Zuleika was still gasping for air when she stumbled inside the walls of the Kingdom of Nexus.
Within, barricades had already been raised. Tents lined the town—knights resting on makeshift cots, medics rushing between the wounded, and smiths hammering to repair broken steel.
From above the stone steps, Princess Stella descended, her expression firm as she walked straight toward Zuleika.
"You should get your wound treated," Stella said, her tone calm but commanding as her eyes flicked to the blood soaking through Zuleika's arm.
But Zuleika wasn't listening. Her eyes scanned desperately past the crowd, past the lines of unfamiliar armor.
Where is she…? I'm sure I saw her.
"Whose troops are they?" Zuleika asked, her voice sharp, gaze locked on the knights of the Empire of Peris now guarding the gates.
"Greetings, Your Highnesses," came a voice.
A grizzled commander stepped forward, an old man with one eye hidden beneath a worn patch.
"I thought the Empire of Peris couldn't lend us their knights," Zuleika said, furrowing her brows.
"Well… there have been some changes," the commander answered awkwardly before stepping aside. He gestured toward the figure walking slowly behind him.
Zuleika's lips parted. She froze.
She's alive…
But before she could speak, her vision wavered. The ground tilted beneath her and darkness swallowed her senses.
"Lei!" Stella cried, catching Zuleika just before she collapsed.
"Captain!" Stella barked. Captain Rhys immediately moved, lifting Zuleika into his arms and rushing her toward the medic tents.
Aquila, standing only a few steps away, looked visibly shaken, her worry plain as she tried to follow. But Stella blocked her path with a cold gaze.
"Now," Stella said sharply, "can we please have some explanation?"
Aquila met her eyes for a long, tense moment before exhaling heavily.
"Don't worry about my sister. She only lost a lot of blood," Stella added, her voice calmer now as she gestured toward a larger command tent. "Come. We'll talk inside."
They entered the tent, where a round table waited, maps and markers scattered across its surface. Chairs scraped as they sat.
"So," Stella began, her eyes narrowing, "why did the Empire of Peris change its mind?"
The patched-eye commander stood behind Aquila, but kept his gaze lowered.
Aquila let out another quiet sigh, irritation flickering across her face before she finally spoke.
"If the Kingdom of Nexus falls, then the neighboring kingdoms and empires will follow," she said slowly.
"You're right," Stella replied evenly, "but as far as I know, the Empire of Feltogora has already fallen. So what benefit is there for you, Princess Aquila?"
Aquila's brow twitched at the words, though she held her composure.
"I still have unfinished business… with your sister," she said quietly, averting her gaze.
Stella blinked, her lips parting as she caught the faint red at Aquila's ears. Slowly, a laugh slipped past her lips.
"Oh my god…" she said between soft laughter, her cold exterior breaking apart.
"Please take this more seriously," Aquila muttered, frowning.
"I am, I am," Stella chuckled, wiping away the tear forming at the corner of her eye.
"Alright, Princess. For now, it's clear—the Empire of Peris is on our side, yes?"
"Yes," Aquila replied simply.
"Good." Stella turned to the patched-eye commander, her expression sobering once more.
"Looks like we'll have a long conversation about strategy since…" she paused.
"Since what?" Aquila pressed.
"The Emperor of Tartagalia is coming."
Both Aquila and the commander's eyes widened.
"What!? That's impossible!" the commander blurted.
Stella exhaled deeply. "I wish it were. But his naval fleet was sighted—along with another hundred of their ships."
The commander's jaw tightened. "This is more serious than we thought."
Stella leaned forward, folding her hands over the table. "The night is long. As much as I want you all to rest after your march, we can't afford it."
Her eyes hardened.
"We'll have to devise a strategy now. Because they outnumber us."
And so, the war council began.
...
It was already night when Zuleika regained consciousness. She found herself inside her own tent, groaning as a sting of pain flared along her left arm.
Blinking several times, she turned her head—only to find Princess Aquila sitting beside her, silver eyes fixed on her.
For a moment, they simply stared at each other, until Zuleika's face flushed red like a tomato.
