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~~((The Totally-Not-Random May 1st Special -- page 5 of 18))~~
That was... actually kind of a relief to hear, Hector felt. The Lord Gaolanet's powers were terrifying enough already. It was nice to know that he had his limitations.

"Could you elaborate on this 'art' of mental manipulation?" said King William. "What difficulties did you run into, specifically?"

Hanton took a moment to think. 'If I am being perfectly honest with you, Your Highness, I would rather not share that information with anyone. I believe I am already taking quite a large risk in telling you as much as I am.'

"I understand that concern," said the King with a nod and a brief glance at Hector, "but I feel that I must press you on this, nonetheless, Lord Gaolanet. Amicable though this meeting may be, we are still in the nascent stages of building trust between us. Sharing sensitive information such as that would go a long way toward improving our relationship, I think."

Hanton was briefly quiet again, and his eyes returned to Hector. 'And do you feel that way as well, Lord Goffe?'

"...Yeah, I do," said Hector. "Your abilities are quite... frightening to the imagination. A better understanding of how they work might dispel some of the unease about them." Or it could make them worse, Hector thought, though, he kept that to himself.

Hanton sighed. 'Very well, then... Where to begin?' He took another pause for deliberation. 'Generally speaking, the older a memory is, the more difficult it is to erase. When a memory--or any idea, really--has time to become entrenched in the mind, it invariably acquires emotional connections. This is what is commonly referred to as "sentimental attachment." Typically, that term is used to express an emotional connection to physical objects, but the concept is essentially the same. This persistence of ideas can make the task of mental manipulation prohibitively difficult, if not impossible.'