"Hurry up before King Moron runs into us. I'd rather him not know how unstable you are until after we deal with Al Tharmen," Judar scolded, dragging me along the palace corridors.

We finally reached my room and Judar glanced back down the hallway before closing the door behind him.

"I'm sure you explained everything to him but I'm hoping you left this little detail out," he said, grabbing my wrist and rattling it. It swung like dead weight and I pouted up at him. "It only happens when you expend too much magoi. I'm aware that you're practicing controlling it but tone it down a bit," he nagged.

I only watched as he rolled my sleeve up and ran his fingers along my skin. Just as they had before, the Rukh followed Judar's touch and dissolved against my skin. Slowly, I was able to move my fingers again, one by one.

"Judar," I spoke his name quietly. In response, he glanced up at me briefly before continuing on my arm. The questions I wanted to ask had actually been pricking at the back of my mind for a while now but I'd shelved them for as long as I could bear. "This body... The girl it belonged to... What was she like?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Judar was working at a much slower rate than when he'd fixed my leg before. His fingertips inched along the skin of my arm so slowly that I almost forgot he was doing anything to me at all. His scarlet eyes met mine as he began to speak in a somewhat teasing manner, "You had me believing that you really didn't care about this world or this body; at least that's the impression you gave when you first woke up here." I remained quiet, waiting for an answer to my question. He smirked as he continued, "To answer your question though: I couldn't tell you. I'd never actually met her before you came along."

"Really? Where did she even come from then?" I asked. I wasn't completely sure I wanted to know this information but I knew it would keep bothering me until I found out.

"I picked her out from a village far on the border of Kou," he replied shortly. I looked at him expectantly and he rolled his eyes as if he knew it wasn't the answer I had hoped for. "Fine, fine. If you really want to know then I'll tell you but don't expect me leave out anything you don't want to hear. This burden is about to get a lot heavier, you hear me?" he asked, waving his finger at me as if warning a child.

I nodded as Judar began to spin his explanation, "So the body you currently reside in probably had a name and she was probably a sweet girl. I don't really know nor do I care. Don't feel too bad about it though and don't go calling me a monster for choosing her. She, along with nearly half the people in her village, only had a few weeks left to live due to terminal illnesses, mental illnesses, or incurable diseases. Now, here's where it gets bad. This little village where all these sick people are located is actually designated to remain full of sickly people. They've been specially quarantined from the rest of the Kou Empire by... guess who?"

"Al Tharmen?" I whispered.

"Smart princess," Judar grinned. "These people are being used by the old guys to harvest magoi for some dark weaponry. More specifically, Dark Djinn. The same thing is going on at this Magic Academy called 'Magnoshutatt', but baby Magi Aladdin has his own plans for that place so I figured that's one less pit stop for me."

Something hadn't quite clicked into place in my mind about what Judar was telling me. "But you seem like the type who'd be all for this kind of thing. So why do you intend on betraying Al Tharmen?" I asked.

"Look at you, claiming to know me so well. You're right, actually. Causing mass hysteria on a nationwide scale would be a marvelous thing to watch. Unfortunately, Al Tharmen's goals are a bit more far-fetched," Judar continued, pacing the room as he went on. "The old guys, along with Hakuryuu's dear old Mama, intend on bringing the entire nation down, including everything surrounding it. If that happens, there's nothing left for me to do here. What's a magi's purpose in life if there's no one left on this damned old rock?"

"There's still one thing I don't quite understand," I told him. "My mother was in total compliance with Al Tharmen. So why try resurrecting her if your goal was to stop Al Tharmen from the very beginning?"

Judar's mouth twisted into a smile at my words and he spoke again in a gentle voice, "I never intended to bring Natalia back." His eyes bore into mine and I could almost see a passion that wasn't there before. Placing his hands on both of my chair's armrests, Judar cornered me in my seat as he leaned in close and spoke in a soft voice, "My goal was always to get you."

At first, I cringed away from his sudden closeness but a certain boldness washed over me and I met his gaze head on. My insides were burning as Judar leaned further in. His face was now so close that it almost seemed to blur my vision. I couldn't help myself as my eyes trained on his lips. Every fiber of my being wanted to lean into this but the moment was shattered when a knock came on the bedroom door.

"Lady Mei? Are you here?" Hakuryuu asked from just outside my room.

Half of me wanted to laugh at the interruption while the other half was internally screaming angrily. I cleared my throat, turning my head away and Judar let out a heavy sigh as he pulled away from me.

"Must he always..." Judar muttered bitterly under his breath before answering the door.

"Oh, am I interrupting? I can come back later," Hakuryuu said bashfully, not wanting to enter the room.

"Well, it's a little late now!" Judar scowled. "Get in here," he said, pulling Hakuryuu into the room.

I greeted Hakuryuu with the best smile I could manage but he didn't seem convinced. "I-I just came to discuss the negotiations made with King Sinbad. He left before sunrise this morning so I didn't get a chance to meet with him. How did everything go last night?" he asked.

"Oh, right. I hadn't mentioned it to Judar either. It's best that you're both here actually so please don't look so troubled," I told Hakuryuu. His mood seemed to brighten up a bit as he listened intently to what I had to say. "King Sinbad confirmed being on board with us to go against Al Tharmen. He mentioned it would take some time to make all the preparations but once everything was in order, he'd willingly take place by our side," I told them.

Hakuryuu looked more than pleased with this information, informing me that King Sinbad had probably left early this morning to start preparations immediately. Judar patted me on the head, ruffling my hair as he did so. "I knew my little princess could do it," he said playfully. I mock pouted up at him before flashing him a smile.

Just then, the clamor of men rushing through the corridor could be heard. Hakuryuu and Judar quickly gathered by the door to listen to the commotion.

"Something's wrong," Judar said in an urgent tone. His expression became unusually serious and his gaze met mine. "It seems someone has come looking for you," he said quietly.