My first official day as Lord Governor started with a war council.
Except instead of discussing military strategy, we were arguing about breakfast.
"Kyle needs protein," Sera insisted. "Strategic thinking requires energy."
"Kyle needs a balanced meal blessed for spiritual clarity," Aria countered.
"Kyle needs actual food, not your competing agendas," Eliza said, putting a plate in front of me. "Eat."
**[SERA]: The military advisor thinks she can just DECIDE his meals? I'm intelligence chief. I know about nutrition and cognitive function!
**[SISTER ARIA]: They're both ignoring the spiritual component of nourishment. The body AND soul need feeding!
**[ELIZA]: ████ THEY'RE FIGHTING ██████ OVER BREAKFAST ████ BREAKFAST! ██████ THIS IS ████ MY LIFE ██████ NOW ████
I ate quickly before they could escalate to actual combat.
"So," I said, changing subjects desperately, "what's the agenda today?"
Eliza pulled out a long scroll. A VERY long scroll.
"Meeting with the provincial council, reviewing tax records, inspecting the garrison, mediating land disputes, approving trade agreements, and addressing the grain shortage in the northern district."
"...That's today?"
"That's before lunch."
**[ELIZA]: ████ WELCOME TO ██████ NOBILITY ████ KID ██████ IT'S ALL ████ PAPERWORK AND ██████ POLITICS ████
"I don't know how to do any of that!"
"Which is why you have us," Sera said. "I'll handle intelligence gathering on the council members. Some might be Blackwood loyalists."
"I'll provide moral guidance during difficult decisions," Aria added.
"And I'll make sure nobody tries to manipulate or assassinate you," Eliza finished.
**[SERA]: ALSO I'll make sure I'm always visible so he remembers I'm helpful and valuable and— PROFESSIONAL. Stay professional.
**[SISTER ARIA]: ALSO I'll make sure I'm providing essential support so he realizes he needs me and— SPIRITUAL. Keep it spiritual.
**[ELIZA]: ████ ALSO I'LL ██████ MAKE SURE ████ I'M INDISPENSABLE ██████ WAIT ████ WHEN DID ██████ I START ████ COMPETING? ██████
The council meeting was... intense.
Ten council members, all older nobles and merchants, sat around a massive table looking at me like I was a child playing dress-up.
**[COUNCIL MEMBER #1]: He's so YOUNG. How is he supposed to govern? This is a disaster.
**[COUNCIL MEMBER #2]: At least he's not Blackwood. Low bar, but still.
**[COUNCIL MEMBER #3]: Those three women with him... interesting. Very interesting. Leverage opportunities there.
"Gentlemen," I started, trying to sound authoritative, "thank you for meeting with me."
"Lord Henderson," the oldest council member said with barely concealed condescension, "we understand you're... new to governance. Perhaps you should leave the actual decisions to those with experience?"
**[COUNCIL MEMBER #1]: Translation: sit down, be quiet, and let us run things like we did under Blackwood. This boy is a figurehead.
Sera's hand went to her dagger.
**[SERA]: That TONE. The disrespect. I could end him before he finished his next sentence. But Kyle needs political allies, not corpses. Unfortunately.
"With respect," I said carefully, reading his chatbox, "I'm aware Blackwood allowed certain... irregularities in the tax collection system. I'd like to review those arrangements."
The room went silent.
**[COUNCIL MEMBER #1]: He KNOWS? How? We buried those records!
"I... I don't know what you mean," the man stammered.
"The seventeen percent 'administrative fee' that somehow never made it to the royal treasury?" I continued, bluffing based on chatbox fragments. "That irregularity?"
**[ELIZA]: ████ HE'S READING ██████ THEIR CHATBOXES ████ PERFECTLY ██████ USING THEIR ████ GUILTY THOUGHTS ██████ AGAINST THEM ████ THAT'S MY ██████ TRANSMIGRATOR ████
The council members started sweating.
"Lord Henderson," another member tried, "surely we can discuss this privately—"
"No need," I said cheerfully. "I'm sure it was just an accounting error. One that will be corrected immediately. Along with the falsified grain reports, the diverted trade revenues, and the... what was it? Oh yes, the secret warehouse leases to smugglers."
**[COUNCIL MEMBER #3]: ABORT. ABORT. This kid knows EVERYTHING. How?! We were so careful!
"Of course, Lord Henderson," they all said in unison, suddenly very cooperative.
"Wonderful! I'm so glad we understand each other."
**[SERA]: He just completely dominated them without raising his voice. That was... impressive. Really impressive. Why is competence attractive?!
**[SISTER ARIA]: He stood up to corruption with grace and strength. That's TRUE nobility. My heart is doing the fluttering thing again.
**[ELIZA]: ████ THAT'S MY ██████ STUDENT ████ USING CHATBOX ██████ READING ████ FOR POLITICAL ██████ WARFARE ████ I'M SO ██████ PROUD ████
After the meeting, Eliza pulled me aside.
"That was well done. You've got a talent for this."
"I was terrified the entire time."
