After taking a few minutes to breathe, Beylith led us to a sitting room. Three couches and a few large armchairs sat in a half circle around a large fireplace on the right-hand wall. The opposite wall was dedicated to three large bay windows overlooking a well-kept garden. A small, fully stocked bar was on the wall opposite the fireplace.

The seven of us quickly split up, taking seats around the room. Asra and I claimed the couch closest to the door. To our left, Mother relaxed into one of the large armchairs. To her left, Lyra and Sophia sat on a couch parallel to the fireplace. On the last couch directly across from Asra and I were Raya and Beylith.

Letting out a loud sigh, I decided to break the silence. "I have about 1.25 million crowns worth of exotic materials in the shop. I should be able to sell off most of it fairly easily."

"Are you going to let us help you, or do you want to attempt this on your own?" My mother asked.

"I don't think I have enough time to do this on my own, even if I wanted to," I told them. "I have a few ideas, but I'm not sure if they'll payout in time."

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Sophia asked. "We might be able to help."

"I could easily make something worth 2 million with the material I have on hand. The problem is finding a buyer. Most people don't just have that kind of money lying around," I explained.

"Would I be able to request a commission, then?" Sophia asked. "It has come to my attention that the probationary captain of my guard does not have a weapon of her own. I absolutely can not allow this to stand."

I looked at Sophia, a bit stunned by her abrupt offer. "Anything specific or just a weapon?" I asked her.

The princess pondered for a moment before answering. "A sword would probably be best. It's what she has the most experience with. It needs to be something fitting of her position, so reasonably fancy. I'm willing to pay up to 2.5 million crowns."

At that moment, I felt hope begin to settle in my chest. Slowly, this seemed more and more possible. "I can definitely do that. I should be able to have it done within the week."

"Excellent!" Sophia exclaimed with a bright smile. "I'll make sure to have the money ready by the time you're done."

"Any specific enchantment you want on it?" I asked, a bit surprised by her lack of detail on such a high-cost order.

"Nothing specific. I'd rather just see what you come up with." Sophia answered.

Seeing my continued bewilderment, Raya spoke up. "She likes to pay artisans to make whatever they feel like. It's not a method I would recommend, but she has gotten some 'interesting' results from it."

"So I just have to make a sword, and you'll pay me 2.5 million for it?" I asked the second princess.

"Yep!" she answered with a beaming smile.

"So, what's stopping me from handing you an iron sword and walking away with the money?" I inquired.

"Nothing!" Was all she said, the same bright smile on her face.

An annoyed groan escaped my mouth as I leaned heavily into Asra's side. "Fine. I'll start working on it first thing in the morning." Sophia gave me a quick nod in response.

Seeing that the conversation had ended, Raya brought forward the next topic. "Now that we have that taken care of, do you have any ideas on what you'll be presenting to my father?"

"Not in the slightest." I answered in full honesty. "I can't risk them finding out it's something I've already designed, so I'll have to come up with something new."

"Actually." I said right as Raya was about to speak. "There is one idea that's been bouncing around in my head recently." As I finished speaking, all eyes locked on me.

Under their expectant gaze, I continued, "So I was thinking about teleportation arrays and how they could be used for travel or trade. Sadly, the basic arrays are way too mana inefficient, and the more complex arrays are locked to a specific location. I was wondering if there was a way to alter the array so that instead of being locked to one destination, you could use a code to identify a prebuilt exit. But I hadn't had time to look into it yet."

They all continued staring at me in complete silence. As the silence went on, I started to worry more and more that I had said something wrong. I felt my body tense as I began to curl in on myself.

The next thing I know, Asra picks me up, moving me over to her lap. All of my worries felt so much less immediate as her arms wrapped around me. God, I really needed to have that talk with her soon. It was way too easy for me to just give in to her.

"Absolutely astounding! If your idea works, it will be the biggest thing since airships." Raya exclaimed, sounding genuinely interested. "I can't wait to see how it turns out."

As she spoke, a tension I hadn't realized was there slowly released. I didn't get to enjoy it much, though, as a wave of exhaustion crashed over me. Why did emotions have to be so exhausting?

I had to force my eyes to stay open as they burned with tiredness. Noticing my current state, Asra looked down at me with a teasing smirk. "Take a nap. I'll wake you when we get home." Asra whispered to me as she started petting my head. The fight to stay awake became exponentially harder under her pets.

I couldn't really find myself wanting to argue with her, so I didn't. Deciding instead to shift into a more comfortable sleeping position on her lap. It didn't take long after that for me to drift off in her arms, listening to the others chat about my idea.

The next thing I know, my back impacts against something soft. With a pained groan, I curled up into the softness and tried to go back to sleep. "Time to get up. We're home." Only to be stopped by Asra's voice.

