Outside the garden of Arcadia's healing station was Felix on a bench, with a lunch box in his lap.

A special lunch box that one of the staff got him after he woke up. Everyone had heard of it. The dish was so famous, the emperor would often visit Arcadia just to try it. Arcadia's famous chicken and rice.

He opened the lunch box. Inside was a square of rice, and next to it was the chicken, its delicious gravy spilling onto the rice.

'The visual is a pass.'

He sniffed the food like a dog and the headache he had was gone. Its aroma was unlike anything he had ever smelled.

He took a spoonful of the rice, with a bit of the chicken on top. He chewed it and then took a tissue and spat on it.

"This is sh*t"

Felix's whole body shivered cause of how bad it tasted. After all the rumours he had heard, having to try it was in his bucket list. Now he needed a bucket to throw the rest.

"The emperor is an old man, so maybe his taste buds must be dead."

As he was trying to get a grain of rice out, stuck on his teeth, he heard someone walking towards him.

Lim walked at a snail's pace towards him.

"Ow, ow, ow."

Every step he took, he muttered "ow". Like an old man, he touched his back as he sat down. His back….. his body was finished.

Felix felt Lim's gaze on him...and his precious lunchbox.

Felix poured water on the spoon and passed the lunch box to Lim.

"Here. Try it"

Lim was confused, but hungry. He took the box and started digging in. The light in his eyes got brighter, and his back became straight. The food seemed to take the pain away.

"This is sooo good."

The ecstasy on Lim's face made Felix wonder if both ate the same dish.

'I am not a big fan of meat, so maybe that puts me off.'

Felix was never a big fan of chicken, steak or any meat, except fish. He also didn't like vegetables, and only liked to eat fruits.

"By the way, who got us out of there?"

All Felix knew before he fainted was someone had arrived. But he couldn't figure out who.

Stuffing the food down his mouth, Lim replied.

"Professor Jade. I caught a glimpse of her before fainting."

Lim also was tired after using too much mana and [Blink] for two times.

'Jade?'

Felix had heard of that name before. Maybe they met at a tea party, but he didn't remember quite well. Though he knew she was one of the strongest in Arcadia….. the entire empire.

"Did the professor kill that woman?"

Lim shook his head.

"No."

He took another big bite and added.

"She escaped."

"What?"

Felix wondered who the woman was. She was strong, but never did he imagine her to be this powerful. Escaping from the academy's strongest professor and other forces was a feat.

Lim, too, was curious about the woman's identity.

"I asked the professor outside my hospital room. He said that they didn't see her getting out. And Ms. Jade allegedly watched her disappear into thin air. "

"Allegedly? So she must be in custody?"

Felix asked.

Lim nodded.

"Yeah"

If the hundreds of professors didn't see her get out, then they had to suspect Jade. Only she was the one who entered, and the fact she wasn't in the surveillance room when the labyrinth door closed made her even more suspicious.

However, if there was anyone that knew the woman's identity, it had to be Lim.

"So, Mr. Author, want to spoil me the details and tell me who it is."

Lim wiped his mouth and set the lunch aside.

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"I don't know. She isn't a character I wrote about. Or maybe she is, but not meant to be in this stage of the story"

"I wrote only about the surprise test, and Rose coming out on top. Tyson wasn't meant to be attacked nor was she supposed to be here."

"Then how did you know Tyson was about to get killed?"

Felix asked

"That-you have to come to my room to see that."

If Lim explained now, it would be more complicated, so it was better to just show Felix.

Felix nodded as both of them stared at the night sky.

"I haven't seen this many stars at once."

"Really? The place you are from must be sh*t"

Felix said, because of the view, everyone could see it every night.

"It was….. But I kind of miss it."

Lim didn't know why he added that, but he truly missed it. The lone life he had. Him and only him, that was his life. A life he started to love.

"So a sh*t, you loved."

Felix asked.

"Yup."

Lim replied, and both chuckled. And again, only the chirping of birds and the buzzing of cicadas filled the garden.

"I was scared."

Felix said out of nowhere.

"I believed fate and this world could be changed, but when you said everything was written, and was destined to happen... I felt hopeless."

Felix challenged fate. It threw the worst at him. He would fall and might fail, but once in a while he would get up. Fail again but soon win.

But a fight lost from the start could never be won.

"I knew you were speaking the truth. I felt it. But the truth is hard to swallow."

Felix said.

Lim understood it well. He too would have reacted the same... maybe even worse.

"I once read it in a book."

Lim back on earth stumbled on a book which was quite intriguing. It was about fate and manifestation of life.

"It said fate cannot be changed. What is sure to happen will happen."

He hated that phrase so much he wanted to close the book and burn it. But he kept reading and found a concept he found interesting and hopeful.

"But you see, each individual in this world has an infinite number of fates. It's our choices that decide which path we are headed to."

