Blood stained the carpet as my sister lay on it, her face pale. I reached out with trembling hands and hugged my dying sibling, praying for the bleeding to stop somehow. It was meaningless, of course. She went limp even as I held her.
When our parents left this world, I promised I would protect you in their stead and yet I can’t do a thing for you…
I shouted, begging for someone to save my sister. Tears streamed down my face as I offered the saints everything I possessed, but nothing moved their hearts. My sister was dying—all because she had a pathetic brother who couldn’t persuade a single saint to help.
Never had I felt my powerlessness as keenly as I did in that moment, but while I crawled on the floor, lost in my despair, Cerulean used his own life to save Colette. As a result, time stopped for Colette and she fell into a deep sleep, while Cerulean slowly grew younger…
No. To say he was growing younger was wrong. His life was being stripped from him. The lord I served, the man I considered my closest friend, took on a great burden in my stead, and that fact ate away at me.
Yet he acted as though what he did was nothing at all.
“It’s fine. Without Colette, I wasn’t going to live long anyway.”
I knew that was true, but still…
“All the more reason why you shouldn’t have done this!” I exclaimed. “You deserve to live what limited life you have left freely!”
Calmly, Cerulean replied, “And I will. My life is being slowly whittled away as payment for stopping time for Colette, but I still have some years to live as I please.”
“…I’m sorry. And thank you.” I bowed my head deeply. There was nothing else I could do. He allowed my sister to live at the cost of his own life, but I could give him nothing in return.
I would likely have broken if Colette died that day, lost to despair and tortured by my own powerlessness. Tormented by the thought that there was something I could’ve done and blaming myself endlessly, I might have done the unthinkable.
In that sense, Cerulean saved both Colette and myself. By stopping time for her, he gave me a grace period in which to find a cure. It was a second chance to fight for her, a reason to have hope for the future, a reason to live. From the day she fell asleep, I’ve spent my time searching for a way to wake her.
He cast the Spirit Lord’s Blessing on her. Though Cerulean’s powerful prayer brought about our predicament, not even he knew how to undo it. I scoured through countless books, read every forbidden tome I could find, but still could not discover a way to save my sister. I spoke to many people, traveled far and wide, but came no closer to a solution. At a loss, I began to wonder what might have happened if this had all taken place three hundred years ago. Could the Great Saint have healed my sister? Her magic was the only thing I could find that was capable of dispelling status ailments.
“Ha ha ha, I’m really grasping at straws if I’m thinking of the long-lost Great Saint. I need to find something that’s possible for us in the present…”
I slumped in my chair and covered my face with my hands as I drowned in despair over my own powerlessness. I’d spent every day over the past ten years trying to find a way to wake Colette with nothing to show for it. I’d spent every waking moment clinging to my faint hope, but time slowly eroded that hope away.
My sleeping sister grew more and more emaciated with each passing year. I could see her gauntness with my own eyes. Eventually, she would waste away entirely, and then…she would ascend to the heavens.
Though I still held out hope, grim resignation took root within me. It was around that time we received an unbelievable miracle: The Rose of the Great Saint, thought to be lost for the past three hundred years, was rediscovered…
✦ ✦ ✦
I pulled myself out of my reminiscing to gaze at the Rose of the Great Saint once more.
“She would have considered receiving the Great Saint’s own rose to be the highest honor,” Cerulean said.
He and I rejoiced at this unexpected break, then made our way to Colette with the rose in hand. I offered it to her alongside words of encouragement for her recovery and could swear I saw her smile. It could’ve been a trick of the light, but it was the first I’d seen any hint of life since she fell asleep, and my joy nearly bowled me over. I believed in my heart that my sister truly appreciated this gift.
Still feverish with emotion, Cerulean and I went to Saviz’s office to express our gratitude. When we arrived, however, we found First Knight Brigade captain Cyril present as well. As he was among the few who knew of our circumstances, Saviz allowed him to stay. Reflecting back on it, though, Cyril normally would’ve taken his leave if he didn’t have any business of his own with us. At the time, I was too excited to consider that.
Cerulean and I sat on a sofa across from Saviz. I bowed my head deeply to him. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Your Highness. Because your subordinate found the Rose of the Great Saint, I was able to give the greatest honor imaginable to our sleeping saint.”
Saviz answered with a frown. It was unlike him to show so much in his expression. What bothered him so?
Come to think of it, Cerulean and I had come straight from Colette’s room, so we weren’t in our jester costumes and my identity as Duke Alcott was clear. Perhaps Saviz worried about how this visit looked, given the king’s faction and the prince’s faction ostensibly stood in opposition. In my excitement, I’d neglected my due diligence and potentially created problems for Saviz. I wanted to apologize, but Saviz spoke up before I could.
“No, you’re fine on that account,” he said. “The timing of your visit surprised me is all. Cyril and I were just talking about the Rose of the Great Saint. I’ve only just heard his report and still haven’t quite processed it all myself, but…it appears the Rose of the Great Saint is capable of causing status ailments.”