The king was immediately sent to his chambers, being tended by nurses of various origins: those of medical profession, and those of possessing mystical prowess. Faustina simply stood by the hallway, uncertain of what to do. There was a sudden disarray at the whole castle—at least at her own perspective.
The knights were gathered around, talking about how that could have happened—they asked her the details, and when she told them,
"That cannot be," says Elliot. "The fifth king never appeared before."
Faustina froze, as if expecting a different answer. She blinked several times, unable to even speak. Sheila arrived with her people, her lips thinned into a line. She walked past Faustina, ignoring her presence. Faustina gritted her teeth and mustered all her strength to pull Sheila back.
"Talk to me." Faustina says silently.
"The king needs me," Sheila says. "Let go."
"No."
"Let go." Sheila says in all seriousness.
"No!" Faustina retorted with finality. "Talk to me. Tell me what in the world is—what in the world am I supposed to do—"
"For Feuer's sake—" Sheila says in common tongue, and pulled her arm away from Faustina's grip. "Can't you see the situation? Dietrich—you say— the fifth king, appeared before you. Which never happened before. NEVER, mind you. Now you told us that two souls are trying to win the body, which has also never happened before... we need to assess this situation as quickly as possible because Nightmare is eating the king's life again."
"I don't under—"
"Of course." Sheila snickered. "You don't."
And with that, Sheila turned to the king's door and went to his chambers, followed with ghost-like people wearing moss cloaks, their footsteps silent against the hall.
Faustina was escorted back to her room, and that was her cue to write to her journal. Her journal was one of the things that were recovered from the fire, along with her duffel. They were barely unscathed, to her surprise. She opened the leather of her notebook and began to write whatever had happened.
The table was facing the window, much to her liking. It reminded her of the cabin. She tried to think of various things to write, but to no avail—she did not even make it to a paragraph.
'why am I here?' she asked herself, and written it. But immediately crossed it out.
'what is the purpose of my presence?' She writes, 'is there anything I could actually do?'
She remembered only Eula, only her master. She remembered her death and her body being taken away. She remembered being rescued...
Rescued by the king.
What could have happened if they didn't come? Would Jonathan kill her?
Was she only thinking about herself?
Faustina stared at the blue skies outside. It was such a peaceful morning, but now in span of minutes, it was a chaos. She stared indifferently at the clouds, at the courtyard. Her eyes fell downwards to her journal, nothing to write.
Perhaps Dietrich was right, and Sheila as well.
She does not want to acknowledge anything, because she's too weak to do so. Why was she like that? She pressed her lips together, clutching her pen. If Eula was here, she didn't have to do anything, if only Eula was here, her thoughts will only flow into studying medicine, what she could do tomorrow, and what's for dinner.
Then it hit her—
Eula.
She was so dependent to Eula, like a bird unable to leave a nest. Like a helpless child. Faustina clenched her fist and took a deep breath. She rang the bell, and the maid Maddie entered her room.
"Bring me my old clothes and prepare me some echinacea, astragalus and medicinal mushroom."
"My lady?" Maddie says in confusion, "to what purpose?"
"I am here to fulfill my duty." She says, closing her journal. "I am here to help the king. I am here to sustain his life."