Hundreds of thoughts raced through Gael’s mind as he stared at Haylee’s eyes. This kind of scenario never crossed his mind when he decided to approach her.
Initially, Gael wanted to coax Haylee into delaying the emperor’s visit to the Regis Estate. He came to this decision after the emperor hinted at his plan to marry off the princess to the very person he wanted to get his hands on, Kyran Regis.
At first, Gael had thought of telling the emperor the truth about Kyran’s forbidden magic and how the whole Regis clan hid the fact. However, he immediately rejected the notion because it would lead to many complications. For one thing, the emperor would question Gael’s reason for withholding the information until then.
There was also Gray’s matter added to the mix. Gael had a feeling that instead of persecuting Kyran and the whole Regis, the emperor might use his unique circumstance to get the Regis to work for them again. Because Gael was aware that Gray’s matter was far more important to the emperor than some kid who had just started learning about his forbidden magic. Gael had no way to know why the emperor was obsessed with Gray, but either way, if the Royal Family got the Regis’s Clan to help them pursue Gray, the chances of capturing him were higher. That was how capable the Regis’s mages and combat mages were.
Anyway, Gael did not want the emperor to have a hold on the Regis. No, to be specific, Kyran Regis. He needed to have Kyran do his bidding, and he only needed a few days. If Gael could delay the emperor’s visit to the Regis Estate, he would personally go to the estate and use everything at his disposal to have them under his control.
It was only unfortunate that he had yet to hear anything from the Special Ops. He did receive an update yesterday, saying that they had a lead on Kyran and would send word once they confirmed it. The earliest was supposed to be last night and the latest today. But the day was almost done, and he had not yet received an update from them.
Gael was not worried, though. As long as the day was not over, he knew he would receive an update no matter what.
But that was the least of Gael’s worries at the moment. He first had to recover from this unexpected development. Something about the princess was really different right now. There was once he had seen her looking at him, but he did not think it was anything serious. Looking at the malicious glint in her eyes, however, Gael wondered just how much of the truth was her claim of knowing what he had been doing.
“Don’t approach me again. If I want to speak to you, I will find you,” Haylee whispered and was about to leave when Gael roused his magic to capture her.
However…
‘W-What!’ Gael’s eyes widened, and his complexion paled.
He could not rouse his magic!
Haylee’s sapphire blue eyes glinted in the dark as she looked at Gael. She placed her right hand on top of his chest without saying anything.
Immediately, Gael felt his soul quiver as if an invisible force was slowly closing around it. Cold sweat trickled down his back as the feeling of being helpless washed over him. The invisible force gave him the feeling that it could easily crush his soul. This should not have been the case. He was a Magus! There was practically nothing that could threaten a Magus!
“Don’t test me, Grand Marshal,” Haylee whispered in a voice so cold it gave Gael the illusion it could freeze anything.
Taking a deep breath, Haylee straightened and lowered her hand. She looked at Gael and smiled. Her smile this time carried none of the coldness it previously had.
“I need to head back. Please be careful on your way out,” she told him.
Without waiting for Gael to say or even do anything, Haylee left.
It took quite some time for Gael to calm his nerves. What just happened was something he really had not anticipated. The princess that the emperor doted on, and spoiled by almost every leader of the empire, looked very different from the one Gael had just spoken to. To be precise, he never really got the chance to talk to her properly. She did not let him. It was as if she already knew what he was about to tell her, and she did not want anything to do with it.
Although Gael felt a slight fear, he also felt a sense of assurance. Even though he did not achieve his goal in approaching Haylee, she did not appear to be entirely against him. She might have warned him not to mess or test her and not approach her again. However, she also said she would find him if she needed to talk to him.
Haylee’s words replayed in Gael’s mind as he took a shaky breath.
”Not like the emperor,’ huh,’ he thought, his eyes narrowing. ‘I’d like to see how different you are from the emperor, your highness.’
The shadow within the gazebo shifted and slowly wrapped Gael from his feet. Not long after, his whole body blended into the shadow vanished into the night.
====================
Kyran sat staring at the face-altering mask currently placed on top of his bed. The black panther mask Anette lent him back in the ruins was beside it, and a set of black clothes was neatly folded on the side.
Because Nolan and Anette forbid Kyran to practice his magic, he busied himself in studying and improving the face-altering mask. Currently, he successfully changed the array within and could change the mask’s face calculations at will. Nar and Tyr’s faces were already recorded well, and Kyran also succeeded in adding a formula that would enable the mask to change his hair color. As for the black panther mask, he added an array with defensive and strengthening formulas. This was to make sure it would not break easily and reveal his face underneath. Of course, he would still be wearing the face-altering mask, so even if it broke, it would not reveal his identity. But he would still be using Nar’s identity and could not afford to have it easily discovered.
