Chapter 20 - Not to Blame

  A full medical team joined Daniel on the way back from the hospital to the hotel. They brought all the equipment they might need once they heard the situation, and were surprisingly efficient. Primarily due to being told the patient was the head maid of the Harrowblooms, Daniel figured.

  Back at the hospital, Felicia was given a special room and treatment once they realized who she was. No one dared take risks when it came to the Harrowblooms, even the youngest.

  But Daniel had still put three layers of formations around her room to be safe. He would likely be paranoid about her safety for a while.

  Not that I think there’s a risk now, but I’m not taking chances. Not in this city.

  Elizabeth's situation required more delicate handling. When they reached the hotel room, she remained frozen exactly as he'd left her. Blood had frozen mid-flow from her wound, and her expression was still locked in that moment of confused worry from their earlier encounter.

  The formation would have lasted for a few days if left alone, so most of the energy still rested in the formation itself. And breaking it without knowing how could easily cause a dangerous burst of energy, or even an explosion in this case.

  “Are you guys ready?” Daniel asked, ready to stop the stasis.

  The four emergency doctors stood ready in a circle around her, each with their own set of tools. They nodded, already analyzing the damage they could see from the outside.

  The lead surgeon, a woman with prematurely gray hair, nodded once. "We understand the situation, sir. The moment you release her, we begin."

  Daniel reached out with his mana sense, feeling the delicate structure of the formation. "She's about to be very confused," he warned. "To her, no time has passed since this afternoon."

  He began unraveling the formation. The mana threads dissolved one by one, and reality started reasserting itself around Elizabeth's body.

  Her eyes snapped into focus first, darting wildly as she processed the four strangers suddenly surrounding her. Blood began flowing again from her wound..

  "Felicia is safe," Daniel said quickly, stepping into her line of sight before panic could fully set in. "Just relax and let the doctors handle the rest. Everything will be fine."

  Elizabeth's gaze locked onto him, probably the only familiar thing in her suddenly changed world. She gave a weak nod and let her tensed muscles relax as the medical team descended on her.

  Good. At least she's not fighting them.

  Scissors flashed as they cut through her blood-soaked clothes. Within moments, they had her on a proper stretcher and were rushing toward the door. Daniel followed right after.

  It had been a long day for him as well, but he still couldn’t relax.

  When they finally wheeled Elizabeth out of surgery an hour later, unconscious but stable, Daniel felt a weight lift from his shoulders. The surgeon found him in the hallway, pulling off bloodstained gloves.

  "The rib punctured her left lung, as we suspected," she reported. "We've repaired the damage, stitched the open wound in her abdomen, and drained the blood. She'll need a week of rest, but she should make a full recovery."

  "Thank you," Daniel said, meaning it. "I’ll make sure the Harrowblooms know about your contribution."

  They set up Elizabeth in a bed next to Felicia's, as a special courtesy. They were both resting in beds that probably cost more per night than most people earned in a month. Daniel settled into the chair between them, finally allowing himself a moment to breathe.

  He leaned over to Felicia’s side, watching her sleep away the exhaustion. It would be nice to join her, but he had one more thing to do before the end of the day.

  And here it comes.

  He could feel the activity outside the room, still having plenty of gaseous mana swirling around the city. Two men arriving in stretchers, unconscious. Daniel recognized them immediately, even through the walls of the building. The Harrowbloom brothers he'd crippled.

  They brought with them a wave of shocked stares and urgent footsteps as the hospital staff mobilized to handle what they probably assumed was an attack on the family.

  A soft knock came at the door, so gentle it was almost apologetic. Daniel sighed as he stood up, already suspecting what was coming. He opened the door to find the hospital's head administrator, a thin man whose expensive robes couldn't quite hide the nervous sweat beading on his forehead.

  "Uhm, excuse me, sir." The man's voice wavered slightly. "Two more members from the Harrowbloom family have just arrived here. Would it be alright if they used the same room as their sister to recover?"

  "I don't think that's a good idea," he said evenly, "seeing as how I'm the one who did that to them."

  The administrator's face went through several colors in rapid succession. "...Pardon?"

  "I'm the one who crippled them, and I might do worse if I see them again." Daniel's voice carried just enough edge to make his point clear. "Send them somewhere else. But if Franz comes, tell him to find me here."

  He closed the door without waiting for a response, cutting off whatever stammered question the man was trying to form. Through the door, Daniel could sense the administrator standing there in shocked silence for several long seconds before his footsteps finally retreated down the hallway.

  What a fucking day…

  His hands found their way to his hair, fingers digging into his scalp as the full weight of everything crashed down on him. He had killed eight people, he had crippled two, and before it all, he had drowned an entire city in fear.

