[i]One question.[/i] Kire drew in a deep breath and nodded, before turning to hand him the eggs. She kept quiet as he continued his task, now and then handing him the ingredients he would ask for, also slightly relieved she wasn’t involved in the cooking beyond that. She mulled over the question in silence as she ate breakfast, though she did compliment him on the food. She had so many thinks she wanted to ask about him, but ultimately they all coiled around one thing: his past. She pieced together what she had so far: that he was found by Envy, that he was a half-breed—half-elf, most likely, given his shared abilities with the Shadow Elves and Kartaians. She remembered the shame with which he had admitted this. [i]And his scars…[/i] He knew the agony of the poison from some period in his life he wouldn’t name.
 
 At some point, Ed came in looking for her. As expected, he looked like he had a very pleasant evening. “Could you give them my apologies? I won’t make it to the meetings today. If possible, move them all to tomorrow. Or late in the afternoon, if it can’t be helped,” she said when Ed asked her about coming back to the Tower. 
He looked curiously at her, then at Ruli, but said nothing else. “I’ll see you later, then,” he said, giving a nod in farewell to Ruli before going back outside. 
She returned to her meal. “Mostly well-wishers,” she said in explanation. “The usual kiss-ass-to-the-new-old-Empress,” she added with a chuckle. “They can wait.”