【 CHAPTER ONE】
nisha kumar
( PRINCE KAITO IS THE
REAL PLAGUE ON EARTH )

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Nisha watched as Prince Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth walked at a too-normal speed towards a waiting hover and resisted the urge to give him some pointers. Seeing as Nisha was the only person around for miles, and one on a Windrider at that, he would suck at being a spy and at espionage in general.

Probably a good thing he would never have to become one as he was, after all, a prince.

Nisha waited until Prince Kai pushed an android inside the hover before getting inside. Honest to stars flute music playing in the vehicle.

As the doors of the hover started to close, Nisha aimed a blowpipe at it. Inside was a tiny chip that she'd commissioned specially from the Lunar royal scientists. It would stick onto any surface she aimed at with an electric suction cup function she could turn on and off with a button on the device. And now, it would let her hear whatever conversation the prince had in the hover. Quickly reassessing the trajectory, she puffed up her cheeks and blew hard into the pipe. The chip flew into the tiny gap left between the door and the wall before closing completely.

Nisha pulled at her scarf, secured it so her lower face was hidden and clicked at her earpiece. Her ear was filled with a thunderstorm of cymbals. Ugh. It must have landed near one of the speakers.

She tugged at her hood, a voice in her head urging her to just rip out her earpiece before she heard the prince say, 'The market at the city centre.'

Nisha smiled. 'Gotcha.'

She took out her portscreen to find the most straightforward route there. Then, she kicked off on her Windrider and started the short ride to the centre of New Beijing. She would've just followed the hover but those damn things had a built-in detector to alert the people inside if they were being followed.

If she were any other person, she might have taken in the sights. If she were any other person, she wouldn't be spying on the Crown Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth.

Alas, Nisha Kumar wasn't any other person. She was a Lunar, a spy for Queen Levana, a title she never wanted.

Which was why she didn't tell Thaumaturge Mira that the Prince had taken the malfunctioning android outside the palace. Probably to get it fixed.

(The only thing wrong with the android was the embedded D-COM chip she'd inserted a week ago under Queen Levana's orders. The Lunar technology had probably caused its Earthen wires to spark, especially since Nisha was pretty sure it was an old model.)

She might've had to follow orders and do the queen's bidding but that didn't mean she had to like it. What the queen didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

But beyond her personal feelings about her lifestyle, Nisha felt guilty. He was about to lose his father because of her queen's political game of chess.

Prince Kai, while a prince, was still only a teenager. He didn't deserve it.

She wanted to help him but right now, the only help she could offer was not telling her superiors about his little trip. She couldn't afford anything else. Not if she wanted to keep her own life.

Nisha slowed down as she approached the market. In her ear, a robotic voice asked the prince where he wanted to deboard, with him replying, 'Here is fine'.

Nisha cursed him. 'Here' could mean anywhere. She didn't know where the hover was.

She took out her port again and searched for a mechanic's profile at the market and was pleasantly surprised to only find one. A Linh Cinder with a 98.7% client approval at booth #771.

She began speed walking through the crowd, following the faded booth numbers stencilled on canopies and metal frames until she reached #771.

'Definitely a mechanic,' she said to herself, looking at the jungle of wires and tools around the booth.

Looking around, she spotted a booth filled with baked goods across the square. Sacha's Sweets said the sign nailed to the top of the booth. Seeing as the prince wasn't there yet and the baker's booth was placed diagonally from the mechanic's, Nisha made her way over to sample some of the goods. Her mouth watered when she got close enough for the aroma to waft around her like perfume.

Behind the booth, a woman she assumed was Sacha was scolding a child. Her son perhaps.

' -told you not to go playing by that thing's booth, Sunto! What were you thinking? I've told you that- '

'Hi,' said Nisha, taking pity on the boy. He looked gratefully at her. 'Sorry. Is this a bad time?'

The baker jolted. 'No, no. Not at all! What would you like, dear?'

Nisha smiled and took a glance at the offerings on the table. Her eyes snagged on the shiny glaze on a bunch of rolled-up bread. 'Can I get two cinnamon sticky buns please?'

'Of course.' The baker started to pack Nisha's order into two containers. Peripherally, she spotted the prince finally making his way to booth #771.

Or, who she assumed was the prince. He was now wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt. On the hottest day of the week. Nisha saw a little girl walking towards the mechanic booth, look at the maniac wearing a sweatshirt in the summer heatwave and return to her mother, who was blatantly staring at the guy.

Nisha wanted to shake the prince. And give him lessons on being inconspicuous. Literally anything would be better than his current attempt.

She wondered if the prince would take long. She hoped not. She didn't have enough univs to buy anything else. And from her vantage point, she couldn't tell if the mechanic was in or not.

She returned her attention to the baker, who said, 'You don't look like you're from around here.'

'I'm not,' she said. 'I'm just in the city to visit my cousin. He twisted his right ankle, you see, and he told me to get some of your treats. He really, really likes them. Especially your sticky buns. He says that he always eats them whenever he has a bad day so that it cheers him up.'

'Oh!' The woman blushed. 'That's the nicest thing anyone has said about my buns. Here, take four more buns for your cousin, free of charge. Tell him I hope his ankle heals soon.'

