“Okay, how do I look, Pris?” Rose wasn’t looking in the mirror. She last did this years ago and never thought she would do this again. But Priscilla somehow convinced her this time.

”You look good, my lady. Just hang on a little more.” Rose was getting uneasy, and Pris knew from her voice and expression she made.

”My face is getting uncomfortable. It doesn’t feel good on my skin.” A thousand ants were crawling all over her face.

”That’s all in your head, my lady. Forget about your bad experience with makeup and just feel how you’re really feeling.”

Rose took a deep breath. ”Okay.” and closed her eyes. All the bad memories with makeup from her childhood she pushed back down to the back of her mind. She dimmed all her other senses and let the feeling on her skin fill her brain.

It was nauseating. The powder, sticking on her skin. Crawling … it’s not.

She took a deep inhale and normalized her breathing. It was just like Pris said. There was nothing. There was no discomfort on her skin.

She opened her eyes. ”How is it?” Pris was in front of her, eyes staring through.

”I’m … I’ll manage.” She answered, not believing herself.

Pris smiled. ”That’s fantastic, my lady.” Pris grabbed the chair Rose was sitting on and turned it around. And for the first time in many years, Rose saw herself in the mirror with makeup on. It’s only lightly applied, but still.

”Wow.” she surprised herself. ”It looks … better than I expected.”

Rose could hear the sigh coming from Pris behind her. ”Must be good for you my lady, you dont even need to use makeup to look good.”

”Say someone who never uses it either.” Rose smiled and looked over her shoulder.

“Then for what to wear.” Pris opened the wardrobe, revealing a row of suites and formal clothing “Oh God, my lady! I know you’re not a fan of girly clothes, but for this … you’re even worse than me.” She shuffled it around, hoping that maybe hidden somewhere deep inside her master drawer that there might be hope. But she found none. ”How do you plan to go on a date with this? ”

”Come on, Pris, you know this is not a date. This is purely a business meeting.”

”You know what I think. my lady? I bet there’s a candlelight dinner waiting for you at the end of this ‘purely business meeting’.”

”Pris, we’re not like that.”

”And that’s because, my lady, neither of you have the balls to say what you know both of you feel. Ask anyone, both of you are like magnet separated by a paper.”

Rose chuckled. ”I know, but you know how I feel about this whole thing.” She had no right to demand or ask anything of after everything he did.

”Ah, so you’re burdening everything on him? That seems fair, my lady.”

”It’s not-” Rose stopped herself and sighed. ”You know what, Pris? There’re a few clothes I stored in the storage room. Get it for me, please.”

”Of course, my lady.” Pris closed the wardrobe and walked to the door. She stopped before going out. ”What should I tell the mayor? He’s been waiting weeks for a meeting with you. He won’t be happy about the delay.” She looked at the clock on her left wrist. ”The delay also affect the police, Russian, yakuza, and so on and so on. Which we also have to explain to them.”

”Just tell them the truth.”

”And that truth is?”

”Arthur Pendragon is coming to this city. They can complain later if they want to.” With a nod, Pris left.

Rose sniffed her body. Pris would be furious if she saw it, but Rose had to make sure the stench of death and rot didn’t stick with her. Earlier, she met that person, Rein Constantine, in the university. She monitored him for the last few years. After all, the abnormality he brought with him everywhere had killed dozens and inconvenienced thousands. The report said his aura was terrible, reeking of feces and rotting flesh, but she never thought it would be that terrible, that the staff was just exaggerating. It was a miracle she didn’t throw up when he was that close. Even remembering it now made her nauseous. Most people couldn’t smell it, only those with acute sense of magic could. But even if people didn’t smell it, the aura still affected his surrounding. Sooner or later another incident will fall. She was sure.

She shook her head and patted her own cheek. This was not the time to be stressed about that. No matter how good she presented herself, it wouldn’t do any good if her mood was bad. She tried to redirect her mind and focus on something else, but what came up was something worse.

The series of missing people in recent months ... No, a serial kidnapping now. It had been giving her headache since she first heard of it. The crime was almost too perfect. There was no witness or evidence, CCTV caught nothing, and the victims had nothing in common except for being a female. The location also seemed to be randomly picked. In the end, there was nothing to do but wait for police or the mafia to stumble upon something.

Just thinking about it made her want to bit her nails, but she refrained. “Ahhhh-!” She held her head in dismay. She wanted to throw herself in the bed, have a rest, and forget all these troubles and let Pris handle it. And here she thought the Chinese smuggling children was the worst thing this month. But everything kept spiraling downward.

It always puzzled and amazed her how her father could do all this and still kept his sanity. Looking at the picture hung on the wall, the answer came naturally. “Because mother was always there for him ...” It was a picture of her and her parent when she was still in elementary school. “It’s been ten years ... time sure flies, doesn’t it, father, mother?”

Refocusing her mind, she collected all the necessary folders and documents and put it inside her handbag. It would be much easier to use a backpack or a suitcase, but considering her looks and where they would meet, that wasn’t appropriate.

Arthur never specified where they will go. He told her to meet him at a certain intersection. What happened after that would be a surprise. If this was their free day and not business related, a surprise would have been the best. Sadly, it was not.

As she expected, Arthur wasn’t there when she arrived. No wonder, however, as she arrived half an hour before the appointed time. With nothing to do, she stood on the walkways waiting for him. The suspicious stares people gave probed her, but she gave them not a passing thought. No matter how strange something is, you would get used if it occurred since you were born. And she was not special either. Her father, grandfather, great-grandmother, and every first child of Arcturus family had the same anomaly. Maybe it was a gift, maybe a curse, but fitting for the one who owned this land.

Her phone rang with a message from Arthur telling her to go into the arcade across the street, but a crowd of people hindered her way. In the center of it, stood Arthur. His appearance, personality, and everything about him always caught people’s attention. And unlike her, he rarely, if ever, attracted the bad side of them.

“Arthur.” She called.

Everyone’s attention shifted to her, and the air turned folly. Their stare was worse today, and the hostility was heavy on her skin, threatening to crush her. But it didn’t bother her. As long as–her skin tingled and an unpleasant smell of rotten flesh assaulted her throat.

Her breath turned ragged as the smell of death and decay wafted around her. The world turned dark and all she saw around her was death. Waiting and standing, far enough that people wouldn’t freak out but close enough to reap anyone anytime it wanted to.

He was here. That damned person who caused her headache. This was bad. For her, for Arthur, for everyone. Who knew when the anomaly going to tick. When it was going to hunt for more blood. Who knows when- “Rose.”

Her mind stopped. Arthur turned to face her and his brilliant golden eyes focused on her and her only. His face calm and soft, but his gaze was so dazzling and intense it bound her body in place. It was different; the magnitude differed greatly from when she last felt it. But there was no fear, it was Arthur after all. And his aura blew the worries and fear out of her.

“You look absolutely stunning today.” She was dumbstruck. She didn’t remember his voice being that sweet or his power swaying someone’s heart. Was it only her who felt this way, or was everyone else felt the same way. But her eyes froze, stuck on the majestic existence before her.

“Let’s go.” He extended his hand. His skin was fair and smooth and flawless it would cause envy in anyone who saw it.

She took his hand.