Gray is thirty-one this year.
According to his legal son, he's an old man who couldn't even sell himself if he tried.
When Gray first heard that, he was a little surprised. Had his authority really fallen so low that even his son dared to say something like that to him? But he soon calmed down. Thinking about it, he didn't have much authority anyway, and his son had a point.
Gray was once the most powerful gray wizard on the continent, until his own mirror started hunting him. Forced to hide in a neighboring kingdom's palace, he now matches wits with his stepson, Snow.
Snow is the queen's youngest son. He's young and beautiful, honey-tongued, and insatiably greedy.
Snow wouldn't let it go. "It's my birthday today."
Gray raised an eyebrow. "And?"
Snow took a breath and looked straight at him with his beautiful eyes. "So, where's my birthday present?"
"There isn't one," Gray replied bluntly.
Snow didn't get angry. He teased, "Treating me like this, aren't you afraid people will call you an evil stepfather behind your back? But it's fine. There's still time to make it up to me."
Gray couldn't be bothered to argue with a child. "What do you want?"
It was only a birthday present. He could pick something at random and get the kid off his back.
But Snow lounged like a Persian cat and said, "Hmm... I want... the crown on my mother's head."
Theme: I know your secret, and I will share your fate
