The next day, Lycoris groggily awoke in an unfamiliar bed. She still felt more comfortable than the last few times she recalled awakening, at least, and after her mind slowly put the pieces together she remembered the events that transpired the night prior.  She looked down at her arm and saw the tightly-bandaged appendage, with a small gray bat sticker placed over the back of the hand. She still couldn't tell whether it felt cool or hot beneath it, but the fine layer of gelatin-like substance under the bandage was probably doing its job properly as a result. Even though it meant she smelled funny.  The doctor had said she should keep it on for a full week just to be safe, but considering both how Vampires were in general and the fact she was a zeroth generation Vampire, odds were she could take it off right now and not notice anything amiss. Though, she was a little reticent to try picking at it, considering the source of her injury, so Lycoris decided it was probably best to let her mother handle all that.

She recalled that after a second session of mysterious goo bucket, and a full glass of pomegranate "juice," her arm had been wrapped up and she'd been given the sticker for her "cooperation with the hospital." Mortifyingly, her mother saw nothing wrong with them giving her what felt like a patronizing gift for being a good girl, and raised no complaints about their service. Lycoris probably could have complained herself, but she didn't want to risk poking the bear and causing her mother to act on her behalf.  Once her health was assured and she was free to leave, her mother asked if she wished to head straight home. Already passing out in Lilianna's arms, everything after blurred together. Lycoris only vaguely remembered saying something and being carried back to the hotel she had stayed at with Athena and Seraphine.

Meaning this had to be her private room in the penthouse suite.  Completing her retracing of the prior night, Lycoris sat up and looked around. Everything looked exactly the same as she recalled leaving it after her evening call with her mother, before the poisoning and kidnapping had derailed everything. Looking up from the shopping bags by the table, her eyes immediately locked with the woman sitting beside it, who hadn't even changed clothing since bringing her back.

"Good morning, Little Flower. Are you sure that you've rested enough?"  "Ah… Um… good morning, Mama. Is everything okay?"  Her mother shifted in her seat and frowned, briefly rubbing the fatigue from her eyes before crossing her arms. "Should it not be us asking that to you?"  "I'm sorry…"

Lycoris hung her head and clenched her left hand. Even though everything had ended up how she wished, aside from perhaps the fact Tatyana escaped her wrath, she still felt terrible about going against the spirit of her mother's request, even if she technically followed the letter of it. She never willingly entered Kranes, but she knew that wouldn't fly with her mother. She had let herself get caught up in the moment and sought her own personal interest rather than doing what would be best for the…

Wait, why should I care about this stupid empire at all? I was going to destroy it from the top down anyways.

But that would leave the innocent people like Cecily and Gier without a homeland.

While she sat there, caught in a logical contradiction, her mother frowned sadly and filled the silence.

"Perhaps you misunderstood our intent."  "Huh?"  "There is nothing you need apologize for, Lycoris. We already spoke our piece on the matter regarding Kranes and your reckless behavior. As far as we are concerned, it is as settled as can be. But you were stranded in that town for days without us. Are you sure that you're feeling okay…?"  Lycoris blinked, then stared in disbelief at her mother. "I'm… I've spent forty-five years living on my own. Or, closer to thirty-five I suppose, and perhaps that could be put up for debate as well if we count living in the barracks with other soldiers, but my point is I've been independent for multiple decades. I'm not a child, Ma— Mother."

Lilianna closed her eyes, pursed her lips, and stood up slowly. She made her way towards Lycoris's bed, causing the girl to tremble in concern. It felt as though a storm were brewing—if not already roiling—beneath the surface of composure the Exaltare wore.  Yet said ruler showed no emotion other than concern as she sat on the side of the bed, and placed her hand over Lycoris's, her eyes slightly misty as she stared straight through her daughter. There was a slight shift in demeanor, her shoulders slouched ever so subtly. Lycoris recognized it as—for lack of a better term—her exiting "Queen Mode."

