With everything else, even an attempt at my life, I would have never thought that I, myself, would be my biggest threat. I found myself subconsciously retracting from others presence, even from Louise. Said man understood my growing fear from the past few days after my talk with my parents, and Izzy's visits were now only once in two days. I was aware I was slowly going into self-isolation, but the thought didn't seem too bad given what the situation was.

"My prince." I looked up to Louise and away from the book I had rested on my lap. The pages were turned but the words didn't register with me.

Louise gave a glance to it as he addresses me from the doorway of my room. He knew I could finish a three hundred paged book in a single day if I was given a minimum of three hours to read. It wasn't too hard for me who used to write books myself. But I had been stuck on this book, which was only a mere two hundred and two pages long, for more than three days, and that in itself added to Louise's already worried mind to my ensuing seclusion. 

Louise walked slowly to me and I had a sudden thought - I wondered if it was only a matter of time when it would really hit me, how I could, at any moment, potentially kill-

"My prince," Louise's call distracted me from my darkening thoughts like he knew exactly what I had been thinking, and wasn't that a pleasing thing to have someone know you deep enough to help you without even noticing. "I've brought raspberry juice."

"Raspberry?"

"It's the Queens favorite flavor and wanted you to try it."

"Mother huh," had they expected me to react negatively to the news of my state? No doubt they did, anyone would when they were told they were a ticking time bomb. I took a sip of the red liquid, growing a bit pleased by the sour-sweet taste of it. It was so contradicting that it was a wonder with each sip. No wonder it was mother's favorite. I looked at Louise with a raised brow as he seemed tense standing just a bit off to my side. I was on my queen sized bed, back leaned against the wooden headboard.

"Mr. Reinhardt will arrive in an hour," Louise informed me curtly. I furrowed my brows at his uneasiness when it hit me - I hadn't had any tutoring the last week. How hadn't I noticed? That didn't explain his fidgetting though.

"Right," I responded after a moment.

The hour went by seemingly in a few minutes. I was able to actually read the book I had on my lap; 'Loves a lost'. 

Louise got me dressed to meet with Mr. Reinhardt, guiding me even when it was unnecessary to do so, to the study room. Their Mr. Reinhardt seemed his usual self, if not for the wider shit-eating grin he had going. He curtly shut his catalog journal he was going through and stood from his seat by the middle window. "Prince Eli, how nice to see you again."

"Ah," Cold sweat brewed at the back of my neck, quickly wetting my collar. "You too, Mr. Reinhardt." It was so hard not to stutter.

His smile, if ever possible, grew more wicked as he took a step forward. It took all I had not to step back. "When his highness told me lessons would be put on hold," He took another step forward, "I believed it to be because you were ill. Or perhaps you were going to attend some kind of event in the city, now that it was at the time of graduation for the students at Alistair Academy." He stopped just a foot before me, Louise doing nothing to help ward off the fear that was slowly making me forget about my situation. "Instead, I find out you were trying to hide away from something you, nor no one can really avoid. I never thought I had been teaching such a pathetic student."

"Wha-" My eyes widen and the fear turned into anger for a moment. But I was mature enough to understand why Mr. Reinhardt was angry; He had been when I had only missed a day of tutoring in the past. If I were to go to my parents and ask for a day off, they would let me, that I'm pretty sure about. But it was Mr. Reinhardt that made me loyal to my lessons so far. 

He was serious, dedicated to instilling whatever knowledge he had into me. He was the perfect motivation to learn things. To miss him for a weak, even when to me it was due to a valid reason, I felt guilty for putting him off from his dedication. "I'm sorry. I promise it won't happen again." For the first time, I felt like the child I was. "But..."

Mr. Reinhardt gave me a hard stare as I trailed off with a shadowed face and gave a pointed look to Louise to let him know he was free to leave. Louise was a little hesitant, but with another pointed look from the man, he bowed and left the room. 

"I have a very passionate hobby." He suddenly started, "Or used to. I studied rarities within our world." 

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I blinked up at him, asking, "You studied people like me?"

"Yes. In fact, I had a research institute just outside the borders of the kingdom. Being in a dangerous location already, barely anyone dared to follow my lead. Except for one person, but his interests weren't in the research itself." Mr. Reinhardt chuckled, almost fondly.

"You don't have it anymore?"

"I'm using past tense so it should be obvious. Have you lost all common sense in a week of vacation?" The fear was back a little. Mr. Reinhardt sighed through his nose and shook his head as he muttered, "Children, all so foolishly emotional."

"Aren't you young yourself?" I asked offended as I knew my mind was no less than a thirty-year-old man. Mr. Reinhadt looked to be only in his mid-twenties.

