"Why isn't he waking up yet? It's been a week already?" A voice asked, the speaker glancing at the young man lying unconscious.
"I wish I had an explanation for this, I really do, but unfortunately I don't. From all the tests I conducted, he's in good health, all his injuries are healed, both internal and external, yet..." the man trailed off, adjusting his comical glasses before his grip on the briefcase tightened a bit.
"So he simply doesn't want to wake up? Is that what you're saying?"
"Yes, and... no. There's a chance he simply can't, but rest assured, he will come around in time. Perhaps the shock he received was simply too great for him, so his body's only way of responding is shutting down. I'm merely a superficial healer, there is a limit to my prowess, sadly this is all I can do," the man added, adjusting his glasses before glancing at his watch.
The young lady noticed this then let out a breath before speaking, "I'll escort you out," she said, heading for the door which she promptly opened.
"Duly appreciated," the man nodded with a smile before walking out, and she followed him until he was gone before heading back into the room. The young lady then walked up to the bed and stared at the young man, an unconscious fellow with hair the purest of white, a symbol of his lineage to none other than the Morningstar household.
She went to the side of the bed and leaned forward, touching his cheek before a tear rolled from her eye and slid all the way to her chin before dropping onto the young man's face. "It's all my fault, I'm so sorry."
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"Aegon," a voice called to a young man walking through the halls of a grand mansion. The young man tilted his gaze to find the speaker, a young girl with pure white hair and maroon red eyes. "Nirai? Wait, aren't you supposed to be at Avalon?" the young man asked with a smile, but the keenest of observers would spot the unnatural twitch of his lips which gave away his facade of calmness.
"What did you do this time, brother?" the young girl ignored his words, instead walking ever so closer. Aegon, fully aware of how untactful his sister could be whenever the issue concerned her obsession with Aurelius, found himself taking a few steps back in response.
"I didn't do anything wrong. He came and attacked me first, it was merely a case of self defense," he retorted.
"Oh? Is that so?"
"I wouldn't lie to you, sister. It's not my fault he couldn't handle the consequences of his own actions," he defended himself.
"You know the laws of the Morningstar, brother. I can't help but wonder what father would do if something happens to the youngest. You do know he is fond of him," she said with an expressionless face.
Aegon clenched his teeth in annoyance. The notion of Aurelius being special in the eyes of their father was something he detested far more than he hated the young Morningstar himself.
"Nothing will happen to that manaless bug. He won't die even if I intended it," he said with a scoff.
"Are you sure? Last I heard, it's been a whole week since he's been unconscious. One would be tempted to suspect he might not recover from this after all," Nirai added, now standing head to head with Aegon.
"Nothing. Will. Happen. To. Him," he emphasized every word with such confidence it was almost as though he could see the future.
"I hope so," she said, then reached for his collar. Her movement was so swift the young man hadn't noticed it until she had them in her slender hands. She adjusted them properly. "For your sake, little brother," she smiled for the first time, but young Aegon was too smart to be fooled by something so fake.
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"Aegon Morningstar," a voice reverberated as the young man stepped into a vast hall. It resembled a court, though quite different. Numerous elders sat at the far front in a circular setting, and around strategic corners of the hall stood valiant men dressed in armor, each wielding weapons.
BOOM.
The enormous oak door closed.
The room had a single red carpet stretching from the point of entry to the center of the hall, where it stopped at a sort of railing behind which the defendant was to stand for the hearing. Aegon, hands in his pockets and wearing an unimpressed and even more uninterested expression, walked to it and stood.
"Aegon Morningstar," he announced.
"Welcome, young prince," the man at the center of the surrounding elders spoke, his voice deep and audible throughout the vast hall. Like all the elders, he had white hair, though one could suspect it was simply a mark of his age. "Do you know why you are here, young one?"
"Please tell me," Aegon responded without interest.
"You have been charged with breaking the code of the Morningstar, and if found guilty will suffer a grievous punishment."
"This is an open and shut case, Elder Gregory."
"You will address me as Lord within this chamber."
"I will not. Elder is sufficient."
Simple as his response was, it alone was enough to convey the level of arrogance of the young Morningstar. Though it was not without reason, for the young prince was in fact the tenth in the line of succession, a royal Morningstar through and through.
"According to a witness, you attacked Prince Aurelius with intent to kill."
"It was a case of self defense."
"The witness says otherwise."
"Then I would like to speak with this witness myself. Perhaps I could help fix their selective memory?"
"You cannot."
"I see," he rolled his eyes.
"According to his medical report, the Seventh suffered grave injuries, so severe they appear to prove fatal. You do understand that in the case Aurelius Morningstar is no longer able to wake, it would be without a doubt that Prince Aegon has broken the code of the Morningstar ritual."
"And yet that is not the case. It seems your only intention for summoning me was to waste my precious time. Just in case you don't reckon, I have far more important places to be than here, listening to this rubbish."
"AEGON!"
"YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS YOUR HIGHNESS. IT SEEMS I HAVE BEEN TOO JOVIAL!" The young prince slammed his hand down on the railing, which disfigured completely and began melting from the sheer intensity of his mana alone.
"Such insolence! Do you not comprehend the magnitude of your crime? Do you not understand where you stand?!" an elder roared.
"Oh, shut the hell up, old hag!" Aegon spat, glaring at an elderly woman who returned his gaze with pure rage. "Just in case your faulty old brain doesn't remember, you are speaking to a pure-blooded Morningstar. You are not my father, and for as long as that bug breathes, neither you nor any imbecile in this place has enough authority to condemn me. Know your place, or I will help you remember it."