CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54: THE INTRUDER

Zaeryn sat up slightly in Ysmeine’s lap. "Wait... I have a sister?" His voice carried a mixture of wonder and confusion. "Athea has another daughter?"

Ysmeine nodded.

The pain of abandonment was still there, but now it was joined by something else, a spark of genuine interest. "How old is she?" The question tumbled out faster than he had intended." Does she... does she know about me?"

"She’s around your girlfriends age, I think," Ysmeine said gently. "But unfortunately, she doesn’t know about you yet. As far as I know, you’re a secret to everyone in your mom’s family."

"Of course," Zaeryn muttered, a mix of frustration and disbelief in his tone. But maybe he didn’t have the right to be frustrated? Because males weren’t allowed in the royal family, so he was lucky to be alive? He thought.

"Maybe soon, you’ll meet her. And you’ll get to see Athea too, I’m sure. But right now... it’s just not the best time."

All the talk about Athea was souring Zaeryn’s mood. His expression darkened slightly, the brief spark of curiosity about his sister dimming. He might never meet her anyway, so he didn’t see the point in being curious.

He started to pull away, but Ysmeine’s arms tightened around him.

"Come here," she whispered, guiding him back down to rest his head in her lap. "Just... stay with me for a moment."

He nodded and settled back against her, letting out a quiet sigh as her fingers found their way back to his hair. They sat in comfortable silence, the unspoken thoughts hanging between them. Ysmeine’s touch was soothing, grounding him when everything else felt uncertain.

A soft chime broke the quiet.

"Hmmm?" Zaeryn glanced at his wrist where a sleek device, a watch-like band with a holographic screen, glowed softly.

He pressed the surface, and a translucent holographic screen materialized above it, displaying floating text and icons.

"What is it?" Ysmeine asked, still stroking his hair.

Zaeryn read the notification floating in the air. "Oh, right. It’s a reminder—I’m supposed to hop on Ethereal Realms with my friends tonight." He looked up at the holographic display showing the game’s unique logo: a swirling galaxy with crystal clear formations. "We’re doing a raid on the Crystal Nexus. I completely forgot."

He looked up at Ysmeine apologetically. "I should probably go. They’re counting on me for the healer role."

Ysmeine raised an eyebrow, a knowing smile tugging at her lips. "Are you still pretending to be a girl on there? Still not talking to your online friends because you don’t want them to know you’re a man and stop being friends with you?"

Zaeryn’s face went bright red. "We are absolutely not talking about that," he said, trying to sound dignified while still lying in her lap like a guilty person.

It was at this moment that he regretted telling his secret to Ysmeine and Aeris, because she was now bringing it up.

Ysmeine burst out laughing. "Oh my goddess, so that’s still a yes! My big, powerful vitae-wielding man, who just absorbed magical abilities through steamy bath time—still logs in as ’StarlightHealer’ and types things like ’cyuu’ and ’thanks for protecting me, girlfriend!’" She giggled.

"I do NOT say ’cyuu’!" Zaeryn protested, his voice cracking slightly with embarrassment. "Besides, I don’t even know what ’Cyuu’ means.

"Oh really? What about last week when you told me MysteriousMistress24 saved you from a dragon and you wrote her a message saying.... " Ysmeine cleared her throat and put on an exaggerated sweet voice, "’By the goddess, you’re my hero! I’m just a poor little healer girl, thank you sooo much!’ with like six heart emojis?"

Zaeryn buried his face in his hands. He was just trying to make some friends in the game. It was already hard enough being a male in this world, so could anyone really blame him for pretending to be one of them just so they’d let him play? Besides, he wouldn’t do it again if he were starting fresh at his age, he’d made that account years ago, before he turned eighteen.

"They were being really nice to me! And those heart emojis were... tactical appreciation!" he admitted, his voice muffled but earnest.

"Tactical appreciation," Ysmeine giggled. "Honey, your entire guild is probably in love with ’StarlightHealer.’ I bet MysteriousMistress24 has written poetry about your mysterious charms."

"...Well, they think we are all girls, so I don’t think, they will fall in love with me soon," Zaeryn mumbled.

Ysmeine absolutely lost it. "Still doesn’t change the fact that you have been using your charm on them. Do they know their dream girl can bench press a Vorthak?"

"No."

"And the rest of your guild," Ysmeine continued, wiping tears from her eyes, "they’re all girls too, aren’t they? Every single one of them probably has a crush on their mysterious healer who never uses voice chat."

Zaeryn peeked between his fingers, groaning. "I swear, it’s not like that! I’m just playing the game."

"Oh sure," Ysmeine teased, smirking down at him, "just playing the game while a dozen girls are falling in love with you... as a girl. How very strategic of you, Captain StarlightHealer."

