Oozing

A long while has passed since Lyrica left Riko's residence along with the young knight. Esmeralda, Rona, Robert, and Nilo try to battle Nela's illness together.

Rona always makes sure that the washcloth in Nela's forehead is cool and damp. The two brothers are in charge of replacing the water that has lost its cool with a new one. While the old lady tries to feed her bedridden granddaughter with the gruel and egg tofu Lyrica made for her.

"Where... where is ate Lyrica?" Asked the bedridden Nela.

"She went out to get you some honey." Said Rona in reply. "I'm sure she already got some and is now heading back. So just rest until then, ate Nela."

Right after that, a short pause interjected the two as the siblings look at each other. Nela then gently grasps one of Rona's hands as she begins to speak.

"I'm sorry for raising my voice towards you, Rona."

The old lady and the two brothers pause as the girl continues to speak.

"I'm sorry for getting angry at you."

At that moment, Rona has a deep urge to give her older sister a tight embrace, but she knew she couldn't due to Nela's illness. Instead of wrapping her arms around her sister, tears begin to stream down on Rona's face.

"I'm sorry, ate Nela. I'm sorry for being so stubborn."

As the little girl held Nela's hand that's holding her other hand, Rona made a promise to her older sister that she will be a good little sister from now on. She will never act stubborn around Nela and everyone else ever again.

"Is that so... I will hold you to your word, then."

"Yeah!"

Seeing the two sisters finally making up after what happened yesterday puts a smile on Esmeralda and the two brothers' faces. Little by little, they're feeling more confident that everything will be all right.

As Rona replaces the washcloth with a new cool one, the old lady continuing to feed Nela, and the two brothers keeping watch of the cool water before replacing it with a new one, they begin to hear the voice of a woman outside the house.

The voice of the woman calls out to the old lady and Riko's siblings one by one.

Outside the door of the residence, the girl called Mila knocks on the wooden door as she continues to call every single one in the house. Before long, Mila starts hearing faint footsteps on the other side of the door.

The door creaks open, and Mila is greeted by Rona who came in a rush.

"I heard about Nela's illness so I brought some ice." Uttered Mila as she showed Rona a few ice spell scrolls. "Is she all right? Is she awake?"

"Yes, but she's in bed right now. Come in."

The two quickly went to the second floor and to Nela's room where Mila is also greeted by Esmeralda, Robert, and Nilo.

"Ate Mila, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

The girl with long, brown hair replied. Mila took the washcloth off of Nela as she proceeds to put the back of her hand on top of the girl's forehead. In that instant, she could tell Nela's fever isn't going down in the slightest. If anything, it seems like she's heating up more than ever.

"That's not good."

Mila hastily requested Robert to get her a large, empty bucket. Right after that, she requested the old lady to remove Nela's blanket.

"Her body itself is burning up on its own. We need to keep her temperature from going up further."

Without delay, Esmeralda removes the warm blanket off of Nela, allowing some of her body parts to be exposed. Meanwhile, Nilo voluntarily takes care of the used washcloths as well as the empty bowl of gruel. On the other hand, Rona is tasked to get more fresh washcloths.

At that time, Robert finally came back with a large bucket and quickly puts it beside Mila and the bed. Right as she thanked Nela's brother for his work, Mila opens one of the spell scrolls before putting it inside the bucket.

Shortly after, countless blocks of ice fill the empty bucket. Mila immediately passed a block of ice to the old lady to put it in the small water basin.

Rona returned with several washcloths before giving it all to the old lady. Mila whips out an ice bag and filled it with smaller blocks of ice. Afterwards, she placed the ice bag on top of Nela's forehead.

"We need her whole body to cool down."

Following what Mila said, Esmeralda soaked one of the washcloths in cold water and begins to rub one of Nela's arms with it.

"Rona, let's do it, too."

"Right!"

The two went to grab their own washcloth and proceed to dump them in cold water. The two took each of Nela's legs and feet and begin to rub them.

"That's good, you two," Said Mila in a compliment. "If the washcloths lose their cool, just put them again in cold water."

"Right!"

"Got it!"

In time, they're beginning to see the look on Nela's face as she starts feeling a bit comfortable thanks to the ice Mila brought for her. At that same moment, she fell asleep.

"It looks like she's starting to feel a bit better." Uttered Esmeralda. "Thank you for coming and for the ice, Mila."

"It's all right," Mila replied. "You, lola Esmeralda, Riko, and everyone else might be the only ones I have left so..."

Saying those words helped Esmeralda remember that Mila also lost her father—Karlo.

"... I don't want to lose anyone again."

Mila doesn't show it, but Esmeralda knows she's still in pain for losing Karlo. After all, the old lady is also in pain after losing her son—Riko's father from the Guardian Snake. But in any case, Esmeralda is glad that the girl managed to keep herself together.

"I am truly sorry for the loss of your father, but I believe that your mother and my daughter-in-law are still alive."

"I don't mean to sound contradicting, but we've never heard about them ever since the Hari took everyone away," Mila replied. "They might've been long dead for all we know."

At that moment, Esmeralda thought to herself, 'I was wrong.'

"That doesn't matter now, is it? Everyone dies in the end, we just gotta accept it and move on."

'Mila failed to get herself together.' Esmeralda thought. 'She's blinded.'

Esmeralda doesn't have any magic abilities unlike her grandchildren, but through the years of Esmeralda's life, she gained something. An ability to see what others couldn't within a person.

When Mila assumed that her mother and everyone else that were taken by the Hari are all dead, Esmeralda saw it.

It's the same thing that she saw in Lyrica the first time she came face-to-face with her. It's only that Lyrica's is giving off a different feeling compared to Mila.

The thing within Lyrica is giving off the feeling of pain, guilt, and regret. While Mila's is oozing with hatred and vengeance, and it's making the old lady feel overwhelmed and terrified.

"By the way, I also heard Riko and the others went to the west mountain to get some honey along with that girl while I'm on the way here."

Esmeralda quietly watches over Mila as she tries to fix the ice bag on Nela's forehead.

"She's strong, isn't she? I wonder if we ever find ourselves in a war, will she help us? Just like how she helped everyone in the forest?"