"Yes, you are."  "Uh—"  "Even if you have been operating off of survival instinct for several decades, it doesn't change what the truth is. You're a child, Lycoris. My child. Perhaps it is hypocritical to say, given the position we are raising you for, but… It's okay to get emotional… Predecessors know you already have before. You don't have to put on a brave face in private, when it's only us. It's okay to be afraid, to be confused, and cry. 'Tis a far worse thing to bottle those feelings up."  "I spent all that time as a Human adult, you know. Just because Vampires age at a different rate—"  "How many truly emotionally gratifying and sincere connections did you form during that time?"  "I—"  "What sort of education did you receive? What were your hobbies? How many books have you read? How many fighting styles did you master?"  "Just the—"  "Zero. You cannot fool your mother. You've never taken a day for yourself, much less spent time on a hobby; you barely knew how to read a proper sentence before we sat you down with your first picture book; and that display of swordsmanship you showed us at our first meeting was, quite literally, child's play."

Lycoris fell silent, looking down at her mother's trembling hand as it squeezed hers.  It was quite a harsh assessment, but it also felt as though she had been seen straight through. Much like every other time her mother spoke about her. It was like Lilianna had some psychic power to see every facet of her life. Perhaps it was simply the difference that came with thousands of years of life experience, compared to dozens. Or perhaps it was because her life was so empty, it was trivial to guess how much she had actually done with it. If she thought about it from a purely pragmatic standpoint, her life had been… wasted, in so many ways. The only thing she'd been any good at, taken any pride in, was her swordsmanship. And yet just as Lilianna said, she'd been handily smacked around like a child swinging a twig about.  Granted, she had quite a few other things on her mind at the time, and she wasn't truly trying to win. But those were just excuses to bandage her shattered pride. She knew it would have made no difference even if she gave it her all.  Perhaps it was her hands that were trembling, not Lilianna's.

"Besides, we have said this many times, you are not 'Human.' Not by any standard the people of this continent or any other would claim. That brain in your noggin belongs to a Vampire. While you seem to have accepted some parts of that, there is still much, much you have yet to unlearn from your sojourn in their lands."  "…Did you just say noggin?"  "If you mean what you say, that you are fine and carry no burdensome feelings, then very well. Just… know that your mother cares for you very much, that I love you, Lycoris."

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Lycoris, causing the girl to jolt in surprise. It wasn't that it was a rare thing for Lilianna to do, but she wasn't sure how to process it given the gravity of the situation.  Thinking back to her crying fit the night prior, she darkly blushed and reciprocated. Both the words and gesture came to her far easier than she had expected, a more honest expression of her feelings than anything else she could muster.

"Mm. I love you too."

While in the midst of receiving a pat on the head, something that neither of them expected occurred.  There was a knock on the door.

Lilianna hugged Lycoris defensively against her, all but growling as she glared at the door with a look so cold, Lycoris thought the door might freeze over.  A shiver ran up her spine as her mother uttered a single word, feeling a strange compulsion to open her mouth.

"Speak."  A chilling voice, familiar to Lycoris, spoke from the other side of the door. "Blade of Her Majesty, Lesath seeks an audience with the Exaltare."  "…You may enter."

After a quiet grumble, Lilianna closed her eyes and adjusted her posture back to proper regality, even as she forced out the tension that had built up, and let go of Lycoris.  The door opened and the woman—wearing a full-body skintight suit beneath a jacket and pair of dull gray pants—took seven precise steps into the room, before sitting down on both knees and locking her hands in the Tenebreimen salute with her head bowed. It almost looked as though she were offering a prayer to them, something that made Lycoris feel mildly uncomfortable.

"I return with the… the individuals involved in Her Highness's… transcursion. They have been separated into individual rooms with posted guards on the floor below, awaiting interrogation."  "Interr— those are my friends!" Lycoris vehemently interjected.  Lilianna put a finger to Lycoris's lips and patted her head to silence her. "We shall hear their testimonies before lunchtime. Why are you here?"  "There's… a separate, but related matter. The myrh that was with Her Highness in Kranes has been causing a commotion in the lobby without the Oxalis sisters to calm its temper. It is the property of the local zoo and some of their carers were summoned to bring it back, but it appears to be stubbornly refusing to obey…"  "And why is this our problem?"  "Ahaa…hah…" Lycoris looked away with a nervous laugh.  "Because there is a… rumor, of sorts, circulating around the soldiers. They claim that the creature is Her Highness's pet, though as I said, it is property of the zoo."

