“Well? How did it go?” I was practically on the edge of my seat in the dining hall. I had to admit, there was something about Rosalie that fascinated me. But she also terrified me. I wasn’t going near that woman if I could help it. I wonder if she’s a meat-eater too…

  “It was incredible…” Marge sighed dreamily; her eyes completely star-struck.

  “So, the rumors weren’t true after all?” I asked, wondering if I had judged Rosalie too soon after all.

  “Oh, no, they were true,” she answered, munching on her breakfast sandwich in the process.

  “W-What?” I asked, confused how she could be so chill about it.

  A loud gulp could be heard, followed by her clearing her throat. “Half true, I should clarify. She’s… a bit of a strange one. Then again, she is a five-hundred-year-old being that travels across worlds. That kind of stuff probably changes and desensitizes you,” she paused. “She’s not a bad person. I can see why so many look up to her.”

  “Do you… feel safe around her?” I asked, wondering if maybe I should try talking to her again.

  “Safe enough.” She shrugged. What kind of answer was that?! “Where’s Aidan?” Marge asked, chewing another bite of her sandwich.

  “I don’t know,” I said, also surprised that he wasn’t here. “It’s not like him to skip breakfast with us. I wonder if something came up?”

  “Meh. Whatever it is, he’ll be fine. The boy can heal scratches.” Marge nodded at me, giving a thumbs-up. This was not reassuring.

  "Ahem." The sound of someone clearing their throat caught me off guard. I was shocked to see Rosalie standing right behind Marge — had she always been this tall? She practically towered over Marge while she was sitting.

  "Oh! Rosalie!" Marge turned in her seat to face the person in question. "What are you doing here?"

  She cleared her throat again as if she was... nervous? It was hard to picture Rosalie as nervous. "You are invited to join Sylvis and me for tea." She slowly turned to me, causing me to tense. "You may come as well." With that, she left.

  Marge turned to me, a look of shock and excitement on her face, and I had the distinct feeling she was on the verge of fainting.

  I guess I had no other choice. I knew it was silly, but I was terrified of what Sylvis and Rosalie would do if I offended them. Marge hadn't done anything to assuage me of my fear of Rosalie, and our conversation yesterday about meat gave me a new fear of Sylvis.

  "Are you coming?" Marge asked, stepping out of her chair and pushing it back in.

  "Yeah," I replied, copying her motion.

  We walked in silence to the elevator. Once inside, I noticed her shifting her weight from her heels to her toes, bouncing up and down in the process. She was really excited about this.

  "Are we in the right place?" I asked, standing in the middle of Sylvis' empty office. The many documents and books that had been spread out across the desk were nowhere to be found. Had Maverick been the one to tidy it? Or maybe Maverick had made the mess to begin with.

  "Hm. Don't know." Marge poked at a plant in the corner and yelped as it seemingly bit her finger. Without thinking, I froze the savage petal off of the plant thanks to my frozen-over hands.

  "I'm glad it wasn't a pyrosnapper." I sighed, my heart still racing. What was it with these women's love for man-eating plants?!

  "Still, I don't think Sylvis will be too happy you killed her plant." Marge pointed to the plant from a safe distance. It had shriveled up and turned a dark brown, almost black color. Oops.

  The room flashed bright white, and I felt the same nauseous feeling I felt any time Maverick teleported me. Once everything subsided, Marge and I were in a gazebo situated in the middle of a garden. The gray stone of the gazebo did not match the brown brick walls of the manor and seemed slightly out of place—probably another of Rosalie's decisions.

  "There you two are. I was wondering when you'd join us. Come, sit." Sylvis motioned to the table before us — a circular stone table with a beige tablecloth, quite different from the pristine white of the manor's interior. Something tells me this garden had been around for longer than half of the manor.

  I took a seat next to Rosalie and Marge, silently wishing the two of us could swap places. Oh well — it's just how we teleported in.

  The scent of honey-flavored tea and something akin to cinnamon complemented the sweet, earthy scent of the flowers around us. Maybe this tea party wouldn't be so bad.

  "How was your picnic yesterday?" Sylvis began out of nowhere, and I nearly spat my tea back out at her. I take back my previous thought.

  "I-It was nice." I smiled as I hurriedly took another sip of the tea — almost spitting it out for another reason entirely. I forgot to add sugar.

  “That's nice to hear. Of course, I would have appreciated the invite.” Why was she bringing this up again?!

  “Aren’t you a little old for picnics?” I tried to joke, but clearly, she did not take it well.

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  “O-Old?!” Her eye twitched as her knuckles whitened; a crack in the porcelain teacup formed from her grip.

  “Sylvis can be sensitive about her age. We try not to acknowledge that each day is a day closer to death — however far off it may be.” Rosalie sipped her tea.

  “Rosalie!” Sylvis slammed her fist against the table.

  “Don’t get me started on wrinkles. Despite it being nearly impossible for us to wrinkle since we possess magic, she still frets that she’s showing signs of age.” Rosalie continued to munch on a cookie, blissfully unaware of Sylvis’ boiling rage.

  “Can we talk about something else?” Sylvis forced a smile. “How are you and Maverick getting along?”

  “Uh, better, I guess…” I answered uncomfortably. Wasn’t this tea party for Marge? Why was I getting all the attention?

  “Any luck with your magic?”

