Elizah walked into her home cottage and found Micah waiting at the door. “Where were you?” he asked and didn’t let her get past him.

“Look, I was out with the children of the slum,” Elizah said, and Micah still was looming over her.

“How many times should I tell you that the place is dangerous?” Micah was shouting at her, and Roxanne looked at the two siblings arguing outside.

“LIz, it was a good thing that you did,” Roxanne said and moved toward her daughter.

“Micah stop being so frustrated with your sister over something else,” Roxanne said, and she walked back into the kitchen.

“What happened to Micah?” Elizah asked with a small amount of curiosity in her voice.

“He’s just tense like the rest of us,” Roxanne said with a sigh, “the timing of this debt couldn’t be worse since Levi left only yesterday.”

Elizah was quiet but only nodded. Aunt Levi typically helped them out with anything they needed. Still, they all realised they were relying on Levi’s help too much these days.

“Where did you get that bag?” Micah asked and noticed the pouch in Elizah’s hand.

“A gambling bet, and our miracle,” Elizah said with a grin.

“ I know you’re lying, Liz,” tell me before I have to wrench whatever I want from your mouth,” Micah said and glared at her.

“I’m not lying about the bet,” Elizah said with a smirk, “but I didn’t place it.”

Micah just stared at his sister for moments until it struck him.

“You’re kidding aren’t you,” Micah said with his eyes wide.

“He gave his winnings to me,” Elizah said, and Micah still remained agape.

“Your prince, seriously, is a gentleman,” Micah said with a small smile creeping up his face.

“I didn’t ask him to do it,” Elizah said and set the bag down.

“I understand why you two are so close,” Micah said, and Elizah set her side bag down.

Elizah only laughed, knowing that there were things far beyond Micah’s understanding at work here.

“Why were you out?” a voice startled Jayden Larkspear as he walked into his room.

He looked in and found his mother seated on one of the big couches in his chambers and observing her nails.

“Don’t I have free rights to roam, without someone breathing down on my neck,” Jayden said, annoyed by her presence.

“I need to look after my son, don’t I?” she asked, “ You’re my only heir after all.”

She stood up and faced him.

“What do you want?” Jayden asked with a glare in her direction.

“Your father was looking for you. He wants to make sure you didn’t cheat a few days ago. We got information that you would have tried,” Noxaura said.

For a moment, Jayden got startled, wondering that Elizah had been caught.

“We also found one of the healer’s tonics in your room,” Noxaura said and produced a bottle from her pouch.

Jayden recognised the bottle immediately. It was a bottle of paint he’d mixed and tried to infuse his powers into, and Elizah infused it instead. It had a beautiful shade and was speckled like stars were in the paint, and Jayden had used the colour to paint Elizah’s eyes in one of his masterpieces.

“That’s just a jar of paint, I bought it at the market square a couple days ago,” Jayden said with a small laugh.

“Why would you need a bottle of paint?” Noxaura asked in clear annoyance.

“I found it interesting. I bought it because I thought the colour was beautiful,” Jayden said and admired the bottle.

“Sometimes I wonder how you’re my son and sometimes you remind me of my father,” Noxaura said in a mildly annoyed tone.

The bottle wasn’t only paint, but it was more like a source of magic, which could heal.

“Why do you think that? Oh right, you tried to throw me down a well,” Jayden said with a bitter laugh.

“I find your intelligence to be just as much as your father’s, jumping to conclusions without knowing the true story,” Noxaura said and plucked the bottle out of Jayden’s hands.

“Is this something you haven’t told me about?” Jayden asked with confusion.

“Forget what I said. This potion has magic infused in it,” Noxaura said, rapidly changing the topic, “those colours only come with magic.”

Jayden stood rigid for a moment before turning to face her again.

“I don’t think so. The man I bought it from was mixing it in front of my eyes,” Jayden said with a thoughtful glance.

“Looks may deceive, my dear prince,” Noxaura said with warning and made her way out of the room. At the same time, Jayden was left tense, wondering what could happen if he was ever found out.

“My lord, can I speak with you,” A person stood in front of the king, and the king lifted his head to see a cloaked figure seated in a chair in front of him.

The hood was down, making it impossible for the king to identify the person.

Another person walked in with their pace measured and bolted the door behind them, such that the king had no exit from the room.

“I’m not going to hurt you my lord,” the person seated in front of him said and placed their hand gently on the king’s arm.

Before the king could react, there was a jolt of energy in his veins, and something suddenly pushed through his mind itself.

The seated person pushed harder, and his will gave way.

“He’s all yours, nothing that he does is his own control, but rather yours,” the person who had been seated said and stood up with a grin, “It’s finally complete.”

“Finally,” the other person said and placed their hand on the king’s arm and dropped their cloak on the chair behind them, as the other person in the room walked out with only a small smile.