The...hospital...?

Why would they be there...?

I clenched up my fists unconsciously...

"Grey. Why are they ther-"

"I'm sorry, milady, but it will be a bit difficult to explain unless you're there yourself," Grey said a bit darkly.

"Are they okay?" I asked slowly.

"They are alive."

His statement didn't really reassure me much and only made the awful feeling in my chest grow.

"I see," I said a bit weakly.

"Be patient, milady. We will be there soon," Grey said to me as he turned his head to stare out of the carriage windows.

No one said a word after that point.

I could feel each and every bump as the wooden carriage wheels rolled over the uneven streets of the capital.

A part of me was so impatient to the point where I was on the verge of jumping out of the carriage and running there myself.

But I shook my head.

I had no idea where and which hospital it was...so running would have been pointless.

"We have arrived, milady. Before we head out, please wear this cloak. Your hair and eyes give away who you are, and the common people don't know you've been found yet," Grey said when our carriage rolled to a stop.

I nodded and draped the cloak over my shoulders, covering my face and hair from view.

Grey stood up from his seat and left the carriage first, holding his hand out to me from the bottom of the carriage stairs to lead me out.

I took his hand and he guided me to the hospital doors.

I've always hated the hospital.

The last time I visited here was when Ace was confirmed to have amnesia.

And now I was here again to visit the boys.

Grey left me to speak with one of the front desk attendants and I sat down on a nearby seat to calm my nerves.

There was always a chance that the boys were just slightly injured and were admitted into the hospital to heal their wounds.

But...

I glanced up at Grey, who's expression was horribly grim.

The odds of them being alright...didn't seem very high.

"Let's go, milady," Grey said as we both followed a woman who directed us where we needed to go.

We walked down the long corridors and I felt sick.

Our walk came to a stop when we reached a door that was labeled: "Patient #95728 - Wolfeskikblokasretinhas."

"He is in here," the lady said as she opened the door for us.

When I walked into the room, which was lit up only by the light coming through the windows, I saw a single bed.

Laying down on it was someone unconscious with multiple noticeable injuries all over his body.

There were no cuts or scars...but there were millions of bruises over his skin.

Wolfe...

What happened...to him...?

"How did he end up with that many bruises...? He's not that weak, so who..." I murmured.

"We just found him like that. We're not sure at all how he got them, milady. He's just sleeping right now, but he'll wake up by himself later," Grey replied.

Oh...

I forgot...

Wolfe loved sleep more than anything else and wouldn't wake up no matter how hard you tried.

"Haha...I thought he was unconscious," I slightly chuckled in relief.

"No. On the contrary, he's the same as usual. He spends his time lazing around and sleeping. Every once and awhile, he'll wake up and groan a little before falling back asleep," Grey sighed.

"I see...Has anyone ever asked him how he got all those awful bruises?" I asked.

"We have...but he refuses to tell us. So we stopped asking, milady."

At least...he's alright...I guess.

"What about the other guys?" I asked.

"They are in different rooms. This hospital only allows up to a maximum of one or two people per room, milady. Wolfe requested his own private room so he could rest comfortably."

"I see..."

"I'll go check in with a nearby worker to lead us to the next room, milady," Grey said as he left me alone in the room with Wolfe.

"Wow...I never knew that dude could talk like a normal person," said the voice of someone behind me after Grey left.

I turned my head and saw Wolfe yawning.

"You're awake?" I asked.

"Yeah...I'm planning on falling back asleep though," Wolfe said lazily.

"What did you mean when you said that you didn't know Grey could talk like that...?" I asked.

"That dude is like a robot or something. The only things I've ever heard him say for the past few weeks were: "Yes, master," or, "No, your highness," or anything like that. I didn't know that he could speak in full sentences," Wolfe said as he blinked a few times.

I didn't know what to say.

That didn't sound like a 'Grey' that I knew.

"Oh. Just so you know, that dude is scary," Wolfe said.

"Yeah, I already knew that much...Do you want to eat something?" I asked.

"No...not really. By the way, did you just get back? It feels like a long time since I've seen you," Wolfe said.

