Inside the main room sat Liam’s parents, several maids and butlers, and their personal doctor, Bernadette was currently accompanying Liam inside the guest room, whilst Liam’s room was being cleaned and examined.

“Vaalyun? Is there anything wrong with our son?”

William asked their personal doctor, an Elf, the elf wore that of a gray long robe that covered his entire body like a wandering doctor, he had long white hair extending to his back, a fair complexion, a clean and smooth face, something that of a handsome young lad, but what set him apart, was his long elven ears on his head, which could be seen from far away, immediately differentiating a handsome young man to a normal elf.

Elves where very beautiful or handsome humanoid creatures with fair complexions, but as much as they surpass humans in terms of beauty, they also surpass them in healing and spirit magic, they often make their settlements deep in the forests, with only two known elven kingdoms being recorded, both elven kingdoms were at the western part of the Continent.

But the problem with Elven-Human relations, is that it was mostly a Slave-Master relationship, most elves were captured by humans and sold to them as slaves, with Humans tending to have overwhelming greed towards them, for wealthy Females, the Elves were considered as male escorts for their looks making them have several harems of Male Elves with them all the time, like flaunting off their wealth by the number of male elves they ‘Own’, but for the Wealthy Male they were prized as objects that can do their bidding, both treat Elves as possession they could use and throw away without any regard for their lives.

But for some members of the Low nobility and some of the common populace, they treat escaped and free elven slaves as how they’d treat another, William Fretz was one of those people, he was kind to the Elven slave populace as much as he could, he didn’t see them as mere objects to be thrown away yet saw them as their own kind, a kind that also needs to be respected.

“I cannot determine it, Lord William, for as much as my magic can cover, I cannot enter another’s mind forcefully, that is our rule, but still, even if I do get inside Sire Liam’s mind, I do not know the extent of his problem, for I only heal physical-related problems, not mental problems.”

“…I see, Thanks’ Vaalyun.”

The rule that Vaalyun stated to William was a very important rule of an Elven healer, known in the Elven world and kingdoms as “ᚴᚬᚾᛋᛅᚾᛏ” or in Human language, ‘Consent’, as there were two types of elven healing procedures.

First was the Outer, the second was the Inner, the outer healing is comprised mostly of physical healing and cell or body regeneration mostly for the skin, Muscle, organs, and any broken or ravage parts within the body.

The Inner Healing is related to mental health or Mana circulation, this two are where “ᚴᚬᚾᛋᛅᚾᛏ” comes into place, but the latter is only for the experienced Elven Healer, unlike Vaalyun who can at least do some of the basics of the former, mental health wasn’t far important within the Elven world, yet it was still designed as a healing procedure.

Because unlike humans, the Elves had a far longer lifespan than their human counterparts, they were well-versed with Spirits and Nature’s Magic, both of those require strong mental fortitude, to add to this was that it was taught in all Elven school since their youngling phase.

The Inner Healing procedure was only made for a certain number of Elves, these Elves were called the ‘Black mind’ or to put it mildly, those with the weakest mental fortitude, which inevitably made them prone to ‘Takeovers’ or ‘Possessions’ both of which can be deadly for an elf.

“Is Liam really the only person you must ask ‘Consent’ too? I’m the father, I give you my consent, can’t it go that way?”

“I'm very sorry, Lord William, as much as I’d love to help the young Lord Liam, I cannot do so, I need ‘exact’ and ‘direct’ consent from his mouth, I cannot merely break the Law of the Elven Healer that easily, I do hope you understand, Lord William.”

Vaalyun replied respectfully to William’s question, William’s body language was as clear as day as he sat on the Sofa, it was uneasiness, pure and sole uneasiness, something he’d never felt before.

“Call for a psychiatrist, I’ll pay them any amount they want…”

Uttered William as his left leg trembled furiously, his hands clasped, and his back hunched forwards, it was a father’s anxiety towards his child, and that was the same anxiety that made him loose control of himself.

“William…”

Said Diana, who sat right beside William, grasping his hand to at least calm her husband from his uneasiness and anxiety, the large group of servants and their two masters sat and although composed, behind them was a pure wall of anxiety and fear.

To them, Liam may be a strange fellow for many, but to them he was a good ‘type’ of strange, he never once bothered complaining, he often accepted everything given to him, he helps without anybody asking, he was an eccentric young fellow with a bright mind, always.

“How did things end up this way, Diana, were we too ‘Lax’ with Liam? Should we have been a little more attentive, then could things end up this way?”

William asked his Wife who sat and listened attentively beside him, William was in a state of shock, and even to the point he’ll blame himself, unlike Diana who cared for both kids almost every day, he was mostly holed up in his study, only watching them grow up and do things from the sidelines, though he did occasionally appear in front of them every once in a while.

As a Father he regretted it, but his duties as a Baronet was also not to be involved with his family life, he, as much as he could do, tried his very best, while he knew there would be times were everything would fail, he was prepared, yet this time, he wasn’t.

While Liam was unconscious, he ordered Vaalyun to sense any types of poison or injuries in Liam’s bodies, yet there was none to be seen, making Vaalyun come to the conclusion of Liam’s Mental health to blame.

Both parents agreed with such a conclusion for one reason, it was because Liam wasn’t like any other child, unlike Bernadette, Liam was more composed and acted not of his age, he was lazy but he was also very talented, he was outgoing most of the time, and acted independently at a young age, most would think he was strange of course.

