The fifth piece

Dan went through the hallway and descended the stairs. He tried to pinpoint Ella's current location in the big mansion, but for some reason, he couldn't. He concluded it to be the work of whoever had this amount of hostility towards Ella.

Dan went downstairs to the receptionist's office.

"Which room was Ella designated to?" Dan asked the young lady receptionist, doing nothing but frightening her.

"El–Oh, Milady! Check room 117 upstairs at the west wing," she said, making Dan take off immediately.

Approaching the door, Dan used his leg to bang it open only to see Ella in a chair with a mirror in her hand as she applied an ointment on her face.

"Heik!!" Ella jumped from the chair and landed on her butt straight to the ground.

"El…" Dan realized he had messed up, but more importantly, something was off.

"W-What is the p-problem, Dan?" Ella asked, stuttering. It was clear she was afraid and utterly confused.

"Were you attacked? Are you hurt? Did anybody come here?" Dan threw a series of questions as he approached Ella. He passionately helped Ella back on her feet and to her head.

"I am alright, Dan. What is the problem?" Ella asked, looking at Dan's face warily.

"Something is wrong…" Dan muttered to Ella's hearing.

"Like I asked, what is the problem, Dan?!" Ella barked, her patience running out.

"I thought…I thought you were being attacked," Dan said.

"What?! Well, as you can see, I am fine and healthy."

"Oh, my bad, but are you hurt?" Dan asked, still persistent, touching Ella's head and looking around her body.

"As you can see, I am fine, and I'm not the one who is hurt," Ella said, looking towards the door.

"Huh…?" Confused, Dan looked towards the door and fixed his eyes on Naya, who looked as if she was about to cry. "Naya? What is the problem–" he asked, trying to know what was wrong, but Naya just ran away.

"You better chase after her," Ella urged. Dan jumped to his feet and ran after Naya, hoping to know what was the cause of her tears.

Leaving Ella alone in the room, she let out a sigh and came down from the bed. "Haa…kids these days," she sat on the chair and continued with what she was doing before Dan's emergency interruption. "You can come out now."

A figure emerged from the wall like a ghost. It wore a black hood and a mask covering its face. "The boy has sharp senses. I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you," the figure said, the voice that of a man.

"Hmm…you are right, but more importantly, you have quite the guts to attack me," Ella said, carefully rubbing the ointment on her face.

"I am just doing my job."

"Right…it was you that did that too…to the chief's candidate."

"You pick on fast, Milady, expected from Lucien's–" Before he could finish, Ella picked up a hair ornament and threw it at the figure, impaling his chest.

Cough

"Leave before I kill you, and tell your master or whoever sent you, that he shouldn't get too involved in this game, or else it will be too late to quit," Ella's voice showed no emotions whatsoever.

Holding its chest, the figure entered into the wall and disappeared out of sight, leaving Ella alone once more.

"Get out of there, idiot!"

"Come on now, Naya, what is it?" Dan asked, leaning on the door.

"I said leave me alone, idiot Dan!"

"I am sorry, okay?" Dan sat on the ground, resting his back on the door. 'What did I even do wrong? I mean it's clear that Ella was in trouble, so what is the problem?' Contemplating and unable to find what went wrong, Dan just gave up and sat there. Although his room was close, he didn't have the strength to go back or rather he did not want to go back. He was running away from something. Something that he feared the most, and going back to the room was like going back to it.

"Naya, I'm scared, I don't want to be alone."

Yes, Dan was scared of being alone. Being born during a war period was not pleasant in any way. Dan never saw his father, could barely remember his mother, and did not have any friends or childhood memories. And as if nature couldn't be any crueler, he lost his eyesight and then his only sister. As far as Dan could remember, he had been alone. But then he met Naya.

"You were the first friend I ever made. Although you betrayed me, I didn't have the guts to push you away knowing if I removed you I would end up being alone. I know it sounds funny, right? For someone to be afraid of being alone, but trust me it's not funny at all. I know I do some stupid things and dumb things, but still, Naya, please don't leave me alone."

The place grew silent, no response from Naya and likewise nothing from Dan. Having a little bit of pity after hearing Dan, Naya decided to open up. She gently came out from the blanket and silently walked towards the door and opened it not knowing that Dan was leaning on the door.

thud

With a heavy fall, Dan lay on the ground lifelessly. At first, Naya found it funny, but the smirk immediately vanished from her face when she noticed he wasn't making any attempts to stand up, and his unusual breathing pattern.

