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

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Sebastian insisted that I dance one more time with him because Henry got two dances while he got only one.

"What kind of logic is that?", I asked. Do guys see everything as competition?

"Give me a chance to improve your opinion of me. I promise to be a gentleman."

I gave up. "One dance."

"After that, we will get drinks…"

When the dance ended, Henry approached me.

"Seraphina will not dance anymore. She is thirsty and we will get drinks.", Sebastian answered instead of me.

"Excellent. I am thirsty myself so I will join you.", Henry responded.

I didn't know guys can be so shameless. Part of me wanted to end this charade and part was curious to find out how far they will take it.

To say that I was not entertained would be a lie. With Sebastian and Henry, the party was not so stifling anymore.

The three of us sat at the table with four chairs, leaving the fourth one empty. Henry was on my right and Sebastian on my left.

The two of them bickered, but it was all low-key without open hostility. I assumed they wanted to leave a good impression on me and… they did.

I enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Henry and Sebastian know each other for a long time. They spoke to me about their football and rowing teams from college, and they also recollected several events from parties they attended while skillfully avoiding to mention any women in their lives.

They asked me to share something from my past, to which I responded that there isn't much to share. "I grew up with tutors, so… I find your stories about activities with peers fascinating." I urged them to speak more. The more they talk, the less I need to. I had my fake background story ready, but I didn't want to lie unless necessary.

Sebastian and Henry exchanged gazes I couldn't decipher. They probably felt sorry for me, as they imagined a princess locked in a tower, but I couldn't tell them the truth. I agreed with Aldus that it's necessary to conceal I was Sanya until we figure out who wanted to set me up and the mystery of my family.

The awkwardness lasted only for a second, and then Sebastian and Henry continued with their chatter.

Both guys are funny, smart, and nice to look at, and because it was the three of us together, it prevented the mood from becoming intimate. With this, I was able to relax.

I deduced that among the guys present, Sebastian and Henry are alphas (if I use werewolf hierarchy), and that is why other guys didn't approach us. As for the girls, a few stopped by to say hi, but after being ignored by Sebastian and Henry, they retreated stealthily, leaving their tangible jealousy behind.

It was late, but the party was still going strong when I found Aldus at the table with four other men, conversing amicably with a dose of reservation. Aldus does that to people.

I observed that men smiled at Aldus and they were fairly relaxed, probably because they don't know what Aldus is. All creatures look at Aldus with reverence and fear because they are aware of how powerful he is, yet these weak humans only see him as a rich guy. Ignorance is a blessing sometimes.

"Father, I'm heading home.", I said to Aldus, making the men who were talking to him look my way. They all swiftly stood up and greeted me with nods. Gentlemen. I assumed they would not greet me in such a way if Aldus is not present.

Aldus glanced at Sebastian and Henry who were on my left and right respectively. "Are you taking them with you?"

I struggled not to laugh. Why is he talking like they are items to be taken? "No. Sebastian and Henry insisted to escort me to the entrance. I notified Mitch, he is waiting to take me home."

Aldus smiled a little. "Alright. Take care."

"You know, I can drop you off home.", Henry offered for the third time as we walked down the hallway toward the main entrance (or is it the exit in this case?).

"And so can Mitch. As my driver, he is being paid to drive me to places."

"We are your friends, and we will do it for free.", Sebastian chimed in.

"Friends…", I murmured to myself. It sounded nice, but I didn't dare entertain such a thought. I was painfully aware that if not for my status as Aldus's daughter, the treatment I received tonight would be very different.

After promising to both Sebastian and Henry that I will call them when I have time for an outing, I waved them goodbye and entered the car.

The car moved down the nearly deserted street and I released a slow breath together with the tension that accumulated over the evening. It was over and I think I did well.

I was looking forward to the breakfast to hear what Aldus has to say.

Now that the events related to Notte Pharmaceuticals are over, the only thing left on my agenda was to wait for news from Mona.

I decided to give her a few days and if she doesn't get in touch with me, I will assume that she either failed in her two missions, or she never considered them seriously.

In the meantime, I have things to do.

I decided to focus on my abilities.

I can tap into my subconsciousness and vividly remember everything I experienced, also, I have an unusually high level of pheromones that can impact others to like me to the point of obsession and becoming violent.

Both of those abilities are under my control, where I can use them when needed. Aldus and Vesper told me that with practice, they will evolve.

What if they can merge? What if I can access other people's memories and experience their feelings, or project mine on them? What if instead of like-love-obsession, I can use my pheromones for someone to dislike me, or to dislike someone else? Or to make them experience fear or some other emotion? Now, that would be something useful.

I could see myself going with Aldus on one of his missions to take care of rogue werewolves, and I can scare all of them into submission. Yup. That would be handy. It would be even more awesome if I could use my ability on someone in particular, instead of projecting it everywhere.

In order to see the limits of my abilities, I will need to practice, and I decided that whenever I'm not doing alchemy, I will be focusing on enhancing myself. Only like that, I can be useful to Aldus and that will be the perfect way to show how grateful I am for everything he did so far.

…

A light knock on the door pulled me out of my meditative state.

"Serina?", I heard Aldus's voice as the door cracked open.

"Yes?"

"Sorry, but I knew you are not sleeping. I apologize for disturbing your practice."

I glanced at the time to see that it was 3 o'clock in the morning.

"What's going on?"

"We need to return to Genoa.", Aldus said.

If it's rushed, it's probably important. Was there another rogue attack? Already? "Is there a problem?"

Aldus grimaced. "I'm not sure but… my sister is coming."

My eyes sprang open as anxiety overtook my senses. "Calista?"

"Yeah. I got a call about one hour ago. She will be there in time for breakfast."

I swallowed a mouthful of air. "Is her visit related to me?"

"Probably."

I puffed my cheeks. Killian said that the Mezzanotte family knows Aldus has a daughter, and they were surprised by that news. It would be strange if they are not curious about me and it seems that Aldus's sister is coming first. Will Aldus's parents come? They are busy people, will they summon me to Lemuria? What if Calista doesn't like me?

I tried to push my insecurities away. There is no point in stressing about this and I will meet Calista in a few hours it seems.

"When are we leaving?"

"As soon as you are ready. The plane is waiting…"

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