100 – In the mansion where the night fell

The clear sunlight slowly seeping through the windows.

Fragments of the beam of light emitted by the brilliant morning slowly begin to take away the darkness that had descended into the study.

Rachel, who had been staring blankly at the scene, soon came to her senses and let out a small sob.

“Ugh…”

Perhaps it was because he had been frantically running around the mansion since dawn, and the shivering fatigue was weighing down his body.

After washing my face for a while and brushing off the haze, I hear a faint breathing sound from below.

ㅡssack…ssack…

A black-haired boy with his head cut on Rachel’s lap, in a deep sleep.

Looking at the boy who was breathing thinly, Rachel quietly reached out for him.

The slender fingers caressed the boy’s face carefully.

“I was worried, you suddenly disappeared…”

A murmur mixed with relief leaked out from between her crimson lips.

Rachel slowly wiped away the traces of tears on the boy’s cheeks, darkening his expression.

“I went to the Bocchan’s room at dawn… the door was open and the room was empty. So…”

A little girl’s voice trembled.

The emotions melted in that trembling were deep worries and a little bit of fear.

“…At that moment, I remembered what the young master said he would leave.”

Rachel was scared.

She didn’t want to see the boy she loved deeply fall in misery once again.

He did not want the person who had colored his life to disappear leaving only cold tears behind.

That’s why, as soon as she saw the empty room, she frantically wandered around the mansion looking for him.

Without even thinking about wiping away the pouring tears, she anxiously called out the boy’s name.

for several hours.

“Whoa…. I didn’t even know the boy was in this room, so I ran around for a long time.”

Rachel let out a light laugh and showed a bitter smile.

Various emotions such as affection, sadness, and pity were mixed on top of her hand caressing the boy’s face.

Feeling a small ripple in her heart, Rachel quietly took the boy’s hand.

“…..young master.”

A brown-haired girl trembling helplessly, holding her unanswered hand.

Rachel wiped her wet eyes and put the boy’s hand on her cheek.

A single drop of tear fell onto the boy’s finger.

“It’s not okay to stay here, right? You’ve already made up your mind to leave…”

The boy’s hands were warm.

Enough to erase all the winter temperature that had been sitting in the study.

Rachel leaned against the warmth and swallowed the tears that were about to spill out in the back of her throat.

“What can I do… I don’t know how to live without the young master…”

From now on, what should I live for?

Unraveling the tangled emotions of worry and despair, the girl asked a small question in the air.

Her heart dyed in deep blue makes her recall memories of the past.

—-My name is Raiden. He is the eldest son of the Duke of Lisit.

ㅡPerhaps, would you like to come with me?

—-Your name is… How about Rachel? isn’t it okay

ㅡLet’s go, Rachel. You are my family starting today.

At the voice from the past that brushed her ears, Rachel felt her heart throb.

As the concentration of the flowing tears grew thicker, the doubts also grew.

“young master…”

What if my god, whom I had decided to serve and love for the rest of my life, suddenly disappeared one day.

Left behind in an empty world, will I be able to live on in the future?

“young master……”

Rachel quietly put her hands together and closed her eyes.

Then he prayed.

towards the only god that exists in their world.

“Please… please don’t leave…”

please don’t leave yourself

.

.

.

“Ugh, ugh…”

When I opened my eyes moaning from a throbbing headache, I was lying on the bed in my room.

Feeling a strange feeling at the soft blanket that wrapped around my whole body, I got up.

“Whoa… why am I here…”

Obviously I was in the study…

If you roll your eyes with a little doubt, a girl’s figure is reflected in the blurry vision.

The figure of a girl asleep with her head leaning against the edge of the bed.

Looking at the disheveled brown hair, I quietly muttered her name.

“Rachel…..”

Apparently, Rachel found me, who had fallen asleep exhausted from crying in the study, and brought me back to my room.

I looked down at her for a moment as she closed her eyes while holding my hand, then withdrew my gaze and let out a deep sigh.

“Haa… Again, I wonder if you were worried…”

My heart sank when I thought of Rachel, who would have turned pale as soon as she saw my empty room.

Looking at her bent over with her head on the side of the bed, I chewed my lips gently.

“…If you sleep like this, your back will hurt.”

I moved carefully to get out of bed so Rachel wouldn’t wake up.

Then I picked up her body, which was sitting on the floor, and laid it on top of the blanket I was lying on.