Mr. Reinhardt gave me a look of amusement before laughing fully. "Oh, I forgot you didn't know. Silly me." He moved back to sit on the seat he had sat on previously. "Other than rare people opening their gates at abnormal periods, there are also those few forms the aura takes which are unique. Like me, my aura took an unusual form: Life."

I tilted my head in confusion, "What does that mean?"

"It means exactly what it is. I have more life to me than others."

"So you're more exuberant?" It would explain his keen dedication to teaching.

"Oh dear," He put a hand to his head and shook it, "Honestly, it was a truly bad idea to leave you be for a week." He sat up straight after a moment of sighing. It irked me pretty much to how anyone would feel to have a ringing noise perpetrate their hearing. "When I mean life, I mean by its literal sense. I live longer than the average human. I'm nowhere near young."

It took me a moment to process this fact. "So you mean..." I trailed off. My expression was enough to let him know I got it.

"To me, even an elderly of a hundred years old is still so young. Though I only met two who had made it to such age. Honestly, humans are so frail."

"So..." I started, voice nearly brimming with caution and excitement at such information. "How old are you exactly?"

"Wouldn't anyone like to know? But we've trailed away from the main topic far enough," No, I think this is a hundred times more interesting. Mr. Reinhardt put his journal on the stand beside him. "The research institute was coming along smoothly. I was able to gather five rare gate openers - all willing to be studied if you would like to know. I was able to pin down certain signs concerning them. First, they were all prodigies in certain areas. One of them, for example, was a very proficient crafter, whilst another was highly skilled in puzzles. You yourself, are very intelligent, making you a prodigy in academics." I believe that has something to do with a past life of mine though. "Second, they were all very private." 

"Isn't that too vague?" I ask.

"Not at all. It has to do with a subconscious feeling of being different. It was hard to confirm, but I confirmed it none the less."

"Can I ask how?"

"I already have to explain a lot," He looked at his pocket watch, "And we only have two hours to spare."

"It's going to take that long?" I asked dubiously.

"Are you against learning?"

I quickly shook my head.

He explained that the research institute grew fame in its successful research, attracting others enough to actually visit the place and sign up to join in the research process. Very few were admitted to the staff, and the rare gate openers were as few as they come, being rarities you know. 

When I asked him why it was no longer active, he said they only had a new study project in the next thirty years after a baby was born, only being a year old when her gates opened. The parents allowed her to be researched and he found that that the aura was starting to build up rapidly just a day after she was admitted, a sign that the aura was about to take form. They barely had time to prevent the explosion. It killed six of the eleven workers, the parents supervising over their child, and injured himself and the rest of the survivors. Evidently, anger boiled at the tragedy and he was forced to shut down the institution to cool the public anger.

"Rumours were started and many stories were made up, most prominent being that the explosion had been intentional. It was a start to the hate against rarities."

I furrowed my brows, "What's there to hate?"

"Peoples mind are very influenced by preached words. It was a rarity that caused the explosion which killed those people, and it just brewed the anger from that fact alone."

"That's pretty... unfortunate."

"Indeed, but it's no longer such a worrying topic. Rarities are growing to be accepted after the previous king was revealed to be a rarity himself."

"Really?"

"Yes." It was quiet for a moment before Mr. Reinhardt suddenly gestured me to come towards him. When I did, after a bit of cautious fidgetting, he patted my head to my surprise. "I'm telling you this because your potential for endangerment of your surroundings had already taken place. I've experienced it first hand. Don't be so afraid to interact anymore, everyone is well aware of what may happen. Everything has already been put in place to not repeat what happened before."

"I've already been told that reassurance."

"Hm, so you have. You're very sensitive aren't you?" The question was rhetorical but I had the urge to retort. Honestly, it would only be Mr. Reinhardt to make me feel like the child I should be. He speaks up again, "Even if the reassurance doesn't help, nothing will move forward if you don't try to at least give reassurance to others. Louise had been on edge about you for a while, especially your father."

"Father?"

"Yes, that man is as emotional as an infant, even when he doesn't show it. He rarely interacts with you or your siblings, but that's because he thinks his image of a king wouldn't really hold up in front of you all, believing a king should be a figurehead to all you future leaders through tellings and his success in the past. He was a commoner after all."

I snorted amusedly. "No wonder he fell in love at first sight." Mr. Reinhardt chuckled at my comment and looking at him now, I realized just how influential he was to me in this life. I held him in my heart almost like how close I held Louise. My family was a different value, but all were precious none the less. It was... Reassuring... the love I'm able to feel.