[Nightmare]
Chapter 14 [Ripples]

"Please! Just save him! I don't care what you have to do."

"Please calm down, woman! We're trying!"

The sound of a door burst open.

"What the hell happened!?"

"We found two of the new arrivals in a hallway, and this man's ribs were severely cracked."

"Names!"

"Their names are Lucas Wheatfield and Ethan Myers."

"Send them to my office, now!"

"Yes, sir!"

"What's his condition, Elsa?"

"He's stable right now and is unlikely to die.

It looks like a fist cracked three of his ribs.

His lungs aren't punctured, but the bones are pressing against his lungs."

A woman's crying haunted the atmosphere of the room.

"Don't worry, miss. There's no way this crazy bastard is going to die."

"Promise me!"

"Hah. I promise. I'd bet my life on it. So please don't cry."

"A-Alright… I-I'll try…."

"Please wait outside. We need to allow the doctor to heal him, or he'll be in trouble."

"O-Ok… kkaay…."

The door shut and the sound of crying faded from the atmosphere.

"Damn… this is all my fault."

"No, it's not your fault. You can't feel guilty over people that would kill a stranger two days after meeting them."

"No… I was warned this would happen and didn't do anything about it."

"Wait, why didn't you do anything?"

"It's not that I didn't want to. It's just that this situation is too complex."

"I won't ask questions then. At least you can lock those kids away so they can't harm him now."

"That… I need to hear about what happened before from this boy's mouth before we do anything. So the kids won't be detained."

"Wait… what did you just say?"

"Look… it's for this boy's safety. This situation is a lot more complicated than you can imagine."

—

"I don't understand. Why would people do this to him?"

"He's been a show off, and it's been pissing people off."

"Wait, you know who did this to him?"

"Yeah. Not officially, but the people responsible started confessing to the girls before being dragged away by Macron."

"They confessed?"

"Yeah, and the way they confessed was extremely disturbing too."

"Disturbing? How did they do it?"

"I can't talk about it. We have a gag order, so I can't tell you."

"Oh…."

"I can tell you the girls they confessed to were excused from practice to recover."

"That's why they were gone today?"

"Yeah."

"It was that bad, huh?"

"Let's stop talking about it and just pray that this idiot wakes up."

"Do you feel guilty too?"

"..."

"Never mind."

—

"Hello, Mistresses. Are you friends of Sir Helix?"

"Well… not exactly. We don't know Helix well, but we are thankful for the help he gave us."

"I see… I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I'm wary of letting strangers see him when he's weak…."

"No, no! We completely understand. We made him cards. Will you leave them by his bed?"

"You're so thoughtful… I'm glad that there are kind people who wish the young master well…."

"I-I'm sorry! We didn't mean to make you cry."

"No… you've done nothing wrong. I'm just a bit emotional right now."

"Wow… he means a lot to you already, doesn't he?"

"... Yes, it's as you say. I haven't known Sir Helix long, but the last three days have been the happiest of my life. So this was a shock to me."

"This guy's so mysterious. But he's really special…."

"Yeah… I agree. He's only missed practice once, and yet the place feels… empty now."

"I felt that too…."

"..."

"Oh. Sorry for our gossip. Here are the cards."

"Thank you, Mistresses. I'll happily put them by his bed and let you know you visited."

"Thank you. What's your name, by the way?"

"It's Emelia, young mistress."

"What a beautiful name!"

"Yeah, I think it's gorgeous."

"Me too!"

"Y-You ladies humble me. My apologies for not knowing what to say right now…."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I'm not sure why, but everyone around Sir Helix treats me with so much respect for some reason. So I don't know how to accept your kindness."

"Oh… well, normally, you would just say thank you."

"I see… thank you, young mistresses."

"Hey girls, don't you think all servants should feel that way?"

"Yeah, I do!"

"Girls, let's make it our mission to make our servants as happy as possible!"

"Yeah, I'm in!"

"Emelia, when Helix is better, let's do our makeup together!"

"Yeah, that would be fun!"

"I-I…."

"Haaaaaah. Don't be so shy~ That guy will make a formal request to come with us. Just wait, he's that crazy."