"Didn't show. Keep that up and you'll actually be a good lord."
**[ELIZA]: ████ COMPETENT ██████ BRAVE ████ QUICK LEARNER ██████ WHY IS ████ HE SO— ██████ FOCUS ELIZA ████ PROFESSIONAL ██████ BOUNDARIES ████
The rest of the day was a blur of meetings, documents, and trying not to mess up governance.
But by evening, I'd managed to:
Reform the tax system
Root out three corrupt officials
Approve a new trade agreement
Start addressing the grain shortage
Not bad for day one.
"You survived!" Sera said as I finally returned to my office.
"Barely."
"Dinner's ready," Aria announced. "I had the kitchen prepare your favorite!"
"How do you know my favorite?"
**[SISTER ARIA]: I asked the staff. And observed what you ate most. And maybe did some intelligence gathering. Is that stalking? It's not stalking if it's for his wellbeing, right?
Sera's eye twitched.
**[SERA]: She's intelligence gathering on his PREFERENCES now? That's MY job! I'm the intelligence chief!
"I also prepared a strategic debrief of today's meetings," Sera added quickly. "With recommendations for tomorrow!"
**[SERA]: I can be helpful too! More helpful! I have ACTUAL intelligence work!
"And I've blessed the documents for tomorrow's signings!" Aria countered.
**[SISTER ARIA]: Paperwork blessings are a thing. They're definitely a thing. I just invented them but they're valid.
"Are you two seriously competing over who's more helpful?" I asked.
"No!" they said simultaneously, then glared at each other.
Eliza appeared with a bottle of wine.
"I brought stress relief," she announced. "Because watching you three is stressful."
**[ELIZA]: ████ ALSO I ██████ WANTED AN ████ EXCUSE TO ██████ SPEND TIME ████ WITH HIM ██████ CASUALLY ████ NOT OFFICIALLY ██████ JUST... ████ HANGING OUT ██████ LIKE WE ████ DID AFTER ██████ DUNGEONS ████
We ended up in the estate's sitting room, all four of us, reviewing the day.
"You did well today," Eliza said, pouring wine. "The council respects you now."
"They fear him," Sera corrected. "Which is better."
"They recognize his moral authority," Aria added. "Which is best."
They were still competing, but in a slightly less combative way.
**[SERA]: Actually... having backup today was useful. I hate to admit it, but the nun's moral support helped Kyle stay confident.
**[SISTER ARIA]: Actually... having intelligence on the council members made the meeting easier. I hate to admit it, but the spy's work was valuable.
**[ELIZA]: ████ THEY'RE LEARNING ██████ TO COOPERATE ████ SLIGHTLY ██████ PROGRESS ████
"I couldn't have done it without all of you," I said honestly. "Thank you."
All three women looked pleased.
**[ALL THREE]: He appreciates me/my work/my support!
"Though," I added with a grin, "you're all still ridiculously competitive."
"I have no idea what you mean," Sera said, sipping wine innocently.
"Completely baseless accusation," Aria agreed.
"They're hopeless," Eliza said in English, and I laughed.
**[SERA & ARIA]: What language is that?! Are they talking about us?!
**[ELIZA]: ████ BONDING OVER ██████ EARTH LANGUAGE ████ IS FUN ██████ BUT MAKING ████ THEM JEALOUS ██████ IS FUNNIER ████
As the evening wore on, the wine flowed, and everyone relaxed.
Sera started telling stories about her spy training.
**[SERA]: I'm being unprofessional. Sharing classified information. But his laugh makes it worth it. And the wine helps.
Aria shared tales of church missions (heavily edited for appropriateness).
**[SISTER ARIA]: These stories should stay confidential. But seeing him smile makes me want to share everything. Is this what friendship feels like? Or something more?
And Eliza revealed some of her early days as a transmigrator.
**[ELIZA]: ████ HAVEN'T TALKED ██████ ABOUT THIS ████ IN YEARS ██████ BUT HE ████ UNDERSTANDS ██████ HE GETS ████ THE LONELINESS ██████ THE STRUGGLE ████ IT FEELS ██████ GOOD ████ TO SHARE ██████
"Wait," Sera said, slightly tipsy, "you're from another WORLD?"
"Yep," Eliza said. "Same as Kyle."
"WHAT?!"
Aria dropped her wine glass.
**[SERA]: WHAT. HE'S FROM ANOTHER WORLD?! That explains SO MUCH. The strange phrases. The unusual tactics. The complete lack of noble pretension. He's literally from a different reality.
**[SISTER ARIA]: ANOTHER WORLD?! Like the old legends?! And the Captain too?! This is... this is huge. And explains why they have that special connection. That's not romantic, right? RIGHT?!
"Surprise?" I offered weakly.
"You're from ANOTHER WORLD and didn't MENTION it?!" Sera demanded.
"It didn't come up!"
"HOW does that not come up?!"
**[SERA]: Okay. Processing. He's from another world. Which means everything here is new to him. Which means he's been learning governance, combat, politics, ALL of it from scratch. And succeeding. That's... incredibly impressive actually.
