"King Daneel! King Daneel! KING DANEEL!"
With his thoughts coming back into focus due to the shouts from Sister Xuan, Daneel blinked his eyes rapidly before looking at Eloise with panic.
She was still the same, but her words still echoed in his mind.
A woman actually…loved him?
"King Daneel?! Is everything all right?"
It seemed that his dazed look had alarmed Sister Xuan, as she was now looking at him and wondering whether he had been affected or injured by something.
"Ye-yes, it is. She is speaking to me through the oathstone, and she said she is blind and can"t feel anything."
Seeing the shock in both Molan and Sister Xuan"s eyes as he said this, Daneel finally gained full control of his thoughts and asked, "What"s wrong? What could it mean?"
After sharing a look with Molan, Sister Xuan answered, "It means that there is a dissonance between her mind and body. This is a rare case that occurs when someone was feeling something very strongly before they went into a body-upgrading coma. The remnant of that strong feeling drives the mind and thus, the mageroot forward, making it absorb more energy than the body. A synchronization is essential in cases like this where someone is advancing to top potential from nothing. It is different in the case of someone training normally, as the slow training process allows them to stay in sync. In this case, the dissonance caused the mind to "disconnect" from the body-hence the state of your friend."
Listening to the explanation, the panic in Daneel grew as the tone in Sister Xuan"s voice had been very grave.
"Is it fatal? How can we save her?"
"It is fatal in many cases, but first, let me explain why. Due to losing the connection, the victim has no senses. They are in a dark empty place all by their lonely self. With time, this drives them mad. Although the Energy will keep pulling the victim into a hibernation state, the time during which they are awake will take a huge toll on them."
"But she isin"t alone! I can speak to her!"
"Exactly. We have a unique situation here. The oathstone is tied to the soul; hence, its connection still remains. You must continue to talk to her when she is awake. This will let her keep a grip on her sanity. I will also speak with the Matron about what else can be done. The best case is that she wakes soon, but if she doesn"t, it is your words that will save her."
It had felt as if he had plummeted into the darkest of depths when he had heard about people going insane due to the loneliness.
Yet, now that he had a chance to save her and prevent this from happening, Daneel grasped it.
With a nod, he turned towards Eloise and said, "Eloise, listen to me. You aren"t dying. This is everything that happened since you fell unconscious."
In detail and with patience, Daneel told Eloise about all the events that had led up to this point.
After he was done, there was a period of silence which made Daneel feel scared again that she wasn"t present.
Yet, a hesitant voice spoke after a few seconds.
"Your Hi-"
"Call me Daneel."
"No, I can"t! I"m your-"
"Eloise. I insist."
"But your Maj-"
"Eloise."
"But I-"
"Eloise."
"B-"
"Eloise."
"Yes."
"It"s an order."
After another pause, Eloise spoke again in his mind.
"D-Daneel? About what I said before…"
Hearing these words, Daneel could almost see Eloise fidgeting while standing in front of him.
"We can talk about that after you wake up. Just remember one thing: I am here for you. My only job right now is to talk to you and make sure that you are as normal as you can be."
"But you are the King! I don"t want to bother you for every-"
"Eloise. You are worth it. You are very important to me, and I insist that you continue to talk to me. Got it?"
"Yes. I suddenly feel very sleepy. Is this what you talked about? I feel like something is pulling me away…"
Although Daneel was surprised by the timing, he said, "It must be. Remember, Eloise, contact me the moment you-"
"I-I can"t contro…"
As her voice cut off in his mind, Daneel turned to Sister Xuan and asked, "She just left suddenly saying that something was pulling her away to sleep. Is that how it works?"
After thinking for a bit, Sister Xuan answered, "Yes. I have read a few records about it, and they say that the hibernation is sudden."
Nodding and sighing with relief, Daneel tried to make sense of his surging thoughts.
"I"ll talk to you later."
Pus.h.i.+ng out these words, he made his way out of the chamber before walking to an open balcony.
Setting his hands on the handrail and looking out over the beautiful lawns of the Lanthanor Palace, Daneel finally came face to face with his thoughts.
Love.
To him, this word only represented what he shared with his parents and, to some extent, all the people he cared about.
Yet, he had never even thought about romantic love so far.
As someone from Earth, Daneel had indeed grown up with the att.i.tude that having a relations.h.i.+p was something very common and essential in life.
Yet, after coming to Angaria, this notion had completely changed.
After all, Earth was a place where most life was stable, allowing it to prioritize relations.h.i.+ps over most other things.
Angaria was a die or kill world. Hence, he had realized quite clearly early on itself that his focus should always be on growing strong enough to protect everyone he loved.
Even now, there was a long way to go. Many threats still loomed, and Daneel also had many goals to work towards.
At such a time, love had come hurtling towards him.
What should he do?
There was no way that he could ignore Eloise"s confession and sweep it under the rug. He valued and respected her too much to do that.
No, what Eloise needed was a clear answer.
Yet, Daneel had no idea what to do.
Although he was clear that he wanted to be decisive, he had no idea about which decision to make.
On the one side, his reason to reject her was that he had no intention of thinking about romantic love until he could at least ensure the survival of the continent.
After all, with long life spans, many talented Mages and Fighters chose to either stay alone or have multiple relations.h.i.+ps over time, depending on their personality. Both were considered quite normal in society.
On the other, Daneel truly did not want to see someone he cared about so much have their heart broken.
After all, in her voice, he had clearly felt just how much she loved him.
Even her dedication made sense now. She completely applied herself, always, because his dreams had become her dreams.
His happiness had become her happiness.
If he rejected her, he also had the fear that he might never find something as pure as this ever again.
After all, as someone completely inexperienced with love, Daneel had no idea what to feel or think.
He needed to talk to someone who had that experience.
Hence, turning around, he started to walk to the room where he made it a point to spend an hour or two every week without fail.
Just like a child who didn"t know what choice to make, he had decided to ask his parents.
And in this matter, Daneel really was a child.
...
Meanwhile, in the room from which Daneel had just stumbled out.
"What do you think is wrong with him, Sister?", Molan asked, still eyeing the door that had been left open by Daneel.
With her eyebrows in a V-shape, Sister Xuan thought seriously about everything that the King had said so far.
Finally, after going through them for 3 or 4 times, she realized what might have happened.
"Molan, if you thought that you were going to die in the next few minutes or seconds, what would you do?"
Initially startled at this sudden and weird question, Molan thought for a few seconds before answering, "I would try to fulfill my last wishes, or I would try to pa.s.s them on to you, Sister Xuan."
"Would you or would you not confess your love or attraction or whatever it is you have for the guy whom you ogled at every night for a month by the riverside when he visited our Sect?"
Blus.h.i.+ng deeply at her words, Molan stuttered, saying, "I-I don"t know what you are talking about. But if he was here, yes, I would."
Sighing and getting an antic.i.p.atory look on her face, Sister Xuan sat on the chair beside Eloise and said, "Then I know why he might have been affected so strongly."