Mark started the car and her parents looked at Lily through the window, giving her a longing glance and goodbye smile before Mark driving off. Lily felt a pang in her heart, but she waved happily as she watched the car move away. Just as it started to fade into the distance, the car halted. Lily stopped waving and tilted her head, puzzled as to why car was halted. She began walking towards the car, her footsteps quiet on the street.
"However, Mark climbed out and called out, "Princess, wait!" His voice was firm but gentle, stopping her in her tracks. Lily waited for her dad to come to her, her eyes fixed on the car where her mother, Selina, still inside. When Mark reached her, he scooped her into a big hug, his familiar scent wrapping around her like a warm blanket. Lily hugged him back, patting his back calmly.
Mark held her tight, fighting to control his emotions, his voice catching as he struggled to hold back tears. Finally, he released her, his voice muffled as he spoke. "Princess, I know you're working so hard for us," he said, his words a bit shaky. "But don't forget to do things that make you happy. Your mother and I... we never want you to lose yourself in all this or whatever. We just want you to be happy. And your Grandfather... he didn't separate us. He only did what was best for us. So don't blame him and listen to him, okay?"
Lily wasn't sure why her dad was saying all this, but she nodded her head. And there was a slight change in her behavior which was hard to notice if you didn't observe her every movement. She clapsed her hands behind her back, hiding her fists, and her chest rose and fell with slightly heavier breaths and she replied in a strained voice, "Yes, Dad. I'll listen to him."
Mark stared at Lily, his eyes searching hers, before a grin spread across his face. "I'm very proud of you, Lily," he said, his voice warm with pride. "Take care of yourself." He paused, his grin widening before he added. "See you soon, Princess."
Lily nodded her head but when Mark turned around to leave, Lily asked, her voice tinged with a mix of emotions. She knew it was best for her father to leave immediately, to not let him see her in pain, but his sudden words had overwhelmed her. "Dad, why did you say all this now?"
Mark turned back to her with a gentle smile and patted her head. "It's because, now you know that we know everything, Princess" he said softly. "And I couldn't help but give my daughter a boost by telling her how proud we are. You're doing so much, Lily. As I said, Mom and I are really proud of you. But we want you to be happy too."
Lily's eyes filled with tears as she gave him a quick hug and pulled back, releasing him before her inner turmoil spilled over. "Thanks Dad, I am happy and I will," she said, her voice a bit shaky.
Mark didn't find anything odd at first but he observed she was getting sweaty and asked her in a concerned tone as he held her shoulders "Princess what's happening, you're getting sweaty. Are you okay?"
Lily shook her head as she reassuringly said to him with a smile "It's nothing, Dad. It's just a hot day. Look, you're sweating too."
Mark didn't find anything off in what Lily said and pecked her forehead, his eyes searching hers for a moment before he spoke in a softer tone. "Hmm, then I'm leaving now. Your mother's still in the car waiting for me. Goodbye, princess. We'll wait for you to meet again."
Lily smiled, mixed with pain and love as she said. "Bye Dad."
Mark got into the car and drove away. Once the car faded into the distance, Lily exhaled a shaky breath, sweat beading on her forehead. She rubbed her chest to soothe the weight of the emotions pressing on her soul, her face looking pale as she made her way into the house, her steps seemingly slowed by an inner turmoil. She returned to the living room, her phone ringing on the table, but she ignored it and seated herself on the couch quickly. Closing her eyes, she rested her head back, her posture conveying a mix of vulnerability and discomfort. A heavy burden seemed to press on her chest, its weight palpable.
Lily shook her head slightly, her voice low and laden with emotion as she whispered to herself, "What the... hell! Why is it... it's suffocating... too much... today?" Her words tumbled out a little, carrying a sense of carrying too much in her heart. She moved her hand to rub at her chest, near her heart, a gesture underscoring her unease. The pain felt unbearable, seeming to overwhelm her. A tear slipped from beneath her closed eyelids, tracing a path down her cheek.
Lily whispered to herself again, her voice barely audible, conveying vulnerability. "Uhh... where... the... hell... he... is? It's... too... much... pain... Uhh..."
The phone on the table rang again and again, breaking the silence. Lily opened her eyes, tears welling up in them as she reached for the phone with trembling hands. But the phone stopped ringing, and the next second, the pain within her intensified. She closed her eyes again, seemingly trying to bear the pain herself. "Plea... please sto... stop... tor...turing... your... your... self," she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.
Lily's experiences with this mysterious pain and suffocating feeling had been recurring for 15 years, casting a pattern of unpredictability and emotional toll in her life. The sensations varied, ranging from intense pain and bodily discomfort to subtler feelings like sensing a reminder that someone is thinking of her. At times, she'd perceive someone calling her name with a sense of earnestness, as if reaching out across some unseen divide. And often, there was the voice she heard nearly every morning laced with anguish, loneliness, and longing. The emotional weight of that voice seemed to seep into her days.
