Selin’s fury awakened one of Ilai’s dormant memories.

  It had been raining. Ilai was pressed on her back, lying in the middle of the orphanage’s open courtyard with Selin on top, the crazed woman’s claws sinking into her shoulders. The guard—back then a stranger who had sneaked up on Ilai out of the blue—looked nothing human.

  It wasn’t until she had spoken that Ilai realized she was a person.

  “Where are the kids?” Selin had forced out broken words through torn lips and teeth too large for her feathered face.

  Ilai had replied with angry laughter. She looked at the dirty mismatched creature. “It’s called an orphanage, what do you think?”

  In Ell’s vision, the Selin of now overlapped with the Selin of then, both a hair’s breadth away from tearing her apart. Except, Selin of three years ago wanted Ilai dead; Selin of today was ready to kill for her.

  And Ell would be the one dying.

  'Interference detected. Unable to activate skill,’ the system answered her futile attempts at activating anything.

  As Selin dragged her by the forearm to the periphery of the gardens, Ell tried a different approach. “Halt,” she ordered, eyes on the vind twin bracelets on their wrists.

  Selin did not halt, and the bracelets remained a dull shade of green. The guard’s grip, however, tightened painfully.

  Ell tried to activate the sparse artifacts she was currently wearing. Nothing worked. The metal artifact around her neck suppressed all other Blessings.

  When they’d reached a wall at the farthest corner of the courtyard, Klarn pressed a hand to the off-white stone. The outline of a rectangle appeared faintly as the stone sank in, golden markings appearing around Klarn’s fingers.

  The ground shifted, and their surroundings changed. They’d teleported.

  Burning torches illuminated the wide tunnel ahead. Iron doors lined both sides, each bearing a number. Ell offered no resistance as Selin dragged her past the doors and deeper into the underground, at last realizing why she had been caught.

  The Storyteller and the Emerald Gardens were a code for ‘Tyra wants to meet’. And if Tyra wanted to meet, Ilai always met with her. Always.

  Ell bitterly accepted that whatever information her ‘favorite’ web novel had supplied was absolute bull.

  Tyra and Ilai were far from cold to one another; they were confidants. They were so close, Tyra entrusted Ilai with her covert operations, starting with this underground dungeon imprisoning those who stood in the Crown Princess’s way.

  Selin’s eager stride slowed as they reached double doors at the end of the tunnel. Klarn knocked a code Ell could not recognize. Three, two, four, two, three knocks.

  Varoth parted the doors slightly.

  The man’s displeasure was evident. His lips were downturned, under-eyes dark. His eyes slid to Ell, a gaze of contempt towards the soon-to-be dead.

  Perhaps, this was really the end.

  The sliding doors opened fully, and Selin pushed Ell into the room beyond. The doors closed as Selin stepped inside, Klarn close behind.

  Accepting that all resistance was useless at this point, Ell remained half kneeling, half sitting on the ground.

  Varoth crouched down to eye level. “This will be very uncomfortable,” he promised with a grim smile.

  Ell stared at him silently.

  They had brought her to the Archives. Although the circular room appeared empty, ornate with a singular chandelier, every inch of white stone hid behind it another secret of the royal court. It was a place impossible to break into, and equally impossible to escape.

  A possessor extracted out of a host in here could not leave. They just ceased.

  Varoth stood up and moved to Selin’s side, a meter away from where Ell remained. The Mark on his brow glowed as his hands lifted into the air. Light sprouted from his fingertips in thin strands and sped towards Ell’s forehead, burrowing inside.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  What should have felt like a slow ant crawl per Ilai’s memories, turned into scorching threads that punctured every inch of Ell’s flesh. It was akin to a thousand needles piercing through her head, into her eyes, her limbs, her organs.

  I must be dying again, Ell thought. Drowning was less painful.

  She keeled over, forehead against the ground as she groaned between gasps.

  ‘What happens if I die now?’ There wasn’t a better time to ask, not that Ell had any time left at all.

  ‘You die,’ the system answered coldly.

  ‘And what happens to you? Don’t you die with me or something?’ She really hoped so.

  Unfortunately, the system said, ‘You wish. I am immortal.’

  Ell would have rolled her eyes if the agony had not paralyzed her. ‘Why did you save me if you were going to watch me die so easily?’