"W-what are you doing here..?" she jolted upright, leaning back awkwardly.
Aquila's eyes followed her movement, silent and unreadable. The lack of response made Zuleika even more embarrassed.
"W-w-why are you in my… kingdom..?" she stammered.
Aquila exhaled sharply, irritation flickering across her face as she glared.
"What do you think?" she asked flatly.
Zuleika pursed her lips, scrambling for an answer but drawing a blank.
"W-well… I don't know," she muttered under her breath.
With a click of her tongue, Aquila leaned forward, cupping Zuleika's chin with one hand.
"You…" Aquila started.
Zuleika blinked up at her innocently.
"W-what?"
Her innocence only seemed to aggravate Aquila further.
"Do you really have nothing to say to me?" she demanded—her voice quiet, but heavy with restrained anger.
The memory of their last conversation in the garden months ago came rushing back to Zuleika. She lowered her gaze.
"A-aren't you going to be married..?" she whispered.
Aquila let her go, leaning back with a scoff.
"Zuleika, I don't know if you're playing dumb, or if you really are dumb. Who would want to marry a princess from a fallen empire?"
Her arms crossed in front of her chest as her words struck deep.
Zuleika flinched, remembering how Feltogora had crumbled to dust. That meant… Aquila was no longer tied down to anyone, to any kingdom. And that truth gave her a quiet, inexplicable relief.
No—she knew exactly why.
"This is stupid. I shouldn't have expected anything," Aquila muttered irritably, standing to leave.
But before she could step away, Zuleika pushed herself up and caught Aquila's wrist.
Aquila turned, meeting her gaze.
"I'm sorry…" Zuleika whispered. "For pushing you away… and not having the courage to…"
Her voice faltered, her chest tightening painfully. Yet she knew—this might be her last chance to say what truly weighed on her heart.
"I… I'm really sorry, Aqui—"
"Did you miss me?" Aquila cut her off.
The question pierced Zuleika like an arrow, leaving her breathless. Her lips parted, but no sound came—only the frantic pounding of her heart.
Miss her?
Aquila didn't know. She couldn't possibly know.
How every night, when sleep fled from her, Zuleika's thoughts strayed back to silver eyes glimmering like moonlight on still water. How in the hushed corners of the gardens, she swore she could still hear Aquila's laughter—sharp, soft, and haunting—clinging to the roses like a ghost that refused to fade.
She missed her as one misses the sun on the coldest day: aching, desperate, knowing that no other warmth could ever be enough. She missed her in silence, in the stillness of dawn when the horizon blushed, wondering if Aquila, too, was watching the same sky.
Every battle fought, every scar etched into her skin—Zuleika caught herself wishing Aquila were there, even if only to chide her recklessness. She missed her in the hollows of her chest, in the spaces between breaths, a longing so constant it had become part of her very being.
But most of all, she missed the words unsaid—the confession she swallowed that day in the garden. Words that could have changed everything, if only fear hadn't shackled her tongue.
Her hands trembled where they held Aquila's wrist, her voice breaking, the truth spilling out in fragile fragments.
"Miss you? Gods, Aquila, my heart aches for you," Zuleika whispered, her gaze never straying from those silver eyes.
I'm scared, she thought, her body trembling beneath the weight of truth.
"I miss you so much it feels like I am dying—that I-I... would rip my heart from my chest just to escape this torment." Her voice cracked, spilling like glass breaking on stone.
But in her mind, words unraveled endlessly, unspoken yet burning:
Am I allowed to be this selfish?
To crave what was forbidden to me?
I wanted to kiss you more than I wanted to live.
"Even in the silence of sleep, my mind hums with the melody of your name, Aquila," Zuleika breathed, a single tear slipping down her cheek, fragile as glass.
Aquila's chest tightened, fury and tenderness twisting into something unbearable as she watched the woman stand before her—broken, trembling, yet utterly beautiful in her truth.
"Fuck this,"
Aquila muttered, her restraint shattering, and in the next heartbeat, she leaned forward and crushed her lips against Zuleika's—claiming her, silencing all the months of ache with fire and desperation.