Elora looked at the shell shocked ballroom, gleaming with pride.
She had always known that she was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, now the kingdom will know the same as her.
She could see it in her mind's eye. The day is not far when princes compete for her favor.
The ladies of the capital, who were ever so proud of being the first to buy any fashion on the street, will compete to copy her dress, only to realize they could never match her beauty.
She will bestow her token to the choice of the champion in the joust, she would have a knight who is eternally devoted to her, the crown prince will serve her breakfast in bed, for he could not bear to let her walk to the dining hall on her own.
She will be first lady to ever become both valedictorian and prom queen in the royal academy, so much so, they would have to bestow her with the honor of the first lady, getting the only white rose emblem in the royal family.
She smiled down kindly at her subjects, every inch of her being pouring out generosity.
Elora was so caught up in her own fantasy, she did not notice a little black clad man, cowering behind the principal of their school.
Not that she would have noticed had she not been in the victory glow of her first successful cast of charm magic.
After all, the principal and the teacher who accompanied him, both are but her subjects. If not for the special occasion of send off, they won't even be allowed into the premises of their manor.
If not for taking care of her image, she would not spare them a second look.
The young man, Mordi Chernyl, was the descendant of a noble family himself. His power, like Rina's, is not mainstream elementalist or mage, but 'copy'. As long as a person is in the vicinity, Mordi could copy their skill to use.
In fact, this is the reason he became a teacher.
He is nothing without skilled people around him.
The moment Elora appeared, he copied her skill almost instinctively.
Not that Elora knew such a thing.
He examined the skill gently. As the only person who could copy skills, Mordi is well versed how skills of different types feel.
Elemental skills are the easiest to recognize. They blaze with their own inner power.
Perception skills are the hardest skills to recognize and master. Had he been a beginner, Mord could have done nothing other than knowing Elora's skill was reading minds.
What Lord Bright had recorded in the school is that she is an empath.
The difference between an empath and mind reader is the same as the difference between a fox and tiger. It's not just a capital offense to confuse the two, it's a court martial-public execution - ban from office for three generations level crime. After all, empath is the sweet psychologist feeding stray cats at alley corner, while the mind reader is an SSS-Class spy who could steal secrets right under the nose of the king from the court assembly itself.
Yet, Lord Bright had registered his daughter as empath.
A fool would think Lord Bright's love for his daughter knows no bounds, but any man with two ounces of brain will know - Lord Bright had big plans.
'Seems I came to the right place.' Mordi thought in elation, only to suppress his thoughts the next moment. Any change of emotions in his mind could alert lord Bright. He needs to be placid as a frozen lake surface.
Mordi gently probed Lord Bright's mind looking for any references to any and all forbidden areas.
He gently looked into the memory.
'Cassandra' he breathed in as he saw the familiar brown tresses.
Yet, the girl who is painting as if she has been possessed will not turn her face to himself.
" You ! How dare you disobey me. You will face the consequences. " Lord Bright was scolding the girl who kept painting in defiance of himself.
Mordi was the son of a fallen family famous for bearing seers. When he was eight, the family was accused of treason. The baron and his wife were killed, and the children were reduced to slaves and sold away.
Mordi was lucky enough to be bought by a couple who were looking to adopt a child.
His childhood was comfortable.
His father owned a bakery in the capital. When his magical aptitude was measured acceptable, he attended the imperial magic college without contract.
On the other hand, his sister's life was horrible as far as he could tell.
The women of the Diviner family are supposed to inherit the power to look into the future.
However, they are never born with the ability, they only ever inherit.
They were born with the skills that mainly ran to artistic sides. Some are exceptional at weaving, others at dancing, the genre varied, but it's not wildly different from most feminine skills possessed by ladies.
The worst part is, the ability mutates into looking into the future when great stress is received.
As such, the noble families that bought his sister tortured her through various means.
If not for the belief that an Oracle must be virgin, she would have gone through another level of hell.
Mordi's goal in life had been to rescue his sister, from the moment he became aware of her plight.
Only, tracking her has been impossible from the moment she has reached sixteen.
The royal family demanded that she be handed over to the king himself.
However, enroute to the king, the carriage had an accident. The carriage fell off a cliff, only it's broken body could be found on the reefs below.
However, as soon as he read the report, Mordi knew.
There was no accident, only a deal between nobles who hated the attitude of the royal family.
He had searched for the clues patiently, while reading the political environment.
The Bright manor was not even on his map.
He had only come here by accident.
Yet, the moment he arrived here, he felt things were not right.
The principal is supposedly thrown out here, but the man was too passionate, and had one too many connections for someone who is resenting his job.
The children were not particularly brighter than other schools, but one look at the reported roster is enough to know why they have the highest survival rate.
The principal under-reported in the cleverest way possible, allowing for their royal academy quests to mostly succeed.
Sure, the excuses won't stand scrutiny, but no one's coming here to check out.
Similarly, Cassandra !
No one would think the Bright family, which does not have any sort of influence in the capital, would be daring enough to have designs on the throne itself.
But, for now, he needs to find a way to Cassandra.
Mordi gently exited from Lord Bright's head.
He let his emotions take over, and celebrated with two shots of champagne for at least finding out where his sister is.
Elora Bright is already heading towards the royal company.
Obviously, nothing has delighted the girl more than the dashing royal knights.
She danced with one after another, while Mordi happily sucked away her power.
Ofcourse, it won't have any long lasting effects on her, and it will only work within a certain vicinity of the power user.
Mordi drank when Elora drank, he let his jubilation take over when she laughed. Even so, Elora's brain was like a dark red labyrinth that's on perpetual high.
Even half drunk, he did not dare delve into the mind of Elora Bright. Mind readers may not be sensitive, but they have a heavy touch. If she even gets a whiff of another person in her mind and pushes back, then Mordi runs the risk of permanent brain damage that could leave him a living corpse.
Even that peripheral touch is enough to show him that Elora Bright is not good news.
She is vain, authoritarian and in utter jealousy of his sister Cassandra.
In fact, tonight, she has arranged for a man to visit her in the chambers and rape her, as the party is going on.
This time though, Mordi saw the face of the man. He had crossed by the party just a moment ago.
Mordi pulled back as fast as possible, so much so, Elora became aware of the intrusion.
She expelled all beings in her head instinctively.
The knight who was holding her waist stumbled as she did so.
A drop of blood trickled from his lips, as his visage became gaunt.
" Sir Pennyrose ! What is wrong with you ? " Elora asked, as she stumbled in the man's embrace.
Inside, she was cursing.
Mordi thanked his lucky stars as he felt the resonance of Elora's push.
Thankfully, there's another knight who was using his charm skill, which is a mind manipulation technique. If not for that, he would be found out.
Mordi shuddered, as he heard the curses Elora Bright was using due to the resonance.
This girls' heart is truly black.
He found the man. He was carrying a tray, a platter of food and wine.
Mordi rushed into the brain of the servant paying no heed to safety concerns.
He forcefully looked at the path, and other details he needed to know from the head of the servant.
He dragged the servant to the corner room, changed his clothes to the servants, and walked out with the tray.
All went well, until he heard a voice.
" Hey, you ! Are you new ? " a knight's voice sounded from behind.