"How are you feeling?"
Pavor snapped out of his stupor when he realized he was not alone. When he heard that voice, gentle like the rest of the characters in his dream, he could not help but let out an exasperated sigh.
"You again…." He mumbled.
It seemed that these gentle, singsong voices never leave him alone. Haunting him, much like nightmares do.
"What is that, My Lord?"
He turned to Davien, whose murky white eyes that were supposed to not see anything piercingly gazed at him. The blind priest always seems to know more than he lets on.
"Nothing. Why are you in my room, Davien?" Pavor sat up.
As he did, something made him go back down. Like a rose-colored hand the size of his whole torso.
Davien smiled at him. "You must not move yet, My Lord. You are under the effects of fatigue, as well as contamination from voyaging in the Outlands. Right now, you must rest."
Pavor made a low growl. "I'm fine."
"You are not, My Lord. Your mother and father insist upon it that you take some rest to restore your health."
"I am perfectly healthy. I do not even have any damages—"
Crack!
Pavor heard a cracking sound on his shoulder and felt a searing pain from it.
"What….. This isn't….. I don't remember sustaining any damages from my battles yesterday!"
Davien frowned. "Perhaps it was from when you collapsed after your arrival here. You did have a nasty fall."
Pavor started to feel similar pain in different parts of his body. The more he recognized it, the greater he felt the internal injuries that he had sustained.
"Eurgh.... Fine then. Can't you just heal me in one go? Like how you decontaminated me from the slimes yesterday?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot." The priest said apologetically. "The contamination from the Outlands is too large, and there is something else beyond physical malady within you, My Lord."
"What do you mean?" Pavor furrowed his brows.
Davien undid some of the bandages on his hand. "Perhaps a visit to the Temple of Amore would make you heal faster. After all, you are her champion and are spiritually like a Goddess."
Pavor was not pleased with this idea at all.
"No, I would rather take some rest here. Besides, I need to stay anyway to entertain our guests from Sagacitur. I won't be involved in battles for a while." He said.
He remembered how he ended up in the Outlands in the first place. Princess Minerva did steal the Bow of Erudition, the weapon only bestowed to the most special champion of the God Memtem.
He still did not know why she did that, and why she went to the Outlands.
Since curiosity is the only driving force he had upon achieving this second life, he sought to know of her intentions.
"Where is Princess Minerva? I must speak with her." He said.
"She will be here shortly. I heard she asked for help from your cook so she could prepare your favorite meal for breakfast." Davien chuckled.
The priest summoned back the rose-colored magic hand, which turned into a heart shape on his palm. "A sweet gesture, don't you think?"
Pavor was skeptical. "Why does she want to cook for me? She's a princess, it's not her job to do that."
"To make it up to you, I suppose." Davien shrugged.
He placed the pink heart on Pavor's chest. "Tudo explained what happened when I found you three landing by the balcony. She must have felt that it was her fault that you are unwell."
Pavor looked down at the heart. It started to shine brightly in that same soft pink glow that cleansed him before. He shuddered as he felt the healing powers of this priest permeate through his pores all the way to his bone marrow again.
"Who knows, My Lord. This might be the start of a budding romance, which I am quite fond of." Davien said, his lips always wearing that secretive smile.
"I can't say I share that fondness. It's too early for that, we only knew each other yesterday." Pavor said with a scowl that he could luckily not see.
Davien retrieved his hand from his chest. "Well, you are in the Kingdom of Love after all, My Lord. And you are its prince. Anything is possible when it comes to love, it blooms when you least expect it."
Pavor rolled his eyes and was just happy to see this priest of Love leave.
As Davien left, he tried to recall the dreams he had the night before. But as soon as he tried to grasp them, they faded away.
Like ashes being blown by the wind. Never to be seen again.
The capacity of memory that mortals have are far less trustworthy than that of a god. Pavor used to remember everything and know everything, but now his mind was limited.
He always has to keep a firm grip on memories, or they would fly away like insolent birds.
For some reason, this reminded him of the trick that magicians make. Having birds manifest 'out of nowhere' inside a hat.
That felt like how dreams are. But it's not really magic, and the birds did come from somewhere, much like those dreams. It's all a trick.
Dreams are illusions, and so was Morphe. A phantasm he couldn't trust.
He looked at his hurting shoulder, and saw something on his collar. It was a card portraying a jester.
Haven't he seen this card before?
He can't remember when though, and how he had acquired it. Strange.
The eyes of the jester were more realistic than the rest. He was holding his hat with bells, and a bird came flying out of it.
A colorful parrot.
The more Pavor looked at it, the more he felt like he must have been mistaken. That his mortal mind was playing tricks.
He does not remember this card at all, but at the same time, he felt that he had seen it.
Knock! Knock!
As he heard the rapping at the door, he decided to hide the card inside the drawer beside him.
"Prince Pavor…. It's me. May I come inside?" He heard a familiar timid voice.
"Come in, Princess Minerva."
Princess Minerva was carrying a tray with a bowl, a plate and some cutlery on it. She kept her eyes and head down like a child that has just been reprimanded by her parents for misbehaving.
Which was likely, given how uptight her parents were of her behavior.
Because of the commotion caused by Pavor's collapse, they must have known that their daughter had been up to no good. The question was to what extent do they know of her deeds.
Tudo doesn't seem to be a snitch, so perhaps he helped cover up for the princess.
Still, something must have gone wrong for Prince Pavor to have fallen unconscious, that much was common sense. So they probably put two and two together and made Princess Minerva cook as an apology.
"A-Are you feeling better now? I was so scared that you were badly hurt after that fight in the Outlands….." She said, hesitantly approaching him.
"I'm alright. It's not the Outlands that made me unwell. I just exhausted my body too much and most of the injuries I sustained are from falling." Pavor explained to her.
Her eyes lit up. "I-I see! Still, I... I feel that a proper apology is in order for the way I behaved last night. That was unbecoming of me as a princess….. as well as your betrothed."
Her cheeks turned the same shade as Davien's rose-tinted healing powers.
Pavor did not understand what made her flustered, and he didn't attempt to understand either. Instead, he said:
"I would prefer that you tell me the truth as your apology. Why do you have Memtem's weapon, and why did you go to the Outlands?"
Princess Minerva gulped and replied:
"I.... I cannot tell you. It is a mission that I must fulfill alone."
"Why?"
She shook her head. "The less you know, the safer you will be. I cannot trust anyone…. Not even myself sometimes."
Pavor tried to recall with his faulty memory the words she spoke that night.
'Not when their lives are at stake.'
'I have not found it yet.'
'The only ones who could have seen me steal the bow is one of "them".'
These were all too vague, but they were enough as a lead for Pavor when it comes to interrogating her.
"You're trying to find something in the Outlands in order to save someone, or more accurately, multiple people. But you are also careful because there's a group trying to harm you…. or even those around you."
Princess Minerva's breath hitched when Pavor pieced it out together. Because of this, she knew she had no choice but to tell the truth.
She set down the tray on top of the drawer by Pavor's bedside.
She sighed. "I suppose that after everything you have done for my sake yesterday... I have come to trust you more than anyone else right now, Your Highness. You seem to be pure of heart, and care so deeply about my welfare….."
Pavor grimaced at this description of him. 'It was just because of my missions, lady. Calm down.'
Princess Minerva sat on the edge of his bed. "It's.... It's my sisters, Your Highness. They are in grave danger, and I'm the only one who can save them."