Someone Dies

I could have just left the room and that would have been fine. All I needed to do was step out through the doorway into the hall and find myself downstairs in the lobby, but no, I had to take care of something first, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight.

“Get me a piece of cloth, Paige.” I ordered.

“Pardon me, sire? Why do...–"

“–It matters not! Get me a piece of clean cloth now!”

“Err... At once sire!” He sprinted out of the room to get the material.

“And oh! Don't forget to get a mop and bucket filled with water, gloves and a broom as well!” I yelled as he left.

It took a few minutes but Paige arrived with all the tools I asked for albeit he was a bit tired. “Umm, sire? What do you need any of these for? Will it help us catch the culprits?”

I put on the gloves, saying, “Umm... No.”

“Pardon?” Paige tilted his head in confusion.

“I just to get this damned closet clean! Now let me work!” I yelled at him and proceeded to clean the closet, starting with dusting off, folding and arranging the clothes on the floor.

“Huh?" Paige just stood there confused. And after a while, he would keep asking me to let him clean instead. Of course, I would always refuse, saying, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!”

It took a few more minutes but I was finally done with arranging the messy clothes into their respective shelves and drawers, they were all so neat and pristine. I was proud of myself.

However, I noticed that as I did that I had bounced some dust into the air. I took the mop in hand, ready to work on the floors then I immediately reached for my red golden laced handkerchief to cover my nose but...

“Wait... No, no, it couldn't be. They couldn't have...” I checked every pocket on my being, everything.

“Umm, sire? Are you alright!? What's the matter, sire?” Paige came up to me and worriedly inquired after noticing my panicked expression. But I ignored him.

In a panic, I pushed Paige to the side and I looked on the floor, the shelves, the drawers, everywhere to the point that I completely disorganized all the clothes that I had just organized.

Everything was on the floor but I still couldn't find it. I couldn't find my mother's gifted handkerchief.

Angered, I cussed, “That ingrate! He actually took my handkerchief, the one last thing my mother gifted that fool took it! I'll kill him, I'll kill that parasite!” I was enraged. I felt something in my psyche crack, my head was spinning, my mind was a blur and for a moment, I lost control.

A burst of aura from my body exploded into the air, clouding the very closet we were in, the force of my discharged aura threw Paige into the air and impacted him against a wall.

"Sire! *COUGH* *COUGH* Sire! *COUGH* Please...! Calm yourself!” Paige cried for me as he began to slowly choke and suffocate from the immense amount of aura that filled the air.

Upon seeing Paige struggle, I tried to calm myself and it seemed to be working at the time but then before my rage could simmer.

I heard the eery voice once again but clearer this time, like a strong will in my soul, like a malevolent devil, <NOT YET, I NEED MORE! IF YOU LET ME, I SHALL PURGE THE PARASITES FOR YOU! I SHALL PURGE THEM ALL! ALL I NEED IS MORE! GIVE ME MORE!!]

“Argh!!!” Surrounded by a thick mist of overflowing aura and levitated in the air, my body couldn't take any more of the rage.

My heart, my veins, my blood, everything was awry, it was like venom.

I was losing myself but then, I remembered something my mother had told me a long time ago...

“There are two hungry creatures that live in everyone's soul, one is called strength and the other, weakness. In every one, these two creatures struggle to rule over the soul but at the end of the day the one that thrives in one's soul is the one you feed.”

With my mother's words in my heart and mind, I took a short breath and calmly spoke to the voice in my mind.

“Hearken to me O dark occupant of my soul! I know not who or what you are! And I do not care to know, it changes nothing but understand this...! I am in charge! I make the rules! This is my body, this is my soul! And if there are parasites that must be purged from this world, I will do the purging! Hearken!!”

And just like that, the rage simmered, my aura stopped flowing out, dispersing into the air and my body slowly descended feet first onto the floor, and I had collected my sense of self again.

However, when I looked around, the closet had become extremely messy now. But there was no time for that because at a corner of the wall of the closet, was Paige pressed to the wall and struggling to catch his breath.

