Perhaps it goes without saying that Prince Alsander Estelar was handsome, even at fourteen. It wasn’t just his physical appearance, although that certainly helped; straight black hair, wide green eyes, smooth sunkissed skin, and a dark green suit that had been immaculately tailored. He was tall for his age without any lankiness, strong without being overly burly. Already the young women at court fawned over him, and as such he was far from insensible from his power over the opposite sex.

He was already in the parlor by the time she arrived, sitting comfortably on the sofa. It wasn’t just his physical appearance that made women swoon; he had developed a regal bearing that projected confidence and surety. This impression was strengthened by the well-dressed attendant standing behind the prince’s chair as well by the two guards who were with him, large men in half-plate armour who had taken up posts near the entrance and window.

“Prince Estelar,” Alicia said, dropping into a low curtsey. “We are, as always, honored by your presence.”

“Alicia,” he responded with a slight nod. His voice was soft, but still firm and commanding.

“Would you care for some tea?” She sat down in the chair that had been placed across from him, a small table between them. With a slight gesture, she beckoned in two servants that were carrying a kettle, an elegant porcelain tea set, and a tiered set of trays containing several different varieties of tea in small sachets as well as a variety of sweet biscuits.

“I assume you have jasmine? Bloomed, of course,” he said.

“Of course,” Alicia replied, and one of the servants picked up one of the sachets. The prince held up a hand and the woman froze.

“I would prefer if you prepared it, Alicia,” the prince said, giving her a small smile. “For security purposes.”

She bristled at the insinuation but managed to mask it almost entirely. There was no doubt that her behavior here would be reported back to her step-mother, and even beside that there was little sense in offending her fiancé. “As you wish, your highness.” She turned to address the kitchenstaff. “You two may return to your prior duties.”

Although Alicia had seen the servants prepare tea countless times before, she had never actually done it herself. She knew that the kettle had a small magnolic circuit on the underside that would bring the water to a boil, but it took an embarrassing few seconds to locate the switch that would actually connect the circuit. As the water began to boil, she picked up the small cloth bag containing the jasmine tea. She could tell that the jasmine had Bloomed, since she could feel the magnolic power it contained; however, since the jasmine contained Soul-aspected power, she would have been unable to access it even if she hadn’t been instructed not to overstress her cardiothaumic system.

Once the water started to boil, she slit the line of thread that sealed the sachet shut with a small knife and poured the petals into the kettle. Prince Alsander watched her with a small smile. The task gave her time to ponder why he was making her do a servant’s task; his explanation of security was flimsy at best. The Senius family had no reason to hurt the prince, and she had little doubt that one of his guards could use some form of magnolic energy to detect most poisons. She didn’t know much about the subject, as it was not one suitable for a lady, but she remembered her brother telling her that Life, Death, and Fate aspected mana could all be used for that purpose.

She didn’t know how long to let the tea steep for; another task she had always just taken for granted. He watched her, his mouth pulled up into a slight grin, and she realized that he was enjoying watching her struggle. The whole purpose was to humiliate her for his amusement. Her hand clenched around the handle of the kettle, although she made sure that he couldn’t see it.

“How was your journey, your highness?” Carefully, she began to pour the tea into one of the cups, making sure to not spill and exacerbate her humiliation further. It took a great deal of strength and concentration, a reminder that she had yet to fully recover.

“It was adequate,” he replied, uncrossing his legs and accepting the cup of tea. “I must say, the railway truly is a marvel; it connects Ludestre to every backwater in the kingdom.”

The insinuation did not go unnoticed, but it did go unchallenged. Instead, Alicia decided to cut to the chase. “If I may, your highness, what brings you to our estate?”

“Will you not have a cup of tea yourself?” He raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked at the second cup.

She gritted her teeth. “Our physician has recommended that I abstain from mana-rich substances for the next week.”

“Has he now,” the prince said, and then took a sip of the tea. He grimaced, setting the cup back on its saucer, and Alicia felt her cheeks grow hot. “Are you quite sure that you actually Bloomed?”

For a long moment, Alicia was struck speechless.

When the news of their engagement had first been announced, she had been delighted; she was to be wed to a prince, with all the power and prestige that come with it. Once she had actually met Prince Alsander, however, much of the luster of the arrangement faded. It was true that the prince was handsome, smart, powerful, as she expected, but he used his position and intelligence like a weapon. He seemed to delight in getting the people around him to dance to whatever tune he played, often for no other reason than to satisfy his own amusement. She had been infatuated with him and terrified by him in equal measure, and that gave him near complete power over her.