  But what worried him the most was still Felicia’s mental state. She had said she was fine, relatively. But days like this will stay around in her mind forever.

  If she is fine after a day like this, that’s maybe even worse…

  A cigarette would have been perfect right about now. He could practically taste the nicotine, feel that familiar burn in his lungs. But he'd promised to quit, and even if he hadn't, smoking in a hospital room seemed like a special kind of stupid.

  Besides, I never wrote them into the story. Hopefully no one invented smoking in the last millennium.

  "Danny?"

  Felicia's voice cut through his brooding, soft and uncertain in the dim room. She was awake, searching for him in her limited range of vision. She barely had any mana remaining.

  "I'm here, Fillie." He moved to sit in his chair so she could see him properly. "Elizabeth is resting next to you. The doctors say she'll be fine."

  “Thank the Lord!”

  “You’re welcome,” he replied with a smile.

  If he had to accept the burden of being a figure of worship, he had to take the advantages he could, like responding to prayers in funny ways.

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  "Her injuries mean we'll have to leave for Novanny without her, though," he continued, keeping his voice gentle. "She needs time to recover."

  "Ah..." Felicia's expression fell slightly. "But she can come after she's healed?"

  "Sure. I do have a house there, technically." Daniel leaned back in his chair, considering the logistics.

  “You mean the house of Grifantes?”

  “Yeah. Well, I doubt the original house is still standing, but I owned the original that my sister lived in at the end. And either way, I’ll find a place to stay on a more permanent basis. For us both.”

  Felicia smiled, settling back against her pillows. "I wonder if every day with you will be this exhausting."

  “Well, let’s hope not. I’ll try to keep a marginally lower profile in Novanny, at least.”

  “We’re leaving in the morning?”

  “Yeah, I figured we’d wait until Elizabeth wakes up at least. And I’ll probably have to talk with your father once more.”

  “Sounds good.” She nodded, then scooted to the left side of the bed, patting the free spot. “This bed is large enough for two if you’re feeling sleepy.”

  Daniel smiled, feeling a warmth in his chest. She really didn’t seem to mind his identity much.

  “Mmh, it does look soft. But your father’s airship just landed on top of the building, so it will have to wait a few more minutes.”

  “...You’ll tell him what I did?”

  “I’ll tell him everything. He knows who I am, so there won’t be any trouble.”

  “Oh… That’s why he acted so strangely when we left?”

  “Yes, mostly. I’ll head out of here. You just rest until I get back.”

  Daniel stood, then paused at the note of distress creeping into her voice.

  "Tell him it's not his fault," she said quietly.

  “How is it not?”

  The question came out sharper than he'd intended. Franz had failed as a father in dozens of ways that Daniel could see. His negligence had created the conditions for his sons' cruelty, his absence had left Felicia vulnerable, and his weakness had allowed it to continue for as long as it did.

  “...Tell him I don’t blame him, at least.”

  The quiet pain in those words made Daniel's chest tighten. Even after everything, she was trying to protect her father's feelings.

  She's too good for this family. Way too good.

  “Fine, that I can do.”

  Daniel left the room, reactivating the barrier that kept it safe. He wasn't taking chances with anyone else who might be in the building.

  The elevator was already descending from the roof when Daniel reached it. He could feel Franz inside it, and he looked furious.

  Time to have a very uncomfortable conversation.

  Daniel turned to one of the nearby doctors. “Do you have a room where the patriarch and I can talk?”

  The young man's hands were shaking slightly. News traveled fast in hospitals, and word of the Harrowbloom sons' condition had probably spread through the entire building by now.

  "Uhm, nothing private, no. The patriarch is coming here?"

  "Yeah, he's in that elevator. But that's fine."

  The elevator doors opened with a soft chime, and Franz Harrowbloom stepped out. His face was a mask of barely controlled rage, eyes sweeping the hallway until they locked onto Daniel.

  “...Don’t tell me you’re behind this—no, of course you are! I felt that wave of mana—everyone did!”

  The rage in his voice was unmistakable, even facing the legendary hero. Daniel could see the medical staff backing away, suddenly very interested in tasks that took them far from this corner of the hospital.

  Well, no point in beating around the bush.

  A flicker of Daniel's will, and golden light erupted around them. The barrier formed in an instant—a perfect dome of hardened mana that stretched from floor to ceiling, sealing them off from the outside world.

  “Your two eldest sons kidnapped Felicia.”

  “What?!” Franz scoffed, quickly denying Daniel’s words as impossible. “Why would they do such a—”

  “Because she was a threat to their future position in the family as long as she kept the Harrowbloom name. Especially after being trained by such a powerful teacher.”

