Chapter 54: Childish Temptations
Click.
The doorknob abruptly twisted open.
Finnie instantly ceased her Blessings, returning the calm to the room.
A head popped around the corner, Finnie smiled at her arrival, "Miss Senuela, you can come in."
"Sorry for the intrusion." Gently closing the door behind her, Senuela shot the sleeping Philip a glance. "Did he have fun?"
Finnie tenderly tapped his head and responded with a hushed voice:
"Mhm, he got engrossed in this new book." Waving a comic in her right hand, Finnie kept her eyes on the back of Philip's head.
"I'm glad. I was intending on inviting him over to Leon, but let him rest."
Finnie smiled apologetically, "This time it's my turn to apologise, Philip's been getting along with Leon. You should see the smile on his face each time he goes on and on about all the fun things he's done with Leon."
Senuela chuckled as she took a seat by Finnie's bedside, "Leon's never had a friend before, I did have a plan on getting him close with that one girl... But that was the same day as the diagnosis, since then... Sigh."
Finnie planted her hand on Senuela's, "Look on the bright side, he might have lost one, but he's gotten another."
Senuela exchanged glances with Finnie, "Thank you."
"No worries!" Finnie gave a hushed exclamation.
And, while Senuela did appreciate this comfort, a wave of shame inevitably overcame her. She just relied on a dying child to uplift herself; she couldn't be any more pathetic-
"Lift your head, Miss Senuela. I've long accepted my reality; you, on the other hand, have not had that chance. You've been running left, right and centre for almost 5 months now. You've barely gotten any sleep, and it shows in your eyes."
"So, please, Miss Senuela, don't think such thoughts anymore." Cheekily smiling through the pain, Finnie received Senuela's grateful eyes.
They joyfully curled up, clearing a vast amount of exhaustion. Senuela rubbed her eyes, then her moist cheeks, and stretched her limbs in a relaxed manner.
She felt a heavy weight lift off her shoulders, letting her roll them and regain some mobility.
"Hehe, thank you." She said with immense gratitude.
"No problem. I'm relying on you to keep Philip happy after I pass away. Think of it as an early present."
"I'll gratefully accept the present."
---
At that same time, within Leon's room...
Grit.
The boy crunched his teeth, his hands gripped his legs, and he dug his fingers as deep as possible.
Anything to distract himself from the surge of pain cracking through his brain.
It never lasts long, but every time it does come-
'Momma!'
-he wanted to scream.
Leon wanted to cry for his mother.
He wanted to release the torment.
Alas, it was impossible.
He couldn't relay any noises.
His voice couldn't come out.
Stuck.
Leon was stuck.
Releasing the grip from his legs, his brain relaxed and released the tension once the wave of pain receded.
Loose and frail, he embraced his baby sister, absorbing her warmth.
And, like that, he went to sleep.
...With a white haze unknowingly oozing from his scalp.
-----
The voices won't stop pestering me.
Incessant whispering, mad voices, and crying children;
Echoing, screaming, repeating;
Repeatedly cramming my ears with noise, I struggled to tell apart Hilda's words and theirs. Her voice blended with them, only further amplifying and grating my eardrums.
...Amusingly, this felt familiar to the sound of a computer breaking with a tearing noise shrieking through the headphones.
What was it called again?
A blue screen of death?
...Hehe.
If only they knew what death feels like, they wouldn't have called it that.
Amused, I patted Hilda's head with my weak arms.
I have no idea what she's saying, but the smile on her face was good enough for me.
-JoinUsJoinUsJoinUs-
-Friedmefriedmefriedme-
-didyouhearwhatshesaidtoherdaughterwhenherheadwasrippedoff?-
A hot, iron rod is being plunged into your brain, scrambling it into a piping mess.
That's what my head felt like at the moment.
I'm in shambles.
It won't be long before Esme notices this irregularity. Then, if she questions or pesters me, the truth might be leaked.
84,536,191AndIcannotallowthattohappen84,536,715
So.
Because I couldn't let that happen.
I pretended to fall asleep.
Simple as.
...and then, abruptly, my Curses flared up in my head, promptly knocking me out.
I ended up actually falling asleep.
-----
"How is my dear sister feeling?" Kneeling beside Hilda, Esme glanced at Alora, who was sleeping on Hilda's lap.
"She must have been exhausted; she fell asleep straight away." Holding Alora's head close to her abdomen, Hilda gently combed through her golden hair.
"Mhm."
Esme then looked towards Lily, "What did the physician say?"
