I woke up to Sera standing over my bed, fully dressed in... was that a disguise?
"Get up! We're going on a date!"
"It's 6 AM—"
"The BEST dates start early! Move move move!"
**[SERA]: I've planned EVERYTHING. This will be the PERFECT date. Romantic, memorable, and definitely better than whatever the nun and captain are planning!
She literally dragged me out of bed.
"What are you wearing?" I asked, taking in her outfit—common merchant clothes, completely different from her usual style.
"Disguise! We're going undercover!"
"Why do we need to go undercover on a DATE?!"
"Because," she said, eyes sparkling with excitement, "I'm taking you to the Underground Market! It's romantic AND practical!"
**[SERA]: The Underground Market has rare items, exotic foods, and dangerous criminals. It's PERFECT! Romance and threat assessment in one location!
"Sera... most people go to parks. Or restaurants. Or literally ANYWHERE that isn't a criminal marketplace."
"Those are BORING! This is EXCITING!"
**[SERA]: Also I'm comfortable in dangerous situations. Small talk at a café? Terrifying. Infiltrating a black market while on a date? THAT I can do!
Thirty minutes later, we were dressed as common traders, walking through the shadiest part of town toward an unmarked door.
"Sera, I feel like I should mention that 'romantic date' and 'criminal underground' don't usually go together—"
"Password?" a gruff voice said from behind the door.
"Silver serpent rises at midnight," Sera replied smoothly.
The door opened.
**[DOOR GUARD]: Huh. She knows the current password. Must be legit. Also is that LORD HENDERSON?! No, can't be. He wouldn't be dumb enough to come HERE.
We entered the Underground Market, and it was like stepping into another world.
Stalls selling everything from magical artifacts to suspicious potions to weapons that were definitely illegal. The air smelled of incense, fried food, and danger.
"Isn't this GREAT?!" Sera said, grinning.
**[SERA]: He's going to LOVE this! It's unique! Memorable! Not like some boring normal date!
"It's... certainly unique," I admitted.
We wandered through the market, and I had to admit—it WAS fascinating. Sera knew every vendor, every secret passage, every hidden deal.
"Try this!" She handed me a skewer of some kind of grilled meat. "It's cave drake! Super rare!"
**[SERA]: Sharing food is romantic! I read that in a book! I'm NAILING this date!
It was actually delicious.
"This is really good!"
Her face lit up.
**[SERA]: HE LIKES IT! Success! Date status: WINNING!
We continued through the market, and Sera kept pointing out interesting (illegal) things.
"That stall sells enchanted lockpicks! And THAT one has poison antidotes! Oh, and over THERE—"
"Sera," I said gently, "you're giving me a tactical briefing, not a date."
She froze.
**[SERA]: Oh no. OH NO. I'm doing it AGAIN. I'm being a SPY on a DATE. Why am I like this?!
"Sorry," she said, blushing. "I just... I'm not good at the normal date stuff. But I wanted to show you MY world. The places I'm comfortable."
**[SERA]: This is where I belong. In the shadows. Among criminals and information brokers. I wanted him to see this part of me and not run away.
I took her hand.
"I like seeing your world. And honestly? This is way more interesting than a regular restaurant."
**[SERA]: He LIKES it. He likes MY world. He's not scared or disgusted. He's INTERESTED.
Her smile could've lit up the entire underground.
"Really?"
"Really. Though maybe next time we could do something that doesn't involve quite so many weapons dealers?"
She laughed. "Deal."
We continued through the market, hand-in-hand, and Sera gradually relaxed.
She showed me a hidden tea shop where information brokers gathered.
**[SERA]: This is where I get half my intelligence. Also their tea is AMAZING. Romantic tea! Perfect!
We sat in a shadowy corner, drinking surprisingly excellent tea, and Sera started talking.
Really talking.
About her training as a spy. About missions that haunted her. About how meeting me made her question everything she'd been taught.
**[SERA]: I'm being VULNERABLE. This is terrifying. But he's LISTENING. Really listening. Not judging. Just... understanding.
"You know what's weird?" she said softly. "Before you, I never had anything that was MINE. Everything was the mission. The organization. But you... you're MINE. Ours. But still MINE."
**[SERA]: Possessive. Too possessive? Is that okay? I've never had ANYTHING to be possessive about!
"I'm glad I'm yours," I said honestly.
She squeezed my hand.
**[SERA]: This is nice. Really nice. Just talking. Being honest. No missions. No lies. Just US.
Then an alarm went off.
"RAID! ROYAL GUARD RAID!"
The entire market erupted into chaos.
Vendors scrambling to hide illegal goods. Criminals fleeing through secret exits. Guards pouring in from multiple entrances.
"Oh COME ON!" Sera shouted. "Our FIRST DATE!"
**[SERA]: OF COURSE there's a raid! OF COURSE! Can I have ONE nice thing?!
We ran through the panicking crowd, Sera expertly navigating the chaos.
"This way! There's a hidden exit through—"
We turned a corner and came face-to-face with a royal guard.
**[ROYAL GUARD]: Wait... is that LORD HENDERSON?! What's he doing in the UNDERGROUND MARKET?!
"Lord Henderson?!" the guard sputtered.
"Uh," I said brilliantly. "Market research?"
**[ROYAL GUARD]: MARKET RESEARCH?! In an ILLEGAL MARKET?!
Sera stepped forward smoothly. "I'm Chief of Intelligence. I was showing the Lord Governor potential criminal operations that need addressing. For governance purposes."
