It was late at night when Gattara, still reviewing a stack of documents scattered across her desk, heard someone lightly knocking on her door. She glanced briefly, already aware of who was about to take her precious time, but couldn't help but be surprised by the appearance of the second-in-command, Niklaus Silvrain Ashtaria.

The Central Castle of Ashtaria had different areas that were physically separated from each other. The offices of the rulers and ministers were in the same building, along with everything related to the administration of the Empire. In addition, the rulers had a separate building for residence. There was no requirement for them to reside in the palace, but it was definitely safer. However, Niklaus, holding the title of second-in-command in the Empire, had shown up at the administrative building in his pajamas, the most embarrassing ones he owned according to Gattara's standards.

"So..." Determined not to pay any heed to his appearance, Gattara sighed and looked at him seriously. "'Iltier,' 'Work,' or 'Sex'?"

Whatever the answer, Gattara was doing her best not to laugh at the man at her door. The pajamas he was wearing looked more like a circus costume and definitely did not match with his almost always serious demeanor. Niklaus, visibly disturbed by his wife's question, entered Gattara's office, closing the door behind him. “Uh... I umm... came to see if you need help?” He awkwardly laughed.

Gattara sighed once more and covered her face with one hand, which rested on the desk. The circus-themed pajamas had, until then, alleviated the stress she was feeling, but the fact that the man in front of her was clearly avoiding the subject instead of directly stating the reason for his visit brought back all the tension of work.

Hearing Niklaus approaching, Gattara sighed again. Her body was yearning for a year of rest, and yet, the Empire's problems seemed impossible to resolve in the next decade.

"If you solve everything that has been delegated to you, you'll be helping me. But... You know that. Which leads me to ask again." She looked at him as he approached.

Niklaus stopped in front of Gattara's desk, waiting for the question he had already received but had ignored. This time he had no escape.

"'Iltier,' 'Work,' or 'Sex'?"

Noticing the dark circles and the visible exhaustion on Gattara's face, Niklaus sighed. "...All three?"

Gattara furrowed her brow at Niklaus's response and immediately covered her face with both hands, sighing.

"She's fine." Niklaus tried to reassure her with his tone, but he knew it wasn't enough. Even though Gattara exuded strength and rarely showed a need for comfort, Niklaus knew that she appreciated physical contact at certain moments. Leaning in, Niklaus ran his fingers through Gattara's hair, concluding the gesture with a kiss on her head, repeating that their daughter was fine.

Still in the same position, Niklaus carefully removed Gattara's hands from her face. Despite his insistence that Iltier was fine, Gattara couldn't avoid the look of concern.

"Something strong?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay."

Kissing his wife's forehead lightly, Niklaus turned and called an attendant, instructing them to bring drinks and cookies. Gattara stood up and sat in the armchair, stretching her body as she tried to relax her muscles.

With the steaming drink on the table in front of her and now with only the two of them in the office, Gattara leaned forward to pick up the cup while Niklaus did the same.

"Report."

"Everything is progressing, except for the Ristave case. Even though it's strange, legally I can't prove that Thiar Ristave is really dead. Or alive for what's worth."

Gattara sipped her drink while listening to her second-in-command. The elevated temperature of the beverage matched her surprise at Niklaus's words. He continued, "There was a body when he was registered as dead, but it was and is impossible to determine if it's him or not. The fact that it's been 8 months since he was declared dead complicates the investigation. We can't raid without any evidence. Within the law, there's nothing more I can do."

Gattara rested the cup on the table and leaned back in the armchair while pondering the Ristave case.

Thiar would certainly be the next leader of the Ristave if he were alive. But out of nowhere, he dies in an 'accident,' leaving his body impossible to identify even with the use of Naturas. And months later, I hear that conversation. Honestly... What's going on with the Ristaves? Why on earth did the most skilled Natura have to be from their family? This complicates EVERYTHING.

"Niklaus, keep the investigation discreetly. Mistakes happen to those who aren't careful enough. That goes for you, and it goes for them too. The fact that I overheard that conversation proves it. They'll eventually make a mistake again. Catch them at that moment. Continue the report."

Niklaus yawned slightly while listening to Gattara, but he nodded affirmatively to make it clear that he was paying attention.

"Iltier is heading to Viscerda to meet Kanuria. Currently, she is in the midst of Veralda along with Livoric Lenia." Gattara raised an eyebrow, visibly surprised by something that seemed too absurd to be true.

 "Oh, maybe I don't need to worry about Livoric now."

"That's if our daughter decides to adopt that little bud, right?"

"But... Kanuria? What does she want with them?" Gattara sipped her drink again, which resembled pure coffee.

"...'How to gather information from the Empire without involving anyone from the empire?' That's what she asked Kal. She even asked him not to tell us about her sneaking out.."

"..." Gattara furrowed her brows again as she muttered her daughter's words.

