[RPG] Do spells gained via feats like Fey Touched and Shadow Touched count as “always prepared” for classes that prepare spells

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Feats like Fey Touched and Shadow Touched (from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, p. 79-80) grant you spells that you can cast once per long rest for free, or you can spend spell slots on them.

For folks like Wizards and Clerics who prepare spells from a wider list, do these spells count as "always prepared", similar to Sorcerer and Ranger?
For example, if my wizard with the Fey Touched feat prepares a list of spells that does not include misty step, can my wizard expend all his (level 2+) spell slots to cast misty step anyway?

Best Answer

Misty step learned through the Fey Touched feat does not have to be prepared.

The relevant part of the description of the Fey Touched feat says (TCoE, p. 179):

You can also cast these spells using spell slots you have of the appropriate level. The spells’ spellcasting ability is the ability increased by this feat.

We expect this feature to work the same for all classes that have spell slots to cast the spell with, since the feature does not respect the class of the character with the feat.

Therefore, since the spell is always prepared for a Bard, it is always prepared for a Wizard. The feat tells us everything we need to know - that is, that we can use spell slots to cast the spells. No mention of preparation means preparation is not involved.