Mrs. Triss had obtained the otherworldly knowledge she'd long yearned for from the adorable little Lumina. To celebrate, she decisively opened a bottle of "Moonlight Ice"—a royal reserve—and toasted her own brilliance.
She had no idea what kind of surprise her champion, Lumina, would bring her, but she had a feeling that she might soon make a real breakthrough in the alchemical studies that had stagnated for years.
But before she could take a sip of the fine wine, the computational orb adorning her bracelet let out an urgent chime.
She glanced down. Murphy was calling.
"Tsk. In the middle of the night, what could a man and woman like us possibly have to talk about? That little idiot."
Triss was tempted to ignore him.
But she still set down her glass and lazily activated the call. She was just about to tease him when Murphy's weak voice came through:
"The Thorn Grand Duchess is here, and she's beating down my door. Get over here and bail me out."
"???"
Triss's eyes flew wide open. She sprang to her feet, and the Nocturne scepter, which she'd left on the desk, shot into her open hand. Her scarlet Midnight Cloak settled over her shoulders.
Though they were no longer elder and progeny, the moment she heard that another woman was beating up little Murphy, a nameless fury still flared in Triss's heart. The calm red sparks in her eyes blazed into something sharper and wilder.
Kill her!
A cold, vicious voice she hadn't heard in over a century screamed inside her mind.
It was another version of herself, roaring.
"Who's this random woman? How dare she bully my little man!"
"Whoosh."
With the flames of anger dancing in her heart, Triss casually tore open an extremely unstable scarlet rift. She strode