Immortal Healer: Immortal Stonekeeper Prequel (2025) Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Purpose

Read chapter 11 of Immortal Healer: Immortal Stonekeeper Prequel (2025) by Mercynarie on NovelPedia.

Duncan and Hilda emerged from the staircase leading down, looking not much different from how they did when they had first entered The Atelier. Hilda was being unusually silent, so Duncan decided to strike up a conversation. “The English faefolk and I go way back,” he started, as though he were a grandfather regaling one of his childhood tales. “Helped them sort their civil war back in eighteen twenty-one. Faes live as long as their purpose, you see. They die quickly if they lose it. Deforestation was clearing out the habitat quickly back then, and they couldn’t play around with mortals any longer. So, they resorted to starting a civil war just to keep themselves alive. They ended up killing more of their own kind in a bid to live longer themselves. Pretty ironic, eh?” “Is that so?” Hilda responded disinterestedly. “Anyway, long story short. I joined their ranks as a battle chiurgeon for a while until I got sick and tired of all the frantic healing,” Duncan continued. “And as fate would have it, I had a couple of contacts who desperately needed gear to fight their own mystical battles. So I persuaded the faefolk to channel their purpose and existing weapon mastery into being merchants. Their numbers grew after a few decades, and they’ve even taken this street under their care. The homeless people you see? They’re under the fae’s magic protection, even if they don’t know it themselves.” “Will my mother be alright?” Hilda asked, as though she had not heard a word of what Duncan had just said— he had pretty much gotten used to that by now. “Will she leave me alone again?” Duncan stopped walking. “Has she done that before?” The girl looked away. “Yes. All the time. A woman’s place is in the house, as she would always tell me. That’s where we should live and die. That’s our purpose in life. But…” She turned back to him, her eyes glistening with tears. “But she doesn’t understand how lonely it is!” Hilda exclaimed. “How… scary it is to have no one to care for you. Mother’s always away with Father, and now she’s going away again! She’s leaving me behind again! I’m… I’m scared, dammit! Father is gone, and Mother is going away too. Why doesn’t anyone want me? Is this what my life is going to be from now on?” “Hilda, it’s okay. You’ll see her soon,” Duncan lied lamely. “She’ll listen to us, I’m sure of it. And she’ll come back from this poisonous dream.” Hilda sniffled as a choked chuckle escaped from her. “I’m not stupid, Duncan. I know you’re just trying to comfort me, but I know my mother well enough,” she said. “How do you do it? How do you live for so many years without family? Without friends to care for you?” “One day at a time,” Duncan replied after a pause. “One purpose at a time. Purpose is what drives us to live; just look at the faefolk. I’ll let you in on a little secret, alright? Your mother’s the reason why I’ve been volunteering as a battle healer over the centuries.” Hilda blinked away her tears, her eyes now filled with curiosity. “Truly?” “Aye.” Duncan nodded. “Remember when I told you that your grandfather used to be a warlord? Your mother never liked it, but she understood the necessity of war to protect her loved ones. So, much to her father’s disapproval, she regularly held medical services to treat the casualties of war, no matter which side they were on. It was only because she was so exposed to the outside world that the witch assassins took their chance to place a curse on her in the first place.” “Is that why she insists I stay at home all the time?” Hilda mused. “What did you promise her?” “If she were to pass on early, I’d follow in her footsteps to ease all those who suffered in war. That’s why I have chosen to be a wandering healer, lending a hand in as many wars as I could. That’s my purpose in living, and it’s not changed over the years. Perhaps your mum’s found a new purpose to take a more direct approach to stop disasters from happening.” Hilda lowered her head. “What is my purpose, then?” “That is fo