Lilianna blinked, then turned her head slightly to look down at Lycoris with a weariness that actually matched her age.  In response, Lycoris let out a vocal sigh as she realized she would have to re-explain the situation. She'd made mention of it when giving Lilianna the rundown of what she had gotten up to in Kranes, but didn't specify just how attached Mira had gotten to her.

"No he's… not my pet. Mira showed up and rescued me when I was abducted. He uh… followed me into the tunnels. And was very protective."  Lilianna's eyes narrowed. "'Mira?' You never told us this myrh had a name when you were recanting your tale last night."  "I needed something to call him! I dunno what I even did to make him like me so much, but… it would kind of be a shame to make him go back… He was very brave, after all."  "And how would you intend to care for this myrh?" Lilianna folded her arms.  "Do we not have groundskeepers? Or… I suppose there's no grounds in the Palace itself, is there…"  "Little Flower, a pet is a big responsibility."  "I was thinking of him as more a steed, than a pet. But I guess that's not really the issue here, ha ha."

Lycoris deflated as she realized there was no way she'd be able to convince her mother to adopt the myrh. First, he belonged to the zoo. He'd require upkeep, and a location to stretch his legs no doubt. And there wasn't much necessity to take him from his home here. Not to mention she hadn't really earned any favors from Lilianna with her whole escapade.  She hadn't expected to be able to keep him, but sort of just assumed that he'd continue to be a part of her life. As much as she wondered what she had done to win him over, he had just as easily won a place in her heart as well. And yet while it was sad to contemplate, there was no reason she could think of to not bid farewell to Mira alongside the city.

"Maybe he'll listen if I go down and talk to him. He's an awfully smart bird. I feel like he actually understands me when I speak to him."  "Hmm."

Her mother watched her closely, while Lycoris raised her head and stared at the dour woman still reverently kneeling before them.

"I apologize for the commotion caused due to my carelessness, will it be acceptable if I resolve the matter personally?"  Lesath twitched, but otherwise didn't break her stance. "So long as the situation is resolved, I don't see why not… I shall return and inform them of your plan."  "…Why would I not go with you?"

Lesath let out a sigh, and Lilianna put a finger to her own lips before lightly squeezing Lycoris's hand.

"Lycoris, you must be presentable first. You're still in your pajamas, for one."

She looked down and pulled the sheets away, realizing that she'd been changed into a nightgown at some point—probably by her mother. Of course, the clothing she had obtained in Kranes were certainly improper for a princess to go parading around in on anything resembling official business, and they had gotten quite dirty besides.  Her face darkening in embarrassment as she slipped up in front of a relative stranger and major public figure, Lycoris hastily cleared her throat.

"R-Right, yes of course. My apologies, I must still be addled from… the night before."  If Lesath felt any way toward her because of it, she betrayed nothing in her tone. "Of course, Your Highness."  "Then if that is all, we'll need to tend to our child in lieu of the absent maid."  "Huh?"  "Very well then, I shall return to the lobby and… triage the situation, if it still needs it."

Lesath stood in a single smooth motion with just the strength of her legs, never once breaking her posture as she kept her head lowered. Though, for just a brief moment when she turned around, her eyes sliced open and a chill pierced Lycoris in the gut as the woman leered at her.  She instinctively covered her abdomen, as if she actually had been stabbed by Lesath's severe gaze alone, barely noticing the sound of the door closing as she left.

"Is there something the matter with our little flower?"  "Ah, uh, no… it must just… be my imagination."

There was certainly no reason to feel so afraid of Lesath. The Executioner was fiercely loyal to her mother, after all.