"Yeah, I just got back yesterday..." I nodded.

"Wow...I barely noticed you were gone," Wolfe said.

"I............Okay then," I said slowly.

I wasn't in the mood to argue or get mad at him, so I just sighed.

He probably slept through the entirety of the past few months so I wasn't too surprised anyway.

"Okay then. How did you end up in the hospita-"

"How's the weather today?" he asked, completely interrupting me.

"I wasn't really paying attention...But why do you have so many bruis-"

"Well then, it was good talking to you. I'm going back to sleep...so visit me later," he said as he snuggled up in his blanket, interrupting me once again.

I...had a sneaking suspicion that Wolfe was completely taking over the fact that he was injured to sleep as much as he liked.

"Sure..." I sighed.

Wolfe didn't say anything back to me.

I guess he was already asleep.

"...Hello, I'll be leading you two to the room you requested," said a nurse as she walked into the room I was in.

"Okay. Who are we seeing next...?" I asked.

"The twins," Grey sighed.

"...What about Deux...or Ace?"

"...They are...in another room..." Grey said as he didn't look me in the eye.

"I se-"

"We're here. I'll...stand outside for this one...you can talk to them yourself," Grey said as he opened a door to let me in.

I walked into the room alone.

It was almost identical to the room I was in before...except...the floor was covered in feathers.

Did they have a pillow-fight or something in here...?

"Cowdelia...?!" I could hear two identical voices scream at the same time.

"She's alive, Min!" Lin yelled.

"She isn't dead yet, Lin!" Min nodded aggressively.

So...loud...

I covered my ears on reflex.

"I bet those male leads are happy right now, Min," Lin said.

"Yeah, they're probably trying to act cool, Lin," Min nodded.

"How have you been, Lady Cow?" they asked as they turned toward me.

I didn't even know how to respond to them.

I guess...this was the reason why Grey decided to stand outside...he probably didn't want to deal with these two...

I was worried for no reason.

"She was worried about us, Min," Lin said.

"Yay, someone actually cares, Lin!" Min nodded.

"But she isn't worried for us anymore, Min..."

"I wonder why, Lin..."

These telepathic mind-reading twins...really don't know the definition of privacy.

I looked at the two of them.

Even though the two of them always messed around, their smiles never seemed genuine to me.

It was as if they were constantly dyed with boredom.

Honestly, out of everyone I knew, these two were the hardest to read.

"You guys don't seem to be acting like patients..." I sighed.

"Hmm? But we are patients," Lin and Min smiled at the same time.

"Why..."

The twins looked at each other and looked back at me.

They stared at me for awhile blankly.

"What's wrong...?" I asked slowly.

They pulled off the blanket covering their bodies and I gaped in horror.

They both...had one of their hands chopped off.

"Oh look, the cow is surprised, Min," Lin said.

"That is to be expected, Lin," Min nodded.

"H-How..." I murmured as my eyes widened.

In the place where their missing hands should have been were layers of bandages wrapped tightly around their wrist.

The sight sent chills down my spine.

"It was another assassination attempt, right, Lin?" Min said as he turned to his brother.

"Yep. We were too careless, Min," Lin agreed.

I didn't know what to say.

The two of them...they both had a missing hand each...

"Is it that scary?" Lin asked.

"It honestly isn't that bad. We have an excuse to not do homework," Min said.

"That's not the point...what type of sick psycho would do that..." I murmured.

The twins looked at each other with a perplexed expression on their faces, as if they were completely confused as to why I found this a big deal.

"You guys...how did you guys even manage...to both...lose a hand like that...? I asked slowly.

"It was a man with an ax," Lin started.

"He was aiming for my chest," Min continued.

"But I shielded Min with my hand," Lin said as he looked to his brother.

"And I blocked myself too," Min said as he looked to his brother as well.

"He chopped both of them off in one go," they said together.

I...

What was I supposed to say in this situation...?

"You don't have to say anything," they shrugged as they read my mind.

