Leon sighed and took a chair and sat near her bed. Her sobs soaked her blanket, her eyes puffy and her cheeks red.
Rafael was idle, reading a book, as Leon went near Ena. He saw Leon's leg shaking vigorously, going up and down, while he scratched his head. Leon tried to speak, but whatever he thought of never seemed to exit through his mouth. Rafael sighed and placed his book on a table, diverting his attention to the family.
"She's in critical condition, but she's still alive. We currently have our best doctors tending her as we speak."
Ena bit a small part of her lip, wiping her tears with her forearm. She looked down at her bed sheet, clawing the cloth. Leon diverted his eyes to Rafael, nodding his head once.
"I swear, you hyakagure's give me the biggest headaches. At this pace, all my hair will turn white before I even turn Sixty. I was only gone for three hours, and when I came back, everything was a mess."
"It won't even be long till I get wrinkles too. Just what exactly happened yesterday?" Rafael asked.
"It would be better if we discussed this alone." Leon stood up as quickly as he could, with Rafael following his trail but at a much lower pace. Leon glanced at Ena with a worried face. "Don't move too much... You're still recovering."
Not even a nod was returned to him; she only continued sobbing. He looked away and shut the door behind him. There, Rafael stood with confidence, his gaze not leaving Leon's.
"I had so many things to do that I wasn't able to talk to you about what happened. The guests were furious when they couldn't meet Ena. Calming down nobles is really hard, you know, there aren't a lot of excuses that can remove their anger."
"Can anyone hear us?" Leon replied.
"In such an important occasion, why wouldn't I? Even if we're outside, no one will hear our voice, and only see us speaking."
"How's the security?"
"All of them are dead, no survivors. Luckily, I hid the bodies before the guests could've seen them. After they left, I reported it to the police, and investigations are still being held."
"It just doesn't make sense... How did they find me?" Leon clenched his fist. He was about to break the wall, but stopped before it made contact.
The hallway around them shifted, slowly turning to Leon's room. He sat on his chair, putting his arm on his thighs as he hid his face underneath his fist. Rafael stood parallel to Leon, holding his posture upward.
"I'd be better if you clarify 'Who' these people are than just saying 'they', knowing I might not know them."
"Mairen and Arnold..."
"The ones that you told me about?"
Rafael sat down, making tea out of thin air. His legs crossed as he took a tiny sip before placing it down on the table.
"Who would've known they would follow you even after leaving Wakusei?" Leon rested his entire back into the couch, placing his head to look up at the ceiling. "What's our current status?"
"54 casualties, one heavily injured, and most of our guests are furious because they weren't able to meet the young lady; most likely because they weren't able to create a connection. Most investments do start during ceremonies like these."
***
Ena sat still on her bed, tears no longer falling on her face. Her eyes had worn out; even if she tried, no more tears would come out. All she could do was sniffle quietly; she gritted her teeth before pushing her blanket aside as far as she could.
She forced her legs to move, putting them right at the edge of the bed—with one single breath, she dropped down to the floor, her center of gravity wobbly, making her crash into one of the chairs. Despite that, she held in, placing her hand on the backrest. Steadying herself, she slowly made her way to her mirror once more and sat on the chair.
The piles of makeup were long gone, leaving only a deserted desk with a mirror reflecting her terrible state. There she gazed at herself, her breathing getting out of tempo, hicking every few seconds.
***
"Y'know, people who don't fix themselves won't have an easy life, right?"
Ena swayed her whole body left to right as Lisa brushed her long hair. Each stroke was precise, swaying slowly to smooth out all the tangled areas; after she continued to braid and decorate it to the best of her ability. But she would fail slightly each time due to Ena's constant swaying.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, if you keep swaying like that, obviously, I'm going to mess up!"
"W-wait, what are you doing!"
***
Ena reminisced about having the same face, same room, and same old lighting, yet the whole thing felt entirely different. No one to play with her, and no one to stay with her... She was alone, oh, how she hated being alone. Lisa helped her with that.
But that wasn't the only thing she helped with; manners, elegance, and social cues, she taught her everything she needed to know as a noble; however, the most important lesson she gave her was when she was alone in the playground, she was the one who taught her to be confident. That was how she met Edith in the first place.
Now, who was there to teach her? Who was there to take care of her? And who was there to help her in life? It felt dull, not sad, but just dull.
She jumped off the chair and reached her hand to the doorknob, struggling even to turn it. As she opened the door, she fell slightly but managed to stay upright. Staring at the empty hallways, the deafening silence felt noisy despite being isolated by all frequencies. She planted her feet on the ground, taking a single step, destroying the silence.
Everywhere she looked, it was the same: color, paintings, and memory; it felt stingy. After a few steps, Ena had found a rhythm to lean on, slowly swaying her weakness to her side.
Many servants saw her; Ena's gaze was much different from how it usually was, distant. Many bowed their heads, and many suggested that she go back to her room, but she only gave them a nasty glare. With no other choice, the servants only bowed their heads and let her pass.
