At first, Rayna had thought her driver was prematurely senile. Despite her title, she was far from sheltered and knew what poor living conditions entailed in Sphinx Nation. However, Kazue's home expressed an entirely new level of ragged and disgusting.

In comparison to the shoddy huts that were packed together, some of their walls jutting from the ground at odd angles and leaning against their neighbors, this one was far smaller and stuck out amongst them like a sore thumb. Its mudbricks were brittle and splattered in grimy blotches, some a vile green with specks of rusted maroon. There was a gaping hole in the upper-right hand of the front wall, seeming to have crumbled away ages ago.

"This is your residence?" Rayna asked, only to feel foolish immediately after. Her driver was a competent navigator and grew up in Sphinx Nation—he knew where he was going. However, the princess couldn't believe a human being could survive in these conditions, whether physically or mentally. From what she could tell, Kazue was agonizingly optimistic and pure, as if the real world had yet to taint him.

Kazue shook his head. "No. She lives here. Not me."

Rayna held back a growl; she had grown tired of his counteractive responses as soon as they had left the chariot. Instead, she slapped on a sympathetic frown for the guards and placed a guiding hand on the boy's back. "Come," she said.

The door, a big slab of wood wedged haphazardly into the frame, had a few rotting spots but it was decently sturdy. Rayna almost knocked but then remembered her title and allowed one of the guards to bang on it. "Open!" he barked. "You're in the presence of Your Highness and royal Daughter of the Sun, Princess Rayna!" Rayna personally found the announcement to be a mouth full, but she could appreciate the instant compliancy it goaded from peasants.

However, they were left unanswered for a few moments.

Just as rage began to bubble in Rayna's gut, there was a slow, whining creak. A pair of bloodshot eyes emerged from the darkness; they were erratic and distrustful, shifting about in the owner's skull like they were fighting desperately to escape. Finally, they landed on Rayna and widened. Some of the haziness cleared as the door opened fully.

Kazue's mother was not what Rayna envisioned.

She was thin; her fragile fame was difficult to miss, even with the ratty clothes wrapped about her and barely held together by a sash around the waist. Her cheeks were somewhat hollow and bags rested beneath her eyes. Rayna wondered if the woman ever washed, as her dark locks were unkempt and beyond oily. Something had been greedily sapping the youth from Kazue's mother—Rayna had a multitude of guesses but she couldn't settle on one. She genuinely looked like a victim of each one.

Kazue's mother bundled up the cloth spilling from her sash and bowed. "Y-your Highness! To what do I owe the, um...pleasure of your company?" She spoke slowly and awkwardly, struggling to converse on a level she deemed proper.

"A pleasure, indeed," Rayna said. She plastered on a warm smile before reaching behind her to haul Kazue into sight; he had been hiding behind her. The boy had his arms crossed and his previous tears seemed to be returning with renewed vigor, though he remained silent. "I believe this is your son. We're here to return him and discuss legal matters."

As soon as the woman's eyes landed on Kazue, her demeanor shifted from anxious to downright agitated. She stood from her bow and shuffled back, as if she was tempted to slam the door in Rayna's face. "I don't have a son, Your Highness," she said. "And I have no idea who this is."

Kazue pounced on the opportunity and threw his hands out. He waved wildly at the woman. "See? I told you!" However, his energy died when Rayna raised a hand, commanding the boy to hush. He begrudgingly complied, though his pout was the strongest and most bitter Rayna had ever seen. She placed her attention back on his mother.

"Surely you're mistaken." She gestured at the entrance. "Please. Let's sit and discuss this further in a civil manner." Civil may have been the description Rayna used but she currently toyed with the mental image of a dagger wedged between her eyes. Never in the princess's life had she encountered such a rude peasant—aside from Kazue, of course.

Fortunately, she seemed to have a shred of self-preservation, and reluctantly stepped aside to let everyone inside. It was rather a challenge to fit Rayna, Kazue, and her guards in the tiny space; only a ratty couch for two people and a stool provided seating, while the floorboards were riddled with dirt. A stale and prominent stench filled the atmosphere but Rayna couldn't quite label it; the closest guess she could garner was rat feces. However, she had issues spotting any due to the lack of lighting. Rayna quickly grew irked as her elbow continued to brush with the guards'; she cleared her throat before nodding towards the front door.

"Grant us some privacy? This is a rather tentative topic." Each guard hesitated, discomforted by the thought of leaving their princess's side. Nonetheless, one by one, they complied and shuffled out of the hut; they opted for pacing back and forth out front, peeking through the hole anxiously. Rayna reeled in her disgust and seated herself on the couch, internally grimacing at how far she sunk into the pile of wood and wool. Kazue slid in next to her, taking pains to press his thigh into hers while pinning his mother with an intense glare.

The woman in question wrung the hem of her robe in her hands; with how frantically her fingers worked, one would expect the fabric to tear at any moment, though her expression gave away nothing but exasperation. Her mouth opened, then closed—only to open again. "Pardon me, Your Highness, but," she pointed at Kazue, "I would never give birth to a Hybrid. It's sinful."

Rayna's response briefly caught in her throat when she felt Kazue's fingers curl between their legs. They began to scratch at the cushions like a nervous tick or some form of grounding technique. Whichever it was, she knew it barely helped. Again, her nails buried into his skin and demanded him to stop; he was slow to do so but he eventually did, and settled for pinching her robe. "With all due respect, Miss..." Rayna trailed off.

The woman had almost overlooked the indicator. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head and said, "Kepi."