Lily was just 5 and half years old when she first felt this pain, a memory that seemed to linger vividly. The pain she experienced that first time was unbearable, catching her parents off guard with concern. It happened on a day they were heading home after an annual vacation with her parents. Thankfully, the people assigned by King Riette to look after them were also there, and they acted swiftly. They quickly called a doctor to examine Lily, anxious to understand the cause of her distress. Despite the medical checks, the results showed nothing abnormal. Lily was deemed fine with a good health condition. The doctors couldn't pinpoint why she had felt such intense pain when she appeared to be perfectly healthy, a medical puzzle that remained unsolved, adding to her parents worry about her well-being.
After that initial encounter, Lily continued to experience pain every day. King Riette, concerned for her well-being, took her to consult renowned doctors in an effort to understand and address her condition. However, the medical opinions seemed to converge. They couldn't find anything physically wrong with Lily. Eventually, a psychologist was consulted, and he proposed a possibility, it might be a case of telepathy. He inquired about Lily having any twin siblings, probing for potential connections. Upon learning Lily didn't have a twin brother or sister, the doctor found himself unable to identify who might be linked to her telepathically. Typically, such connections were noted among blood-related siblings or most commonly twins born at the same time. But Lily's situation didn't fit these usual patterns.
The psychologist concluded it might indeed involve telepathy with someone connected to Lily, though he couldn't specify who. To manage her symptoms, he prescribed medication aimed at alleviating the pain she experienced, leaving King Riette and her parents with lingering questions about Lily's condition and the nature of this possible connection. From then on, this pain became part of Lily's life.
King Riette followed the doctor's prescription, giving Lily medication that helped to alleviate the intense pain whenever it hit hard and felt unbearable, but not for the vague or bearable ones. However, after passing the Royal Heir/Heiress assessment test, Lily stopped taking the meds, even when the pain got suffocating.
There were many situations where the pain appeared suddenly, while working, traveling, or in meetings. She listened to the voice calling in her mind again and again. She slowly got used to the occurrence of every emotion related to that person, his happiness which comes as a fleeting moment before he immerse himself in the pain, longing, frustration, desperation, and there are so many times she felt physical pain like it burns in the place where he hurt, and everything he felt for her.
Despite all, Lily never wanted to take meds again, because she wanted to embrace the emotions someone was feeling for her, though they were painful and sometimes unbearable. After years of feeling those emotions every day, and being grown up she knew they were deeply rooted feelings of someone who loved her more deeply than anyone in this world. It baffled her, she didn't know why she felt like someone she'd never met in person was loving her, and so intensely.
But she'd always felt a connection to this person, knowingly or unknowingly. The mystery consumed always made her think about him, who was he? How did he know her? Why did he always think of her like he knew her? The unknowns swirled in her head like a storm. But, there was a strange comfort. She didn't know if he felt her emotions too, but sometimes she'd automatically think about him, she'd replay his voice in her mind the way he'd call her, the way he'd whisper how much he missed her.
Maybe this is why, she never felt even simple attraction or intrest towards anyone. Maybe this is why when her mother asked her about boyfriend, he was the one crossed her mind before she nonchalantly responded to her like there was no one.
Moments later, the suffocating pain subsided, and Lily felt relief wash over her like a calm after a storm. She slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling as thoughts swirled in her mind, "How long do I have to live with your emotions before I meet you? Or is it all just my imagination... like you were never true?"
Lily composed herself and glanced at the clock before standing up and tucked her phone into the pocket before heading to her room. She packed the usual necessary stuff like laptop, chargers, purse, IDs into her bag before returning back to the living room, her eyes landed on the snack boxes her parents prepared for her, she smiled at them and put them into her backpack. At last Lily fished out her phone from her pocket to book a cab for herself to Lyra city. It wasn't that Lily was living frugal life like not having her personal car, she just preferred to keep a low profile when visiting her parents. So whenever she comeback to her parents she only bring her backpack of necessary belongings.
As Lily turned on her phone, the screen flickered to life and her eyes scanned the notifications, and her brow furrowed as she discovering over ten missed calls from an unknown number. A jolt of surprise ran through her as she thought 'who was this?' It wasn't every day she got calls from an unknown number, let alone back-to-back calls from the same number.
Her curiosity piqued before it quickly shifting to worry as she wondered had someone she knew gotten into trouble and needed her help!! She hope it wasn't the case as her thumb hovered over the screen before dialing the number back. The phone rang a few times, the silence stretching out like a taut string, until the call connected from the other end and a pleasant male voice greeted her with a "Hello~".