"Dan??" Naya stretched her hand and touched his face only to feel his skin as cold as ice. "This is bad," Naya exclaimed. After some struggles, she managed to piggyback Dan and carried him all the way to Ella's room regardless of his current body temperature dropping.

*knock knock

"Who is that?" Ella walked to the door and opened it only to see Naya's terrified face as she struggled to carry Dan on her back. "Naya, what's the problem-"

"Dan is in danger."

An alarm was made, and a healer was summoned. A young lady in her mid-twenties, wearing a robe with a hood covering her face, entered the room. She removed her hood, bowed before Ella, and went on to examine Dan.

After touching his cold, pale body, she stepped back in shock, prompting Naya and Ella's interest to heighten.

"What is the problem?" Ella asked.

"It is the same case as the chief's candidate."

"The chief's candidate?"

"Yes, Milady, it's an airborne disease that affects the bloodstream," the healer stated.

"But is it curable?" Ella asked.

"Yes," the healer said, placing a box on the ground. She sorted out some herbs, roots, and leaves, and ground them together, mixing them evenly. She mixed it with water and sieved out the solid particles before feeding it to Dan.

Dan's breathing steadied for some time, together with his temperature, but before the healer could pack her things, Dan began shaking violently and convulsing.

"What's wrong with him?" Naya asked in panic as she rushed to Dan, touching him only to find his body freezing cold.

"Turn him to the side." The healer and Naya together turned Dan to the side, making him vomit a mouthful of blood before he calmed down again. But his body showed zero to no sign of recovery.

After performing another check, the healer said, "I have good news and bad news."

"What's the good news?" Ella asked.

"The good news is, he is very exceptional. Unlike the chief candidate's body, his body is fighting the disease on its own."

"Awesome, that's awesome," Ella stated as she glanced at Naya, whose expression had brightened up a bit.

"Then what's the bad news?" Naya asked.

"Well, the bad news is, his body also sees the medicine as a threat."

"So that means…"

"It's a three-way war," Ella said, holding her chin.

"Indeed. All we can do now is wait and see who emerges victorious," the healer concluded with a grim look on her face.

"Huh…? So are you saying we should just sit down and watch Dan go through this…" Naya cried, unable to continue. Ella walked up to her and embraced her.

"Is there anything we can do?" Ella asked.

"Hmm…if we can't join the fight, at least we can provide back up," the healer said.

"Back up?"

"Yes, back up. We need to get a lot of warm clothes and wool."

Minutes later, a big wool bedsheet was placed on Dan. The aim was to give his body some warmth to at least increase his body temperature.

"Will this do?" Ella asked the healer.

"Let us hope it does. Right now, the only warmth apart from this capable of increasing his temperature is that of a human, and right now I doubt anybody will volunteer–"

"I will do it," Naya voiced, her face serious as ever.

"Are you sure about that?" the healer asked. "It might get warm to him but it will be freezing to you. Do you understand what you are up for?"

"I very much understand," Naya responded. "I won't let him suffer this alone."

Without any question, Ella decided to honor Naya's choice, as both she and the healer left the room, leaving Naya with Dan. Naya removed her clothes, displaying her blooming feminine features. She carefully climbed the bed and slipped under the wool bedsheet, touching Dan's body. Due to the cold, she removed her hand at first instinctively but then proceeded to wrap her arm and entire body around Dan.

The following day, Dan gradually opened his eyes. He felt uncomfortable as he was drenched in sweat, wondering where the sudden wave of heat came from and what he was doing the night before. He felt someone on top of him. Crawling out of the wool bedsheet and emerging into Dan's vision was Naya, who was also drenched in sweat.

"Good morning, Dan," Naya said in a soft, calm tone, getting Dan aroused amidst the current state of confusion he was in.

[Dan's rod 100% charged]

"Hmm…I feel something poking me from behind." Naya turned to check what seemed to be a strange object that was as hard as steel.

At that same time, far away from the mansion in a big hall filled with only ten individuals, eight chiefs, including Ella, were seated at a semicircle table. A man wearing a long robe with a fancy rod in his hand was facing a young man who was kneeling in front of him. After some reciting of what seemed to be an incantation, he handed the rod to the young man.

"By the power of the nine chiefs, I hereby make you, Origa Sixtus, the chief of the sixth realm."

Claps of applause resounded around the big hall as the man collected the rod. He bowed before the eight chiefs present before going to the empty spot as the sixth chief. To some, this was a normal event of increase in power or status; to some, this was a flaw in a grand plan; while to a single entity, this was the completion of all the game pieces, the final piece.

[NEXT:THE COUNCIL MEETING]