Death, Devotion, Dissonance

'But he's invited me to a private meeting didn't he? Should I point out the code to him now?'

Leanne was tempted to get things going, but she decided to wait just a bit longer to make sure.

The king continued to talk with a smile.

"Was there a reason you've chose this subject as your project?"

"Yes," Leanne replied. "I've recently been through a divorce."

"A foolish man," the king smiled. "Or perhaps an unbearable one?"

Leanne's head tilted, wondering why the conversation was becoming so weird. But it was rude to keep a king waiting, so she replied neutrally.

"We learned our marriage was devoid of love.. Since there was no child binding us together, we decided it was best to go our own ways. Appropriately, the divorce went off without much conflict or incident, since the decision was mutual."

Leanne half-expected Terrence to change his mind and was ready to firmly deny it, but from how he handled everything so quickly and efficiently, Leanne understood that he was in a hurry to be rid of her. He didn't even complain when Leanne asked for a larger cut from their shared wealth.

'Perhaps I'll hear of him remarrying soon enough…' Leanne thought smilingly. 'Ah, but even if he does have someone in the back, he wouldn't marry that quickly. He still needs to save face.'

She felt no jealousy towards Terrence and his hidden little mistress. And thinking about it more, it wouldn't be so weird, either. The two barely ever met each other in their own house. It wouldn't be weird for Terrence to frequent a woman when he wasn't near Leanne.

"Well, the man is still quite foolish. Love does not thrive without proper attention," the king said. "My father sometimes told me, one needs to nurture those feelings properly."

It was funny, hearing something like this from the king. Perhaps it was fitting, as the king's own marriage was loveless from the start. He was married to one of the Heir Sovereigns of Tower City. As far as public knowledge went, the two hadn't even met before the day of marriage. The king would definitely need a lot of nurturing for that relationship to develop love.

"Perhaps my next marriage will go differently," Leanne said, keeping her face level. "I'll be sure to nurture it well."

"You do that. But remember that unfortunately, some relations don't bloom even with years of nurturing. You need to learn to distinguish those things properly and remove yourself from it with confidence," the king spoke slowly. "And most importantly, to start searching for the next one without delay. Life is too short to spend in loneliness."

Leanne was once again taken aback by the king's words.

'Is he flirting with me?'

She mentally shook her head, feeling she was being too full of herself.

Then she realized how weirdly she was acting. She'd think that she'd be scared witless in the presence of royalty. After all, wasn't she always fearful of the disdain of the powerful? She knew perfectly well that some people could make her disappear with a

So why was she not feeling the same thing from the king? Technically, he was the one who had the most power over her.

In fact, the whole day, she was always fearful of her safety, but she was never scared of the king. And when she came into the room, that feeling only became stronger.

Her being able to think about so many different, almost unrelated topics like her divorce and the king's marriage during their little talk was proof of that.

Leanne had to mentally shake her head again.

"Umm, sorry, but what's going to happen next?" she asked.

Her question was rude, but she felt it would be alright.

"Well, I'll give this another proper read and perhaps change some of the finer details," the king smiled. "You'll, of course, be handsomely rewarded, and you can enjoy some fame by adding your own name as the author of the law. Perhaps you'll find it easier to find a job in the palace too."

Leanne nodded. If that was all, there was absolutely no need for him to call her here. Hence, she became half-sure that the king saw her hidden message.

'But he's not mentioning it to me outright… what's the problem?'

"But since you've come all the way here, why not accompany me for some time? In my private quarters."

The king suddenly delivered a terribly crude pick-up line. In a terribly deadpan manner as well.

"Your Highness?"

"Trust me," the king whispered, as he reached out for her hand.

Leanne wanted to pull her hand away, but something in her was saying that there was more to this situation. If she assumed the king saw her secret message, then she could deduce that the king was trying to talk about that.

Normally, Leanne would expect the king to talk inside his office, but since he wasn't… there must be other listening to their conversation.

And the way the king said trust me, it definitely had deeper meanings.

"Of course, Your highness," Leanne replied.

The king nodded, retracted his hand and walked out of the room.

Leanne followed after him.

Ignoring the occasional glances that came at their way, the two arrived at their destination. Similarly to his office, the king's chamber was decorated modestly.

The king closed the door behind them, and let out a sigh. Leanne noticed that he didn't lock the door, which she was thankful for.

"Sorry for all this," he said, his tone completely different.

'Definitely, there was something going on.'

"Your highness?" Leanne asked.

"You've come to give me information, right?" he asked. "About the blue portal incident on the testing island. You're really lucky my test-readers are sloppy at their jobs."

"Yes," Leanne said.

She understood that her job was almost done and produced Albin's metal Talisman from her mouth. She wiped it some with her clothes and offered it to the king. He took it, but he looked a bit disgusted.

"Really? In your mouth?"

Leanne decided not to tell him that she needed to shit out the thing because Albin shoved it down her throat.

"Nola," the king called.

"Your highness." A beautiful woman materialized in the room. Leanne wondered briefly how such a thing was possible, but she soon realized that the ketricite blocks' effects weren't active in this room.

"See what's in this," the king hander her the metal piece.

The woman nodded and activated the Talisman.

She was in a trance for a few seconds, before her eyes became focused again.

"It's mostly superficial information on the organization that kidnapped Albin Faizan and the Type 13."

It was in line with what Leanne expected.

"Mostly superficial?"

"There are some key pieces of information."

"Tell me."

At this point, Leanne had to say something.

"Your highness, please. Discuss this after I leave."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm only a messenger."

"You haven't seen the contents of the message?"

The king was quick to catch up.

"No. And I don't plan to either."

Leanne was adamant on that point.