Research first thing in the morning.

Opening the wooden door she heard a creak as the hinges shambled to life helping to move the door. It was only her door that creaked and she had come to hear the sound as a sort of greeting telling her that she was home.

The inside of the room was pitch black. Even if she had normal eyes, she wouldn't be able to see in this room. But it didn't really matter to her. Lilith actually preferred it this way because light had never been her friend. It also helped that no one else could navigate her room.

She remembered the room's layout as she heard the creak once more while shutting the door behind her. Thirty steps forwards would put her right in front of her bed. It was a simple affair. A comfortable mattress made of cloud-like cotton that helped one drift off like a log in the sea's gentle waters. The wooden frame with some vaguely pleasant décor held Lilith's fluffy heaven slightly off the ground and made the experience even more comforting.

An enticing option certainly. She was tired from the walk through the woods. Cally might've been the only one literally nodding off but Lilith certainly wasn't far behind. She likely had less stamina than the twins overall. They were normal and had healthy exercise habits while Lilith had a weak constitution and was often reading books alone in her room.

That said, going to bed in this outfit and especially after walking through the woods just wouldn't be appropriate. So she briefly thought about the rest of her room. There was one place she should really be heading first.

Relaxing with a good book from her bookshelf 7 paces to her right sounded enticing for different reasons but she would end up staying awake through the night if she did that. While she didn't have anything specific to do tomorrow, the siblings were likely to get their magic. She'd also have to sit through breakfast with her siblings. Perhaps even dinner. She didn't want to think about it.

So she reluctantly turned her attention 2 paces forwards and 15 paces left. There was a pair of uninviting wooden doors. She was sure the wood was engraved with something interesting but she hadn't seen it in years and really had no desire to. If she tore open those annoying slabs of wood she'd find a selection of clothes. Including pyjamas.

17 extra paces however was a long distance and those doors felt like an impenetrable wall with how Lilith was feeling at the moment. She wasn't the type to stand around and hesitate however. She may as well do it now.

She made two measured steps forward. Making sure to count them as she did so. Then she turned on her heels an exact 90 degrees and faced her wardrobe. 15 more measured steps later she should be in front of the wardrobe. She reached her hands out in front of her. Feeling the smooth wood against her fingers as she attempted to find the handle.

Her hand came upon a protrusion she figured was the handle. With a tug the doors opened. Lilith remembered the layout of her wardrobe and reached towards the furthest right. Her hands brushed up against soft cloth. Lilith tried to remember the texture of her pyjamas.

'I think this was it.' she mumbled. Lilith had an excellent memory but remembering textures was somewhat difficult. Regardless she took the outfit and changed out of her current one. She placed the old outfit one pace to the right of the door. The maids often came into her room on nightshift. They were the ones who carried candles normally.

Lilith made sure there were no other tasks that needed completing before she went to bed. Not recalling any such tasks, her head hit the pillow and she went to sleep.

Despite the darkness in her room, Lilith woke up at exactly 6AM. Her eyes were always blurry and her brain didn't get foggy in the mornings. So waking up was easy for her. It was as if she simply laid down and skipped time before waking up without fatigue.

She paced to her closet once again and changed from her pyjamas. Lilith chose something more casual this time around. Lilith didn't much like dresses. She only wore them to parties because it was good practice. Normally she preferred less obtrusive clothing. Like those she was currently putting on.

Her top half mainly consisted of a tight fitting top with short sleeves under a trench-coat. She wore a pair of scrunchies on her wrists. Extending from them was a hard leather covering for her hands in a manner similar to workplace gloves.

Her head was once again covered by a veil. The moon shining brightly from the place near her forehead that it was depicted. She had several such veils. Each depicted the moon in various states from crescent to full and Lilith enjoyed mixing it up. This time it was full.

On her bottom half was a pair of trousers that loosely fit her frame. The cloth was fine and soft. It was of excellent make but more importantly it was comfortable and appropriate. Lilith's childhood fashion was not accepted by the palace. This was much better.

Lilith ran through her day as she placed her pyjamas on the same pile as the forest clothes from yesterday. That was actually a fancy dress. It didn't much matter to Lilith though because she had several of them and could get more. Even better, it didn't come out of her research funds. Also known as her personal allowance.

Today was likely to be an exciting day. If the twins decide to ask their father for magic after breakfast they could get magic today. It would be a small, informal ceremony. Lilith was regardless going to attend however as she wanted to see what the twins' magic was like.

