“I’m not certain how public Lucian has been about this, but he has partial arcane paralysis alongside superficial meridians,” Lydia disclosed.

  Theobald shifted on his feet. “Could you explain what both of those terms mean?”

  “Yes, of course,” Lydia nodded. “Partial arcane paralysis is one that plenty of people have likely encountered. It means that the pathways of magic have been paralyzed, in some manner or another. This impedes the natural flow of magic.”

  Theobald nodded. “The old mages in the crowd have dealt with that. As I understand it, many people have partial arcane paralysis. It happens naturally as one ages. Beyond a certain point, just about the only way for continued magic growth is through purified essence. So, Lucian has this?”

  “Yes. It comes in varying ranges of severity, but in Lucian’s case it’s particularly debilitating. When he was first diagnosed, the healers informed me that around 75% of his magic pathways were useless. It was roughly equivalent to that of a fifty-year-old.”

  People expressed some subdued shock. Lucian kept his arms crossed uncomfortably. He hated this. For some reason, he never wanted this information to reach the light of day. Reasonably, though, it was nothing but a benefit to him. It would make him a more sympathetic figure in the eyes of the public. Still, he just felt… bothered.

  “That’s…” Theobald, even, looked shocked. He didn’t have the details. “That’s terrible. And as for the other term, ‘superficial meridians?’ I’ve never heard of that before.”

  “Nor had I. This required a more specialized diagnosis. Essentially, it means that Lucian’s internal energy doesn’t grow and strengthen his body as fast as it should,” Lydia explained. “Particularly talented people have what they call ‘robust meridians,’ facilitating fast physical growth. Lucian is just the opposite. He needs to put in proportionally more effort to achieve the same results as others.”

  Brutus looked at Lucian oddly, and he felt ever more uncomfortable. Move on, please, he encouraged, bouncing his leg.

  “And your daughter, Cate,” Theobald continued. “She has similar troubles?”

  “Yes,” Lydia confirmed. She sniffed, then wiped away a tear. “We’ve been unable to teach her anything meaningful. She cannot speak, read, write, or even function independently. As far as anyone can tell, the only thing she vaguely comprehends is body language.”

  “And both of them had these afflictions since birth?” Theobald asked.

  Lydia shook her head. “No.”

  Theobald leaned in. “Then how did they acquire them?”

  Lydia hesitated, as if struggling to keep her composure. She brought her hand to her mouth while tears fell from her eyes. After a long pause, she finally found her voice. “The truth is… these things were afflicted on them. In particular, what they lack was stolen by Cyril using a foul blood magic ritual.”

  Lucian’s heart beat quicker. Stolen? Why? And where did it go? The courtroom listened with rapt attention as Lydia struggled to regain her composure. Theobald let her have her moment for a little while before resuming the questioning.

  “Do you have any idea why they were stolen?” Theobald asked.

  “It was for another of Cyril’s new whims,” Lydia explained, her voice thick with grief. “He had become enchanted with a local faith that swept through the region. For the life of me, I can’t remember what it was called… but I could never forget what he said he did with them. He said that what he stole, he offered to the Heavenly Body.”

  Bullshit, was Lucian’s first thought. He wasn’t entirely disbelieving of the idea it’d been stolen, but he seriously doubted Cyril did. That memory he recalled… the words Cyril said to Lydia…

  “It was your machinations that led to his existence. You made your bed, Lydia. You wanted a project.”

  This wasn’t the first time that Lucian had heard of the term Heavenly Body. It was peppered throughout War of Four. Most people thought it was some hint as to the coming sequel, and Lucian thought similarly. The name was the largest hint as to what the Heavenly Body was. Beyond that? No concrete details, just vague poetry and many hints pointing toward the High Priestdom of Vantz.

  Either way, Lucian felt he knew enough about Cyril to know that he wouldn’t get enchanted by some cult. Perhaps Lucian was thinking too much of the man, but considering his obsession with pragmatism, offering his children’s talents to a cult didn’t make sense unless it gave him some concrete benefits. Frankly, it’d benefit him far more to have capable children to use as pawns. Lucian and Cate had only been burdens to him.

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  There was something seriously wrong with Lydia’s testimony, Lucian could tell. Cyril was awful, no doubt, but these seemed life half-truths. Had she made the offerings? It made some sense. He didn’t think Cyril was entirely lying when he mentioned Lydia’s arbitrariness. That wasn’t to excuse his actions, but… it seemed perfectly in character for her to get swept up into a cult and offer up her children’s prospects as an offering.

  If that is true… Lucian didn’t have a chance of a good outcome, did he? Nor Cate, with parents like these two.

  “So, in essence, Cyril stripped away all power from his son so that he couldn’t oppose him,” Theobald said. “And his daughter… he made her completely incapable of functioning independently, and then pawned her off to a man possessed by a demon?”

