Ignoring the skeptics, I labored to concentrate through the pain of my head and gathered mana around my ears to examine them.

Guh, they really are badly damaged, just like Dee said….there’s also a little bit of healing tissue already, I must have been unconscious for at least a few days…...I really messed up this time, didn’t I……

I carefully blocked off the nerves to my ears, the sudden absence of pain like a fresh burst of sea breeze on a sunny morning. The major source of my pain gone, I ran a delicate wave of mana through the rest of my head, easing the muscles that had tensed into a killer headache because of the pain.

With my mind clearer, I could concentrate a delicate thread of mana and send it into my right ear. Stitch by stitch I began the long and arduous process of repairing my right ear drum. Repairing the delicate muscle would take hours, looks like I’ll be busy for a day or two…..

Arvid: Boss, what happened to you?

I paused for a short moment in my work.

Felix: Busy, talk later.

Then I blocked everyone off from my mind. I didn’t really feel like talking right now.

…….

Aaron’s point of view:

Arvid materialized outside the ‘sphere of doom’ surrounding Felix, looking mostly relieved but a little worried. Adrian darted in front of him and seized his shoulders.

“Arvid! Do you know what happened, is Felix okay? He’s been unconscious for three days!!!”

Sighing, Arvid gently freed himself from Adrian’s death grip.

“Boss just woke up, he’s fine, I think…….”

I took a few steps forward, the ‘I think’ part didn’t sound too reassuring, if there’s something off with Felix, he’ll probably be fine no matter what, but we could end up in serious danger…..

“What do you mean by ‘I think’ ? Is something wrong with Felix?”

Arvid shifted his attention to me as I asked my question, his silvery eyes focusing sharply on me.

“When Boss woke up, he was naturally in a serious pain, but he was dealing with it fine while having one of his ‘moments’, normal behavior for him. When I asked him how he was though, he shut me and everyone else off from his mind after saying he was ‘busy’.

Judging from the mana activity around his ears, he’s focusing on repairing the damage, but even though the process should be quite complicated, he could still split his mind and talk and work at the same time. Which means he really just doesn’t want to talk right now…..I think he’s pretty unhappy….”

A cold shiver ran down my spine, the really dangerous and troublesome things happened when Felix got quiet…….Still, if it’s just at that level, I don’t think Arvid would be this concerned, since he’s got quite a lot of Felix’s personality….

I stared at the glowing red sphere, out of everyone here, I could be considered to be the one that has known Felix the longest, even if a large period of that time was spent hypnotized.

“Do you think…….Felix is actually unhappy this time?”

The worried glance Arvid flickered towards Felix was all the answer I needed. I sighed while Adrian looked back and forth at Arvid and I in confusion.

“It looks like Felix has lost a bit his composure for the first time…...”

Arvid shrugged.

“Well, he slipped a bit when he heard about Adrian’s treatment as a child, but yeah, I don’t thinks he’s in a very playful mood right now….”

Adrian’s growing confusion at our conversation finally exploded.

“I don’t get what you guys are talking about!!!! Felix has been upset and embarrassed lots of times, hasn’t he!?? Why are you guys so worried about my brother!???”

“I would like to know the answer to that as well.”

Zale appeared in our small campsite, a sack of food slung over his shoulder, lunch. Arvid and I exchanged glances, silently waging a war to determine who would have to be the one to have to explain.

Arvid won.

Sighing, I looped an arm around Adrian’s shoulders and led him one of the tree trunks that we substituted for chairs. He sat down and I settled down on a nearby rock, taking a long moment to figure out how exactly I’d explain this.

“Adrian…..have you ever felt that Felix has been a bit….off, even considering his extreme personality?”

Adrian shook his head.

“With Felix, I just assume everything strange is normal for him?”

Yeah, I thought he might think that way, Adrian hasn’t spent nearly as much time with Felix as Arvid and I have…

“Well, once you get to know Felix as long as Arvid and I have, you’ll get a feel for what Felix’s ‘norm’ is, and then you’ll realize how much of it is a total farce. All those times he goofs around and then messes up, or gets bullied, or hurts himself, he acts as though he’s angry or embarrassed or in pain, but in reality, he doesn’t even care about it, he’s just acting out what the character feels in this whole game he’s playing…….

All this time, we’ve only seen the Felix he wants us to see, not the real him. He’s keeping himself separate from us, pretending to be a close friend or caring brother, but in reality, he’s something completely different. What he really is, I’m not sure, but Felix.....I don’t think he views us as anything more than a way to amuse himself, otherwise, he would let us see the real him……..Felix doesn’t trust any of us.”

Adrian stood up and took a step away, slowly shaking his head, his wide, sad eyes fixed on my face.

“.....No……..he cares about us, he got really mad when he heard that my parents beat me, he definitely wasn’t acting!”

Adrian’s parents beat him!!!!? Anger surged through me, sealing my lips shut. While I was overwhelmed by anger, Arvid stepped forward and placed a hand on Adrian’s shoulder.

“About that….Boss definitely was angry when he heard about that, but when you left through the portal, I asked him if he was okay, and he told me that he just hated when people hurt his…..toys….”

