Lyra and Reina had traveled by air for the majority of the trip, staying high up in the sky for the most part, hoping to avoid spooking any humans on the ground below. This was the first time in her life Lyra had ever been this high up, and she found the entire thing extremely exhilarating. Especially when Reina, sensing her master's excitement, decided to do a few loops and twirls. Since Lyra could use a spell to fly herself, they didn't really have to worry if she suddenly fell off either. But she had managed to stay on Reina the entire time, even shouting with glee whenever Reina tucked her wings in and fell thousands of feet straight down in a few seconds. But she could not handle such excitement all the time, and most of the journey was just pleasant cruising high up. Seeing the world from above like this, it made everything feel so small, and insignificant. They flew past settlements and cities, and only touched ground during night-time, when the chance of being spotted was significantly reduced.
They'd find a nice little place to then set up camp for the night and cook dinner, with Lyra teaching Reina how to cook, but Reina only being interested in grilling meat and not any other aspect of food. Lyra had also made sure to give Reina her own bedroll to sleep on, but despite this she always put her bedroll down right next to Lyra's and ended up hugging and cuddling her throughout the night anyways. Lyra had begun getting used to it however, and on the second night she even managed to get nearly seven hours of sleep. On the third day, they went by foot, as they were now so close to the capital it would only take three hours on foot. As they approached, Reina marveled at the tall walls as the Capital City came into view, and then promptly asked whether Lyra lived in the big palace she could see in a distance. When Lyra explained that no, she had a large mansion and that the royal family lived in the Palace, Reina seemed almost offended.
"Clearly you ought to switch. Who do they think they are, living in a palace while my master only lives in a mansion?" she had huffed out defiantly, and Lyra started worrying whether bringing Reina into the Capital was the right choice, but they had gotten this far already and she also couldn't very well leave Reina unsupervised outside either.
Entrance into the city went well, though Lyra had to pay a fee for Reina, which she objected too but eventually relented. As they then walked the streets of the capital, Reina first clung to Lyra like a sponge, but eventually curiosity got the better of her and she ran up to the food stalls in particular. So for lunch, they had meat from ten different stalls on the way towards the city center. Eventually though, they made it to Lyra's mansion, and Reina gave it an approving look as they approached the guards at the gate.
"Hmm... well, it is nicer than all other houses here. Still not a palace though..." Reina remarked, as the two guardsmen opened the gates for Lyra and Reina. Lyra was happy that everything looked the same as when she had left, which all in all was only a week ago. The servants who were out tending to the garden or washing clothes all smiled and waved as they spotted Lyra, and she happily waved back. She was glad people seemed to enjoy working for her here, after all, and wanted to have a good rapport with her people. She even spotted a young woman in maid's clothing rushing inside, no doubt to announce to everyone that the lady of the house was back. Thus, when Reina and Lyra stepped into the mansion, loads of servants were there to greet them, standing in line, bowing their heads. Reina nodded with approval, as she said:
"Good! Clearly these people know the true value of my master!"
However, Reina's good mood was swiftly ruined when Sofie came up to Lyra and got too close, according to the dragon at least.
"Welcome back, Your Highness! I hope your travels were not too difficult? Shall I draw up a bath for you? Prepare dinner?" Sofie said, smiling politely, while also shooting Reina a look. Reina in turn clung to Lyra's arm, as she said: "Master, who is this girl?"
-"This is Sofie, the head-maid of my mansion, and my friend. Also I have to decline both offers dear, as I will need to go to the palace quickly to finish the paperwork. Could I entrust you with giving Reina a tour in the meanwhile?" Lyra answered, noticing the strange tension between Reina and Sofie. Sofie pouted for a bit, but relented eventually which earned her a head-pat from Lyra. She then left the pair alone, worrying for the future of her mansion, but it is what it is.
Once at the Palace, she met with all of the royals, had some tea, signed some papers, and told them about her plans to travel and see more of the world. She explained that she saw herself being gone for a few years, and while they were sad, especially Henry and Thomas, they also understood where she was coming from. With the war having ended decisively by Lyra's hand, there were also a lot of rumors and speculations regarding Lyra going around, not just in the Revean Empire but also the Kingdom Alliance, so Lyra taking a step back and being away for a while would likely be a good thing, and enough to have the rumors die down by themselves.
