FELIX was out of breath, wheezing with harsh gasps. The perceived lack of oxygen would soon lead to panic and trigger one of his attacks. But he just kept on running.
Then, at long last, he fell to his knees, lifting his chin, eyes scanning fast.
He was in the rotunda, a building located in the center of campus. It was circular in shape, ringed by smooth walls upon which ranks of portraits hung. Felix’s gaze stopped on one portrait in particular. A man with golden hair and ash-colored eyes. It was Isea Kingdom’s wise and handsome king.
“King Leonard…”
King Leonard was a king of days past who had pioneered the Neu-Aera technology. He was a hero who had embarked on scholarly research above and beyond his duties as king to save the kingdom from peril. And nowhere was he more revered than here at the Isea Royal Academy, the kingdom’s premier bastion of academic learning.
But his story was a cover, more like a fairy tale. One told to every child born in the Isea Kingdom.
King Leonard had fallen in love with the crown princess of the great neighboring nation of Radius, and in order to win her hand, he had sought to improve the fortunes of his own lowly kingdom. Neu-Aera had been the means by which he sought to achieve this.
But the cute innocent fairy tale didn’t end there.
Neu-Aera brought unprecedented prosperity to Isea. The kingdom grew altogether too mighty. Soon, the army crushed the nation of Radius underfoot, no longer caring that it was the beloved homeland of the wife the king claimed to love.
Perhaps Leonard had foreseen this. And despite that, he had wanted her for his bride anyway.
That king’s cruel and treacherous blood was flowing through Felix’s veins.
It wasn’t only the abominable Neu-Aera technology that was causing Mia’s mother to suffer so much.
It was the fault of the man who had pioneered and weaponized it. The king of Isea, whose sins were Felix’s inheritance.
“You ought never to have lived at all!”
Felix crumpled to the ground. He was soaked in sweat, his lungs too tight to breathe.
No matter how many times Felix went through these attacks, and no matter how often he’d been told how to handle them, he always found himself paralyzed by panic each time.
He wanted those warm, soothing hands. He wanted to hear that sweet voice in his ear. He wanted her to tell him he was going to be okay.
Just as he was beginning to blackout, he felt a warm hand rubbing his back.
“Felix. You’re all right. Don’t worry about trying to breathe right now. Don’t even think about it. Look at me. Let’s just have a chat, okay?”
The feel of her hand rubbing his back. It was as if she was reassuring Felix that his contribution was something she needed. He felt like bursting into tears.
He lifted his face to her obediently. Through the blurry haze of his tears, he could see her eyes, so filled with gentle concern for him.
Her sweet, earnest eyes made him wish he could absolve himself of his sins.
The reason your Mom became like that…it’s the fault of the weak king who couldn’t go against his own army. The weak king…who was my direct ancestor. So you see, Mia, the blame now falls on me…
But Mia was sharp. She probably already knew this. And she probably knew that Felix’s contributions, however much on the fringe they might be…wouldn’t be of any use to her in the end.
But she’s still here…
Yes, she was still there. Soothing and reassuring him, the cowardly, undeserving prince.