"Hm? Murren's sick? Oh right, he used to be a shut-in, always staying at home and not interacting with anyone, he always said he was ill and never left." Layla recounted, "I presume that it's just a cold, don't worry too much Miss Ophelia."
"Sir Murren? His gotten sick? That's odd, he can heal sicknesses rather easily. That's why I hired him because he had excellent potential in teaching, and he can relieve fatigue quite easily." Lione's head tilted, "Don't worry too much about him Ophelia."
I asked around, even the maids, and all they said were the same things, 'it's probably nothing too serious', was I worried over nothing? I still had roughly over 2 years to learn and prepare for the entrance exam as well as for the scholarship.
Two weeks progressed quickly, and Murren was still sick, all I did was use the weapons he left and continued to practice, if there was one thing, this allowed me to hone and perfect the main schtick for each weapon.
Though as the days passed, I was getting more paranoid and worried that maybe it wasn't just a simple illness, and it was something worse. 'You must be brave yet also cunning', I didn't want to get teased however it was going for too long that I had to say something.
"Here we are Lady Ophelia, this is Sir Murren's room." Priscilla knocked lightly on his door, "Sir Murren, Lady Ophelia is looking for you." There was no reply, only silence, she knocked a few more times. "Sir Murren, Lady Ophelia is looking for you, are you okay?"
As she was about to open the door, the door had opened, peeking at us was an eye. It was Murren, the bags under his eyes had intensified and he barely even looked down to see us. Priscilla tried to open it further but it was blocked by his hand holding it in place.
His hands were bruised even further, so much that they were purple.
"I'm sick, sorry I couldn't attend to teach you. I'll be fine tomorrow." His voice was coarse and raspy.
"Lady Ophelia, your question I presume has been answered, let us not disturb Sir Murren any further." Priscilla swivelled around, preparing to walk off, however as I saw Murren's grip release from the door, using a small burst of wind the door swung open with great force.
He fell back, and on the floor, a loose dirty buttoned shirt, and bruises slid down the sides of his face and his legs. His hair was messy, and despite him marvelled at what just happened, his eyes could hardly open.
"What..? What are you doing?!" He tried to stand up but fell face flat, "Why are you here.. Murren?" What? Why was he asking me as if I was Murren?
"Why did you have to die?! Why did you have to give up your life for some useless students?" He snarled, slamming his fist down onto the carpet repetitively.
Priscilla quickly ran in, it was the first time I had seen her use magic, and it was ice at that. Small flakes floated down near his head as his head hit the ground unconscious. It was impressive, I didn't think ice could be used to forcefully make someone sleep.
"You should go Lady Ophelia, I'll take it from here." I gave a quick nod, and left promptly. I was confused, why was he talking to me as if he wasn't Murren? Like Murren was someone else?
I halted in the hallway, was Murren someone else? From tired eyes to progressively stronger eyebags, to bruises all over the body, and from what happened in the last few weeks, it all correlated to some type of depressive disorder.
That either meant that, his name may not have been Murren, but someone else's name. And if that was the case, he took his name, but for what purpose? To steal someone's identity?
No, if that was it, he'd most likely try to fight back or pretend he was fine. But, even with force, he got knocked out so easily, which meant he probably wasn't an infiltrator.
This Murren person, might've been a close friend of sorts, giving up their life for students, which leads to knights? Knights were the protector of the kingdom, which means that they were deployed somewhere near or in an academy and his life was lost in battle or similar.
But why become an instructor? Was it because of grievance, to leave battle after something so catastrophic? But why take his close friend's name?
Was he ashamed? Or was being an instructor something his friend wanted to be? But was rejected because of some conflict, and so he took on that role to fulfil his friend's desires.
Nevertheless, the main factor could've been because he was the one who forced 'Murren' to be a knight, and so he tried to pretend as if this was to atone for his sins. 'He always said he was ill...', 'he can heal sicknesses rather easily...', he purposely didn't heal himself so as to think he was doing the right thing..?
It all made sense from a standpoint, but was it all right? I ran back to Murren's room, the door was closed and frost was seeping from the crevices of the door. What was happening inside? Priscilla was most likely inside still because of the ice, but why was it so potent that it'd reach the door?
I reached for the doorknob, I was shaking, what was happening? What was Priscilla doing? And was my assumption right? My head was spinning and I felt dizzy.
My head..? Why was I looking at the ceiling-
"You're awake Lady Ophelia." Priscilla poured tea inside the cup near my bedside.
"What happened? Is Sir Murren alright? What did you do? Why am I back in my bed?"
"Calm down for a moment. breathe slowly, you've just woken up, take your time." She handed me the cup, I laid it within my hands. I took her instructions, there was too many things that I didn't know of.
"I'm fine now, Priscilla, what happened?"
"You overexerted yourself from training and fell unconscious, I brought you back to your room. I suggest to take a little break for the rest of the week, you might be burnt out and feel exhausted."
What? I clearly remembered leaving the training grounds fine, so what was this about? Priscilla grabbed my cup, pouring more tea and setting it aside.
"I don't understand, I was at Sir Murren's room, and I felt completely fine. So what do you mean I fell unconscious from training?"
"You were lying on the ground, appeared you had a fever, are you sure you're okay? You should rest quickly."
"I- I- I don't understand? Are you saying I was dreaming..?"
"Perhaps you were Lady Ophelia, now quickly, take a rest, you need sleep to recover." She tucked me under the blanket, and leaned closer. Was I really dreaming? So was Murren really Murren?
Priscilla hovered her hand over my forehead, it was ice- ice? I clearly remembered her using ice before. Was I really dreaming? Or was I not? Why would Priscilla lie to me though?
The ice felt soothing, and I felt dizzy again.. I felt comfortable, like I wanted to sleep. My vision was fading quick but, maybe it was fine to sleep some more.