Author's note: this is from Seraphina's point of view

- - -

​​

~ Paris ~

It's the fifth day of me spending hours in Vesper's apartment, mostly meditating alone in this dimly lit room, like right now.

Before I start my hours of meditation, Vesper would hold my hands and instruct me to adjust my breathing in specific ways and to feel the difference, and then she would leave me for prolonged periods of time before coming to check on me.

I was excited on the first day, thinking that I'm close to my goal of controlling pheromones, but my frustration grew as I couldn't sense any progress. Sure, it took me only a few seconds to get into the right state and I am able to adjust outputs to the desired level almost instantaneously, but I still didn't get any advice on how to prevent pheromones from surging uncontrollably.

I know that I should be practicing, but it's hard without any visible results. To be honest, if Aldus is not on the other side of that door, patiently waiting for me to practice, I would give up three days ago. The brightest moment in the day is when Vesper comes in to tell me that we are done, and I couldn't wait to go with Aldus to our apartment.

Hehe, I called it OUR apartment. I'm getting used to my role as Aldus's daughter.

As much as Aldus said that Vesper is knowledgeable in these things, I must say that I'm disappointed. I was hoping that she will tell me to do some steps and it will work, yet it seems to me that she is experimenting.

I let out a slow breath.

'Calm down, Serina… Rushing this won't help.', I repeated to myself what Aldus said many times before.

I'm impatient, but I can't help it. Instead of that spiky measuring instrument, or Vesper's vague descriptions, I would like to have another gauge that will tell me something like, 'you made 65% progress…', and based on my actions to show me if I'm getting closer or further away from my goal of 100%. I need the confidence that I can block the production of pheromones so that I can walk on the streets without fear of causing a riot if something frightens me.

The door opened with a soft click which sounded much louder than normal because my ears adjusted to the silence in the room.

"We are done here for today.", Vesper said as she entered the room.

I was surprised that we skipped the hand-holding test that she would usually do before I head out, but I didn't want to prolong my stay more than necessary.

She rolled her eyes. "Try to look less enthusiastic about leaving. I am doing this for you."

I stretched my stiff legs before standing up.

"Yeah, right. For me.", I said sarcastically while making my way out of the room.

I knew very well that Vesper asked as payment from Aldus something he was not eager to give, but he still went ahead with the deal despite my protests. Fine, I didn't protest a lot because I realized that I need Vesper's help, but I hoped Aldus knew that if he declined the deal, I wouldn't blame him for it.

I found Aldus in the living room. He greeted me with a small smile and a nod, it was like always, yet I felt something is amiss. Probably because the witch next to me was too bouncy, like a child expecting a treat.

"I will see you tomorrow?", I asked Vesper dryly.

Vesper's eyes crinkled as she smiled. "That will depend on your father."

Aldus extended his arm toward me, urging me to come closer. When I did, he put his hand on my back and led the way outside.

"We will be in touch.", Aldus said.

Before the door closed behind us, I heard Vesper's giggle. "I'm sure you will…"

Vesper gave me the creeps, tonight more than usually, and I couldn't wait to leave her place.

The trip to our apartment passed in silence.

I knew that asking questions will be useless. If Aldus wanted to tell me anything, he would do so on his own, but when we entered the apartment, I still had to ask… "Are things OK?"

"Why wouldn't they be?", he responded with a question.

"Something seems off."

Aldus moved to head upstairs to his room, without sparing me a glance. "Don't worry about it. Get ready for dinner."

Just as I suspected, he brushed me off, and he didn't talk much during dinner either.

Well, I can't force him to tell me what's going on. Besides, it's probably something I couldn't handle, and I have my things to worry about.

I went on the terrace and sat in the lounging chair while my eyes rested on the lit-up Eiffel Tower absentmindedly. It's beautiful, yet it seems that I got used to the sight. This must be proof that we take things for granted when they are easily accessible.

My sight moved to the spot where I was standing together with Duke. I smiled while thinking how once I get control over my pheromones, I will go to London, find Duke, and ask him to join me to Paris, and we will come to this terrace and enjoy the view together. I wondered, will he be willing to come? One can wish.

If I tell him that I imagined him holding me here to the point of feeling it, he will probably call me crazy.

I stirred my thoughts to something more productive compared to fantasizing.

Other than the pheromone control, I'm trying to figure out a way to use my photographic memory to my advantage.

I was super-excited when I realized I could remember things perfectly, and I started hungrily taking in information from books and online while believing that within days I will be the next person who can win the "Who wants to be a millionaire" TV show.

To my dismay, the more information I absorbed, the more I realized Aldus was right. My brain is just a large database, and taking in more facts was comparable to filling the library with books.

To make things worse, because I mindlessly flipped through the content while my brain soaked in whatever I saw, there are cases where I have the required information, yet I am not aware of it.

Trying to find something specific is like flipping through a huge encyclopedia whose pages are randomized, and I don't have a guarantee that it has what I'm looking for.

The more data I acquire, the more it's useless as I can't access the required information unless I know where to look.

Ideally, I would have an index handy, or some other way to organize my memories and find swiftly what I need. Right now, events are stored chronologically, in the way they happened and I can't rashly try to change that because I might risk damaging my actual memories and end up believing that I met Duke on my first day of elementary school.

Just as Aldus said, this memorizing is different from the things I actually learned, as that information is accessible when needed without any effort.

Aldus cleared his throat, pulling me out of my thoughts and gaining my attention.

"You are going out?", I voiced my thoughts when I observed his sharp outfit.

He confirmed. "I might be out for a day or two…", he paused and sat on the chair next to mine. "I need you to do something for me."

By the tone of his voice, I realized that it's important.

Aldus put a palm-sized vial on the table next to me and I noticed a worm-like creature squirming in the see-through blue liquid.

His silence was making me tense, and every passing second confirmed that the uneasiness which filled the air was not a product of my imagination.

"What is that?", I urged him to speak.

"If I'm not back in forty-eight hours, I need you to break the vial and kill that creature."

My eyes darted nervously from the vial to Aldus. "How do I kill it?"

"Squish it, chop it… Its body is fragile, so I leave the mechanics for you to decide. Make sure it stops moving before you discard it, and keep in mind that the liquid will stain fabrics."

"What happens in forty-eight hours?", I continued probing while wondering how much will Aldus reveal this time.

"I might be back before that, but if I don't, I need you to do that for me."

I was ticked off that he refused to respond. However, this appeared to be something important, and I felt that I finally have some leverage over him.

I took the vial into my hand and observed the creature closely. With its flat black body and numerous short legs, it reminded me of a centipede that was approximately the size of my index finger.

"Can I flush it down the toilet?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "No. Make sure it's dead."

"What if I don't?"

"Serina, this is essential."

I ignored his reprimanding tone and smiled a little.

"Considering that this is essential, how about you explain to me what is going on?"

Aldus closed his eyes and released a slow breath.

"What do you want to know?", he asked stiffly.

I did my best to suppress my victorious grin. "Where are you going?"

"To see Vesper."

My gloating mood dropped abruptly, leaving me with a lump in my throat that made speaking difficult, but I had to ask, "This is about the payment for her teaching me to control pheromones, isn't it?"

"Partially.", he responded ambiguously.

I didn't want him to go. I couldn't put my finger on it, but my instincts told me that something was off about the whole situation.

---

If you are not reading this at 'W e b n o v e l . c o m', then the content you're reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.