The Emperor himself said they were cracking down hard on the rumors, but they couldn't stop people from talking in the end. The Empress then explained that the rumors were many, but they all had one of three main themes.
1: The first rumor was rather "Positive", and had been given life by the knights who had witnessed the battle at Luna Fortress. This rumor was primarily spread inside the Revean Empire, and people claimed that Lyra was not just an elf, but a messenger of the gods, blessed with incredible magics, who had come to save the Revean Empire from destruction. The Divine Messenger had cured their emperor, ended the succession plot, and then destroyed their enemies. Some versions of the rumor said she was a Saintess, others said she was the daughter of a Goddess, and others that she was an angel sent from the heavens.
2: The second rumor, which went around both Kingdoms, primarily within the noble population, was more negative. Lyra was a fraudster who had earned the approval of the royal family, and so both Lyra and the Royal Family were trying to boost her reputation and prop her up as some amazing person so she could later marry into the royal family. The battle at Luna Fortress had never even happened, and the knights had been ordered to spread misinformation. How could a single woman burn thousands of soldiers by herself? Did the royals think the people were idiots? This was clearly just a political move.
3: The third kind of rumor, which was mostly rampant in the Kingdom Alliance, was that Lyra was a demon who had not only mercilessly slaughtered the Ytrand Army by summoning hellfire from the depths of the demon realm itself, but she had also bewitched and taken control of the Revean Empire's emperor who was now her puppet, and she had even bewitched the Pope of the Holy Kingdom. Why else would the Kingdom Alliance so suddenly flip on the nature of the prophecy they had received? For nearly a decade, they have claimed the 20th being was an evil being, and now suddenly, despite destroying the Ytrand Army, she was now the guarantor of the Alliance's freedom? It was fishy, and clearly she must have sunk her claws into the Pope somehow!
The Emperor explained that the Pope was actually facing a lot of backlash from the establishment, but still pushed on anyways, risking his own political career to ensure the treaty was made the way it was. However, everyone agreed that sadly, Lyra being gone for a few years would probably be a good thing.
Before leaving and giving everyone a hug, including the Empress and Emperor, Lyra also gifted them with a 1-time communication stone she had made. By applying some mana into the stone, they would be able to send a short message to Lyra in real-time, no matter where she was, as long as she had the "Receiver" stone on her person. This was a kind of magical technology that did not yet exist in this world, and so Lyra had to very politely refuse to elaborate when they had asked just how she had made something like this. She explained it was a one time thing, and something they could use only in an absolute emergency.
Then she bid her farewells, said her goodbyes, and left the palace behind. When returning to the Mansion, the air was strangely tense, to the point Lyra could almost taste it in the air. She caught Hannah as she scurried past, and asked her what was going on.
"Your Highness, it's-.. well... Sofie and the other woman are having a show-down in the reception room..." the maid said in response, before excusing herself. So Lyra headed over, and found a crowd of servants just outside the reception room, peeking in through the half-closed door. Rather than interrupting, Lyra joined in, putting a finger on her lips as the other servants panicked upon spotting Lyra being so close, thinking they might get scolded for not doing their jobs.
Lyra did not mind the servants peeking though, as she wanted to do the same. When she glanced inside, she found Reina and Sofie sitting down on a sofa opposite of one another, both trying to look better and more elegant than the other. She then began to pick up on what they were saying.
"Well, I look after this entire mansion! Clearly I am more useful to Her Highness! What are YOU doing again?" Sofie said, chin high, arms folded across her chest.
"I keep her warm at night!" Reina remarked, and Lyra felt the color drain from her face. No No NO! People will misunderstand! And misunderstand they did, as Sofie's cheek turned red, and the servants surrounding Lyra also shot her glances. But Reina wasn't even done yet, as she continued:
"Yeah! Oh and I let her mount me too! She rode me for hours yesterday!"
Now all the servants were giving Lyra odd looks too, and Sofie's face was so red Lyra was worried the poor maid was about to explode! Before Reina could make things worse, Lyra had to rush inside the room and put a hand over Reina's mouth, stopping her from talking.
-"It is not like that at all! This is all a misunderstanding!"
But the damage was done. The servants outside the door scattered, while Sofie sat in the sofa, shocked from this sudden revelation of Lyra's sexual habits and preferences. Lyra could even sense how Reina smiled, victoriously, under Lyra's hand. She sighed loudly, just how would she manage to save this situation?