  Daniel watched the man's face carefully, gauging his reaction. Franz looked genuinely shocked, which was either a very good act, or proof that he'd been as blind to his sons' nature as Daniel suspected.

  "...But they're siblings."

  The pain in Franz's voice was real. Whatever else was true about the man, he genuinely believed in family bonds. But he was wrong.

  “No. Those two monsters are not her siblings.”

  Franz flinched as if slapped. "What… what did they do for you to go this far?"

  “They gave her a choice: leave with their boat to the Caldimores, or die.”

  Franz's face went white. "No. No, they wouldn't do that."

  "Then they revealed that they were behind the accident seven years ago, and that they were the ones who blinded her. One eye each, they said. And at that point, they had already decided to kill her."

  The words fell into silence like stones into a deep well. Franz stood frozen, his mind visibly struggling to process what Daniel had just told him. Then, slowly, his legs gave out. His back slid down the golden barrier until he was sitting with his knees drawn up. His face had gone completely ashen.

  "...How are my own children this vile?" The words came out broken, like they were being torn from his throat. "You should have killed them—no, I'll do it myself."

  Daniel felt a flicker of respect for the man. Whatever Franz's failures as a father, his capacity for justice was still intact.

  "Felicia wanted them to suffer. I'm the one who did it."

  Franz looked up at him with eyes that seemed to have aged decades in the span of minutes. "Yes... No, how can I... What should I do, Artorias?"

  It was a big question, from a man who had taken far too many wrong paths in the past and finally understood the cost. Lucky for him, he seemed to have a good heart somewhere in there.

  “I’m just human, Franz. But if you want to keep any of my respect, you clean up that rat’s nest of a home you have let fester, and discipline your children. Tell your mother everything, demand her help on your terms. Otherwise, I fear you might be the last patriarch of the great Harrowbloom house.”

  Franz nodded slowly at his words. "...Yes. You're right."

  “There are still seven children you can make something good out of. They’re hopefully not too far gone, unlike those two. But don’t have any expectations of Felicia. As far as I’m concerned, she’s not a Harrowbloom any longer.”

  Franz’s shoulders sagged, and for a moment, he looked utterly defeated.

  “I… I understand.”

  Daniel studied the broken man before him and felt his anger cool slightly. Franz was paying the price for his failures now, and he seemed genuinely committed to change.

  “She wanted me to tell you, she doesn’t blame you.”

  His eyes cleared for a moment, looking up at Daniel’s. “...Thank you for taking her away, Daniel, or whatever name you prefer. She deserves better than us…”

  “I agree. Try to make sure she won’t regret it if she visits in the future, alright?”

  He nodded, taking a deep breath. Something returned to his face then—some kind of firm steel emerging from his core. “I will not rest until this great house is back on the right course. I’ll forge it into what it should be, with these damned fists of mine.”

  The words rang with conviction, and Daniel felt his eyebrows rise in surprise. But before he could respond, another voice cut through the air—deep, resonant, and unmistakably ancient.

  ‘Well said.’

  Franz's head whipped around frantically, searching for the source of the booming voice. "What was that?"

  Daniel smiled. “I think Harrox just took a liking to you. Keep that determination, and you might hear from him again.”

  “Harrox?! But Mother…”

  “He doesn’t respond to her anymore. If he had done so, I wouldn’t have defeated her quite so easily.”

  After many long seconds of silence, Franz struggled to his feet. He still looked shaken, but something in his bearing had changed already. "Thank you for everything, sir. I'll take it from here."

  He stretched out his hand, and Daniel gripped it firmly. The handshake was strong—nothing like the broken figure who had collapsed minutes earlier.

  "I trust you will, Franz."

  Daniel released the barrier with a thought, and the sounds of the hospital came rushing back. People were staring, but no one dared say a word.

  “See you later, Franz. I’m gonna go get some sleep now, and you should too, by the looks of it.”

  Franz's expression hardened. “Sleep can wait. I have two sons to rip away from our family tree.”

  His fist began to glow with red light as he turned away, headed toward the rooms where his eldest sons lay unconscious and broken.

  He’s taking it seriously. Good. Maybe the Harrowblooms can rise again.

  Daniel watched him go, then turned back toward the girls' room. The confrontation had gone better than expected. Franz had backbone when pushed, and more importantly, he seemed to genuinely care about doing the right thing.

  Now, if he can just follow through on those promises…

  He entered the room again, activated the barriers, and walked over to Felicia’s side. She seemed to have fallen asleep again, having left room for him on the right side of the bed. Perhaps he’d take her up on the offer.

  I really hope the Grifantes family is doing better…