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Bzzt!
Reginald’s head snapped towards the source of the sound. Robur looked over to it as well, with more grace than his fellow councilman. Azuri just looked concerned for Reginald’s neck. Then there was another bzzt, which echoed in the throne room.
The noise had come from Cassie’s phone, which she had left behind after checking in with the Council after an excursion in Trinity. Once she had returned and assured the Council that her trip was pleasant, she left for her quarters to take a shower. She must’ve forgotten it in her haste.
Reginald glanced back towards both Azuri and Robur, which was the only warning the two received before he lunged for the phone. Azuri held back a sigh, and Robur shook his head in silent disapproval.
Reginald turned around, Cassie’s phone in hand. “What?” Reginald scoffed. “It’s imperative that we, as the Trinity Council, make sure that our Queen isn’t being bothered by filth.”
“We shouldn’t be so overprotective,” Azuri cautioned from where she sat. “Cassie’s our queen. We must trust in her decisions, for we are her advisors. It’s not our place to make these types of choices for her.”
“Yes. Last time we disregarded that fact, it was nearly catastrophic,” Robur said.
Reginald’s scowl shifted into acquiescence. “I suppose so,” he said. He looked at the phone he was holding. “…”
“…Reginald, don’t. The Queen would be disappointed in us,” Robur said warily. “Please, find it in yourself to resist your curiosity.”
Robur stood up from his seat and took off his helmet. Without it, his eyebags were plainly visible, and he looked more like a tired soldier instead of Trinity’s imposing arbiter of law. Azuri almost felt bad for what she was about to subject her friend to.
Azuri stood up too, and moved to where Reginald was. “While I agree with Robur…” she said. “What if the notification she received was something akin to a free tix scam? Surely, we should save Cassie from even having to see it.”
“Yes, precisely!” Reginald said. He smiled, clapping a hand on Azuri’s shoulder.
Robur rubbed the bridge of his eyes in exhaustion. Then, he leapt from his seat as well, and reluctantly made his way to where both of his friends were. Reginald’s grin widened, and he looped the arm holding Cassie’s phone around Robur’s neck. Azuri hid her smile with a sleeve.
“…If you insist on keeping this position, allow me to hold the phone. Azuri may control the touchscreen,” Robur muttered. His face was warm, which was quite endearing to see.
Reginald complied without any of his usual complaints, and right as they settled into their new configuration, the phone buzzed with another notification. All three of them were keen to see what it was, even if they weren’t so eager to admit it. Azuri quickly opened the phone with a swipe of her fingers.
“…I can’t believe that the Queen hasn’t set a password on her phone.” Robur frowned. “We’ve sent her sensitive information over these channel logs. We must endeavor to advise her to upgrade the security on this device.”
“Yes, but not so blatantly,” Azuri said. “We should give her a subtle nudge, instead of signaling to her that we’ve been rummaging through her phone.”
“…Ah, you’re right.”
“Of course, High Councilman Robur.”
“Shush, both of you!” Reginald hissed. “I’ve found who’s been messaging the Queen!”
While Robur and Azuri were debating on how to approach Cassie on setting a password on her phone, Reginald had removed the hand that used to be resting on Azuri’s shoulder and maneuvered to the messaging app. There, displayed proudly on the screen, was a group chat nicknamed “Calls for Help”.
How remarkably corny. It was so juvenile, a preteen could’ve done better. Reginald laughed meanly as Robur coughed in an attempt to hide the beginnings of his own laughter. Azuri gave it a skeptical look from behind her spectacles.
“That’s… not quite what I was expecting,” Robur said. Then he squinted at the screen, and Azuri obligingly shifted the phone closer to him. “Does that say there are six people in this… group chat?”
Robur’s eyes flickered between Reginald and Azuri, his bafflement clearly written all over his face. “Who could the Queen possibly be communicating with?”
Reginald yanked the phone from Azuri’s grasp, and started forcefully tapping at it. “Let me see that,” he said, scowling. “Six people who’d even dream of being on the same level of Trinity’s queen? Pathetic!”
“...Five people,” Azuri said. Reginald raised his head to glare at her, which was a telltale sign that he wasn’t quite on her tempo. “If there are six people total in the group chat, it’d be Cassie and five others.”
“Mn,” Robur agreed. “Who are the five others?”
Now it was Reginald’s turn to squint at the small screen of Cassie’s phone. He paused for a second to rub at his eyes, and in that second Azuri swooped in to save her other two councilmen. With three quick taps, she navigated to the list of members in the chat. Robur watched quietly in fascination.
“Oh. Thanks, Azuri,” Reginald said, blinking. His eyes focused on a particular name. “Huh–? The dead guardian of the Icedagger is here?”