"You do not wish to bid farewell to the myrh, do you?"  "That… is true, yes. But that's beside the point." As soon as Lycoris regained her composure, she glowered up at her mother. "You'd best not be planning to do anything cruel to Athena. She's done nothing wrong! In fact, she was quite insistent on returning to Condore as soon as possible, I simply overruled her suggestions. I thought we already talked about this last night…"  "Yes, darling, we did," Lilianna sighed wearily, "you made it quite clear already. But this is the second time she has been compromised. Whilst she may not be cognizant of it herself, there is the possibility that she was subjected to subliminal commands, or—"  "That's preposterous! What about Seraphine?"  "Hmm, yes we suppose we should also have—"  "That is not the point I was trying to make! Why would either of them willingly poison themselves?! It's far more likely that Tatyana and her toady simply caught wind of my arrival in town and decided to take action. I did confirm that she was the one behind the cloud generator business after all… I'd never mistake her weird doodles."  "Doodles."  "Yes! Grrr, even just thinking about it makes my stomach churn…"

Lycoris's shoulders began to tremble as the engine of hatred began revving itself up within her tired body, but a gentle hand to her shoulder put it to rest.

"'Tis alright, that is in the past now. There shan't be any torture or unfair treatment of any kind to your friends. We are simply taking precautions to ensure that nothing has befallen them."  "I… if you say so. If you're lying, I'll… get really mad."  "Oh dear, well we'd best ensure their utmost care, then~!"

Lycoris had no actual leverage over her mother, and couldn't bring herself to say something like she'd hate her forever. It was a ridiculous notion anyways, she already tried to do that once, and utterly failed once she realized how kind Lilianna actually was.  With her daughter's tension defused, Lilianna finally got to her feet and shuffled over to the untouched suitcase and shopping bags. Immediately she began to rifle through them like a late night burglar or rodent, a strangely sweet tune on her lips as she hummed.

"Now then, we'd best hurry up and get our little flower watered and dressed! As the maid is currently indisposed, we suppose that task shall have to fall to our shoulders today instead~"  "H-Huh?"  "Let us see what manner of clothing our daughter has purchased… If we recall correctly, Athena assisted with the shopping, correct?"  "I can take care of my—" Lycoris raised her voice in embarrassment, until her bandaged arm came into her peripheral view. She sulked and slouched, grumbling under the sound of her mother's cheery hum, "…Okay, fine. Maybe just this once…"  "Then we shall assemble an outfit out of what you've purchased for yourself~"

The girl flopped back into bed and stared up at the ceiling, though something tugged at the back of her mind. A foreboding feeling filled her as she rolled onto her side to better observe her mother going through her belongings. There had been something during her "visit" to Kranes… In fact, it was when she was getting her clothes tended to back then, as well…  Tragically, by the time she realized what the source of her concern was, it was already too late.  Lilianna's cheery humming cut off abruptly as she lifted a lacy black bra out of the shopping bags. Her entire body froze as though suddenly turned to marble.

"Athena…? What the hell is this?"

As her mother's fury caused the furniture to quake, Lycoris felt a renewed fear for her maidservant's safety.

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In the hotel's lobby, two zookeepers scratched their heads alongside an exasperated bellhop, as the three stood on the opposite side of a barrier of leather upholstery from a hissing myrh. They had managed to keep it corralled away from the elevators, which it had been trying to get into despite being over the weight limit on its own.  It had been perfectly content at the outset, when they first began leading it away from the elevator, but when it became clear they were going to take it outside of the building, it… started getting violent. The myrh pecked and clawed at them, managed to slip out of its restraints, and bit through the tethers they tried to put on it, all before running around the lobby in an attempt to get back to the elevators.  Nobody was sure how it even knew what an elevator was, but the zookeepers had at least heard rumors about this particularly colorful specimen before. Which only made it that much more embarrassing to have underestimated it.

And, of course, they heard the rumor circling around the guards in the hotel. That Her Highness had taken a liking to it and dubbed it her personal steed—despite nobody having seen any paperwork or exchange of funds. Naturally, they were gunshy about taking drastic measures, like sedating it and hauling it back by force. If they did anything that upset the tyrannical child, they might end up on the wrong side of her scythe, or even worse, her mother.  And considering it had managed to break out of its pen once already, there was no guarantee it wouldn't try to find its way back to Her Highness a second time.

