Syllis let out fake laughs and pretended to drink her alcoholic beverages as she chatted up Illian.

‘Luckily, it’s not too difficult to fool a drunkard. Unluckily, this drunkard lacks any more important information to give me. So, it’s time for me to take my leave.’

“Excuse me Illian, there’s a friend I have to catch up with.” Syllis pointed at a random person in the crowd of nobles that danced beyond the bar area.

“Oh! Sure, make sure you find your way b-back to me though.” As Illian spoke, his words seemed to get caught in his mouth. He coughed a couple times before managing to finish his sentence.

Syllis felt bad. ‘Did I accidentally get him to drink a little too much?’

She then watched Illian lean over and puke onto the floor. A twisted smile crept its way up her face. ‘Or a lot too much.’

Syllis had wanted to try extorting information out of drunks for a long time. It was one of those scenarios that never had a shortage of stories. It was a classic, a beautiful woman seduces a man, forcing him to drink while spilling his most precious secrets. This was the typical telling, but it was not always a woman.

Jyrid had told Syllis about a couple times he had extorted information on exotic suppliers for his tavern. The secare nymph had found herself questioning the legitimacy of such a story many times. Jyrid was no younger than forty-five after all.

Syllis wanted to find a new target.

Illian had not provided any information beyond his first question to Syllis. In short, he had been a large waste of time. The secare nymph did not know how much time she would have before Anahita showed herself, but her opportunity would be over then.

At most, she predicted that there would be an hour, possibly two before Anahita approached the high stand that loomed menacingly over the entirety of the room. This event had already been active for an hour.

In this hour, Syllis had not seen Korman, Aura, or Clyde a single time since they originally split up, at the main door. It was peculiar she had seen multiple unmemorable nobles many times over, but her companions were nowhere to be found.

Syllis surmised that there must be other rooms, populated with high ranking nobles. Aura and Clyde being in them were proof of that. Korman was a little more of an odd case, he was shy and not particularly sociable. He could have just been sitting in a dim corner.

‘What's important right now is finding these… Extra upper class rooms?’ Syllis was not entirely sure what to call them, but it did not matter.

She needed to get into one of these rooms and extort information from nobles within. Syllis was certain that they possessed greater knowledge, far greater than these semi-upper class citizens.

The secare nymph slowly left the crowd in the center of the large room, she moved slightly in tune with quiet, sociable music. This swaying was to appear more normal.

The philosophy behind her actions was simple. If Anahita can hear all, then could she not see all? Obviously it was impossible in the most literal sense. A person's anathemic bond encompassing not only enhanced hearing up to 10 kilometers as well as enhanced vision so that they could see all was incredibly unlikely, absurd even for Anahita.

A much more likely scenario was that she had hired kindred, skilled in observation to discern abnormalities and report them. Syllis naturally did not want to be reported to a being as terrifying as Anahita, so no matter how unlikely the possibility she was being watched, she would act accordingly, as a normal person.

Eventually Syllis had made it out to a pristine hallway that exited from the central room. The walls were white but almost looked as though they were dipped in gold when basked in the warm golden light of the bulbs that burned above.

This hallway was much larger than those in the Boorne estate and over the ones in Lurgica. Every section of wall that was located in between doorways was decorated with memorabilia. There were pictures of Anahita with her mother and father, trophies that Anahita had won, art pieces made by Anahita. Everything was tied back to the ultimate, the heir to Asanoch.

‘It’s clear that this entire estate is designed to make its guests revere the future ruler of Asanoch. But should the upper class not already want to suck up to Anahita, to further their businesses and whatnot? Then what is the point of all this?’

Syllis stopped in her tracks for a moment. She nearly laughed, there was a possibility she had not considered.

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‘Maybe her parents love her? Yes, Syllis. Just because your father conducted a ritual on you and your mother abandoned you, this does not mean that others are not loved by their parents.’

Syllis smiled, self-deprecating as she continued to walk down the hallway. Her pace slowed slightly and she no longer entirely appreciated the beauty that was in front of her.

It was simple, checking rooms. Most rooms were left with their doors wide open, letting Syllis easily discern if there was activity within.

She had looked in nearly a dozen rooms before finding one with activity. There were at least twenty people inside a room, chatting and smoking large cigars. The room reeked of dust and smoke.

Nobody noticed Syllis enter, safe for one person. Two emerald green eyes locked onto Syllis’ own seafoam pair and squinted slightly, as though they did not believe the sight before them.

Aura seemed stunned at Syllis’ appearance in this room. Apparently she had expected her to sit, eating food in the half banquet half ballroom.