Robur jolted. “The king of Blackrock, whom Player killed mere months ago? Reginald, allow me to read that!” His hand flew to where Reginald held Cassie’s phone, but by then Reginald had already repositioned. “...Excuse me?”
“Not now!” Reginald scrolled down the list. “Of all people– Thaniyel’s son is in this accursed shared message log? I knew he was no good, the second I saw how he was dressed!”
Robur gaped, and Azuri made the mistake of meeting his widened eyes. By now, the Trinity Council had settled down into sitting on the floor of the throne room, and there were no stray emerald guards, to their relief. Both Robur and Azuri were perched on each of Reginald’s shoulders, and he had graciously removed his shoulder armor in anticipation of that. Azuri took off her large silk hat to muffle her laughter with it.
“The Blackrock king, and Brad Thaniyel…” Robur muttered to himself. This time, instead of going for the phone directly, he clamped his hands on Reginald’s arm and pulled him over. Reginald rolled his eyes as Robur searched through the phone himself.
“The other three names are unrecognizable to us,” Azuri said from behind both of them. She looked at the most recent notification banner curiously. “Perhaps we should be scouring their exchanges for more information on who they are, rather than taking them at face value.”
“Tch. I guess you have a point.” Reginald jabbed at the phone screen to return to the Calls for Help message log. “They’re actively texting right now.”
Robur hummed, and the three of them fell silent as they observed the ongoing discussions held between three of the five members, excluding Cassie. ‘Red & Blue’ and ‘Cruel King’— Robur wasn’t exactly sure why the Blackrock King had decided to name himself that —were both absent. The Council nearly thought ‘Calypso’ wasn’t online either, until ‘Calypso’ had reacted to a sparse few texts sent by both Thaniyel’s immature son and the enigmatic ‘ieatmyfeelings’.
What ensued was the most appalling display of courting Azuri ever had the misfortune of witnessing. Robur had to look away halfway through and bury his head into Reginald and Azuri’s arms. The secondhand embarrassment would’ve gotten to Reginald too, if he hadn’t started clenching down his jaw and gritting his teeth. Azuri, on the other hand, couldn’t pry her eyes off of it at all. The sight of such a trainwreck was too magnetic for her to resist.
At last, Robur found enough strength to continue reading the conversation. In fact, he made the brilliant and unparalleled decision to read it aloud, in a desperate attempt to disperse some of the pure mortification he felt onto Reginald and Azuri.
“Gr– Griefer? Never mind, it is of no importance… Thaniyel’s son said that he wishes to, to stab himself once more with the Venomshank? I’m sorry. Is he deranged? And all in order for another chance to meet ‘ieatmyfeelings’ again?”
“Robur, please. You needn’t continue.”
“Robur, I swear to all the Windwalkers before us, if you don’t stop running your mouth— Wait. ‘ieatmyfeelings’ responded with a heart reaction. A heart. They’re deriving pleasure from this.”
“Yes, Reginald! You understand!”
“No, both of you! Robur, Reginald, cease this madness… for I have a theory I’d like to test.”
The two of them paused, and turned to watch Azuri as she typed into the group chat. Reginald twitched, as if he felt the urge to stop her, but he let her proceed uninterrupted.
GR13F3R: 1F 1 C0ULD ST4B MYS3LF W1TH TH3 V3N0MSH4NK 4G41N, 1’D S4Y S0M3 C00L3R TH1NGS T0 U B3F0R3 TURN1NG BUB0N1C
[ieatmyfeelings reacted with a heart!]
[Calypso reacted with a thumbs down!]
ieatmyfeelings: Oh, is that so, Brad?
Cassie: player?
ieatmyfeelings: !
ieatmyfeelings: Yes, Cassie?
“Azuri, you–”
“It was a hunch.” she said. She smiled in satisfaction, and gently put down Cassie’s phone. It buzzed continuously, but they paid no more attention to it.
Robur patted her on the back, nodding. “Your intuition is as superb as always, High Scholar Azuri.”
“Of course.”
There was a short interval where none of them spoke, as the confirmation of the identity of ‘ieatmyfeelings’ truly sunk in.
“Player and Thaniyel’s son–?!” Robur finally burst out. Reginald was in a similar state of shock, with more disgust in the mix, and Azuri had to press her lips together and close her eyes to suppress her reaction.
“No way…” Reginald coughed. “This—”
“Hey, Azuri, have you seen my phone?” Cassie’s inquiring voice sounded from across the hallway, and Reginald shut his mouth faster than Azuri could strike someone with lightning. “I think I left it here—”
Her light footsteps stuttered, before stopping completely. Azuri didn’t have to look up to confirm that Cassie had seen the three of them all draped over each other. In the center of the castle’s throne room, no less.
“Wh– What the ####?!”