Putting a rectangular object back into her pocket, "Sir has informed me that this should be expected. The Lady Alora is still unwell, so fatigue and the need for excessive periods of sleep are normal."
"He stated that we should worry when Lady Alora seems completely fine out of nowhere. According to him, it is not uncommon for patients to exhibit signs of normalcy before a rapid decline in health." Lily took a deep breath at the end.
"Understood, Hilda, I'll take over-"
"No!" Hilda interrupted Esme with a stern face.
"I'll take care of her, I'm responsible for the little dummy." The look in her eyes shot past all of Esme's defences, and, in the end...
"Sigh. Fine. I'll trust you to protect her this one last time, if, and I mean it, if you mess up one more time- Crackle!" Bolts of lightning quietly zipped between her hands, her snow-white hair slowly standing on end as she stared down at Hilda.
Gulping, Hilda solemnly nodded, "I won't."
Lily watched their interaction with a sense of pride; her young lady was growing splendidly, both in intellect and body. Her height was already approaching a solid 120cm, much taller than Lady Alora, who still stood at 104cm.
But comparison is unnecessary.
The Lady Alora is sick, while Lady Esme is not.
It is to be expected for her growth to be lacklustre, not to mention the Lady Alora is highly intelligent for her age. She even had reasonable suspicion to believe that of the two, the Lady Alora was the more intelligent one.
Nevertheless, it was not her position to judge the little ladies.
Her role was to watch over them, serve them, and, if requested, guide them.
Nothing more, nothing less.
...Hilda, on the other hand, may be in a position to be true friends with them.
While she, too, was a maid, a Sword Maid of Lady Alora, to be exact, she was of a higher stature than the average person.
'I pray for a wonderful relationship between the ladies.'
Smiling warmly at the sight of the Lady Esme and Hilda caring for the Lady Alora, Lily decided to take a step back. It was more appropriate for the girls to care for her; she, on the other hand, would only step in the case of an emergency or a misstep by the children.
If only this peace could last.
But it won't.
Lily was sure of it.
The Lady Alora is too sick.
The Lady Esme is attached by the hip to the Lady Alora.
And the tensions between His Majesty and the Mistress are rising.
'Sooner or later, something will happen.'
However, until then, she prayed for peaceful times.
She prayed these 'calm' moments with the Lady Esme and Hilda caring for the Lady Alora would remain the same.
With the Lady Alora this sick, it's allowing the Lady Esme to stick by her side more often, which is aiding her mental health.
'...It almost makes me wish the Lady Alora would stay sick.'
That cruel thought clung to her brain, oozing stickily as it crawled across her scalp and down her goosebump-ridden spine. That thought horrified her.
"Lily, bring us a light blanket. Something to cover my dear sister with."
"Yes, Lady Esme."
Bowing, Lily promptly exited the scene.
-----
"Careful, reinforce yourself properly, one leg after the other..." Hilda instructed me with anxious hands that were reaching towards me and retracting.
I followed her rhythm, pacing my crutches in line with her instructions.
The cool breeze and warm aurora light kept my body at a comfortable temperature, neither too hot to sweat nor too cold to shiver.
Perfect weather.
It's been 2 days since my head almost exploded from a surge of voices and pain. Esme was getting tutored by the Maiden, and only Hilda remained by my side.
As for what's happening at the moment...
"Ouch! Don't do it like that, you'll scare me." Hilda worriedly patted my shoulder after witnessing me flinch and grunt as I lowered a crutch.
...Hilda was teaching me how to walk with crutches in a method that would reduce the stress on my bones.
Something that was taught to her by the Commander of the Sanctified Knights after consistent pestering from Hilda.
I would convey my apologies to him on behalf of Hilda, but I do appreciate that he passed this method along to her.
In a way, this is a gift from him to me.
But I digress. Anything to alleviate the incessant pain was of great aid to me.
"Keep in mind, little dummy, your left ankle must never move in parallel to your right ankle. And while you do so, circulate your Blessings in an anticlockwise pattern in the right, and clockwise in the left..."
Step-by-step, I followed each instruction to the best of my abilities.
"...Yes, just like that."
My feet shivered as I used Curses as a replacement for Blessings, interestingly enough, though, it worked.
While the Curses amplified the pain, the process, in the end, alleviated more pain than was produced.
This is amazing.
It almost re-ignited the childish temptations within me to join Hilda in training; to grow into a classical power fantasy character.
Alas, this body wasn't suited for such intense physical activity.