10 Chapter 6

The night sky was covered with dark clouds accompanied by the roar of thunder. Heavy rains drenched the entire territory of the Argaint Kingdom. Between the sound of rain and thunder, there was a groan of pain from one of the rooms in the Argaint Kingdom's castle. It was Princess Aishia's room.

Inside the room were only Princess Aishia and her loyal maid, Siesta. She is seven years older than Princess Aishia. Siesta's body is shorter than her. She had short black hair and looked beautiful in her maid outfit.

"Princess, are you sure you're okay? You look in a lot of pain right now. Why should the King and Queen make a political visit to the Rubelia Kingdom at the same time as your condition is getting worse!" Siesta said with a worried face.

"I'm fine. Don't you know that I'm used to this kind of pain? Father and mother are doing important things for this Kingdom, so there's no need to bother them with trivial matters like this." Princess Aishia comforted him with a smile.

"But Princess, your current state is…" Siesta couldn't believe what Princess Aishia had said. Although she said she was fine, her face looked ashen.

"It is nothing. If Elise sees me in pain, she will be sad and worried. I have to endure it as usual." Princess Aishia tried to convince Siesta.

Princess Aishia's voice sounded very weak. She kept grinding her teeth to endure the pain. Siesta couldn't help but cry when she saw it.

"You must be strong, Princess! I'm sure you'll recover! Then, you won't make Princess Elise sad and worried anymore!" Siesta tried to encourage Princess Aishia to lessen the pain she was currently feeling.

"I hope so too. But you know even a Royal Mage can't do anything about my condition. They speculated this had something to do with my constitution. The mages also said that they would try to keep my illness from getting worse and find the best solution to treat it. It's been five years since my condition was like this, and they still haven't found any solution." Princess Aishia said while holding back her pain and sorrow. She was shedding tears without her noticing.

"You can't be pessimistic, Princess! I'm sure they will find a solution! You must endure until then! From now on, you can't use magic anymore! Every time you use magic, your condition gets worse!" Siesta scolded Princess Aishia for what she had done that worsened her pain.

"I understand, Siesta. Even so, I still want to become a Great Mage. Thank you for taking care of me all this time." Princess Aishia answered with a sad smile.

"You don't need to thank me, Princess. It's my duty." Siesta sobbed and gripped Princess Aishia's hand tightly. Princess Aishia smiled gently after hearing Siesta's words.

"Siesta, it's late now. Go back to your room. You also need to rest because you look exhausted right now." Princess Aishia was anxious to see Siesta's tired face.

"No, I'll be with you here until you feel better." Siesta quickly rejected it.

"I'm feeling better now, so you can rest. I want to be alone right now and try to sleep." Princess Aishia tried to convince Siesta.

"Is that true?" Siesta had doubts about Princess Aishia's words.

"Of course, it's true. So you can go back to your room and rest." Princess Aishia reassured Siesta with a severe face.

"All right. I pray that you can find a solution to your condition, Princess. Good night! I'm going back to my room for now, but tomorrow morning I'll be right back here." Siesta reluctantly had to follow Princess Aishia's words.

"Okay." Princess Aishia nodded at Siesta's words.

Siesta still hesitated to leave Princess Aishia in her condition. But after seeing Princess Aishia's smile, she finally agreed to follow Princess Aishia's orders and returned to her room. She turned off the magic lamp and left the room.

Not long after the door closed, Princess Aishia groaned in pain again. After holding it in front of Siesta for so long, she looked in a lot of pain. While she was in pain, Princess Aishia suddenly heard a male voice in her room.

"If it hurts so much, why are you telling your maid to leave you, Princess Aishia?" The man slowly walked out of the darkness of the room.

Princess Aishia trembled in shock and fear when she heard the man's voice. She didn't know how the man had gotten into her room without her knowing it.

"Ziel... Is that you? What are you doing in my room in the middle of the night? Isn't it rude to enter a woman's room without permission?" Princess Aishia asked with complicated feelings.

Ziel could tell from his voice that Princess Aishia was confused, scared, and angry with him. Ziel could understand his reaction. Princess Aishia is confused because she doesn't know Ziel's purpose in coming to her room. She is afraid because Ziel entered without her knowing it and angry. After all, Ziel entered her room without permission.

"You'd better not talk much in your condition, Princess Aishia. You'll make your condition worse. And I'm not here to harm you. So you better put your mind at ease. Suppose you're asking how I got into your room, of course, through the door. I just made myself invisible and gave a little illusion to the guards in front of your room." Ziel explained like he knew what Princess Aishia was thinking.

Princess Aishia looked at Ziel. She didn't know what his expression was behind the mask. They were both silent for a long time. Finally, it was Princess Aishia who broke the silence between them first.

"So, what do you want?" Princess Aishia took a breath to calm herself down. He even had time to forget the pain he felt earlier.

"First, I beg your forgiveness for entering your room without permission, Princess. But if I don't do it secretly, then I'll be under suspicion when I come to your room in the middle of the night." Ziel didn't say his intentions right away but apologized to Princess Aishia for his actions.

"I forgive you. So what is your purpose in coming here?" Princess Aishia immediately forgave Ziel and repeated her question.

"Princess Elise has been acting strangely all day long. She has become more reserved and gloomy. She looks sad. It is very inconvenient for my work, and I know the reason why she is like that is because of your condition, Princess Aishia." Ziel explained the reason he met Princess Aishia.

"So in the end, I still made her sad." Princess Aishia blamed herself.

Ziel just kept silent, watching Princess Aishia shed tears. Ziel didn't know the reason she was crying. Was it because she had made her little sister sad or because of the pain she was feeling right now.

"I think it's natural for Princess Elise to feel sad when she sees her sister in pain and could die at any moment." Ziel said flatly.

After hearing what Ziel said, Princess Aishia's body trembled. Her pale face looked frightened. Then she looked directly at Ziel's mask-covered face.

"What do you mean I could die at any moment? Even the Royal Mage said I still have a year. How did you know about it?" Princess Aishia couldn't believe what Ziel had said. Ziel couldn't help but stare at Princess Aishia's face and sighed heavily.

"So it seems you don't understand your actual body condition." Zel shook his head.

"What are you talking about? Do you know what happened to me? No... no way. Even the Royal Mage doesn't know my actual body condition!" Princess Aishia said in a rather loud voice.

Princess Aishia initially saw a glimmer of hope upon hearing Ziel's explanation. But she soon gave up that hope. How could a boy of the same age as her be better than a royal mage?

"It's up to you whether you will believe it or not. But what if I said that I could cure your condition?" Ziel didn't care what Princess Aishia thought.

"What!?" Princess Aishia was shocked after hearing Ziel's words.