Healing Magic, or simply known as the Art of Healing, as Grand Pabbie likes to refer to it.
Such complex magic, yet the most useful of all the magic. Healing bruises, stitching wounds, stopping bleeding, and even mending fractures. Every damage done to the physical body can be fixed by healing magic.
You cracked a bone? Cast the Mend Bone spell!
You got stabbed? Cast the Salve spell!
You're slowly losing hair and balding? Cast the Regrowth spell!
Not gonna lie, the latter took him by surprise. Who knows that the imminent balding that most people experience once they grow old or get into stress is considered a damage to the physical body.
Henry doesn't even know why Grand Pabbie knows that spell when rock trolls barely have any hair on their sturdy bodies.
But still, Henry added it to his arsenal of spells. As a matter of fact, all the aforementioned spells above are included in the arsenal. Three days for three healing magic spells is what he learned.
"You're truly one of a kind genius, Henry boy." Once again, Grand Pabbie wasted no chance to praise his talent. The old troll is literally the exact opposite of Master Elias whereas the latter kept humbling him by calling him above-average.
Henry shook his head, "You're flattering me too much, Master Pabbie. In Master Elias's eyes, I'm just above average."
Grand Pabbie chuckled, replying to him, "That's just how he is, especially since that day."
"What day?" Henry asked, only for his question to be met with a shake of the head.
"It is not my place to tell you about it, Henry boy. I'm sorry." There was regret and solemnity in Grand Pabbie's tone, making Henry more curious about the matter.
What could be the reason behind Master Elias's lackluster praisals when it comes to Henry's talent? What is the old man's past?
'Only time would tell, I guess,' Henry murmured under his breath, shifting his focus back on magic lesson.
"Master Pabbie. Can limbs be restored through healing magic?" Henry asked something that has been gnawing at him since yesterday.
To his surprise, Grand Pabbie shook his head and replied in an ever-wise tone, "It is possible but healing magic simply plays a part in it. What you're looking for is a combination of four magic to form a single spell."
Grand Pabbie raised a finger, "Flesh Magic, Blood Magic, Bone Magic, and Healing Magic."
Henry's eyes gleamed in both excitement and surprise, "Four different Magic elements to form a single spell? You can do that?"
The old troll chuckled, "Me? Of course, I can't. Do I look like I'm made of flesh like yours?" His words made Henry embarrassingly look away, "But I can use more than just four magic elements to create a spell, but it's not the one I just mentioned to you."
Just as Henry wanted to ask for more, Grand Pabbie interrupted him, "I know what you're going to ask, Henry boy. But what you're trying to seek is out of your capabilities for now. You should focus on what you can do first. Leave those questions to your future self."
Henry's shoulder slumped and he sighed, "Alright."
———
—{Princess Anna}—
It's been a few days since that eventful day and the first thing we did after that was to have the male servants take my sister's bed out of her room and transfer it to my room.
And now, we sleep together in a single room every night, sometimes we would jump into each other's arms and simply engulf ourselves in warm hugs.
We used to do this a lot when we were children but stopped after the supposed tragedy. Speaking of tragedy, yesterday Henry stopped by and proposed to join him to ride to Grand Pabbie.
His reason was to have my altered and sealed memories go back to the way it was and now everything is clarified. The night when my sister struck me, the sheer coldness I felt that day, and all the happy memories we had playing with each other using her ice powers.
But still, I feel fine. No side effects that Henry told me he feared or anything like that. It seems like the curse in my heart is truly gone.
Speaking of my curse. If that night didn't happen and I wasn't struck by the icy blast, would father and mother still be alive right now?
I miss them. I wonder what their reaction will be once they discover that the problem is gone now, all thanks to a single man.
Sigh, I wish they were here to see this.
"Anna? What're you doing?" Suddenly, I was snapped out of my thoughts when Elsa's familiar voice interrupted me from behind.
Right, I might've been staring outside the window for hours. I didn't notice.
I forced a smile out of my face, "I'm fine. I'm okay." Which unfortunately, was immediately noticed by Elsa.
"Something's wrong, Anna. You're not good at lying. Even when we were kids." I chuckled at those words. Yeah, she's kinda right. Even older, I'm still having a hard time keeping a straight face when lying.
Nevertheless, I'm now left fidgeting under her stare. Contemplating whether I should tell her.
In the end, I relented, "Do you think…mom and dad would be happy to see this? To see us being better than before?" I can see the shock in her face, as if she wasn't expecting my question.
Yeah, I know. It's kind of random and out of the blue.
Elsa went silent for a brief moment, and I was also the same. But before the awkwardness could get to us, she finally spoke, "I'm not sure about their exact reaction but I know they'll be extremely happy for us. Especially, mom, she was the one who suffered the most…"
"I wish they were here." I meekly muttered to myself, fighting the urge to start sobbing right here and right now.
I heard Elsa sigh before pulling me into a hug, "Come here. Don't worry, I'm sure they're proud of you for what you did."
"What did I do? What do you mean I did something?" I asked.
"Of course. You were the one who dough Henry and even convinced him to help. If it wasn't for you, Kai might've failed to do so."
Wait, I didn't tell her the full story, "Uhm, Elsa. I think you're wrong about something." I said while separating from her hug, much to her confusion over my words.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're right. I did try to convince him but it was more of his curiosity about the rumors he heard about you, especially some of our servants who couldn't keep their mouths shut about how our parents shut you in your room for years."
