That intent stare left Carl skeptical, but he decided not to question it. After all, his plan for the day was to find out about Alicia's response to his truth. They both started walking towards the castle's main gate. But Alicia, however, was lost in her thoughts,
"Now that I see quite closely, I see his emerald green eyes exactly match mom's; that dark green hue is almost identical. Not to mention, his dark hair resembles Grandma Marie in her youth. How did I miss all these when we first met? But how could I know that he might be related to me? Ohh... what am I thinking right now? I should be concentrating on making today a success. Right, I should start some kind of conversation..."
As Alicia came back to reality, she saw Carl, who was also deep in thought. As they neared the main gate, Alicia broke the silence and spoke,
"So, Sir Carl, how are you doing?"
Hearing Alicia's words, Carl snapped back to reality. He replied,
"Oh, I'm fine Ms. Alicia. Thank you for asking."
In his thoughts,
"Why is she not asking me anything? Is she waiting for us to leave the castle and then speak about it? And now she has that curious and excited smile... It is like that, right? Are all children this hard to read? Well... Uhh... Agh, I guess I have to wait and see..."
Carl was in complete confusion. After all, He rarely, in his entire life, interacted with children of Alicia's age. They soon exited the castle and entered the district. Carl spoke,
"Ms. Alicia, from this point on, I would advise you to put this enchanted cloak on. It will completely cover your current face and will give others an illusion of a different face."
Alicia happily agreed and put the cloak on. With a slight flash, it changed her face completely. From pink hair and amber eyes, she became a brunette with black eyes. They both started walking. Alicia asked,
"So, Sir Carl, where are we going first?"
Sir Carl replied,
"We will first visit the research labs, training grounds and academies of the mage district. First, let me familiarise you with the layout of the Mage District. We have Research labs, training grounds and academies for all five types of magic. We will now be visiting each one discreetly with more emphasis on the academies of Dark, Wind, and Fire magics, as you will be attending them in the future."
Alicia interrupted,
"How? How can I attend them, having these amber eyes?"
Carl, with a chuckle, replied,
"You will not be attending them with your current features. For you to attend the academy, I will first train you in your Dark magic up to the intermediate level, and then you can attend the academies in the new facial features created by your transforming magic."
Alicia, with excitement, spoke,
"That's great!"
Carl looked at Alicia to see if she would take the bait and start talking about their relationship. But Alicia acted as if nothing had happened. This puzzled Carl a bit. But they still walked towards the First Academy to visit, the Academy of Fire Magic.