"But aren't you guys...used to assassination attempts...? Shouldn't you have been...prepared for something like this...?" I asked them.

I didn't want to sound so rude to them, especially after they made it after losing their hands...

But...

"Yeah, but we were careless that time around," Lin said.

"We were hiring a lot of people at the time to find you," Min nodded.

"We didn't care about security," they said proudly as if they were expecting me to praise them for caring about me.

Me...?

They got their hands chopped off because they wanted to find me...?

"It's not your fault," they said quickly both at the same time as if they were making an attempt to reassure me.

"No...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have gone missing like that anyway," I murmured.

The twins looked to each other and sighed.

"She won't listen, Min," Lin said.

"She feels guilty, Lin," Min nodded.

"Shut up, you two, or else I'll smack the both of you," I said sharply.

It really was mostly my fault.

I shouldn't have left for that long.

I-

"Yes, Cowdeli-I mean...ma'am," they said when I started glaring at them.

"Promise me...if you plan on doing anything in the future, prioritize your security. You guys have an excessive amount of money...just spend a few million on quality guards or something," I told them.

"Yes, ma'am," they said.

The boys went quiet for a bit.

"...Lin...I'm confused," Min sighed.

"Me too, Min," Lin nodded.

"First she was relieved...then she was shocked...then she was guilty...and now she's mad?" they said together.

"But we only did it because we were worried," Lin said.

"Yeah, what if you were dead?" Min nodded.

"We don't get it," they said together.

"You guys...really don't get it...do you..." I sighed.

"Hmm?" they asked.

"I'm like that because I'm worried for you two," I said as I walked over to smack the two in the head.

The twins stared at me with wide eyes.

"Promise me you two won't do that again," I said sternly.

Neither of them responded to me and just stared at me with their heads cocked to the side.

"She said she was worried, Min," Lin said.

"Yes, she did, Lin," Min nodded.

They both stared down at their missing hands.

"Yep...It was worth it," they both said at the same time with a smile.

What were these two even talking about...

I sighed.

Without a doubt, I'll never be able to figure out what goes through these twins' heads.

"Even after walking through 500 labyrinths..." Lin started.

"...And growing stronger..." Min continued.

"...She still has the emotional intelligence of a cow," they both sighed.

"Ugh..." I groaned.

I wasn't even surprised.

Within a few seconds, they already knew exactly why I was missing without me even needing to tell them.

These two probably read my mind ages ago and figured out the reason why I was gone for so long.

It was impossible to keep a secret from these two.

"Since she got stronger..." Min started.

"...Do you think we'll instantly die if we ever annoy her?" Lin continued.

They didn't say anything after that and seemed to be seriously considering their options.

"What? Do I look like I'll kill you?" I asked.

The twins just stared at me blankly after that.

"She's dumb," the twins sighed.

...How annoying.

"...You want to leave, don't you?" Lin asked.

"You should go," Min said.

"You have someone you need to see, right?" they said at the same time.

I froze.

Darn it...

I really can't keep a secret from them.

"How much do you guys know...?" I asked.

"Everything. Duh," they replied.

"I see..." I sighed.

"You really should go before the hospital closes," they said.

"When does the hospital close?" I asked.

"In ten minute-" they were about to say.

"Wait. Really?! Shoot. Bye. I got to go," I said as I began to run out of the room.

As I was running out, I wasn't able to hear what the twins said at the end.

----

"We lied," Min said.

"But she believed us," Lin replied.

"She trusts us too much, doesn't she..." they murmured.

They stayed silent for awhile.

"We really have..." Min started.

"...no chances with her..." Lin continued.

"...do we..." they sighed.

----

"Grey, I'm done talking with the twins. Let's go visit Deux and Ace now," I said as I closed the door behind me.

"Of course, milady," Grey said as he gave a small professional bow and led me to another room that was in the far corners of the hospital.

He was walking slower than usual.

It was as if he was trying to delay something as much as possible.

"Shouldn't a nurse lead us there...? And...Why is their room so far away from the others...?" I asked.

"They...are a...special case..." Grey murmured.