Before that however she had at least half a day to get through and nothing really to do with it. Breakfast would happen around 8. Lilith had a couple hours to do as she liked before then and the twins likely couldn't get magic before evening. It was just a lot to set up even for imperials.

It was better than Lisaran though. Lilith had read that their country announces to the public every time their royals awaken magic. They hold a massive celebration at the same time. That would've been far more of a hassle to set up.

The imperial family was far more decisive. The day they ask for it an imperial family member can get their magic. There's an entire application process for commoners and even nobles only get to skip the line a bit. But imperials get it the same day. They even get to skip the mandatory military service.

Lilith had some time now however so she decided she should take up the temptation presented yesterday. She made her way to the bookshelf. Reminding herself how she had organised her books allowed her to memorise the type of books she could run into on each part of the shelf. Lilith had memorised the place of each book within it's respective shelf. She had a lot of books. It would've been hard if she didn't separate them like this.

Today Lilith was going to remind herself of the ecosystem in the Neptune duchy's ocean. Zilla's new jellyfish popped up there. Some clues as to it's habitat and eating habits might help Lilith identify how she can get a specimen for herself.

She had a number of books written on the Neptune duchy's oceans but she needed only a reminder. Lilith had read all of these books before. She didn't memorise all of their contents however and she needed a refresher but the knowledge would soon come back to her. Which book was best for that?

She had overall reviews of the entire ecosystem and food chain but they weren't very detailed. It might help re-awaken her knowledge on those creatures. She could also not remember the information and be stuck with a frustrating lack of detail.

In which case she should be better off reading one of Zilla's books. She was incredibly detailed. Each one of her books was incredibly thick and she had always given Lilith a copy every time they were first printed. Something Lilith appreciated.

Lilith eventually picked the third book on the shelf. It lost colour as she picked it up and Lilith drained it's image into the shadows. This was how she was able to read. She wouldn't know what to do without her magic. Lilith had always printed her own books with some sort of brail for blind readers but there weren't many who copied this practice. Mainly because it was expensive.

Zilla hadn't done so because her books were too thick and adding extra weight to them could cause them to be too heavy for your average consumer. Lilith didn't begrudge her for that. She had profusely apologised to Lilith after finding out about the fact though. She had apparently had a few 'outbursts' at the publishers for it.

Lilith had chosen one of Zilla's books. She had also decided what she was going to do with her extra time. Zilla was only in the capital for the party. She would soon be going back to the duchy and Lilith would have to settle for letters and research notes again. Candace was likely the same. Lilith decided that today would be a day of research with Zilla. She already talked with Candace yesterday.

She was also going to do some research with Candace tomorrow if she sticks around that long. Her father was rather unpredictable. Lilith didn't know if she would stay in the capital for some time after the party or head straight home today or tomorrow. It wasn't Candace's decision either way.

The book was placed on Lilith's lap and she read through it on her bed. One advantage of her magic over sight was she didn't need to actually look at something. It often caused her to accidentally not look at people. It also meant however that for the purposes of reading she can put the book anywhere she can turn the pages. She wouldn't have to damage her neck by looking downwards constantly.

The first few pags were the introduction, contents and glossary you get in every non-fiction book. They were laid out in an extremely orderly manner. There were no illustrations but there didn't need to be. Zilla had organised the lists extremely well. Even a child couldn't get lost in this book because the contents were listed under headings and sub-headings of organisation each listed separately.

The headings included types of creatures to search for as well as the different classifications of contents. For example one sub-heading was habitats. Others included things such as sharks, corals water components and migrating habits. Lilith herself was looking for both habitats and the larger sub-heading for intelligent marine life.

The jellyfish was apparently tiny but it did have a brain. Meaning it had patterns of thought and was thus considered intelligent. A lot of plant species weren't however. Because of that Zilla made a distinction between the two in the sub-headings.

While searching through the pages Lilith thought about this discovery. Ultimately this jellyfish didn't have what she wanted. It wasn't immortal in the way she wanted to be. She couldn't learn all the skills in the world if she couldn't remember any of them. That would be pointless.

Is her search for immortality fruitless? The doubt often surfaced. No matter how hard Lilith worked she could never find a way to integrate animal abilities. Even assuming that would help her achieve immortality. It was like she was on an endless road and she couldn't take a single step.