A brief silver lining appeared when the Executioner returned to the ground floor and marched over to them. But before they could feel any sort of relief, she dashed their hopes. The Executioner passed along the Heir-Significate's words, that she would be gracing them with her presence after her morning routine.  The three of them immediately deflated when they realized that she wasn't there to solve the situation, and that they'd be stuck in this standoff with the angry myrh for who knew how many more hours. Of course, none of them dared to say anything. They weren't stupid enough when the Executioner was right in front of them, practically staring at their necks as though sizing up how best to sever them.  On the bright side, they at least didn't have to worry about disturbing any other guests, as the entire hotel had gone into lockdown the moment Her Majesty returned the previous day. That had been a whole separate debacle, as all of the occupants were shooed out and forced to find other accommodations in the middle of their stay… but nobody dared to question the Exaltare's command.

Watching the Executioner leave just as briskly as she arrived, the pair of zookeepers began to bicker once she was out of earshot.

"Do we have any myrh treats on hand, perhaps?"  "I didn't think we'd need any. I could take the truck back to the zoo and see what I can get from there, but…"  "That'd take at least an hour."  The bellhop cleared her throat, looking between the two and the animal. "Are you sure it would even placate this… beast?"  "Probably, but the problem is what do we do in the meantime?"  "How much longer could Her Highness even take?"  "Hey, watch what you say. You don't know who could be listening."  "It's been hours though… and this dumb bird isn't getting tired at all yet."  "Gwah!"  "What'd I just tell you?! Let's not piss the myrh off too."  "Oh come on!"

As the three of them whiled the hours away arguing in circles, the myrh seemed to watch with something between disdain and amusement.  After losing track of time, and ending up the butt of likely several jokes from the chuckling guards standing around the perimeter, the elevator door pinged behind them and the myrh lifted its head attentively. As the doors opened, it chirped happily and hopped about in place, before demonstrating that they had been powerless and at its mercy the entire time as it rushed around past all three of them.

"Hey! Stop that right… now…"

Of course, none of them had the will to actually stop it, when they saw the two figures step out of the elevator.  The daughter had her hair tied up in twintails with bright blue flower ornaments holding it in place, wore a sleeveless baby-blue coverall dress over a short-sleeved white blouse, and had plain blue flat-soled shoes and ankle-cut socks. The only thing out of place about her attire was the bandage wrapped around her right hand, though whatever injury she might have suffered, she didn't seem bothered by it.  One could easily mistake her for an ordinary child, about to go out and play. Except… both her and the suit-wearing woman behind her had silver hair and piercing scarlet eyes. The rulers of the Empire had arrived without any sort of fanfare other than the standard jingle any elevator would make.

The bird held no such terror or reservations over their position however, as it all but tackled the girl the moment she stepped out into the lobby, warbling happily as it rubbed its neck against her. The Princess returned the affection with an innocent hug and scratch on its chin.

"Mira! I'm sorry for being gone for so long. Did you miss me?"  "Lycoris," the Exaltare warned.  "Ah, right. *ahem* Mira, I hear you have been very naughty and causing a lot of trouble. Bad myrh."

The girl straightened back out at her mother's word and waggled her finger at the animal as though that would mean anything to it.  The three workers standing by the sofas shared a look and chuckled to each other, admiring the naivete of the little girl. Not even the daughter of the most powerful woman in the world was above acting her age, it seemed.  Not one of them expected the myrh to react to her words at all. While it was probably smart enough to understand her tone, it wasn't trained at all and there was no chance it would actually—

"What the…" one of the zookeepers muttered under his breath.

In response to the Princess's displeasure, the myrh hung his head and crooned sadly. It sat down on its haunches and looked up at her with a timid gesture, its arms tucked beneath its body.