Nothing in Iltier's actions so far indicated that something was wrong, and yet, overnight, she seemed like a completely different person, doing things Gattara never thought she would. "Has something happened that I'm not aware of?"

"Just one more thing. The day after her birthday, a day before she left for Viscerda, she took sleeping pills. Enough for the round trip."

Iltier's actions seemed impossible until now, but Gattara regarded them, in a way, as something a young person might do impulsively. A bet between friends or some way for her to get to know organizations that worked with information fit the impulsiveness of her generation. Iltier was an extremely curious person, and getting to know such an organization aligned with her personality. However, involving sleeping pills was too absurd to pass off as something related to her age or anything else.

"...?" The headache that had somewhat subsided with the drink had come back with full force.

"Again, is there something happening that I'm not aware of?"

"No, everything I know is within your knowledge."

Pondering the matter, Gattara decided that whatever was going on, she would address it when in the presence of her daughter.

"Who is tailing her?"

"Mei and Argus."

"Keep it that way."

"Understood. ...Should I take the risk?"

"No. Inform those two. We can't give reasons for Kanuria. Their Natura will sense it. Unfortunately, Iltier's meeting with them will remain in the dark for us."

With the report concluded, Niklaus stood up and walked towards Gattara, taking the cup from her hand and placing it back on the table in front of them.

"I will inform them."

 “But sleeping pills? She has never had that kind of problem; it worries me.”

Bringing his own face close to his wife's face while leaning the weight of his body on the armchair Gattara was sitting in, Niklaus looked at her as if trying to read something in her eyes.

“When she comes back, I'll talk to her about it.”

“Please, and keep me informed.”

Gattara returned the gaze and in the next second looked at the man's torso in front of her, covering her face afterward, trying to hold back the laughter.

“...Pffttt.”

"One hour of your time?"

"Pfftwhahahaha... maybe ahahah."

Niklaus smiled triumphantly at Gattara's response; his plan to alleviate his wife's stress with a pajama she considered ridiculous had succeeded. His next plan, to make her sleep, was in progress and apparently working well.

"And what are today's conditions?"

"Once upon a time..." Gattara looked at Niklaus, ignoring his question. "I was walking down the hallway of the hotel in Sabrian, shortly after taking over."

"Was I sleeping?"

"Yes, for some reason I can't remember, I didn't tell you about it."

"You were dealing with a lot on that trip, that must be the reason."

"Yes," Gattara placed both hands around Niklaus' waist and guided him to sit on her lap, hugging him afterward. "Two guardians were accompanying me, but their grotesque appearance wasn't enough to discourage a little girl from running up to me and waving for me to bend down so she could say something. By her appearance, she must have been five."

"Fearless from an early age. Reminds me of someone." Niklaus turned his body even more, placed one hand on Gattara's shoulder, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Gattara laughed in response.

“I bent down, mhmmm, in fact, the two wouldn't let her get close to me, but I stopped them. And then I heard what she had to say:

'Do you need help?'

'Help?'

'Yes, those two big, ugly guys, I can help you find a handsome guy.'"

"Pfftt, Aldaz and Lionez big and ugly? AHAHAHAHAHA. Ahhh, that's material for a week of fun."

"Yes, ppfftt. I'm talking about this because it's exactly how I feel now seeing you in this pajama, whatever your goal was, it probably worked."

"Points for me then." Niklaus laid another kiss on his wife's forehead, still smiling.

Despite being well-preserved, the pajamas were quite old. From the time when Iltier had developed a fear of clowns and Niklaus had bought it to show his daughter that clowns were fun. Every time Gattara looked at her husband in that pajamas, she remembered the absurd things he had done to make their daughter laugh and get used to the innocent appearance of clowns. It was almost existentially impossible for Gattara not to laugh at him like that.

"What I also mean is that I can't take you seriously with it."

"Oh? Without it then?" With his face close to his wife's, Niklaus took one of Gattara's hands and led it to the buttons of his pajamas.

"The conditions, my love."

Gattara looked at her own hand as she felt Niklaus's breath on her face. The way Niklaus could tease her in any situation was commendable. Instead of unbuttoning, Gattara held the pajamas tightly and pulled Niklaus's body closer to her, bringing their faces even closer.

"A margin of error of 20 minutes." Niklaus smiled contentedly as he decided whether to look into his wife's eyes or at her lips. Internally, he was constantly patting himself on the back for resisting so much.

 "What else?" Inches separated their lips, and Niklaus brought them even closer, leaving a quick and light kiss before pulling back to hear Gattara's response.

"The usual."

"Awwnnn." Niklaus's voice sounded disappointed, but his face and actions suggested it was something fleeting, as had happened many times before. Bringing his face closer again, he kissed her properly this time, and seconds later, he pulled away, lifting his entire body and taking his wife's hand as he guided her out of the office.

"When are you going to give up?"

"Apparently never?"