In the day between the changing of the Private Sanctum and the party, Willem, Kinsey and Anna spent all day doing whatever they liked.

Willem created magical weapons and armor, in preparation for the upcoming fight. He also made another of the potions intended for the Queen, in case the other one had waned by now.

Kinsey attempted and failed twice to make the disruption potion. Her third attempt could be considered a success, but its potency was in question. This was because she had to use alternative herbs in place of the rare ingredients for now.

Anna played with the White Tiger Cub all day, until they were both so tired that they fell asleep on the bed. After taking a quick nap, they resumed their play until they got tuckered out again.

All in all, it was a very uneventful day for everyone.

In the morning, Willem told Kinsey and Anna the plan. The prisoner would be teleported to the cells of the Private Sanctum today, at the request of the One True King.

While he was handling that, Kinsey was in charge of rounding up her staff and having them be ready to serve the nobles for the event. Anna would be in charge of ensuring everyone has a favorable impression of Willem by the end of the night.

By any means necessary.

The shadows danced as they absorbed Willem and he reappeared in front of the King's palace. He made his way inside to retrieve the prisoner when he was physically blocked by a group of thirty noblemen.

Before the King's guard could do anything, the thirty noblemen had pushed their way through to the throne room and began to chide the King.

The One True King sat eerily calm on his throne while the thirty nobles yelled at him and at each other about entrusting the fate of their prisoner to a boy.

This interested the King as he had only ever told four people. Archus, Grandia, the Queen and Iniro. Even if someone from the capturing party had drunkenly admitted to capturing a magical being, how did they know that it was to be tortured by a boy.

The King raised his hand, and the nobles quieted down to a small grumble.

"I recognize all of you as my fellow kin when we first traveled to this land. When we took this mountain for ourselves, you were alongside me and helped to establish the laws that helped us survive. These several hundred years, we have existed peacefully while working together to protect the human race. For this, I will forgive that you barge into my home."

The King eyed downed each noble until they all lowered their heads.

"What I cannot forgive is that you dare question your King. Perhaps I have been too lenient on you, that you would show no concern for my authority."

The nobles did not dare look up as the King stood from his throne.

"One night in the stocks, your next of kin shall attend my event in your stead. First to tell me how you came upon the information shall be pardoned."

The King walked away as all the nobles were taken and thrown in the stockades.

The first to talk was a squeamish noble who looked disturbingly like a plump overfed rat. He spilled that Commander Iniro had gotten drunk and told everyone about the torturer. On the pretext of concern that the job would not be done right, the nobles decided to gather and have their say.

Visibly displeased, the One True King kept his word and released the rat-like noble.

When the palace had quieted down, the King went and met with Willem.

Willem had quietly slipped away during the disturbance with the nobles, and was sipping tea in the parlor when an attendant finally noticed him. The attendant notified the guards and they kept him busy with conversation while the King dealt with the nobles.

Instead of meeting the King in the throne room, The King went and caught up with Willem in the parlor. This confused the guards who had never once in their life seen the King fetch someone personally. Let alone someone with the stature of an eighteen year old man.

Willem kept his poise and greeted the King with the gesture he learned from the Grand Mage Archus. The King greeted back and they both headed to a secret room in the palace while talking about various subjects. Once there, Willem got his first glimpse of the elven race, and his new prisoner.

The elf looked very similar to a human, except for clearly distinguishable long pointed ears. Delicate features, long blonde hair tied to the back of his head, a small loincloth covering his genitalia and strange designs all along his body. They looked similar to arrays, but were far less complex and more varying. Willem wondered if this had something to do with their power or was some sort of tradition of their people.

The elf had been bound by hands and feet with thick mithril chain. The King told Willem that he tried to escape multiple times but was unsuccessful in breaking the bonds.

To Willem, it looked like some forms of torture had already begun, as there were many wounds along the stomach and back of the elf. Some were older and had healed, but others were fresh and still bleeding.

The King ordered his guards to unchain the prisoner from the large stone wall that he had been stuck to since his arrival. The mithril chains stayed bound to him as they prepared him for removal.

Willem watched the guards beat the elf until he could no longer get up, just to ensure there was no resistance. When he had finally collapsed, they took the chains off the wall and offered them to Willem.

Grand Mage Archus finally arrived and apologized for being late. He had been preoccupied fulfilling a request for a mutual friend. Willem nodded in his presence as Archus provided a greeting to the King. Once preparations were done, Willem used his darkness magic to take everyone relevant along to his Private Sanctum.

