Thomas was sitting at the dinner table, sipping a gss of water under the satisfied gaze of Simon and Tira.

  “I am satisfied to see that the master's skin is free of injuries.”

  “It would be even better if you could eat, master.”

  Tari had interjected while bringing a pte of snacks that Thomas pushed without giving it a look.

  “Don’t dream too much.”

  Over the past few weeks, his words had become more curt and his face emotionless, but in all retivity, he looked better. However, the tips of his fingers were taking a slight yellow tint, as much as his skin had an ashy grey undertone, all side effects of the drugs. But nobody could say anything because it was true that he was finally sleeping, and was able to ingest something, even if it was just water. He was still very sensitive to smells and tastes, so all the twin’s attempts to slip nutrients into the water had been discovered and thwarted.

  Thomas leaned against the backrest of his chair snapping his fingers as a spark flew towards the cigarette in his mouth, lighting it up. He inhaled, watching the smoke disperse into the air as he exhaled with a bnk look. He might physically look better, but it was impossible to say what his state of mind was. He suddenly seemed to snap back to reality and turned to the twins.

  “Second artifact ?”

  The boys nodded vigorously. As much as they liked their master with everything they had, he had become quite scary tely. If before he looked like a confused and scared boy, recently he had taken the appearance of a dangerous man. He didn’t shrink anymore in the hallway, walking alongside the walls, instead he confidently strolled in the middle of the corridor with hollow eyes that scared the servants. But both twins agreed on one point : It was better than how he was before.

  Tira was the first to talk.

  “The second artifact is situated in the kingdom’s capital, underneath the castle to be specific. It should be the easier one to access considering our retionship with the king.”

  But contrary to his hopeful tone, Tari next to him was fidgeting anxiously.

  “I already sent an inquiry but…”

  He had trouble finishing his sentence, so Simon was the one to turn to Thomas, with cold sweat dripping down his back.

  “The king said that he would be gd to give us access to the artifact, but… Only if we are under supervision at all times, including… During the circution…”

  Silence fell in the room, only interrupted by Thomas exhaling smoke. After what seemed like an eternity, his bck eyes fell on Simon.

  “You told me that you knew about the Shaman and his familiars from the royal library, and that’s how you knew about the circution as well, right ? Am I right to assume that the king, being the owner of this library, knows as well ?”

  The knight didn’t answer, so Thomas leaned forward, his deep and hollow gaze forcing the commander to look at him.

  “He knows, right ? So what am I to assume ? Is the king showing ill will towards me, and is trying to ridicule me by having his people watch me fuck ?”

  Simon was unable to talk, the pressure exuded by the Shaman felt so great that his lungs were about to burst. He wanted to try and calm Thomas down, but by carefully watching the slim man’s face, he realized something.

  ‘Oh… He is not angry…’

  Thomas wasn’t feeling any emotions right now. He wasn’t furious and his pride wasn’t hurt. He was hollow. There was nothing inside him. It made Simon shiver in terror. Gathering all his courage, he succeeded in uttering a few words.

  “No, our king is a good man… He wouldn’t…”

  Tari came to his rescue, standing up so suddenly it made his chair fall.

  “The king has always been an ally to the Shaman ! It makes no sense to humiliate you in this way since you have created the kingdom and gave it to him ! He should be grateful !”

  Thomas listened to them patiently then comfortably leaned back against the backrest.

  “There are only two reasons this could have happened. Either this message wasn’t sent by the king but an impersonator, which isn’t possible since Simon, the knight’s commander himself, told us about it, or he wants to test me. And that would only be possible if he knew that I wasn’t the original Shaman, but someone completely different.”

  Simon immediately jumped.

  “It’s not me ! I didn’t tell anything to my liege, even when I was pressured to do so !”

  “I know. It’s because we have a rat in the mansion.”

  He moved his hand while smoking his cigarette and a magic circle appeared, spitting out an unconscious girl. Tira opened his eyes wide.

  “Kuo ? What is…”

  But he couldn’t utter any word or run to the servant, because Thomas was looking at him fiercely.

  “You know how I don’t feel at ease if I am not monitoring the surroundings ? I noticed this girl sneaking in and out a few times. I went to see what was going on, and I found something quite interesting. Won’t you look at her pockets ?”

  The pink haired boy stood up with shaky legs and slowly walked to the unconscious girl. He searched through her pockets, and found a letter. Upon reading its content, his face distorted in anger. His emotions were swirling so vividly that he partially changed into a monster, scales growing on his forehead as his mouth was gradually changing into a snout.

  “Calm down ! What is it about ?”

  Thomas spoke before Tari had the chance to reach his twin, calmly smoking and drinking his gss of water.

  “She was giving information to the king’s faction, and her next report would have been about my drug addiction, the method of ingestion, and the precise amount, as well as the detailed description of my cigarettes. What do you think this information could be used for ?”

  Simon was the one to react before the others, being a knight he had already seen such situations.

  “Is it… Poisoning ? No, my king would never do that !”

  Thomas calmly stood up and walked towards the commander with a bnk look.

  “Whether you believe it or not, your king has sent a spy inside my manor and sent a letter with the purpose of humiliating me. So you will tell him my response.”

  He stood in front of Simon, towering over him, pressuring him with his hollow eyes.

  “I could repair the artifact, or I could let your kingdom perish under the curse, it makes no difference to me.”

  The knight started to shake uncontrolbly.

  “You wouldn’t… You wouldn’t let everyone die…”

  Thomas lowered his tone, whispering into Simon’s ear.

  “Why not ? I’m not from your dimension, only Bael matters.”

  The commander put a hand to his ear, with fear on his face.

  “No, we… No… Why…”

  Thomas smiled, maybe for the first time in forever, which sent chills down the knight and the twins’ spines, and moved his hand as if to shake away their feelings.

  “Or I could only destroy the castle and leave the artifact standing for the circution. It doesn’t matter. In the end, it’s his choice to survive or not.”

  Simon pursed his lips, unable to utter another world. Finally, he slowly nodded.

  “I will rey your message…”

  Thomas put a hand on the pale blue hair, gently stroking it.

  “Good boy.”

  Then he disappeared in the shadows, leaving the chaos behind him. Silence fell on the dining room, until Tira succeeded in calming down and turning human again.

  “This is a serious issue. All the previous kings had shown respect towards us, but it’s true that the current king had felt more distant.”

  Tari nodded.

  “It’s true. I never had any problems with my businesses in more than 500 years, but recently another venture has been challenging us. If the one operating the store is someone from the king faction, it would make sense. It seems the current ruler has had enough of being in the shadow of the Shaman.”

  Simon listened in silence, his jaw clenched. The worst thing was, he couldn’t retort at all. Everything they said made sense. He had always believed his liege to be a noble and just man, but small discrepancies were starting to accumute, and he wasn’t so sure anymore. All these times Simon was asked to leave the room when the king received a guest, was that really all a coincidence ? It had never happened before, but it had become frequent after he had revealed to the king that he was a familiar. It was suspicious.

  The knight took a deep breath. Even if it was true, he couldn’t do anything about it except rey Thomas’ message.

  “I should go.”

  He waved at the twins and walked towards the door. However, he was stopped by Tira, who still had red pupils left from his transformation.

  “If the situation escates, I hope you know which side to choose. Decring war on the Shaman isn’t an easy matter.”

  The twins had always been nice to him, but this time the boys were looking at him with a suspicious gre that made his heart sink.

  “I know… Don’t worry.”

  With that, he left the manor.