Despite everything—the stress, the compressed timeline, the looming battle—Lyra found herself smiling. "That's... actually a good point. He does need multiple people keeping him from being reckless."
"Then we figure this out together," Seraphina said. "After he comes back safely. After we break this human army. After we've proven his settlement can't be easily destroyed. Then we sit down—all four of us—and work out how this relationship actually functions."
"Four?" Lyra asked, confused for a moment before understanding. "You're including Satou in that count."
"He doesn't get to just passively accept whatever we decide," Seraphina said with a slight smile. "He's part of this relationship too. He gets a voice in how it works."
"Fair point."
They stood together as darkness fell, two women from completely different backgrounds united by love for the same complicated, kind, occasionally reckless demon lord candidate.
