The following day, after confirming to Princess Luna that the Emperor of Death had agreed to accompany her, she proposed departing that same afternoon.

Mark accepted without objections. If they were going to do it, the sooner the better, and the faster they could return.

And while his subordinates were a little surprised that their Master had decided to take Yuki instead of Rose at the last moment, none of them said anything about it.

They trusted their Master’s judgment enough to assume he had his reasons.

So when afternoon arrived, the princess’s carriage was already ready at the palace entrance, with the beastmen who pulled it harnessed and waiting for the order to depart.

"Tell me, are you really going alone?" Princess Luna asked in a curious tone as she finished climbing into the carriage. "Because no offense, Emperor, but for someone so important it surprises me that you’re not even bringing a couple of guards."

Mark, already seated inside the carriage, let out a short laugh.

"Alone?" he repeated with a smile. "Of course I’m not going alone."

And at that exact moment, a figure emerged from Mark’s own shadow.

Ely stepped out of the darkness as if it were a door, materializing in a matter of seconds before calmly taking a seat beside Mark, settling her sword across her lap.

Luna startled violently.

"What the hell—!" she exclaimed, throwing herself back against the seat, her wolf ears standing completely on end and her tail shooting straight up.

"Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you, Princess," Ely said, somewhat amused by the woman’s reaction. "A pleasure to meet you. My name is Elyndra, and I’ll be accompanying my Master on this journey."

Luna brought a hand to her chest, clearly trying to get her heart rate back under control.

"S-yes... the pleasure is mine," she replied, still a little rattled, glancing sideways at Ely. "Though I’d appreciate a warning before you do that next time... I almost had a heart attack."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

"Anyway," Mark said, suppressing a laugh and looking at the princess. "Is everything ready to depart?"

Luna took a deep breath and recovered her composure.

"Yes," she replied, settling into her seat. "And if everything goes well, we should be back here in less than ten days."

"Only ten days?" he asked, frowning slightly. "Didn’t you tell me the trip there alone takes close to a week? If it takes us seven days to get there, I don’t see how we could go, settle your throne business, and come back in just ten."

"Normally you’d be right," Luna replied. "But one of your subordinates let me know at the last moment that in a few days she’d be sending a druid to catch up with us in my kingdom."

"I see..."

Ely, who had been watching the exchange, tilted her head.

"And why are we still sitting here, then?" she asked, looking out the carriage window. "If everything’s ready, what are we waiting for?"

"We’re waiting for my assistant to get in," Luna replied. "As soon as Emi is on board, we’ll leave immediately."

Mark looked toward the palace entrance.

"Speaking of her... where did she get to?"

"No idea... but knowing her, she shouldn’t be long," Luna replied with a shrug. "She probably stayed to sort out some last-minute detail... That woman is incapable of relaxing even if her life depends on it."

Barely had the princess finished saying that when the carriage door opened.

And Emi climbed in, with her usual tired expression and a faint flush of haste on her pale cheeks.

"Sorry for the delay," she said, settling into the seat beside Luna. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Where on earth were you?" Luna asked, frowning. "I almost came looking for you."

"The queen wanted to speak with me before we left," Emi replied, smoothing her clothes. "I couldn’t refuse."

Mark looked up at hearing that.

"Emilia?" he asked, curious. "What did you two talk about?"

"Nothing very important, really," the assistant replied calmly. "It was mostly routine diplomatic matters... That the elven kingdom would keep its doors open for future visits, the details of the commercial agreement, and so on."

Mark watched her for a moment. It struck him as a little odd, but in the end he decided not to give it much thought.

"Anyway," Luna said, raising her voice slightly. "It’s getting late and we still have a long road ahead, so we’d better get moving."

Emi nodded and rapped her fist against one of the carriage walls.

Instantly, the beastmen pulling the vehicle set off, and the carriage began to move — slowly pulling away from the palace entrance and making its way through the streets of the elven capital toward the city gates.

Mark settled into his seat and looked out the window as the palace receded behind them.

’Yuki,’ he said through the mental link. ’Are you in position?’

The response came almost immediately.

’Yes, Master,’ she replied.

Invisible on the roof of the carriage, the assassin traveled with the group like a silent shadow, ready to intervene the moment anything went wrong.

’I’ve been here since before anyone got in,’ she added.

’Good... stay alert throughout the entire journey,’ Mark replied. ’I don’t want any surprises along the way.’

’As you command, Master.’

Mark looked out the window again, watching the elven capital unfold around them as the carriage headed toward the outskirts.

Beside him, Ely was humming something quietly, clearly in a good mood from having won the right to accompany him.

Across from him, Luna had already produced a piece of dried meat from somewhere and was gnawing on it with complete nonchalance, while her assistant looked at her as if she wanted to scold her for the lack of manners.

Mark let out a quiet sigh.

’Let’s hope it’s a calm journey,’ he thought, leaning back in his seat. ’That for once things go according to plan and without any last-minute surprises.’

The carriage passed through the capital’s gates and entered the road that stretched beyond the city, leaving the elven kingdom behind and heading toward the beastman lands.

And although Mark didn’t know it yet, the odds of that journey being "calm" were considerably lower than he expected.