Every day at 6.00 A.M., Priscenna would come to Hadrick’s room at Sedesia Hospital to perform the 11 Hexis Prayer at the altar; Two hours before his healer and thaumaturges came in for a daily checkup. Sometimes, Hadrick was still slumbering when she entered, and other times, he would have woken up early to see her open the door.

  Whenever he was awake, they would have a small chat while Priscenna set up her ritual items. There, she would refill the censer with incense powder, relight the fragrance candles, and sprinkle the air with sanctified water, all of which she brought with her daily into the hospital.

  Hadrick would remain silent as she began her ritual, listening to her melodious prayer whilst accompanied by a calming fragrance in the air. By how calming it was to the mind, he would always randomly doze off in the middle, only waking up at the end to find out the ritual was over.

  “Huh…? Is the ritual over?”, Hadrick tiredly opened his eyes.

  Priscenna, right next to his bed, smilingly answered: “Hehe, it is”.

  “Why did you laugh?”, he asked.

  “Um, it’s nothing…”, said Priscenna, “It’s just… You always look so relaxed whenever I perform the 11 Hexis Prayer”.

  “Am I… not supposed to sleep through it then?”, he asked again.

  “No, it’s definitely fine. I’m just saying”, she shyly responded.

  She continued: “Anyway, your healer and thamaturges should be entering soon, so I’ll be leaving you with them until then”.

  “Alright, see you later”, Hadrick said.

  From here on out, Hadrick would undergo various treatments and diagnoses from the thaumaturges, each bringing with them either potions, mystical equipment, or medicinal tomes. One after the other, they came in and performed their miracle work on his body, each working on different injuries he had sustained.

  From the month-long treatment he received, he witnessed how his severe injuries were healed, which he would normally assume to be irreversible. His ribs, completely broken on both sides, were reattached alongside all the tiny fragments scattered on his lungs; His left leg, twisted by 360 degrees with all ligaments ruptured, was glued back like an action toy; and his brain, internally bleeding at the deepest part, was reassembled without a knife going through his skull.

  Day by day, he could slowly start doing things by himself again. He almost didn’t believe it when he was able to feel his legs and turn his head freely again. Priscenna, who’d come in after the thaumaturges had done their work, would see that Hadrick appear more energetic and livelier as he tried exercising his muscles with simple tasks.

  “Hey, Miss Priscenna, look! I could now walk without needing the crutches anymore”, he excitedly told her as he walked around the room.

  “Great to hear that!”, Priscenna responded.

  “Now that I’m getting better, do you think it's okay for me to… leave the room and have a walk outside?”, he carefully requested.

  “Oh, you want to go outside?”, it surprised Priscenna. “Well, I could request from Healer Aremur to let you out, but you can only wander within the hospital grounds”.

  “I’m fine with that”, said Hadrick, “I just want to feel the sunlight again. After all…”.

  He looked out the window to the hospital’s garden down below, beautifully tended with colourful bushes and a fountain in the middle.

  “I want to go to that place down there… with you”, he said directly.

  Priscenna's eyes widened in shock, and her cheeks reddened slightly as she unexpectedly listened to Hadrick being so frank with his desire. In her heart, she expressed:

  “Ah, by the illuminaries! Is he already asking me out?! He doesn’t even hesitate!”

  But then, she quickly controlled her cool and replied properly to him: “*Ahem*… well, I guess I could accompany you for a moment…”.

  From that day on, Priscenna would regularly bring him out to the garden or elsewhere within the hospital’s grounds. She would give the reasoning of ‘exercising the patient’ to his healer every time they went out, which they would then stay there for an hour or so, depending on how long Hadrick wanted to be with her.

  Essentially, what appeared to be dates, though they both personally denied it, they gradually got to know each other more deeply after repeatedly visiting the garden. After some time, knowing that Hadrick would want to go out that day, Priscenna would even prepare some picnic snacks for them to enjoy.

  As their bond grew closer, they would even drop their formalities, calling each other ‘Hadrick’ and ‘Priscenna’ respectively. By this point, the air of awkwardness between them no longer exists, and they would talk to each other in a friendlier manner.

  However, after having stayed in the hospital for two months from when he first arrived, his healer came in one day and told him the news:

  “Congratulations, Mr Stonewell, for we’ve decided that you’re now healthy enough to be discharged from this hospital. Starting from tomorrow, the Golden Iris will move you to their Paladin training monastery, where you’ll begin your journey as a Paladin”.

  Though it sounded like good news, Hadrick didn’t look happy hearing that. Apart from being cautious as to what his journey in becoming a Paladin might entail, he grew worried that his days with Priscenna would be over.

  “If I leave the hospital, will I get to see Priscenna again?”

  While he was lost in his thoughts, Healer Aremur added: “A Golden Iris staff would inform you further on that, but for now, I shall take my leave”.

