"Only one from there would know everything there is to know about all the other players in the game." the duke admonished. "I would almost say for sure that your knowledge of us is equally thorough."

"I also correlated and memorized the history of every house family from the first lock up to present day." Reimeiko said. "Shall I give you the rundown of every house from the beginning to the present day?"

"Heavens no, that would take centuries for the long haul as you say." Byron breathed. "And that would build up quite the appetite. Which reminds me, now that you are here as our guest, the royal kitchens can make you anything your heart desires. Go on ask for anything."

"Anything huh?' Reimeiko asked. "How about the biggest ice cream sundae I have ever seen with three spoons and I will share it with the two of you?"

"The finest chefs in the world and you choose an ice cream sundae of all things?" Byron sneered. After a few minutes they receive an ice cream sundae as big as Reimeiko's head and three spoons. "Alright, I stand corrected, this is actually very good."

"That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." Malachi said. After the dining room, the brothers showed Reimeiko the sights, starting with the lofty rooms that proudly displayed the Alliance history. "And here in the historic east wing, we have the national Taborian gallery."

"In the days past, this was the throne room, the center of power where reigning monarchs would hold court. But once the new throne room was built, this became a gallery devoted to the important relics like the Taborian crown jewels. Those are over here." They led her to a display case where an orb and the Taborian scepter sit glistening on pillows.

"It is very orblike." Reimeiko replied. "The golden scepter. Is everything themed?"

"Oh yes, pretty much." Byron said. "They are the symbols of the crown. Every king and queen has held these during their coronation."

"You know, if everything goes according to plan and you marry Prince Karyson, you might one day hold them yourself." Malachi added.

"I know that you want to tell them that Reimeiko is already married to Karyson." Tristan said. "But you need to wait until I can reconnect him to me and Knight Wolf."

"I like your confidence." Malachi said. "And here is the palace pool and deck. Floating the days away has never been so attainable. It is like we are at a fancy hotel."

"If by fancy hotel you mean an enduring symbol of the strength and dignity of the Taborian government." Byron snapped.

"This is not the Thaddea I know and remember." Reimeiko thought. "I just do not understand what happened to invoke all of these crazy changes?"

"The parents are still working on that." Tristan said. "We need to find out who is ruling Thaddea in Dad's place so we can fix the main situation."

"Why is a bathroom part of the tour?" Reimeiko asked. "Do not get me wrong, it looks perfect for bubble baths. Why is this particular bathtub and bathroom on the tour?"

"This is the biggest bathtub in the entire palace." Malachi said. "It is perfect both in shape and height to achieve the optimal ratio of water to bubble levels. I will share my formula with you later."

"Please tell me when you say that this is the biggest tub in the entire palace," Byron asked, "that you have not actually tried every tub in the royal palace? No wait, do not answer that. I would like to maintain some level of plausible deniability on this."

Malachi chuckled as he and Byron led Reimeiko to the last room of the royal tour, the royal throne and hall of portraits room.

"The royal throne room looks like it was totally made for me and the future." Reimeiko replied. "I will gain him and everything about him for the sake of the future."

"As it should be." Byron said. "This is where the King and Queen sit to meet with foreign dignitaries and their people. In the old days, it used to be that people and nobility alike had to pay their respect by kneeling and touching the hem of the king or queen. But ever since a successful assassination on a queen several hundred years ago, that was outlawed. In fact, you must never touch the king or queen physically without their permission. Now, if you will follow me this way."

Byron walked away from the thrones to the hall of portraits on the far end, but Reimeiko and Malachi hung back to really look at the thrones.

"I have always wondered if those thrones were comfortable." Malachi asked her. "I wonder if they are as comfortable as they look from here at this vantage point."

"As tempting as trying them on for size is." Reimeiko replied. "Maybe we should respectfully look at them from a distance although, I know it is only what you have been doing your whole life. Shall we catch up to Byron before he realizes that we are not listening?"

Without thinking twice, Reimeiko and Malachi hurry to catch up to Byron before he could turn around and find they were not with him.