  “No, not yet.” I shook my head. Then, an idea came to mind. “Actually… Can Rosalie look into the future and tell me when I’ll learn magic?”

  “It doesn’t work like that,” Rosalie said flatly. “I can’t control what I see or when I see it. There are many potential outcomes as well. For example, if I tell you that you will order an egg for breakfast tomorrow, you would be more likely to order anything but an egg out of fear that your future is predestined.”

  “Really?” I suppose that made sense. Nobody wants to feel like their choices aren’t their own.

  “That being said, you will order an egg tomorrow.”

  “Oh, so I won’t order an egg tomorrow,” I tried to catch on to what she was saying, but she simply shook her head. Maybe I misunderstood her completely. Or maybe she just didn’t make any sense!

  "I thought I was the one who made pointless predictions?" Marge sighed. She had started the tea party with a smile, but it became obvious she was increasingly growing bored.

  "Do you ever use your predictions to help others?" I asked, growing more curious about Rosalie. I figured Marge might want to learn more about her idol as well.

  "Of course. I frequently travel to other worlds to save them from impending doom. It's why Sylvis is always sending me away," Rosalie answered.

  "Isn't she just amazing?" Sylvis asked, and I could've sworn I saw her swoon.

  That made me wonder something. "Who's in charge of Meridia? Like, is there royalty?" I asked. I mean, this kind of was a fantasy kingdom. It would make sense to me, at least, for there to be royalty or something similar, since Finn mentioned they had died out.

  "There are fourteen Houses in Meridia," Sylvis began. "Each House has authority over its city and the nearby towns. The lords and ladies from each house are direct descendants of the fourteen generals Alina appointed during her time on Etheria. Each city shares the name of its general, and the lords and ladies have been bestowed the respective titles. For example, the town of Lancesten is under the authority of Everett Dignitas."

  "And the city is called Dignitas?" I asked, hoping I got that right.

  "Correct." Sylvis nodded. "Your parents were Marthix and Cecilia Venia."

  "Wait, what?" My hands froze. Did she... Did she just say that I'm nobility?

  "Oh, did I never tell you? I could've sworn I had when you first arrived." She looked lost in thought, and part of me wondered if it was staged. She had set me up twice before.

  "You said ‘were’. Where are they now?" I asked.

  "After you went missing, so did they. Your uncle has taken over the Venia House since. I could arrange a meeting with him if you'd like?" Sylvis offered. I wondered how that would even work. How would she explain how she found me after all of these years? And why hadn't she found my parents in that case?

  "Maybe later..." I replied, partially wanting to meet what may be my only biological family left.

  If I stayed, would I have a place of authority? Could I use my magic to make a difference?

  Sylvis cleared her throat. "I did say that the Houses govern their respective regions. However, to say they rule over Meridia would be an overstatement. Magic has guided Meridia for as long as it has existed. Of course, the Houses remain blissfully unaware of this fact. They're little more than my pawns." She giggled.

  So, she saw herself as the true ruler of Meridia. As the strongest person to live and a meat-eater, why wouldn't she? Though something about how casual she was about all of this terrified me.

  We talked for a bit more, Marge starting a conversation about rumors people had been spreading about Rosalie, trying to figure out which ones were true. No, Meridia wasn't in any imminent danger, and if it was, it would be all the more reason for Rosalie to stay. Yes, she and Maverick had dated in the past. No, she didn't have a secret boyfriend waiting for her in another world. Yes, she had successfully managed to clone herself in another world— wait what? That one was true?!

  "Elaina, I'd like to talk to Sylvis for a moment. Would you mind waiting for me in the office?" Marge asked.

  I was slightly hurt that she felt she couldn't talk to Sylvis in front of me, but I shrugged it off. I'm sure she had her reasons. I nodded, and Sylvis sent me back to her office. A few minutes later, Marge joined me, a knowing smile on her face.

  "What was that about?" I asked.

  "Oh, you'll see." She winked at me as we walked to the elevator.

  As soon as the elevator landed, we were greeted by Aidan, who was also conveniently waiting for it.

  “Where have you been?” I asked.

  Marge and I stepped out of the elevator and moved to the side, along with Aida,n who seemed eager to talk to us.

  “T-That asshole gave me a private training session!” Aidan shouted. He looked more scared than angry. Poor thing.

  “Maverick?” I asked.

  “Yes! He said something about how if I’m going to protect you, I should at least learn how to use magic correctly!”

  “Did you learn anything?” Marge asked.

  “No!” he shouted in disbelief. “I was so nervous I set the field on fire and he gave up!”

  “Sounds like him.” I crossed my arms, giggling.

  “A-Anyway, where have you two b-been?” He seemed to have calmed down a bit now.

  “Rosalie and Sylvis invited us to a tea party!” Marge explained excitedly.

  “T-Tea party?” Aidan raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think either of them was the type. D-did anything interesting happen?”

  "It was mostly just a history lesson for me." I debated telling him about my ancestry, but didn't feel like having that discussion. "Oh, and Sylvis being sensitive about her age. And Rosalie having an unusual fear of statues, hence the lack of them at the manor. Apparently, Sylvis almost didn’t have the statue in the arena waiting room. Those two sure like to tease each other a lot…"

  "Aw... I-It sounds like you two had a lot of fun... I wonder if I'll ever get invited to something like that..." He looked dejected. I felt bad for him. He really did deserve more opportunities.