Chapter 191 - The cure

Petra and Esso, who had returned from Yorkshire, came to Karl Furstenberg's penthouse to keep an eye on Katia, while Caspar went to the airport to pick up his wife and daughter in Germany.

On the plane, he forced himself to sleep because he knew his condition would worsen as he had not rested for several days. He also did not want to become an extra burden to his friends who had helped him so much.

Caspar arrived early in the morning in Stuttgart and immediately drove to his castle. When the sun rose, he was already in Aleksis' room, sitting beside Finland who was restlessly sleeping on the sofa.

"You're home...?" Finland woke up when she heard someone sitting on the chair. Her sleep was so restless that even the slightest sound could wake her up. Caspar approached Finland and sat next to her.

"We have to go to London. Lauriel is trying to make an antidote for Aleksis there," he said.

Finland got up and nodded.

"I have prepared everything. We can leave right away."

She walked over to Jean, who was sleeping in the chair next to Aleksis' bed, and woke him up. He nodded casually to Caspar and cleaned himself in the bathroom to get ready.

Within half an hour, Caspar, Finland and Aleksis, Jean, Kara and all Caspar's personal bodyguards left for the airport in 3 cars.

At noon they arrived at Hotel St. Laurent London, where Caspar's penthouse was located. In the hotel, Stanis and a number of staff had arrived with the herbs Lauriel needed to create an antidote for Aleksis.

"You can rest in the main room," Caspar said to Finland. He took Aleksis and carried her to his bedroom. Finland slowly followed Caspar, while Jean and Jadeith accompanied Lauriel in the kitchen and tried to help with whatever they could. The other five bodyguards immediately set a security perimeter around Hotel St. Laurent London.

Neo arrived a short time later with Petra and Esso. They carried Katia with them. They decided to gather at Caspar's place because they thought that Karl Furstenberg's place was no longer safe.

"Oh, wow... look who's here. Apparently, everyone is here..." Katia commented sarcastically as Petra led her into the kitchen. She squinted at Jean. "You are now an alchemist, too?"

Lauriel, who was busy scaling some medicinal ingredients, only glanced at Katia briefly. His eyes was filled with anger. He remained focused on his work. Jean didn't care about Katia either; he acted as if she wasn't there.

"Do you know that you shouldn't sleep?" Lauriel asked casually. He was still weighing and mixing some ingredients intently.

"If I sleep, the poison will work, and I'll die?" Katia asked sarcastically. "I am not afraid of dying..."

"You would hope so." Lauriel smiled slightly. He stirred the bowl of dark liquid dramatically, as if thinking about something very interesting. "I will not let you die easily, Katia. The first thing you will lose is your sense of smell. Then, you will not be able to see, and slowly you will also lose your hearing. You will not even be able to hear your own cry... You will be imprisoned in a helpless body, until you beg me to kill you..."

Katia gasped at his words. She remembered Marion's words yesterday; she said that they would torture her until she didn't want to live anymore... but she didn't think the poison Lauriel made had such an evil effect. Instantly, cold sweat ran down her face.

"You're not serious..." she hissed in disbelief. "You're not such an evil person..."

"You made me do this. You shouldn't have touched Aleksis..." Lauriel looked at Katia sharply and shook his head with a clenched jaw. "I already know the type of poison you gave her and I am now making the antidote. Tomorrow morning Aleksis will recover while you will lose all your senses..."

Katia stood stunned and her face paled. She believed Lauriel's words, which were uttered in a cold, vengeful voice. She was not afraid of dying, but the thought of losing her senses one by one made her heart sink.

"Jean... you're not a bad person..." Katia whispered to him. "We were friends in London... you know Karl... Are you going to pretend that you don't remember our friendship and let them treat me like this?"

"Sorry, Katia. You went too far..." Jean answered, shaking his head. He did not want to look at Katia. "You shouldn't have hurt an innocent two-year-old child to hurt her parents..."

Katia bit her lip and looked away. She knew Jean's words were true, and now she almost regretted her actions. For the past few years her revenge had blinded her soul to the point that she would do anything to make Caspar suffer.

***

In the bedroom, Caspar and Finland sat by Aleksis' bed. Both of them were very worried. As long as Lauriel hadn't succeeded in making the antidote, their hearts couldn't calm down.

"Don't worry... Lauriel is very skilled. His adventures on earth for hundreds of years have made him master various types of ancient medicine. His head contains far more knowledge than dozens of modern medical books," Caspar said, trying to cheer Finland.