"What does that mea-"

"We're here..." Grey said as he suddenly stopped.

"Well, the-"

"Milady, you don't have to go in if you don't want to," Grey said as he covered my ears.

"Huh...?"

"Please...Milady...I don't want you to go in..." Grey murmured.

"Why...shouldn't I go...in...?" I asked slowly.

"..." Grey didn't say anything.

He looked extremely troubled.

"Grey...Are you okay...?" I asked as I reached my hand out to touch his forehead.

He didn't have a fever.

Just as I was about to move my hand off of him, he grabbed it.

"Please don't do that, milady. It'll trouble me," Grey said as he intertwined his fingers with mine.

He wasn't acting like his usual self at all.

Did he...change while I was gone...?

I stared at our hands and noticed how big and rough his hands were in comparison to mine.

"You're really acting strange right now, Grey," I said.

"If you go into that room, you will be hurt, milady. Please...just wait a few weeks...they will be fine by then," Grey said.

"If that's the case...I absolutely must see them now," I said as I let go of Grey's hands.

Grey stayed silent and opened the door for me.

I walked inside.

The room was dark.

There were no windows in this room and the air felt dry.

Then I heard it.

Muffled screaming.

My blood went cold.

"Deux...?! Ace...?!" I yelled as I looked around.

Then I saw him.

Deux.

He was sitting on his bed with his eyes blank and unfocused, completely dazed and unaware that there were people in the room with him.

"Deux...?" I asked as I moved toward him, but the sound of muffled screaming wouldn't stop I turned my head sharply to the source of the noise.

But there was nothing there.

"Hey...Deux...? Where's the screaming coming from...??" I called out to him, only to get no reply.

He didn't respond.

He didn't even turn to look at me.

"There's no point in calling out to him, milady...No matter what we say or do, he won't respond," Grey said from behind me as he leaned on the door frame.

I turned back to Deux.

His pale blue eyes were blank and emotionless.

There was no feeling...no soul behind them.

It was as if he was a doll.

"Why is he like that..." I asked slowly.

"His mental state was always the weakest out of all of us, milady. After you went missing..." Grey said as his voice trailed off.

"What happened after I went missing..."

"...We're not quite sure either. He was only struggling a bit with things at first, but after Marquis Scott and his wife decided to visit our estate to send their regards...he became the empty shell that he is now."

"The...Marquis..."

"Yes, milady. They bumped into Deux during their visit and requested to have a private talk with him. Straight afterward, he became like this and wouldn't listen to any of us."

They found him.

"Why..."

"Milady..." Grey said slowly.

I clenched my fist as hard as I could.

Soon...

I'll reenact my revenge soon...

I just need...a little bit longer...

Just...a...little more...time...

I sat down by Deux's side slowly and grabbed his limp hand.

"Deux..."

His hands were cold and lifeless, just like a corpse's.

What did they do to him...that made him like this...?

"If Deux is here...then where is Ace..." I murmured.

Grey stared at me for awhile before he chose to respond.

"Don't you hear it?" Grey asked me.

The screaming...

I dropped Deux's cold hands.

"Where is he?" I asked as I tried to calm my quickening breathing.

"...Over there," Grey said as he pointed to the opposite end of the room.

"...There's nothing there though," I murmured as I walked toward the other half of the room.

The muffled screaming became louder and louder to the point where I could barely handle it.

I reached my hand out and slashed my hand downwards, dispelling the magic that was hiding what was really going on.

"...A...ce...?" I whispered as my voice cracked.

His mouth was gagged, his eyes were covered in layers of black cloth, and his arms were chained and bound together by some sort of magic.

Ace's entire body was tied to a metal chair that was bolted to the floor within the confines of a cage.

Using my hand, I grabbed onto one of the bars and reached out to him, but he was too far away for me to touch him.

"Why are you...in there...? You shouldn't be...there...Why...Why are you screaming...so much?" I said as my brain went into a slight shock.

His skin was deathly pale and he was continually screaming as if though he were being pierced by a million knives over and over.

