Meanwhile, back in Primalupo, Nathan’s just finished his last class of the week at precisely 6:00 PM. To start his weekend off right, he decides to go the Axium Café to order his usual Thai tea with boba. Upon arriving, he sees his friends sitting at a table outside. “There you are, Nathan!” Vincent announces, looking much too energized considering he’s had to endure a staggering four classes today.

“We were all talking about a plan we’ve hatched up,” Domani explains. Domani had gone to the same high school Nathan had gone to and they had been good friends for a long time. Nathan considers him a trusted advisor and his retinue essentially admits that he's the brains of the group. Despite being good friends, Nathan surprisingly doesn’t know much about Domani’s background as he prefers to keep it to himself.

“Don’t worry, this one doesn’t involve anything illegal… probably…” Rhea guesses with a smirk. She has a special place in Nathan’s heart as she’s the first person to figure out he was bisexual. They met in ninth grade and shared the same Geography of Eos class; they’ve been best friends ever since.

“Guess I’m going to have to hear this then,” Nathan sighs, taking a seat.

“We’ve just gathered intel that Jordan’s in Altissia,” Domani states while gracefully sipping a cup of coffee.

“You told them?!” Nathan shouts, turning his head towards Vincent.

“They kinda already knew…” Vincent insists, not even trying to cover up his repeated winking at Domani and Rhea.

They nod in unison and Nathan turns his head back towards Domani, “Just… continue.”

“Do you know what happens in a few days?!” Rhea interrupts, practically shaking the entire table.

“Uh… we have a random break that starts tomorrow…” Nathan answers, mentally checking his schedule.

After breathing a sigh of annoyance, Domani points out, “The new queen’s coronation is happening hence why all Accordoan institutions have this ‘random break’, as you say.”

“I completely forgot about that!” Nathan admits. How could he forget about what is probably going to be the most important event during his lifetime? He had heard that Queen Camelia would be the first queen in Accordoan history to voluntarily abdicate the throne.

“I can’t say I’m surprised…” Domani says, shaking his head.

“Anyway… me and Vincent haven’t got invitations but Dom does and he’s going to bring you to the coronation as a guest,” Rhea cuts in, hoping to break the awkwardness.

“That’s… very kind of you, Dom.” Why would he choose me?

“Of course. I’ll be doing my best to get invitations for Jordan and you two as well,” Domani promises, looking at Vincent and Rhea.

“When we leaving?” Vincent asks, pulling out his phone.

“Tonight.”

“What?!” Rhea exclaims. “Why?”

“It’s best to get into Altissia before security tightens even more,” Domani explains. “Get your bags packed, we leave in an hour.”

----------------------------

Nathan bikes back to his apartment as soon as he says goodbye to his friends. He arrives to find a notification on his phone informing him that a letter had arrived in his mailbox.

Weird… who sends letters these days? He walks over to the apartment’s set of mailboxes, rusted and unused. Sure enough, the screen on his mailbox tells him that there’s one letter inside. He carefully pulls open the mailbox, making it screech loudly in the process. After sneezing a few times due to the dust, Nathan registers the gold letter in his hands... it seems to shine brightly even in the apartment’s dark corridor.

He delicately lifts open the envelope cover and extracts the exquisitely-designed paper in it. Marveling at the intricate handwriting, he begins to read:

Dear Nathaniel Sodalis Ashwolf, you are cordially invited to attend the coronation of Princess Caelia the Third by invitation of Her Majesty Camelia the First, Queen of Accordo. Your attendance is requested personally by the Queen herself and you are summoned to a formal audience with Her Majesty in Altissia prior to the coronation. As such, you are requested to appear at Il Palazzo Altemeria as soon as possible.

Firmly gripping the letter, Nathan quickly runs up to his apartment room and drags out a suitcase, untouched since his arrival at the university a few months ago. He meticulously packs clothes and other essentials, a habit taught by his mother when he was younger. The routine activity distracts him from the invitation he had read minutes earlier, and he manages to remain composed as he carries his suitcase down the stairs (he remembers to lock the door this time).

Domani arrives at 7:49 PM, which was unusual considering he was never late. While waiting, Nathan was able to double-check the items he packed and calm his nerves. He is surprised to see a sleek, black sedan pull up on the curb and Domani getting out of it. “Got everything you need?” he asks.