"He was the one who sought you out. Meeting him was just a stroke of luck that led to him helping you."
Then I proceeded to narrate everything to her. Such as how I escaped the castle to cure my boredom, got my pouch stolen, talked to him in an alley after getting saved from two drunkards, and then finally, the initial plan of letting him build his reputation while I mention his existence to Kai.
Though the latter didn't continue as planned as Kai already had him in his radar in the first place.
By the end of it, Elsa looked deep in thought as she muttered to herself, "…He was curious about me? Without even having met me yet?"
I'm sorry, but is that relief and hope I'm hearing in her tone? Well, that's weird.
"You sound…relieved…" I voiced out, catching her by surprise.
She blinked several times before her cheeks gained a red tint, "W-Wha—? N-No! I mean, what do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about."
I squinted my eyes at her, "Wait a second…Do you like him?"
That's when her reaction hit me in the face. She blushed more heavily—a huge contrast to her white hair along with her eyes darting around the room, looking at anything but my eyes.
I instantly gasped and that's how Elsa finally gave up, "Alright fine! I-I like him…I guess?"
I can't believe this. It's my first time seeing her like this. In my mind, I always imagine her as a cold and alluring sister of mine, barely showing any interest in things around her but just after 3 days since our problems were solved, I'm starting to see another side of her.
"You fell for someone you just met?" I stood up and accussedly pointed my finger at her. Which prompted her to also stand up and try to retort to my words in her defense.
"That's not what I meant when I said I like him!"
"Well then what did you mean by that?!"
"I—uhh I-It means I admire him?" I can hear the gulping of her saliva after she spoke.
I pointed out, "Do you even hear yourself? You don't sound sure about it."
Before I could say something more about her sudden infatuation towards Henry, she returned my gesture and pointed her finger at me, "Well what about you? Do you think I don't know about you and Kristoff?"
I was caught off guard by those words and soon, my cheeks gained a rosy tint similar to hers, "W-What do you mean?" I tried to play it cool, feigning ignorance over her accusation.
Unfortunately, my initial reaction gave way to her confidence as Elsa crossed her arms and gave me a condescending smirk, "You think I didn't see you the other day? You might've tricked Kai into thinking you're going out to buy something for me but I saw you go aboard Kristoff's wagon!"
I shuddered, "H-How do you know that?" There's no way, I was discreet about it and even wearing a hood to cover my identity!
"You don't need to know that. I have my ways."
After finishing her words, silence ensued between us. Her smirk soon turned into relief before eventually settling into defeat.
Soon, we both spoke in unison, "We're so helpless."
Honestly, I'm not even shocked about her feelings towards Henry. Spending three days with him alone tends to have its effects. Especially, since Henry is the first man she met who is around her age.
As for me, although I'm the same, Henry is not my type. How do I say this? He's too bright for me, I guess? I'm not sure if it's his hair, white skin tone, or simply too tall for me.
"What do we do now then?" I asked her. It seems like we're both hiding something from each other and coincidentally, it's about men.
"I…don't know."
"Good. Because me too."
———
"I'm taking my leave now, Master Pabbie." Henry bowed his head towards the old troll, thanking him for today's teachings.
Grand Pabbie nodded his head, "Take care of yourself now, Henry boy." Before shooing him away with his wooden staff.
Before leaving, Henry stayed a few more minutes, chatting with the trolls and teaching them some human stuff.
After that he left, riding atop Shade's back. On his way, Henry had to make a few stops due to the sudden appearance of wolves. He's not sure what's making them agitated all of a sudden.
Eventually, he arrived back at Arendelle, and just as he was on his way back to the clinic, he was surprised to see someone familiar waiting in front of the clinic.
"Elsa? What are you doing here?" Climbing down from Shade's back, Henry tied his reins to a nearby light pole before approaching her.
To Henry's eyes, he noticed that Elsa seemed to be hiding her nervousness, doing her best to maintain a calm facade. Though it wouldn't be noticed by others, but not Henry.
"Hi." Elsa awkwardly said, tucking a hair behind her ear before continuing, "How're you doing? I heard you've been a bit busy these days?"
Henry raised an eyebrow, taking interest in Elsa's sudden weirdness, "A little bit, yeah. I'm taking my magic lessons with Master Pabbie. He's been a huge help."
"Well, that's good." Elsa thinned her lips and nodded her head, while caressing her arm as if she were getting shy about something.
'She's not great at this, is she?' Henry noticed.
Thankfully for Elsa, before things could get awkward between them, Henry crossed his arms, "Alright. What is it? I noticed you wanted to say something."
Her cheeks gained a small tint of rosiness as she asked, "…Was it obvious?"
When Henry answered with several nods of his head, she sighed in defeat, "I was just thinking…if you're not busy for tomorrow, or the day after that. I just wanted to invite you for a cup of tea, I haven't really properly thanked you for what you did for my sister and I."
Despite the straightforward answer, Henry could smell the hidden intention behind it from miles away.
'Is she…asking me out?'
———————————
[Before you all go riot on me. I'm doing my best here to write romantic scenes or something like that. I don't have any experience in writing one and this is my first book, not to mention, I don't have any prior experience in romance—I'm literally single since birth! So spare me the criticisms and just skim through the romance scenes if you want.]