  Lydia nodded with a tear-filled face.

  “That should give you a good judgment as to Duke’s Cyril’s character, ladies and gentleman,” Theobald said soberly. “I’d like to next move on to discuss how Cyril instituted control over Lucian and you while growing up, forcing him into—”

  “That’s well and good, Theobald, but we’ve already gone over time. If you keep talking, the sun will fall,” the judge said. “We’ll have to continue this tomorrow.”

  Lucian felt frustrated, but he couldn’t bend the laws of time. Even still, just judging from the expressions of all those present, Lydia’s testimony had been incredibly impactful. The journalists present amongst the spectators… they were practically glowing. The newspapers tomorrow would be beyond interesting. Lucian felt a wave of anxiety just considering the tempest.

  For now, though… he had to keep very close to Lydia. Something was off about her. She was concealing a lot. In particular, he needed to see if she knew anything about the Heavenly Body.

  ***

  “Did I do well, Lucy?” Lydia said with a big smile on her face.

  After the long court session, Lucian had gone with Lydia and Theobald to a restaurant. Theobald was away to the restroom. Brutus was called away to handle the fallout of his testimony, but he’d be coming by as soon as he could.

  Lucian, meanwhile, didn’t feel comfortable letting Lydia out of his sight for one moment. After the testimony that she provided, that tear-filled face vanished, replaced by the same bubbly, overly-loving personality he’d seen before. There were more red flags in the air than Germany circa 1940. Lucian couldn’t help but worry.

  “What more did you know about the Heavenly Body?” Lucian asked.

  Lydia quietly grabbed a teacup while they waited for their food, sipping it elegantly. “I wish I knew more, I really do.”

  Lucian raised a brow. “You can’t tell me a single thing?”

  “Ah, well… it’s difficult for me to remember those stressful times,” Lydia said. “My natural instinct is to block it out altogether. It was really quite traumatic for me, what Cyril did. I think these recollections would be best saved for the trial.”

  Lucian tapped the table uneasily. He didn’t want to interrogate her aggressively, considering how much more was to come… but he had a lot of questions.

  “You know what, Lucy?” Lydia said. “I think that you should announce your intent to pursue reinstatement as heir to the Duchy of Villamar. It would help speed things up.”

  Lucian stopped mid-tap. “What?”

  “Countersuing Cyril to earn your status as heir back,” Lydia clarified. “You should announce your intent to pursue it. The testimony I heard, from those people… Cyril offered you your position as heir back, and you refused. As your mother, that was very concerning. I mean…” she laughed. “Do you really want a prince to take your position? Surely not. He has enough advantages.”

  Lucian couldn’t find words. He stared at her.

  “Truly, I’m glad Theobald found me,” Lydia remarked. “I would’ve never learned what Cyril did to you had he not. I was having quite the time. But… he did, and now we can make things right. When you’re duke… ooh, I’ll be duchess dowager,” she said, dreamily. “Perhaps I can finally visit New Riverra. You’d pay for it, no doubt. The beaches there… I’ve heard they’re wonderful. Year-round, it’s the perfect temperature. Ah… but Cyril has to step aside first, of course.”

  Lucian leaned in, about to say something.

  “My testimony was hard on Cyril,” Lydia said, taking another sip of tea. “He always gets rather emotional when Dinah is brought up. I wonder why…” she mused, twirling her teacup. Her golden eyes settled on Lucian. “I was thinking of visiting Cyril. A quick check-in, just to make sure that he’s alright. After all… there’s a lot more testimony I’ve yet to provide. And I remain his duchess.

  “Perhaps he’s not all bad, at the end of the day,” Lydia mused, looking out into Verne. “Perhaps I could be kinder to him. Perhaps I misspoke a few times today. It’s good… to have clarity.” Lydia picked up her teacup. “And on the subject of clarity… you will be making yourself clear to the people, won’t you? I would be ever so pleased to know my son wants the title of Duke of Villamar. It would set my restless heart at ease.”

  Lydia took another sip of tea, her gaze locked with Lucian’s unwaveringly. The words were vague, but that look was unmistakable. Lydia felt she had leverage, and she was using it. If Lucian was right… she only got involved in this because she felt her easy life was in jeopardy.

  Theobald walked up. He clapped, snapped, then pointed. “What’d I miss?”

  The revelation Lydia’s certifiable, Lucian thought. At least this time I have some experience…

  “Lucian promised to give me a vacation to New Riverra when this is all over,” Lydia said with a happy smile. “Isn’t that right?”

  I miss Cate, Lucian thought. Only good person in this rotten family. But I’ll be seeing her soon, when that mediation happens. And it will happen.

  Lucian wasn’t in the mood to choose the whip that hit his back. It might be time to play his whole hand.