Slowly opening my eyes, I took in my surroundings. Asra stood over me as I lay on what I soon recognized as one of the living room couches back home. It looked like it was time for our talk.

"Did you really have to drop me?" I asked, pushing myself up.

"Nooo." she answered with a cheeky smile. "But it seemed like the quickest way to wake you."

"How long was I out?" I inquired as she took a seat opposite me.

"Almost two hours." Asra told me. "Lyra had to stay at the palace, and Eliza started on dinner as soon as we got back."

I nodded along with her words. "So we have time to talk?"

"Yeah, we have time." She said with a kind smile, but I could see the nervousness hidden underneath.

I took a minute to think over how I wanted to handle this, but in the end, I only had one thing I wanted to ask. "Why?"

"Why I kissed you?" Asra asked, only getting a nod in return from me. "Well, it's pretty simple, actually. I love you."

All my thoughts came to a screeching halt at her words, but I had no time to dwell on them as she continued. "I'm really sorry, by the way. I overstepped. No matter how much I wanted to kiss, I shouldn't have."

As my mind thought over what she said, my mouth asked the same question as before. "Why?"

"Why I shouldn't have kissed you, or why I love you?" she asked nervously.

"Both would be good." I told her, wanting to hear both answers.

"I'll start with the simpler one, then. I shouldn't have kissed you for two main reasons. One: I should have made sure you were okay with it first. I had no right to take your first kiss," Asra explained. I didn't really understand why she thought it was such a big deal. I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather have taken my first kiss.

"The second reason is that I didn't do it for the right reason. I kissed you because I felt like I had to show Raya you were mine." Her words caused my face to blush and my stomach to twist. The conflicting emotions her words gave me were confusing. I had never felt both flattered and disgusted at the same time.

"Every time she teased you, I just felt this growing need to show her you were mine. I had planned to stop when your power activated, but I couldn't. My body stopped listening to me, and the next thing I knew, we were kissing." Asra explained. "I'm sorry."

I took a minute to think over what she said. I knew her reasoning made me feel very uncomfortable, but another part of me longed to be hers. The problem was that I wanted to give it, not have it taken.

Looking up at her, she was trying to keep a calm smile on her face, but I could see the fear and desperate hope in her eyes. I didn't like seeing her like that, so I told her how I felt. "You should have asked first. I wouldn't have said no."

Asra seemed to brighten at my words, her fear replaced with guilt. "Right. I'll make sure to ask next time."

Her last two words echoed in my mind. Next time. Was she planning on kissing me again? Wait, she said she loves me. "You said you love me; explain."

"Yeah," she said, sounding more nervous than I'd ever heard her. "I have for a while now."

"How long?" The words shot from my mouth as soon as she finished speaking.

"Since forever, really, but it fully set in when we were 15." She answered sheepishly.

I felt my body give way, slumping into the couch. 11 years. She had been in love with me for 11 years. My mind cleared except for one thought, and I had to ask it. "Why didn't you say anything?" I needed to know her answer.

Asra let out a deep sigh before she answered. "To put it simply, I was uncomfortable with being intimate with someone who thought they were a boy. So, instead, I decided to try to help you figure yourself out and hope you'd fall in love with me if you ever transitioned."

That was a lot to take in. When I woke up this morning, I had not expected to find out that my best friend and girl I'd had a crush on for most of my life had feelings for me for just as long. The thought was quite overwhelming.

Watching her shift back and forth in her seat, consumed by nervousness, was a strong surge washer over my body. I really wanted to hug her, so I did.

Launching out of my seat, I slammed into Asra; her body went rigid as I made contact. Seizing my opportunity, I wrapped my arms around her. Tears had begun to fall from my eyes as I pressed my face into her shoulder.

Without saying anything, Asra held me as I cried. She simply pet my head and waited for me to calm down. It honestly helped. I didn't really know why I was crying. It just felt like I was full of so many emotions, and my eyes were the only way out.

After a few minutes, the tears finally died down. I felt utterly drained, like a mana crystal that had been completely exhausted. Through the haze of exhaustion, I knew one thing. There was one more thing I needed to say. "Me falling in love with you wasn't something you needed to worry about."

Before Asra could react to my words, Mother called out from the kitchen. "Girls! Dinner's ready!" Pushing off Asra, I dashed off to the kitchen, shooting her a cheeky grin on the way.

gNatonthewall

Hello, everyone. Lots of talking in this chapter. What did you all think of September's new idea? She already has a name for it, but you'll have to wait to find out what it is. Any ideas on what kind of weapon she'll make? How about her little chat with Asra? I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Thank you all for reading, commenting, and favoriting. Have a nice day.