The festival streets greeted them as they stepped out of the café. Jennifer resud her saintly walk while Jax matched her pace, hands shoved in his pockets, irritation written across his face.
"Two champions. Obsessed with . And you won’t even give their nas."
Jennifer smiled serenely. "Where’s the fun in that?"
"Fun? Jenny, these people are trying to kill each other for so divine reward. You’re telling two of them have their crosshairs on , and your idea of help is leaving blind?"
"I said they were obsessed. Not hostile." Her smile widened. "Though with you, those two things tend to overlap."
’Great. Mystery stalkers. Just what I needed on top of everything else.’
He ran through the possibilities in his head. Faces, nas, encounters. Too many variables. Too few clues. He gave up and shifted topics.
"What about Zinnia?"
Jennifer’s steps slowed slightly. "What about her?"
"You know what happened back in Sylvie’s kingdom. The champion war. The whole ss."
"I’m aware of the conflict." Her tone turned careful. "But I wasn’t aware Zinnia and the others were caught up in it."
Jax raised an eyebrow. "She was right in the thick of it. Survived too, which ans she’s not completely useless."
He glanced sideways. "So why not recruit her? Pull her under your wing. You’re building a power base anyway. Having your own daughter as an ally seems like easy math."
Jennifer was quiet for a mont. The crowd parted for her naturally, their reverence creating a path wherever she walked.
"There can only be one winner, Jax." Her voice was calm. asured. "When the dust settles, one person walks away with the reward. Everyone else is left empty-handed."
She folded her hands gracefully. "And speaking of Zinnia, it would be far better for her to survive on her own. That kind of solitude is a greater teacher than any mother could ever be."
Her gaze drifted upward. The evening sky was painted in shades of gold and violet, the first festival lanterns flickering to life beneath it.
When she spoke again, her voice had changed. Softer. Almost fragile.
"She is too fixated on proving herself. Always has been." A pause. "I just want her to see the world differently. To enjoy it rather than waste every breath chasing validation until all that’s left is regret."
Her eyes held sothing distant. Personal.
"At least out here she would learn how the real world operates. Without the luxury of everything being handed to her on a silver plate. Without the crushing weight of living up to a na she never chose."
She breathed slowly.
"See the cruel side of this world. See human nature without its filters." Her lips curved gently. "And most importantly, make so friends along the way."
Jax let the silence sit for a beat.
Then grinned.
"Sorry to interrupt the beautiful monologue, Jenny. But the group she’s running with? Whatever allies she’s scraped together?" He clicked his tongue. "I’d consider them worse than enemies. I won’t be surprised if soone’s already planted a knife in sobody’s back by now."
Jennifer’s expression flickered with concern but she said nothing.
Then Jax pivoted. His grin stretched wider.
"Also, you said ’regretting’ just now. And I caught that little look in your eyes." He leaned slightly toward her. "Felt personal. Like you were giving your own example."
He pressed further, voice dripping with theatrical devotion.
"So the great Saintess missed so wholeso monts? So precious lost days?"
His hand found his chest.
"Well, Jenny. You don’t have to feel shy. Just say the word and this humble servant of yours will happily return every single one of those lost monts. In vivid, sweaty, detailed recreations. Positions included. Free of charge."
Jennifer sighed. Long. Deep. From the bottom of her soul.
"You haven’t changed a single bit, have you?"
She turned to look at his face. That playfulness still danced in his eyes as he stared at the empty space ahead, smirking at sothing only he found funny.
But beneath it, sothing else was there. Sothing she hadn’t seen before.
Her expression shifted. Thoughtful now.
"Or maybe you have changed." She studied him openly. "You just refuse to let go of the mischief."
Jax looked genuinely confused. "What?"
"One of the traits that brought to the top was reading people. Their faces, their eyes, the weight hiding behind their words." Her voice turned reflective. "Back in Aeroria, I failed to read one person. No matter how hard I tried, his face was a sealed vault."
Her gaze softened.
"But now that sa person stands before with a face remarkably easy to read. Not because he grew weak. But because he changed. Beca vulnerable in the most honest way possible."
Jax didn’t respond imdiately.
Then a small, genuine smile ford on his lips. "You might be right."
He looked ahead at the festival lights blinking to life one by one.
"You know, Jenny, what you wished for Zinnia? You were spot on. People don’t see the beauty of what the world has to offer. I was the sa once."
His voice carried a weight that didn’t match his usual tone.
"My world revolved around winning. Face-slapping. Breaking people and collecting trophies." He exhaled slowly. "But you’re right. There’s more to those trophies. Real ones. The kind you can’t put on a shelf or wave in soone’s face."
He searched for the word.
"Warmth."
It sat heavy between them.
"It changed . Made weaker in ways I never expected. But it filled the part that had been hollow from the very start."
Jennifer didn’t fully grasp his aning. He was speaking about the bonds, the romance, the people who had sohow cracked through his iron walls in this world. But she could feel the honesty living behind those words.
She smiled. Genuine this ti.
Jax turned to her. "I’d pray for the sa for your daughter."
Jennifer looked at him as soone matured. The weight of his words carried a sincerity she hadn’t anticipated from the man who had just offered her ’sweaty recreations’ thirty seconds ago.
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