Alex didn't bother dressing up for politics.
Lorrin Seft sat under a carefully arranged trellis in the gardens of House Arvarin, stiff and quiet beside a family representative trying to impress her with ancient wine and even older expectations. The invitation to join their elemental branch was written in gold-tinted ink and already halfway folded.
She was nodding politely, her hands folded neatly in her lap, but her eyes kept wandering—to the trees, the clouds, anywhere that wasn't the man speaking. It wasn't disrespect. Just disinterest barely contained.
Alex arrived like a misplaced breeze—grinning, casual, and holding nothing but a simple card.
"Lorrin," he said, loud enough to interrupt the diplomatic pitch. "Dinner. Tonight. My place. You're invited. No pressure, just food and the option to not be absorbed by a boring bloodline."
The Arvarin representative twitched. Visibly.
"This is a formal meeting, Prince Alex," he said, through a clenched jaw.
Alex smiled wider. "That's why I kept it brief."
He handed the invitation to Lorrin directly, holding her gaze. She didn't smile, but her fingers closed around the card like it mattered.
The Arvarin man looked like he wanted to protest further, but decorum and Alex's title forced him into tight-lipped silence.
Alex gave him a polite nod, turned, and walked away like he'd just delivered flowers, not detonated a recruitment pitch.
—✦—
Tavi took effort.
They checked every scheduled class, event log, and dormitory—nothing. Tavi, as it turned out, had removed herself from the official maps. Again.
"Third floor railing last time," Davor muttered.
"Yeah. She has a pattern of mischief," Alex replied.
A janitor finally pointed them toward a sealed side wing—apparently repurposed into a personal fortress of solitude. Behind a sunlit alcove and a curtain of hanging charms, they found her.
Tavi was lying upside-down on a bench, humming to herself and sketching arcane symbols into the dust with her toe.
"Dinner?" she said when she spotted them. "Will there be dessert or murder?"
"Only if someone gets competitive with the pudding," Alex replied.
She rolled upright and stared at him. "Sounds honest. I like honest. I'll come. But if anyone sings recruitment slogans, I vanish."
"Noted."
—✦—
Narek Zin had no known schedule. His dorm was empty. His workshop was too.
"You sure he exists?" Davor asked.
"I think so," Alex said. "Kael said he might be in one of the old halls."
They searched for nearly two hours, before finally locating him in a half-forgotten meditation hall. Narek sat quietly in a circle of moss-lined tiles, one hand resting on an ancient stone basin that looked like it hadn't moved in a hundred years.
Alex waited a moment before stepping inside. "You talk to furniture now?"
"It's not furniture," Narek replied, still staring at the basin. "It remembers things. Not all of them kind."
"I brought you an invite," Alex said, holding out a card. "Dinner. Just people. No ancient voices."
Narek looked up finally, blinking slowly. "You sure there won't be screaming?"
"Only if the cake's late."
Narek nodded once. "I'll think about it."
—✦—
Seena Vey's meeting was already tense when they arrived.
A noble representative was presenting terms to Seena's mother—marriage into their direct line in exchange for a quiet return to the noble circle. Seena looked like she wanted to disappear into the floor.
Davor stepped up first. "This doesn't look like an offer—it looks like a transaction."
The man turned, clearly unimpressed. "You're interrupting."
Then Alex stepped forward. "She's joining my team. Starting tonight. That ends this talk."
The man's tone dropped several degrees. "You don't have that kind of authority."
"I don't need it. I have her consent. And if you want to challenge that, we can do it in writing. Or in public. Your pick."
The noble backed down. With a sharp nod, he left without another word.
Seena didn't say anything, but her mother gave Alex the smallest, trembling bow.
He offered her the invitation. "You're both under my protection now."
Seena held the card like it was a lifeline.
—✦—
Yamato was the final name.
Getting to him wasn't simple. Alex had to write not just a letter, but a request that went through three layers of clearance. Even then, he had to wait in a warded hall, watched by silent guardians.
Three hours later, Yamato appeared.
He was quiet. Calm. His steps didn't echo, and the magic around him seemed to bend slightly—like gravity didn't quite know what to do.
Chains loosely hung from his wrists. Decorative. Symbolic.
Alex stood. "Dinner. My place. No obligations. Just show up. Eat something. Maybe talk."
Yamato looked at him for a long time. "...Is there rice?"
Alex smiled. "There will be."
Yamato nodded once. The chains slid to the floor.
—✦—
6PM, Two hours before dinner.
Alex was back in the courtyard outside his quarters, leaning against a stone railing and sipping a cooling mug of tea like the courtyard wasn't about to descend into organized chaos. He was in his undershirt, half-dressed, lazily watching enchanted lights flicker to life across the gardens.
"You should really look more stressed," Davor said, approaching with a scroll in one hand and a frown that hadn't left his face all morning.
"I don't get paid to look stressed."
"You don't get paid at all."
"Exactly. Maximum efficiency."
Davor handed him the scroll. "Confirmed attendee count just hit seventy. That's more than double what we prepped for."
Alex blinked. "Oh. So... we're popular."
"We're overloaded. We've already started rearranging the seating. Jenkins is two chairs away from resigning, and Marell started hyperventilating when he realized we need twice the food."
As if summoned, a scream echoed from the kitchen wing.
"Was that—?"
"Selena," Davor said. "You promised fifteen. We're at seventy. She's calculating banquet logistics using war terminology."
"Okay, but I did say 'prep for fifty' just to be safe."
"And that helped how?"
Alex finished his tea and straightened his coat. "Look, I'll be ready in ten. They'll be fine."
"You mean we'll be fine if Selena doesn't set fire to the linen cart."
"Remind her it's just dinner."
"That's what made her angrier."
Alex grinned. "Then I'll avoid the kitchen until the guests arrive. Problem solved."