"And this portrait of King Keitaro was bequeathed to him by the Count of Evedia as a gift." Byron said.

"Wow, King Keitaro was extremely handsome." Reimeiko replied, "He also has a very commanding air about him and is very hypnotic. Karyson, Racine, Koridon and Garyson's great great grandfather on their mother Seidre's side of the family was quite the fierce protector and defender as well." As Malachi skipped off to scout ahead, the grandeur of everything that had been seen hit Reimeiko hard but she had to act like she really did not know anything about her Karyson and Garyson's royal home. "Wow, Karyson was not kidding when he said he was crown prince of Thaddea, was he?"

"I would much prefer it if you did not use his first name so much in public." Byron said. "There is royal protocol to follow you realize after all. But I am curious, what exactly are you doing here in Taboria?"

"Well Your Grace, have you not ever been in love?" Reimeiko asked. Byron dumbfounded and blushing caught her attention. "I knew it! Alright wiseguy, who is the lucky lady in your life?"

"There is no one. I do not have time for such diversions." Byron said flustered. "It is you we are talking about. Why are you here trying to win the hand of Prince Garyson Walters?"

Reimeiko knew that she had to be careful how she answered for the sake of not blowing her cover, but also to make sure that she did not reveal herself too soon like Daryien said although Byron and Malachi already knew who she was and where she came from.

"Byron, believe it or not, fate led me here." Reimeiko replied. "I am not sure why fate put Garyson in my path and brought me to you, but Karyson is special. I knew it from the moment we met and I did not even know that Garyson was a prince then unlike Karyson who is from Thaddea. And now I have this incredible chance to reconnect with him thanks to you and Malachi. Should I not follow through and see what happens next? Do you think it is too sentimental?"

"No, Your Highness, I think I see it now." Byron acknowledged. "You have a certain something about you, maybe a charm, I am not sure, but I sense something very familiar about you like you have been here before. Perhaps you do have a slim sliver of a chance after all."

"I knew there was something I did not like about him." Tristan growled through the earpiece. "Byron Blanchard was not always a stuck up blowhard like he is now. Back in the days before old man Blanchard deserted and abandoned them, Byron used to be cool. Nowadays, he is just as stuck up as his old man. I wonder if there is more that happened to make him such a stiff."

Reimeiko chuckled at Tristan's rogue assessment. "Do not celebrate yet." Byron said. "We will still have our work cut out for us. If you are not careful, it could all end tomorrow."

"Typical grouch. You just could not end it on a high note could you?" Reimeiko asked. Byron shrugged as Malachi returned to them. To herself she thought. "I hope I do not regret making this move. It would be a shame if the man I am already married to gets caught up in a bad case of bigamy."

"Hey what is up? Are you two coming?" Malachi asked. "Come on, I hear it is almost time for dinner and I am totally starved. And it will be an excellent time to see what you know about the different silverware."

"It sounds like a party. Lead the way." Reimeiko replied. Later on, after the tour of the palace and the dinner, Byron and Malachi walked with Reimeiko back to her room. "You know, I have to really say that this was really fun. We are going to have so much fun together and thank you both for picking me for your house."

"It was the best decision I have ever made as far as I can really tell." Malachi said cheerfully

"The dye is cast, is it not? I suppose we shall see just how you fare in the days to come and how much you have learned tomorrow in any case." Byron added ruefully. "Good night, Reimeiko, we will find you tomorrow to plan for the masquerade. If you need anything, we will be in the suite next door, otherwise, sleep well." She returned to her room and after her things are unpacked and put away, she sat at the table on her balcony and began typing away into her latest entry in her computer journal: After the final battle with Chaotic and Nemesira, I thought we were done facing off with tyrants, dictators and conspiracies, but it seems there is another conspiracy to face off with. Something has happened to separate Karyson from Tristan, Knight Wolf and his memories of being connected with Reimeiko Thunderis and where she fits into his life: A video call from Pepper paused her musings. She knew that Pepper was going to have a ton of questions knowing the truth.