Act 3: The Ball - Crisis

Konrad's little speech appears to be effective, because the merchants, nobles, and other renowned guests here have now started to settle down. They still want to ask about this "mirror" world they've seen—that's the name some of them have for the Shroud—but they seem to understand they won't get an answer.

"I think I saw Lady Mutilus go to the second floor," one of the women says.

"Yes," another replies. "She should still be there."

Right then, just as Steve and Andrei enter the lobby, he sees Hortensia walking down the stairs with Fluffle flying beside her.

"Ho! Steve!" the fairy says. "I found her! Oh, hi Florolf!"

The carbuncle happily yaps at him. It appears that once Fluffle realized the guests wouldn't be helpful, he left the adventurers to search for the young woman on his own.

Hey guys, come out to the lobby. Fluffle found Hortensia and brought her down.

"Good work, Fluffle!" Steve fist bumps his little friend to show his approval. He says to Hortensia, "Hello, glad you are safe. The others will be along shortly."

Fluffle is more than happy to bump fist his friend.

As for Hortensia, she still appears shaken by the recent events, and attempts to smile at him. "You must have been successful in your mission then."

She glances at the few other people in the lobby, who are listening in attentively.

"Thank you, thank you. As for this revolt, your king is applying a personal touch to combat it, and he is more than equipped to handle the situation. Trust in him and remain calm."

Konrad turns away and joins the others.

"I am," Hortensia replies. Judging by the way she darts her eyes around however, she still seems on edge. Konrad arrives a few seconds later.

Now that Mihai has taken over the conversation with Hortensia, Steve takes the opportunity to duck out and join Andrei and Florolf. "Hey, how you guys doing? Getting along? Has Florolf talked you out of tummy rubs yet for all the good work he did?"

Hortensia brings a hand to her chest and heaves a sigh of relief at the news. "Thank the Eight," she says. Then she closes her hand into a fist. "The battle isn't over yet though, right?"

Meanwhile, Andrei chuckles at Steve's comment and says, "I believe he deserves a little more than that, don't you think?"

"He no doubt believes he deserves much more than you are thinking," says Steve with a grin, while looking down at the little villain in question. "Don't worry Florolf, I'm sure we could talk Lemon and Eclair into whipping up something special for you."

The carbuncle sits up and yaps in agreement to the black mage. Andrei smiles at the little one, then asks, "So, how can I help you?"

At the same time, Hortensia stares at Mihai for several seconds while she processes the news. "Truly?" she asks in disbelief.

Mihai nods almost imperceptibly - "It'll take a little while, but... yeah. It was Steve's idea, i honestly had my doubts that the King would go for it. But it seems we gained enough good will after all this, and so he said he'll make it happen."

"You wouldn't happen to know where Sean Freeron is staying in town do you?" asks Steve.

The noblewoman looks at the black mage, then back at Mihai. "Tha-thank you. All of you."
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"He was supposed to stay at an acquaintance's place, but he followed Van Willis back to the hotel for tonight. I believe you know where that is?"

Steve nods, saying, "I do, yes. Thank you."

"Then I hope to see you again soon," Andrei says before turning to Florolf. "You too, little one."

The carbuncle yaps at him, stands up, and goes to follow Steve and the rest of the party.
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Fluffle pats Hortensia on the head to help her recover from the news, but she's too shocked to say anything.

This is when Steve rejoins the others. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Not a lot. We were just about to go. Did you find Sean?"

"Oh yes. Turns out he went back the hotel with Van. We just have to swing by so I can leave him a message."

"I could go ahead and give him the message, if you'd like," Fluffle offers.

"It's kind of you to offer, but we should all stick together until the fighting is over. I'd never forgive myself if you were hurt delivering a message for me."

Fluffle's wings flutter faster at Steve's show of concern, and he says, "Oh okay. Yeah, someone might shoot a spell at me or something."

"By the way, i gave Hortensia the news. Still hasn't recovered."