Lord Maroke was visited by his healer the next day. He took it upon himself to call the healer, not giving that opportunity to Greyson for fear that he would bombard him with questions he doesn't know how to answer yet.
Mr. Rin was well known throughout the kingdom, attending only to those who were worthy of his talents. He was a prudish man, always obsessively ensuring that everything was well attended to. For some reason, he had taken a special interest in attending to Lord Maroke, stating that his condition was particularly helpful in the study of healing practices. Lord Maroke thought him much too obsessed with human medicinal practices, as he was a fae already blessed with the gift of healing.
'Good day, my lord,' he bowed slightly upon entering Lord Maroke's study. Claudia, who had escorted him, walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.
'Please have a seat,' Lord Maroke said, seated behind his huge desk. Mr. Rin walked towards the chair that was directly facing Lord Maroke, the one he had indicated, and sat down.
'It's been a while since we last met,' Mr. Rin said, getting straight to the point. 'I had believed that you were finally free from what plagued you.'
Lord Maroke nodded, his face not betraying any emotion. 'There is a new development,' he said.
'Oh?' Mr. Rin's eyes flashed with curiosity. 'Do tell.'
'I suspect that I might be... feeling things.'
At that, Mr. Rin sat up, his face etched with a frown. 'But that's impossible. Your family is cursed with indifference.'
'Exactly. But recently I have been feeling what I suspect might be pains in my chest,' he said, patting his chest. 'Yesterday's episode was worse. The feeling was excruciating, almost causing me to fall face-first to the ground.'
Mr. Rin reached into the small bag he had brought with him, resting atop his lap, and retrieved a small journal. He opened it and took out a pen that was lying between the pages, then turned to a new page.
'Tell me,' he asked, 'when did you start experiencing this?'
Lord Maroke thought back to the first time he had seen Kamora, and his heart ached slightly.
'It's been a while,' he said, fighting the urge to touch his chest. 'I can't remember.'
Mr. Rin nodded and jotted something down in his journal. He then looked up and asked, 'What exactly did you feel?'
'I don't know how to describe it or what to compare it to,' Lord Maroke answered. 'I have never experienced any type of feeling or emotion before.'
'But you knew you felt something,' Mr. Rin asked. 'How did you know that?'
Lord Maroke stayed silent for a while, thinking of a way to describe the experience accurately. 'It seemed unfamiliar, strange,' he finally replied. 'And I did not approve of it.'
'It's not that you didn't approve of it, my lord,' Mr. Rin corrected, closing the journal. 'You don't approve of emotions. What you felt was likely discomfort.'
The man stared at Lord Maroke intensely when he didn't continue. 'By what you said, it must have been severe since you almost fell. Something triggered it. Can you recall what it might be?'
Kamora was the trigger, Lord Maroke thought, yet he didn't want to disclose that to the healer. Something told him to keep that information to himself, regardless of how much he trusted Mr. Rin.
'I don't know,' he answered, his expression blank.
Mr. Rin stared at him, his face betraying nothing, and then he sighed. 'Well, we need to uncover the root cause in order to solve this.'
'When you say 'solve this,' do you mean the curse, or the chest pain?′
Silence filled the room. Mr. Rin observed him thoughtfully, leaving Lord Maroke curious about what was going through his head.
'What do you want?' the healer asked, his voice almost hushed.
'What do you mean?'
'Do you desire relief from the chest pain,' he paused, studying him intensely, 'or do you wish to break the curse?'
Lord Maroke was unsure how to respond. He had long since abandoned hope for a cure to his family's curse, yet the healer's demeanour hinted at a potential solution. So he sat up straight and clasped his hands on the desk. 'Is there a cure?'
'There may be.'
'Why do you say 'may'?′
'It depends on whether you're willing to endure a lot of pain,' the healer said, his expression grave. 'Pain that could lead to your death.'
Lord Maroke held his gaze, his face unchanged. And so Mr. Rin continued.
'You simply need to discover what triggered your pain and interact with it daily. Make it part of your life. Let it fall in love with you.′
'Why do you assume it's a person?' Lord Maroke asked, his tone curious.
'From the in-depth study I have carried out about your curse, I can confidently say that it can be cured by developing intense emotions for living beings, considering it was caused by strong emotions for beings in the first place.' He returned the journal to his bag.
'But if I'm to be cured, shouldn't I be the one harbouring these strong feelings for the person who could potentially cure me?'
'I don't believe it's necessary, given that you're cursed with indifference. However, that person, if they were to fall in love with you, would unknowingly do things to invoke emotions that would cause you pain. You wouldn't need to do much. If you endure until they confess their love, you could break free from the curse.'
Lord Maroke mulled it over, a twinge of confusion causing a slight ache in his chest. Kamora had done very little to him the previous day, other than responding to his questions when asked. Why then had he experienced such intense pain?