"This room has changed," Syn said as Aleister walked to the top of the stairs.

He bent over and rested his hands on his knees, heavily panting. "How so?"

"First of all, are you okay? Why are you so winded?"

Aleister let out a deep breath. "Not sure. I guess my injuries haven't fully healed yet. Or maybe the potion Aunt Lavinia gave me has some unintended side effect. I'll go ask her after this. But please continue about how this room has changed."

"The air here is no longer as suffocating as it once was. But also, I don't think its just the room. With you finally becoming a Weaver, there were also changes made to me. I feel more attached to reality than before."

"Sounds like a good thing to me. Also, that reminds me. I've been meaning to ask you, why did you choose me to form the contract with me?"

"Oh, did I not tell you already? I could not travel too far from where you first met me. Well, it was still decently far, but not far enough to reach any other village or settlement with a meaningful population. And thus, I spent most of my time trying to sort my memories and studying material within Kuthbay's Atheneum. When I first appeared in the world, I was actually thinking about forming a contract with either one of your adopted parents or younger brother, but the problem was that they were too old and he was too young. So I left in search of any other fresh prospects within the area I could travel, but alas, it was to no avail. However, when I came back over a year later, there you were. Much closer to me in age and with the potential to become a Weaver."

"So you observed me for three years? Your actions are quite questionable."

"Two years, and I'm only about that many years older than you in the first place."

"You're a lot younger than I thought."

"I told you I wasn't some old hag."

"You sure act like one."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"And I'm going to ignore—wait." Aleister stopped a passing servant and asked them if they would know where Kyoko was. He pointed him towards the kitchen. "Alright, like I was going to say, I'm going to ignore your questionable behaviors and ask why did you wait until I was about to die."

"Because I wanted to wait until you became a Weaver. But since you were about to die, I wanted to force you to commit to the contract, or else it would have been a waste for me to protect you. I was already getting annoyed at how long it was taking you, but who would have guessed it took you even longer."

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"Well, better late than never."

"In this case, I will agree with you as long as you tell me how the throne room changed?"

"The ethereal mist has lightened its presence."

"And what does that signify?"

"I have a few ideas but nothing concrete."

Perfect! Aleister noticed Aunt Lavinia through the corner of his eye and chased after her. "Aunt Lavinia."

"What do you want?" she asked as she turned around.

"Looks like someone is in a foul mood today."

"No, I'm quite happy right now seeing as Emi removed my ban on staying in the castle, but, if you don't make things quick, my attitude might change."

"Oh, that's great!" Aleister thought that sounded kind of forced, but after just learning about what happened to her husband, being more positive couldn't hurt. "Well, I'll make things quick. I just wanted to ask if the potion had any side effects?"

"Hm? What kind of adverse effects have you experienced?"

"I don't think any? I just wanted to ask to make sure, because I found myself unusually out of breath after climbing up the stairs from Crystal Lake."

"That's it? Are you sure you aren't just tired? Go get some more rest or something. As far as I'm aware, the potion I gave you should have no such consequences."

"Thanks. I just wanted to make sure."

"But, if you're so concerned, I can ask around to make sure that there isn't any problem."

"No, you're probably right. Thanks for the offer though. I have to go talk to Kyoko now, so talk to you soon."

"Please don't."

Aleister waved and walked past the archway behind her, past the stairs, and into the kitchen. Being around lunchtime, the dining room was quite busy, however he spotted Kyoko in an instant.

"Long time no see Kyoko."

Kyoko sipped on her drink before putting it down. "Aleister! It has been a while hasn't it? I watched your fight several weeks ago. Good attempt! I was rooting for you even though it was clear how outmatched you were."

"Yeah. I felt a lot more confident about my abilities and the chance I had against Brilnia before turning into a Weaver. I my head was too far stuck up my ass. I didn't realize how easy she really went against."

"Before? Oh, so I take it you finally became a Weaver? Luo Yun told me about how the match was scheduled so promptly because you felt like you would break through soon. Congratulations!"

"Thanks. I still have a long way to go, though. Have you been talking to Luo Yun often?"

"He may have an seemingly infinite amount of money, but he still doesn't have the proper connections, so he asked me if I could use some of my influence and help market his dojo. After your fight tons of people have applied to dojo which swamped him in paperwork. Or that's what I assumed because obviously I ditched him as soon as he asked for help with that. Not what I signed up for and I have some other business to take of for my mom, anyway."

Aleister nodded. "Actually, that's why I'm here. She said that I should provide you with some assistance towards your investigation in the Crystal Ward."

"You made it sound so official, but I'm not going to say no to your help."

"Well, I don't think it was a choice in the first place."

"Looks like someone is eager to get their feet wet."

"Just a bit."

"I can't blame you, but I'm afraid you'll still have to wait. I asked Mudan to alert me as soon as the next missing person gets reported."

"That way we'll have a comparatively fresh instance to investigate instead of aimlessly wandering around and scaring the culprits away."

"Glad to see you get it. When I told Nana, she was so impatient about it. She's already going to save her boyfriend's dad, so it isn't even related to this instance."

"This is the part where I say something about not letting your emotions take control over you."

"Sounds about right."

"Then, I'll head off. I still need to explore my abilities some more. Whenever you get the information, let me know. I'll probably either be at the manor or practicing some stuff out at Luo Yun's dojo."