  As the healer exited the room, and right outside, he saw Priscenna leaning against the wall, anxiously pondering while holding her chin. She sensed that healer Aremur had stepped outside and was planning to enter the room after him. However, just as she had only made a few steps, he talked to her:

  “Miss Priscenna, do you have any urgent matters now?”

  She answered: “Uh… no, I should be free for the day…”

  “In that case, could you come to meeting room 3 now. The people from the Golden Iris came and said they wanted to meet you as well”, he said.

  “The Golden Iris? But my dealings with them should be over by now. Ha—I mean, Mr Stonewell is now fully healed, and as per the agreement, I would only need to submit a report within 5 working days after the patient is discharged”, she responded.

  He commented: “Well, perhaps they want to give you some appreciation words in person. Whatever it is, we shall see it for ourselves”.

  Although she knew Hadrick must be waiting to see her for one last day, she set that aside for a while and followed Healer Aremur to the meeting room on the main block. Her mind was preoccupied with thinking about what might come as they passed through the corridors and floating platforms before reaching the meeting room.

  Entering the meeting room, Priscenna was shocked by the number of attendees already in there. Worse, by the clothing they wore, these people who were already seated around the oval table were all high-ranking people. It frightened her that she was invited to a meeting with so many respected figures without preparation, but she kept it well hidden under the mask of formalities.

  The two took their seat, and Healer Aremur formally greeted them: “Good Morning, lords and ladies. By the five illuminaries of vitality, I wish all of you good health”.

  “Good morning, Healer Aremur. May your health too be blessed”, the eldest high mage at the table replied.

  “Anyway, over here is the witch doctor sent over by the Asepha family in aiding the future Paladin’s recovery: Miss Priscenna”, he introduced.

  “Good morning, respected lords”, she greeted, “Like the sun and moon, may all the illuminaries bear witness to our fated meetings”

  “Praise be”, the high mage responded.

  He continued: “I’m High Mage Lord Sighfel Thyser, along with me, High Mage Lady Eirna Issoru and High Mage Lord Ortengal Karral. We’re all from the Golden Iris’ Paladin Overseer Body”.

  After the high mages, the humbler, younger people at the table continued: “I’m Mr Poqeir, and this is Madam Atrea. We’re representatives from the Grand Council of the Arcane Order”.

  Lastly, there were the old, wise-looking savants: “I’m Sage Garhasel, and besides me are Sage Morhual and Sage Inyll. We’re from the University of Aurum Magista”.

  Lord Sighfel continued: “Thank you, everyone, for attending this meeting set by the Golden Iris”.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Briefing over the meeting’s background, the resolutor named Hadrick Stonewell, who was sent here by the Golden Iris, has now been reported as fully recovered by healer Aremur and may now proceed to his Paladin training and indoctrination. From what I’ve been informed, the hospital is currently processing his discharge for tomorrow. Is that right, healer?”

  Healer Aremur answered: “Yes, my lord”.

  “Alright, as for the meeting’s agenda, the reason the Golden Iris has invited all of our selected guests here is to discuss the special treatment we’re planning to implement for Mr Stonewell. This implementation, planned for all future Paladins, was created to overcome the longstanding issue amongst the current generations of Paladins”.

  “Ever since the end of the Rustbed Uprising from 40 years ago, the Arcane Order has put a lot of effort into ensuring no mutiny at the level of the Constellation of Hope ever occurs again amongst our Paladins. Mutiny had since plummeted to zero for decades; however, while they’re loyal, the Paladins that came after the uprising were found to be weaker than those that came before”.

  “It was not until five years ago that Sage Inyll and Sage Morhual conducted a thorough research on the matter, and sent a paper to the Golden Iris showing that resolites’ power ties strongly to their resolutors’ depth of resolve”.

  “Huh? Sorry, could you say that again?”, Priscenna asked.

  Sage Inyll, the wise lady who co-authored the paper, replied on behalf of Lord Sighfel: “Allow us, the savants, to explain it in detail”

  “Depth of Resolve is a concept invented by Sage Morhual and me to explain the irregularities between aethervolt measures taken on the resolites directly and the actual power outcome emitted by Paladin’s arcane arts”.

  “In short, the reason for the 20 - 30% power lost was not because of dissipation during transmission, but it was because of the shallowness of the Paladins’ internal resolve. This shallowness was caused by the nature of Paladins' transactional loyalty to Arcane Order, an unintended consequence of the post-uprising Paladin Protocol”.

  Sage Morhual continued from her: “Based on the current protocol, Paladins are to be paid with a fixed 100,000 Asteros salary per month, housing at their exclusive residence, and 25 days minimum vacation after each deployment. This luxurious lifestyle was meant to treat resolutors more like athletes than soldiers, as compensation for their lifetime contract and loyalty”.

