Draconia Offline vol. 1

68.1. A Golden Cage - Part 1

"Ryuu, please, at least one more piece," Erik is trying to persuade me to have another slice of pizza. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have to force me to eat my favourite meal, but right now I'm not feeling like eating anything.

"Take it away," Gotrid sighs and lets the maids clear the plate. The maids are frowning at my half-eaten pizza, but they don't say anything.

"Seriously?!" I hear Julia behind the curtain ranting after inspecting the leftovers. "I allowed pizza to be served and His Majesty doesn't even eat that?"

I clutch my hands and show a defiant expression. I ate what I could, I did my best despite lingering nausea.

"Don't stress yourself, honey, I'll deal with her," Erik clicks his tongue, slips outside our canopy bed and takes the doctor to another room.

I'm left alone with Gotrid who smiles at me encouragingly and helps me lie down again. I had a good night's sleep so I'm feeling much better today but I still don't feel like eating or doing anything besides resting. The migraine finally wore off after hellishly long fifty-three hours and it was one of the worst I've ever had.

"Gotrid, my wings are sore," I whine. I'm dying to go for a flying session to stretch my feathered limbs but I'm still too weak for that.

"Turn to your stomach, love, I'll give you a massage," Gotrid offers readily.

I bury my chin into the pillow and spread my wings to the sides. Gotrid starts working on my poor back and wing muscles, his own wings loosened and touching me because he knows I love that.

I close my eyes, trying to enjoy the massage to the fullest, but it's quite difficult because shutting down one sensory input always sharpens my telepathy. Normally, I don't mind. I'm used to it. However, right now, emotions in the skyscraper are too turbulent—Celestials are restless.

"Hon? Can Liana come in?" Erik asks when he returns from his chat with Julia.

"In twenty minutes," Gotrid answers for me. "I'm giving our beloved a massage."

"I see, no prob," Erik shrugs and disappears again to relay the message and take care of other things in the meanwhile. It's really handy to have two partners, I see the benefits literally every day.

Before the incident, I'd probably interrupt the massage and invite Liana right away but I just don't feel like doing that now. When Gotrid finishes, he dresses me properly into a three-layered night robe and I'm ready to accept visitors.

"Aefener, you're feeling better!" Liana is overjoyed to see me and I'm equally happy to see her. "Sorry that I didn't show up earlier, but you were sleeping every time I stopped by and your Consorts didn't let anyone in, anyway."

"That's okay, don't worry," I try to smile, but it comes out weak. "What's the situation? Did I cause panic again?"

"That's a mild word for it," she sighs and sits on the corner of our bed. "I'll say it bluntly because there's no sugarcoating it. You being able to give blessings is a huge deal, much bigger than you probably think."

"I hope that at least you realise it's not a real blessing," I roll my eyes. "It's just telepathy combined with gifting a tiny portion of my mana."

"I do," she nods. "Still, that doesn't make it any less impressive in the eyes of your subjects, Aefener. Can you show me how it feels?"

"Ehm... sure," I say after a second of hesitation. Even in my weakened state, it's nothing strenuous after all.

Liana stretches her hand to me which I gently grab and do the same I did with those Celestials in the cafeteria. I send out my love and mana. Her reaction isn't as extreme as theirs because she's used to my telepathy but her eyes still widen.

"Oh, okay," she takes a deep breath. "You might not see it that way, Aefener, but it's really amazing. I'd even dare to say divine. I'm afraid we'll have to officially categorise it as the Emperor's blessing and somehow limit how you're going to distribute it in future so that there's not a queue every time you step out of your apartment."

"You can't be serious!" I strongly disagree.

"This is my serious face if you haven't noticed before," she points to her nose. "Also, we have to ensure you won't get mobbed like that ever again. The Royal Guards will be given much greater authority to exercise force, if necessary, and Celestials working here will be talked to thoroughly on what's unacceptable behaviour towards the Emperor."

"They acted like total fanatics, Li," Erik hisses angrily. "You should discipline them more harshly."

"The Celestial Emperor isn't only a political role, Aefener is the embodiment of magic," Liana reminds him patiently. "As such, Aefener is much closer to worship than normal healthy respect. I'm not excusing their behaviour, Erik. All I'm saying is that, sadly, this is part of our Celestial nature and we have to take it into account."

"The Viceroy is right, Erik," Gotrid seconds. "It's up to us to create boundaries Celestials will have to abide by no matter what. At the same time, we can't really forbid Celestials from seeing their Emperor. It's our instinct to flock to our embodiment of magic."

"We'll think of something, Aefener, don't worry," Liana says firmly. "A solution that isn't too hard on you and will satisfy our people."

I want to believe her, I really do, but I have a dark premonition that her solution will involve limiting my already limited freedom. I'm dressed in a silk robe, my huge bed has a canopy, and dozens of people are taking care of my well-being and protection. But what is a luxury good for when they keep me in a golden cage? A feeble comfort only.