“Did you really think that Aura, one the most talented kindred in Asanoch would not be joining us? Well, she’s probably going to react the same way.” Clyde shot the stunned nymph with a puzzled expression before turning away.

‘I can’t say it doesn’t make sense… Maybe deep down, I just wanted to avoid that ugly part of this new job.’ Syllis sulked, the idea of needing to speak to that rude and ignorant human bothered her.

“Oh well, you better let me listen in when you tell her.” The secare nymph spoke mischievously.

Clyde turned around revealing a smirk. “Why not tell her yourself? You just got the job, it’s only fair to celebrate somehow.” He chuckled slightly.

Syllis’ expression brightened after hearing his words. It was comforting, being the one to tell her. ‘One thing is for sure. It won’t be comfortable for Aura.’

She smiled before shaking her head. ‘I can’t get carried away. I’d better maintain a good relationship with this woman, my life is going to rest in her hands. Well, along with Clyde, likely Korman and whoever else.'

Suddenly, a pain shot in Syllis’ chest. She groaned as she spoke. “C-Clyde, could you wait outside for a moment.”

“Are you alright?” Clyde asked, concerned for her health.

“I-it’s no problem.” Syllis beat her hand against her chest as though trying to dislodge a chunk of food. “I just accidentally swallowed a ton of air.”

“No need for me to wait outside. I came to grab you for a celebratory dinner, find the banquet hall when you’re ready.” Clyde turned to exit the room before looking back. “Also, there’s a maid outside if you need her.”

The door stopped as the handle clicked into place.

Syllis threw herself onto the bed. ‘Again… It’s happening already, great.’ She clutched at her chest, the thumping within grew louder.

Syllis began sweating profusely and struggled to inhale. Her impeded breaths were lost as her lungs seemed to refuse to take in air. She wheezed, clawing at the unmade bed as panic set in.

These sudden onsets of breathlessness used to be routine. Syllis would have an attack of this sort every couple of months for as long as she could remember. She was always assured by her family and doctors that it would go away eventually, but they were wrong.

Lately, such attacks have been more common. Since around a year ago, Syllis was experiencing these episodes—as the doctor liked to call them—more frequently. Her condition was becoming worse. First, it shortened to a month and a half, and then slowly to a month. Now though, Syllis was experiencing this phenomenon every couple of weeks, with slight variation.

Syllis quickly tore apart the top few buttons of her shirt, before shifting her undergarments. The area above her signature scar was burning up as it always had. Just to the right of her heart.

Syllis did not remember how she acquired the unique scar. Her parents had told her many times that it was a birthmark, though she harbored doubts. Birthmarks did not burn up, and they certainly didn’t cause such a problem.

Instead, she figured it must have been acquired through some traumatic accident, too traumatic to tell a young girl. ‘Would have been nice to tell me before leaving though!’ She cursed her parents as she writhed in pain.

The rhythm within her thumped with an unbearable pain as she denied herself the ability to cry out. ‘What if the maid outside heard me?’ Syllis could not risk such a thing, it was crucial for her to remain normal. Any abnormal medical condition would raise concerns, considering the fact she had been healed by Edward mere hours prior.

This fact remained as the most elusive mystery surrounding her wound. This was the only reason she had not visited a doctor, or even inquired with Edward who was much better than your typical doctor. The only wound that would presumably be able to clash with Edward’s bond was one of a mystical nature.

‘I could still ask him about incurable wounds generally—’

Syllis curled up into a ball as an incomprehensibly strong wave of pain, pulsed within her body. This wave was stronger than her constant, rhythmic sensations and served as a reminder not to get too comfortable.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

The worst part of the entire ordeal was her inability to delay the pain as she always had. In any fight, she was usually wounded. Every single time she was wounded, she quickly cooled her wound. It was a cheap way to delay the inevitable pain she would suffer.

Now, this was not an option. The scar was near her heart, and over the years, Syllis diagnosed it as the source of the problem through trial and error. She would freeze a different section of her body everytime the pain started, even to the extent of freezing the entirety of her own face over the course of two separate episodes.