In one moment, that infatuation evaporated like alcohol under her rage, and she was left with an internal war between anger at his actions and fear of his power. From somewhere in her memories, she recalled the phrase the black-hearted prince; but she was distinctly aware that those were not her memories as Alicia, and so she suppressed the thought.

“I am positive that I Bloomed, your highness,” she said at last. “I feel that I must ask what caused you to ask such a question.” It was as rude as she dared to be, to a prince.

“I hope my question caused you no offense, Ally,” he said, smiling with that same charming smile. “It’s just that I heard you collapsed during the ceremony, and I was worried for your health, my dear fiancée.”

“I appreciate your concern, your highness, but my collapse occurred after I Bloomed,” she said. “If you could wait a fortnight, I would be able to prove it to you then.”

“I see. Although I’m afraid that would take too long.” He caught her eyes then, staring directly at her, and suddenly his own eyes started to glow a light magenta. She realized a moment too late what he was doing; with the magnolic power from the jasmine tea, he had harnessed the Soul aspected mana to gaze at Alicia’s own soul. She desperately wanted to look away, but that opportunity had passed; now it would only look suspicious.

He broke eye contact first, looking away and blinking a few times. She noticed with some small satisfaction that he seemed somewhat baffled, and she prayed that he couldn’t interpret all that he had seen. “I’m glad to see that you were telling the truth,” he said.

She gave him a small and cold smile, one she had seen her step-mother use to great effect. “I would appreciate it if, the next time your highness feels the need to soulgaze, you could inform me of your intentions first. A lady must keep some secrets from even her betrothed, after all.” She knew that she was behaving improperly, but she barely had the control to use civil language, much less be polite. How dare he violate her privacy like that?

“Of course, Ally,” he said, smirking slightly. There was no inkling of remorse for his actions. She felt a sudden urge to slap that expression off his face, which she immediately suppressed; that would be a terrible idea for more reasons than she could count. “I just wanted to ensure you were alright.”

This was, as far as she could tell, a lie. “I am grateful your highness’ concern.”

“Of course,” he said, setting the empty tea cup down and abruptly standing up. She scrambled to stand up in kind. “It wouldn’t do for my future wife to be feeling sickly.” Something about the way he said wife struck her as odd, almost biting.

Alicia knew that she wasn’t the prince’s first choice for a bride. Their engagement had been decided when she was still an infant, and as such she had grown up with that expectation always hanging over her. She had met the prince several times during her childhood; he had never held much interest in her, and what little there was seemed to diminish as he grew older. After his eldest brother had passed away, he had become colder and crueler, although Alicia still tried her best to love him as she knew she ought to.

She had always taken it for granted that, once she grew older, she would marry him and become a princess. Now, though, she wondered about the true purpose of the engagement. The royal family clearly had an interest in tethering itself to the Senius Dukedom, but why? What was it about her father’s estate that was worth trading off the political control of a prince’s marriage, and was that strong enough to prevent an annulment at a later date?

She shook her head, trying to clear those thoughts. Why was she thinking about annulment right now? The prince was right in front of her and ignoring him would do nothing to help his mindset. With a great deal of concentration, she clamped down on her anger and distracted thoughts.

“While you’re here, your highness, would you like to take a turn around the garden with me?” It was the polite thing to do, and if she didn’t make every effort to keep him there as long as possible, she was sure to be scolded later.

He actually laughed at her request. “With all due respect, Ally, I must decline. I’m afraid I have far more important things to attend to in Ludestre. My time is quite valuable, after all.”

She curtseyed and prayed he wouldn’t notice how tightly her hands were gripping the edges of her petticoat. “Very well, your highness. I hope to see you soon.”

“Indeed,” he said, and turned to leave.

It felt like time froze for a moment. The image of him, caught in the middle of a turn, looking back at her with a slight smile of control and confidence; it felt incredibly familiar. She was overwhelmed by a strange sense of deja vu, so strong it almost brought her to her knees. Then he was gone, and with him his retainer and two guards, leaving her standing alone in an empty room, holding a cup of tea she couldn’t drink.

It was not strange that he should seem familiar; she had seen him quite frequently throughout her childhood, after all. No, what was entirely strange, what was so peculiar that it left her with chills down her spine, was that the feeling of familiarity had not come from Alicia’s memories, but rather those of Christine.