“Prince Luler, your health isn't looking good right now. I fear that you will have to take a break from your study for a week to rest.”

The palace doctor told me about my condition. To tell the truth, I didn't feel anything at all even a sadness, despair or a fear…

There's nothing…

I was empty.

I was sitting on my bed in my room at the dormitory. The palace doctor said it would be good if I didn't continue to force myself. My body would get a rest and it wouldn't have to take too much burden.

I had to rest in this room this week.

It would be very boring, but I didn't have another choice. After that, he left my room leaving three doctors to take care of me. My body continued to deteriorate because of my chronic disease for this past few days.

The palace doctor told me that my heart has been beating slower than before. He didn't know the reason why my condition worsened so he had no other ways other than keeping watch over me.

“You can tell us anytime when you want our help, prince Luler.” one of the doctors said this to me.

The thing that I wanted…Now, there's only…

“I want to be alone. I can't sleep when there are many people in the room.”

“But we were called to take care of you, prince Luler.”

“I will call if I want your help.”

They turned to whisper to each other before turned back to me.

“Yes sir, prince Luler.”

They hesitated a little before went out of my room. After the door closed, my room became silent just as I wanted, but my heart wasn't satisfied at all. It was as if there was something missing. What exactly did I want?

Even I didn't know it myself.

This strange feeling…

It was liked torture.

I didn't know how long had I slept for, but when I woke up again, the sky had already turned orange. The maid was placing a tray of food in front of me and exited my room when her duty was finished. My stomach growled a little because of how empty it was. I continued to eat for a while before I heard a knocking sound.

“Luler, are you alright? You didn't go to the cla.s.s today so I come here to hand you a note.”

Teo walked in with everyone. Akane, Lookz, Shelyn, Ren, and Bella were coming in with a smile.

“I'm alright,” I answered him while continued to eat.

“But the doctor told you to take a rest! Why there aren't any doctors in this room?” Akane's eyes scanned the room. I hoped she wouldn't let some of her fox's fur falling in here.

“I didn't want anyone to fuss around here while I sleep.”

“That will be bad if your condition gets worse.” Lookz walked to the end of my bed and sighed.

“It was like Lookz-sama said. I think that would be bad too.” Bella, who stood near Lookz, nodded in agreement. Until now, I hadn't once seen her disagree with Lookz.

“But our rooms aren't close to him at all…What should we do?” Shelyn lowered her head down to stare at the floor and looked to be in thought.

“It will be good if there's someone who stays near you.” Ren patted Shelyn's head and smiled.

“You don't have to worry…The doctors are staying in the next room.” He quickly told them because I didn't like it when I was a burden to them.

“The room next to yours? That vacant room, right?” Akane asked me with a curious expression.

“That's right. It was vacant.”

“O-oh…then it was fine.”

I instantly looked up as I could hear a tremble in her voice. Her eyes were wavering with a stream of tear that flowing down to her cheeks.

She cried…?

“Akane, what's happened!?” Bella ran to support her.

“No! I don't know!!…I…”

Tap Tap Tap!!

“Akane!!”

Akene suddenly ran out of the room in tear. Teo was taken by a surprise, but he quickly recovered and ran after her. I didn't what the cause of her crying so I turned to the other people in my room. Their expression wasn't looking good at all. I was pretty sure now that there wasn't only me, they also had some connection to that room too. What was it anyway?

After that, everyone was leaving my room leaving only me alone. The silence had come with loneliness.

Why did I feel so cold? Why did I feel like my skin turned cold the instant I picked the knife up from the drawer? The warmth feeling was beginning to fade away each time I touched it.

I didn't understand it. Something was bugging in my mind.

‘If you still want to meet her no matter what,…'

Something went wrong.

Why did he seem so sure that the person was a woman?

It was already deep in the night. n.o.body was here in a hallway. I slowly took a step to go to the infirmary to see that doctor with the transparent knife in my palm. Was he called Noir?

Whatever his name was, I had a feeling that he knew more than that. That's also included that woman too. Maybe he would recognize this knife. I didn't have confidence for that, but I only had hope. Even when he couldn't grant my wish, I wouldn't lose anything at all.

I had nothing to lose anyway.

I wanted to know. I had to know.

My life was short…I wasn't sure I had enough time for finding the answer.
Was it because some kind of impulse that ordered me to find this answer? No matter what happened, I had to know this. If I could know her name, It would be good. If I could meet her, that would be better. But I only wanted to hear her voice…

Crack…

“I think you will come, prince Luler.”

When I opened the door of the infirmary, I was met with the same face that I really didn't want to look at. He was sitting on that same chair as if he didn't go anywhere at all.

“You know something, right?”

“Ara~ It would be wrong to say that. That's a dangerous thing in your hand there. I feel a little worried now.” He continued to smile even when he said something like that.

He didn't get scared at all…Well, I didn't intend to use this thing anyway. I showed the transparent knife to him.

“Do you know this knife?” I asked him. Noir became silent for a while before he smiled again.

“Umm…That's it. I get a feeling that I know, but I'm not sure.”

“Do you know it?”

“Ah…What is this thing again?”

He was still delaying his answer. I must come to the wrong person then. I wasn't thinking straight at all to ask for help from this kind of person.

“Ara~ Don't be mad. I'm at that age where my memory doesn't serve me well, you know. It's normal to take a long time to think, right?” The moment I tried to exit from this room, Noir spoke up.

“If you know then tell me…”

“It's called severed connection scissors. It's the thing that only the lord of the Afterlife owns it.”

“Severed connection scissors…?”

“That's right. It's used to sever a soul so that it won't get attached to the living world. If it's used with a living person then that person will go back to the afterworld, all of the memories of that person will be erased from everyone. But…to use it on a living person is the most taboo. The truth is it's supposed to be a pair, but you only have one of them. Do you know why?”

“There's someone disappeared?”

“Yes, The scissors will be transparent until a soul comes back to this world. If it becomes black then its effect will cease. It is really easy to cease its effect. If a person from this world can remember her or her name then it's enough.”

“Do you remember her?”

“I can't. I don't even know the name of this person. I'm a black cat so I can sense death and soul much more than you all. I only took a glimpse at you and I've already known that the death is trying to pull you away.”

Noir stood up from the chair and stopped in front of me. He looked at me up and down as though he was examining my body.

“So…What do I have to do?” No matter what, I wanted to know her name. That disappeared girl…How did she relate to me?

“Did you forget what I just told you before? It's really dangerous, prince Luler. How much do you prepare for it? I really want to know how much can you sacrifice for the girl whose name you don't even know.”

“Because I have nothing to lose.”

“Humph~ You have nothing to lose, huh. That's something only a kid would say, but I do not hate it, you know.”

He turned back to sit on the chair.

“Then I will tell you what you are going to lose. The only thing I can do is to bring you the deepest part of your memory. There's no guarantee you will come back here again. n.o.body knows which part of the memory you will get into. Maybe you won't have the chance to see that woman or you will, but you can't remember her. In the dreaming world, you will stay between the living and the death. If you can't find the exit then you will have to stay there forever. Even if you can find the exit, maybe you can't bring that woman out with you too. That isn't unlucky or anything but those who went into the dreaming world tended to be unlucky.”

“…”

“If you're lucky enough, you won't lose anything at all. You also bring that person out too. It's only that.”

There's really no guarantee that I would come back here safe, huh. It had the word ‘risk' written all over the place. There wasn't a certainty at all. But…

“This is the only way to bring her back, right?”

“You can say that there's no other way as of now.”

I have nothing at all even a fear, a sadness or even a worry.

There's no path to turn back to.

“Fine, even if I have to die.”

“Because if this, I really like a teenager's life.”

His ears and tail appeared again and then my surrounding changed. I look at my surroundings and all I could see was a trail of purple dust flowing in the air.

All the light in the room went out leaving only darkness around me. My mind was beginning to drift away too.

My body fell to what should be the floor, but I only felt the emptiness.
It was as if…

my heart had stopped beating.

‘Beep Beep Beep'

I heard a sound…It was ringing near me.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the whiteness of a ceiling. It seemed like I was lying on a patient's bed. I instantly what attached at the back of my hand. It was an IV tube. The thing that was constantly beeping was a heart rate monitor.
I was in hospital now. Even though I had never seen anything like this before, I only felt used to it.

Crack…!

“Oh…Have you woken up?”

A girl with a long black hair that reached her back, flawless white skin and a slender body came into the room. Her pair of arms were also holding a yellow tulip bouquet to her chest.

“You don't have to worry. I'm a daughter of the doctor that oversees you. You just caught in a car crashed, but n.o.body dies. Your parents are alright now so they go back to their work. They said they will come to meet you after they finish their work. You will have to stay here for a while. How are you right now? Do you feel hurt anywhere?”

“Ah, I'm not hurt.”

“That's good. If you feel hurt then pressed that b.u.t.ton over there to call a nurse.”

She walked towards me and placed that bouquet on my lap. I sat up and picked the bouquet to smell at it.

“Do you like it? Before I came here, I was walking past a florist so I bought it for you.”

“I like it.” I answered to her while my nose was still buried in the bouquet.

“That's good then. You slept for three days. Everybody was worried about you, you know.”

“Who are you?”

When I turned to look at that pair of warmth eyes, my heart suddenly felt at ease.

‘Bathump Bathump'

…The beating of my heart since the first time that we met,

it was as if I had been reborn…

“I forget to introduce myself. My name is White and I'm thirteen years old just like you. Nice to meet you.”

–Next>>

Bear: Thank you for reading!