Because the magic that was keeping him hidden was completely dispelled, the screaming was now much louder than before...and it became the only thing I could hear.

"...Don't look, milady," Grey said as he brought me into his arms and pushed my head into his shoulder.

"W...hy...Why...?" I repeated over and over again.

I felt as if my blood had stopped flowing through my veins.

Reality...

...was so cruel...

"...He...has Mana Beast Deficiency," Grey said softly to me as Ace's painful screaming nearly overtook the volume of his voice.

"That doesn't matter...Get him out of that cage...Please...He's in pain...He needs help," I said as I pulled away from Grey.

"You can't..." Grey murmured.

"Why not..." I said harshly.

"He was the one who begged us to put him in there in the first place...before it was too late," Grey said quietly, in almost a whisper.

"If you guys knew he was going to end up like this...you should have done something...!" I lashed out.

"We couldn't..."

"Why not?!"

"...Because we didn't have you."

"...What?"

"Do you know what Mana Beast Deficiency is?" Grey asked me with careful eyes.

I shook my head shakily.

Mana Beast...Deficiency...?

"There are only two things in this world...that Ace truly needs to survive. Do you know what they are...?" Grey asked me quietly.

"Food and...water...?" I murmured.

I lied though.

I knew exactly what Ace needed to live, but I didn't want to accept it.

"No...Ace can live perfectly fine without food and water...He only eats every once and awhile to join us in our meals..." Grey said.

"I already know that...just explain..." I said as I grew steadily more impatient.

Ace's screams of pain were affecting me much more than I could handle and the more time I spent wasting in here, the more that I felt as if though I were growing insane.

"The two things he needs...are your life force...and your mana. But three months ago, all traces of your mana were cut off from this world..."

My mind went blank.

Yeah...I knew exactly why things were so messed up.

The labyrinths that I wandered in...they were imbued with anti-magic spells...and I was wandering in that anti-magic for months with only a sword by my side.

"Mana is like food for him. He was starving for these past three months without it."

Why didn't I think about this sooner...?

While I was walking in those caverns for months, not once did I ever think what would happen to Ace, who desperately needed my mana to live.

"Ace is part of the intelligent race of dragons, but without mana, he's been reduced to a mere bloodthirsty beast. If we remove his bindings, he'll kill us all," Grey said.

"Ace wouldn't kill anyone..." I said bitterly.

"A mana beast's hunger shouldn't be taken lightly...their hunger is the same as being constantly burned alive. But if he kills someone, he'll gain something equivalent to a small snack and he'll be able to relieve himself for a brief moment."

"...How long...has he been like this...?"

"For almost over month now," Grey replied.

One month...?

If his starvation felt like the personification of hell and the incarnation of death...

My throat tightened.

"He was holding onto his sanity for a much longer time than the average mana beast. Most would have gone crazy after the first week or so. But...he held on for a good month and a half before he begged us to lock him away."

"Why..." I murmured.

"We fed him some of our mana at first, but it was never enough to match up with your mana, milady. It was only a temporary fix..."

What was the point of enduring his pain for so long...?

He would have instantly felt a little better if he went on mass genocide...but he did his best to hold back...

He was honestly...too nice for his own good.

"It doesn't make sense though...I'm back now...I'm back...so...Why is he still like this...?" I murmured slowly.

Ace's screaming was becoming increasingly louder.

He was even growling.

Maybe he's realized that there were people in the room and his natural instinct to kill was kicking in.

"His connection to your mana is incredibly weak, milady. It'll take some time before the connection is formed again...you must be patient," Grey murmured.

"This is why...you guys wanted me to wait a few weeks...?"

"Yes...it was also...what Ace asked of us in case you ever came back. I doubt...he ever wanted you to learn about this..."

"This...idiot..."

He didn't want me to know...?

Why...

Couldn't he rely on me a little too?

I wouldn't have minded...at all if he did...

"Now that you've seen him, milady, would you like to head home?" Grey asked me.

"No...not yet...let me stay here...a little longer..." I said quietly back.

Grey nodded with understanding as he stood up and left the room, leaving me alone to drown in Ace's screams.

