The fragrance of tea filled the air, soothing the insignificant trace of fatigue left by the drastic changes in his mind.
It really had not been a dream.
Ruger lowered his head slightly as he tilted the teacup to his lips. In his normal state, he had never climbed those stairs. He had originally intended to leave the garden and take a look upstairs, confirming that he was not dreaming and ruling out that most negligible possibility.
Now, there was no need to climb those stairs anymore.
The two sipped their tea, chatting intermittently.
Ruger could feel his own heartbeat, and he was grateful to himself, grateful to his spell. He knew very little about this lady, but one thing was certain: she was powerful. Without this heart, she might well have noticed something amiss as he sat here chatting with other thoughts hidden beneath the surface.
"You've permanently embedded a spell that conceals your presence?" Kailyn suddenly asked, holding her teacup.
"What do you think, my lady?" Ruger asked with a faint, teasing smile.
"It isn't a barrier, nor does it give that sense of separation from the world. It conceals you on a perceptual level. It doesn't just affect detection; there's a subjective element to it too, making observers unconsciously overlook you..."
Kailyn answered thoughtfully, seemingly quite fond of playing this little game with Ruger.
Ruger raised an eyebrow. Playing such games with someone stronger than himself really put him at a disadvantage. Next time, he would find a one-ring wizard to play with. Even if he let that wizard probe him freely with mental power, they would still be unable to figure it out.
Yet Lady Kailyn did not seem to be using mental power to perceive him. Instead, she had voiced her conclusions based on the