“If the child himself is unwilling, then I won’t force it upon him. But he must say it himself,” Leanne said coldly, seemingly holding back the anger inside from boiling out.

“Evin, stop wasting the mage’s time and refuse. We have things to do at home,” Edmund said.

“I…” Evin began… but couldn’t quite continue. Breathing roughly, he looked towards the mage with pleading eyes.

“The boy’s a bit nervous when it comes to these things so he can’t quite express himself well, but I know what’s best for him. Sorry for wasting your time here, mage,” Edmund said and grabbed the boy’s hands.

At this point, Leanne intervened and took hold of Evin.

“That’s my child you’re holding in your hands, mage,” Evin’s father said in a threatening tone and tried to pull Evin to himself.

“Silence.”

Leanne’s voice seemed to echo inside the room a few times, overwhelming Edmund and shocking Evin awake. Next, she began chanting something else under her breath, but as Evin was standing right next to her, he and Endra could make out the words pretty easily.

“O, Omniscient Dragon of Origin, grant this lowly woman the hands to heal one’s weary mind.”

The words themselves were simple ones, but there was such a powerful intent and yearning behind it, that Endra couldn’t help but feel awed and enthralled upon hearing it. After the chant was finished, Leanne’s hands took on a silver hue, and she used it to stroke Evin’s messy hair.

The hands seemed to pervade inside Evin’s mind, as Endra could see a giant silver hand appearing on the edge of Evin’s ‘mind-lake’. Wherever it touched, the murky waters would take on a more lively color and the ripples of thought would become more active.

Endra stared at this giant hand with complicated emotions, wondering what would happen if he let it touch him. But of course, he wasn’t going to do something so risky for no reason. The most he could do was let it touch the White Room.

Leanne’s breathing started to become more ragged as fine beads of sweat started appearing on her forehead.

Endra could sense a euphoric sense taking over Evin’s mind, as the lake started taking on a vibrant and colorful hue. All of Evin’s worries seemed to dissipate gradually as the boy’s tense body finally loosened up. His sore jaws became unclenched and his forever sharp eyes took on a softer look for once.

No more worries of his father drinking back home, no more fears of the man becoming violent suddenly, no more confusion regarding the voice’s existence…

Endra saw as Evin’s mind finally falling into bliss, as if the boy had fallen into a beautiful dream, one where he could do anything he ever wanted to. A state Evin should’ve been in through all these years he spent as a child… He could also notice that the boy was trying to fall into slumber judging by the ceaseless vibrations appearing on the lake. Endra made sure to keep Evin awake, as there was something very important the boy needed to witness.

But he couldn’t focus on Evin any longer, as eventually, the giant silver hand reached the White Room. But upon contact with it, they seemed to recoil in fright and shock as Leanne, in the physical world, fell down to the ground with a thud, gasping for air. Her hands started quivering, as she looked towards Evin with such a powerful look of fear and shame that it shocked even Endra.

He didn’t know what exactly happened, but he knew that whatever it was, it was probably a bad thing. He would rather keep his existence secret, since as far as he was concerned, a talking voice in someone’s head wasn’t really a common thing.

But there was no need to blow the matter out of proportion now, since Endra could make his decision after evaluating the situation better.

“Father… You know? I want to become a maage…” Evin slurred deliriously, “I want to become like that… the King Roland… a ruler of the kingdoms.”

His eyes lost its light as he collapsed to the ground limply, a broken smile on his lips. With this, the lake inside his head vibrated violently for a few seconds before falling completely silent. Endra nodded with satisfaction, thankful that his plan worked without problems. Now, he only had to worry about Leanne’s reaction to the White Room’s existence.

“What… the hell… do you do to your child?” Leanne muttered, wiping the tears off her eyes with her shaking hands. She was struggling for breath, and her whole body seemed drenched in sweat.

Edmund snapped out of his stupor as he looked between Evin and Leanne with his mouth half open from shock.

“What did you do to my boy? Why is he looking like that?!” he suddenly started shouting, trying to pull Evin out of Leanne’s grasp once more.

Leanne forcefully shoved the imposing man away from herself, her body emitting a pinkish steam all over.

“This is the state you’ve forced him to be in! Broken and traumatized, not to mention frightened beyond belief! Do you think I don’t see him flinching with fear every time you make a move? Do you think I don’t see his eyes getting filled with terror every time he steals a glance at your figure?! I asked you. What. The HELL! Do you do to your child?!” Leanne shrieked.

“No, I didn’t do anything! I-I did the best for him! He just doesn’t understand it yet! No one understands it!”

“Then explain to me why your son’s, no, why this boy’s brain is harder to fix than the suicidal mind of a fucking war invalid?! Not just any invalid, but one who had his two legs getting eaten by a colony of Myrmis!” Leanne shouted back with a shaking voice, tears streaming from her eyes.

Evin’s father looked back with confusion, as if he was trying to understand the woman’s words.

“No… It’s the voice in his head… it must be that! He always hears a voice in his head! It tells the boy to leave me… to kill me! I’m telling you the truth! I tried to get it fixed, but it just didn’t work! The gurus, the doctors, the fucking shamans, they’re all fucking useless! Only I can help him! None of you understand anything!!!”

Leanne laughed coldly at Edmund’s words.

“Of course he’d a have a fucking voice in his head! In fact, I’d be more surprised if he didn’t have any voices in his head telling him to kill you!” Leanne shouted back.

“Who are you to judge my relation with the boy, anyway?” Edmund said and tried to wrestle Evin out of Leanne’s hold once again, “We will be leaving now. Let go of him this instant! That’s my child you’re holding there!”

As this was happening, the building’s guards busted into the room.

“Lady Leanne, what’s happening here? I heard shouts and sounds of struggle from inside here and…” one of them was saying, before he looked at Leanne’s horrible state and paused with genuine shock and confusion.

“Guards! Take this man out of this building. Do everything you can to keep him away from this boy!” Leanne shouted.

“Y-yes, my lady!” the guards were still shocked by the sight, but they still acted quickly under the mage’s orders. They dragged away the screaming Edmund, leaving only Leanne and Evin inside the room.

Endra, who witnessed everything unfold before his eyes, sighed softly.

“I guess she mistook my existence as a trauma of some sorts in Evin’s head,” he judged. “I guess I’m still safe.”

He then looked at Leanne, who was tightly hugging Evin in her arms. The stream of blackened tears coming from her eyes, her ruined hair and makeup, and her incessantly shaking hands. But the most striking of it all, her eyes which were filled to the brim with regret and remorse.

“I’m so sorry…” she chanted under her breath, “By the Empress’ grace, I didn’t know… Forgive me… Forgive me for not helping you even a day sooner…”

Endra sighed at the sight.

“Such a simple solution to a problem… but I guess things tend to play out a bit differently in reality, huh?” he murmured under his breath, “Well. All’s well that ends well. Evin will finally become a mage and we’ll eventually find a way to set me free from his mind.”

“All’s fine… if you just don’t count in the tragedy and trauma,” he murmured, a tinge of remorse in his heart.

He definitely could’ve done things better. He probably could’ve even helped Edmund become a better man and perhaps even reunited Evin with his mother someday. Give Evin the loving family that he needed more than most.

But of course, things couldn’t be so simple.