(I apologize for posting so late. It was very hard for me to write this chapter. I tried making it much longer, but it didn't really work out. In the end, I decided to do it similarly with the last chapter: I'm going to split it into a few parts. Again, sorry for making you wait so long. I hope you all can understand.)
(to JorbyBlorby: Thank you so much for the generous words! I am relieved to know that my character interactions are able to entertain you! You should definitely try making a Tensura fanfic! It's really fun! I hope to read yours some time in the future!)
(to guest (Valten): Yes, Rimuru x Ciel is the only true ship!)
(to Kirikachan1: I too feel that there is a severe lack of Rimuru x Ciel fics!)
(to weewtis: LOL! Your review made me crack up! I'm honored(?) that my story can do that to your body!)
(to Violetviolet247: Jack 'boutta do a Minecraft speedrun. Dudududu~!)
(to silverzay: I'm very grateful that you feel that way!)
(to Alpha Bot: I have returned!)
(to guest (Eviona): Sweet! I'm very glad to know that people fantasize about my story! It makes it all feel worth it!)
(to the other nameless guests: Thanks for sticking around!)
Now, onto the chapter!
"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."
- Ernest Hemingway
New Green, Capital City of Agrita Territory
In Viengrey Manor…
"Just a little more, my lady!" A shout resounded from the master bedroom.
The lady of the house was currently delivering the territory's Lord Rodrick Viengrey's second child. She laid on the bed grunting as her face contorted, fiercely gripping her husband's hand and pushing out exhaustedly.
Emily, an old maid serving as the household's lady's midwife, supported her lady's labor with all she had. The missus struggled to push outward, her other hand pulling at the bedsheets undoing its arrangement. A sudden cry from below marked the end of their endeavors. The au pair had delivered the baby without much trouble. A quick look revealed the baby girl's gender. The maid held the baby in her arms as she cleaned her and presented her to the mother.
"It's a girl," proclaimed the old maid, her lips stretched out wide into a smile as she passed her onto the lady.
Although weary, the mother's pure smile foretold of her feelings clearly. She caressed her crying daughter, soothing her as she pulled the baby into her embrace. She then turned towards her husband and asked, "Isn't she beautiful?"
The lord offered a shaky smile and nodded—the edges of his eyes wet. She offered, "Do you want to hold her?"
Lord Rodrick shook his head and said, "I think she would rather be held by her just-as-beautiful mother."
Emily looked at the lord's hand that had been grasped by the lady earlier—some of the fingers were bent in an unnatural angle. She almost laughed at the sight. It appeared that that was the other reason for his denial.
"I'm so, so very happy." She cooed at her daughter, giving all her attention to the newborn.
Lord Rodrick kneeled beside the bed and asked, "What should we name her?"
"Felicia." His wife answered without hesitation, "Felicia Viengrey. My joy and glee."
She continued, "May the world draw my happiness through her."
"It's perfect." The lord pulled his wife along with his daughter into his arms. Emily smiled brightly at the sight of the three. Truly, a moment of overwhelming bliss—
—that hours later turned into an unprecedented tragedy.
The lady of House Viengrey did not last long after labor.
In an ironic twist of fate, rather than bestowing her mother's happiness Felicia Viengrey took it away from her family.
"Achoo, achoo!" Emily sighed as she treated the young lady.
Young miss Felicia of four years had grown to be quite the sickly child. Anyone who held her could always feel the cold in her skin—her condition was poor because of an ever-present chill on her body. Nobody could explain why it was there. Not the doctors or even the mages. All they could do was recommend the girl be kept warm at all times and never be let out of sight, for fear of the ever-present cold freezing her to death.
The old maid helped the girl sit up. Looking at the pillow, she saw that it was wet all over. Another mystery. Always after some time, the little girl's hair would moisten for reasons unknown. So, the maid and the other caretakers also had to keep watch of her hair, drying it whenever it occurred.