‘What am I going to do the same thing as Korman, sit in a corner? Or I guess what I presume Korman is doing…’

Aura furrowed her brows slightly before turning back to the group of younger nobles she had been talking to.

Syllis took this as her saying: “Fine, do what you will. But don’t involve me.”

She made her way towards the outside balcony of this smaller socializing room. The smoke in the air along with the stench of alcohol made it difficult to keep oneself entirely aware, it almost made the secare nymph lightheaded.

There was a woman standing on this outer balcony. She had blazing red hair and was smoking a cigar outside.

She was not wearing the typical attire of a noble woman attending an exclusive event. Instead, she wore the sort of clothing that Syllis herself would wear outside of this event, although with some acute changes made. She wore a pair of black pants and a black shirt without buttons, it was loose. Both the pants and shirt were bolded with red stitching that seemed to embody the word ‘royalty.’ A pair of fierce red boots tied her outfit together. Overall, it was no less than completely bizarre.

It was ironic, Syllis escaped to the balcony to avoid the smoke filled interior of the small socializing room. This lady had decided to bring the smoke outside, it was a humorous twist of fate.

“Hey!” Syllis spoke enthusiastically. She was not the most outgoing person, but she could fake the act.

The red-haired woman turned around, her crimson eyes gleaned the secare nymph.

This intense eye contact made Syllis feel conflicted, there was a sense of familiarity in this woman's gaze. It was akin to Ansel’s eyes, the bloody hue within. It was too unusual for it to be a coincidence.

“Hi…” The woman seemed preoccupied with other thoughts, her voice felt far away while her body was close.

She turned away from the almost pitch-black sea that could be seen through the bubble that encased Asanoch.

“My name is Kessiana—”

“Boor, Kessiana Boor.” Syllis answered for her and stuck out her pale hand, a gesture of good faith.

Kessiana stayed silent for a moment, narrowed her eyes slightly, and then spoke. “Right… That is correct, not a very hard guess. We’re the only upper class family with this genetic mutation.”

She pointed to her crimson eyes. Compared to Ansel, who’s eyes seemed dim and lifeless. Her’s were bright and filled with a passionate fire that raged within.

“So, who are you?”

“My name is Syllis. I’m a secare nymph from the outer ring.” Syllis spoke in a slightly confident tone as she stuck her hand out again.

“Quite a lengthy introduction.” Kessiana did not take her hand, instead letting it hang in the air. “Why do you feel the need to tell me so much about yourself?”

“Because I want you to understand the type of person who ruined your brother’s flawless streak at Lurgica, beat him into the ground, and tore his arm from his body.” Syllis spoke in an indifferent tone.

Kessiana’s pupils dilated slightly as she took a step back. “So, you’re the one who knocked that brat down a peg, thank you.”

Kessiana gave the secare nymph a healthy pat on her shoulder.

‘Uh, what? This isn’t how that was supposed to go.’

Syllis was somewhat confused, tilting her head slightly. Kessiana was supposed to be furious and Syllis had chosen to confront her because there was no way for her to retaliate in front of the twenty people in the social room behind them.

“You okay? Celebrate! You ruined that kid.” Kessiana laughed slightly before leaning in. She waved a hand in front of Syllis’ face. “You sick or something, come on, I’ll get you a drink.”

“I’m fine, sorry. I thought you would hate me for humiliating Ansel, why are you so happy?” Syllis was completely taken off guard. Of all the ways she thought this would go, she had not anticipated this.

“Oh, right. I guess this isn’t the normal kinda reaction for that. ‘I tore your brother's arm off!’ I shouldn’t be laughing at something like that.” Kessiana laughed again, it seemed she found it even funnier the second time she heard it.

“Alright, come with me. I’ll explain but…” Kessiana’s expression grew serious, furrowing her brows. “You have to drink. I can tell you’re sober, and you can’t be sober, not when the Lauriers are handing out all their good alcohol for free.”

‘What a bizarre turn of events… But, this is too good to pass up.’ Syllis could not turn down Kessiana. The Boor family’s dynamics were too intriguing to skip out on, she would gladly sacrifice her sobriety to learn a little.

“Let’s go.” Syllis spoke slightly uncomfortably.

“Alright then!” Kessiana took her arm and pulled the secare nymph hurriedly out of the social room.

As the both of them quickly walked the length of the room, Aura and Syllis exchanged glances. Aura was nothing but confused as she scrutinized the both of them, Syllis gestured for her to join them with her free hand.