Stefan’s POV

By evening my body felt like it had been used as a practice dummy and then left out in the rain.

Every muscle ached in a deep, thorough way I had never experienced back on Earth. Jonquil had worked me even after the System finally chimed mission complete and dumped the rewards into my interface. Three thousand five hundred AP. Exactly what I needed, and then some.

I lay flat on the furs in my room for a long minute, staring at the gold ceiling, before I forced myself to sit up. There was still work to do. The two won-over Flowers were still waiting, and Belladonna’s patience had a hard limit measured in sunsets.

I pulled up my inventory and bought a vial of healing oil. The moment I uncorked it and rubbed the cool liquid into my arms, shoulders, and thighs, the deep ache began to unwind. Heat spread under my skin, knitting the strain back into something usable. I let out a long breath of pure relief.

At least the same System that had forced me through two hours of hell had the decency to sell the cure.

I called for the Hand. She appeared quickly, her head already bowed before she could reach my presence.

"Where’s Zinnia?" I asked and when The Hand blinked, obviously with ignorance, I explained further "Second-in-command to the General. Tall, calm, looks like she could end me without raising her voice."

"This one does not know, honored visitor."

Of course she didn’t. I dismissed her with a wave and went looking for the woman myself.

After a few minutes of wandering around the corridor where the warriors were lodged, I finally found Zinnia walking alone through one of the quieter corridors with a posture so perfect it looked unreal, and expression as calm and unreadable as ever.

I fell into step beside her without waiting for permission.

"Good timing," I began.

"I’m ready to finish what I started. The two Flowers who got won over - I can bring them back right now."

Zinnia stopped and turned her head just enough to look at me. Those cool eyes studied my face for a moment, then she gave a single nod.

"Follow."

She led me to a private chamber deeper in the lodge’s wing. The two women lay side by side on low platforms, eyes open but empty, bodies still as stone. The same state I had seen them in days ago.

I opened my inventory, purchased two Life Embers, and closed my hand around the first one. The warm, pulsing weight of it settled against my palm. I pressed it to the center of the first Flower’s chest.

The effect took time. Color returned slowly to her skin. Her fingers twitched. Then her eyes blinked, truly seeing for the first time in what felt like forever. She drew a deep breath and sat up, looking around in quiet confusion.

I repeated the process with the second Ember on the other woman. Same slow return. Same careful rise to sitting.

Both of them were alive again - properly alive.

I stepped back, brushing my hands together like I had just finished a particularly satisfying con.

Zinnia watched the entire process in silence. When both Flowers were steady, she inclined her head toward me with formal precision.

"You have done well, Alien. The Flowers are restored. My gratitude is given."

I gave her my best charming smile.

"See? That’s all I ask for. A little appreciation. If the Queen and the General had even half your manners, my life on this planet would be significantly less stressful."

Zinnia did not smile back, but something in her eyes softened a fraction.

I gestured toward the recovered women with a flourish. "So... should we go ahead and summon Her Majesty and the General? Feels like the kind of miracle that deserves an audience. Maybe a small round of applause."

"The Queen and the General are occupied," Zinnia answered evenly. "Even if they were not, an Alien would be brought before the Queen. The Queen is not brought before an Alien."

I laughed under my breath. "Of course. Rank and all that. Fine. I will just stand here and congratulate myself while I wait for them to free up a few minutes in their very busy schedules."

Zinnia inclined her head once more, accepting the joke without comment or expression, and turned her attention to the two newly restored Flowers.

I left them to whatever they had to say to one another or do.

~~~~~~~~

Later, with the sun already sliding toward the horizon, I sat on the edge of my bed and watched the Hand count the contents of the wooden chest for the second time.

One million in the planet’s standard currency. The System had said it, but I still wanted the physical confirmation. Coins and small ingots clinked softly under her careful fingers as she sorted them into neat stacks. I found the sound strangely soothing.

"Count it again," I told her.

She did not question the order. She simply began once more from the beginning.

I was still watching the steady movement of her hands when the door opened without a knock.

Kara stepped inside like she owned the room and even the courtyard. Her eyes went first to me, then to the open chest and the growing piles of currency. One brow lifted.

"You are ready for me now," she stated.

Then her gaze lingered on the money.

"When did the Alien begin gathering resources on our land?"

I leaned back on my hands and grinned. "What can I say? I’ve always been good at finding opportunities." I met her eyes directly. "And while we’re on the subject - stop calling me Alien. My name is Stefan."

Kara tested the word once, quiet, as if checking the shape of it in her mouth.

"Stefan." She nodded once, accepting it. "Come. We are ready to go."

I stood, scooped a generous handful of the currency, and looked at the Hand.

"Something to carry this in? Preferably something that doesn’t scream ’I just robbed a vault."

She produced a sturdy pouch without hesitation. I filled it, tied it shut, and slipped it into the folds of my clothing.

Then I followed Kara out of the room, the weight of real wealth against my side and the promise of a private lesson waiting somewhere beyond the palace walls.

I was excited.

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