"Hah. I don't know a thing about Helix, but I know he will do that for some reason."

"I… see. Young mistresses, can I know your names as well?"

"Of course! I'm Marie and these women are Riley, Millie, Charlotte, Tammy, Petra, and Lily."

—

"H-Hello, my lady! What brings you here today?"

"Good morning. I've come here to see that young man."

"P-Please come in…."

"There's no reason to be so nervous. I'm only here because I'm interested in him. I bring no misgivings."

"I see…."

"What is your name?"

"My name is Emelia, my lady."

"It's nice to meet you. Can I ask a favor of you?"

"Of course. There's no need to ask, my lady."

"I know, but… I'm inspired. Can I see the dress that you wore three nights ago?"

"Y-Yes. Please give me a moment…."

"No problem, Emelia."

"My apologies, my lady. I don't know which one I was wearing. The first one I wore was this pink dress."

"Wait… how many dresses did he buy you?"

"He… um…."

"No need to be shy. I'm surprised in a positive way. How many, if you don't mind me asking?"

"He… bought me seven. One for every day of the week, one for the day of rest, and one for important occasions."

"What? Oh my gosh, that's so cute!"

"M-My lady?"

"Can I please see the one for special occasions?"

"Yes! I'll get it right now."

"Wow… this is gorgeous, and the texture is so amazing."

"I agree… I didn't know what to say when Sir Helix bought it for me…."

"Where did he buy it? Do you know?"

"I'm not sure what the name of the store is called. But it's a couple of blocks away from Burlow Street Square."

"Wait! You're saying you bought this in a commoner district!?"

"Y-Yes, my lady…."

"My apologies! I didn't mean to make you nervous. It's just that this dress is of noble quality. It's amazing."

"I-I hope they didn't sell us stolen—"

"Don't be silly, Emelia. This type of dress isn't sold in the Kina district.

I don't even know what type of fabric this is."

"It's called Sapphire Silk, my lady.

From what Sir Helix told me, it's cotton infused with some form of magic."

"Really? Is that what the shopkeeper said?"

"No… Sir Helix told me when he led me to the store…."

"He knew ahead of time? How strange… I wonder who told him…."

"Sir Helix has access to a magical library. He received it from an artifact during the Nightmare Induction Ceremony. He reads a lot when we're alone."

"Is that so… What an interesting man."

"I agree with my lady's appraisal."

"I'm not sure if you know this, but servant morale exploded after you showed up in the dining hall in that pink dress."

"What do you mean?"

"After the Knights saw you in that dress, they also started buying their servant's new clothes.

You've noticed, right?"

"Yes... I was a bit surprised why that happened."

"I heard that he gave directions to stores to a group of young ladies. After their servants showed up in new clothes it sparked a competition."

"Competition? I'm afraid I don't understand."

"No one wanted to be outdone by this man. So people started treating their servants better as a competition. The trend has reached the Alzeria nobles."

"I… don't know what to say…."

"I don't know what to say either! After seeing multiple servants in luxurious clothes, I investigated what happened. My search led me here."

"I see…."

"I was shocked when I learned that he was injured. I'm not sure why people tried to harm someone like this or why it's so under wraps."

"I…."

"Please don't worry, Emelia. I'm just thinking aloud. I hope to talk to both when he's better. Good day."

"Goodbye, my lady!"

—

"He's… still not awake yet?"

"Unfortunately not. However, the doctor says that he'll be awake soon. His body is just strained from the atmosphere in Myriad."

"I see… well can you give him this note?"

"Of course, Mistress. May I ask what your name is?"

"Yes, it's Leera."

—

"Ugh… was I dreaming?"

"Y-You're awake! Thank goodness!"

"You make it sound like I almost died—Ughhhhh."

"Don't try to laugh, Helix! Your ribs are still recovering."

"Haaaaaah. I guess I survived after all…." He muttered after remembering what happened.

"I want to be happy but… ugh… this sucks."

—

[A/N: This type of dialogue represents Helix falling in an out of consciousness.

I like that it's not obvious immediately who's speaking. What about you?]

Disclaimer: Grammatical mistakes and minor inconsistencies = more content.

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