Ellis had forgotten an important file he was supposed to submit to the hospital, so he went back to the Royale mansion to get it before he could visit his father. He had just entered the mansion when he began to hallucinate. It seemed almost like his nightmares were happening in broad daylight. He began to feel a sense of unease within the cavernous walls of the sprawling Royale mansion. First, he began to hear weird voices. As the only remaining Royale in the mansion after Marcus’s arrest and his father’s collapse, Ellis easily attributed his fears to his loneliness. But he was more than sure that something sinister was at play.At first, except for missing his father, Ellis had no problem with having the place to himself even after being accused of something he did not do. It was a good break from people. Well, until he found out about Yelena and it no longer was. He was beginning to believe Zoey, maybe there was a hex on the house. He had been relatively better when he was at Zoey’
When Ellis regained consciousness, he found himself in a hospital room, with sunlight filtering through the blinds and the reassuring sounds of serenity filtering in from the hallway outside. A doctor in a crisp white coat was making notes on a clipboard, glancing up with a look of professional concern as Ellis stirred. "Ah, you're awake Mr. Royale. You've had quite an ordeal, it seems. The staff that brought you in seemed quite shaken." Ellis opened his mouth to respond, but no words would come out, his throat was parched. He was given some wanted, and then the doctor continued in a gentle yet matter-of-fact tone. "The cut on your head required stitches, and you suffered from dehydration, exhaustion, and malnutrition. But the biggest concern was your mental state - you appeared to be experiencing a psychotic break with auditory and visual hallucinations which was confirmed by the gardener that found you first. We were told that you appeared to be seeing things no one else could se
Ellis could not tell the person behind his auditory and visual hallucinations, because of course, the doctors had attributed them to stress and loneliness. But in truth, someone was tampering with his mind. And it was Yelena. It had started as merely a game to Yelena - a bit of harmless mischief to amuse herself and scare Ellis, since she knew that Ellis had found out about her. Ellis himself did not know, but there was a bug in his own room that the technicians had not seen on the day that they saw the one in Mr Cyrus’s room. Apart from shape shifting, she possessed a unique gift, one that allowed her to reach into the minds of others and plant insidious whispers that could slowly erode their grips on reality. At first, she only used her powers sparingly while working as a maid at the vast Royale estate. A fleeting murmur in the ear of the house keeper to make her question if she had remembered to lock the windows. A hint of disembodied voices reaching one of the befuddled househo
After recovering from his mental breakdown, Ellis swore to himself never to be a victim of it again. In order to fortify his mental barriers, he spent more time meditating. He got help from Zoey’s mage mother, though the woman hadn’t known that she was helping him. Because of the need for secrecy, Zoey didn’t tell her mother that Ellis needed help, she just asked her mother for tips on how to improve her meditation process. Her mother was a bit concerned, wondering why Zoey wanted to start meditating when Zoey had been adamant about not becoming a mage. But Zoey calmed her mother down by telling her it was just for yoga. He spent two days in complete meditative trance. He didn’t eat or drink water, or sleep. The Qi he was channelling slowed down his body’s normal function so he could survive without physical sustenance for that long. His mind was blank. The aim of this meditation was for him to clear his thoughts so he could focus on connecting to his father’s aura. Being close to hi
"Ah, the pampered prince graces us with his presence," George snapped, seemingly regaining his usual recognizable composure. "I figured you'd wait for your spy to summon you before coming to show your face here.""Leave me alone, George," Ellis said wearily. He was tired after spending so long trying to wake his father.It had taken about an hour for Mr Crus to wake up after Ellis had woken from his trance. That was why they had enough time to get to the hospital to check if Mr Cyrus was finally awake, or if it would still take time for him to recuperate. George was taking away his joy at seeing his father awake, and selfishly ruining the moment. But George did not stop. "You do not care about my father. All you want is his money, which is why you abandoned him when he was sick and left him all to me to care for. How did you even know he was awake? He just got up. Isn’t that suspicious? Did you finally decide to release him from poison when you discovered that you wouldn’t get away w
Days and days later, Mr Cyrus was fully recovered and fit to be discharged from the hospital. After which he went back to the Royale mansion. But when Mr Cyrus got back home, it was a desolate place because none of his children or grandchildren were staying in the house. Luckily for him, the staff who came visiting upon hearing of Mr Cyrus's return to the Royale mansion were there to help him get things sorted out. He had left the hospital without telling any of them because he was hoping to support them at home. He had expected them all to be staying at the mansion together as a form of support while he was sick.Mr Cyrus had also heard of Ellis's mental breakdown, so he understood that it was for Ellis's own wellbeing, he was with Zoey at the time. But now that he was back, Ellis would have to come back home. He would also try to convince the rest of them to come live with him for a while even if they had their own personal places. Ellis stood in the doorway of Zoey's apartment, hi
The front door opened before he even had a chance to fish out his key. "Ellis! It's so good to have you home." The butler said cheerfully. The butler's cheerfulness mildly surprised Ellis. The butler was not known to be overly cheerful like this. Despite his frail appearance, the genuine warmth and relief in the butler's voice was palpable. Maybe he missed having people in the house after Ellis left to stay at Zoey's place.Ellis managed a tight smile, doing his best to push aside his inner turmoil. "Good afternoon, sir. Thank you."Just then, Mr Cyrus came down from his room upstairs, looking like he had not been sick and bedridden for months. Now that the poison on his aura was gone, he could freely heal himself with his own cultivation skills. That was why he looked healthier so fast. He smiled at Ellis, as though he had been expecting him for too long. They embraced, and Ellis could not deny the reassuring familiarity of his father's frame and comforting scent. No matter what h
Mr. Cyrus could hardly believe his eyes as he strode into the gleaming lobby of Royale Company's corporate headquarters. The once pristine space was in disarray, with papers strewn about and a general air of neglect. The workers were few, and it seemed like most of them had gone on a strike or something. His firm jaw clenched as he took in the scene before him. This was not the reputation he wanted to leave as a legacy. He worked hard to build this company, and seeing it in such a state made him angry."What has been going on here?" He asked Ellis, who walked at his side with a similarly disgusted look on his face."I don't know, dad." Ellis said simply. "Well, haven't you at least come around to check on the place since then?" Mr. Cyrus asked. He had never seen his company this disoriented. Why were papers thrown around like this was just some newbie company with no principles?"I hate to think that this is as a result of your absence here, since your collapse," Ellis said carefully