Nisha felt her smile freeze just a little before she laughed. She really hoped the buns were good. She really, really hoped Jacin would like them. They would be a good apology bribe. What even was the standard protocol for making up to your little brother figure after he grieved your death for years? 'Thank you, Sacha-jie.'

'No problem, dear. By the way, what's your name?'

'Kiara,' she lied. In the corner of her eye, she spotted the prince leaving the mechanic. 'Nice to meet you, Sacha-jie, but I really must be going now.'

'Of course, Kiara. Have a nice day!'

'You too!' said Nisha. Then she hurried after the prince. Who knew if he had any other stops in mind.

The prince was acting... strange. There was an odd spring in his step, something Nisha didn't expect from him seeing as Emperor Rikan was still dying. What could've possibly changed in the last ten minutes or so?

When it became clear that he was only returning to the hover, Nisha thanked the stars and slipped back into the crowd, returning to her Windrider. She secured the buns onto her rider and made her way back to the palace.

Nisha entered the room in the guest wing that she shared with Jacin and tossed the buns onto the cot on the floor.

Ding!

Nisha took out her port.

Nyx,

Prince Kaito is holding a press conference in the pressroom.

-Damsel

Nisha headed towards the pressroom. Damsel would know she got the message.

'Damsel' was technically Nisha's partner in crime. While they've never met and didn't even know each other's real names, they've been working together for 5 years under Queen Levana's orders. They were a good team in Queen Levana's opinion. It was probably why neither of them was dead yet.

At least, Nisha didn't think that 'Damsel' was dead. Hard to tell since they've never exchanged any sort of conversation outside their missions.

'Damsel' was Nisha's hacking eyes in the sky and Nisha did all the physical dirty work that Damsel couldn't access with a camera.

Like Prince Kaito.

While Damsel could theoretically track the prince 24/7, it made no sense for her to do so since there were other important things for her to hack into.

Enter Nisha Kumar. Or Nyx, when she was on a mission.

Inwardly, she cursed the prince once again. Her other assignments had not been very mobile and consequently, neither was she. She thought princes were supposed to stay at the palace all day and write speeches and overlook trials and just grumble about paperwork all day. Or, y'know, throw wild parties. Like Queen Levana and Queen Channary.

Whichever floats his boat.

But noooooo... Prince Kai actually cares about his people. The audacity.

In the 5 days she'd been shadowing him, he had run all over the palace at least thrice, been to an orphanage to help them prepare for the 126th Annual Peace Festival, held many, many press conferences about stars knew what, attended secret video conferences with the other world leaders (which Damsel hacked into, obviously) and visited Emperor Rikan every single moment he could spare. Which, as she'd just established, wasn't a lot.

The fact that he still had a sleep schedule was astonishing, to say the least.

The fact that it was a bare minimum of 3 hours made Nisha want to cry. If she ever got the chance to talk to him, she would simply slap him unconscious so she'd get more than a meagre 3-star-cursed hours of sleep.

She looked at the soles of her shoes mournfully. She'd gotten them just last week and they were already worn and fraying. She was unsure if that was the result of terrible craftsmanship or Prince Kaito.

Nisha pulled her glamour over herself like another would a well-worn coat, willing herself invisible. While most Lunars would glamour themselves with an elaborate disguise, Nisha's talent for making herself go unnoticed was exactly why Queen Levana would never let her quit her career. She should write a book.

Inside the pressroom, she could hear the prince's speech about Letumosis, its effects (like they didn't already know) and their attempts to cure it.

Someone barreled past her hiding spot and into the press room. They handed a note to the prince. Nisha watched his face turn dark.

'Excuse me,' he said to the journalists. She watched him fake a strong front and knew instantly what had happened.

'His Majesty had entered the third stage of Letumosis. I must-' he stumbled over his words. 'I must attend to him at once. Thank you for your understanding.'

He was barely out of the room before the journalists exploded into noise. Nisha's groans were lost in the general chaos. She wondered if she could slip a tranquiliser drug into his food so that he (and more importantly, Nisha) could rest for once.

Remembering instructions, she took out her port and sent two comms, the first to Damsel. Her partner would have to track the prince on the seventh floor of the palace research wing, seeing as she would never be allowed in. Her invisibility would never fool the androids guarding the royal quarantined room.

She sent her second comm to Thaumaturge Mira, then waited for her next instructions.

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Nisha: Okay, truth or dare?
Kai: Truth
Nisha: How many hours have you, and consequently, I slept this week?
Kai:
Kai: ...Dare
Nisha: Go to bed.
Kai: I don't like this game.

A little slow but it'll be well worth it. I think.

Did I steal the term windrider from Winx Club because there isn't a vehicle equivalent to a motorbike in the Lunar Chronicles universe?

Yes. Yes, I did.

Also, it isn't explicitly stated but Nisha is the reason Chang Sacha got letumosis. Because she's Lunar and immune she wouldn't know any better and it's because of her that poor Sunto will become an orphan.

Welp. At least she and Jacin got sticky buns.

Edit: I accidentally deleted this chapter while wanting to read the comment to feel something ha. This was my reaction: