CHAPTER 848: CHAPTER 848: TRYING TO HIDE

Alvis then cast a spell to make her invisible.

He added another one to conceal her presence and make it seem like she was in her study instead of here.

To ensure Ferdinand or anyone else would not bump into her, Alvis teleported her and her seat to a safe distance from Alwin’s bed.

He even conjured a vase of Jasmine flowers out of nowhere to conceal her scent.

Arabella did not comment and merely sat as still as she could.

{Ah, please do not be tense. Rest assured, I made it so they would not be able to hear a sound you make either.}

Alvis smiled as he assured her.

"I see. Thank you."

Arabella sighed in relief.

She did not know how to speak with Ferdinand at the moment, so this may be better. Since his arrival was so sudden, she was not ready to meet him.

’He might not see me, but who knows?’

Feeling conscious due to Ferdinand’s arrival, Arabella fixed strands of her hair and checked that her dress was just fine.

She blushed in embarrassment when she realized Alvis was looking at her with an amused smile on his face.

"I... I was just..."

Arabella did not know how to explain; she was preparing just in case Ferdinand still noticed her despite the spells.

How would she explain it to a man like Alvis, who effortlessly looked so ethereal no matter what he did?

Thankfully, Alvis stopped her from explaining.

{Haha. Please don’t mind me and continue. It was rude of me to keep looking.}

Alvis apologized and looked at Alwin instead.

Arabella still felt embarrassed, though. Like she was caught in the act doing something shady.

She was grateful that Alvis was a gentleman and did not look her way again, as he had promised, and let her ensure she was presentable to her husband without any comments.

After a few more seconds, the door finally creaked as the knob was turned from the other side.

Arabella breathed in nervously.

It had been several days since they last met.

They wrote to each other, but it was clear they both held back in what they had written.

Even for them, some things are still difficult to express in words. Especially in writing, when one is not sure how the other would understand their words. And they are not right in front of each other, so they could gauge reactions and explain immediately if something was misunderstood.

Arabella had been longing to see her husband even while she was busy with work. And she was sure Ferdinand felt the same.

Still, she did not dare ask to meet him since she knew he was likely busy, which was why he hadn’t gone back to Riva yet.

And now, after what felt like forever, he was finally here!

She didn’t even breathe as it seemed like the door was opening too slowly, not matching her eagerness to finally set her eyes on Ferdinand again.

When it was finally wide open, Arabella gulped as she laid eyes on her husband.

Ferdinand was as handsome as ever, though this time, with signs of stress and anxiety in his appearance.

She frowned when she realized he had dark circles under his eyes. A sign he hadn’t slept well or probably not at all in more than a week.

He was taxing his body again, probably forgetting he was human here.

Arabella had heard from their thoughts that it was Raymond and the others who had to keep reminding Ferdinand of the limits of the human body.

But they were probably too occupied right now to recall checking if Ferdinand exceeded his current body’s limit.

’What are those?’

Arabella tilted her head when she realized Ferdinand’s clothes had black and gray spots everywhere.

She squinted her eyes to look closer at what those were and realized they were ashes and soot.

’Ah, was it from all the burning?’

Arabella realized it must be from the plants they were burning to prevent the disease from spreading further.

She figured her husband must be in the field when Zion went to report to him.

Ferdinand had informed her before that once they spotted newly infected plants, they had to burn them.

They wanted to preserve as much of the forests as possible. But much to everyone’s chagrin, they discover some infected flora every single day, so the burning went on.

’He is frowning,’ Arabella noted as she silently observed her husband.

"Greetings to Your Imperial Majesty," Alvis immediately followed Valerian customs and greeted Ferdinand formally.

Ferdinand simply nodded in acknowledgment as he stood by the door.

Alvis seated himself once again without glancing in Arabella’s direction to not give out any sign that she was here.

Meanwhile, Ferdinand’s eyes were focused on the unconscious Alwin.

[Why hadn’t he regained consciousness yet?

And his mana... It’s not even a fourth of his capacity.

He had been injured a few days ago, and this was the extent of his recovery?

His recovery is too slow.

I was sure Alwin would have been able to recover quickly.

Or... was he injured that badly?!]

The creases between Ferdinand’s brows grew worse. His brows almost met as he walked huge strides toward Alwin’s bed.

[What truly happened?

What didn’t they tell me immediately?

They should have informed me about this as soon as possible.]

Ferdinand glanced at Zion, who simply bowed his head, already expecting this reaction.

[Did they also get injured but are keeping mum about it?

Zion and the others should have had enough tolerance, or were they met with skilled fighters who took the opportunity while their mana was used up?

And didn’t I give Alwin enough dosage over the years so he won’t die or suffer too much from poisons like this?

Or was the amount not enough?

I thought I had given him enough to be unbothered by this.]

Ferdinand wondered if he had been giving too little poison to Alwin because he had almost always perceived him as a child.

Thus, the lesser dosage than supposed to be, resulting in Alwin remaining vulnerable to this poison.

Ferdinand’s eyes glowed with magic as he touched Alwin’s forehead. He was wide-eyed.

[His missing two mana cores?!!!

His situation is this bad?!

Then, why is he still here?!

They should have taken him back to Estrella!]

Ferdinand’s eyes darted to Alvis, asking without words why on earth Alwin’s doting uncle did not rush him back to Estrella or at least heal him enough to hasten his recovery.

[This must be why Alvis arrived in a furious state.

But Alvis would not just sit quietly with Alwin like this.

Or, Alvis’ senses were dulled this much by the limiters while he’s here in the human realm?]

Ferdinand knew that Alvis, who worried a lot about Alwin since he was his only nephew, would not let him stay here and remain in this condition.

Thus, it was a puzzle to him why Alwin remained here instead of being brought back to Estrella. Especially when Alvis was around.

Likewise, it had been several days since the battle, so they would have already recovered enough to be able to heal Alwin, albeit partly, to hasten his recovery.

Ferdinand could tell Zion and the others did not heal Alwin, and it was even more of a puzzle to him.

Arabella learned from Ferdinand’s thoughts that, due to Alwin’s growth, even his elders would not be able to heal him completely with all the limitations imposed on them while staying here.

But Ferdinand knew Alvis would not mind letting Alwin have all the mana he was allowed to use, just so he could heal as much as he could and stop Alwin’s suffering.

Yet, Alvis did not.

[Is something preventing him from taking action?

Is it because of the forbidden spell Alwin used?

Did Elrond give the order to make Alwin stay here in this state as part of his punishment?]

Ferdinand considered the possibilities since it was hard for him to believe Alvis would just sit by and do nothing when Alwin was suffering like this.

Hearing her husband’s thoughts, Arabella could not help but smile.

Ferdinand was indeed worried about Alwin’s situation, which was why he rushed here upon receiving the report.

’Alwin should have been able to see Ferdinand’s face right now. He would be elated and would not be able to deny Ferdinand’s worries for him a lot.’

Arabella wished she had one of those magic orbs Alwin owned to record this moment for the latter to watch later.

She eyed Ferdinand from head to foot once again. He did not seem to notice her presence at all.

It was funny how she felt a bit of jealousy at being ignored when she already knew it was because Alvis used spells so Ferdinand would not notice her.

Still, she kind of hoped her husband would at least notice some kind of sign she was here.

’What am I? A kid?’ Arabella internally scolded herself as she silently chuckled at her own childishness.

.

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_________________________

a/n:

Hi everyone!

It’s been months since the last time I was here.

Thank you very much for your patience.

I would like to give you an update on what happened. Read on if you would like to know. If not, just skip it.

(Trigger Warning: Mentions of mental health issues and so on.)

So here’s what happened:

Months ago, my insomnia, depression, and anxiety got the best of me.

I was not able to sleep properly (though I always did, but it got worse) to the point I barely had two hours of sleep every day until I reached the point I stayed awake for more than 12 hours of lying down in bed trying to sleep but not getting any.

Even more, I reached more than 36 hours without a wink of sleep (after a long time of just sleeping at most 3-5 hours a day or less).

Yes, it was possible.

And it was the worst.

Wanting to rest but not being able to made me lose my mind. It’s like I’m gonna go crazy or just be off with myself any second, just so I can finally rest.

Yes, it was that bad.

Every single day, I felt like just resting eternally to finally stop suffering.

I hope none of you ever get to experience it.

It was my most vulnerable and weakest moment in all the years of my life.

I almost reached my breaking point. Or maybe, I did?

And so, I had to move to another place just for a change of pace and to destress.

I went to a friend’s clinic and had to stay there to get treated.

And miraculously, I was finally able to sleep there without any sleeping pills or anything.

I stayed there for months to recover from my chronic insomnia and mental health problems.

However, because my body had become weak due to constant lack of sleep (I only realized recently I had chronic insomnia since my grade school years, and worst was this year), I had dengue when an outbreak occurred. Thankfully, I was able to recover from it with all the medicine available.

But it was a series of sicknesses from one to another due to my weakened immune system.

I didn’t have my period for 3 months either due to all the stress and hormone imbalance (I’m sure ladies will understand how bad this is). And when I finally had it, I bled for 12 days and became anemic. I had to take meds for that as well.

I did not get my period again for another two months, and only had it recently and bled for 14 days. I had to wonder if I would collapse anytime, so I had to use meds to stop it since it was continuous, heavy bleeding. If I bled even more, I might pass out from anemia. It was crazy. Thankfully, I didn’t since I already got the meds prepared.

I finally realized how much my health had been impacted by a lack of sleep, and it was indeed time it had to be treated.

My stay at my friend’s clinic helped me get some sleep and destress, and I am finally doing better.

I am still trying to recover and maintain a healthy sleeping habit, so I cannot promise I will be able to update as many Chapters as I did before.

Still, I will try my best to write again since I feel like I have lost touch after months of not writing.

PS. I was touched not to find people badmouthing me for not uploading for so long. (I had prepared myself for it and was relieved not to find tons. Hehe.)

I deeply apologize for the wrong Chapters. I know you deserved so much better for reading my book this far, but I could not change it immediately, with my health and mind not working properly for months. Rest assured, I will try to correct the wrong contents as soon as possible, but I cannot promise how long that will take.

(PS. I stopped working all those months just to recover, so I am just beginning again.)

I hope you can continue to be patient with me.

Thank you very much for your patience and support!

I will NOT quit this book. This is my longest book ever, and I will finish it to the end.

I hope you will continue to go through this journey with me despite all my failures.

Again, thank you very much.

I was elated to see the power stones, golden tickets, and votes you had been sending my way. Thank you very much! You are all so amazing!

Your actions and words of support and encouragement give me tears of happiness (literally).

I don’t know where you are, but I hope and pray all the best for you!

Stay strong and healthy and do sleep, eat, and rest well.

Love you all!