He was coughing painfully as well, it was aura poisoning, he had inhaled a lot of aura in the air, and worst of all, it was my royal aura. If I didn't hurry, Paige was going to die.

I picked Paige up and held him close to my chest. His condition wasn't good at all, he was pale from aura poisoning and his skin felt very cold, as I continued to check his pulse and monitor his heartbeat, he slowly opened his eyes to me. “*COUGH* *COUGH* My lord! Sire! You're back! I thought you wouldn't come to your senses. *COUGH* *COUGH* Than—”

“—Hold your breath, I need to find a way to heal you...” I immediately cautioned him, but he kept talking, delighted to see me in control again.

“Th-Thank the gods I was wrong... *COUGH* Sire, I-I feel cold. Sire? I... *COUGH* I was thinking about what you said. *COUGH* About good and evil—”

I interrupted him once again, “—It doesn't matter!”

“Huh? Sire?”

“It doesn't matter, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and if you have one different to mine, then shut the fuck up, get better and prove me wrong!” As I said that, he kept silent and let me focus on his healing.

To calm myself, I took a breath, in and out then proceeded to heal Paige. I focused and concentrated my aura into my palm on his chest where his heart was, I activated the healing skill, Aura Healing — a skill that only aura lords, aura masters and aura kings could use.

For aura poisoning, aura healing wouldn't really be helpful especially once the ingested aura had reached the heart. Why? Because aura heal only closes wounds or cures scars and that is all. Thus, in such a situation where the cause of injury was aura poisoning, there would still be aura left in the injured's body after healing their injured heart which means they would still die.

But not in my case as an aura master with the aura absorbing ability. It took a few minutes but I slowly reabsorbed the royal aura that Paige had ingested at the same time I slowly healed the ruptures of his heart, lungs and veins caused by the toxic and explosive nature of my royal aura.

A few minutes passed, but Paige was now able to breathe well, even though he was still a bit weak, “I... I can breathe again. Thank you, my lord.”

“Don't thank me yet, this place is a health hazard for a few hours, my royal aura still permeates the air here. Hup! We must leave this room now!” I raised and lifted him to his feet, holding up his weakened body with his shoulder over mine, gently guiding him out of the room.

“Hrmm! There we go...! Nice and safe.” I lowers him down, sitting up next to a wall while I took the door from Mr William's room that was broken from its hinges, and properly placed it against the doorway of Mr William's room, properly locking it to prevent the saturated royal aura from spreading into the halls and other rooms.

“That should keep the toxic aura at bay, till it fully disperses into thin air after a few hours,” I said while carefully inspecting the room's door.

“Sire, if we hurry, we can still catch the thief that stole from you,” Paige suggested, still weakened from the aura poisoning but breathing so much better.

“I know...” I broodingly responded as I laid both my hands on the door of the room.

“I... Then... So what stops you from going down there to catch them at once, sire?”

“The clothes...”

“Pardon...?”

“The clothes were messy again...”

“The... Clothes?” Paige was confused as to what I meant but then, “Wait... Sire! You don't mean the clothes from the closet, do you!?”

“..." I couldn't answer that it was due to my obsession with cleanliness and that now the sight of the messy closet would stay on my mind for many restless nights.

“Your highness~?! Please let it go~! Please, sire~!” Paige pleaded from the floor he sat on. I gripped the handle of the door once more.

But, “...Fine.” I let the handle go and took Paige by the shoulder instead. “Thank you, sire... I know it wasn't easy.” Paige said as we both proceeded down the stairs from the fourth floor to the third floor.

“Hmm...” I replied.

“Paige might actually be aware of my obsession than I thought.” I thought to myself as we both slowly and gently descended the stairs.

“Haha...” Paige let out a laugh.

“What's so funny?” I inquired Paige.

He cheekily explained, “Oh nothing much, sire. Just feels nice to know that you're human too!”

I then thought while embarrassed, “Yeah... This guy definitely knows my problem!”

“So what will you do once we get to the bottom, sire?” Paige asked.

“Hmm... Someone dies.” I bluntly answered in a calm but serious tone.

“I see...” Paige worriedly utters.