He paused and smiled.

"And our choice to save Tyson might have altered his fate to die today."

"That is quite an interesting philosophy."

Felix smiled. And it was true. He chose to fight when he could ignore Lim's words.

'Saving someone .... the feeling, it never gets old.'

Felix remembered the deal he had with Lim, back when he tied him to a tree.

Maybe Lim had forgotten, but he didn't. And maybe talking about it would lead to a solution he desperately needed.

Lim noticed the sudden change in Felix's demeanour. His hands were shaking as he closed his eyes.

"My eyes... they are cursed."

Felix revealed a secret that no one knew. Not his family, or anyone close to him. A secret, and a curse that he had kept caged with him for over ten years.

But he felt relieved, as if a boulder was lifted from his back.

"Cursed?"

Lim questioned. He never guessed Felix to say this. Lim had guessed Felix to be a transmigrator like him or a child of a dragon. And the strength he had to pull to say those words was enough to tell he wasn't lying.

And maybe, just like Felix, he too wouldn't be able to handle the truth.

"I can see everything as they are. Grass is green, the sky is blue, which is now dark, filled with white bright stars. A cat's ears and a dog's moist nose, everything is visible….... Everything is perfect."

Felix took in a deep breath and closed his eyes again.

"But people's faces, they….... phew."

Again, he took in some deep breaths and wiped the sweat running down his forehead.

"You don't have to say-"

"No."

Felix cut off Lim.

"I have to. One day, I need to face my fears, and today is the first step."

He couldn't run away or face his fears tomorrow. There was no tomorrow.

"A person's face, I can see it but, they are.... haunting."

"Haunting?"

Lim asked

"Yeah."

Felix nodded.

"The nose most of the time is broken-bleeding blood….... sometimes insects too. And the mouth, the teeth chipped, most of the times, it seems they are chewing their tongue and they always smile"

Felix stopped again, his body was trembling….. his soul itself was shaken.

"The skin is decayed, with pores that constantly boil. For some, there is absolutely no skin but only layers of muscles. They slowly tear away, and I can see the bones, also decaying."

"The worst are the eyes, hollow, void of colour and life. It always bleeds blood, dark blood. Sometimes they are hanging out, from the socket and I see centipede pass through-"

"Stop."

Lim said. He couldn't listen anymore. Everything was too vivid... haunting, like Felix said. And that was just his imagination.

"So every time you see someone's face…. Is that why you avoid crowds?"

Felix nodded. He could handle seeing a single face, but looking at a crowd was a nightmare he never conquered.

"If I get used to seeing someone's face, it starts getting worse. Their skin peels off, eyes pop out, or their entire head is sometimes twisted."

That is why even if he knew a person for a long time, he could never get close to them. The fear ate any bond he tried to form, creating a bridge in them that he never got the courage to cross.

'I don't blame them. I also wouldn't be close to myself.'

"So, that's what you said- it's been a long time since I have seen a face."

Lim finally understood what Felix meant. He didn't give it much thought, but now it made sense.

"Am I the only exception to the curse?"

Maybe because Lim was from another world, the curse didn't put an illusion on him.

"No, there is someone else."

Felix still remembered the first time he saw that face.

"I can see your face, but in her case, her entire face is blank."

"Her?"

Lim asked.

"Rose. She is the other one."

Lim nodded again.

"Does she know about your curse?"

"No."

Felix never told her. But maybe because the way he looked at her differed from others, she got interested in him.

Since her face was blank, it was hard to read her expression, a lot harder than with the illusioned faces. And she read him like a book most of the time.

"Do you know how you got the curse?"

Lim never wrote about such things. The only curse he knew was of the main character.

"No, but it started when I was seven out of nowhere."

It was hard to adapt. He thought it was just something that would disappear or an illness. But it never went away.

Speaking about it to others also didn't feel safe. To speak about his nightmares to the nightmare itself, for a child like him, was too much.

And that is when he changed. He turned away from people and pushed them away. Since that cursed day, he never sat at the dinner table together with his family.

"Can I ask you something else?"

Lim asked.

"Yes, I killed those men at the age of five. I can't tell you the reason."

Felix exactly knew what was the question.

Lim just smiled. Again Felix knew his thoughts.

"Did you forget about your own character killing people and getting the curse?."

Felix said. His hands trembled a little, and the surrounding mana raged like a storm.

'It's not his fault. If he knew, he would never write this. But if he was the author, then he must have known about my curse. Why is he so curious about me?'

"No. It's not that I forgot"

Lim said. He forgot many things about the book, the story, but he would remember something like this.

"I asked because you-"

He couldn't finish it. It would hurt him, make him hopeless, devoid of any ambition, but the truth had to be told.

Not out of obligation, but out of respect and...sympathy.

"Felix, you….. weren't a character in my story. You never existed."