Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight! novel Chapter 410

Chapter 410: ’Inside His Mind.’

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty."

Lysander entered the room, followed closely by an older gentleman. Heinz rose from the bed, his gaze instinctively flickering toward the still-sleeping Florian before shifting to the newcomers.

Both men offered respectful bows.

Azure lifted his small head from the mattress, already familiar with Lysander’s presence and showing no signs of alarm.

However, the dragon’s slitted eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar man. Still, he stayed close beside Florian, protective yet calm.

Heinz moved to the sitting area, settling into one of the couches. Without wasting a second, he motioned toward the opposite couch. "Sit. Both of you."

Lysander obeyed immediately, and the stranger followed suit, sitting beside him. Heinz didn’t bother with pleasantries.

"Who is he? And how exactly is he going to help Florian?"

Lysander clasped his hands on his lap. "This is Afton Williams, Your Majesty. A renowned magic professor from Celestial Peak Academy. He specializes in mind-related arcana and has been conducting extensive research on a discipline called psychology—a study of the mind and its behavior."

’Psychology?’

Afton offered a polite nod, his tone respectful yet calm.

"It’s an honor to be granted audience, Your Majesty. When Lysander described His Highness’s condition, it immediately reminded me of a magical theory I’ve been developing—a trial spell that, in theory, may help bring him back."

Heinz’s brows lifted slightly.

’A spell he developed?’ He leaned back in his seat, expression unreadable as his gaze narrowed ever so slightly.

’I can sense it... this man’s not just talented. He’s powerful. But powerful enough to construct an original spell?’

"What kind of spell are we talking about?" Heinz asked sharply.

"Of course," Afton said, already reaching into the satchel at his side. He pulled out a neatly organized set of papers, diagrams, and notes. "Before I get to the spell and its method, I believe it’s important to explain the prince’s current state—why he is behaving the way he is, and what it truly means when you say his body is like an ’empty shell.’"

Afton spread the papers he’d brought over the table, each one filled with neat handwritten notes, diagrams of brain structures, magical theory sigils, and detailed behavioral observations.

Heinz, still seated on the opposite couch, leaned forward to glance at them—his brow furrowed deeply. He said nothing at first, but his crimson eyes flicked over the pages with sharp precision.

"This... is PTSD?" Heinz finally asked, eyes narrowing. "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Afton replied with a respectful nod. "It’s a psychological condition that develops when someone experiences or witnesses something deeply traumatic. Something violent. Overwhelming. It doesn’t always happen from one single event—it can be a buildup. A slow degradation of the mind, until one final trigger snaps it."

Heinz clenched his jaw, staring at a line on the paper: Disassociation, loss of time, extreme panic, emotional shutdown, withdrawal from reality...

He looked up again. "You’re saying... that’s why Florian’s like this? That’s why he won’t move, won’t speak?"

"Correct," Afton confirmed gently. "From what Lysander told me, His Highness experienced a horrific assault. But he also described prior patterns—detachment, overtrusting behavior, and then total shutdown. That aligns with something we’ve observed in rare cases—where the trauma doesn’t just injure the mind... it causes the subconscious to retreat entirely, locking the rest of the body behind it. That’s why he seems like an ’empty shell’ right now."

Heinz’s gaze flicked toward the door, behind which Florian lay sleeping. His knuckles turned white. "Then where is he? What exactly is happening inside his head?"

Afton paused, then spoke carefully. "We believe his mind has withdrawn completely inward—he’s trapped inside his own subconscious. He might not even be aware of the outside world anymore. The part of his mind that should be reacting... isn’t. It’s frozen. And the longer he stays that way, the harder it will be to bring him back."

Heinz’s brows knitted deeper as he gave Afton a sharp, scrutinizing look. "You keep saying ’we believe’—so all of this is still just speculation? You don’t know anything for certain?"

"Not quite." Afton shook his head gently. "But I am saying it’s unusual that he’s not. In my experience, I’ve seen women recoil from their husbands after an assault. Parents unable to hold their own children after losing a partner. Trauma rewires perception. But despite his condition, Prince Florian recognizes you as a source of safety. That’s rare."

"Not abnormal," Afton clarified, "but noteworthy. Especially when others he was supposedly close to—such as his servant, Cashew—can’t even get near him now without triggering distress."

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