Beforelong, I followed everyone who was waiting for me. Even before we entered the castle, the situation outside at the yard was already hectic. But, once we entered, it was far more hectic than before.
There are soldiers running around. Some who looked like they were wounded are being transported to the left wing, where we are heading to. There's soldiers arguing this and that about their plans, and we walked past a massive table with a bright standing screen in the middle. I noticed some of them looked familiar, but I can't find the person I'm looking for.
If such a situation was so dire, then surely he must be here. Right?
Arriving at the left wing, our hearts were crushed. The amount of wounded soldiers here were just countless. Knights from the earth nation, soldiers from the water empire, or even backup knights from Ellennoire city.
We walked past a huge number of bodies being covered by a thin white cloth, and Lily closed her eyes from the horrors being displayed. Nyssa looked like she wanted to throw up, and Eric also looked widely troubled.
"This is horrible…" Eric mumbled while looking at the corpses and the wounded, and the vice headmaster nodded.
"It was a nation wide attack. If so many soldiers were hurt in just a single day, it's most likely an invasion." The vice headmaster gave her theory, and Eric gave this a deep thought.
"I thought the earth nation and the alliance had already prepared for an attack. Where did all the strong people go?" Eric asked, but the vice headmaster only shook her head.
"I… don't know." She apologetically answered, and Eric once more stopped asking things.
The two soldiers who were leading us finally arrived at the deepest part of the left wing, to a big room at the far corner of the castle. The two greeted the knight guarding the door, and they turned around to face us.
"The second prince of Fiordall is behind this door." One of the soldiers said to us, and the vice headmaster walked ahead without saying a word. Miss Hilda opened the door and entered right away, and everyone else followed behind him. Once we were inside, we took a quick glance around the room.
This room is very empty. From the looks of it, there are tons of beds in the room, but none of them were used. There was one bed that was occupied at the corner of the room, and everyone quickly started heading that way.
"N-Nathan!!" Lily shouted after seeing the young boy sitting on the bed, and he turned his face towards us.
And seeing his condition, everyone can feel their hearts screaming in pain. The vice headmaster covered her mouth from the shock, and so did Nyssa. Lily is already running at high speed over there, while Eric only looked heavily concerned.
"What the hell happened to him…?" He asked out of genuine concern, and I didn't bother answering and ran following Lily.
Nathan's body is covered head to body with bandages. Tons of red marks showing on the bandages proved that his body was bleeding so badly. The most amount of blood came from his stomach and his head, which looked like the wound must be quite deep.
"Lily… everyone…" Even his voice sounded so hoarse and weak.
By the time Lily arrived in front of him, she stopped for a bit because she is being considerate to Nathan's wounds. She didn't want to open the wounds by overly hugging him, and looking at her so confused while tears were falling from her face made Nathan giggle.
"Lily… my wounds are okay. But, don't jump me--"
GREBB!!!!
Lily instantly jumped straight to Nathan's chest, and for a moment there, I can see his eyes scream from the pain. I guess his wounds weren't completely healed yet.
"What happened to you…?" Lily asked while shedding buckets of tears, and Nathan only smiled softly while softly caressing her head.
Instead of answering, Nathan turned to me approaching him, and his smile immediately disappeared. I was wondering why he wasn't happy to see me, and he just quickly turned his gaze away to everybody else.
"Are your wounds really all right?" I asked him to try and get him to talk, and Nathan only nodded silently.
For some reason… I found his behavior odd. He was so talkative with Lily and even let her hug him. And yet, he is so distant with me.
Don't tell me… he missed Lily so much that he forgot about his best friend!? Damn traitor.
"Thanks for coming all the way here, everyone." Nathan said to the others arriving, and the vice headmaster walked all the way to his right side of the bed.
"How's your wounds?" Miss Hilda asked, and Nathan just nodded with a smile.
"All good. I was never that badly wounded to begin with."
"You say that, but you're covered in bandages."
"I'm telling you… the nurses really like touching my body."
Hearing him being able to crack jokes, everyone just laughed lightly. Lily looked like she wanted to strangle Nathan from the joke, but she decided to just pull away from the hug.
"I can't believe you… you rejected me, and the next thing I knew, you left for war?? What's next, fighting gods?" Lily angrily asked him, and Nathan just chuckled softly.
"I miss you too, Lily. Your sister was really scary, like you said." Nathan's voice was really hoarse and in pain, and I can tell that something seemed wrong about him.
"I heard you won the battle. What was the enemy like?" Eric asked after being unable to hold back his curiosity, and Nathan just stared at him blankly.
"As if someone like you can deal with anything like that."
"You bastard… are you underestimating me?" Eric looked like he wanted to punch a wounded man, and Miss Hilda cleared her throat to stop them from arguing.
"You can find out about the enemies from Frisena, Lily's sister. She will tell you more." Nathan told us about that, and I can't handle my curiosity anymore.
"Were the enemies you were fighting against so strong? How come someone like you can get wounded badly?" I asked him, and everyone else seemed concerned as well.
Nathan then turned his cold glare at me, and I noticed that his behavior towards me has been very different from how he acts to everyone else. Instead of answering me, Nathan turned to Lily and the others.
"Everyone… I'd like a moment to be with Jonah alone, please." Nathan said while patting Lily's shoulder, asking them all to leave.
Meanwhile, I only became silent from the confusion.
"W-Why Jonah--"
"Let's leave." Miss Hilda cuts off Lily's words, and she immediately starts heading for the exit again.
Seeing the vice headmaster walking away, Nyssa and Lily had no choice but to follow. Eric seemed to be inclined on staying, but he decided to follow along anyway.
Nathan stayed silent and closed his eyes while waiting until everyone left, which left me just with a big confusion while staring at him. After the door was slammed close, Nathan finally opened his mouth.
"Grab a chair and sit next to me." He asked with such a cold tone, and I knew that something was very wrong about him.
I heeded his words without question, and I walked to the bed next to him to grab a short chair. I placed the chair on the empty space next to his bed, and sat down while placing my hand on his bed.
To my surprise, he grabbed my right hand. He held it so tightly, and I was quite afraid that he might have interests in me, but looks like that wasn't the case.
"Jonah. I have something… that I must tell you." Nathan said while keeping his eyes away from me, locked to the bed sheet under his head. Meanwhile, I can only turn widely afraid of what is going on.
The moment Nathan opened his mouth, my eyes opened widely. I couldn't believe my ears, and sound simply disappeared from my world. My mouth felt very dry, and my skin didn't even realize how much it was sweating.
My bones shiver badly, turning my entire body shaking. It felt like I wanted to stand up, but Nathan's hand holding mine made me stay seated, and he must've done that purposely.
And the entire time… he was just sitting on his bed with his head down.
When I screamed, yelled, and cried, he was simply holding my hand.
When all of my regrets and pent up emotions were released, he too, shed a single drop of tear.
My father… was killed.
To think that my world would change this early, and it's not even three years ever since I entered the academy.
From this point on within my life… something will be missing.
Forever.