While Non tried to keep his posure, the guards, following orders from their superiors, quickly took Alistair away along with the explosive Emily had picked up moments earlier.

  Despite the situation, Princess Iris, her face still showing astonishment, approached Non.

  "Thank you," she said, her voice filled with admiration as her eyes studied him.

  'Now I uand why they call him The One Who Sees Beyond,' Iris thought.

  It was a title given to Non for his ability to foresee danger before it happened, his instinct seemingly infallible in critical situations.

  Iris had never seen Non in a before, but now that she had experiehis…

  "Are you okay?" Iris asked, her tone shifting from admiration to .

  Non, feeling the weight of his body and the burning pain in his chest, managed a tired smile.

  "I'm fine... but I wouldn't mind if the healer checked me again."

  The pain wasn't stopping, but he wasn't going to show weakness now.

  With a nod, Iris agreed and apanied him back to the room.

  Outside, the murmurs and otion tinued, but the priests quickly imposed sileh stern looks.

  After all, they were in a church, and respect for the sacred pce had to prevail.

  When they returo the room, Iris couldn't help but frown when she saw Emily entering with them.

  "What are you doing here?" she asked politely, though with a slightly distant tone.

  Before Emily could respond, Non intervened with a firm voice.

  "She's with me. She's my panion."

  The princess repeated those words softly, as if she couldn't quite grasp the situation.

  "Your panion…?"

  She was clearly fused but decided not to press further for now, turning io the healer, who had already begun urgently examining Non.

  The healer leaned over Non, fog on his chest where the mana core resided.

  What she found was troubling.

  The cracks that had once seemed minimal had now spread, dangerously propagating.

  With a serious expression, the healer motioo the princess.

  "Princess, please, e closer."

  Iris approached cautiously, her eyes shining with curiosity and .

  Just as the healer was about to ask Non for permission for the prio examine his core, Non, with a slight nod and without saying anything, gave his sent.

  His willingness surprised her, but there was no time to show it.

  Both women focused on the core, analyzing the cracks threatening it.

  "It's beautiful…" murmured the princess as she looked at Non's core.

  Its hues glowed with a unique, almost hypnotizing radiance.

  However, she quickly shook her head, remembering the gravity of the situation.

  'This isn't the time for that…' Iris thought.

  The healer began w quickly, using her magic to try to seal the cracks that had formed, and Iris soon joined her.

  Her hands, delicate yet firm, began eling energy into the core, trying to repair the damage as best they could.

  The pain was immediate and intense.

  No out a choked scream as the two women's magic tried to tain the cracks.

  The heat emanating from the core, the internal pressure, was unbearable. He felt as if his very being was being torn and burned from within.

  His body trembled, every fiber of his being struggling to stay scious. Sweat ran down his forehead, and his jaw was ched so tightly he could almost hear his teeth grinding.

  But the feeling that bothered him the most was that of beirained.

  "Please, hold on!" the princess pleaded as she kept her hands firmly on him.

  The healer, though more experienced, alsed him to ehe pain.

  Both khat if Non gave in, the core could fracture beyond repair.

  Meanwhile, Emily watched everything from a er of the room, her heart ag as she withe se before her eyes.

  'Why does someone like him have to gh this?' she thought, feeling a deep sadness for Non.

  It was clear that the suffering he was enduring wasn't just physical, but also emotional.

  Emily felt more helpless than ever.

  She knew she had no magical abilities, and watg Non fight something like this made her feel even smaller.

  'I want to help... but how I do that?' she thought repeatedly, frustration burning in her chest.

  She wao do something, anything, to ease the pain he was enduring, but she had her the power nor the means to do so.

  After several mihe intense magic flowiween the princess and the healer began to fade.

  Both women were exhausted, their breaths bored. The healer was the first to step away from Noing out a sigh of relief, though her expression showed she wasirely satisfied.

  "We mao repair most of the cracks," she reported calmly. "However, you'll o e every day so we ensure your core remains stable."

  Non, still breathing heavily, nodded as he tried to trol the pain still residing in his chest.

  "That's fine," he said betweehs.

  As he regained some strength, a question came to his mind.

  "Who was that nobleman?" he asked, his voice firmer than before.

  He wao uand who had coldly tried to kill them all.

  The princess, nervous, avoided his gaze at first.

  "Well… he's no one important," she answered, trying to ge the subject.

  However, Non wasn't willing to let it go so easily.

  "For someone who's not important, he almost killed us all," he pointed out coldly, his gaze fixed on the princess, expeg a more ho answer.

  Iris sighed, realizing she had no choice but to tell the truth.

  "He's a guy who fessed his love to me some time ago… but I hought he'd do something like this." The disbelief in her voice was evident, as if she still couldn't process what had happened.

  As the princess tinued expining, Non listened, but his mind was already w on a theory.

  Although the princess's expnation made sense on the surface, there was something deeper at py.

  The noble didn't seem possessed or directly maniputed, but someone had clearly pushed him to act this way.

  Non suspected this art of a rger pn, one aimed at eliminating the princess and perhaps other members of the royal family.

  The nobility in this try was always up to something, and although he usually tried to stay out of it, he khis i could entangle him more than he wanted.

  Non turned his gaze to the healer and asked directly,

  "Couldn't you e to where I live to tihe treatment?"

  The healer frowned slightly, sidering the idea.

  "I could," she replied holy, "but treating you here has several advahis is a sacred pce, and the healing energy we have is much more effective due to the faith surrounding it. If we treat you elsewhere, the healing process might be slower."

  Non nodded, uanding the healer's reasoning.

  However, the thought of staying close to the nobility, with all the political plications and dahat entailed, didn't appeal to him at all.

  'Maybe I find another church,' he thought, w if ging locations would affect his recovery that much.

  Finally, Non stood up, still feeling the weight on his body, and politely bid farewell to both women.

  "Thank you for everything," he said, bowing his head to the princess and the healer.

  "Please, rest," insisted the princess, with a mix of admiration and in her voice.

  "I will," Non replied, though they both khose words were far from a firm promise.

  As he turoward the door, he called to Emily.

  "e, follow me."

  Emily, who had been watg silently, nodded quickly and said goodbye with a hurried bow to the princess and the healer.

  The two women watched in silence as she followed Non out, and just as the door was closing, Iris couldn't help but ask the question that had been on her mind since Emily ehe room.

  "Who is she?" the princess asked, not hiding her fusion.

  The healer, who had been so focused on Non that she hadn't even noticed Emily's preseil now, let out a small, nervous ugh.

  "She's… a good question."