“Bro!” Mitre said, eyes wide.

Aleister walked into a guest room right behind Aunt Lavinia. The room was almost double the size of his room at the manor, and he already thought it was big. Extravagant tapestries and bright wooden furniture decorated the place. A foamy beige carpet lined the floors. Its comfort was quite outstanding.

Gilmore and Ryellia lounged on the second bed next to the one Mitre lay in. The two of them looked happier than Aleister had ever seen them before.

“I watched your fight!” Mitre jumped up and towards him and ran into his arms, hugging him tightly.

“Yeah, master told me. Had I known you were watching, I would have tried extra hard.”

“I’m just happy to see you not get hurt.”

“Don’t worry, I am in quite a bit of pain. Whenever the numbing effect of this potion wears off, I’m sure I’ll collapse on the spot.” Aleister chuckled as he scratched Mitre’s head. “But enough about me. How are you? You were sitting on that throne for quite some time.”

“Yes!” Mitre jumped up and down. “Mommy and daddy told me everything that happened while I was on the Throne. They told me there were like a bunch of skeleton monsters and a spooky shark man, and all of this happened during an eclipse. I’m actually so sad that I missed the eclipse. It sounded so pretty with the sun disappearing and the moon and how it was supposed to be all red! Oh, and they also told me about how that giant crystal in the sky, the Vit—whatever, the enormous crystal, how I absorbed it and I’m going to have to take a test in like ten years or something. Can you imagine that for ten years? How am I supposed to remember anything for so long?”

“I don’t think it’s that kind of test, but don’t worry about it. You will have plenty of time.”

“You’ll help me, right?”

“Of course I will.”

“Yay!”

Aleister couldn’t help but smile. Mitre’s energy was through the roof at this moment. Not that he could blame him. But he couldn’t help but worry a little. He couldn’t quite understand what kind of future he would live. Well. It wasn’t like he could, either.

“I’m surprised you’re able to stand after that fight,” Gilmore said. “By the end I could see your entire body tremble after each blow.”

“I gave him a minor potion of healing,” Master replied.

“So generous?” Ryellia asked.

“You know how little their costs matters to me. Besides, I promised Mitre that he could see Aleister tonight.”

“You’re the best grandma!” Mitre hugged Aunt Lavinia’s side.

“Of course I am,” she said with a beaming smile.

“I know you need to rest up.” Ryellia turned her attention back to Aleister. “But if you are hungry, there’s some leftover food in the kitchen downstairs.”

“Perfect. I haven’t eaten anything for almost all day. I’ll go check it out.”

“There’s also another spare guest room that you can stay in,” Gilmore said, tossing him a key. “It’s right down the hallway. That way you don’t have to travel all the way back to the manor.”

“Thanks. Good night everyone.” Aleister waved behind him and walked straight to the kitchen.

There weren’t that many leftovers that he could see. But there was bread, cheese and some leftover corned beef. Aleister combined them together and created some sort of sandwich. It was a bit dry, but there wasn’t much he could do to fix that problem right now.

As he continued to eat, he poked around the kitchen some more and found a storage room. There wasn’t much inside. Mainly flour. Aleister sneezed. Too much flour.

However, he within the storage room, he found another door. He grabbed the handle and twisted it. Luckily, the door opened. He didn’t know how to pick locks, but maybe it was something he should learn. Although, how often would he even open locked doors in the first place?

As the door opened, the room revealed a set of stairs. Intrigued, he continued down the stairs and ended up in a chill and musky room. A wine cellar? Perfect.

Around him were countless varieties of wine. Most of which he had never seen or heard of.

“Hey Syn, you wouldn’t be a wine connoisseur? Would you?”

“Obviously not,” she replied She yawned as she appeared in front of Aleister. “Why are you waking me up in the night and in the middle of a pleasant dream, no less? And how did you manage to find your way into a wine cellar? Wait, this is that castle. Why are you here?”

“Sorry, and you don’t know how I got in here? I thought you watched my every movement?”

“I don’t like the way you said that. And no, I don’t bother and didn’t you hear? I was sleeping. And for the record, the only time I see what you’re doing is when you see me in my ethereal form or my bird form. Otherwise, I have no connection to the material plane.”

“That does make sense. And now I know that even you have to sleep.”

“Everything needs to rest.”

“Long story short, Mitre woke up, so I visited him.”

“And you are in the wine cellar because?”

Aleister raised the sandwich in his hand. “I went to the kitchen because I was hungry and opened the storage closet, and then, all of the sudden, here I am.”

“I can’t help you, so I’m going back to sleep. Don’t wake me up.”

“Sorry. I didn’t even know you were asleep. Actually, when do you sleep?”

“I try to match my sleep pattern with yours, but slightly ahead. I assumed your pain would have knocked you out by now, but since you reek of alkemical anima, you obviously took some sort of healing medicine.”

“So no help on the wine front?”

“Good night.” Syn disappeared.

Aleister shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich. He shouldn’t be here in the first place, but there was no harm in just looking. He skimmed through the selection displayed across the racks and waited for one to catch his eyes. After several minutes, he got bored and picked up two bottles. One was a wine he knew—Crystal Wine. It was the major source of income and business from the Crystal Sea. And one bottle of wine had a name that was absolutely giberous—Shieudaudange Halbtrocken. There was no way he couldn’t pick that one up. He closed the door to the wine cellar and storage room behind him before heading up to his room. No doubt all the staff was fast asleep.

He unlocked his door with the key and entered the room. It was similar in design to the one Mitre slept in, but a quarter of the size.

Aleister crawled into bed and closed his eyes. But he knew he wasn’t able to fall asleep just yet. The potion still carried a rejuvenating effect and kept him awake. He needs to wait for it to fade. He pulled out his spellbook and got back to work.