"Adalynne. . ." Princess Delphine tries to take my hand but I pull away.

I'm just about on the verge of going bersek when Ridley pinches me on the back as a warning. I turn to her, my mind in jumbles, my eyes so wide it hurts. 

"Did you listen to what she said?" I whisper sharply, pointing towards the princess. "She wants us to go to Xek on a secret mission. US! Me and you!"

"Ada."

I clutch her shoulders. "Ridley, WE WILL DIE!"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no." I shake her by the shoulders, my mind elsewhere. "No, absolutely not." My thoughts reels with the descriptions of Xek in My Secret Alliance, and I come up with nothing good. It's all War, Brutality and Blood.

"Look here, princess," I say, turning towards a stunned Princess Delphine. "This isn't some 'secret mission' you're sending us on," I say, making rude air quotations. "This is a suicide mission. That place is nothing short of a slaughterhouse and if they find out that infiltrators from Serling have gotten in, they're gonna kill us. Or worse, they'll torture us slowly while we beg for mercy. So you can take this plan of yours and shove it up your a-"

"Adalynne!" Ridley cries.

"What!" I turn to her and she slaps me.

The silence hangs in the air while blood rings in my ear from the impact. I can't remember the last time I was slapped. Was it maybe 3 years ago? No, maybe more. 

I blink, unable to comprehend what just happened.

Slowly, I lift my head and look at Ridley, whose face is completely red. Hazily, I wonder if Ridley's the kind of person who has trouble hiding their emotions. At that, I almost crack a smile. 

I'm about to say something when Princess Delphine clutches her nosebridge and sighs loudly. 

"Girls, girls." She looks at both of us and frowns disapprovingly, like a mother does when her child has done something wrong. "Now that wasn't very nice. I like to think that all my maids are composed and well-mannered, and that display was anything but. This is meant for both of you."

When none of us says anything, she beckons someone forward. A maid from behind us comes to her service and leans in while Princess Delphine whispers something in her ear. I think I hear something like 'ice'. Princess Delphine smiles and the maid stands upright. Just like that, she disappears again.

We hear the door click shut behind us, and we turn to face her again. Once again, despite everything, I am stunned by just how beautiful the princess really is. She looks like someone you would want to stare at all day, like a piece of art. I am so entranced by her that I almost don't catch what she is saying.

"-think I forgot to elaborate. Maybe we should start from the top," she says. "This secret mission I am entrusting both of you with, I am aware that it is going to be no small task. Getting into Xek undetected is in itself a no small feat. But first I will tell you why I must have you do this. My father, the King, he has entrusted all his children with a huge task and which of us who is first to accomplish it, will become the next successor to the throne of Serling."

"Your highness," says Ridley, clearing her throat. "I apologize for the interruption, but may I ask something?" 

"You may."

"Isn't the line of succession purely based on the oldest of kin?"

Princess Delphine smiles. "It is. That is, usually."

"Usually?"

"You see, my father likes to do things differently. He loathes tradition." She laughs, looking off into the distance. The look in her eyes makes me wonder what kind of person the king might be, since he isn't mentioned a lot in the novel. I just remember him making a presence at the scene where Princess Delphine announces her secret alliance with the Archduke of Xek and the king disapproves of her husband and banishes him from Serling. That does make him kind of an unpleasant hindrance to all the romance-loving readers, but oh well.

"My father," continues the princess, "wants all of his children to have an equal chance when it comes to succession to the throne. So he came up with this task in order to judge us. Whosoever is the first to complete it will be deemed the next ruler. And though I have no interest in becoming the next ruler, the people of Serling would like to see me become it."

"And what is this huge task you talk of?" I ask, folding my arms. "And how is it connected to us going undercover into a warzone?"

Princess Delphine stares at me, and for a moment it's as if she can see right through me. The thought makes me shudder. The princess straightens up and takes a sharp inhale. I clutch the edge of my seat, ready to hear whatever she has to throw my way.

"My father proposed," she starts slowly, looking at both of us in turn apprehensively, "that the throne belongs to whoever ends the war with Xek, one way or another. And for my people, I will explore all possibilities to make it happen."

As soon as she is done talking, she lets the silence hang in the air for a while, allowing us all to absorb the significance of her words. 

It is an understatement to say that I am regretting this whole isekai thing; this is turning out to be too much. And though all these strange thoughts are whizzing through my mind, it takes a while for me to form any words. 

"What. . ." I start, about to say something incredibly rude but change my mind. "And what part do we play in all of this?"

"A-And why us of all people?" Ridley pips in nervously. I look at her as if for the first time, and I realize that she, too, is just a girl. Knowing more than me about Xek, she must be terrified right now. 

I almost reach out a hand to pet her, but stop myself in time. Gosh. I never had any siblings for me to experience a protective instinct, but all of a sudden, I have this urge to protect Ridley. 

With a deep breath, I turn towards Princess Delphine with a newfound determination to bravely face the challenges she throws my way.