"Don't think I'll let you off easy just because you're sulking. You have to listen to what the nice men over there are saying and go back to your home."  "Kwaaaaah…"

It let out a mournful cry, stunning the onlookers to the scene. The bellhop, and surrounding soldiers, were all taken in by the moment, but neither zookeeper could believe what was happening. Both of them had experience handling animals, and so the spectacle before them was baffling beyond anything their years of study and training had prepared them for.  As added fuel to the fire, the Exaltare spoke what was on everyone's minds, even if she vastly undersold the degree of absurdity.

"Hmmm, he seems remarkably well-mannered to us. Perhaps he understands authority, if nothing else."  "Come on Mira, I can't take you with me. You don't belong to me, and mother already said that you need to go back."  "Caww…"  "Would you like one more bellyrub at least? Or maybe a neck scratch?"

In response, the animal slowly flopped onto its side, looking quite sad even as it exposed its vulnerable underbelly to Her Highness.  She immediately squatted and began rubbing it. It was hard to describe the exact emotion the scene invoked. If it were less nonsensical, it'd land squarely between heartwarming and bittersweet. Both of them clearly appeared to enjoy it, as she rested her face against its feathery hide and reached up to pat its neck.  Of course, any second-hand saccharine feelings were swiftly doused as the Exaltare cast her dismissive glare toward the group standing beside the sofas.

"We fail to see how so intelligent and well-behaved a creature could cause trained professionals any sort of trouble."  "Chrf!"  "Ahaha… I think it's more that he just likes me, Mama. 'Tis a strange feeling, considering I'm far more used to animals storming off in fear…"  "A prideful sort, then. His plumage is quite striking."  "Do you want to pet him, Mama? He's very soft and warm."  "Hmm… What say you, 'Mira?'"

The Exaltare gazed with reserved amusement at the creature, who inched its head closer and bowed to her. Taking that as affirmation, she reached forward and scratched under its beak.

"Chrrr~"  "No no, you have to rub his belly too. It's where his softest feathers are!"  "Dear, we cannot simply play with the myrh…"  "But we're seeing him off! This could be our last chance."

The ruler of all Tenebreimen looked at a loss, trapped between a rock and a soft place as her daughter turned to implore her with dewy eyes. It was the most humanized she had ever appeared. Perhaps that was actually how the Exaltare was in person, or perhaps her own child was simply a weak point of hers.  After a moment, she shook her head and crouched down, placing her hand on her daughter's head instead.

"Caring for him would be a great responsibility, Little Flower."  "Huh? It would be, yes… I'm well aware." The Princess looked up at her mother in confusion.  "But perhaps it would be a good lesson for you, as well."  Lycoris blinked. "I've already handled far greater responsibility than… wait, do you mean…?"  Lilianna nodded. "He seems far better trained than we expected. Or, loyal to his perceived master, at the very least. Do you think you can handle him? Teach him to not cause… whatever that is."

She gestured toward the three people by the barricade of furniture, a deathly chill sinking into their bones as the Exaltare properly acknowledged their existence. It felt like a target had been painted on them.  The little princess went wide-eyed as she looked up at her mother with excited fluttering ears, then followed her gesture and stared at the three, standing around like buffoons. Her pupils contracted as she squinted her ruby-like eyes at them suspiciously.

"I cannot guarantee such a thing won't occur again, nor have I ever trained a riding animal before personally, but I can certainly try. Perhaps with some form of instruction, or assistance…?"  "Then we… shall arrange for it."  "So… So I can actually keep Mira?!"  "Chrrree~!"

The Princess wrapped her arms around the myrh's neck excitedly, causing it to reciprocate with an equally cheerful chirp.  Somehow, it seemed that the problem of what they were going to do with the myrh had been resolved without any of the three actually needing to involve themselves. Although, the idea that the Exaltare and her daughter would be paying the zoo a visit to properly purchase the myrh was…

"Hey, you were gonna head off to the zoo anyways right?"  "E-Er, well… yeah but…"  "What are you waiting for? Run ahead and tell them to start arranging the paperwork for all this."  "Are we even allowed to… move? I mean…"

The pair of men looked over their shoulders toward the silver haired mother and daughter, just in time for the daughter to pout at her mother.

