Chapter 260 – That Day’s Incident

“Before we head into Maiara’s subconsciousness to help her go through this trial, please share all the information that we need to know pertaining to that incident,” Fenrir spoke in front of all of us. 

I nodded. 

Not much information was known about that day.

And all the information I got… somehow they were different!

Back in Riviera, even the royal family only knew it as ‘a small fire incident with little to no casualty, in Cielle’s royal castle’. 

But… based on the information we got from Prince Manasye, it was a big incident in the royal castle! And there were casualties! 

The story differed so much.

Based on pieces I heard…

What the Riviera royal family heard: a fire accident happened one day in Cielle’s royal castle. Luckily, there was no significant casualty. Only minor injuries with infrastructure damage. There was no word about the missing crown princess, Oriel. After all, she had gone missing for a long time during the skirmishes with the Naraka empire. There were rumors that she had returned, but it seemed to be only a rumor. 

The queen designated her son, Deus, as the king of Cielle not too long after the fire accident. She passed away shortly after her son officially became the king. After all, she became quite ill after her daughter went missing. Perhaps she finally accepted that her daughter was already gone, and after feeling safe that she had entrusted the matters of the kingdom to her only living child, she finally could depart in peace. 

What I heard from Prince Manasye or the intel during my time in Cielle kingdom…

The fire accident in Cielle’s royal castle was a huge incident! There were even casualties. Even a memorial was built in honor of the victims. Though the memorial tomb was located near the castle, since most of the victims were either vassals of the royal family and members of important, trusted noble families who received invitations to the gathering held on that day. There were speculations about the cause of the incident, and no clarification had been made. 

The heir to the throne, who was rumored to be discovered, had gone missing again ever since. Elves of the Cielle kingdom believed that she had passed. Or some of the controversies said that Oriel had long passed, and the one rumored to be discovered was an impostor who caused the fire incident. Meanwhile, Queen Verbenae perished in the incident. It was said that her heroic actions during the fire minimized the extent of the damage and casualties. Before passing away, she had appointed her son, Deus, as the next king.  

“What actually happened?” I asked, after recounting the whole information we have heard.

“Cielle’s royal family decided to suppress the news of the incident. Only the insiders or the people directly involved knew the correct details. Even Cielle citizens or the elves not involved directly didn’t know the full details of it. It was natural that the other countries got different information,” Eltharion explained.

“As the doctor who took care of the patients of the incident, I could verify this. The incident was man-made. It wasn’t an accident. Someone definitely attacked us, but as to who… It still remained a mystery. We can only say that it’s someone who is opposed to the idea of Oni and elves coexisting harmoniously, since the meeting was held for discussing that purpose. However, the meeting was supposed to be top secret, with only trusted and important figures being invited. This is why it became quite tricky. And the queen was indeed murdered during the incident,” Eltharion honestly explained the whole incident. 

“Figures. I never doubted my memory, so I tried so hard analyzing the discrepancies between the information I knew from Riviera and the information that Doctor Eltharion and Prince Manasye told me. In conclusion, it’s their act of defense. It’s a smart thing to do, especially during the aftermath of the incident, when their defense’s the lowest. If the real details of such a fatal incident were out, perhaps others would be able to exploit it and attempt a similar thing…,” Ein suddenly commented.

I glanced towards Maiara-san, who was lying down on the bed in agony.

“Did Maiara-san lose her loved ones in the incident? Her family… or her friends?” I asked, trying to figure out why Maiara-san became like this, subconsciously unwilling to remember and face the truth. 

“…To put it simply, yes. That day, she indeed lost her family and friends,” Eltharion confirmed my suspicion.

“I wonder if that’s why she decided to not want to wake up? Me too, if I were to lose everyone I loved in a single day…,” I muttered, not daring to continue it. I could imagine the pain one would feel in that scenario. And perhaps being able to forget that nightmare and live without the knowledge and pain would be better.

“That’s what I thought as well. However, it’s just my bold assumption. The one who knows the real reason is only Maiara-sama herself,” Eltharion suddenly said.

“Eh?” I was surprised. 

“I can only tell you that Maiara-sama happened to be present at the center of the incident. Nobody else knows what’s really happened there, since there’s no one else surviving from being in the center of the incident… everyone, safe for her. And Celeste-sama that you spoke of,” Eltharion explained.

“Celeste…,” I muttered. 

From what I knew, Celeste lost her consciousness from an attack when the incident sparked. When she came to, she was already escaping with Fideline. 

So… nobody really knew what actually happened at the center of the incident. The incident that took the queen’s life, the incident where Oriel-sama was last seen, and the incident that involved such a heinous ancient curse to Maiara-san… and the one that caused many to lose their lives, and had to bitterly keep it to themselves for their own safety.

This… seemed a lot more complicated than I thought.

If that is the case… 

I wonder if Oriel is even still alive?

I began to think of that possibility.

“Being at the center of the incident… she must be a key witness,” Ein glanced at Maiara. 

“Indeed. If we could help her regain her memories, we might finally be able to figure out what actually happened,” Eltharion nodded.

“So… the cause of her being this way is either the pain of losing her loved ones, or perhaps something else also happened during the incident… something that only she knew?” I asked.

“Since the only survivors after being involved at the center of the incident were only Maiara-san and Celeste… that’s right. Celeste was too young, and she lost consciousness when the event was unfolding,” Ein said.

“So… our only hope is her?” Carbuncle asked as she glanced towards Maiara.

We all nodded.

