Chapter 23: The Past (part 2 – impractical ability)
A few seconds of silence filled the air. Unconscious people in the grandhall still remain unconscious. One of the two knights who was stabbed by Andy a while ago, who seemed to be losing his consciousness immediately attended by Valen. Edward stayed alert and allowed Valen to treat him before it’s too late. Mia stayed on her seat, watching Valen as she treated the knight. Valen did not want Mia to interrupt the treatment, she thought of what to say, of what to ask, but Valen cannot afford to ask about her ability. It seemed that Mia did not mind Valen treating the knight, or perhaps Mia was deep in her thoughts, possibly thinking of the past...she continued her story.
“I was raised by Leina, a servant. Before I reached the age of ten, father at least checked on me from time to time; though compared to me, he had more time for Elen. Your mother already showed great potential at a very young age, that was why people, including my father, seemed to care for her than me, they highly anticipate her abilities to surface – they thought that she could probably be the exceptional one. I remembered their faces of disappointment when they realized she was not the chosen one.” Mia smirked, she looked pleased after finishing her sentence.
“Only Leina cared for me, telling me that my father loved me. However, as I reached the age of ten, then Elen reached age seven - Elen’s first ability surfaced, it was also the time mine appeared, though mine was oblivious to them. They noticed that Elen’s prepared medicine has minimal to no side effects. Days after, they learned of my ability...Leina stopped taking care of me, father stopped checking on me, people and servants whispered everytime I walked pass them. They are ignorant fools!”
Valen finished tending the knights injuries, then she noticed that there seemed to be tears forming on Mia’s eyes. Deep inside Valen, she felt sadness, she felt pity, though she thought Mia probably would not want her to feel that way. She probably did not want anyone to feel pity for her.
“Those fools were whispering behind my back - some looked at me with abhorrence, some looked at me with pity eyes, including Leina. They were whispering that I am no good healer, that I would not be able to heal anyone. As the first daughter of the most influential and powerful couple of Milen and being a full-blooded one, I am a total disappointment.” Mia started to look angry again.
Edward was already curious to know what this shameful ability may be. He could not think of any ability that may be considered impractical. However, same as Valen, he could not directly ask what kind of ability it was. Mia seemed to be in a “mood” to tell her story. He thought that it was not a good idea to disrupt her.
“Compared to the outstanding, gifted, lovely Elen, I was unable to control my useless ability; if I could, the reaction I could have received from those people perhaps were not that extreme. Being the king and queen’s daughter too, made a very huge impression - the expectations were so high that it reached the stars. As if I sought after this ability, as if anyone can control what kind of ability one will have.....” Mia paused, then she sighed, then sneered.
“I realized I sounded so frustrated. However, believe me, I am telling you that I never regretted anything that I did which, I still have not told you yet, and I still plan to tell you anyway. It is very important part. What happened to me before were the reason I am what I am right now. At first, I thought that this ability I have was the worst, but now, I am very glad I have it. If Elen’s first ability was to decrease or negate a medicine’s side effect, mine was the reverse of that - my distinct ability is to enhance an ingredient’s side effect, that it overpowers the real purpose of a medicine.”
Both Valen and Edward’s eyes widen in shock as they heard Mia’s ability. They thought that it definitely was useless for a healer as it denies the purpose of healing someone. If the side effect is just like one will feel sleepy, it may be considered acceptable, it may mean a patient can rest. However, most side effects are negative, like drowsiness, or bloating, or nausea.
“I cannot manage it, I never learned to control it, it is always there, it always activates. Sounds frustrating for a healer, is it not? However, I learned to love it. No healer will desire to have this kind of ability, but I realized it was perfect for me. Valen, I have a question a for you...you know about gaprischo, right? Do you know that originally, the flower can be used to cure?” Mia raised her left eyebrow as she waited for Valen to answer. Valen surprised by the sudden question, answered her earnestly.
“Yes, of course I know it. It can cure severe headache but somehow, the side effect of it is unfavorable, which mostly depends on the resistance of a person being cured. It tends to let people sleep but another side effect may be mild to extreme hallucination. That was why healers no longer use this flower to cure severe headache.”
“Very good, Valen! You really know your plants! Gaprischos are rare, I would admit I am surprised you knew it! You are definitely a daughter of Elen. She and Arthur probably were so proud of you. Good for you that you are not like me. I am one and only anyway! Well, let us continue and proceed with the story faster...I was the one who put gaprischos everywhere inside this mansion.”
Mia did not get any reaction from the both of them, she did not like it. She did not like the fact the two were not surprised at all, it could be that they already had the idea...but she thought that those straight faces will change once she mentioned what she planned to say later.
“If I am not mistaken, no one had any idea who was the perpetrator behind the slayings of our dear, fellow black-haired healers in Yel. It made me sad that even the Windsens, the royal family, who were the most powerful and influential family of Cellis, cannot find the person or the people responsible for it. Such a waste of authority, don’t you think Edward?” Mia scornfully asked. Edward and Valen on the other hand were surprised on the sudden changed of subject.
“Do not insult us especially my parents! It pained us that we were not able to do anything, we were unable to give them justice. It’s true, we cannot find the real culprit as all bodies were already buried by someone when my father and his men arrived. We even thought of digging all those graves to get some evidences, to see if there were non-black haired person buried that may give us a hint about the culprit, but doing so would be a dishonor to the healers thus we did not dig the graves.”
“Oh, but James once told me that Thomas and your men went to Perino the next day the incident happened, he told me you asked them if they knew what happened in Yel...that it felt that Thomas was probing, James admitted that he felt uneasy as he felt that Thomas somewhat seemed to be interrogating him.” Mia commented as Edward’s head bent down and looked sadden as he remembered what happened.
“The only thing we thought could lead us to the real culprit was an insignia lying on the ground of Yel...it was...Perino’s insignia. We thought that it was someone from Perino who ordered to slain every Yelians. My father and our men went to Perino to ask Lord James, good thing it did not lead to a war. Though it started a hole on our solid relationship which almost led to Perino wanting to conquer our land three years ago...... We did not have enough evidence, so it will be wrong for us to accuse them further. We do not have any leads up until now. We deeply apologize to you La...uhm...Mia and Valen for the lost of those healers. ” Edward said no longer addressing Mia as Lady Mia.
Valen was silent and was deep in her thoughts. She remembered something when Edward mentioned about digging the graves.
“Edward, do you remember that I informed you before that I was the one who buried all the bodies of my fellow people. That was the time I informed everything to Lord Thomas, Lady Melinda and you when you found out I was a black-haired healer...and I must say that I never found anyone alive aside from my mother which then died after a few minutes, but each and every person I found lifeless, have black, straight hair.”
Edward eyes grew wider, surprised by the new information he got. “Does this mean that Yelian’s were the only ones killed....probably they were not able to fight back, or perhaps they did not fight back?!”
Mia immediately laughed. Valen and Edward looked at her direction as she continuously laughed. The two of them just stared at her, thinking what humored her.
“I will let you in in my dirty little secret. There were only black-haired people killed in Yel! Do you know why?” Mia stood up, walked three steps to her right then turned to faced the two.
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A/N: Hey guys! I'm so glad I was able to post a new chapter before the end of this week. The chapter wasn't very long - I just thought that I should end the chapter there. Hope I can update very soon!
Thanks for the votes/comments guys! Now I know that there are still some wattpaders reading the story (even if there's only 1 reader left!). The votes/comments are very reassuring. Thanks again. Please continue voting :)
As promised, chapter dedicated to Hanstory_Writee :)