The banquet would be ending soon. In order not to make everything seem too out of the ordinary, Fiona and Aria's three brothers mingled with the crowd while Aria checked the CCTV footage. She inspected the footage repeatedly and concluded that the Wagners and Furlers were the only people who had come in during that time of day. Philip was also among them. As he was occupied by certain matters, he'd had no time to go to Aria.This was different from what had happened in her dreams. Aria's sixth sense told her that the person she sought had never come to the banquet.Should Aria stop thinking of her dreams as reality? Or had something occurred today that had altered the scenario, preventing the person from appearing?Aria pressed her finger against the coin. Nyx was still perched on her shoulders. "I picked up on that person's scent, my lord."If Nyx and the twins had sensed the person's scent despite being absent, that meant only one thing—the Furlers and Wagners had met that pers
The fog was invisible to the average person, as was the strange fortune that had suddenly altered the surrounding area.However, arcane seekers of the highest level could sense it, including Homer, who was in the middle of discussing with Lysander how to convince Aria to join the Dracotigris Order. He suddenly stood up straight. "Something's wrong in the west side of the city."That feeling had come and gone swiftly, and Homer had an abrupt realization. "Someone's changing their fate!" This was strictly forbidden for arcane seekers, but Homer could feel that the other party was using magic from his own faction, causing his expression to darken.The clear skies suddenly became dark and cloudy. The moment Aria left the hotel and got on her bike, it started raining.The rain made her uneasy, and the night sky was shrouded in clouds and fog.…Toto was in bad shape. He was completely unconscious, and only a fragment of his soul remained when Aria found him."He'll die soon, my lor
Aria said seriously, "Yes. Some doctors are truly dedicated to saving the injured and sick. There's a saying that not many people know—'medicine is the art of fighting death; the doctor is its warrior.'""Good doctors can protect Toto." Aria made a call. "Hello, Dr. Lowe? It's me, Aria. I have a patient here who's very young—only four years old. He's very weak now and needs to be hooked to an IV."Yes, I'm right across from your hospital. I'll have his mom take him there. When he's there, please monitor his heart rate and breathing constantly. I'll take care of the rest."Abraham didn't quite understand what Aria meant by taking care of the rest. As a doctor who had devoted his whole life to saving others, he immediately became anxious upon hearing about Toto's condition. He was eating lunch after a surgical operation, but after only a few bites, he set his meal aside and rushed to attend to Toto.Verona looked at Aria, who asked if Toto was allergic to anything, and her shame al
Aria raised a brow. "Aren't all manifestations like this? For the ordinary person, your manifestations felt like another world too."She hopped onto her bike. "Hang in there. I'm driving this in." She revved the engine. If anyone else had been there, they would have noticed how the black-and-red bike vanished as it entered the villa.Outside, nothing seemed to change when Aria barged in. Only one corner of the villa emitted black fog, as if an invisible door had briefly opened and closed.Whenever she sought out the missing fragment of a soul, Aria always brought along an object deeply connected to the person—a token of familiarity or attachment.Noticing that Toto clutched a small rubber duckie, a cherished companion in his unconscious state, Aria snatched it without hesitation and tucked it into her pocket.Entering a manifestation typically required utmost caution; any disturbance could send the spirits within into a frenzy, especially when the conjurer was startled. Yet, n
Viktor had his men stop upon hearing Aria's words. This was a delicate moment, and Krowo needed to win over Farshyans, who were willing to side with them publicly.The youth newspaper had been a thorn in the Krowonians' side. If certain issues were exposed internationally, their ongoing claims—that they had come to Farshya to improve the people's lives without coveting their land—would be called into question.Viktor made his way forward. "You misunderstand, beautiful lady. Krowo built schools for Farshyan kids there who couldn't afford to go to school. This girl looks so young, yet she's selling flowers here, so we wanted to send her to school. We don't speak the same language, so she is somewhat averse toward me."Aria hadn't met any politicians before, but she knew instantly that Viktor was insincere. He had a photographer with him, and that, together with their current location, gave Aria insight into his intentions."If we're in Krowo right now, and a young girl was suddenly p
Edmond took out a ten-dollar bill and handed it to Annie in front of the cameras. "This is from Mr. Regal. You should be grateful to him. Thanks to him, we have food to eat and water to drink now."Annie looked at the bill hungrily. Aria, knowing she was short on money, asked, "Do you want it?""I won't stop you if you take it," Aria added seriously, "But I need to tell you something. Sometimes, accepting someone else's money can cost you more than you think because you never know what they really want in return."Annie bit her lip. She wanted the money because her mother was sick, and her father needed money to pay for opium. But she remembered how her younger sister had been taken away by these very men. They had also given her father ten dollars, which he promptly spent at the opium den. Annie had waited and waited for him to return.No, she didn't want this money that was stained by evil deeds! She only wanted her sister back!"I don't want your dirty money!" Fear flashed in
The person was right, as events soon proved. The moment Aria and Annie departed, Viktor gave the soldier a look. With a cruel grin, the soldier followed after the two women.The youth paper crew, who had witnessed everything, were anxious. They hoped Aria had heeded their warning—the sooner she left, the better her chances of survival.Aria and Annie should be at the bank now, which meant that they were likely to reach the Peace Pavilion on time.No one knew that Aria wasn't in a haste to run away. Her bike was still parked at the side of the road. Aria made a turn into an alley and had Annie enter a modest diner by herself while she stood at the junction. The soldier had already loaded his gun. He already had plans to deal with the arrogant woman who had insulted his country. He would take his time to humiliate her and make sure that she regretted it.However, when he made his way into the alley, someone tightened their arms around his neck, and he heard a cracking sound. Aria
"A boy?" Annie paused, shaking her head before the memory clicked. "Oh, I remember now. It's a little boy, isn't he? But my sister didn't bring him over. She said he was chosen."Aria focused on the main point. "Chosen by what?""I'm not sure," Annie admitted, thinking back. "I think he was kidnapped as well, but no one searched for him or spent money to retrieve him."Annie was trying her best to explain everything to Aria. "They took a lot of kids, not just Bree—my sister. None of them have come back."Can you ask someone what's going on, Aria? You speak Krowonian so well, and they're nicer to people who speak the language.""They? The Krowonians?" Aria narrowed her eyes. Annie shook her head. "No, not the Krowonians. They never kidnap people. They'd just pull you over for a photo or two. They promised to send Bree back after taking her picture, so why isn't she back yet?"Annie's confusion was evident while Aria's mind raced through the history of this period. Suddenly, she