The only place she didn’t cool was the area around her heart. It was simply impossible. Even though Syllis would do whatever possible to lessen the pain, potentially stopping her heart wasn’t something she was prepared to try.

It was daunting, the thought of jeopardizing one's own life just for a chance at relief. Syllis was always afraid to take that risk, even if she had gotten so close to making it so many times.

Pain continued to pulse throughout her body as Syllis nearly broke. She bit down on a nearby pillow as she writhed. Drool fell from the corners of the mouth and she emitted involuntary grunts as she clawed at her heart.

‘Enough of this! I need to visit the stupid banquet.’ Syllis bit down on her hand—hard. So hard that she shredded her skin and then some. So hard that beyond the crimson blood that swirled lay the bone, exposed.

Syllis didn’t scream, she could not scream out of fear of alerting the maid outside of the door.

Despite the pain, biting her hand felt like the best decision she had ever made. The pulsing pain that was brought by her scar diminished under the immense pain that her hand now radiated.

Suddenly she was able to move her body with precision again, not dictated by a surging pain that rose anytime it wanted to feel relevant.

‘Thank the lord.’

Of course, tears still fell from her eyes, soaking the pillow held within her mouth. After a few minutes of intense pain, Syllis decided to freeze the wound.

Usually—with occasional outliers—any episode of hers lasted no more than ten minutes. Her internal clock had counted ten minutes had passed by now, and then some to be safe.

As the cool feeling overcame Syllis, not only did the pain from her hand settle, she was not immediately overcome with her episodic pain again.

Syllis had cheated the system. By overloading her brain with a more severe, focused pain, her mind was left with no option. It was impossible to demonstrate the full scale of two, intense pains. So the brain chose between the two that fought for control like territory. The one that was chosen as more urgent would rise above, leaving the other to fade into nothing.

Now that she was both without most of her pain, and also mentally prepared for anything the world could throw at her, Syllis decided it was about time to leave her room.

The moment she stepped into the room, it felt comfortable. After her episode, it did not feel the same in her mind.

Syllis retreated to the bathroom. She used the towel that had dried her body before and finished doing the same to her hair. She would have done it earlier but felt insecure, strolling around the room without any clothing.

After leaving the room dry, without pain and without any visible injury. Syllis acquired a weird look from the maid. ‘Fair enough. If I was her I’d probably have questions for whoever stepped through that door.’

“Can I help you?” Syllis politely spoke to the visibly dazed, young woman.

The woman stepped back slightly, catching a glimpse of Syllis’ hand, which she promptly turned to hide.

“Uh, no, nothing. It is just that… There were some odd noises and I was wondering if you were alright?” The woman spoke that last part as though it were a question. Perhaps she could not quite comprehend the person in front of her.

Syllis scratched the side of her head. “Ah, that… I was just working out, sorry to worry you.” She bowed slightly before walking away from the maid.

‘That was mortifying.’ Syllis mused. She had lied to the maid.

Syllis never had a reason to work out. People worked out to either lose weight or get stronger. She had neither the weight for the former nor the nutrients required for the latter. Of course, she felt physically weak sometimes—anyone on the outer ring would—but that weakness didn’t matter because her bond made up for it.

Though now, Syllis did ponder the possibility, having a stable supply of food. ‘I wonder if it would make me perform better in spars? Do Clyde and Aura work out?’ She placed this though in the back of her mind thinking it would be a nice question to have for the future.

For now, she needed to focus on getting to Edward’s office. Syllis had originally hoped to attend the banquet with her hand in its current state. However, considering the fact that her hand would be visible while she was eating and also difficult to maintain, she decided against it.

‘I would rather be fifteen minutes later than I already am then have this slight pain.’ Syllis sighed. Despite her maintenance, it seemed the pain within her hand was too much and slightly radiated from within.

Syllis paced side to side for a moment before stopping. ‘Where the hell am I going?’ The estate was confusing to navigate. This was despite her purposefully retracing the steps she had taken before, when she had followed Clyde from Edward’s office to the banquet hall.

Syllis let out another sigh as she picked a path, and began walking. She gave up on rhyme or reason as it seemed this manor was immune to both.