'Are you coming in or leaving?' Aunty reprimanded, ushering Han inside with his sister in his arms, stretching his cheeks, and unfortunately playing with his glasses.

  'I should be leaving now, Aunty. Doctor Raphael is expecting us in thirty minutes.'

  'Is he now? I thought you said the appointment was at four?'

  'Yes, but he called and rescheduled it to be sooner. Apparently, there is something urgent going on with him.'

  Aunty stomped over to the kitchen, looking as grumpy as always, and set to fixing him a plate of dinner.

  Potatoes again...

  'Well, it is rush hour,' she grumbled. 'You taking the bus?'

  'I hope so.'

  'Eh, that 'ol sack of needles can wait a little. He loves that little angel like the rest of us; he won't want to miss her.'

  She placed two plates on the table, then another, smaller pink plate with a slice of red velvet cake coated all over with rainbow sprinkles in front of the biggest chair.

  'Call that goldiballed friend of yours in. I won't hit him.'

  'You promise?' Reiss's voice came from somewhere unknown, confusing both of them. Then suddenly, Reiss's head dropped upside down from above, and all three of them, including Eli, looked up to find him clinging to the ceiling like a bat.

  Aunty Henriette gasped and turned red when she saw his boot lightly touch her chandelier. 'You poor-bred cur! I'll slap some ugliness into you, just you wait!'

  She rushed into the kitchen and retrieved her long dusting stick. Han stepped back and watched with a sympathetic look on his face as Reiss scurried to get away without causing too much damage, but the stick caught him once, twice and three times on the buttocks.

  'Go Uncle!' Cheered Eli, then to Aunty, 'Get him, Aunty! He's naughty!

  'Pick a side, you little gremlin!' Cried Reiss.

  ...

  They left not a second after they finished their food.

  It was a pleasant meal as always.

  Reiss was especially satisfied, rubbing his belly as they left the building onto the sunny alleyway. The poor guy had always preferred Aunty Henriette's cooking over whatever they fed him in his estate. Buttered lobster and marbled beef, probably. How sad.

  Eli was holding onto both their hands and trotting along excitedly over the promise of ice cream after the appointment and the appointment itself.

  Han didn't have to bribe her with ice cream anymore to visit the doctor as he did in the early days; she had, after all, grown fond of Doctor Raphael, Doctor Ophelia and the nurses and she even started dressing up fancily in anticipation of the visits.

  But it was Han who felt the urgent need to keep this tradition at least for one last time. It kept him grounded in something normal. For her to see other kids her age. To grow and share similar memories with those of this damned Empire. She was growing fast, and ever since their father's death, he had felt her growth much more painfully and was afraid to miss it.

  She was his responsibility after all. But he hated how he always failed to be at her side. What if she grew to subconsciously resent his absence?

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  His decision now would perhaps cement that reality, and he'd dreaded it for the longest time already.

  But what other choice did he have?

  He loved his sister to death. And if parting with her meant she'd continue to grow with smiles and giggles, cakes and princesses, constant hugs and affection like she always deserved, rather than suffering by his side at the Son Vilier Church, then it was a no-brainer.

  That haunted him, but it wasn't what haunted him the most.

  The more she grew, the more her Grace punished her for it. Perhaps she would've been less affected if her powers were moderate or at the level of the lower Heavens, but her Grace happened to belong to one of the top three Heavens. Even if she could barely be called a Supplicant, she still suffered immensely for it.

  The perpetual impact on her body, even at a passive state like now, was potent enough to put her life in mortal danger.

  Doctor Raphael had explained that she'd only be in the clear once she survived the first eight years, after which her Grace would finally become more of a blessing than a curse.

  Han would not find peace until then. He'd be rotting away at that church and still be constantly thinking about his sister, and that was a fact.

  But for now, he smiled at her as she sang her song.

  'So,' began Reiss grimly. 'Will you do it?'

  Han took a deep, shuddering breath, his heart agitated with emotion, and quickly blinked the bleariness from his eyes. He'd never shown emotion other than excitement and giddiness to his sister, and he wasn't about to fail her now.

  'I want her until the very last second. If they win the election tonight-' Han had a strong feeling they would, given the preliminaries- 'then come around sometime. before 8 PM.'

  It was Reiss's plan, and it was simple.

  Han will, unfortunately, reveal his sister's prodigious awakening to the world, and the Wrightworth family will promptly adopt her, effectively making her the youngest of the four Wrightworth children.

  Despite Lord Wrightworth's disdain for Han, once Reiss revealed Eli's condition to him, he eagerly agreed to the adoption and even wrote the adoption letter himself on the spot. Having the youngest Graced ever in his family would easily elevate them above rivals such as the Son Viliers and the Son Thames, while the media would shower them with positive attention, and the people would grow more enamoured of the Son Wrightworths than they already are.

  However...

  There was one non-negotiable condition Lady Wrightworth imposed upon the deal:

  Her story must change.

  She would no longer become a Symerian refugee whose incompetent and mundane brother was forced into becoming a Conduit, but instead, the daughter of an unfortunate, pure Sirtian family whose father died honourably in the Southern war and whose mother died of grief and heartache.

  Reiss protested futilely against his mother's heartless demand, but Han, after a few nights of heavy contemplation, agreed.

  And he agreed with swollen eyes.

  'Even if I come at 8,' Reiss said coldly, 'They won't lay a hand on her. That's my word.'

  'I wouldn't want any drama then, Reiss, so please come before that.'

  Reiss went quiet as they crossed the street. Quiet and pensive.

  'I'm sorry,' he eventually muttered.

  'Don't be,' Han sighed.

  'Perhaps there was more I could've done to get you out of this. I think about it often, Han, and if you resent me for it, I'd like to know.'

  'Tsk. You did your best until I told you to stop, you dunce. I cannot have your family make an enemy out of me, even more than they already are. Heaven knows I've got my hands full with the sleep-deprived freaks as it is. Besides...' Han paused and took a deep breath. He wanted nothing more than to bash his head repeatedly against a wall. 'You helped me more than I'd ever expected with all that university nonsense. Shit on shit on my luck, but you made things better, Reiss.'

  'Yeah.' Reiss drew circles on Eli's little hand with his thumb. 'I eat from a golden spoon and sleep in a room three times the size of your apartment, and here I did enough.'

  Han scoffed. 'So what? If I were you, I'd do a whole lot more of that than this.'

  Reiss didn't respond. Strange. It was a little uncharacteristic of him to be this serious around him, but that suited Han just fine. He really did want some silence now- No, what he really wanted, actually, was to be in a secluded room and let loose some hot emotion, but that was a privilege he learned to abandon a long time ago.