  “However, because of the emphasis on material benefits, Paladins' resolve ended up shifting for the sake of wealth and comfort, not out of pure-heartedness. This is where the shallowness Sage Inyll mentions comes from”.

  Mr Poqeir inquired: “So, the issue we’re been trying to solve is to get them to be pure-hearted?

  “Pretty much”, said Lord Sighfel.

  “Of course, no matter how we indoctrinate the resolutors we acquired, we cannot force them to be pure-hearted; Not even with brute inhumane technique like transcendental hypnosis. Pure-hearted is something guarded by the very essence of humanis souls, which is what made it special in the first place against naturalis or artificia souls”.

  “But then, last month, Sage Garhasel approached Lord Ortengal and proposed an ingenious solution, which he then told Lady Eirna and me. So, Sage Garhasel, may you take the honour to explain your idea to everyone?”.

  “Ah, great thanks to Lord Sighfel”, Sage Garhasel delightfully said, “Now, this solution of mine is still in its infancy, and my paper on it is still under review by the university. However, I believe that taking too long to decide on it might give room to the hylics to steal our knowledge and use it for their Vanguards first, which is why I approached Lord Ortengal personally”.

  “Hold on, Sage Garhasel, so this idea of yours is not even verified yet?”, Madam Atrea grew concerned.

  “Please, believe in his judgement. Sage Garhasel is a respected savant emphatist, with 7 revolutionary discoveries accredited to him”, Lord Ortengal defended his acquaintance.

  “Alright… Just keep in mind that I won’t stay silent if I find anything immoral is being made here. I may only be a representative, but the illuminaries and Grand Council’s law is above everyone”, she warned.

  “By the illuminaries, I won’t do anything heinous. May my hands rot if I were caught lying”, Sage Garhasel solemnly swore.

  “Now I think about it, I would say my proposed solution is the exact opposite of heinous; it’s the kindest idea I’ve ever thought of!”, he bragged.

  “So, what is it then?”, Priscenna curiously asked.

  Sage Garhasel confidently smirked before revealing his idea:

  “Rather than giving only material luxuries, why not tap into the deepest human desire? What I meant was… an intimate companionship…”

  “And, you’re the Arcane Order’s best asset for this, Miss Priscenna…”

  “Huh?!!!”, Priscenna’s perplexed by the suddenness.

  “We have something to confess to you, Miss Priscenna”, Lady Eirna spoke. “Your closeness with Mr Stonewell has actually been observed for a while by the Golden Iris. I believe at this point it is an open secret to every attendant at this hospital”.

  Priscenna blushed terribly upon learning that not only had she become a gossip topic among the hospital’s attendants, but even the Golden Iris had taken an interest in her little love story. She felt terribly exposed, but she couldn’t get herself angry with them, since she didn’t put any effort into hiding it at all.

  “U—Uh… I don’t care anymore about what you’ve collected, but please, don’t tell it to the House of Asepha! My grandpa won’t take it fondly if he had known that I’ve been forming a relationship with my patient!”, she hopelessly begged.

  “Miss Priscenna, please! Calm down!”, Sage Garhasel said. “Whatever issues you had with your family, you now have the Arcane Order itself to back you up”.

  “But… isn’t that a bit excessive?”, she sheepishly asked.

  He answered: “Under normal circumstances, I would say yes. But this is no normal circumstance; this is something that could alter the course of the war itself! Think of the impact you could make with just the power of love…”.

  Priscenna's tomato-like blush faded as Sage Garhasel won her confidence with charismatic words.

  “But, why me?”, she inquired.

  “Your case with Mr Stonewell was such a delicate stroke of luck. Rarely do we get unaligned resolutors who need to be placed under comprehensive care and manage to befriend someone from a respected family of witch doctors along the way. In the past century, or even the whole war itself, I believe it is only Mr Stonewell and you who’re like this”, he told her.

  “Who’s to say we’ll ever get this level of leaping stones ever again?”

  “So, Miss Priscenna, could see what lies ahead of you now?”, Healer Aremur asked her.

  Priscenna fell into silence for a moment. From only a little spark in the heart, in no universe would she ever expect that her feelings would evolve from simple romance into a pillar of ambition for the Arcane Order. It was a shower of blessings to the point of drowning, one that she was unsure whether she could sustain.

  But, for Hadrick, the Arcane Order, and herself, she buckled herself to bear the responsibility.

  “*Sigh*… I think I understand everything now”, she calmly said.

  “So, tell me. What’s my objective?”

  Lord Ortengal answered: “Your primary objective is simple…”

  “Get him to be fully loyal to the Arcane Order. Make him see that Seirion is the good side all along, and that his enemy is Tachyon”.

  .

  .

  .