"…You still haven't rubbed his belly yet."  "Ah, well… Dear, we can't just be getting our hands dirty on any old thing. Remember, we must maintain a certain level of dignity at all times."  "He isn't dirty! And look at him, he's presenting his belly for you to rub… I'm pretty sure he likes you too, Mama… I wonder if it's because we look so similar."  "Warhk."

The myrh pawed at the Exaltare, who reflexively shimmied away in response. It almost, for just a brief moment, looked as if she was actually afraid of the animal. But that was a preposterous notion. She could probably explode it into a fully roasted dinner with a misplaced glare.  As her daughter continued to stare unflinchingly at her, the woman gradually reached her hand forward toward the myrh and stroked its belly. The animal seemed quite happy, wiggling its legs about, but the woman let out a subtle exhausted sigh.  Princess Lycoris smiled and clapped her hands together in delight, and the myrh slowly stood back up and rubbed its cheek against her mother. The two of them muttered something quietly to each other. After, the Princess straightened her back as she stood up and clasped her hands in front of her waist, and turned to face the three still standing around. Their feet felt stapled to the floor, and a collective wave of tension washed over them as she made her way over. At least the Exaltare remained by the elevator, though she continued to subtly step away from the myrh, which seemed torn between cozying up to her and following the Princess.

"Are you three workers from the zoo?" she asked in a sweet yet polite tone, like a spring blossom personified.  All three were momentarily struck dumb, but the bellhop recovered the quickest, perhaps because she'd already seen Her Highness from a distance before. "I'm with the hotel, Your Highness. I was assisting the two of them with attempting to get the myrh out of the hotel lobby but… that plan didn't go so well." She bowed her head.  "That one has always been something of a troublemaker," one of the zookeepers said. "It's a testament to your charisma that he's so docile and obedient in your presence, Princess."  The girl demurely scratched her cheek, playing off the compliment with some well-performed shyness. "Is that… so? I apologize for the trouble he caused you all. It seems I have my work cut out for me with keeping him well-behaved when I am not around."

She briefly cast a glare back towards the bird, causing both it and the three people in front of her to tremble bodily. Even if she barely came up to their stomachs in height, she was just as imposing as her mother.

"On that note, my mother and I have come to an agreement, and as a result, I will be purchasing Mira from your zoo. Please see to it that you get the paperwork in order before our visit later today."

The obvious difference between how she addressed her mother in a childish manner, and the more formal way she spoke to them only added to her charm. All three found themselves wordlessly enraptured by both her sweetness, and her calm, polite, and confident demeanor.  Though they didn't have the same sort of drilling a soldier would, they saluted the Princess and nodded feverishly.

"Yes, Your Highness! We were even just discussing returning right at once to handle that."  "Really? Perfect! Mira, come here~" She beckoned the bird over with a hand, scratching it under the chin once it trotted up to her. In a slightly saccharine voice, she gently informed it, "This is going to be your first test, okay? I need you to accompany these men back to the zoo. I'll be coming by later to pick you up and take you home, but you need to behave until I do. Otherwise Mama might change her mind. Do you understand?"  "Gwehh…"  "Hmhm, goodness you really are attached to me, aren't you~? I'm sure these fine gentlemen won't mistreat you at all, rest assured."

She gave it another rub on the beak and gestured to the three of them, while they looked somewhat awkwardly between each other and the myrh they'd spent the entire morning playing zone defense with.  It snorted at them dismissively, but at Her Highness's prodding, seemed to remain calm as it trotted up to the two zookeepers and turned its head to stare directly at each of them in turn as if in acknowledgement. Though, that didn't mean it found the idea of being harnessed any more agreeable, so ultimately they had to escort it without saddle nor harness, and prayed that it wouldn't try to bolt at the last minute.

The entire time they walked it away, it glanced back toward the Princess and her mother, who simply waved goodbye. Astonishingly, it crawled up into the back of the van parked out front without needing any sort of herding, behaving exactly as well-mannered as Her Highness had instructed it to.  As the two of them sat down in the front of the vehicle, one gripped the driver's wheel and stared forward vacantly.

