Kane woke at midnight.
The small barracks room was quiet except for Jenna’s exhausted breathing.
She lay face-down exactly where he had left her, blonde hair a tangled mess across the pillow and her back, both holes still faintly glistening in the low light.
Her legs remained slightly open, body completely spent. She didn’t stir when he carefully extracted his arm from under her.
It wasn’t new.
He had fucked elves until they could no longer speak, humans who thought they could match him and learned otherwise.
Jenna had been desperate and clingy and stronger than most, but the result never changed.
They slept. He woke.
Kane pulled his shirt on, left the rest of his clothes where they had fallen, and stepped out into the corridor barefoot.
The women’s barracks stayed silent around him.
He found an open arch that looked out over the inner courtyard and leaned against the cold stone, staring up at the moon.
Three more days.
Then the road to the Beastworld. Berakuman. Grathak.
It wasn’t hard by any means. He had cleared worse in the game.
But the variables had changed.
He couldn’t take Thora. The risk of the breeding grounds and the packs was too high, and she would refuse to stay behind if he asked directly.
Misha was out of the question entirely. Her heart was healed, but the deep forest and a ten-foot-tall warlord who collected elves and humans for breeding stock were not places he would ever allow her to walk.
A sound of wings displaced air to his left.
Griselda dropped lightly onto the stone balcony, violet hair shining under the moonlight, yellow eyes already locked on him.
She tugged one dark wing back into place with a casual motion, the feathers settling with a quiet rustle.
The fallen angel looked as composed as ever, barefoot, wearing only a thin wrap that left most of her pale skin and the graceful lines of her shoulders exposed.
"You’re confused," she said.
Kane laughed once.
"Yes. Not scared."
Griselda stepped closer, yellow eyes reflecting the moon.
"I’ll go with you."
He looked at her for a long moment. She was the only real option. Thora and Misha were too important to risk. Seraphine was still bound by duty and ranking politics.
A fallen angel who could take care of herself, who had no empire to lose and no bloodline Grathak would find valuable for breeding.
"You understand what he is," Kane said.
"I understand enough. He will not leave you alone without a few scars. He will probably arrange his own trial the moment you step into his forest. A fight. A hunt. Maybe even a fuck competition if the mood takes him. Who knows with beasts like that."
Kane’s mouth curved slightly.
"You’ve seen the visions too."
"I’ve seen enough to know you’re walking into something that wants to measure you in blood and seed. I’m still going."
He studied the yellow eyes, the calm set of her mouth, the way her wings shifted once and then stilled.
"All right," he said.
"You come. But you follow my lead when we reach the outer paths. No heroics. No testing the guardian alone."
Griselda’s smile was small and sharp.
Kane pushed off the wall.
"Go sleep. We still have three days of preparation, and I don’t need you exhausted when we leave."
She tilted her head, violet hair sliding over one shoulder.
"And you?"
"Bath. Then my own bed."
Griselda’s yellow eyes flicked once toward the cavalry barracks, where Jenna still slept in a puddle of their combined mess.
"She’ll be walking strangely for a week."
"She asked for it."
"They always do."
Griselda’s wings gave a single, quiet beat as she stepped back to the open air.
"Three days. Try not to collect any more ambitious cavalry captains before we leave."
She dropped off the balcony without another word, dark wings opening to catch the night air.
Kane watched her glide toward the higher spires of the keep, then turned and headed for the private baths.
The water was still warm from the evening’s residual heat.
He washed quickly, scrubbing away the scent of Jenna’s desperation and the layered evidence of the night.
When he stepped out and dried off, the keep felt quieter than usual. Most of the ranked warriors were already asleep, recovering from three days of relentless drills.
He walked the final corridors to the western wing barefoot, shirt still open, hair damp.
Seraphine was standing outside the door of his private study.
"I’m going with you," she said the moment he stopped in front of her.
Kane’s voice stayed even.
"You are not."
"I can take care of myself."
"You will go once I analyse the situation."
Seraphine’s silver eyes narrowed. Confusion flickered across her face for a brief moment, genuine, not performed, then she stepped in, rose onto her toes, and kissed him.
Kane kissed her back without hesitation. The contact was slower than Jenna’s frantic claiming, more certain.
Seraphine’s hand rested against his chest, feeling the steady beat under his skin. When she finally pulled back, her voice was quieter.
"You already decided who travels with you."
"Griselda and Kessa."
"The fallen one."
"Yes."
Seraphine searched his face for another second, then nodded once, accepting the boundary even if she did not like it.
"Then I’ll hold the ranking and the cavalry while you’re gone. Jenna will try to turn first place into permanent authority the moment your back is turned. I’ll make sure she remembers the difference between a prize night and an actual claim."
Kane’s hand settled briefly at the side of her neck.
"I know you will."
He kissed her once more, shorter this time, then stepped past her and opened the door.
The study was dark except for the low glow of banked coals.
Thora and Misha were already in the wide bed, exactly where he had left them the night before the ranking finished.
Thora on the left, dark hair spilled across the pillow. Misha on the right, white hair neat even in sleep. The space between them was open, waiting.
Kane closed the door quietly, dropped the shirt, and slid into the middle.
Thora stirred at once, one arm automatically throwing itself across his chest with the same possessive weight she always used.
Misha made a soft sound and curled closer, cheek resting against his shoulder, one hand settling low on his stomach.
Neither of them fully woke. They simply adjusted around him as if the night had never been interrupted.
Kane stared at the ceiling beams for a while, feeling the solid heat of both of them, the familiar scent of the room, the quiet certainty that these two were not negotiable.
The system window flickered at the edge of his vision, soft blue in the dark.
[Quest Update]
[Milfheim Ranking – Complete]
[Top Contender Jenna: Temporary Physical Claim Registered]
[Loyalty Status: Conditional / High Ambition]
[Warning: Bond remains unstable. Further reinforcement optional.]
[Travel Preparation Window: 3 Days Remaining]
[Destination: Berakuman – Beastworld]
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