From the pieces of information I could gather, perhaps Maiara-san was one of the personnels close to either Oriel-sama or the previous queen, Verbenae-sama, with Maiara-san being in the ‘center’ of the incident.

And… the deal with the doctor, about how he will tell us information about Oriel-sama if we can cure Maiara-san… What if that actually means Maiara’s memory held clues and if we cured her, we can all figure out what happened to Oriel? 

… Again, I couldn’t help but think… Is Oriel even still alive? 

Celeste was so convinced, but again, Celeste is Oriel-sama’s daughter, so a daughter would want to believe that her mother is still alive… 

If… if the truth isn’t as what she believed, would we be able to do something, still?

I hope so…

“And…,” Eltharion hesitated to say something, but he shook his head.

“No, it isn’t my place to say this to you. Maiara-sama should be the one to do that.”

“…?” I wanted to ask for more details, but since Eltharion decided not to say anything more, I felt like I shouldn’t press further.

After all, he had spilled a lot of confidential information to help us.

If he were to say something he wasn’t supposed to say, perhaps he feared that he would face the consequences after the person involved came to learn of it. 

After not having any new information we could share, we finally concluded our meeting that night.

Before leaving, I went to hold Maiara’s hand gently.

Maiara-san… Fenrir and I will try to help you, but the rest is up to you. I hope we can give you the push you need… I know it’s selfish to say that we all need you, so please overcome it, but…

I closed my eyes and thought back to the scenario I pondered about.

If one day, I were to go through a nightmarish day where my life was turned upside down… a single day where the people I loved and cared for were to be taken from me… Would I choose to forget about everything and live a new life? Or would I try to live on, facing the pain?

Choosing to not face the pain might be easier, but…

If I were to forget everything and live on, would I still be ‘me’?

And if I were to forget everything about my loved ones, won’t it be discourteous to them? And even worse, if there was nobody else that loved and cared for them, still alive… with me forgetting about them as well, who would be there to honor them? 

And would I want to forget about them, just so I could run away from the pain of losing them? All the good memories I spent with them… I want to always remember that!

I opened my eyes and looked at Maiara.

I hope I can persuade you, Maiara-san. I really want to help you. Not simply because helping you will help me in my mission, but because I want you to be whole and happy.

I turned to look at Fenrir. It was as if we had an unspoken agreement. 

Fenrir nodded at me, and then light shone from Fenrir’s forehead, and then from my and Maiara’s hands that were linked. A matching pattern slowly appeared on the back of my and Maiara-san’s hands.

The marking’s complete.

We will come see you tonight, Maiara-san. 

***

When I came to, I noticed that I was in a strange, broken world.

Though the appearance was confusing, I could sense that I was inside someone’s subconscious mind, for I had entered others’ subconscious minds enough to realize that I was indeed inside a person’s mind. 

Normally, one’s subconscious mind would look like a miniature of the world as portrayed by the beholder’s eyes.

However… What is this?

It seemed like there were cracks in the sky and the land. And the cracks seemed to have caused missing pieces of the world everywhere.

And there seemed to be a storm brewing there.

Fenrir and I looked at each other before we sensed that we should approach the storm to get started.

Don’t ask me why I know this!

I just got a feeling that I should do it. And Fenrir seemed to think of the same thing too.

Looking closer, the storm was made from two clashing forces: one very ominous black force, and another is the color of thunder, more precisely, the color reminded me of the Thunder Miracle Herb.

“This is…”

“They are fighting,” Fenrir explained curtly. 

Though his explanation was short, I could somehow get what he meant. It was the curse’s power, fighting against Thunder Miracle Herb’s curing power. 

Just as the Thunder Miracle Herb’s force seemed to be winning, but then, mysterious ethereal figures like fairies appeared, preventing the curse’s force from disappearing.

“Huh?” I was taken aback since it was my first time seeing this kind of thing.

“That’s… Personification of Maiara’s mind. She doesn’t want to have the curse disappear,” Fenrir explained. 

I walked to the cute fae-like creatures who tried to not have the curse disappear. One of them noticed me.

“Why… don’t you want it to disappear?” I asked quietly. 

The fae-like creature didn’t answer, but her expression changed. She looked sad. 

“…Is it because of the painful memories you don’t want to remember?” 

“…” The fae hung her head down.

“But… haven’t you made precious, happy memories now, with Prince Manasye especially?” I asked.

“…!” The fae-like creature perked her ears.

“If… if you can’t overcome this, you won’t be able to wake up. It will make Prince Manasye sad.”

“…”

“You told me that you wanted to help him. To protect him better. Can’t you try bearing the pain for the sake of the little prince who’s precious to you?”

“…” The fae-like creature looked at me with a determined expression, that changed to that of sadness quickly.

Then, a small voice seemed to reverberate in my mind.

I don’t think we can do that… we are not strong enough to face it alone. We’ll have to relive such painful memories, after all.

“Then… let me and Fenrir help you. I will… be there for you, Maiara-san! So, don’t give up!! You are not alone anymore! You have Prince Manasye waiting for you… the royal family seemed to favor you as well. And me… Me and my friends are there for you! Even if you can’t see them now… we’re all praying for you! And Fenrir and I will do our best to help you overcome this. So… won’t you try?” I asked, half-pleading. 

The faerie looked at me with tears falling from her eyes. 

I thought that she was so overcome by sadness that she wouldn’t be willing to try…

Just as I was racking my brains to think of ways I could persuade her to try… 

The faerie, still with tears falling from her eyes, suddenly had a determined expression as she nodded and took my hand with her two tiny hands.

Light shone from where she touched my hand and I could feel like the light was swallowing everything whole…