He himself preferred the modern medical advancement over traditional medicine, but he knew that Lauriel had been pursuing poisons and drugs far longer than he pursued the field of medicine. Even though he was a specialist, he could not do anything for Aleksis right now, and that made him feel like such a failure.

Finland, who noticed that Caspar looked very tired, reached out to hold the man's hand. Both squeezed each other's hands as if they were giving the other strength.

"I'm sorry, Finland. Katia targeted Aleksis because of what I did to her in the past..." Caspar whispered softly. "I was a jerk."

Finland nodded. She understood what Caspar meant but she didn't want them to discuss the matter at a time like this. She patted Caspar's hand and took a deep breath.

"Please don't talk about that now..." said Finland. "Let's just focus on Aleksis..."

She tried to distract Caspar, "Can you please get me a drink? I'm so thirsty..."

Caspar nodded. He let go of Finland's hand and exited the room to the kitchen. When he got there, he was surprised to see Katia sitting in one of the dining chairs guarded by Petra, while Lauriel was still diligently making an antidote using the medicinal herbs he obtained. Jean and Jadeith were helping Lauriel, following his orders.

Katia's face looked pale and disheveled and her cheeks were wet with tears. Katia had never looked this pathetic in her entire life.

"Why was she brought here?" Caspar asked.

"Furstenberg's house is no longer safe," Petra answered. "Besides, Lauriel wants to see for himself when his poison starts to react. So, I brought her here..."

Katia turned toward Caspar's voice with tears in her eyes. Her aloofness and icy demeanor were completely gone. Her eyes looked blank.

"Caspar... I can't smell and see... help me..." Katia pleaded as she got up and walked toward Caspar; but her feet tripped over the legs of the dining table and she fell down. She crawled on the floor, scratching the surface, trying to find a way to approach Caspar. "Lauriel's poison is so so gruesome... I was not this atrocious to your daughter..."

Caspar only stared at Katia, who was struggling to crawl toward him. She looked pitiful, but he did nothing. When he thought about Aleksis, who was still lying unconscious in the room, his heart froze.

"Please... just kill me... You have my gun... Come on, kill me, Caspar. You must be angry because I poisoned your child..." Katia whimpered. "You owe me because I left my parents and Karl to live with you... You must repay me by killing me. I think that is fair enough… You owe it to me to give me a quick and painless death!"

Katia continued to whine until she suddenly screamed hysterically.

Katia was suddenly unable to hear. She was surprised when she realized that she could no longer hear the sound of her crying. She screamed frantically trying to hear her voice but all she 'heard' was a horrible silence. Katia had never felt that scared...

Caspar and Jean looked at each other. Both were unable to bear the sight of Katia wailing in panic while holding her head. Finland, who was surprised to hear Katia's scream, rushed out of the room and into the kitchen. Her face turned pale when she saw Katia kneeling on the ground in a very pitiful condition.

"W... what's going on? What happened to her?" Finland asked, approaching Caspar. They both looked stunned.

"We gave her the poison that Lauriel made for her. It caused her to lose all of her senses..." Caspar said quietly, "Now she cannot see and smell and hear..."

"Oh..." Finland covered her mouth in shock. She looked at Lauriel, who was indifferently placing the medicinal herbs in a small bowl. He looked at her and nodded.

"The cure is finished..." he said in a relieved, but tired voice. "I will give it to Aleksis now. If everything works, she will recover tomorrow morning."

"Lauriel..." Finland hurriedly approached Lauriel, "Do you have Katia's antidote?"

Lauriel nodded, "Of course. Why? You want to cure her? Don't be stupid."

"She already got her punishment... Please don't continue torturing her like this..." Finland said in a choked voice. She saw Katia, who was wailing trying to hear her own voice, looking devastated. Instantly her hatred for the girl disappeared. "You're not a bad person... Aleksis will be sad to see her god father turn into a sadist like this..."

Lauriel snorted, "I will not forgive her until I can be sure that Aleksis is recovered. In the meantime, let her experience being prisoned in her body like this and accept her punishment."

He then rushed out of the kitchen and into the room where Aleksis was. Finland and Caspar hastily followed. Jean approached Katia and helped her up and sat her back in the chair.

"Who is this...? Is this you, Caspar?" Katia whispered while crying. She was more depressed because she could not hear any sound, including her own sobs. Jean did not answer. He left Katia in the chair and left the kitchen to catch up with the others.

In the bedroom, Lauriel held Aleksis and forced the antidote into the little girl's mouth. Caspar and Finland, who arrived a little later, could only see from the door. They hoped that Lauriel's medicine worked and their child could be saved. Right now, they could only wait.