"Do you think she has some… special ability to talk to animals?"  The other zookeeper pulled his hat up and raised an eyebrow. "What? Don't be ridiculous."  "But I mean, it clearly understood what she was saying, right?"  "I bet it's just 'cause she's a cute kid. Could probably tell that she's royalty, too. Also his name's Mira, apparently."  "Kraww?"

As he recited its name, the myrh poked its head toward the front of the van, nipping at the bars separating it from the driver and passenger seats.  Shaking their heads, the zookeepers finally pulled out and headed back toward their workplace, commiserating over how to break the news that this "Mira" was to become the Princess's, and they'd have to suddenly draft up documents for sale of zoo property. Something neither of them was sure had ever even happened before.  It was going to be a long day.

＊

"Phew, now that we have concluded with that business, you should return to the room and rest, Dear."  "Ehh, but I just got up! And I'm feeling perfectly fine," pouted Lycoris.  "We allowed you to keep him after all, and even gave your pet a nice rub on his belly. The least you could do is heed our request and rest. Please?"

Lilianna made it sound like she'd been pulling teeth, rather than actually enjoying the soft sensation of Mira's down-covered tummy. But Lycoris could never mistake the slight gleam that shone in her mother's eyes when she rubbed him. Obviously she was just concerned with maintaining public appearances.  Though, it did make her wonder how exactly her mother felt about animals. She'd been almost as squeamish around Mira as Lycoris was initially. Maybe she had some sort of misbegotten past with horses as well… Or, some Vampiric equivalent.

That'd be myrhs though, and none of them seemed particularly troubled by my presence. And obviously Mira loves both me and Mama, so it can't be that… Hmm.

"Lycoris dear?"  "Huh? Oh, I… guess. I wanted to sit in on those 'interviews' you and Lesath talked about though."  Lilianna shrugged her shoulders and lowered her head. "Darling, there's nothing to worry about. We promise that it's just a simple interrogation to make sure that we aren't missing any details from your telling of events. And in Athena's case, to make sure that no outside influence has been applied. We'll be traveling back home as soon as our business in Condore is resolved. We want you to rest up for the trip back."  "I'll be able to rest plenty when I'm back at the palace!"  "We do not wish for your presence to interfere with their testimonials. People act differently depending on who they are speaking to."  "Wouldn't they be more likely to be honest if they saw me?" Lycoris balled up her hands.  "Or say what you want them to," sighed Lilianna. "We understand that you are anxious and rattled, Dear. If you wish for us to remain by your side, we can leave the interrogation to Lesath and we can spend the whole day together. Actually, that sounds preferable to us—"  "You can handle it! I… believe in you, Mama. I can wait patiently."

Lycoris could think of few things worse than letting the woman dubbed "Executioner" interrogate people she cared about. For some reason, she had no compunctions about her mother handling it instead, even though she was quite literally the tyrant that Lycoris had come here to slay in the first place.  Lilianna was just… too nice, compared to the image that Lycoris originally had in her mind. Every action she took was with Lycoris as her first priority, and her heart was so much more full of love than anyone Lycoris had encountered before… aside from perhaps Princess Fawaris. Somehow, she didn't think the two of them would get along particularly well, however.

Her mother gave her a slightly troubled, wry smile as she likely guessed what Lycoris's thoughts were, and put her hand to her daughter's head once more.

"Very well then. We shall hurry things along as swift as we can. Nothing shall keep us from getting our daughter home before bedtime!"  "Haha… there's no need to rush things that badly, Mama… And what happened to that decorum you were grousing over?"

She flinched under the gentle tousling her mother gave her hair, and laughed at the hopefully obvious joke.

"We are acting well within the margins for what is acceptable. There's nothing out of place in a mother doting on her daughter."  "Mmph… I'll let it slide this time, as thanks for changing your mind on Mira."  "Hmhm~ Our daughter has become so gracious."

Lycoris let out another wry chuckle as she cozied up beside her mother, stepping back into the elevator.

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