see faint dark circles under her eyes—circles she’d tried to hide with makeup. She brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and Arthur thought,

’Oh yeah... she was worried. Probably even tried to enter the Null Realm herself... though I can only guess what happened when she tried that.’

Yuna’s tone suddenly shifted.

"So," she said, eyes narrowing slightly, "you’re an Imperius, huh."

Arthur’s mind went blank for a second.

He stared up at her, stunned.

’How the hell did she find out...?’ he thought, panic rising in his chest.

Arthur swallowed, still lying in Yuna’s lap.

"When did you find out?" he asked in a low voice.

"Just today," Yuna replied. "Your family—your mother and sis—"

"They’re not my family," Arthur cut her off.

He pushed himself up from her lap and sat beside her, voice rising without him meaning to.

"They are strangers to me now. Do you even know what kind of tortu—"

He stopped himself and clenched his jaw, staring at Yuna’s face.

She met his gaze calmly.

"Let it all out," she said. "If you want to."

Arthur looked away.

"Forget it," he muttered. "I don’t want to talk about them anymore. It’s a past I just want to forget. That’s all."

Yuna reached out, grabbed his head, and forced it back down onto her lap.

"Don’t, then," she said softly. "If you don’t want to, I won’t force you."

Arthur exhaled slowly. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Thank you," he said. "For understanding."

Yuna smiled faintly and continued stroking his hair.

Footsteps pounded against the stone path.

A white-haired boy came running toward them.

It was Aiden.

"Arthur, where the hell were you? The queen is aski—"

He cut himself off as soon as he properly saw the scene in front of him—Arthur lying with his head in Yuna’s lap, Yuna sitting there calmly under the moonlight.

His eyes almost bulged out.

He straightened immediately and bowed.

"Miss Yuna, it’s so nice to meet you again," he said quickly.

Yuna’s expression twitched. She unceremoniously shoved Arthur’s head off her lap, letting it hit the ground with a thud, then stood up and briskly brushed the dust off her dress.

"Ow—!" Arthur rubbed the back of his head. "What the hell do you want now?"

"The queen wants to meet you, okay?" Aiden snapped. "So I came here to find you. Now let’s go."

He bowed once more to Yuna, then grabbed Arthur by the wrist and started dragging him away.

"Don’t pull on it, you poor bastard!" Arthur yelled. "This is an expensive suit!"

"What did you just say?" Aiden shouted back.

"You heard me," Arthur replied.

They kept walking, bickering the entire way down the path, their voices fading gradually.

Yuna watched them go, a small chuckle escaping her.

"Looks like he made some friends," she murmured. "Maybe I didn’t need to worry after all."

she turned and walked in the same direction, heading back toward the palace.