Imperial Doula Miriam slowly helped Ryu sit up. "Slowly, slowly. You've been asleep for so long that you're definitely suffering from more than a few bedsores. Also, your muscles have significantly weakened – it's okay to rely on this old lady. I might look frail, but I'm still a Pulse Opening realm expert."
Ryu coughed slightly under the strain, but still managed a small smile. "Aren't there babies out there who need your help far more than me?"
"I'm retired, this old lady can spend her time as she pleases." She spoke dismissively, raising a cup of water to Ryu's dry lips. She had tried to keep him hydrated during his coma, but it was extremely difficult. In the end, she had no choice but to sustain his life with her own energy. She felt gratified that she had given her life to the medical field.
Taking Ryu's weak body into her arms, she carried him into the bath house, meticulously stripping away his dirtied clothes. Ryu didn't seem too embarrassed by this prospect as he had long since treated the old Doula as his grandmother. Plus, if he didn't receive this help, he didn't believe that he could do it alone.
Imperial Doula Miriam sighed when she saw the sight of Ryu's bare back. His spine protruded outward along with his ribs and his skin had become so sickly that thinned veins of blue and green were clearly visible. But, by far the worst part was the visage of terrible scars that ran across his shoulders and back like the trenches of a muddy battlefield.
"Is it that bad?" Ryu said through a pained chuckle. How could a mortal body not scar in the face of such torture? Ryu had already expected as much.
"It's bad, but it isn't the end of the world. A man with battle scars is the dream of any woman." Having learned that lying to her Little Ryu would accomplish nothing, she used a different tactic.
"Maybe if the scars were earned on the battlefield…" Ryu said softly. "I'm not sure if there's a market for men who gained scars being beaten by their own grandfather and mother."
A pained expression colored the old Doula's face as she brought a warm, moist toilette to Ryu's back to begin wiping the accumulated dirt and grime from him. Although a sort of phantom pain overwhelming Ryu as he felt each bump of every one of his scars, he bit the inside of his lip to stop himself from crying out.
Maybe in the face of his pride, keeping silent was easier for him. But he had always been the most vulnerable around Miriam.
"Would you like to listen to a story?" Imperial Doula Miriam asked. The truth was that Ryu had been banned from the royal library ever since he was old enough to read. Of course, this didn't make too much of a difference considering he was blind, but there were many sections of the library he was still unallowed to send his own servants to. In the end, much of his entertainment came from the old Doula telling him stories.
Truth be told, it was because of Miriam that Ryu was able to gain a scope of what the world held. He learned about concepts he had never experienced himself, broadening his horizons to new heights. Maybe the only thing the old Doula had never told him was just why he was ostracized by his family.
Still, Ryu was intelligent. Was he really born blind? Why did he have such vivid memories about what things looked like, then? Plus, why was it that his hair was forcibly dyed everyday? Why was it that his third brother had called his mother a whore back then? Anyone with half a mind could begin to piece together the meaning behind all of these things…
Even without knowing the true story, Ryu's guess wasn't too far from the reality. It was a truth he found hilarious if not utterly enraging – but it was somehow his truth, nonetheless.
"How about I tell you a story instead?" Ryu smiled.
"Where did you come by this story?" Miriam said with a surprised expression.
Ryu looked off into the distance. While he was in his coma, he had had a dream so vivid that it almost seemed real to him. But, when he awoke, he was slapped with reality. How could such a perfect life be his own? What a joke.
But, he felt that if he didn't speak this dream aloud, it would disappear from his mind forever. If that happened, Ryu didn't know if he'd survive. Although he hadn't broken down yet… He was akin to a tattered feather blowing in the wind, still unable to grasp his own future.
"Let's just say it was a dream of mine…" Ryu said lightly.
"Oh? The old lady is listening."
"On the highest plane of all of existence, there exists a mountain so tall that even the clouds can only hug its feet. Three moons shine among the stars at night, and three suns blaze in the morning air.
"Within this highest plane, there was a family that stood above the rest. The father could shatter the earth was a single step. The mother was gentle beyond compare, lighting the world with her beauty and smile. The grandmothers were phoenixes who soared through the skies, protecting their family with a feverish might. And the grandfathers could pierce the clouds with a single roar.
"To this family, a child was born. Although he was weak and frail, he was cherished like a treasure. In return, he blessed this family too. They rose to a greater height together, relying on one another as a family should.
"Hundreds of years into this child's life, he met a valiant woman who understood how to fight for her own freedom. She stood before him and demanded his love not only for her sake, but for his as well.
"Over time, these two fell in love. She blossomed into a great expert, while he learned to fight for his own freedoms. They were a star-crossed story that should have never come together, yet they formed a bond unbreakable even through lives.
"Unfortunately, even this heart-felt story had its own ups and downs. The greed of those on the outside caused jealousy to be aimed toward this family. In the end, the child was forced into a corner where he was forced into making a decision he labored over.
"In the end, for the sake of his family, the child took his own life, leaving behind a promise to his beloved."
Imperial Doula Miriam wiped her cheeks with a free hand. How could she not sense the longing in Little Ryu's words? "Call me Granny Miriam from now on, okay?"