Kyran also chose a set of clothes he would use while using Nar’s identity. He also learned his lesson of being caught in an ambush while wearing regular clothes. Thus he studied the coat Nolan gave him, which Stella also made further enhancements. After studying the enhancements on the coat, he tried to apply them to his clothes for the first time. Since it was his first time, the enchantments were not perfect. But it was enough to provide additional magical and physical resistance.
‘There’s another one I have to do,’ he thought as he removed the space pouch his uncle Jared gave him.
It occurred to him that his pouch was different from the others space storage he had seen before. If he was not careful, the pouch itself might be a telltale of his identity.
He took out some of the spare space storage he had collected. Among all these, the ones from the Special Ops had better quality, while the rest were of low quality and could not hold a lot of items.
‘I can also stitch these space storage on the clothes I enhanced,’ Kyran thought while looking at his newly enhanced set of clothes. Then he looked at his original pouch and pondered for a bit. ‘Maybe I can add a design-altering array on it? Similar to how the mask can change, if I targetted the pouch’s external feature maybe it is possible.’
After pondering for a bit, Kyran finally nodded and scanned his memories on all the materials he had that could be used for the array. In a few minutes, he sighed and shook his head, ‘I’m missing some items. I need to visit the Chamber of Commerce and buy some materials.’
He mentally calculated his remaining budget, and his heart became heavy. His family gave him a few coins and spirit stones to which his mother reminded him to use wisely. That was why he decided to use them as initial funds to execute his plan. Now, what he had left was just enough for his daily needs once they started their journey. If he bought the materials with his remaining budget, he would have to cut down on more expenditure.
‘I guess I’ll have to try the design-altering array a different time. After I complete my training with Nolan, I’ll have to find a way to earn more coins or spirit stones.’
Another thought crossed his mind while thinking of spirit stones. He took out the recorder, the one he used to record the evidence of his coming to Hanaan. He recorded it before delivering the Theihorns in the Conclave.
“Speaking of spirit stones, I forgot to leave this proof to exhort the reward from my bounty. Nolan planned to drop by the Tower while I meet with Byron so I guess I’ll let him pass this on to Stella. I wonder if I can ask a little bit of spirit stones…”
Kyran immediately shook his head, rejecting the idea. He muttered, “No. Let’s just think of another way on how to earn coins or spirit coins.”
Once again, he looked at the items on his bed.
‘What else do I have to disguise?’ He wondered.
Kyran knew the importance of hiding his identity, not only while travelling but also after getting inside the Blue Lotus. They were fanatics of the Void Master based on what Byron told him. But for some reason, Kyran felt there was something fishy about its history. His Void core also did not react when Byron talked about the Blue Lotus’s founder. Although, it was not a given that his Void core would react each time he heard about his predecessor’s past. The lack of recognition still felt strange to him.
‘Anyway, I’ll just have to be careful.’ He thought and finally put his items in his pouch.
As soon as he was done, Zephyr called out to him.
[Master.]
Kyran turned his head and looked at the wall to his left. He knew Zephyr was inside his room. Probably still thinking through Nolan’s suggestion about the shrine’s array.
‘What is it?’ Kyran replied.
[About the shrine’s defensive array.]
As expected, it seemed Zephyr had finally arrived at a decision.
‘Yes.’
[I… I’ll wait until you complete your training. But… instead, can I request for something.]
‘Alright, tell me.’
[Can I please have a transmission scroll?]
Kyran raised his brows as he tilted his head on one side while he stared at the wall. He was not surprised at Zephyr’s request. He somehow expected it.
‘Okay. I’ll leave two scrolls.’
[Aren’t you going to ask why I need it?]
‘No. You’re my Sigil. I’ll trust your judgement,’ Kyran replied. Besides, he knew what the transmission scroll was used for, so he did not need Zephyr to tell him to know what he planned on using it for. That was why he decided to give him two.
Kyran suddenly paused as he belatedly realized he would have to make more transmission scrolls now. Three for Nolan, two for Zephyr and another two for his reserves. Today, he only managed to create one, which meant he still had to make six more scrolls. He and Nolan planned to leave in four days, so he had to make one or two scrolls a day.
Instinctively, Kyran looked at his arm and felt a little bad for his blood. Why did his clan make their blood the main ingredient for transmission scrolls anyway?
When Zephyr did not reply, Kyran thought he might have fallen asleep. However, after a few minutes, he finally said.
[T-Thank you, Master.]
A faint smile appeared on Kyran’s face. He found Zephyr’s awkwardness quite amusing.
‘But, I’ll have to teach him properly.’ Kyran remembered how Zephyr was convinced that he had to meet his second mistress. He did not even have one, how did it become two?
With a sigh, Kyran stood up and left his room. He planned to talk to his godmother for other potions or pills that could help him survive in making transmission scrolls without suffering blood loss!