After countless steps, she made it to the entrance of the manor, the same room where she celebrated her Awakening ceremony. Many servants were still cleaning up the mess; the place reeked of liquor, its scent flooding Ena's nose.
'Disgusting...'
She descended the flight of stairs, a sense of déja vu hitting her like a truck, despite the scene being completely different from how it was yesterday. Piles of confetti, unorganized tables, and chairs scattered everywhere, nothing but a mess from where she could see.
Many of the servants lowered their heads until she left by going through the entrance door. The unexpected light blinded her, making her squint as she traversed through the yard, then, finally, the only obstacle she had to face was the main gate.
To her luck, there were no guards in sight, but at the same time, there was no one to open the gate. Deciding on her own, she went to the guard compartment located just to the side of the gate and pulled the lever, opening the gate.
No one was near to see her leave, and no one to accompany her. That was when she left. She walked alone, leaving the manor.
Ena made her way to the nearest hospital, the same one Rafael mentioned when he first came into her room. A random nurse then spotted Ena wandering around with no company. She would continue to walk toward her and bend her knees slightly to her level.
"Are you waiting for someone?"
"Lisa... What room is Lisa Caroun in?"
"You're here to visit someone? Is someone here with you, a guardian or a parent perhaps?"
"No, I'm here by myself."
The nurse tilted her head slightly, her face showing a slight, awkward expression.
"Just a question: how old are you?"
"Six..."
The nurse sighed, scratching her scalp a bit. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you visit without a guardian, and even if you did, you would still need to have an important enough relationship with the patient that would allow you in."
Ena's eyes furrowed, her pupils showing a faint spark; she opened her mouth to say something until a voice cut through their conversation. "She's with me!"
Ena turned her head as fast as she could, recognizing that voice anywhere. At her glance, she saw Lisa struggling to stand up, many bandages wrapping all across her body with patches of blood leaking from them, and yet, despite her terrible state, she continued to walk and was conscious.
"She's my guest, she's here for me."
The nurse was visibly shocked at the sight; she wasn't the only one. Multiple people were surprised, a person so injured, yet still stubbornly tried to walk, and there was even a trail of blood from where she came from.
Tears started to flow again from Ena's eyes, and she ran toward her, hugging her tightly. Lisa, in response, groaned loudly, blood dripping out of her lips; Ena still hadn't noticed and just tightened her hug. Lisa only smiled and hugged her back.
"Stop her! Get her back to her room!" A person shouted from the direction Lisa walked out of.
A man in a white robe, with his eyes darting to Lisa, many personnel followed right behind him with a stretcher, carried by multiple people. The doctor adjusted his square glasses, which matched his white coat perfectly. He knelt beside Lisa and carefully checked her condition.
"You shouldn't just wander off like that! You're still in critical condition. The Hyakagure family specifically assigned me to take care of you! If they saw you dead, they'll—"
At that moment, he saw a child hugging his patient; his face nearly turning red as a tomato, that was until he took a closer look: Black hair, noble clothing, ruby-like eyes, and genetic purity. It was very people who assigned him his role to begin with, and almost instantly, that beetlike color turned into purple.
"Y-you're... What's a semi-pure doing here!?"
The man sighed, raising his hand out to his personnel, gesturing for them to place her in the stretcher. Lisa only nodded along and put herself on the stretcher, disconnecting herself from Ena's hug.
"You guys better be sure to take her steadily, I worked my ass off just to stabilize her organs! Even the slightest of motion is enough for her to bleed out!" The doctor exclaimed as he followed them.
"Don't be so harsh on them, Colin. I'm doing fine, just moving slightly." Lisa replied.
"Oh, be quiet, do you know how hard it was removing all the mana residue and the excessive iron that was in your body!?"
"I guess you still haven't changed since university, huh?"
"You know how surprised I was when I was told my old college roommate would be my patient? It only drags the intensity of my work, knowing that if I failed, I would feel guilty and sad for the rest of my life."
"Don't be like that, you make it seem like I'm going to die. And besides, you weren't the only one surprised; I'm just learning that my old college roommate is one of the medical geniuses and a rising star, becoming a top doctor on the entire continent—the world even. Your life must be doing great."
"Don't sugarcoat it much; there are a lot of things you need to learn just to save a person's life, even having a healing ability isn't enough at times, precision is always best."
Ena followed right behind them, listening to their chats.
"How's life going for you? I never expected a person like you to serve anyone, especially having manners. Didn't you say you wanted to be a doctor as well? What happened to that?"
"... Debt happened, the same debt my parents had, when I returned to my hometown after college, the people my parents owed came to me, telling me that I had to pay them back or they'll kill me and all my friends, friends like you."
"But, luckily, I landed a good job and was given an advance to pay at least a part of it, but in return, I had to serve them for six years."
"...It's been six years now. Are you planning on quitting? If you are, I can put in a good word for you; maybe even offer you a spot as one of my workers, which'll give you a boost in your career..."
Both Ena's and Lisa's eyes widened as they heard the sentence.
"Really?"
"Of course, I'll pay generously so you can pay the rest of your debt. You were one of the people who helped me make it this far."
"So, will you take it?"