I pushed the anger swirling around me back for the moment as Adrian slumped to the ground, what his parents had done to him could be dealt with later, it was Adrian who needed my attention right now. Sliding off my stone, I knelt down beside Adrian. He leaned his head dully against my shoulder.

“Does Felix really only think of us as toys?”

I glanced at Arvid, who settled down on the other side of Adrian. A helpless shrug was the only response I got.

“Perhaps we can better define this situation.”

A doll-like girl with shining silver hair suddenly appeared in front of us, her delicate face serious. A shimmery silver blob sat on her shoulder, almost perfectly blending in with her hair.

“This one and Misty have both been alive far longer than any of the ones now present here, unlike thou, we have watched those we care for age and die while we live on, frozen in time. Immortality can be a very lonely path to walk, one can lose their sense of self if they're not careful. This one chose to remain withdrawn from the world to protect myself, while friend Misty here chose to interact with mortals in the way of a tormentor and imp, a bond less painful to break than that of a caring friend or companion.

Felix, this one believes, has chosen to always seek the wonder in life, to always be moving forward so as to distance himself from the pain of the past. Even so, these paths still take their toll on us eventually. If Arvid had not brought out this one from mine home when he had, I fear mine mind may have gone mad in the next few centuries.

From what this one has come to understand, the thousands of years of my life is small crumb compared next to the many years of Felix’s life. To stand and watch as so many left him, there is no doubt Felix’s heart would draw away to ease the pain, whether he wants it to or not. It is likely that we ‘toys’ receive the highest level of care Felix is capable of giving.”

My head dropped in shame as the girl’s words washed over me. Ever since I had been released from the hypnosis I had distanced myself from Felix, the new clarity in my mind reaching the realization of Felix’s acting through an analysis of my past memories. But now, it seems that I’ve actually greatly misjudged Felix…...I can’t even imagine how it would feel to live on and on while the people I cared about, Mom, Dad, Adrian…...How much pain and hurt would Felix have hidden away by now?.....So all that acting and carefree attitude…...was to hide his pain…..I slammed a fist into the ground.

“Tch, that makes me even angrier. We’re his family and friends, yet we can’t do anything to help him while he hides all his problems away deep inside….”

I was almost knocked over when Adrian suddenly rose to his feet.

“No, there is something we can do, when Felix has fun, he forgets about the pain for a bit, right? So we should just act like we usually do, but create as many interesting situations as we can when we see the opportunity!”

My head flopped back so I was staring up at the leafy green canopy above me, little shards of the blue sky peeking through the various shades of green like the shards of hope that had suddenly appeared in my heart. Adrian’s suggestion could be a way to help Felix……..a wry grin stretched across my face, it looks like the future is going to be pretty troublesome~

………………

Arvid:......I’m not completely convinced….the conclusion doesn’t feel quite right when I think of it together with the Boss…...but I’ll keep it in mind, guess it’ll be more interesting from now on~

………………

Celia Paragon, First Princess of Ediraseth, rushed into her father’s private study while tearing off the jacket that was tailored to morph her slighter, feminine form into a more boyish, angular one similar to her twin brother Cedric’s build.

“Has there been any news on Cedric’s whereabouts?”

Her father looked up from the stack of papers he was perusing in his hand, his face as expressionless and unreadable as usual. Placing the stack of papers to one side of his neat and orderly polished oak desk, the king slid open a drawer from the left side of the desk. Pulling out a thin stack of papers he handed it over to Celia. Taking a short moment to scan through the pages, she slammed the papers onto the dress.

“This is all useless! There’s hardly any new information from when I left for school disguised as Cedric!”

The king leaned back, a small crease between his eyebrows the only sign of his frustration.

“Indeed, the lack of information discovered by our information network is disappointing. The excuse of your supposed ‘illness’ keeping you out of the eye of society won’t last much longer either…...You should begin preparing to take the title of heir. The Crown Prince is likely dead, after such a long time with no new information or ransom letters.”

Celia leaned back as disbelief and surprise slammed into her.

“You’re giving up just like that? Cedric is your son, remember!? Don’t call him the Crown Prince as though he has no relation to you! How can you drop this so easily!!?”

Even as those words passed her lips, Celia flinched, she knew had gone too far. Silence filled the study for a long, cold minute. She didn’t dare breathe, or even blink, her eyes fixed fearfully on her father for his reaction. Finally, her father moved, slowly standing up. Closing her eyes, Celia tried to make herself as small as possible as her body tensed in expectation for whatever was coming. Instead of being yelled at or barraged by spirit pressure or being forcefully thrown from the study, all she felt was a light brush of wind as her father swept past her to the door. She heard his footsteps pause before opening the solid door.

“Starting preparing for your crowning ceremony now, your conduct is not befitting one who will bear the privilege and responsibilities of a monarch. Rid yourself of foolish feelings, Crown Princess, a Ruler of Ediraseth cannot show weakness.”

With those cold words, he was gone.

Celia Paragon, future Crown Princess of Ediraseth, collapsed to her knees and began to sob.