As this was the first time he took conscious people through the darkness, he warned them of the possible nightmares they would see as they went through. Creatures that inhabited the underdark of the world they lived in are boundless in form and ruthless in ideals. Willem admits to actively avoiding them even if it means a longer journey.

Archus and the One True King nod and ready themselves for the move. The King commanded two of his guards to accompany him, as per the law. Two guards salute and ready themselves for teleportation.

Willem nodded and sent the group through the shadow of the remaining guards, and he guided their ethereal bodies through the darkness of the world. As this was their first time travelling this way, both the King and Archus attempted to take in as much information as possible.

All of a sudden a horrifying scream rang out, as one of the guards was caught by his left foot by a eight fingered black arm. The malformed arm twisted viciously, and Willem did his best to wrest the guard from it's grip.

The group was only a few seconds away from the Private Sanctum, having successfully traveled through the underdark into the void where his Private Sanctum was.

Willem pushed for his Private Sanctum, and the guard broke free from the grip of the dark hand as they all landed inside the main hall. Kinsey and Anna immediately ran to see not just Willem and Archus, but also the King, two guards and a chained magical being all breathing heavily and in pain.

Kinsey distributed healing potions, but before she could give one to the guard who got caught he began convulsing and screaming in pain.

A black mist sprayed from a wound on his left foot as if attempting to engulf his entire body. Archus and Willem used magic to suppress the black mist to the wound, but it was only a preemptive measure to a dire situation.

Willem nodded to the King and Archus, said a quick prayer, and drew a dagger from his spatial spell. He sunk the dagger into the guards neck as Archus kept him held down by magic. The guard squirmed for a few seconds until Willem twisted the dagger sideways, killing him mercifully.

The black mist, having no life to attach itself to, slowly dissipated from the Private Sanctum as if it was being filtered out.

"What the hell was that?" The One True King seemed furious as he drank his healing potion. "I never knew there was such a creature living in this world."

Willem drank his healing potion. "To call it a creature gives it purpose. It is the black mist, an amalgamation of lost souls attempting to take over a body in order to get revenge for a grievance."

The King contemplated what Willem had to say before speaking. "This is the path you choose to travel everyday?" To the King it sounded incredulous, to risk your life in such a manner for no reason.

"The path I take is always safe, but the path the black mist travels is random to say the least. A twisting horror that exists only to reap from the living, it was just the guard's misfortune to come upon it." Willem continued, "Many of the creatures that live in the underdark only wish to be left alone. Just looking at them could be cause for you to lose your life."

Archus began to regret not closing his eyes, but how could he have known. In the dark, there is no warning of the impending death, there is only a cold embrace.

Now the King knew the nature of the dark.

The prisoner was forced to drink a healing potion, enough to wake him up from the previous beating. When he awoke, he saw the dead body of the guard and laughed maniacally. Willem took the chains and dragged the elf into the basement of the Private Sanctum. Once inside, he chained the elf to the wall and activated ten arrays before closing the door behind himself.

The King, unsure of the arrays that were put down, asked if he could test the durability of the spell. Willem gestured for him to try his best, and the King utilized much of his magical force attempting to break down the door. Every attempt he made was unsuccessful, even going so far as to rebound and knock him off his feet.

The King, slightly flustered, took his leave after saying he looked forward to the soirée tonight. Willem bowed as the King left, and shared a hearty laugh with Archus. Never in Archus' long life had he ever seen the King knocked off his feet in such a way.

This became the running joke for the day between the two. Anything that was funny, they would say "I was knocked off my feet."

A few hours before sundown, guests began to arrive at the Private Sanctum through the Bastion Of Hope's teleportation, just as Kinsey had planned. As the coordinator for the event, this was the most effective way of getting everyone to the Private Sanctum in the shortest amount of time. It was also a luxury for nobles to use magical arrays this way.

Everything was progressing just as intended. Willem was the main conversation of the nobles, as they were still deciding whether they liked the Private Sanctum or not. The consensus right now was that they approved, but if one were to ask, they would never commit to an answer.

Anna wore a long black dress inlaid with gold at the seams. She weaved through conversations with no apparent disruption, and made herself known as the assistant of Grandia. When she was not participating in a conversation, she was using subtle mind magic to create a favorable impression of Grandia to the nobles.