"He's right though," Aria said slowly. "It explains a lot. Your genuine kindness. Your different perspective. You're not jaded by this world's corruption."
**[SISTER ARIA]: He's pure. Not in a naive way. But in a GOOD way. He hasn't been corrupted by power or politics. He's genuinely good. And I'm falling harder for him every day and that's TERRIFYING.
"So," Sera said, refilling her wine, "other world. What was it like?"
I spent the next hour describing Earth—cars, technology, anime, video games, modern conveniences.
Both Sera and Aria listened with fascination.
**[SERA]: A world without magic but with "technology." Flying metal birds. Instant communication across continents. His world sounds amazing. And he left it all behind. Does he miss it? Does he want to go back?
The thought made her chest hurt.
**[SISTER ARIA]: He had a whole life before this. Friends. Family. And now he's trapped here. That must be lonely. I want to comfort him. Make this world feel like home. Make him want to STAY.
"Do you miss it?" Aria asked quietly. "Your world?"
I thought about it.
"Sometimes. I miss certain conveniences. But..." I looked at the three of them. "I don't think I'd go back. Not anymore."
**[SERA]: He'd stay? He'd CHOOSE to stay here? With... with us?
**[SISTER ARIA]: We're a reason to stay. WE are. That's... that means something. Something important.
**[ELIZA]: ████ HE'D STAY ██████ EVEN THOUGH ████ EARTH IS ██████ THERE ████ HE'D STAY ██████ HERE ████ WITH ME— ██████ WITH US ████ I MEAN ██████ WITH ALL ████ OF US ██████
The moment hung in the air, charged with emotion.
Then Sera, emboldened by wine and feelings, said: "Kyle... why did you protect me that first day? When you caught Aria during the dungeon fight. You left yourself vulnerable."
"Because you're important," I said simply. "Both of you. All of you."
**[SERA]: Important. There's that word again. Coming from someone from another world who could be anywhere but chooses to be HERE. With us. With ME.
"Kyle," Aria said softly, "when you agreed to do the church ceremony so I wouldn't be reassigned... that was the kindest thing anyone's ever done for me."
**[SISTER ARIA]: He chose my happiness over convenience. Nobody's done that. Ever. I was a tool for the Church. A weapon. But to him, I'm a PERSON.
"And you," Eliza added in English, "made ten years of loneliness disappear in two weeks."
**[ELIZA]: ████ SAID TOO ██████ MUCH ████ WAY TOO ██████ MUCH ████ BUT THE ██████ WINE AND ████ THE MOMENT ██████ AND HIS ████ SMILE— ██████
The room was silent except for the crackling fireplace.
Three women. Three different backgrounds. Three sets of growing feelings.
All focused on me.
"I..." I started, having no idea how to handle this.
Then there was a CRASH from outside.
We all jumped to our feet instantly.
**[ALL THREE]: THREAT. PROTECT KYLE.
Sera had daggers drawn.
Aria had holy magic crackling.
Eliza's hand was on her sword.
And I activated my chatbox reading.
From outside:
**[UNKNOWN PERSON]: Damn it! I tripped over the garden statue! So much for stealth. But I need to see Lord Henderson. It's urgent. About Blackwood's remaining conspirators. They're planning something. Something BIG.
"Someone's here," I said. "But I don't think they're hostile. Clumsy, but not hostile."
"How do you—right. Chatbox reading," Eliza remembered.
We went outside to find a young man, around my age, tangled in garden vines and looking thoroughly embarrassed.
**[YOUNG MAN]: This is NOT how I imagined meeting the legendary Lord Henderson. I look like an idiot. Great first impression.
"Um, hi?" he said. "I'm Marcus. I work—worked—for Duke Blackwood. I have information. About a plot. They're planning to kill you at the upcoming Harvest Festival."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: SIDE QUEST ACTIVATED!]
[ASSASSINATION PLOT AT THE HARVEST FESTIVAL]
[TIME LIMIT: 5 DAYS]
[REWARD: SURVIVAL (AGAIN)]
[DIFFICULTY: HIGH]
I looked at my three protectors, all ready for battle.
"Well," I said, "I guess we have another conspiracy to unravel."
**[SERA]: Assassination plot. Harvest Festival. Public venue. Multiple variables. This is MY specialty. Time to prove my worth.
**[SISTER ARIA]: Protecting Kyle at a festival. Crowds. Chaos. I'll need maximum defensive blessings. He will NOT die on my watch.
**[ELIZA]: ████ HERE WE ██████ GO AGAIN ████ ANOTHER THREAT ██████ ANOTHER CONSPIRACY ████ AT LEAST ██████ IT'S NEVER ████ BORING ██████ WITH HIM ████
"Harvest Festival planning meeting," Eliza declared. "Tomorrow morning. Bring coffee. We're going to need it."
As we headed back inside with our unexpected informant, I realized my life had become a strange mix of:
40% Life-threatening conspiracies
40% Romantic comedy chaos
20% Actual governance
100% Completely insane
And somehow, I wouldn't have it any other way.