THE CONSORTIUM SYSTEM

THE RIGHTFUL HEIR

PRESIDENTIAL VILLA

Adrian closed his eyes and sighed heavily. He knew that his death was close by. He opened them slowly and stared hard at the Japanese painting on his wall. It was one of the most beautiful and famous paintings in the world and was very rare. There were only four paintings like it in the world but only three had ever been found. No one knew what happened to the fourth one. The three paintings were shared between him, and his two old friends, John and Adam. It had been years since he really spoke to any of them.  They separated in order to protect the next heir of the Knight Consortium and had only communicated once in a while to exchange important information.

The next heir was supposed to be John’s grandson. He remembered the promise he made back then to his two close friends back at high school. They all took one of the paintings as a symbol of their friendship and loyalty to one another. 

High school was one dreadful experience. He didn't really want to remember it but he also had fun sometimes. Adam was the strongest of the three of them and learned faster than anyone in the school. John was the quiet one. He rarely talks and he specialized in making herbal essences. He was the one among them with leadership qualities, which was why he had ventured into politics and now he was the President of the country. But what use was his position when he had recently lost his two friends and he was close to death himself.

Though, there were days Adrian wished he had gifts like John who was blessed with the gift of using nature to cure basically any sickness on earth. Like the day his mother died. If he was gifted with the power of speed, he would have brought John sooner and maybe she would have made it. Even when his father brought in another woman immediately after his mother died, he would have struck both of them with volts of electricity and probably he wouldn't have had to suffer the way he did for the next five years before he moved out of the house. But all that was in the past.

What was more important was the present and the future. With John and Adam gone, it was up to him to prepare the way for the next medical god of the knight consortium. He tried to stand up but his legs failed him. He turned to his bedside and pulled out a card. He had kept the card for years, waiting patiently for the day it would glow. The card was given to him by John, Adam also had one while John had the Heir’s ring so he didn’t need a card. The ring was supposed to glow when the knight consortium came of age and was ready to take his place and the cards would also glow when that happened. So many years gone and nothing had happened. He wondered what the delay was. John used to be the Knight’s Consortium’s medical god but he gave up his power in order to save his grandson from assassins after they killed his own son. Had all their sacrifices been for nothing?

The Knight Consortium Medical god was the most important position in the whole of history. When John stepped down and the whole magic pillars fell out of balance because it was not yet his time to step down. Each magic pillar held an essential part of the Universe’s essence and only the medical god could wield or control all of them and keep the balance. That was why they all sacrificed a lot to save the next heir and to ensure that he was ready and also strong enough to be able to take the position. Because if the position fell into the wrong hands, mankind was doomed. The ring would glow when the next heir was ready. But that wasn't going to happen anytime soon and the sickness already took its toll on him. He was like a vegetable and couldn't move around without the help of his daughter, Malessa. He tried back to hold his tears. How was he going to fulfill his sacred duty? How was that supposed to happen? Without order, the pillars would fall into chaos and the earth would be destroyed by it.

"Dad? Are you crying again?"

He turned to the door. It was Malessa, holding a bowl of water and with a towel hung over her shoulder. 

"No, no." He turned to the other side and hurriedly cleaned his tears. 

"I saw you already. Are you still worried about finding the true Knight Consortium heir? I’ve told you to stop worrying so much, it’s bad for your health."

"I know at the right time, he will definitely be found. But I do fear that I might not be alive to see him. Malessa, I'm far gone and you know this. This sickness is killing me slowly and there's nothing I can do about it. Not even John can help me at this point even if he was alive because he gave up his gift." 

He sighed heavily and looked at the card. Still black as usual. No changes. Malessa stretched out her hand and collected the card, placed it on the bedside table next to the bowl of water, turned back to him and held his hands and kissed it. 

"I can help you find him if you want. I can help keep your promise to your old friend if you die but I know you're not going anytime soon. You're stronger than this, father. You don't want Alex and the others to see you cry. They would be disappointed at their grandfather and how weak he has become. You know, I told him lots of stories about you and your brave friends." 

She stopped and kissed his hands again. 

"Can I bring them here sometime? It's been two years since they last saw you. You banned me from bringing them here and it hurts them so much especially since they’re being forced to live on an isolated island."

Adrian slowly removed his hands from his daughter's hand.

"I told you the reason why you shouldn't bring them. There are people after me because I am in support of the true heir of the Knight Consortium and if they find out that I have grandchildren, I fear that they will be after them. If anything happens to your children, I will never forgive myself. Even being here is a risk for you."

"I understand, but they don’t. Reina understands too because she’s the oldest, but the kids don’t understand why they can’t see Grandpa when he’s sick. I’ll talk to them. And later, I’ll set up a video call so you can speak to them. Rest now."

Malessa sighed and dipped the towel in the water. She helped her father lay his head on his pillow and placed the towel on his head. He was already burning up again.That was probably because of his overthinking nowadays. She wondered why it was so important for her father to find the next medical god. He hadn’t told her the details of everything because he insists that she would be safer if she knew less about everything. But even without the medical god, the Knight Consortium was still doing well, they were the top health company in the world and were expanding even more. Wouldn’t it be better to just accept things as they are instead of joining what could cause a war? She wished she knew more about everything, if only so she would understand why he was so obsessed with his mission. What was even more confusing was that her father and his friends already knew who the next heir was, but they had to wait for him to come of age or something like that. What did that even mean? From what she knew the heir was already a man, was he supposed to get old first or what?

She dabbed his head and face with the wet towel till his temperature subsided. He closed his eyes but she knew that he wasn’t asleep yet, and Malessa smiled sadly at him. His face was all covered in wrinkles and it was difficult for him to breathe. It was hard to see him like this, weak and frail and sick when she remembered how agile and strong he used to be. Tears pricked her eyes and she stared at him for a minute more before she stood to leave the room.

She turned to pick up her bowl from the table and saw that the card she had dropped beside it was glowing.

"Father, father." She called. 

Adrian slowly opened his eyes and was perplexed. 

"The card, It's glowing, Father."

Adrian couldn't believe his eyes. Finally, the heir was ready. After all these years. With tears of joy in his eyes, he held Malessa's hands firmly and said,

“Go, my child. Follow the card, find the true heir and bring him back. It’s time for him to take his rightful place as the KNIGHT CONSORTIUM HEIR.”