Aiden immediately headed for his father's study. Caelum and Riven served as lookouts from different directions, and Lucius stayed with Aiden to assist him on breaking in. He vouched he was the best in picking locks from the thousand plays he watched of mortals acting like criminals and thieves. Even if they wanted Aiden to get slapped by his own father, being able to actually break into the study mattered more.
With his hands on the doorknob, Aiden pulled hard without doing much.
"What are you doing?!" Lucius hissed. "That knob's not gonna unlock itself. Do something!"
"I can't!" Aiden replied in a hushed voice. "I've never broken a lock before."
"Urgh," Lucius complained. "Why is the only physically able the one who can't do anything?"
"Well, sorry!" Aiden asked him. "What do I do now?"
"Right," Lucius said. "You need something thin and strong. Like a wire or something."
Aiden sighed. "You know I can't possibly have any wire of sorts in my pockets, right?"
"Urgh," he murmured some profanities, "If you can't get your hands on any wires, we're going nowhere."
Aiden knew a place he could grab some, so they ruined their formation and went to the attic from the left wing.
The old attic was a dusty space filled with forgotten treasures. Several old chests held silverware and some crusty documents. Faded paintings leaned against the walls, and a few vases were tucked away, covered in dust, never to see the light of day again.
"Hey!" Caelum said. "These vases don't look like they'll be displayed any time of the day. What do you think?"
Riven sighed. "Fine. We'll see what we can do about them."
They continued rummaging through all the junk in that attic, the dust began to make Aiden's nose runny.
"There!" Lucius said as he flew towards the topmost shelf.
Aiden climbed on a stool and tried his hardest to reach the topmost shelf.
"To the right! Yeah, that!" Lucius guided him. "Grab that!"
Aiden went down and looked at what he had in his hand. "A broken clock?"
"Yeah," Lucius said, "Just break the glass and take the two hands out. You can use them to pick the lock."
Aiden did what was instructed of him. After he took the two hands out, he bended it according to Caelum's instructions.
Once again, they were back at their formation. Aiden listened carefully as Lucius taught him how to break locks like a savage.
"So, I just," he said, "Have to get the feel of it?"
"Yes, yes. From the words of Robin Hood, the greatest mortal thief of all time," Lucius said. "Close your eyes... and listen. Feel the ridges of the lock. Do you feel it?"
Aiden's eyebrows furrowed with his eyes closed. "A little?"
"Focus up," Lucius reprimanded him. "Feel it, mortal. Feel it!"
Aiden focused more, and after a while, he began to feel the ridges of the lock, with a few twists and a pop, the knob ticked upon being unlocked.
"Great!" Lucius beamed proudly, "Finally, you made me proud, young boy!"
They both gestured for the two wisps and the three of them entered the study. Since they still needed something other than getting slapped, Caelum stayed behind as a lookout while the three looked around.
"Check that figurine," Lucius told Aiden, hovering at a small figurine of a horse with both its front hooves up in glory.
Aiden checked the figurine. He made several attempts, tried pushing the horse down, turning it sideways, grabbing its shoe—nothing.
"Try those books," Riven instructed next, and Aiden obliged.
He took a stool and started to do through the books one by one. His eyes caught glimpse of a gold trimmed book that almost had an ominous glow in it, and he was just about to reach for it when Caelum began screaming.
"He's here! He's here!" he said. "Bastardsson, brace your cheeks!"
Aiden went down from the stool and prepared himself for a slap, but Riven said no.
"We haven't entered the secret room yet," he said. "They can't find you, or else they'll tighten the security and we may find it harder to break into here again."
Aiden didn't spend too much time thinking. He surveyed the room and decided to hide behind the couch, the farthest hiding spot from his father's table. It made a good hiding place, unless his father suddenly decided to open the curtains for some sightseeing.
"Should we check on the young master, Lord Greyson?" The butler's voice made its way to Aiden's hiding spot. He eyed the wisps, and they simply nodded.
"It's that chauffeur," Riven said. "They're having a conversation about you, and your jerk dad just said no when the chauffeur asked to check on you."
"That's crazy," Lucius whispered as if the mortals would hear him if he shouted, "None of the maids snitched on you? Both of them don't seem to know you've runaway from home and all of that."
Caelum grunted. "What a waste of rebellion. We ran away from home and all, waiting to be punished. For what?"
Aiden remained completely silent, and completely still while the three wisps listened in on the lord's conversation.
"Professor Alistair reported some sightings from the northwest," the chauffeur said. "The palace is in a state of disarray. The king wants those demons gone."
Aiden glanced at the wisps. He understood the word demon because the chauffeur used the ancient language for it. They were all focused on the conversation, the mention of demons also bad news for them.
There was a long silence, and it seemed like Lord Greyson was taking his time thinking of his next move.
"I'll visit the king with some professors," he said. "For now, we'll plan how to suppress those demons. I'll lead the cavalry myself."
"But Milord!" The chauffeur objected. "Those demons had been cultivating for years. Even if you prepare hundreds of cavalry, I'm afraid it won't be enough!"
The three wisps looked at one another. A single phrase bouncing off each other's minds as they glanced down at their mortal whose face was starting to grimace for crouching too long.
"Demons that had been cultivating for years," they said in unison. "Perfect."