During the ball, I managed to talk to Tyki about the recent events that has happened in my life and the problems that I had faced. He listened to me intently and offered a few words here and there. Though getting Tyki to speak about his past 2 years was much harder than I had expected, the conversation between us still flowed easily.
Lifting up a hand, Tyki touched my veil gently saying, "I see you still stuck to wearing this after all. Though your face is actually quite pretty you know..."
Surprised by his compliment, I flushed underneath my veil. Barely managing a reply, I said, "Some habits are hard to remove."
Smiling slightly, he took out a pocket watch from his pocket and showed it to me. "Here, remember this pocket watch you gave me? I've kept it quite well you know, though I have lost some things too..."
Wondering why he suddenly had a change of tone, I was about to ask him what had happened in the past 2 years when the niece of Tyki, Road, appeared once again in front of us.
"Hey Tyki! The Earl wants to see this girl over here," Road told Tyki as she settled into his lap.
"Really" Tyki asked Road, "Am I to go along with her?"
"Nah, he said he wanted to see her alone though," Road replied. She turned to me saying," Are you gonna go?"
Resuming my role as a ambassador for my country, I stood up and answered, "Of course. I shall be on my way then. Enjoy your time."
Whirling around, I left the two relatives together in search of the Earl.
Waiting Room
After asking around some of the guests gathered in this ball, I discovered that the Earl was at the waiting room waiting for me. Wondering what he might have to ask me or have any demands of my country, I prepared myself for a debate or even to settle for some bloodshed in the worse case scenerio if the Earl gets angry.
Knocking on the door before entering, I opened the door to a dark room that was filled with shadows.
"Welcome, my dear. I hoped that you had enjoyed yourself just now," the Earl said from the chair that he was sitting on, which was in the middle of the room.
Bowing low, I replied, "Yes, my grace, it was a splendid time. May I ask why have you summoned me?"
"No worries my child, I do not have any demands to make to your country nor have your country displeased me in any way, I just want to ask you a simple question." The Earl said.
Tilting my head to a side, I waited for the Earl to ask his question.
"Have you awaken yet?"
"I'm sorry, but what do you mean?" I asked in doubt.
"Sorry, sorry my dear! I mean to ask, do you experience splitting headaches these days?" the Earl asked with a smile.
Curious on how he knew that I have them, but I still answered honestly, "Yes, I do have them. And why would you need to know this?"
"Nothing to worry about my dear! I might just know how to cure it for you, after all I have met many people who might have the same conditions of what you are experiencing now."
In hopes that he might know how to cure this syndrome of mine, I asked him earnestly, "Do you know how to cure it then?"
"Yes of course, but you must first come to my castle first. No worries, I can arrange for you to come to my country as an ambassador and I would help cure you at the same time. After all, the cure takes a rather long time before it can come into effect."
"Is there a faster method?" I asked, "If there is, I would rather have that method."
"There is indeed a faster method, but it hurts a lot before the pain is gone. Are you sure you want this method instead?" The Earl asked calmly.
"Yes, I would." I replied with no hesitation.
"Then, just follow my butler into that room over there and then I would come in soon after I get the needed ingredients to heal you of your pain."
"Thank you, your grace," I bowed low again, in appreciation that he has helped me relieve one of my problems.
The Earl chuckled softly before answering, "There is no need for you to bow to me so deeply, we will soon be family after all."
I was puzzled about his last few words and was about to ask him when a butler appeared at my side in an instant and directed me to the door to the right of the room.
Though I wanted to ask him the question, I decided that I had troubled the Earl enough already when he had done me such a nice favour. Letting it go, I hurriedly followed the butler into that room.
In the Room
When I entered the room, the butler directed me to sit in the chair that was oddly in the middle of an empty room. When I made no gesture to move towards the chair, he shoved me into the seat and left quickly, locking the door behind him.
When I tried to get up, oddly, by some invisible force, I was unable to move from the chair and was restrain to the seat for the next few moments. Just when I was thinking of breaking out of these bonds by brute force, the Earl appeared in the room.
When I tried opening my mouth to ask him what was going on, no a single sound managed to come out of my mouth and I was rendered useless to whatever that may befall me in the next few moments.
"Have no fear, my dear. The pain is excruciating for a while, but afterwards you will feel revived. No, powerful even!" the Earl laughed wildly.
I tried struggling but, I was unable to even move at this point now. The Earl came closer now and lifted his hands to place them to the side of my temples.
"Now, my dear, just bear with it for a while. We all had to endure this pain, but yours would be much more than ours. After all, I helped to speed up your awakening a little bit. But it will only hurt for a while, just a while. Well then, see you on the other side, my dear," the Earl smiled before some power erupted from his fingertips, striking my temples with ten thousand needles poking into my head, a million times worse than my recent headaches.
It was so painful that I blacked out into a world filled with endless shadows surrounding me, to the point where I thought to myself, 'Ah, this must how it feels to die. After killing so much, it's only natural to die with pain. It will only hurt for a while, Lise. It will be okay, I can get used to it."
As I fell, I wondered whether that would be the last time I would be meeting Tyki, it was only a few times that I had seen him, and now, we are separated forever...