Open to both humans and demons alike, the Dream Market has existed for as long as the three kingdoms have, if not longer. It was believed to have been created by the Triad of Demons, who came from the three most powerful demon bloodlines in the past.

- Dual Universes: Of Humans and Demons

Khiran shook his head. “I don’t feel anything yet.”

Raziya chewed on her gleaming red lips. “That’s a relief to hear. If you start developing any symptoms of madness, you need to come to me straight away, do you understand?”

Khiran nodded, then recalled something. “Remember the time you used your power on me to find a cure to the blood curse? And there was a golden handclock in one of the visions?” He took out Nia’s golden handclock from his satchel. “Look at what I came across.” 

That little prophetic vision was what caused him to have an obsession with handclocks, to the point he robbed the old sagehand’s, and even bargained with Nia for hers. But as it turned out, it was never the golden handclock he needed to keep an eye out for. It was the person with the handclock.

“Did you find the answers you were looking for?” Raziya asked, her eyes brightening with hope.

“I think so.” Khiran answered. “After my mother died, I ended up meeting this human girl in the strangest way. Anyway, the point is, she’s a descendant of the Lunare bloodline and she had this golden handclock in her possession. And eventually, she led me to this.”

Khiran reached into his satchel to pull out the leather-bound book that he had taken from the royal treasury back when he tried to help Nia save her sister. “Do you think this book has any solutions to suppressing the curse?”

Raziya took a double-take and gasped in delight as she took the book from him. “Where did you get that? That’s a highly-valued artifact from the Lunare family! Demons will murder you for that!”

“Not in the Dream Market. Everyone here has to abide by the rules, right?”

There are several rules set in place in the Dream Market to ensure safe and successful trading. First of all, stealing was a taboo that can result in the seizure of all assets and banishment of the thief despite the level of crime. Second, no living creatures can be sold, including slaves—and even pets—to discourage traffickers and poachers. Last but not least, no refunds. Goods can be returned in a secondary trade, but the sellers are not obligated to take back their products.

“Rules don’t mean anything if one is desperate enough.” Raziya muttered. “It’s not safe to flash that around. Who did you steal that from?”

“Hey, I didn’t steal this. I was given permission to go to the royal treasury of Saraja in exchange for saving someone.”

Well, that ‘someone’ didn’t want nor need to be saved, but Khiran still got his reward.

“The royal treasury of Saraja? Then this edition belonged to Lavida Lunare herself!” Raziya exclaimed excitedly as she flipped through the pages. “Have you looked through it yet?”

“Of course I did, but I can barely understand anything.”

Raziya rolled her eyes and snorted. “Right, I forget that the Zaraviks have more brawn than brains. I can take a look to see if I can find anything about your blood curse.”

“One more thing.” Khiran cleared his throat. “Do you happen to have an antidote for sleeping poison?”

Raziya’s attention immediately went back to him again. “Yes, but what do you need them for?”

“A friend of mine has been poisoned with some kind of sleeping poison.”

Khiran showed her the dagger that had been laced with the poison used on Nia. “This dagger is coated in that poison. It’s been a few weeks, so I hope you can still tell what kind of poison it is.”

In addition to Raziya’s powerful psychic abilities, she was also a highly skilled herbalist and apothecarist, proven by all the bottles filled with substances lying hazardously around. Not only that, she also has a huge inventory of enchanted objects. If there is a cure for Nia to be found here, it was most likely to be found here.

Raziya set down the book to pick up the blade and sniffed it. “It’s definitely a type of sleeping poison, the kind used to induce comas. But this is a bit strange. I can smell some ingredients from the demon realm mixed in it as well. This is not something you can find easily in the human realm.”

“Ingredients from the demon realm?” Khiran raised an eyebrow, but wasn’t exactly surprised. There were times during the trip to Zahdi where the Odessi family tried to buy medicine for the sleeping potion, but none of them worked on Nia. Khiran had formed a theory that perhaps the poison Roshana used was not an ordinary kind. Raziya’s words only confirmed what he already suspected.

“Luckily for you, I’m quite familiar with both human and demon poisons. By the way, who is this friend of yours?”

Khiran paused, unsure of how to answer. “She’s Princess Alenisha Latarias, the second princess of Saraja. She’s the one who led me to this book. Also, we’re both fugitives in Saraja right now because her older sister wants us dead for political reasons.”

“How did you get into such a tricky situation? And why are you still helping her now that you’ve gotten what you needed?” Raziya tilted her head at him with a knowing smirk on her face. “It’s not like you to mind other people’s business.”

He wanted to know the answer to that question, too. Why was he still helping her? 

“We’re friends, Aunt Raziya.” He answered finally. “Didn’t you always say that I need more friends?”

“Huh,” Raziya drawed out that word teasingly. “If you say so, Khiran. I’m rather curious to see what she’s like.”

Khiran rolled his eyes. “The antidote now, please. I have to go back soon before my candle burns down.”

Raziya let out a soft sigh as she wandered over to where she kept her potions. Khiran thinked that it is a miracle she managed to keep track of where everything is in a place as messy as this.

She started muttering to herself as she searched through the drawer where her potions are kept. “...Poison, drugs, memory potions…healing potions! Ah, here it is. This one can purge slow poison from the body, and it works on both human and demon poisons. Catch!” 

Raziya tossed a bottle of dark blue liquid at him, which Khiran deftly caught. 

He glanced down at the bottle in his hand and felt overwhelming relief. Nia can finally be cured now. “Thanks for your help, Aunt Raziya. Here’s payment.”

He reached into his satchel, pulled out Roshana’s engagement ring and tossed it back at her.

“You don’t have to— Wait, what’s this? An engagement ring?”

“I stole it from the crown princess of Saraja. The one that poisoned Nia.” Khiran said with a smug expression. “Can you read anything on it?”

One of Raziya’s psychic powers was psychometry, the ability to read emotions and memories attached to objects. Her eyes widened as she read the information connected with that ring. 

“Is this payment or another favor from me?” Raziya grumbled, then her eyes widened in surprise as she read the memories attached to the ring. “Goodness, what kind of madness is this? The First Princess of Saraja and the second son of the Crown Prince of Veruna are conspiring to unite all three kingdoms. There will be war soon.”

Khiran grimaced. “I figured that might be the case. Nia will have her work cut out for her if she intends to stop those two.”

“Well, she’ll only have to take care of one of them. I believe Princess Roshana is harboring plans to get rid of her fiancé soon. She thinks that he’s too impatient and unreliable.”

“Why am I not surprised by this?”

“You really need to tell me the whole story when you come by again.” Raziya sighed. “How exactly did you get caught up in something so big like this?”

Khiran shrugged. “I’m just unlucky, I guess. But I really need to get going now. It’s good to see you, Aunt Raziya.”

“Wait, what about the book?” Raziya held up the leather-bound book again.

“I’ll leave it in your hand in the meantime. Read it and see if you can find anything useful. I’ll come back again in the near future.”

Raziya glanced down at the book in her hand apprehensively and raised an eyebrow at him. “This is a very valuable book, Khiran. Aren’t you afraid that it’ll get discovered by others?”

Khiran snorted. “You’re one of the most powerful demons in the demon realm. You run one of the largest and most influential tradehouse in the Dream Market. There’s no place in the demon realm that is safer than with you.”

Raziya grinned and fluttered her eyes. “You flattered me, Khiran.”

Khiran rolled his eyes again. “Bye now, Aunt Raziya.”

“Fine, go wake up your sleeping beauty. Come again soon!” Raziya’s sing-song voice followed him as he headed back to the mirror.