**[SERA]: Please buy it. PLEASE buy it. I don't want our date to end in ARREST!
The guard looked between us suspiciously.
"And you're both in DISGUISES because...?"
"Undercover investigation," Sera said without missing a beat. "Obviously."
**[ROYAL GUARD]: That... actually makes sense? The new Lord IS reforming things. And she IS his Intelligence Chief. But why do they look so... COUPLE-Y?
"Right," the guard said slowly. "Well, carry on then. Though maybe next time inform the Guard before conducting 'undercover investigations'?"
"Absolutely," Sera said seriously.
We escaped through a side exit before he could ask more questions.
Once we were safely away, we both burst out laughing.
"MARKET RESEARCH?!" Sera wheezed.
"It's all I could think of!"
"We almost got arrested on our first date!"
**[SERA]: This is TERRIBLE. But also kind of HILARIOUS. And honestly? Better than some boring dinner. This is a STORY. OUR story.
We ended up on a rooftop overlooking the city, eating street food we'd grabbed on the way, watching the sun set.
"So," Sera said, "scale of one to ten, how was this date?"
**[SERA]: Please say at least a six. PLEASE. I tried so hard.
"Honestly? Nine."
Her eyes widened. "Really? Even with the raid?"
"ESPECIALLY with the raid. It was exciting. Unique. Very YOU. I loved it."
**[SERA]: NINE. HE SAID NINE. That's almost PERFECT!
"What would make it a ten?" she asked.
I leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"That."
**[SERA]: HE— DID HE— KISS— BRAIN MALFUNCTION. ERROR. SYSTEM OVERLOAD.
She turned completely red.
"That was SMOOTH," she managed. "When did you get SMOOTH?!"
"I have no idea. It just happened."
**[SERA]: He kissed me. Cheek kiss counts. TOTALLY COUNTS. First kiss achieved! Take THAT, nun and captain!
We sat there, shoulder to shoulder, watching the city lights come on.
"Kyle?" she said softly.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for not thinking I'm weird. For liking dangerous places and espionage and all the spy stuff."
**[SERA]: Thanks for accepting ALL of me. Not just the pretty parts. The dark parts too.
"Sera, you're a highly trained intelligence operative who took me to an illegal market for our first date and I almost got arrested. If anything, I should thank YOU for not thinking I'M weird."
She laughed and leaned against me.
**[SERA]: This is perfect. REALLY perfect. Criminal raid and all.
We stayed there until the stars came out, just talking about everything and nothing.
And when we finally headed back to the estate, hand-in-hand, I realized:
This had been, weirdly, the perfect first date.
[BACK AT THE ESTATE]
Aria and Eliza were waiting.
"How was it?" Aria asked immediately.
"Did she take you somewhere DANGEROUS?" Eliza added suspiciously.
**[ARIA]: Please say it was normal. Please say she didn't do anything SPY-RELATED.
**[ELIZA]: ████ KNOWING SERA ██████ IT WAS ████ DEFINITELY DANGEROUS ██████
"We went to the Underground Market," I admitted.
"SHE WHAT?!" both shouted.
"We almost got arrested," I continued.
"SERA!" Aria rounded on the grinning spy. "You took him to an ILLEGAL MARKETPLACE?!"
"It was romantic!" Sera defended.
"HOW IS THAT ROMANTIC?!"
"We held hands! Shared food! Had meaningful conversations! There was even a chase scene! Peak romance!"
**[SERA]: And I got a cheek kiss. But I'm not mentioning that. That's MINE.
**[ARIA]: A CHASE SCENE is not ROMANTIC! That's DANGEROUS!
**[ELIZA]: ████ ACTUALLY ██████ KNOWING KYLE ████ HE PROBABLY ██████ ENJOYED IT ████ DAMN IT ██████
"Did you at least have fun?" Eliza asked me.
"Honestly? Yes. It was chaotic but really memorable."
Sera pumped her fist in victory.
**[SERA]: VICTORY! My date was SUCCESSFUL!
"Well," Aria said primly, "MY date tomorrow will be PROPER. And SAFE. And ROMANTIC in a NORMAL way!"
**[ARIA]: No illegal markets. No chase scenes. Just PURE ROMANCE. I'll show them how it's DONE.
"And mine will be sophisticated," Eliza added.
**[ELIZA]: ████ CALM ██████ REFINED ████ ADULT ██████ UNLIKE THESE ████ CHAOTIC CHILDREN ██████
"Is this a competition?" I asked.
"YES," all three said.
**[ALL THREE]: My date will be the BEST date. DEFINITIVE BEST.
I sighed.
This was going to be a long week.
But looking at three competitive, determined, slightly crazy girlfriends all trying to out-romance each other?
I couldn't help but smile.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: DATE #1 COMPLETE!]
[SERA'S ROUTE: SUCCESS]
[ROMANCE LEVEL: HIGH]
[CHAOS LEVEL: ALSO HIGH]
[NEAR-ARREST COUNT: 1]
[OVERALL RATING: 9/10 - Would Almost Get Arrested Again]
[NEXT: ARIA'S "PROPER" ROMANTIC DATE]
[PROBABILITY OF CHAOS: 87%]
[PROBABILITY OF DIVINE INTERVENTION: 43%]
[GOOD LUCK!]