He shook his head, muttering, "I just... I didn’t want them to know."

"Of course not," Ysmeine said, rolling her eyes playfully. "Heaven forbid the secret gets out and all your female teammates realize their mighty healer has a surprisingly male voice and a very questionable amount of charm." She leaned down, brushing a stray lock of hair from his face, her fingers lingering on his jaw. "Don’t worry, honey. I won’t tell a single one of them... yet."

Zaeryn groaned again, but a small grin tugged at his lips despite himself. "Thanks, I think..."

Ysmeine chuckled, letting him sit back up from her lap. "Go on then, save the Crystal Nexus with your all-female guild. But remember—if StarlightHealer gets into trouble, your Ysmeine is always just a ’pause’ button away."

He laughed, finally tapping the holographic screen to join the game. Ysmeine watched him for a moment, a teasing glint in her smoky green eyes, before leaning back with a satisfied smirk. "You never fail to amuse me," she murmured, shaking her head at how much fun she was having teasing him.

_____

Dr. Illara Veyne curled up in her big office chair, finally getting her first break all day. Her messy brown hair fell around her face as she leaned forward, breathing in the sweet smell of her hot drink. The marshmallows were melting perfectly.

Her glasses fogged up a little from the steam. She giggled softly and wiped them clean with her sleeve—something she’d done a thousand times before.

On the desk across from her, a device lay there, glowing faintly with a familiar icon. A voice came from it: "So, are you going to join us on ER tonight or not?"

Illara’s lips twitched. ’Maybe just a quick peek,’ she thought.

"No, I have work to do girls, sorry, but next time I will, I promise."

"Sure," came the disappointed response. "Well, don’t work too hard. Some of us actually have lives outside of... whatever it is you do all day."

Illara sighed softly, glancing at the device before turning back to what she was doing. Since princess Athea had walked into her lab and made threats to her and her team, Dr Illara had been in a bad mood.

’I hate this job. I hate it.’ she thought to herself. ’Just one peaceful moment. That’s all I want.’

BLAAARE! BLAAARE! BLAAARE!

The alarm screamed through the quiet lab like an angry monster.

"AHHH!" Illara jumped out of her seat so hard she almost flew out of her chair. Her hot drink went flying, splashing across her desk and papers. "Oh no, oh no, oh no!"

Her glasses slipped down to the tip of her nose as she scrambled to grab tissues. Her heart pounded so loud she could hear it in her ears.

"INTRUDER ALERT. RESTRICTED AREA BREACHED," the computer voice announced, cold and emotionless.

Illara’s eyes went huge behind her crooked glasses. Someone had broken into the lab? The secret one that only five people in the whole world could enter?

"That’s impossible!" she squeaked, pushing her glasses up with a shaky finger. "Nobody can get in there! I checked the security myself!"

She jumped up so fast her chair rolled backward and crashed into the wall. She then ran toward the door, her white coat flying behind her like a cape.

"Dr. Illara! Dr. Illara!" Venus, one of her colleagues came running down the hallway, her face pale with worry.

"Venus!" Illara almost crashed into her colleague, stopping just in time. Her glasses were sliding down again. "Someone’s in the lab! How is someone in the lab?!"

Three security guards ran up behind Venus, all looking serious and ready for trouble.

"Ma’am, we have no idea how they got in," Officer Reeves said, checking her weapon. "The door is still locked. All the security systems are working fine."

Illara bit her lip and pushed her glasses up again. They kept slipping because her nose was sweaty from panic. "But that means..." She paused, thinking hard. "Either someone had teleportation powers or..."

They all ran toward the restricted lab together. Illara’s shoes made loud clicking sounds on the floor—click-click-click-click—like a countdown to disaster.

When they reached the heavy metal door, it looked perfectly normal. No scratches, no broken locks, nothing.

"Wait!" Officer Reeves held up her hand, stopping everyone. She motioned to the other guard, who took position on the opposite side of the door, weapon ready.

"Do you think maybe the Vorthak woke up?" Venus whispered, her face going pale.

Illara felt her stomach drop. The thought made her glasses fog up with nervous sweat. "I... Goddess, I hope not. That’s..." She pushed her glasses up with a trembling finger. "I mean, it’s dead, right? It has to be dead. But I don’t really know how these things work..."

Her voice got smaller and smaller until she was basically talking to herself.

"Dr. Veyne," Officer Reeves said firmly. "Can we get any video feed from inside?"

"Yes! Yes, good idea!" Illara fumbled with her tablet, her fingers shaking so much she almost dropped it. "Someone get me the security feed! Now!"

One of the lab techs came running with another tablet. "Here, ma’am!"

