They chatted a while longer.
Hysilens slowly approached and found the two of them.
"Fish from the sea beyond the sky, how have you enjoyed your rest in the lake?"
"Caesar and the city-state representatives are about to enter. If you're ready, swim with me to the assembly."
"You have a strange way of speaking." Yan Huan studied Hysilens, his gaze settling on her chest.
It was somewhat transparent. He could even see her bones clearly.
Bubbles rose inside it, as though it held a piece of the deep sea.
"Are you a mermaid?"
Hysilens answered calmly:
"...I am Okhema's Knight Commander, a general of the Trail of the Fire Legion, and Caesar's close attendant—"
"Strip away those ornate titles etched into my scales, and I am merely a fish swimming at Caesar's side, a sword and banner in her service."
"I am nothing else."
"Fine, fine. If you don't want to say, forget it."
Yan Huan asked Hysilens another question:
"What kind of person is Kryudera in your eyes?"
"As you can see," Hysilens replied evenly.
"She is the empress of Okhema, the one who ended the Golden War, and the leader of the Chrysos Heirs."
"As her subject, it would be improper for me to say more."
She might as well have said nothing.
Yan Huan folded his arms and regarded the woman before him.
No matter the cycle, she was always Kryudera's loyal lackey.
If the two of them could get married...
Wait. What the hell am I thinking?
Yan Huan looked toward the Chrysos Heirs nearby and asked:
"Do the Chrysos Heirs have a lot of standing here?"
"Aglaea, Tribbie, and those dukes seem pretty important."
"Naturally." Hysilens looked toward them too.
"The Chrysos Heirs here are all among the best in the Trail of the