The Noble Queen-A Shadow Slave Fanfic

As amusing as it was to tease her assistant—how often did she get to feel smarter than a machine with access to nearly infinite data?!—Noble still had many things to do before heading home. Having the location information transferred to her datapad, Noble gathered up her things.

"If you can organize the Memories by type, that will expedite my work when I get back from Government Headquarters."

Noble would at least look for any uncommon types before heading back to Dream Realm.

"You are coming back?" Bee Two's question caught the professor off guard.

But then Noble understood.

"I don't expect to get any urgent communications today that will send me to the Dream Realm before the end of the day."

"Do you ever expect them?"

The android asked pointedly.

"No," the professor tilted up her chin, "but today I really don't expect any news."

"Safe journey, then." Bee Two sat down at the professor's desk. "I will file these and send you any more information about the location you have selected."

"Thank you, Bee Two."

Before heading toward government headquarters, Noble felt for the emotional signature of her mentor.

Given the hour, he was unsurprisingly in the cafeteria. 

'Good. I am hungry too.' The professor patted her grumbling belly and headed out. 

The old man's face lit up when he saw Noble enter the staff's lunchroom.

"There's my girl! I came by earlier but you were having class! How are things?"

Julius welcomed his stepdaughter as she joined him with a tray of food.

"Busy! I have to eat quickly and go to government headquarters to drop a few things off."

Noble set down her food and gave the man a huge hug.

Julius nodded and returned to his seat. "You sound just like your mother. So much work and so little time."

"She isn't neglecting you, is she?" Noble furrowed her brow.

"Goodness, no. Lena may not be Awakened, but she still has the super power to do so much and make it look easy." Julius chuckled softly.

"I believe it. I guess mom is doing well, then?" Noble liked seeing Julius so happy when he mentioned her mother.

"She is in her element. She has met this girl named Beth. At times I feel like I'm looking at a younger copy of Lena. Beth thinks she can bring electricity to Bastion, and your mom is doing all she can to get the right resources for research to progress."

"That's wonderful!" Noble's heart bloomed with pride for her mother.

"Speaking of which, I have a letter." Julius summoned a Memory.

Having no need of the [Keepsake] with her new Ability, Sarai had gifted the Memory to Julius for him to use.

The small box was used to bring letters to and from the Dream Realm on behalf of Julius's precious wife. He handed the pages to Noble while she called on a Memory of her own.

Below the government papers, Noble had stowed a message from herself as well as notes from the kids. The exchange took barely a moment, but it was worth more than gold to everyone involved.

Slipping Lena's note into the box, Noble shut the lid. "I will read it with the children and Fort later. It's fun to have their reactions mingle with my own."

"It feels more like she's there, you mean?" Julius touched his temple. "Lena likes reading your notes aloud for the same reason. She misses you dearly."

"We miss her too. Especially me."

Noble had always had her mother to lean on, so these past few months had felt like years without her. The letters were a small way to make the distance more bearable.

Noble comforted herself that people had used written communication to keep in touch since before the dark ages. She wasn't the first to suffer a separation like this and she wouldn't be the last.

Hopefully, in the future, they will be reunited.

The two teachers had a lovely, but all too brief lunch before Noble needed to continue with her day.

The floating woman put her tray on the conveyor belt to be ushered away.

"I need to go. Tell Mom I love her," Noble smiled sadly.

"I will, though I'm sure you said so in your letter also." Julius nodded and hugged the girl once more. "She loves you too. Meet again next week?"

"Yes! I'll find you, don't worry." Noble touched her heart with her hand,

"You always do," Julius chuckled. "Be safe until then!"

Reluctantly, Noble left her stepfather behind and went about the rest of her day.

She needed to get going. Her meeting wit her funding coordinator was in about an hour.

Acquiring the land in Ravenheart was a bit convoluted. Since it was going to be government property within the limits of a Great Clan's citadel, an agreement with both parties would need to be drawn up. Politics was a delicate business, even when both parties would benefit from the deal.

Money, some form of bartering, or both would need to exchange hands for the purchase to be binding.

Noble wanted everything to be legal so she wouldn't find herself in hot water later on.

Using the time on the train, Noble made sure all the paperwork was in order. The meeting was mostly a formality anyway.

Noble was so anxious to get things moving that she nearly missed her stop.

Not even Praised's cryptic words about a lost stranger distracted her from moving beyond the gate and to the building where her husband used to work.

Moving past her father's statue, Noble paused briefly to look up at the handsome man who had spent half her life as only a memory.

"This is your fault, you know," Noble cracked a small smile. "You married an unstoppable woman and gave birth to a daughter who can't sit still. Now I'm working at not one, but two academies in two different worlds. Oh, and I'm a courier for the government. That last part is not exactly a career move I planned on making, but it's honest work. And you remember what you used to say about that?"

The statue, as usual, did not respond, but that didn't stop Noble.

"A day of honest work is better than a year of dishonest living. I think I might live forever at this point. Oh, Mom is doing well, Fort is a splendid ambassador and the kids are thriving. I think you would be proud. At least I hope so."

At the approach of an agent, Noble cut off her rambling. Talking to herself was one thing, but she didn't want anyone to think she had snapped and call security. That would be fun to explain.

So rather than risk an incident, Noble left the garden after blowing her father's statue a kiss. In her head, he smiled in return.

It took a few minutes for Noble to drop off Fort's papers and get his new orders, but the exchange was overall very brief.

'Fort should get an Awakened assistant soon to do this instead of me.'

While she didn't mind running the errand, it was a lot of time out of her day to travel back and forth.

At least today she had business at Government Headquarters— more than she realized.