Early Afternoon - Late Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

- Michael Cotorel ~

"Hooh.." Finally turning onto the street that looked into the plaza, I had to take a deep breath to calm my nerves.

Slowly looking up, I noticed I could finally see Maria.

Her eyes were closed and her head was lying in a pool of dried blood.

It was a sight that made my previously subtle emotions rush forward.

That horrible cocktail of emotions ravaged my mind, but it only got worse when I went to sort it out and calm down.

I felt sad, worried, and even scared, but those feelings were comparatively easy to suppress. Deep down, in the deepest and darkest part of my soul, the scene made me feel an out-of-place, yet instinctual happiness. The happiness of seeing my betrayer in pain.

It was only a subtle feeling, but it was more than enough to completely destroy my mental state.

"W..why..?" Before I knew it, my face drained of color and my legs went weak. -She was someone I was closer to than family… So, why do I feel..-

"Are you alright?!" Seeing me collapse, Udall immediately broke into panic, but Mollie was quick to get under my shoulder and lift me back up.

"Are you sure about this?" Her voice carried a familial worry.

"HooOoH.." Even my breath was shaky. "I'm.. fine..." Using Mollie's voice as a foothold, I somehow managed to calm down fairly quickly.

As a mage, I had very fine control over my mind, so once I actually got a grip, I could at least hold it together.

"Hooh…" -I just need to talk to her... I'm sure she didn't mean to betray m.. us...- "Let's.. just go try and talk to her.."

Still being supported by Mollie, I continued down the road.

Once we got close to the plaza, a knight rushed over to see if we needed help. "Are you okay, sir?"

"I'm.. fine... I need to go speak with that dragon. "

"T..talk?" The knight immediately froze in place and looked at me like I was crazy. "Sir, we were told to not let anyone other than the royal family or our superiors through here, so please understand."

Immediately reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my ID and handed it to the knight. "Here, sir.."

"What are you giving me this for?"

"I have lots of contribution points, I'd like to spend some to be allowed to see her.." Looking at my card, I still had '1,173,650' Contribution Points, 173,650 more than needed for my Nation Rank Promotion. -That should be more than enough…-

But things didn't go as I expected. "Sir, I don't think you understand. This isn't the same as the prison, you can't spend contribution points to get past security here.."

Seeing me simply freeze from the knight's response, Udall stepped in. "So is there no way we can get in? What if we asked the royal family?"

"You can try it, I guess... Can you all hand me your IDs? I can give them to a messenger."

Udall and Mollie quickly grabbed their IDs and handed them over.

"Please wait here. Just know that it will take a few hours."

Seeing us nod in unison, the knight turned and ran back into the plaza.

There was a short moment of silence that followed his leave before Mollie broke the ice. "How about we grab a quick bite to eat…"

The next three hours passed in a flash as we ate lunch on the sidewalk before the knight finally returned.

Finally, having calmed down after eating and talking with Mollie and Udall, when I saw the knight, I hopped up with a hopeful heart.

But I couldn't help but notice his slightly gloomy expression. "Here are your IDs. We sent a messenger to the palace, but your request was denied. I apologize for the inconvenience." The knight was quick to give a polite bow.

I felt the still recovering vitality in my face start to drain once again, but instead of losing the last bit of hope I had, I thought of an idea. "W..what if I wrote a letter that one of the knights delivered to her?"

"Hmm… That might be doable. Give me one moment please." The knight quickly disappeared into the monument, just to return right after. "Your request was approved. Please just write a letter and my superior will deliver it to.. ‘her’."

As if I suddenly rose from the dead, my ghastly pale face started to warm back up.

In a hurry, I borrowed a piece of paper from a local food stand and used Udall’s quill to write all I could.

After a few minutes passed, I finally finished while suppressing my tears and handed the paper to the knight.

He was quick to skim-read the letter's contents and make sure it contained nothing malicious, but he only cringed while reading it. "Alright, I will give this to ‘her’ now… Although you must stay here, you don't have to watch if you don't wish to."

Both Mollie and Udall looked at me to see what I wanted to do.

"I.. want to.. see her reaction…" My voice was drowned out by nervousness, but I couldn't help it.

Both nodding with my choice, we stood and waited until a different knight walked out of the monument with my letter in hand.

-Please…-

- ~~~ - (Omnipotent)

The knight steadily approached Maria with a sword in one hand and a letter in the other before gently setting the note on the ground and slowly backing away.

Finally opening her eyes, Maria quickly read through the letter before looking up and scanning the surrounding area.

When she eventually noticed Michael's unusually pale face, her mind washed with grief and sadness. She couldn't stand the fact that her friends looked so heartbroken and betrayed, but to a humanoid, those saddened eyes looked cold and heartless.

That seemingly cold glance at Michael pierced his heart with the force of countless blades.

Unable to continue looking at him without breaking down herself, Maria closed her eyes and blew a small flame at the letter, immediately turning it to ash.

That scene alone was enough to rip Michael’s heart apart, but it only got worse when Maria glanced at him once again before turning away and closing her eyes.

Maria did it to keep herself from crying and protect her pride as a dragon, but even her prideful heart ached.

Almost immediately, Michael fell to his knees. -There's.. no way.. right?- It felt as if his heart was collapsing in on itself, as he watched his worst nightmare finally come to light.

Udall and Mollie could only watch the scene in silence, even they didn't know how to react. They couldn't believe their eyes either.

On the other hand, Michael's heart nearly stopped.

He did his best to stay calm up until this point because he wholeheartedly believed in the fact that her feelings over the years were real, but seeing her cold, heartless eyes as she burned the letter broke the dam.

As Michael's eyes drained of vitality, a huge amount of mana began to channel into him. His mind, trying to deal with the massive surge of emotions, converted everything into rage.

Feeling the huge mass of mana, the knights immediately broke into a panic. "Get the Captain!!"

But before the knights could do anything, Udall snapped out of his shock and instinctually threw a heavy chop into the base of Michael’s skull.

*Thud* As Michael’s body fell limp to the floor, the mana started to subside, but it was already too late.

The knights had already rushed over and surrounded them with weapons drawn. "Please cooperate, sir!"

The knights were brandishing their weapons at the group of 3, but Mollie lowered herself to the ground and took a closer look at Michael.

"Michael?!" Her eyes went wide when she set her hand on his head. "He has mana poisoning!" Finally looking around at the situation, she quickly realized how bleak it was.

"You knights are here to protect the people, right?! So help this man or he's going to die!" Udall was starting to let his emotions get to him.

But even with his angry words, the knights didn't budge until their superior arrived. "What is the situation?"

"Sir, that mage there was going to attack us-"

"He needs to go to the medical ward or he will die!" Mollie was crying in panic. She could easily run with him to the clinic, but they'd never make it with the entire royal guard on their backs.

Thankfully though, her plea made it to the captain's ears. "Escort them to the clinic, and keep a close eye on them. They need to answer some questions once their friend gets treated."

Grasping the dim ray of hope, Mollie picked up Michael's limp body. "Thank you, sir. Truly, thank you..." After giving a quick thanks, she started dashing to the clinic across town with several knights in tow.