Lothar's breath continued to come in gasps, sweat pooling over his brow as it cascaded down his cheek and onto the wooden floorboards. Elora ran to the panicking human, his body squirming on the ground as saliva began leaking out of his mouth.
"Lothar!" Elora went down on her knees as she grabbed the squirming human by the shoulders. "Snap out of it!"
"Elora! Stop!" Millana redirected her gaze from the hole and back to the panicking human, her shout freezing Elora in her tracks. "You're making it worse!"
Millana approached the two, Lothar still having panic attack and Elora grabbing him by the shoulders.
"Lothar, calm down. Take a deep breath." Lothar listened, his mind following Millana's voice like he was in a trance. "Breathe in… Breathe out… Breathe in… Breathe out…"
Lothar latched on to her voice like a lifeline, his breathing stabilizing with every second that passed. Elora, seeing that she was doing more harm than good, relaxed her grip on his shoulders and rubbed his back.
The comforting rubs on his back made Lothar relax a bit more as his breath stabilized, tiny droplets of tears dropping from his eyes. After wiping the trails off his face after his panic attack, Lothar grabbed Elora's outstretched arm and stood up with her support.
He looked at the two elves, then sighed.
"Thanks, you two… I appreciate it…" Millana and Elora nodded, and Lothar sat on a nearby seat, trying to stop his trembling.
"Lothar, know that we are here if you need help." Millana sat on the seat opposite of Lothar, who in turn stared at the elf with a neutral gaze. "Do not hesitate to ask for us when you need it."
If she said this yesterday, Lothar would've told her to fuck off and mind her own business. Now, however…
"… I'll keep that in mind." Millana smiled softly at the human, who continued to stop his trembling hands. Elora once again stood by her Lady's side, fully focused on serving the little elf ruler.
Once he was sure he wasn't shaking, Lothar stood up, Elora looking at him all the while, and approached a bookshelf.
Grabbing a book, he flipped the pages open and tried to read the contents, only to be left with him scratching his head at the sight.
'I can't read…' Lothar placed the book back in its original spot and grabbed another book, only to come to the same conclusion. 'I can understand them, but they use a different written language…'
"Millana." Catching the elf ruler's attention, who was peacefully reading a book while sipping some tea, Lothar took the seat opposite her and let out a low groan. "I can't read."
"… Excuse me?" Millana tilted her head and Elora looked at him like he was crazy.
"I can't read." Repeating his answer, Lothar sighed and leaned back on the chair. "I can understand you, that's for certain, but I can't read your written language."
"Ahhh…" Millana tapped her chin in thought and Elora glanced at the book she was reading. "I can arrange a tutor for that, if you want."
"Please." Nodding, Millana grabbed a sip from her cup of tea and regarded Lothar once more with an apologetic smile.
"About your display of magic earlier…" Lothar winced as he recalled his slip-up, the orb of void floating around his hands, the reminder of his imprisonment within the vast darkness of nothing… Lothar was about to panic again, but was able to calm himself down by smacking his head on the table. "… Are you alright?"
"… Just… Fine…" Lothar lifted his head, a mark on his forehead indicating some kind of blunt hit on it. "Continue."
"… So, your display of magic…" Millana placed the tea cup back down on the table. "Your affinity with the void is the greatest I have ever seen, topping even some of the greatest mages in history."
Lothar would've been proud. He could've been, but he wouldn't. The time spent in the void was enough to make any normal person fear even something related to it.
"With the proper training and teaching, you could possibly be the greatest Void Mage in all of history!" Millana was practically radiating excitement now, her arms trembling in glee. Meanwhile, Lothar's stomach began to churn at the thought of using Void magic, his mind giving him brief flashbacks of the void.
"Stop…" Millana was brought out of her reverie when Lothar uttered a whisper. "Please… Just stop…"
Millana took a good, long look at Lothar's face, and realized that, in her excitement, she had forgotten that Lothar held some sort of fear regarding the type of magic, and his panic attack earlier suggested something far worse than just normal fear.
Millana thought it was just a fear of something new, but she now knew that this ran much deeper than she thought.
'I'll have to find the reason…' Millana swore, and gave Lothar an accepting nod. "Very well. Our magic class shall be put on hold for the time-being. I'll call a maid to escort you back to your chambers."
"Thank you." Lothar bowed, his face not holding any rage for the first time since he was forced into a life of servitude. Just fatigue and lifelessness.
Grabbing a bell on the table, Millana gave it a good shake, and the sounds of chiming bells echoed through the library. A few seconds later, the door opened, garnering the attention of everybody inside.
Lothar recognized the maid as the one who escorted him here. Standing up from his chair, he bade a goodbye to Millana and Elora as he was escorted out of the library and back into his room.
"Lady Millana, how is he supposed to help us?" Elora, once she knew the human was out of eyesight and was far enough away from their conversation to not overhear it, asked a question to her master. "He has potential, sure, but his attitude is problematic. He's afraid, terrified of his own power."
"I know, which is why I'm going to have to find the cause and root it out." Millana stood up from her chair and approached the double doors. "Come, I need to prepare some things."