"Kepi. Our records are rarely wrong. It stated clearly that you are this child's birth mother." She placed a gentle hand atop Kazue's head. "This poor boy was forced to commit theft for food. He's completing his service duties now but he'll need to do so from here—"

"Oh, no!" Kepi interrupted in a sudden show of energy. Rayna's muscles coiled painfully; she had to draw upon every drop of rationality not to slice her jugular then and there. "There's no way I'm sharing a roof with this...this disgrace! I refuse!" Venom coated the back of her throat and ate away at Kazue, whose head lowered more and more by the second. His back shook violently as he smothered the sobs thrashing in his chest.

"C-can we leave? Please?" he wheezed.

Kepi nodded furiously in agreement. "Yes! Th-that's probably for the best. This was—" She yanked back her sleeve and scratched at a patch on her forearm; it was covered in overlapping marks, some fresher than the others, and noticeably swollen from abuse. "Clearly a mistake. I would," her scratching intensified, "Love to talk more, Y-Your Highness, but I'm a busy woman, so..." Kepi's shifting eyes returned, scouring her surroundings with poorly veiled desperation. She even stood and kicked the stool aside, only to scowl when she found nothing.

Rayna could do nothing else but clench her jaw and follow Kepi's movements like a predator prepping to pounce. The audacity of this peasant! Her grip around Kazue's hand tightened to an almost painful degree; she had neither the time nor the awareness to question when she had shifted from probing his knuckles to cradling them. The guards are outside. I should be fine if I monitor my volume, she thought.

"Kepi. Sit, now," Rayna said.

"But I already—"

"Sit!" she hissed. Some of her signature iciness weaseled through the warm façade and cast a certain chill about the room.

Kepi's mouth clamped shut as she scrambled to sit on the stool again.

Her scratching ensued.

Rayna turned to Kazue, her movements slow and incredibly strained. Presenting him a tight smile, she asked, "How long has your mother consumed drugs, Kazue?"

This seemed to be the key to Pandora's Box. Kazue finally lost his composure and shoved his palms into his eyes, globs of tears rolling down his cheeks as he heaved a ragged sob. Before he could manage an answer, Kepi shoved herself into the conversation.

"I-I don't know what you mean, Your Highness!"

"You don't?" Rayna countered. "The scratches on your arm are clearly one of many and a common sign of withdrawal. Even now, you're failing to concentrate on what I'm saying."

Kepi crossed her legs stubbornly and fought with her robes again; for a few seconds, they fabric peeled apart to reveal another angry patch on her calve but she hid away just as quickly. "I-I'm just exhausted."

"Why, of course you are." A sarcastic bite infected Rayna's tone. "A common side-effect of drug abuse, is it not? Your deceptive skills are poor, Kepi, and it may be in your best interest to no longer insult me with your pathetic attempts." She faintly registered the sensation of Kazue burrowing his face into her arm, muffling his cries and dampening the spot with his endless tears. "You're searching for another dose now or just remnant piles you may have missed before my arrival. I wonder if you understand the implication behind my deductions?"

Kepi shifted in her seat as her gaze strayed to the left. Peering into the princess's eyes became more arduous as the interrogation unfolded. "Your Highness...please. I swear on my life—"

"So be it." Rayna pried herself out of Kazue's grasp and ran her fingers along the wall. "Your common sense is obviously null and void, and you harbor practically no respect for my authority. I'll find the drugs myself."

Kepi paled. "W-wait, Your High—"

"Intervene and you'll be charged for treason."

Again, the woman complied; however, once she plopped back onto the stool, she instantly shot a glare of utmost hatred at Kazue. The boy flinched and scooted back, literally sinking into the filthy furniture. "This is your fault, Hybrid!" she snapped.

"L-leave me alone!" Kazue said.

"I thought I was done with you! And then you show up again like some plague and bring this?!"

Rayna tuned out Kepi's ranting. Her entire focus was facilitated into the investigation; all she needed was a suspicious indent or bump. She had interacted with plenty of drug addicts, especially when she had to weed information out of them. They were a gold mine for leads swarming about the criminal circles, as no one ever considered how observant and invisible they could be. Thus, she knew most of their methods and how they functioned; hiding their prize possessions a mere few feet away was a frequent practice and one Rayna consistently exploited.

Then her fingers grazed something—it was minute but, when it came to her sensitive touch, it might as well have been a nail jutting out.

"I didn't even wanna c-come back here!" Kazue shot back, his tears as heavy as ever.

"Then why did you?!"

Rayna examined the divot between two mudbricks before jamming her finger inside, smirking as it easily crumbled under the impact. She shook her robe free of the debris and snaked a hand inside; her grin widened a ghost of an inch as a powdery substance coated her fingers—

Then there was something hard. Sharp, crisp edges and smooth surfaces. "What in the name of Ra..."

"S-stop yelling at me!"

"Oh, you want me to stop?" Kepi launched to her feet and crossed the distance between them in one swift motion. "I'm taking orders from a Hajin now?"

Rayna's shoulders locked in place. Ignore their squabbling...

Kepi reeled her hand back.

It's a petty peasant affair.

"Know your place!" Kepi growled as she struck—

Kepi yelped as a roaring pain shot up her arm. She fell to her knees and weakly tugged, but she had no chance of escaping Rayna's hold. Three of the princess's fingers pinched her wrist and dug deeply into her flesh, forcing the woman's hand to contort in submission. Kazue was curled into a ball and huffing erratically beneath his breath; one moment, he had screwed his eyes shut and prepared himself for searing pain. Now, he only withheld enough of his wits to gape at the sight of Kepi kneeling before the mighty form of his guardian spirit.

"Miss Kepi," Rayna said as she held up a device. It was handheld-sized and equipped with a small screen in the center, buttons on either side of it, and an activation switch. "You're under arrest for possession of illegal items."