Chapter 1
The celebration was held in honor of the engagement of my eldest brother, John, and Selena from the Third Royal Family. Expensive hors d’oeuvres and drinks, exquisite guest attire—nothing more than an elaborate attempt to say: “This is the finest engagement you will ever witness. Just imagine what the wedding will be like.”
From time to time, the families arrange marital alliances to strengthen their already ironclad bonds and to continue the royal bloodlines. The First Royal Family marries into the Third, the Second into the Fourth. Children born from these unions are forbidden to marry one another; they must always choose a partner from a different family. Matches are carefully arranged to minimize the mixing of bloodlines, though inevitably everyone ends up being a distant relative to someone else.
I belong to the First Royal Family. My parents have seven children; I am the fifth.
John is the eldest—thirty-five. Then comes Diana, thirty-two. Patrick is thirty. Our fourth sibling is Valentina, twenty-eight. Then me—Aurora, twenty-six. After me are Louis, twenty-four, and Fiona, twenty-two.
Returning to the engagement—honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were canceled, just like mine was. The “correct” decision had been made, but I still couldn’t understand why my uncle—who currently holds the final authority—had acted the way he did. Watching the entire spectacle unfold, all I wanted was to get away as quickly as possible.
“Rory, why do you look so bored?”
Only my parents and siblings are allowed to call me that. To everyone else, I am Aurora.
Patrick approached me, squinting slightly.
“Oh no,” he continued, “don’t tell me you’re reminiscing about your failed engagement to Davis.”
“Oh, go to hell,” I frowned, waving him off.
“Is that really how a member of the First Royal Family should speak?” he smirked.
“My apologies for such a sharp response to your assumption,” I replied, forcing a polite smile that showed just a bit too much teeth. “You know how I feel about events like this. I consider them a complete waste of time.”
“Try to enjoy yourself. Truly savor the celebration. Be happy for John.”
He glanced toward my brother, who was laughing nearby. John noticed us watching and raised his glass. We did the same, clinking our glasses together. I drained mine in one gulp.
“That’s champagne made from the most exquisite fruit of rare grapes,” Patrick said. “It’s meant to be savored. And you downed it without tasting it at all.”
“I need to speak with our uncle,” I said, already moving into the heart of the crowd.
Servants passed by carrying trays of champagne. I grabbed two glasses as one passed me. A little courage wouldn’t hurt tonight. After all, I needed to speak to the most powerful man on our planet—my twelfth uncle.
He rules now. Before him, my father sat on the throne. Before my father—my aunt.
Our super-planet is home to all members of royal blood—four families—as well as ordinary people who serve us. This planet, along with three others, forms our Royal Universe. The three additional planets are alternate dimensions of our own. They are entirely real and inhabited, but events unfold there differently.
Whenever a crucial decision must be made, we summon quantum projections of possible futures probability-based dimensional simulations. Each planet represents the outcome of a possible choice: positive, negative, or compromised. In this way, we always choose correctly.
There are no wars. No diseases. No poverty. No harmful habits. Death comes only from old age—at one hundred and fifty for ordinary humans, and at two hundred for members of the royal families. Crime does not exist. Everyone is kind. Everyone is polite.
Romantic relationships between us and ordinary humans are impossible—not only due to status, but physically. Our women stand over two meters tall, and our men range from two to two and a half meters.
My path was suddenly blocked by Valentina, my elder sister. She is considered the finest representative of our family—kind, sensitive, caring. Sometimes, I think she tries too hard.
“Come quickly,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the castle interior.
“I need to speak with our uncle urgently. Let me go,” I pleaded.
“Today is not the day,” she replied, dragging me through the palace corridors.
We ended up in her chambers. She guided me toward the decision transmitters.
“I’m starting to doubt the correctness of our decisions,” I admitted. “It feels like they benefit someone.”
“You think someone is deliberately influencing the outcomes? Pushing us toward choices that serve their interests?”
“For now, it’s only a suspicion.”
“Either way, I’m with you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Knowing you, you won’t let this go. You’ll dig until you find the truth. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you.”
“Then I’ll need your help—if our uncle refuses to assist,” I said. I trusted her, so I shared my plan.
“He won’t agree.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw it in my transmitter. That’s why I need to help you. Tell me—what happened?”
“…Alright. I was killed on one of the planets. I want to know who did it.”
“What? Can’t the transmitter show you?”
“That’s the problem—it doesn’t work. The one that recorded events on the planet where I died is offline.”
“Then you could be killed here too? But how? We don’t have murders.”
“Maybe we do,” I said quietly. “And we just don’t know about them.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to that planet. I need to find the killer. I think it will explain everything. I have to act immediately. I’ve already reviewed the future, so I’m still alive there—but not for long. I don’t have much time. I need cover while I’m gone.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Valentina said firmly. “I’ll take care of everything. But you must return before your birthday. They won’t tolerate your absence.”
“I’ll resolve it as quickly as I can.”