He even managed most of the Field operations in the Baronetcy when he was 10, unlike Bernadette, who even though tried to be as composed and sophisticated as her brother was still one with many flaws, unlike her brother, she was also more childish, something Liam wasn’t, he was lazy yet was mature enough to be prepared for the consequences.

“That’s enough for today, go back to your post and duties, leave us be…”

William ordered in a depressed tone, the servants and Elven healer followed his order, leaving the main room, now only being accommodated by both William and Diana, unlike Diana who still held her head high and still was positive, even though the events earlier made the normal mother break down in tears, she didn’t.

But on the other hand, the father figure and head of the family, William was depressed, his body language said everything to Diana, William’s tightly grasping his hands, his eyes about to burst crying, he gritted his teeth’s in fear of what’s to come, all in all, he was just like any other father, his fear wasn’t death but rather, his children.

“Goddamit! Where did everything go wrong Diana! Was it me?!”

Blaming himself, William yelled out, he had many reasons to blame himself, as a father figure he needed to be there all the time for his children, yet he barely showed up for them, for him, it must’ve been the reason for Liam’s independent acts.

Unlike the usual noble son and father, both of them would hunt rabbits, boars or anything of the like, together that is, yet Liam hunted alone, even returning home with several sacks of his prizes, although he was a father, William didn’t act as one, most of the time.

He didn’t act as a father, yet as the Patriarch of the Baronetcy, he focused on the Baronetcy’s situations to make his family live a comfortable and prosperous life, he always holed himself up in his study for days on end, checking reports, sales, and income he already had his hands tied up to the point he lacked sleep during some days.

All he wanted was a good life for his family, since he was a veteran of War, he knew exactly what he was doing, he saw families having their loved ones lost in the midst of chaos, he saw Families starved to death together, he knew exactly what he saw, yet he didn’t feel anything about it, although he was guilty, he was guilty as a soldier, not as a father or somebody that cherished something.

But now that he had a family of his own, he now exactly knew how it felt losing a loved one, he was now experiencing first hand how the very families he saw during the war, felt losing their loved ones.

And to add to his depression was that it wasn’t any poison or physical Injuries, yet a mental one, something that only experienced personnel could fix, and those with traumatic experienced could obtain.

He could’ve composed himself if it was poison, since Vaalyun was a very experienced Elven healer in terms of physical healing and poison separating, yet Vaalyun doubted his inner healing capabilities, which made William fear the worst.

If his experienced Elven healer couldn’t do it, who could? That was what went inside William’s mind, fear and anxiety, on who, who was the only and very person that could heal his son.

“I’ll pay any money just for my son to be examined! Dammit!”

“William, stop it…”

William being a baronet knew a lot about the world, and mostly the Empire he currently resided in, the Empire of Argustioz, it was a constitutional monarchy but still made the Emperor and his sons and daughters wield the power that of a semi-absolute monarch, it was very progressive and technologically advance, yet advancements can only go so far.

In Medical technology, they were lacking, mostly since due to them relying on Healing magic, and although Healing magic was easy to use as long as the caster had practice, it had flaws, it had limitations, because it mainly relied on the caster’s memory of the Human anatomy and human organs.

This flaw was a major problem for usual Mages that focused on healing, the Empire became worried about such a situation escalating and prepared a bill for a new University, one that focused solely on medicine and therapeutics, a Medical school and Medical course.

Since mages and magic-sensitive people were a certainly a populace they were still a minority within the overall population of the Empire, this made the medical course allow many non-mages to sign up, with several courses such as surgery, psychiatrics, medicine and the like, while medical technology advance by a little, it did help usher in a new progress from the traditional magic healing techniques.

“A Psychiatrist, can they really be trusted? Don’t they mostly focus on the mind and thoughts? What if he does something to Liam!” William yelled in fear and doubt of a Psychiatrist.

“No, no, William, calm yourself, that’s unlikely, doctors help the populace, they won’t kill an innocent young boy, don’t tell me you’re being paranoid.”

“I’m not… It’s just, I have a nervous feeling…”

***

4 days later…

As the streets of a nearby town was filled with locals, the nearby town was near the Fretz Baronetcy but wasn’t under its direct control, instead they just held a considerable amount of influence in the town.

Most of the Town’s buildings were made out of wood and some of stone, with the sidewalks being paved and smooth, and the bricked streets had several horse-drawn carriages moving on one end to another, although they were a town, they were part of the Argustioz’s Empire, and with the new public works project underway, their development started improving, that they had a daily amount of visitors entering.

On one of the Houses was a notice, its contents were as follows.

[The Fretz Baronetcy is in urgent need of a Talented Psychiatrist, you shall be awarded handsomely if you are able to do an outstanding duty for the Fretz Family.]

[Needed qualifications: Must be a Graduate of a Medical Academy, and must either have received a Ph.D. in Psychiatry, or a Doctorate in Psychiatry.]

Most of the locals were commoners and were either poor or lacked talent, therefore they mostly just brushed the notice as if it was just a piece of paper, it also has been four days since its notice was placed there.

As a young man in a white coat under it were pitch-black garments walked closer to the notice, he carefully read its contents and smiled after finishing, he then teared the notice from the nail it was embedded into and said with a childish and gleeful tone.

“Hey, hey, hey, this fits my Requirements perfectly! Mom would be so happy for me! I finally have another job!”