The room was dark and there were no windows.

His screaming echoed off of the walls, leaving my body weak.

And I collapsed to the ground in front of his cage.

I stared through the bars and saw him.

There were tears wetting his blindfolds and dripping onto his cheeks.

His veins were pulsating from behind his skin and his breathing was ragged as if it pained him to even breathe.

All of this...

"Ace...I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I didn't even try to consider the risks...I...I was the one who did this to you..." I murmured as I turned away from his cage and leaned on its bars.

Ace thrashed against his magic-enforced ropes, trying to snap them apart.

I stared at him.

He looked like he was going through hell.

No...

He was going through hell.

"...I thought my life was the worst these past three months...but I was being too arrogant. I didn't even consider what would happen to you without me...I'm sorry...Ace...I'm so sorry," I said as tears welled up in my eyes.

I stopped myself though.

I promised myself...to never cry in front of Ace again...

And yet...why...

Why wouldn't my tears stop flowing...?

Unconsciously, out of habit, I covered my mouth and stifled the small cry I was about to let out and just sat there, letting my tears fall silently.

It was a habit I gained in the labyrinths, where even a small cry or even the slightest unevenness of breath would attract hoards of monsters.

The art of silent tears...I had mastered it completely.

If I was going to cry...I was going to make sure that Ace would never find out.

"I came back...to see you...Ace...I'm so sorry...for not getting home...sooner..." I murmured.

But his screams and screeches of pain wouldn't stop no matter how many times I apologized.

Apologies don't do anything in this world.

The world...is so cruel...

After awhile, I could feel someone slowly stumble over to me and sit down by my side.

Slowly, I turned my head to see who it was.

Deux...

He didn't say anything as he just sat by my side, staring forward into the blank air.

"...You're...okay...?" I asked softly with my blurry eyes.

Deux glanced over to me, without moving his head, and gave a small nod.

"But...I thought..." I murmured.

Deux didn't respond at all and simply sat there to be my company.

He leaned his head on the metal cage and almost seemed to revert back into a doll for a moment before his eyes flashed over to me.

I looked into his eyes.

Always...

Deux's eyes were always such a beautiful shade of calm pale blue.

"I'm sorry for crying like that all of a sudden. You must've been shocked, right?" I chuckled awkwardly as I wiped away my tears.

Deux didn't say anything, but somehow I knew that he was disagreeing with my words.

"If you're fine now...Deux...do you think they'll let you come back to the palace with us...?" I asked him.

He shook his head no and stared at the door instead.

"Are you saying that I should leave...?" I asked.

He turned his head to me slowly and nodded once.

I smiled bitterly.

"Thanks...I would have stayed here forever otherwise," I said to him.

He blinked at me and I turned to Ace.

"I'll be back soon. No matter what...I'll be waiting until you recover," I murmured into his cage as I turned away and left.

But before I could leave, I could a small tug on the cloak I was wearing.

I turned to see Deux clenching onto my clothing.

"...So...rry."

Deux...?

His eyes weren't looking at me.

They were staring off into the air, still blank like a void.

But there was a tear rolling out of one of those lifeless eyes.

It was strangely beautiful to see something lifeless express such a pure emotion.

"Sorry...? For what...?" I asked, but he never replied.

He was silent.

"You have nothing to be blamed for," I murmured.

...because the only one who can be blamed is...

...me.

--------------------------------------------------------

A/N: That's it for this chapter! So~ How did you guys like it? This chapter was a bit depressing so...yeah.

Anyway, to sum up everything in this chapter, Wolfe has mysterious bruises all over his body, the twins both lost a hand, Deux has broken completely, Ace has Mana Beast Deficiency, and Cordelia blames herself for everything.

Haha...A lot happened in this chapter, didn't it?

But on a more positive note, there have been so many new readers and people coming to my story lately! Thank you, everyone, so much!! Writing this story has been such a blast lately, seriously~

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter though! Thanks, again, to my readers/voters/commenters~ I wouldn't be writing without you guys!

Stay safe, everyone~

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 4812