Recovery

Alice summoned William down to the dungeon where Kyle was interrogated.

He was probably on extremely high guard right now, so she chose to bring

someone familiar rather than a complete stranger. That being said, out of the

few faces Kyle knew presently, the only one he was less wary of and with healing

magic was William. He gladly agreed to travel down into the dungeon.

"Umm, he seems to have passed out," William pointed out.

Kyle had fallen unconscious, having long surpassed his physical and mental

limits.

"He was probably too fatigued from the pain and stress." Alice's

expression darkened solemnly.

"Ugh..." A groan fell from Kyle's mouth.

"...What awful injuries. His whole body is battered and bruised. There may

even be fractures in his bones... He needs to be treated immediately," William

said, gently removing the clothes from Kyle's upper body in order to examine

him.

"I implore you. ...It seemed like Sir Turner abused him horribly during the

interrogation."

"What an awful man, doing this to such a small child. He could have just

questioned him traditionally."

"I suspect the interrogation was just a front. His position in the Royal Guard

was at risk due to this case. He became desperate to turn the tide in his favor in

any way possible," Alice explained.

"...How terrible," William muttered with a frown. "Those types of men never

know when to back down."

"I couldn't agree more. Especially so in the case of nobles," Alice agreed

with a bitter smile.

Well... I'm going to start healing now. Levres Cura."

Having finished her examination of Kyle's condition, William chanted the phrase

used for a healing spell. A geometric magic circle appeared at his hands, and a

gentle light wrapped around Kyle's body, healing his injuries.

Alice watched in awe as the swelling faded before her eyes. "Amazing. I

knew the healing effect varied depending on the user, but even in the royal

court there are barely any sorcerers with levres Cura this impressive."

"...I'm flattered," William said with a shy nod. He then took a deep breath and

focused harder.

Once the healing was done, he canceled his magic.

"He should be healed enough to move now... but he's fallen asleep. I can

continue after he's been carried to a bed — he needs proper rest."

"There are several scars over his body, but... these must be old wounds. Was

he mistreated while he was in the slums?" Alice asked upon spotting Kyle's

old scars.

"Yes, most likely. They do seem like those kinds of wounds."

"And there's no way to remove them?"

"I'm sorry. It would be one thing if it was right after he was injured, but it's

impossible to restore old skin once time has passed."

"I see..."

Both of their expressions fell somber.

"Shall we carry him to the guest room?"

"Yes, let's."

Thus, Kyle was relocated once more, this time while he was unconscious.

◇◇◇

Kyle woke up on a soft bed in the guest room of the royal castle.

"Mm..."

He lifted his eyelids slowly — an unfamiliar ceiling came into view.

Where...

Kyle turned his head from side to side, blinking sleepily at the interior of the

spacious and beautiful room. The ceiling was high and there was expensive looking furniture placed at every corner, creating a luxuriously elegant space.

It was vastly different from the utter despair he felt in the prison cell in the

suffocating dungeon.

Kyle tried to sit upright in bed to take in his surroundings in more detail, but his

body felt strangely dull and sluggish. He gave up on that plan quickly and fell

back against the bed once more.

"Oh, you're awake now. Good morning — how do you feel?" a hesitant

voice addressed him from beside the bed.

Kyle turned towards the source of the voice to see two people sitting on a leather

couch. They appeared to be in their early teens, roughly. One was a small-sized

boy wearing quaint clothing of nobility, appearing like an adorable winter satyrwith his white hair reaching softly down his neck. The other person was a girl that had short

blonde hair, her facial features matured and carved with a sculpture-like beauty.

She was wearing what could be considered a maid uniform. The white and navy

colors of the outfit gave it a high-class aura.

Apparently, these two people had been having tea next to Kyle while he

slept.

"You have to rest some more. Your wounds have been healed by magic, but

that doesn't restore weakened stamina. And because the magic pushes your

body to heal the wounds forcibly, the restored areas will be very sensitive

afterwards," the white-haired boy explained as he stood up and approached

Kyle.

"Umm... Who are you?" Kyle asked with caution from where he lay in bed.

"I'm William.We talked a little in the slums,remember? I was

wearing a hood at that time, though."

"Oh, you're the one..."

It was a familiar voice, now that he thought about it. Soft on the ears in a warm and kind way. Kyle immediately recognized William as the small figure from

before.

"Hehe. Pleased to meet you. As for this girl over here—"

William turned back and the maid girl behind her began to introduce herself.

"Greetings. My name is Aria Burton . My position in the royal castle is that

of the head servant, but in lieu of what has happened, I have been assigned to

tend to you. I do hope we can get along amicably."

The girl who introduced herself as Aria bowed politely. Her tone had been all

business and completely monotone, but her words were respectful and caused

no discomfort to the listener. "My name is Kyle... nice to meet you too."

Kyle returned her greeting politely, awkwardly trying to mimic her speaking

style. When someone spoke to him with politeness, he would respond politely

in turn. That was Kyle's — no, Earth' Kyle's — way of life.

"Umm, where am I?" Kyle asked hesitantly.

"The guest room of the castle. You were unconscious, so we healed you with

magic and carried you here," William explained with a soft smile.

"Is that so... Thank you very much," Kyle said with a conflicted expression. He

couldn't let his guard down as long as the two people before him were affiliated

with the same kingdom that hurt him. The memory of the nightmare in the

dungeon stung painfully, but that didn't change the fact these people helped

him.

"It's fine. I heard about what happened. If anything, we're the ones who

should apologize to you. I'm sorry you were treated so horribly," William

apologized sorrowfully, lowering his head.

Kyle couldn't feel any sense of discrimination towards his orphan status when

interacting with him... He remembered how William had been the only one that

treated him kindly back when they first met in the slums.

To be honest, Kyle had a deep-set hatred towards royalty and nobility. Most of

the royals and nobles he had met until now were arrogant and overbearing,

making it hard to change his biased view of those in privileged positions.