Beyond The Unknowns

Father figure

After three days from the prior incident in a warmly lit room a young girl dressed in maid uniform was dusting the curtains while humming a sweet melody. Suddenly a crackling noise from behind her interrupted her melody and startled her.
Slowly turning her head while holding the dusting cloth she timidly looked for the source of noise. Shattered pieces of fine china were scattered all over the floor. Just beside the pieces of fine china in the bed, Henry who have been comatose for three whole days was struggling to wake up from the bed.
"Prince! Prince! What are you doing? Your wounds have not healed yet prince. The doctor said that you need to rest and avoid any kind of physical movements for some days until you recover."
She stutteringly pleaded with an anxious look on her face.
Henry ignored her plea and desperately tried to get out from the bed. But the more he tried to move the more his body started to ache. A throbbing pain surfaced in his stomach making him scream in agony.
"Argh argh"
Unable to withstand the intense pain he lost balance of his body and was about to fall. Just before he could fall the maid caught him on her arm preventing his fall.
"Are you alright prince? You shouldn't do such reckless thing in that state of yours. Please prince you need to rest."
She expressed her worries while holding him in her arms while supporting his stature.
But he didn't thank her for helping him and instead pushed her away as he tried to make his way out the room. Unable to walk properly, he tried to walk out of the door while stumbling along the way.
Just then a person dressed in white robes who looked like a doctor entered the room and stood infront of the door blocking his way.
"You know that you shouldn't be awake right now let alone walk in your state. If you continue to act such immaturely then you'll be dead before you could even carry out your vengeance."
The person dressed in the white robe was non other than the Royal healer Rosetta.
She expressed her concerns of him while mocking him for his immaturity. Although Henry was still a kid she didn't treat him as a kid. She was well aware of the intellect of Henry. And she knew about his self inflicted injury afterall she was the one who treated him.
Henry continued to ignore her even after hearing her taunts. He kept on marching towards the door stumbling along the way.
"Sigh~~"
"Could you please give us some moment and leave the room?"
She released a long sigh and rolled her eyes towards the maid while asking her to leave the room.
Upon hearing Rosetta, the maid quickly rushed out of the room leaving them alone. While she was making her way out of the room Rosetta spoke;
"Also could you keep the awakening of Henry a secret and pretend as if nothing happened today?"
The maid nervously nodded in agreement and exited the room.
As soon as she left the room Rosetta abruptly closed the door. She started to chant something while holding few small needles in her hands. She then threw the needles towards Henry.
Despite seeing the approaching needles he couldn't bring his body to avoid the needles because of his injury. The needles stung on his legs. Within a blink of an eye he lost sense of his legs as they numbed. No matter how hard he tried, he struggled to move his legs. His struggle continued for a while until he realised that his legs have been paralysed by the needles thrown at him.
"Resistance is futile. You won't be able to move your legs no matter how hard you try. If you were at your best condition then you'd have already nullified the spell but at your current condition you won't be able to move no matter how much you struggle."
She suggested him to stop struggling and slowly walked towards him.
She then gently placed her arms on his shoulder and got close to him. While bringing her face closer to his face, she whispered something in his ears.
"I know that the real culprit behind the incident"
His eyes widened as he heard her. Sweat started to drip from his face.
'How could she find out the culprit? Did they already found out the culprit? How long was I passed out?'
He started to think while sweating profusely.
Carefully turning his head towards her, he looked at her with anxious eyes. His lips dry and his throats dryer, he tried to open his mouth and ask her about the information regarding the incident. Words didn't come out of his mouth rather he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth. He then gulped his saliva to moisten his throat.
"How long was I passed out? And how do you know the culprit? Has the culprit already been found out and punished?"
He anxiously blurted out questions after questions.
Unable to grasp his words she looked at him with a puzzled look.
"First up all calm down."
She suggested while looking at him.
Even though she couldn't hear him properly and completely grasp his questions she had a slight idea of what he was asking.
After hearing her Henry took deep breaths and calmed himself down. He then calmly looked at her and began questioning her once again.
"How long was I passed out?"
Rosetta replied that he was passed out for nearly three days and this being the third day after the incident.
"How did you know about the culprit?"
He continued.
"While you were asleep you kept repeating a single name when I was treating your wounds. Also you don't have to worry as nobody except me have heard it."
She disclosed while reassuring him.
She also mentioned about the incident which took place during his comatose period.
"About two days after the incident the culprit behind the incident was executed in the town square infront of many peoples. And prime minister Lev Yashin was deemed as the culprit behind the incident."
"N- No he's not the real perpetrator."
He interrupted her in the middle.
"Yes I'm aware of it. He was merely used as a scapegoat. Even during his final moments he wished you to live well and be careful. So how can such a person try to assassinate you?"
While she was talking, tears started to roll down Henry's face. He rubbed his nose, sniffling silently. He started to think of the moment that he spent with Lev. The memories of Lev saddened him even more after hearing about his death.
Few particular moment flashed infront of his eyes. The moment when Lev taught him about magic. The moment where a weak and timid Henry was being bullied by other noble kids. And Lev helped him fend of the bullies. The moment when he felt so useless and miserable and Lev comforted him. Lev was like a father figure to Henry more than his actual father. He considered him dear to his heart and respected him from the bottom of his heart.
But after hearing about his tragic death he couldn't hold himself any longer and he started to weep like a kid.
Upon seeing his miserable state Rosetta stopped talking. Unable to comfort him she silently stood beside him watching over him.
After some moments Henry stopped crying and started to wipe off the tears from his eyes. While wiping his tears he looked at her and asked her to brief him about the incident.
Rosetta felt sorry for Henry and couldn't get herself to brief him about the whole incident. She hesitated to speak after seeing him cry but Henry insisted her to reveal the truth as it is. She couldn't say no to his insistence. Thus she clenched her fists and decided to reveal him the truth no matter how bitter it was.
She then briefed him about the death of his mother and his little sister during the incident.
He was aware of the death of his mother as he was present there at the time when his mother died but he was unaware of the death of his sister.
Devastated by the truth he remained frozen at his place, speechless and motionless.
It felt like the heaven had fallen upon him after listening to the truth. Few days ago he had everything but few days after he was left with nothing.
This time he didn't shed a single tear nor did he have any mental breakdowns. He simply stood there frozen and emotionless.
Rosetta looked at him with a perplexed look. She couldn't bring herself to console him.
Despite his high IQ and accomplishments he was still a kid after all. She wondered how he was handling all this tragedy that has befallen him. Within days he lost his mother, his sister and his mentor.
The effect of spell had already worn off but yet he still stood there frozen and paralysed.