It’s been two weeks and the only time I’ve come out of my room is when I went to visit Izzy when she had fallen ill a week before. Of course, she was healed quickly by Tania but I had to see her and stop myself from incessantly worrying.

Now, this is my second time leaving my room, and it wasn’t as simple as visiting my sister. This was much bigger.

I was brought to my father’s study. It wasn’t grand, not at all. It was actually an average sized room, one you’d expect to find in the home of a middle-class family, with warm colored walls and fragrant candles, with the only thing seeming expensive being the mahogany desk which my father is sitting behind. I’ve lived in the palace for nine years and yet this is the first time I’ve truly felt at home.

“I’ve wanted to speak with you. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since you’ve told me about your aura.” Father spoke once I’ve taken a seat on the opposite side of the desk and leaned forward. There were piles of paper on each side of him, maybe a thousand worth in each one, and on top one of the piles read something that gave me the urge to question father about the primary problem of our Kingdom.

It was vague, the title of the paper, but what I remember from Daniel’s memories is that his family and province were under suspicion by the other aristocrats.

‘D.G. Watch.’ Or rather, ‘Duke Garter Watch.’

Instead, I keep the urge at the back of my mind to address father. “What is it, father?” I didn’t want any tiptoeing around the bush. It was better to be straightforward.

Father leaned back in his seat as he observed me. His blue eyes were sharper than Elias’s and that was way too intimidating. “Your aura form. We don’t know what its effects might be, nor how much it could do. But we know something, which is, it could give you others memories.” I nodded my head and stared at father in confusion, willing him to continue. “More so, you had no signs of it activating, so that’s the riskiest point. It could still activate at any moment, and we have no way of predicting it.”

“If I had to theorize,” I say before he could move on, “I don't think there’d be an explosion of my aura.” I had weeks to think about it myself and had come to many conclusions, but never one that’s confirming. “If I could use my aura, then it’s already activated... or that memory incident was just a fluke.”

“How can you call getting someone else's memories a fluke?” Father rebukes. He sighs and twists his wrist to crack.

I sigh and shake my head, not liking anything about this. “Father, I don’t want to spend my time locked in my room. I want to go out, learn about this world as much as I can, see as much as I can.” I say softly. This was what I wanted since the very beginning. To learn - about the mythical beasts and how they could give human ‘magic’, and the rest of the world along with it.

Father looks at me indifferently. “I see.” He says noncommittedly. He gets up from his seat and turns back to the wall behind him, where he lifts his hand to the painting just at his head level and places his palm on top of it before it disappears into the wall. I blink in astonishment as he gets a champagne bottle from out of nowhere and a set of glass to drink from.

He places one of the glasses in front of me and pops the bottle open before pouring it into the glass. “It’s non-alcoholic, easy on the taste buds. It’s how many children of aristocrats and royalty get introduced to the world of champagne.”

My mouth hung open in stupid fascination as I watched the glass fill up. “What was that?” I asked.

Father chuckled at my dazed tone. “My aura form. I call it ‘Ghost’ as I could pass through solid objects. Even humans.” Father suddenly reaches out and I flinch back but freeze as his hand passes through my chest. “I could make it solid again at any moment, and anything I touch will be able to pass through matter as well.”

“Whoa,” This was the most fascinating aura I have seen yet.

“It’s how I survived the raid from so far back.”

“Oh,” I say with my eyes downcast, “You were the only survivor I heard.”

“Everyone knows about it. Anyone getting an education has to learn about their ruler. It’s a rule.” Father sits back down as he continues, "Even though my aura’s useful almost to no fault, I don’t like using it much. It’s such a cheat.” Father nods to my glass, “Drink.”

“Shouldn’t I wait till I’m fifteen to start.” More so, I wanted to question father about the secret space he has behind the painting, but I was almost a hundred percent sure that had to do with mother, so I held my tongue.

“It’s non-alcoholic. It’s basically just juice that tastes like wine.”

One little resistance was all I was going to give anyway as, now given the chance to taste some wine again, I was craving to drink it. Without further complaint, I grabbed the glass and took a sip, savoring my first taste of wine in this life.

“You don’t seem weirded out.” Father smiles small as he takes a sip from his own glass.

“It’s good.”

“As expected.”

We drank in comfortable silence with the wine distracting me from the topic of our conversation. It was only after my glass was emptied that I brought it back up, “Why are we speaking about my aura now?”

Father purses his lips and fills up the glasses again before answering, “I need you to use it again. To help me out with something.”

“Help with what?”

“Felix Carter. And possibly Harold Gloss.”

I stare at Father wide-eyed in surprise, “Aren’t they-”

“People who attempted to assassinate the Kingdom’s princes’? Yes. But I don’t believe they wanted to.” Father answers me, “We investigated both of them and questioned a few closely related family and friends. The people who knew them all said they were all loyal to the Kingdom. Yet they attempted to assassinate direct descendants of their King. Most of all, they were people who had no sort of issues in their life. They lived well off as far as commoners could. My only thought is that they were manipulated, makes sense with the way they seem so inactive right now.”

“Like… Mind control?”

“Yes.”

I looked father in the eye in the silence that followed, already having an idea of what he was asking. “So, you want me to receive their memories to know exactly what happened,” I state firmly.

“Would you?”

I purse my lips in consideration, but I knew my final answer would be yes. Daniel loves Felix. That I’m completely sure of. With his memories, even I was somewhat fond of that kind-hearted boy. But, my powers are unknown, it caused pain to both me and Daniel. What if the effects were different from other people than just mere migraines?

However, how will I ever learn about my powers if I’m scared to use them? I may be kind and caring for others, even with strangers. But, when push comes to shove, I’m entirely selfish of what’s really important.

“Let’s start with Harold Gloss.”