Frederic silently pushed open Noel's door. He closed it and walked towards the sheer covered bed.

Noel was sleeping there with Benny among the dark-colored pillows. After setting aside the sheer, he could see the corner of Noel's eyes were slightly red. But because of his very pale skin, it looked very striking.

Unlike his usual peaceful face, Noel's eyebrows were scrunched, and his lips were frowning. He looked like he was having an unpleasant dream.

Contrary to his expectation, Frederic didn't feel happy at all knowing Noel couldn't sleep peacefully without him and that he was this saddened by him.

Frederic reached out but halted. He saw his hands were still very dirty as well as his clothes.

In his dreams, Noel sat on a dried tree branch, overlooking the barren world around him with dim eyes. The ground was covered with ice and snow, the sky was pitch black, and there was not a single sound there.

It was empty.

He was cold.

He could create anything he wanted in his own world even life itself. He could also do that in the real world, but it would all be soulless. There was no meaning.

The first thing he usually did when he entered his dream was to build a village, a small town, a city until eventually a country. The longest he ever slept he managed to create 5 perfect huge countries. The larger he could make them, the stronger his essence would grow.

Of course, since this was a dream, he wouldn't make any simple real-life countries. He could make a country of bunnies, a country of stars, or even a country of strange imaginary creatures. And all he had to do was to sit on this tree.

This cold empty space was the original state of his consciousness. This tree has been here since he was born. It has always been dry and grew following his age. Now, it already reached the sky and Noel himself didn't know exactly how big it is.

But once he met Frederic, this tree magically sprouted its first leaf. When he first slept with Frederic, the ice in his subconsciousness thawed and the temperature wasn't as cold as usual. Most importantly, the leaves burst out and the tree produced its first flower bud. The more he stayed with Frederic, the more flowers sprouted out. The dry trunk gained a healthy color and the comfortable breeze carried with them the scent of spring.

Now, it has gone back to its original state. He has just watched all the leaves and flowers fall to the ground one by one. The thickening snow gradually gave them their proper burial. The bare tree decayed and became so dry that the water from his eyes couldn't wet a patch on it.

Should he just build a place here for him to sleep?

What would happen if he slept inside his dream?

As he thought of it, an ice castle formed not far from him. He floated down to the ice castle and entered the topmost room. A pure white bed sat there at the center lonelily. There wasn't anything on it except for one white pillow.

He sat down at the edge and looked out the glassless window. There wasn't even a moon in his sky.

He lied down and closed his eyes. Just as he was about to get drowsy, he heard a faint voice.

"Noel, I'm here."

Noel's eyes opened again.

Eric…?

"Noel, I'm here," the voice repeated, "Don't leave."

"Don't go."

"I'm sorry."

"Wake up, please…"

Noel heard a crack. Above him, the room's ceiling really did crack. It abruptly spread rapidly throughout the walls and floor. Before he knew it, the castle shattered. The bed he was on fell down which vanished into the air shortly along with the ice shards.

He hovered midair and watched as clear shimmering smoke evade his consciousness. It covered the sky above him, swept the ground below him, and enveloped him on his sides. The smoke carried a familiar warmth that thawed the snow it trailed.

He turned around and saw a door. He reached out and opened it after a moment of thought.

Noel woke up and felt he was tightly held from behind. But the warmth was much weaker than he expected. He let go of Benny and turned around.

Frederic smiled in relief, "You're awake, Noel…"

His voice dragged as his eyes shortly closed. Noel quickly sat up and realized that Frederic's inner energy was completely empty.

How did he come here?

Did Frederic really wake him up using his inner energy? Why?

Noel decided to think about those later and focused on the urgency at hand. His essence and Frederic's energy form were similar to each other. Would it work if he tried to transfer some of his to Frederic?

He mobilized his essence and enveloped Frederic with it, hoping for some reaction. Energy transfusion like this was very rare to succeed since only a minority of people have their energy manifested a form. Meanwhile, only energy of the same type could replenish one another. It was up to the receiver whether their body could receive it or not.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for Frederic's body to react. The black smoke stirred before finally being sucked into Frederic's body.

Noel poured out his essence continuously in a constant stream so as to not overwork Frederic's body in processing them. It wasn't until 5 hours later that Frederic's energy was fully recovered.

In the meantime, Noel discovered Frederic's injury from breaking through the security system. He also noticed that he was far skinnier than before, and his complexion was paler. Even after he was replenished, he still looked very sick.

Noel waited for another hour, but Frederic didn't wake up. He called Kahel for help before checking Frederic's heartbeat. It was weaker compared to usual.

Kahel promptly came with his tools and checked Frederic's body, "His state is not good physically. He is food and sleep-deprived. His body is at its limit. If he doesn't eat something soon…"

"There is no human food here."

"That is if he can even wake up and eat." Kahel added.

"Call Heuglen." Noel decisively said.

In the mortal world, Selvesthine's royal palace was in chaos. There was an explosion in Prince Frederic's room, and he suddenly ran out in the middle of the night. It has been 2 days and he hasn't come back until now.

His subordinates were called but none of them knew where he went. The guards and Frederic's subordinates were mobilized to search for him. Because of the time he left, there weren't many people who saw where he was going. In addition, his speed was too fast.

The news of Prince Frederic's disappearance spread and eventually reached the border control station's ears. They reported that Prince Frederic went to the demon world that night. The station was actually closed at that time, but the urgency in his face was clear, and with his status as a prince, the staff let him pass. He brought his visa with him and filled up all the formalities. They gave the papers to the royal guards.

When they read the destination he was going to, Prince Frederic only wrote 'Classified'. The reason was to bring someone back.

The head of royal guards reported this to the King and Queen. For now, they would send several people to search the demon world. The King and Queen dismissed him, and the head of royal guards retired from the hall.

The Queen sighed and touched her temple distressingly, "What is that child doing?"

Mary tried soothing Cecille who was very worried to the point of crying next to her.

Maxis entered the hall with a strange expression. Phillip saw it and asked, "What's the matter? Did you find anything else?"

"How can I say it, it's not really something related to this, but it does involve Frederic."

"Do tell us." The King spoke.

"I passed by 2 guards while heading to this hall. They told me that Frederic has been acting strangely last week. Not strange, more like extreme. He would come to his training area a few minutes after we finished dinner. He would train there non-stop until a few minutes before breakfast. The guards who spoke to me said they got beaten once when they were patrolling there."

The King frowned, "Frederic is not such a violent child that would just beat up someone without any reason."

"No, they were sparing." Maxis explained awkwardly.

Cecille heard him and looked up anxiously, "Then, when did Prince Frederic sleep if he trained all night long? He looked completely fine when he was with me."

Phillip and Diaz looked at each other in hesitance. Should they tell them?

The Queen noticed their look, "What is it? Speak."

Phillip opened his mouth. "Actually, we accidentally discovered that Frederic has not been eating."