"Maybe it is for the best that the royalty is gone for good. They have become rather incompetent if I am being honest here. Not only were they unable to do anything when our magic was continuously stolen for decades, now they chose to enable the thieves as well. What a parting gift!"

The speaker on the podium continued with a calculated tone, "If they knew they were going to step down, this final nail in the coffin that is their claim to the throne, should have been put forward and deliberated by the 'committee' that they placed and 'voted' upon." The anguish in the voice was really evident as he eyed his sizeable audience down from where he stood with a sense of pride.

"We have to ask ourselves, as we have gathered around here in this turbulent time, why do we have to suffer for the fault that we were not responsible for? The fact that theft has been legitimized and a deal made with the thieves which the former princess..." He gave a dramatic pause, stressing the title with derisive glee, giving enough time for the enthusiastic crowd to get riled up and boo in abandon, choice words added to the mix. "Let's not get carried away. Civility is important here." He paused, knowing that him and his crowd did not believe that, as the atmosphere grew more feverish. He relished the uproar as he saw he mentally took stock of the chances of his fortunes rising.

Democracy. He never thought that the out-of-touch elitist routine magic schools taught and poisoned the young magical folk of the realm who grew up getting savaged by the same mortal beasts that they were supposed to 'make peace with' or whatever they were on about, to be his chance for glory. Now that he saw the power, it was not too bad after all. He knew he had a good chance, especially gaining status within the economically disadvantaged classes as a former member of the advisory committee speaking out against the king. It was seen as brave.

"The former princess, calls it honorable, is a literal slap in the face for anyone who believes that the innate magic borne out of our realm, is ours to take. The opposition are just cronies of the King. They'd rather strip away our abilities, and give it to the people who hunted and slaughtered us, in exchange for looking magnanimous and consolidate power with propaganda. Magic is at risk with these self-hating soldiers of supposed virtue continue in power," He spat.

"Truth be told, For the lack of a better word, the former princess is deranged and Justin cannot even reign in his daughter. Let alone, our realm. Any so-called candidate aligning with him is a lost cause and should be treated with utmost scepticism for behind their so-called altruism, there is an unmistakeable stain of malice." The last line cost him considerable amount of money to get it crafted into his speech.

A hooded woman gently clapped from the audience unbeknownst to the boisterous performer who hoodwinked the entire gullible audience and felt satisfied with the result. She had to brace herself to see the rather fascinating affair come to a biased conclusion. Before the illusion charm lifted off, Aurelia cleared the parameters alongside Melody. She did not bring Lumien for this undercover experience as she was afraid, he might do something reckless and further deteriorate her situation, once she settles into her comparatively smaller and less opulent home post the referendum happens which decided the fate of the realm for the next five years. She knew Lumien would still protect her, even if he was disappointed to hear that he was relieved of his duties and was free to do whatever he wished. She always hated to order him around.

As she looked at the participating members of this dubiously enthusiastic congregation, she saw familiar faces, who dissented the most. That was the aspect of power that she didn't realize till now. The reverence it brings about existed only while it lasted. Maybe this was the truth all along. The fact that she forsook authority would finally give her true allies that she always wanted.

"You didn't have to do this, princess," Melody eyed Aurelia with concern. "These morons don't know what they are doing. When you told us about this for the first time, I was like okay, do what you want. But this, we are doomed."

Aurelia chuckled. "This is how it goes sometimes. Reminds me of Amy. Those people figured it out how to govern themselves. So will we. Whatever it is, my family should no longer be part of it, considering everything we saw out there. I hope she doesn't get into too much trouble. Which reminds me of..." Aurelia smiled, extending a key to Melody.

"I owe you one, Melody. It's not much. This will get you access to take whatever contraptions and weird magic things you will find fun that is left in the palace. And call me by my name."

"Thanks... Thanks, Aurelia," Melody hesitated before accepting the gift. She would have to take a midnight detour in the upcoming days. Aurelia had one more place to visit and before that she had to sneak in her other companion as promised.

***

"You sure looked different for a while," Kelvin said with incredulity.

"Yeah, about that," Max contemplated, for he was in the frame of a much taller person and it took a while for him to readjust his line of sight as he looked around uncomfortably from the side effect of the magic potion. The room was clean and white, resembling a much more expensive hospital out in the town where he was hated for being there.

"I told the princess... Aurelia... that I wanted nothing to do with this," Kelvin eyed Aurelia before continuing, "But she said with the climate around this place, people would mug me when I was jogging or something if I looked like me... so yeah, no other choice, I guess. How are you doing by the way?"

"Better." Kelvin was put into mandated therapy and community service sometime after recovery by the magic jury and with Aurelia's backing at that time, he was remanded without any further repercussions citing that he was not fully in control when the crimes were committed.

"Been a month since all the stuff happened." Max was uncomfortable, avoiding any direct mention. "I wanted to see you... to know if it was fine."

"Thanks, Max. I've said this a lot of times to the princess, but she wouldn't listen. Sorry. I did regrettable things. I hurt people. I hurt you and Amy. I will try to be better." Kelvin couldn't bear to face Max as he focused on Lee instead, feeding him from his hand and not show his borderline crying face.

Max couldn't find many words to say himself, looking to change the topic as quickly as possible. He just had a thing.

"Take this," Max said extending a communication device towards Kelvin. "It works like magic. The snarky lady enchanted this. She said this would work even when back home."

Kelvin was confused. Max took out another similar looking device from his bag, a bit older and worn out. "We can communicate now, whenever we want. Wherever we are. Like in movies. Isn't this cool?"

Who is the nerd here

"Thanks again, Max. You didn't have to do this," Kelvin said sincerely.

"I mean, this technically is a gift to me. One of my prick friends had a sudden change of heart and decided to gift this to me last week. At least it was useful." Max was fake angry. "Try it out. Send a text. Or even better, a voice message."

Kelvin had not operated a similar device before and Kelvin didn't bother to bring in any manual. So he pressed buttons at will and a voice message started playing. Kelvin fumbled a bit surprised by the sudden sound but caught the instrument before it was going to hit the ground.

"Thanks man, you are a life saver. I had one of your love poems lying around in my scrap and thanks to that, my girlfriend is my ex now. I got my freedom back and you are the hero I thought I never needed in my life. Thanks again, take this as a compliment. Write more. See you later,"

When the voice message ended, there was an extended awkward silence from which nobody could recover.

After a while, Kelvin cleared his throat and addressed Aurelia. "Will you be okay... after all this? I've been hearing stuff from the healers here. I'm sorry- "

"You've said this enough Kelvin. I will be okay. You take care of yourself. This is new to me as well, but this is what I chose. That is the beauty of democracy... I guess... As they say, it is of the people, by the people and for the people... and if it is to fail us and leads people decide against their own interests... it falls squarely on the people. Either way, I need rest."

Aurelia scratched Lee's cheeks as he stood there with an annoying expression, but not swatting her away. Aurelia was content with the respect she got.

"You shouldn't confine your friend like this. Let me take him with me for a stroll. Lee needs to see his friends too, you know," Aurelia made her case. "Titan is rather bored, I hear."

"Sure... why not..." Kelvin agreed before turning to Lee, "Be a good boy and don't embarrass me."

Lee did not care.

"Melody will help Max when he wants to leave. Will be back after showing Lee around, you two can talk in peace," Aurelia announced.

Kelvin, despite it all, was glad that he took Max's offer for an adventure, with the benefit of hindsight, for it brought him to closer to himself all things said and done.