  Four hours later, at around lunchtime, the attendants came into Hadrick’s room, bringing him his last hospital lunch. Though its aroma made his stomach rumble, his appetite was absent. As much as he was hungry, the thoughts in his mind bothered her throughout his meal, slowing down his eating speed.

  Thinking that he would never see Priscenna again and would be alone again after this, he started to reminisce about Tragula and began to wonder what happened to Lorian and Yuna.

  “Man… I’ve been so focused on Priscenna that I forgot to think about my longtime friends! What a terrible friend I am! If Lorian knows about this, he would turn this into a joke, for sure!”

  “Hmm… speaking of them… I wonder if they’re both still in Tragula… They must have thought of me as being dead…”

  “No, I won’t allow them to stay in the dark forever. After I become a Paladin, perhaps I’ll sneak out and return to Everbloom. It's not like I actually cared about Seirion; they’re just the two sides of the same coin with Tachyon. If the Tachyonians are soulless, I’d say Seirionians are lunatics, hah!”

  “Except for Priscenna… she’s alright…”

  Speak of the devil, the young witch doctor knocked on the door and entered to see him eating. He almost choked when she appeared right as he thought of her, and he quickly cleared his mind and brought himself back to reality.

  “Hi Hadrick! sorry for being late. I was dragged into a meeting with Healer Aremur out of nowhere”, she smilingly greeted him.

  Hadrick swallowed his food properly and said: “*Ahem*… Oh, Priscenna! You actually came back! What kind of meeting did you get in?”

  “Ugh, it's nothing. Just a boring medical meeting with other healers, that’s all”, she covered up the truth.

  “Anyway, Hadrick, I have some good news you would definitely want to hear. Are you ready?”, she teased.

  “Uhm… sure, I guess?”, he didn’t know what to expect.

  “*Ahem* *Ahem*… from today's point onward, I shall become your personal healer appointed by the Golden Iris. Throughout your training until your official graduation as a Paladin, I would be the one to look after your well-being”, she told him with confidence.

  “Wha—what?!”, Hadrick was stunned, “So… that means…”

  “We’ll see each other as often as you want!”, she added.

  Both Hadrick and Priscenna smiled widely as their fear of separation was conquered. They held both hands and joyfully laughed, and in that time, Priscenna even pushed the good news a little further.

  “And also, Hadrick… I’ve something else to tell you”, she stopped laughing and blushed a little as she said that.

  “Um, what is it?”, Hadrick grew curious.

  In a slow voice, she said: “Since we’ve known quite a while… do you want to make our relationship official?”

  “Official? Like… how?”, he asked.

  “Like… entering an engagement”, she shyly said as she grasped Hadrick’s hand more strongly.

  Hadrick’s blood rushed to his face as shock hit him like a rock. The unprecedented embarrassment he felt made him skip a breath and quickly free his hands from her grasp. For a few seconds, he frozenly looked at her while his mind reassembled itself, before expressing:

  “I—I… I’m not sure if I’m ready for that yet…”

  “Why?”, she asked.

  “Because, I… still have friends and family back in Everbloom. How could I enter an engagement before telling them I’m fine first? Right now, they probably don’t even know that I’m still alive”, he justified.

  Listening to him still talking about his home village pained her, not because she disliked it, but because of how ignorant he was of the news that had happened. Wanting Hadrick to move on from his past, she told him:

  “Hadrick… sorry to only be telling you now, but… your home village, Tragula, is actually no longer around”.

  “Huh? W-what do you mean?”, Hadrick was once again confused by Priscenna.

  She told him of the old news of his village being obliterated by the mysterious ray of light that also killed both Tachyon and Seirion forces in the village. While what she said was mostly true, especially regarding the mysterious ray of light power, the version she told Hadrick was twisted to say that Tachyonians were setting up weapons in the village first, and that the Seirionians had to enter to remove them.

  “What?! So does that mean the Tachyonians were sneaking into my village while my friends and I were chasing the thief out into the forest?”, he angrily commented.

  He continued: “Now it started to make more sense why that thief unexpectedly came to our village on festival night. He must’ve been a spy looking for a staging area!”

  “Yup! Definitely sounds like something the hylics would do”, she agreed along without questioning, enabling him to believe in false conclusions made by himself further.

  “*Sigh*… whether the mysterious ray of light was launched by the Tachyonians or not, doesn’t matter, for I’ll still take my revenge on them for getting my village into a fight!”, he said with conviction while staring deeply into his clenched fist.

  “Just wait, I’ll become the strongest Paladin they’ll ever see!”

  “Yeah, keep it up, Hadrick! I’ll be looking forward to it!”, she cheered.

  “Also, since you now know what had happened to Tragula, would you be willing to enter an engagement with me, then?”, she snuck the topic back in. “While you’ve lost everything from the past, at least you’d still have me in the future”.

  “Uh, well… about that… I’ll give my answer once I’m ready…”