- Papa, there’s something else I’d like to talk about in private. – she said in a barely audible voice only to him, when the magicians began to disperse. – I suggest we go to your office. It will be an ideal place where no one will interfere with us.

The king replied in the affirmative, and Thea, with her retinue and the Crown Prince, followed the king into his study. The very office she had seen in her dream, when she witnessed how her body could separate soul and mind from flesh.

Stopping at a massive wooden door, Horel took out his magic wand and waved it several times, creating a micro-vortex around the keyhole.

At the same time as the king lowered his wand, hundreds of tiny spiders began to crawl out of the crack of the castle, rolling on top of each other and merging into a larger spider with terrible long furry paws.

The king raised his hand and lured the spider to him, as if it were his pet.

- This magic trick was invented by your mother in her youth and taught me it. - he said with pride, but at the same time with obvious longing in his voice. – She loved the original approach to the use of magic and it was the paws of this spider that resonated with the versatility of magic flows, which is why no one could crack this door. She was an amazing woman.

Thea grimaced, feeling a chill run down her spine at the sight of a black arthropod creature with shades of rusty color on its belly. She was one of those people who were scared to death of all kinds of creeping things.

- Come on. – said the king, throwing open the heavy doors and going inside.

Since Thea’s last visit to this office, absolutely nothing has changed here. All the same gloomy shades of wood, the same furniture and a scanty amount of light. And there was one special thing that attracted the attention of everyone who was now in this room.

Portal. Sparkling with blue radiance, with a strong swirl in the very core, as if inviting to enter inside, the portal was the unchanging guardian of this place.

- He’s been here as long as I can remember. - said the king, having caught his daughter in a thorough study of the magic funnel.

- Do you remember when and how this portal got here? - she asked, already knowing the answer to this question.

The King shook his head.

- He’s been here too long, it’s too vague memories. I tried to go through it, but nothing comes out, as if it’s just an optical illusion, behind which there is nothing. He is a kind of interior piece of this place. - The king shrugged and grinned.

- And yet, you’ve always kept this office locked up in your absence. - his daughter reminded him.

- I do not know what this mysterious portal can hide, and therefore it would be too dangerous to leave it unprotected. – he commented. – So, what did you want to discuss, my dear daughter?

- Actually, it concerns this portal. - She nodded her head towards the glowing funnel and the king immediately frowned. – It’s too long to explain, but once upon a time, you yourself opened this portal to get in touch with the race of elves.

Horel laughed.

- That’s impossible, dear. - he smiled indulgently. – I don’t even have a clue how to do it.

- And yet you did it. - She cut him off. – You used an ancient gremoire, which was subsequently destroyed by the elf king, and your memories were erased by him.

- And why would the elf king erase my memories? - Although Horel trusted his daughter now, he couldn’t help but question her words.

- Because you asked him to. - she held up her index finger, noticing that her father wanted to interrupt her. - It’s too long to explain, but in short, you were too worried about me and the secret of my magical powers, so you summoned the elf king to erase your memory. That’s all you need to know. If you want to get your memory back, then only he can do it, but it probably won’t give you much other than physical pain. And don’t ask me how I know.

She had no desire to tell this story again.

- I asked to be brought here because I plan to use this portal. – she blurted out quickly.

- But it doesn’t work. - Terrence intervened, who had clearly heard his father’s words.

- That’s not quite true. He does not work without an invitation, which we have. – she was going to get the paper, but then it hit her like an electric shock. – Raphael?

She looked desperate with signs of madness, fear and doom as she looked at him. She prayed in her mind that only he would not do something that they could all regret very much later.

- Where did you put my clothes? - she was almost on the verge of despair, since Raphael could get rid of her clothes in only one way – by making them disappear by wizardry. But that’s where the invitation envelope was.

Raphael rolled his eyes from side to side, as if finding the study of the King of Riliya a very interesting museum object. He did not feel guilty at all, but he clearly felt the growing anger of the princess before the rolled-up envelope with the letter flashed in his hand in a black haze.

- You’re just an cretin, you know that? - she said, measuring him with a deathly cold look for the fact that he dared to mock her feelings.

She snatched the envelope from his hands, puffing and flaring her nostrils from the irritation raging in her. It happened every time. It was only necessary for the conversation to go into a serious channel and Raphael considered it a great way to make a joke and put everyone in an awkward position.

- I just like to hear the sound of your fluttering heart, honey. - he shrugged, perfectly pleased with his trick, grinning like a Cheshire cat.