Finley Cai Aies Hall May 16th,20XX

My consciousness returned with a flash and I mentally braced myself for the pain to return but the sudden lack of it and even somewhat pleasant feeling of soft sheets beneath me almost seemed to laugh at me in response.

I couldn’t move yet but I could hear everything around me.

The low voices of two women bounced back and forth from a distance away and a few drops from the wet towel on my forehead dripped down my face and onto my collarbone.

“Any clue to what's wrong with him yet?”

Ah, that was Mei’s voice, wasn’t it?

“I have a few ideas but until he wakes up and answers a few questions then I can’t say for sure. Are you sure he hasn’t come into any contact with any goblins? Even in the human world?”

The unfamiliar voice wasn’t so much accusatory as it was curious but Mei still reacted defensively.

“How would I know such a thing Talan? He goes wherever he wants to go and doesn’t tell me anything. I haven’t been able to detect any goblin magic on him either but who knows if that’s because he hasn’t been around any or because my senses are sealed too deeply to find it”

So the stranger is named Talan. Wasn’t that the fairy Mei wanted to bring in as an aide?

“When do you think he’ll wake up?”

Yet another voice added to the conversation but this one, although it was familiar wasn’t even nearly as pleasant to hear.

The now warm cloth on my forehead was replaced with another cool one and the soft splashing of a bucket beside the bed had told me that this wasn’t the first time it had happened.

“There’s nothing outright wrong with him so it could be any moment now. Just keep tending to him.”

“Take a break now Linus. It’s been four days you’ve tended to his highness, I’m sure you’re exhausted”

I waited for the male fairy to take offence at being ordered around by Mei, as I was sure I would have but rather than that he only subserviently responded to her.

“Thank you for your concern General but it’s my duty. Even if I haven’t officially been inducted as his highness’s aide I’ll still do what I'm supposed to.”

The soft voice slithered into my ear as he was right beside me and made me somewhat uncomfortable but I allowed it, after all, he had been taking care of me for so long. Even if I wasn’t so magnanimous it wasn’t like I could do anything about it right now.

Mei tried to get him to rest once more but he responded in a docile but uncompromising manner.

“Honestly General, even if you are engaged it would hardly be inappropriate to touch him while he is in such a vulnerable state. I have no doubts about your character but…better safe than sorry.”

Talan suddenly chuckled loudly and left the room but Mei lingered around for a few more seconds before leaving as well.

Akseli stood up as well but instead of leaving as the other two fairies had done began to move the heavy but warm blanket off me and removed my outer layers of clothing in an uncomfortably familiar manner.

He then began to wipe me down with a warm cloth in a methodical manner that told me he had done this multiple times already.

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As he worked he began to speak in a neutral tone. Not particularly bitter or angry but most definitely not happy either.

“I hope you wake up soon your highness. For the sake of everyone I hope you are okay… but since you can’t hear me anyways can I be a bit honest with you?”

I got a bit nervous at this point.

I didn't think Askeli was capable of even touching me without my permission, never mind harming me in any significant way. But that was in my normal state, not in this pseudo coma I found myself in.

“I know you don’t like me, and I can’t say that the feeling isn’t mutual but I need to be here. If I go home and have to be sold off like the others… I don’t think I could live. No, I wouldn’t live. I’m a prideful person you know? Even if you don’t seem to think so.”

He threw the towel back into the bowl and slung my arm over his shoulders, then moved me onto a large couch, probably to clean off the bed.

“Although I could probably find myself another fiancée that would mean leaving you and more importantly Me- the General in a bad situation. If not for her I wouldn’t ever be caught dead doing something like this.”

He came back over and moved me back onto the mattress, breathing heavily as he did so even though I knew for a fact that I wasn’t that heavy. He then settled the blankets around me and replaced the cool compress on my head.

“I mean imagine how anyone would laugh if they saw me, Askeli Linus, waiting on someone else so diligently? Wouldn’t they just die of laughter? You had better wake up and become a prince I can serve without being made a laughingstock.”

Having Askeli be the one to remind me of my duties to the Queendom was odd and more than vaguely irritating but once again I decided to forgive it.

As for taking him as my aide, I hadn’t even known it was a choice I was allowed to make and had already resigned myself to it. It wasn’t like there were absolutely no advantages to having someone who would first die than betray you and even though I wasn’t planning on making a slavery contract or anything I couldn't deny the appeal of having an extra pair of eyes on the various things I wanted to look into. The best advantage though was probably the fact that he could attend all of the social duties on my behalf, therefore freeing up my time to do anything else.

I tried to move once more. I first wiggled my toes then slightly raised each leg, flexed my fingers and bent my arms and finally, I opened my eyes.

Akseli sat up once he saw my arms move and his angular face and limpid eyes were the first things I saw when I opened my eyes. More instinctively than because of any deeply rooted grudge I frowned at how close he was to me and let out a heavy sigh, too stiff to 'instinctually' push him away.

“Your highness! You're awake! Wait, I’ll go get General Ruan!”

And so he flew out of the room.

I got up from the bed and winced at the sound of my bones cracking from the sudden movement after being still for so long, my muscles also contracted for the first time in days but in comparison to the agony I’d just experienced it didn’t even make me stumble.

Last I remembered Theodulus had done something to me after I had finally beat the game he’d created; Then the pain came and shortly before I blacked out I remembered Theodulus saying something to me before he pushed me through a portal.

Just remembering was enough to make me want to cry but I wanted to remember what the old goblin had said to me.

Mei had mentioned to Akseli that it had been four days since I’d arrived here but I couldn’t assume I’d arrived here the same day I’d gone to Theodulus. The makeshift timeline crumbled due to lack of information and I temporarily put thinking about it off.

I proceeded to stretch myself out with a few slow movements but my reflection from the unreasonably large mirror on the other side of the room caught my attention.

To an extent, I’d recognized that there was no way whatever Theodulus had done to me wouldn’t affect my appearance but seeing it for real was off-putting.

A few strands of my hair had lightened to the same silver as that of Theodulus's and made the top of my head even more difficult to look at. The golden flecks in my eyes and on my wings had both thickened as well, leaving them more gold than their usual pigmented colours.

The most significant change though was the small bump on my head where my horn would usually be.

I tried to ‘deactivate’ it, thinking that I must have partially awakened my goblin powers and forcefully ignoring the fact that it wasn’t possible to do so while I had the giant pair of wings on my back but it was no use.

Like an ugly scar or a flashy tattoo, it was there to stay.

I quickly pulled my hair out of the bun it had been put into and scattered it around my forehead but I couldn’t rest easy and grabbed a cloth belt off one of my clothes, cut it short and tied it around my forehead in three thick layers until the protrusion was no longer super obvious.

To make it less obvious I changed out of the clothes Akseli had put me in and opted for a fancier set and styled my hair into something more formal and therefore flashier.

The brightness of the clothing in addition to my new hair was difficult to accept as something I did voluntarily, but there was nothing I could do. As things were now, I could only hope they didn't notice anything and wait until I could get to Theo- I meant my Great grandfather to get some answers.