Emily poured some Burnble-bee Nectar onto a spoon for the girl to take. While the nectar could prove detrimental to one's health if consumed by itself, it was the perfect countermeasure for young Felicia's abnormal condition due to its heat-inducing nature.
A sudden flash of light came from the window just before drizzling could be heard tapping on the manor's roof. The maid quickly hugged her ward when she saw her tremble, covering the girl in a thick blanket to keep her warm in the process.
"Thank you, Emily." Felicia hugged the maid back tightly.
The old maid smiled and uttered, "You're welcome, young miss."
The young patrician had grown to be as beautiful as her mother, sharing her father's emerald eyes and her mother's auburn hair. The old maid did not doubt that her lady would have been proud of (but also quite worried for) her daughter if she were still here right now.
Emily separated from Felicia after finishing her watch shift (hers was the longest due to her own demand). As she walked across the wide muted hallway—the rain must've buffered smaller noises—she passed by the young master Bartholomew's bedroom. The boy's yelling could be heard from the inside, most likely from throwing a tantrum at one of his tutors. Emily shook her head. The young master had changed so much ever since the death of his mother. He had become more and more bitter and arrogant by the day, earning the dislike of everyone in the mansion. Emily couldn't be blamed to think that the lord was partially responsible for this.
Lord Rodrick had never been the same since his wife died. He had never smiled, always drowned himself in work, and never paid attention to his own kids. It was as if he no longer cared what his forgone love would think of him if she saw him like this.
Emily wished she could resolve this predicament, but alas, she was just a servant. She traced the encapsulating scar on her neck. A former slave, at that.
The maid turned her gaze to the window. There, beyond the horizon blurred by the droplets on the window, the sun looked to be swallowed in dark clouds with no end in sight.
"Why does father's heart rain whenever he sees me?" asked a six-year-old Felicia suddenly.
The young girl saw the surprise on Emily's face. She could almost touch the cracks that formed in her maid's heart every time she asked anything about her parents.
"Is it because… he hates me?"
"Of course not!" denied the old maid. "Why would you ever consider that?"
At her silence, the maid cupped Felicia's cheeks and said, "Your father doesn't hate you. He wouldn't dare to."
Felicia tilted her head in askance, to which Emily replied with a knowing smile, "He wouldn't be able to face your mother in the afterlife if he did."
Mother.
It was a concept that was foreign to her. The word had always been tossed around the manor—from her brother to the servants of the mansion. The girl knew what it meant, but she just couldn't wrap her head around it. She only felt bad things from the people who mentioned the word before her.
She stared at Emily. The smile that was etched on her face belied the palpable quaking in the maid's heart. Felicia knew that something was wrong with herself. Nobody had understood her when she described what she sensed from other people's hearts. Not even her tutors, for all their worldly knowledge, could even begin to grasp her condition. So, she stayed quiet.
The girl thought over the most notable hearts she had sensed so far.
Emily's was like a quaking plain—barren and shaky, with cracks all over.
Her brother's felt like a pit filled with rattlesnakes—revolting and frightening.
Her father, though, was much more substantial.
In contrast to his stoic demeanor, Rodrick Viengrey's heart was a raging downpour. Every time her father gazed at her, a wind would always blow the chill and rain her way, causing her hair to dampen and her skin to cool. The girl said not a word of this to anyone. Nobody would understand. And with how people's hearts wavered at the mention of her mother, she doubted anyone would help her anyway.
Back to the present…
Felicia jumped out of the bed and onto the floor, her screams tearing through her throat. Through her tears, she looked at her hands. Both were burnt up, singed from her fingers to underneath her sleeves. It hurt all over from her face to her toes. The girl finally realized the source of the heat that had been bothering her these last few days. It wasn't because of the sun nor was it a sickness as Victoria had called it. No, it was because she sensed someone's heart too clearly. The damsel didn't know why, but some hearts spoke out more literally to her than others, causing her body to react according to what she sensed.