Illara grabbed it and squinted at the screen through her crooked glasses. Venus leaned over her shoulder to look too. The black and white video showed the inside of the lab, and there, standing calmly next to the giant dead monster, was a figure with long white hair.

"Oh thank God," Illara breathed out so hard her glasses fogged up again. "It’s her. It’s just Princess Viora." She looked up at the worried faces around her. "We’re fine. No zombie monsters today."

But then her relief turned back into confusion. "Wait... what is she doing here? And how did she even get in?" Illara whispered to Venus. "This lab was completely sealed. Nobody was supposed to enter without clearance."

Venus shrugged, looking just as puzzled. "Maybe being royal comes with lock-picking skills?"

Officer Reeves carefully opened the heavy door, and they all stepped inside. The lab felt cold and sterile, filled with the quiet hum of machines and the sharp smell of chemicals.

Illara’s footsteps made soft tapping sounds on the polished floor, tap, tap, tap. Each step echoing in the huge room.

"Princess Viora," Dr. Illara Veyne called out, trying to keep her voice steady and professional.

The Princess didn’t turn around. She just kept staring at the huge dead creature behind the glass wall like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Princess Viora was... well, she was hard to ignore. Her long white hair flowed down her back like water, and her dark blue armor looked expensive and dangerous at the same time. Gold patterns covered her shoulders and chest, still dripping with actual water drops that caught the lab’s bright lights.

She looked like she could fight a dragon and then go to a fancy dinner party right after.

"Your Highness," Illara said carefully, giving a small bow. She held her tablet tight in both hands. "Um, it’s... nice to see you here."

Princess Viora finally glanced over. Her blue eyes were sharp and cold, like looking into deep ocean water. She waved one hand like she was brushing away a fly.

"Sorry for breaking in, Dr. Veyne," the Princess said, her voice calm and confident. "I wanted to see what I killed."

Illara nodded quickly. She felt nervous standing in front of Queen Athena’s granddaughter, but not because she was impressed - more like when your boss’s boss shows up at work unexpectedly.

Plus knowing that this was Athea’s daughter, the woman who gave her a hard time and threatened her everyday, it was only natural that Illara would be afraid of even anyone close to her.

"Well, you certainly did kill it, Your Highness. Now we can study it and figure out how to fight more of them."

Princess Viora just nodded once, then turned back to stare at the monster.

Venus stepped forward, looking excited. "Your Highness, do you know that nobody has ever killed one of these things before? The War-Ladies on the front lines fight them every day, but they can never bring back proof of their kills. Not even a piece of one!"

Princess Viora turned to look at Venus, her blue eyes getting a little colder. "That’s because their mission is to defeat the enemy, not drag corpses around for science." Her voice stayed calm, but there was an edge to it now. "It’s not a difficult job to bring one back."

She paused and looked back at the giant dead monster behind the glass. "And it’s not that impressive anyway. I didn’t do this alone." She pointed at the Vorthak with one armored finger. "Two of my warlady friends died from this thing." There was a hint of grief in her voice as she said that.

Venus’s face went pale. She looked down at the floor, clearly feeling bad about what she’d said. "May their souls find peace in a better place," she said quietly. "And may goddess Marea have mercy on them."

Viora gave a single nod, accepting the prayer. "I hope so. And may Marea watch over us, too. We’re up against something worse than we thought."

"I have faith, your highness, that your family will lead this world into glory. Soon, the Vorthak will be a thing of the past." Venus said, her words meant to flatter the princess, who she did not want to upset. Because well, she was Athea’s daughter.

Viora however wasn’t flattered by that. She turned to face Illara directly, those sharp blue eyes focusing on her like a laser. "What have you found out about them? How do we defeat these things once and for all?"

Illara pushed her glasses up nervously and clutched her tablet tighter. Being asked a direct question by the Princess felt like being put on the spot in the worst way.

"Well, Your Highness," she started, her voice a little shaky. "We... we haven’t found anything yet. But we’re working really hard on it! We just got the body not long ago , so..." She trailed off, realizing how lame that sounded and Athea hated any kind of excuses, so her daughter probably did too.

Princess Viora stared at her for a long moment, and Illara felt like she was being judged and found lacking.

"Well, let’s pray you can find a way Ms Veyne." Viora said and then without saying anymore she left.

Illara let out a long, shaky breath as she watched the Princess disappear down the hallway. Her shoulders finally relaxed for the first time in what felt like hours.

Once Princess Viora was completely out of sight, Illara wanted to lean on something and slump so she can catch a breath. She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling her heart still racing underneath her lab coat.

"Can I please just catch a break?" she muttered to herself, pushing her glasses up with her free hand. "As if having her mother breathing down my neck every week wasn’t stressful enough. Now she shows up out of nowhere and nearly gives me a heart attack.