“Yep,” Nathan replies, trying not to look too surprised. He pulls his suitcase to the car and puts it inside the car’s ample trunk. Domani taps the handle on the left rear door before walking back to the driver-side door. Nathan is completely amazed when he sees the door open automatically, inviting him to enter its luxurious interior. After taking a moment to collect himself, he finally gets into the car. The white leather seat hugs him immediately, feeling even more comfortable than his own bed. Rhea sits to his right, seemingly unaware of his presence. Probably because of those stupid earphones. Domani sits back down in the driver’s seat, touches a button to close all the doors and puts on his seatbelt.

“Nathan, please put on your seatbelt,” he instructs, drumming his fingers along the steering wheel in annoyance.

“Oh, right!” Nathan sputters, still taking everything in. He quickly puts on his seatbelt and settles back into the car’s comfy seats.

“Is everyone finally ready to get going?”

“Yeah, sure,” Vincent answers, busy playing a game on his phone.

“Alright then. And you, Rhea?” Domani asks, turning around.

“Yep! Let’s move!” she approves. She takes a picture of Nathan as he surveys the car, making him turn away from the camera.

“Finally... that’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.” As soon as Domani presses a button on the console, the car rolls into life, silently pulling away from the side of the curb.

A few minutes pass before the car exits the large university complex. “Where’d you get this car, Dom?” Vincent asks. Nathan internally thanks him for asking the question he was too afraid to ask.

“It was my parents’ car… it’s mine now. Don’t worry about it.” Domani responds, not caring to elaborate.

“It drives itself! What do you mean don’t-” Nathan begins to say before Domani interrupts, “Can we please focus on the task at hand?”

The car goes quiet for a few seconds before Domani adds, “Apologies… I shall explain everything when we get to Altissia.”

“Uh... Dom? I’m looking at this screen thingy and it looks like we won’t arrive in time for the last ferry today,” Vincent informs, happy to change the topic. Nathan moves his eyes to the central console, a fully integrated screen that looks more like a huge computer tablet.

“Well, you’ll be glad to know that I’ve already booked us rooms in Traversata knowing that some of us were going to take a long time getting ready…” Domani says, turning his head towards Rhea.

“You didn’t even tell me about this journey before today! How could I have been prepared?” she counters.

“I actually need to get to Altissia as soon as possible…” Nathan interjects, continuing to study the screen.

“What’s the matter? Miss Jordan already?” Rhea teases, poking Nathan’s shoulder.

He takes the invitation out of his backpack and gently sets it down on the seat between him and Rhea.

“You got an invitation?!” she shouts. “How?!”

“I just found it in my mailbox when I got home. The Queen 'summoned' me and said I should go to some palace as soon as possible,” he explains.

“Ah, the Palazzo Altemeria. Right then… it appears we’re leaving on the earliest ferry tomorrow,” Domani says as the car seamlessly merges onto the Valmuccia Expressway.

Thankfully, the rest of the journey to Traversata is much more peaceful. Nathan enjoys the magnificent views all around him as the car speeds down the mostly empty highway. After all, he’s never had a car or any reason to travel out of Primalupo. While Nathan gazes out the car’s enormous windows, Vincent’s still busy playing some random anime game on his phone while Rhea’s switching between taking pictures of their surroundings and browsing social media. Meanwhile, Domani continues to keep his hands on the steering wheel and his eyes on the road even though the car can literally drive itself.

A couple of hours later, the expressway ends and Domani manually guides the car through a deteriorated dirt road that leads into Traversata. Rhea fell asleep after editing and posting a picture on her social media while Vincent fell asleep when his phone ran out of battery. Nathan is the only passenger awake, observing the new surroundings closely. Once they enter Traversata’s limits, Domani engages the autodrive feature to their accommodations: a crumbling motel.

“We’re here,” Domani announces as the car parks itself outside the motel. Domani taps Vincent a few times before he wakes up while Nathan does the same to Rhea. He sluggishly gets out of the car and takes his suitcase to the motel’s “lobby” (if it can even be called that). Once Domani confirms his reservation of four separate rooms (Nathan has no idea how he can afford that but he chooses not to ask), he says his goodbyes to the group before heading up to his room.

Room 2C isn’t anything special. It’s sparsely furnished and has a king-sized bed that looks like it hasn’t been used for a long time. One of the window blinds is torn and the wallpaper is peeling off in several different places but Nathan doesn’t mind. I've stayed in worse. Before dinner is served downstairs, Nathan decides to take a brief shower and change into something more comfortable. Perhaps now's a good time to relax and reflect...