To stop this, she needed to get to the source immediately. Gritting her teeth, she stood up only to fall because of the pain. All of it was just too much for a twelve-year-old child to bear. But she didn't give up, didn't give in to the pain. Forcing herself, she crawled her way out of the room.
At the same time, Jack heard Thomas' shouts and Felicia's screams from a few blocks away. Alert in a flash, he ditched the others—his mom, the Blade, and Lish's old man—running up a wall and jumping over houses. He had no doubt his mom would track him down and bring the others over.
Arriving at the front door, he barged in to see an alarming sight. His friend was crawling on the floor, some parts of her skin gnawed away to reveal the red flesh underneath.
"Felicia! What happened!?"
He went and kneeled near her, unsure of what to do.
"C-Carry me… to t-the backyard," demanded the girl, her voice shaky and strained.
"But you're--"
"Just, just do it! Trust me!"
He flinched a little before carrying her on his back. She'd already earned his trust when she led them to help the twins. Jack could hear her hiss and whimper as he grabbed onto her burnt skin. The boy himself cringed at touching the soft-and-hot tissue, but he bolted right away to the back of the house.
Ignoring the twins along the way, he ran to the backyard where he saw the familiar sight of earthen pillars erected across the ground. Though, the difference this time was that they were sharp on the tip, with blood covering a few of them. A gurgle snapped him out of his observation. He turned to see the blond boy on the ground, bloodied and beaten. Not wasting time, he ran over to him. He called over to the other boy, but the boy didn't seem to listen. Thomas kept on squirming and snarling at no one in particular, seemingly unaware of the world around him.
Felicia dropped out of Jack's back and crawled to the other boy.
"Thomas, calm down!" shouted the girl to no avail.
Felicia didn't know what was going on with the prince, too much in pain to focus on what was bothering him.
"I want to help you! Please, calm down and listen to me!"
The girl tried her hardest to get through the prince, but her attempts were for naught. Jack tried to pull her away to get someone to treat her, but she held onto the other boy adamantly. That was right. She reminded herself. She could have backed away into safety. If she left now and never came back, she would never have to go through this again.
But she didn't leave.
If she didn't even try to help this boy, forget entering the academy, this would mean she had turned back on her goal before even the first step. She knew she would regret it for the rest of her life if she abandoned him. It was either she succeeded or died trying.
Jack had observed the girl's stubbornness. He had wanted to take her away from here—he was sure mom knew what to do. But doing so would betray the trust he'd just given her. Besides, he knew the others were coming, so he figured they could help her here instead. The boy helped the noble girl's attempt to bring the blond boy back to his senses.
After a few more futile attempts, the girl began to feel herself become weaker. The world was spinning, her senses numbing. She could barely even sense the intense heat and flames blowing out of Thomas' heart. But Felicia didn't lose her sight of the prince. She had resolved herself all those years ago to do anything she could to reach her goal. And this was her first step towards it.
Felicia attempted something she had never done before: to dig deeper into someone's heart and touch it. The heat came back in full force at her hand, prompting the girl to release a blood-curdling scream.
Jack jerked back when he saw steam rising out of the girl's hand so suddenly. Felicia's hand turned black, crumpled up like charcoal. Just as he changed his mind and was about to pull her back, he heard shouting behind him.
"So, this is your doing Volgoa!?" Jack heard the Blade exclaim before hearing the sound of the man's sword being unsheathed.
"Shit." Another voice resounded. "Wait, stop! I can explain!"
Before he could turn around, he felt himself getting pulled. No, not pulled back. It felt like he was getting pulled out of something—he felt himself getting pulled out of his own body.
A voice rang out in Felicia's mind.
{Requirements met. Unique skill obtained.}
The rush of knowledge sped through the girl's mind. Focusing all her attention on it, she understood the contents of the skill.
Mustering all her strength, she cried out, "Activate, [Heartfelt]!"
The world around her started to dissipate. The sounds of shouting and clashing drowned out as if submerged. Felicia felt her soul being pulled out of herself.
{Soul corridor established.}
