After the sun set, and the sky started to darken, Yuki and her brother, accompanied by Treyton packed and closed from work. Despite her reluctance, Yuki had to go and see her godfather as he wished, therefore, right from the shop, the three headed for the entertainment district to see old Cecil.
"Tell me Treyton, how is the thing you came to fetch from the duchy coming along?" Jacek voiced the thought that had been weighing on his mind.
Treyton's ear twitched at the question, then very slowly, he glanced at Jacek before briefly averting his gaze to steal a glance at the meek girl beside Jacek; Yuki's attention was all else but with them at that time.
"It is almost within my grasp actually," Treyton responded in a not very excited tone. He tore his eyes from the two to look ahead with a passive expression.
"It is?" Jacek sounded surprised.
Was he saying the Blutstein was almost within his grasp? Or, was his and Yuki's deduction wrong? Was he in search for something aside the Blutstein?
"And what is it that you came to fetch, if you don't mind me asking?" Jacek articulated his curiosity.
Treyton looked at Jacek once more and then abruptly halted in his tracks, his ambience suddenly turning cautious and stern. He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward towards Jacek.
Treyton's sudden chance of expression and attitude caused him to flinch. Jacek was forced to stop in his tracks, he swallowed dryly and peered nervously into Treyton's face.
"I search an elixir…one that will fatten you up and help you build some muscles so you can finally grow into these oversized clothes you wear. You would like that, wouldn't you?"
"Huh!?" Jacek growled. His nervous expression shifted to an irked one as soon as he saw the smug expression on Treyton's face and heard his conceited snickers.
"Damn you! I have a perfectly normal weight; I will have you know! The size of my clothes is merely my preference, it has nothing to do with my stature," Jacek roared with evident vexation.
Treyton teasing snickers turned into contented laughter. "I swear, teasing you about your build never gets old, not when you react so strongly each time," Treyton expressed amidst his laughter, utterly ignoring Jacek's glare.
Beside the men who were immersed in their playful banter, Yuki walked immersed in her own world. It was not a simplistic or shallow world; that which she wandered in. It was deep, it was unpleasant and it was unnerving. It was a world where all she could do was overthink and drown in unpleasant memories. The thing that plunged her into this world of hers was a simple phrase, her birthday.
Birthdays were supposed to be joyful days. They were supposed to be memorable and exciting. Birthdays were supposed to be days she was to look forward to, and yet, ever since she was born, her birthday was her least favorite day of year. It was a day she dreaded. A day she loathed. It was a day Yuki wished never came by.
Upon their arrival at Old Cecil's house, Treyton and Jacek excused themselves as requested by the old man.
Yuki wore an unpleasant expression when she sat across from her godfather. She was, however, still respectful enough to not direct the displeased look towards the man that literally raised her. Her eyes were lowered while she fidgeted with her skirt.
"What are your plans for Tuesday?" The Old man was as direct as ever. Yuki hated his inconsideration in that respect.
"I will be with my brother," said Yuki in a low voice, her gaze still lingering on her godfather's wooden floor.
"Doing what?" Old Cecil grumbled in his hoarse voice, his partially blind eyes eyeing Yuki with a hint of frustration.
"I will have him stay with me till the day passes." Yuki spoke firmly, although her shaky voice gave out her internal conflicts and fear.
The Old man rose from his seat without saying anything, went out of the living room, then returned after a few minutes with a small bottle in hand. He threw the bottle into Yuki's lap. "You will drink that!" He commanded.
Yuki eyed the bottle in her lap with a darkened expression. "Godfather…" Yuki's voice rose and then dissipated.
"What? Are you still unwilling to be unconscious on that day? Are you bent on enduring all that pain just because your mother disappeared while you slept?" Old Cecil raged. He frowned at the timid girl in anger.
"How long are you going to cling to memories that do nothing but eat at you? Does living in regret make your life any better?" The Old man huffed as his temper rose by the second. His blood pressure threatened to hit its height just by looking at the girl.
Yuki clenched her skirt tightly as tears slowly welled up in her eyes. Please…no more! She shut her eyes tightly while she shuddered in trepidation from the memories that were surging in her mind.
Suddenly, she felt a gentle touch, followed by a squeeze on her shoulders. She turned swiftly to look upon the person she did not know she was in need of all along. The tears which were being confined by her pride and courage, escaped from her eyes at the sight of her brother, Jacek.
At the very sight of Yuki's crying face, all of Jacek's thoughts crumpled. His faced morphed from displeasure to empathy, then anger, which he directed at the old man.
"What do you think you are doing?!" Jacek snapped at Old Cecil, his chest rising and falling rapidly from his turbulent emotions. Jacek could not bring himself to understand why the old man would speak in such an inconsiderate manner to Yuki, when he was aware about how she felt about that gloomy day!
"I could ask you the same thing!" the old man snapped back. "Why aren't you convincing her against going without any anesthetics or depressants?" Old Cecil fumed.
"The anesthetics and depressants don't work anymore…" Yuki said lowly between her sobs.
"What?!" Old Cecil asked angrily after he was unable to make out what Yuki said.
Jacek, furious that the old man was still yelling at Yuki nearly snapped. "She said those drugs do not work on her anymore!" he repeated in his sister's stead.
Old Cecil's anger shrunk a little after hearing Jacek. His brows knitted as he stared at the sobbing girl. Then, did that mean she was pulling through each one of her birthdays without a single drug to ease her pain?
"Then what have you been using all these years?" Old Cecil asked a question to which he already had an answer. He watched the brother's face fall immediately after he heard the question. "Twenty-four hours without a single interval of relief? Have you two gone mad…" this time, his voice was not harsh, rather, it was quite calm.
Yuki sniffled and wiped her tears with a handkerchief. She then resumed a bit of her composure, looked at her godfather and said, "I made a drug that numbs the pain for several hours. I do not need to lose consciousness to go through the day. I hope you respect that decision, godfather."
Old Cecil held the girl's unyielding eyes with remorse. It pained him that after all this time, he is still unable to find the cause and cure of Yuki's yearly affliction. He shut his eyes briefly, then sighed before turning and proceeding to leave, "Come and see me on Thursday with the drug you developed… close the door on your way out." Old Cecil walked defeatedly towards his room.
"Let's leave," Jacek told his sister and helped her onto her feet. He took the handkerchief in her hand and wiped the outlines left behind by her tears. Afterwards, he took Yuki's hand and tugged her gently as they left the house.
As soon as the siblings exited, Treyton's towering frame emerged from the shadows of the dimly lit part of the living room, where he had been standing for a long while. He stared at the door, through which Yuki and Jacek had just left with a thoughtful expression.
…
In an old carriage sprinting towards Stolz, Yuki and Treyton sat in deafening silence. Jacek occasionally glimpsed at Yuki, who exhibited a deadpan countenance.
"Were you referring to the drugs you smoked when you said you had developed a drug that numbs pain?" Jacek finally asked what had been weighing on his mind since earlier.
Yuki glanced at him, then back ahead. "That substance is more than a narcotic, did you forget?"
"I didn't. But that is the only drug you have developed with such properties or is there another I do not know of?"
"Pain relievers do not work on me. The only choices available for me are whether I am unconscious throughout the day or experience every bit of the episode, there is no in between. I only said what I did to escape the old man for today…I am exhausted, lets speak no further about the matter." Yuki shut her eyes and laid her head backwards, a deep frown on her dainty visage.