She had resolved in her mind to give up everything for this goal. She had heard that there was a type of fiction in another continent where people searched for immortality and always talked about how the road was long. They always went on and on about honour and codes because without it immortality is pointless.

Lilith vehemently disagreed and she almost ripped that page out of the book when she read about it. Pointless? Immortality is never pointless. Some may find more suffering than happiness being immortal. Lilith wouldn't deny that fact. There were those who couldn't handle the deaths of loved ones or people who would be crushed by the loneliness and desolation of being the only human left when the world ends.

But Lilith was not one of those people. She had spent her entire life making sure that she was not one of those people. Everyone around her could die and she would never think of giving up her life. She'd been dealing with loneliness since she was born and she didn't care one bit. They were all stupid.

The first page Lilith found talked about the various species you could find just off the coast. It was mainly creatures that lived in the shallows. The bat sea star was one example. A big fat red starfish given it's name because of the webbing between it's arms. It can have up to nine of these arms even if it usually has five.

Harbor seals are another example. They are only found in the shallows because they spend an equal time in land and sea. They're often spooked but Zilla has apparently met several. She suggests in the book however that you stay approximately 300 feet away if you see one.

Gray whales are the biggest in the book. Lilith once investigated them for weighing over 80,000 pounds and still managing to not be crushed by their own weight. It was also theorised that some whales can survive fatal diseases that humans cannot. Yet another reason for research.

They apparently have long migrations. 10,000 miles or so given a couple thousand. Taking them an entire 5 months or more to travel the whole length. These weren't the creatures Lilith was looking for however.

Lilith heard from Zilla that the creatures were a few millimetres big. She was hoping to find any similar creatures that she could within the book. If she could get a read on what these creatures did normally, their habitats, diets etc… Maybe she could understand how they evolved to gain immortality.

"They appear to exist but do not live as long as I'd hoped." She grumbled annoyed. She had found similar creatures. Most of them tended to either live at the bottom of the ocean or hitch rides on boats. Some were even considered pests. But none of them lived very long.

Lilith tries to puzzle this out but the doubt creeps back in again. She shakes it off. She's finally found a lead and even if it amounts to nothing she is going to chase it. Immortality is her greatest goal and she can't give up on that. No matter what.

"Knock. Knock. Knock." Came a sound from the door. Lilith hadn't noticed the time. She quickly placed the book back on the shelf it was meant to be on and called the maid inside.

"Your highness. Breakfast is ready if you would like to accompany me." Said a maid in professional attire. Her voice was pleasant but condescending. Lilith could guess where that condescension was coming from. She didn't particularly enjoy it but she had long gotten over this.

The maid wore a black and white traditional outfit without frills or decorations. They were designed to look plain. They were servants after all and they needed to accentuate the nobility of the imperial family in their presence. Lilith couldn't actually see it though. It might've changed.

"Of course. I shall join you presently." Lilith replied and began following behind the maid. She lost all colour and the book regained it's own back on the shelf. Lilith's mind's eye adjusted fast enough for her to notice the scowl the maid had for a moment when she lost colour. She didn't complain verbally however. Her face was soon neutral again as if nothing happened and she continued walking as if nothing happened.

She was lead down those twisting corridors once more with the maid navigating the corridors with ease. She always made sure Lilith was still behind her with a sidelong glance. She was still condescending. So Lilith was thankful when they reached a set of what sounded like large double doors as they opened. The maid stood to the side and Lilith let her magic dissipate. The maid's colour returned.

Lilith walked through the familiar room and remembered nothing. She had never managed to fully inspect this room. It went against Lilith's curiosity not to know what the room she was in looked like. Unfortunately this room was never the same.

The table was always a different shape, the decorations were changed out daily and even their seating positions changed every time. Lilith had no idea what was in the room she just entered. It annoyed her to no end. She had to guess who was where by the position of their voice every time.

"Lilith. Welcome. Do join us for breakfast." Wyatt said. He was to her far right. What was the shape of the table this time? She started walking to the opposite side and just hoped the table extended that far. She could always use her magic to know. Except it was incredibly obvious when Lilith was looking at something because it would become exclusively black and white.

"You can sit next to me. Over here." Nadia called, tapping the seat beside her a few times. Lilith sighed in relief. She heard the tapping even over the padding on the chair and that meant she knew where she was going. With great relief, she walked over to Nadia and sat beside her sister.