Draconia Offline vol. 1

72.3. The Viceroy - Part 3

"How is he?" Liana quietly enters the infirmary, even though there's no way she would wake His Majesty up. That would actually be a good thing in this case.

"Certainly not better, but stable at least," Erik answers. He's lying next to his Royal partner and keeps caressing his hair. Gotrid is doing the same with his feathers. Liana hopes Aefener subconsciously feels their comforting presence.

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, but I don't think I can keep this up much longer. I need you to find someone to take over," Noage informs the Viceroy wearily.

"I heard there's a young Earthborn prodigy healer in the research division," Julia recalls. "Is it okay with Your Excellency to send for him?"

"What about Ingri?" Liana tilts her head. She wants to avoid involving more people unless absolutely necessary.

"We need an experienced healer," Noages breathes out and looks on the verge of collapsing. "I know Ingri is very proficient, but she focuses on botany rather than healing."

"Okay, bring Danaheim," Liana allows and sends one of the guards to fetch him.

She sits next to the Emperor and gently pets his snow-white wings. If he wasn't so pale, he would look like he's just taking a nap. But when she touches him, she doesn't feel the presence of his powerful mind as she normally would. She feels his mana pouring out, though.

"He's still protecting us," she shakes her head in disbelief. "He's doing everything in his power to protect us despite the fact that it's hurting him."

"Those who did it deserve no mercy, Viceroy," Gotrid hisses. "When we uncover the culprit, we should mobilise our warriors and go annihilate them."

"Annihilate?" Erik shudders. "You can't be serious, Gotrid. Sure, justice has to be served, but there should be a proper investigation, then a trial and..."

"You want to bring to court someone who nuked us?" Gotrid doesn't believe his ears.

"It's up to our Emperor to decide," Liana interrupts them, even though she sides with Gotrid.

Obviously, the human perspective on the matter and the Celestial perspective differ greatly and that's understandable, but she hates to see them arguing. Sure, they are bickering all the time, but this time the tension was too much. Aefener wouldn't want to see his beloved partners like that.

"Danaheim is here, Your Excellency," Vermiel lets the Earthborn scientist in.

Under normal circumstances, Dahaneim would need to be thoroughly briefed by either Julia or Noage and ideally approved by the Council before taking care of His Majesty's health, but these aren't normal circumstances and they need a first-class healer now, not later.

"You called for me, Your Excellency?" Dahaneim slips from behind the curtain and freezes.

Aefener looks as beautiful as ever, but his skin is pale and his breath shallow. It might be a shock to see the mighty Celestial Emperor like that and this is only the second time Danaheim is meeting him in person.

"Danaheim, can you take over?" Noage asks wearily. "I've been feeding His Majesty non-stop for three hours now and I'm reaching my limit."

"Intravenously?" Danaheim gets the gist immediately after one glance at Noage's tentacles stuck to His Majesty's arm and a bunch of empty smoothie cups.

"That's right, can you do it?" Noage makes sure.

"Of course, it would be an honour," Danaheim nods, his expression perfectly calm. Liana appreciates it, there are a lot of panicking Celestials as it is. To have someone who can remain calm under all circumstances is a huge asset.