Chapter 67 – Out of His League (1)
Lila gathered Hir in her arms and pulled him close. No words came out of her mouth as she shook him frantically to no avail, the boy still remaining unresponsive. Lila looked at Lacias with eyes filled with fear. “What’s happening to him?” She rasped, her voice breaking as she spoke.
Lacias looked at Hir worriedly, creases forming on his forehead as he tried to make sense of what’s happening. Aside from the boy’s pale face, nothing else seemed to be wrong with him.
“Let’s go back and call a doctor.” He took Hir from Lila’s arms and carried him, and placed a gentle hand on the back of the boy’s head. Lila turned to look at the lake to see what it was Hir trying to grab hold of and saw nothing. As far as they knew, Hir had only been playing with the waters and fainted the next second.
“There’s nothing here. Is there something on Hir’s hand?” Lila bit her lips.
“Nothing.” Lacias responded as he checked the boy’s palms. Deeming the place void of anything unusual, they hurriedly left the lake with an unconscious Hir on their arms.
Not long after they left the premises, black bubbles gradually simmered up from the surface of the lake.
*
“It seems like he was just shocked, other than that nothing else is wrong.” The doctor stated, having checked Hir thoroughly like any medical practitioner would.
“How come he’s not waking up then?” Lila paced back and forth anxiously. The doctor’s words did not ease her one bit.
“He’s just sleeping soundly, that’s all. He’ll wake up soon so don’t you worry.”
Lila sighed and covered her face with her palms, trying to calm her racing heart. Lacias rubbed her shoulder in comfort upon seeing how distraught she was. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts and she just couldn’t keep still.
“What could’ve triggered this?”
The doctor cleared his thoughts as Lacias asked him pointedly. “I can’t be certain since I wasn’t there when it happened. From what I heard from the both of you, the boy fainted while he was playing on a boat.”
“Yes.”
“He fainted while he was trying to catch something in the lake..” The doctor continued.
Lacias nodded, frowning at the doctor’s lack of urgency as he apprehended. “Tell it to me straight.”
“Yes. The way I see it, he was utterly shocked at what he saw beneath the surface. Maybe he likened a fish to some kind of monster? The boy is quite young after all.”
“He’s unconscious for hours just because of that?” Lacias asked, slightly exasperated at the doctor’s conclusion.
“The boy doesn’t have any internal or external wounds. There’s no other reason—” The doctor replied calmly before Lacias brushed him off with a wave of his hand.
“Stop.” He said. Seeing that the conversation was over, the doctor bowed deeply before turning on his heel and went out of the room. Lacias looked at Lila who was sitting next to the bed.
“I don’t understand.” She said quietly.
“Hm?”
“I don’t think Hir fainted just because he was shocked. Maybe he was enticed by something..”
*
As much as they wanted to ask the doctor for more questions, they knew that it was fruitless since they were at a dead end, and all they have to do was to wait for Hir to wake up. Lacias stood beside Lila and rubbed her shoulders soothingly. “He said Hir would wake up soon. Let’s ask him what he saw once he wakes up, okay?” Lacias said in a gentle voice.
“All right.”
“How about we go get something to eat?”
Lila nodded. She knew that waiting like this would only make her even more frustrated than she already was. She stood up and they went to the dining room where a meal was waiting for them. Lacias handed her a plate of sweet pumpkin mousse that was placed in front of him. “You like this one, right?”
“Yes. How did you know?” Lila asked.
“I pay close attention, so I know very well what you like.” Lacias stated it like it was a matter of fact.
Lila smiled, fully aware that Lacias was trying to lift her spirits up. “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.” He flashed her a smile, then he suddenly remembered something. “A card came for you, by the way.”
“A card? Here?”
Lacias nodded. “Yes, here in my manor.”
“Oh. I apologize for the inconvenience it caused you. Thank you for handling it.”
“You know, I felt really good about it.” Lacias added.
Lila asked him why.
“A card with your name on it was sent here. In my manor. Of course I feel good.” Lacias spoke in a hushed tone, like it was a secret only the two of them got to hear. He looked behind him and signaled a servant to bring the card in.
From whom could it be? Aside from the trivial ones that she had gotten from Lacias, Lila had not received any cards ever since Viscount Marshmell’s death.
She thought that it might have been sent by Enrique, since her last meeting with him was not pleasant, and she recalled him wanting something from her.
“Here it is.”
The servant strolled towards them, presenting the card on a tray covered with a black velvet cloth. Come to think of it, Enrique would’ve never sent a card directly to Lacias’ manor. She took the card off the tray, noticing it didn’t bear any crests that could have indicated the person who sent it, completely anonymous.
Please read this TL’s note:
Rings are form of energies. It comes in different forms for each character, others may take creative forms such as butterfly. It’s called a Ring as it comes from the hand literally. Inexperienced ring users uses pistol to summon their rings. The more experienced they are, the more rings they are able to produce.
Shadows are people who uses distorted rings which are called “Holes.” Rings such as these are colorless. They attach to other people’s rings and sap its energy to gain power.
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