  ‘I saved you because it was too pathetic.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘The way you died was too pathetic.’

  Touche.

  Then the pain was gone.

  Ell wondered if that meant she was dead, but when she unfurled from her curled position on the floor, she was still in the Archives, and Varoth, Selin, and Klarn were staring at her blankly.

  ‘So Purclen does not work on whatever you used to parachute me into Ilai?’ Ell asked as she stared back at the trio.

  The system declined to answer, perhaps offended by the stupid question.

  Sweat soaked through Ell’s robes. They stuck to her skin as she rose slowly. “Vind works, so I am not a Skinwalker. Purclen does not work so I am not possessed or under any influence.” She stepped forward and grabbed Selin and Varoth by the collars. She sneered. “Say, how should I deal with you?”

  Varoth’s stunned expression dissolved into a haggard smile. “Your Highness can do as you please. But can I find my wife and children first?”

  Ell glowered at him but let him go with a rough push. She turned to Selin. “Take it off,” she ordered, a finger pointed at her throat.

  The guard hesitated but finally unfastened it. She looked between Ell’s eyes, searching for something. Disbelieving.

  “Varoth, Klarn, I need to speak to Selin.” Ell gently let go of her hold on Selin and glanced towards the other two.

  Klarn nodded hastily. “Forgive me, Your Highness. We shall leave at once. This shall not happen again.”

  “If you need us, we’ll be present at once,” Varoth said before leaving with Klarn.

  With only Selin and Ell remaining in the room, Ell began plan B.

  Plan A was ‘do not get caught’; plan B was ‘bullshit’. Technically she had not been caught, but she was tired of playing Ilai. In some ways, this situation had its benefits.

  “This is my second life,” Ell started. She brushed her hair away from her face. “Didn’t you wonder what this Mark meant?”

  Selin’s hanging head snapped up.

  Ell smiled. “You’re right. I am not the Ilai of before.” She sat on the ground tiredly. “In my previous life, after I received my Blessing, I was betrayed. The General was framed, all of those living in the mansion died, and I was enslaved for many years before dying.”

  A trembling hand fell on Ell’s knee. Selin sat opposite to her, eyes trained on her own. Her jaw was taut, a faint grinding of teeth discernible. Ell placed her hand on Selin’s.

  “Then I met the Dragon,” she said. “He found my fate too pitiful and gave me another chance at life. He even allowed me to use some of his Blessings if I needed them. At the banquet, yesterday, I was reborn.”

  She looked at the guard with all the sincerity she could summon.

  “Do you believe?” Ell asked.

  Selin gave a decisive solemn nod.

  In fact, Ell’s make-believe was not too fantastical. The Dragon granted Blessings, and the Blessings could be anything. Since she was neither a shapeshifter nor influenced by a Blessing, Ell’s story was all too reasonable.

  Selin had no reason not to believe. Besides, the Favorability indicated there were enemies Ell had to eliminate. She needed a strong ally who would not question her orders.

  Selin was perfect.

  Ell leaned back with a sigh. She rubbed her throat. “Water please,” she said, shedding the mask of arrogance Ilai usually wore.

  Selin froze at the friendly tone but gathered herself quickly and reached her storage ring. It took her a few seconds to remember it would not work. Although Blessings could be used in the Archives, it put a lot of strain on the user. Artifacts, which carried traces of Blessings, with an expiry date, did not work.

  “The pantry should have some,” Selin reassured as she gave Ell’s knee a firm squeeze then left to bring a cup.

  Ell sprawled on her back. She had used her brain too much, and now, all she wanted was to sleep.

  It’s a she, a soothing voice sounded.

  Ell was startled into a half-sit. “What?” her voice echoed in the empty room.

  You said you met me, yet you got my gender wrong. I’m a she, the androgynous voice continued.

  Ell thought she understood but hoped she understood wrong. ‘You… System, it’s you, isn’t it? You’re just messing with me, right?’

  System? Right. It’s that thing that has been stealing my power, isn’t it? I was wondering how a puny thing could be so powerful. Well—wait, what was your name again? Oh, Ilai, was it?

  ‘Actually, no—'

  Listen, Ilai. I was going to let you play a little before taking away your toys, but since you threw around my name like nothing, you shall be treated like nothing.

  ‘This is a misunderstanding—’

  Entertain me. This Dragon is bored. Entertain me.

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