Watching the girl toss and turn little by little, I clenched my fists.

“…..Sorry.”

The murmurs he spits out unconsciously disperse into the stillness of the room.

Standing in place, I gazed at the traces of tears on my white cheeks.

Complex thoughts and tangled emotions surfaced and subsided repeatedly.

Slowly chewing on those complex sensations, I quietly turned around.

“…Sleep, Rachel. I’ll get some fresh air from outside.”

ㅡClack, kiik…..

I leave the door with a light hinge sound.

As I stepped into the hallway, my heart was filled with weights of heavy emotions.

With those weights hanging in clusters, I moved along with a trailing step.

Tumbling…..

Above the dark hallway, weak footsteps echoed emptyly.

I moved my body silently, scanning the mansion where the curtain of night was drawn with a lethargic look.

It was night again.

It must have been quite a while since I collapsed in the study, but the grandfather clock in the middle of the hallway pointed to 1:00 AM.

Realizing that I had slept most of the day, I groaned and let out a small saliva.

I’m sure I’ve been sleeping most of the days lately, but

Even so, I’ve never slept for more than 20 hours…

“This is… it’s just alive, it’s practically no different from a corpse.”

He lets out a deep sigh along with a self-deprecating laugh.

The habitually moved hand fumbled for the pocket of his trousers, but of course there was nothing in it.

“…Come to think of it, it’s all gone.”

At the same time as I think of yesterday’s events, an indelible feeling of emptiness lingers at my fingertips.

The thought, “Should I go get the marijuana now,” popped into my head, but

I shook my head, thinking that if I went there, I would step into my mother’s study again.

Feeling sorry for nothing, I brushed away my empty hands.

I just quietly walked down the hallway, brooding over my thoughts.

“……”

Tumbling….

The mansion at night was a space with a dark yet warm and quiet atmosphere.

The calm silence that brushed my ears made me think of various things.

Among the numerous thoughts that came to mind, the most important were, of course, things about the past.

—-Go away, Ariel. don’t call me brother

—-f*ck… Your arrogance in the subject of a mere maid is sky-high, Rachel. Don’t get involved with me, next time I’ll cut your throat.

ㅡPrincess? Ah… the oath of the lord? Are you talking about that childhood joke? Pooh! Did you still remember that?

ㅡMaharet…. If I get married to you, I’ll have to live with your trashy face for the rest of my life, shouldn’t I collect at least bitches to enjoy at night?

Hateful voices scratching my nerves.

It was an indelible mistake that I had made as a foolish boy.

Every time I spit out harsh words towards my precious people, I couldn’t forget the expressions they made.

“f*ck…”

Guilt, powerlessness, and impermanence all mix together to create a messy mess.

Bouncing emotions soak my body black.

I bit my lips, sweeping away the clear scars on the film.

….What am I supposed to do now?

In this place where only despair, regret, and hatred remain.

Should I continue living or should I run away?

If you choose the former, you will suffer, and if you choose the latter, those left behind will be hurt.

The choice, as always, was established only when it was accompanied by someone’s pain.

“What are you asking me to do, if it was something like this…”

….Rather, you should have left me ignorant.

I gnawed at my complicated hair and muttered softly.

If you repeat the painful choice and agony over the cost,

Into the field of vision that was out of focus, light of subdued brightness begins to enter little by little.

“…Lights? At this time?”

While tilting my head slightly at him, I unconsciously moved toward the place where the light leaked out.

Cross the hallway and go down the stairs.

When I reached the corner of the first floor of the mansion, I saw a single room that seemed to be the source of light.

When I reach out my fidgeting hand and carefully open the door to the half-open room…

ㅡ Kiki profit…

“…What is it, this place.”

The interior of the room, which is softly locked with vermilion lighting, comes into view.

Tables are arranged in a straight line, and chairs are neatly placed in front of them.

In the cupboard beyond the table, bottles of various kinds of liquor were put one after another.

The scenery is like…

“…..bar?”

It looked as if it had been taken from a local pub.

Embarrassed by the appearance of the space I was seeing for the first time, I rolled my eyes here and there.

“I’m sure there wasn’t anything like this until a year ago…”

“…Eh, young master?”

When I turned my head at the sudden heavy voice coming from behind, I saw an elderly gentleman standing on the side of the cupboard across the table.

I was taken aback by his appearance and blinked my eyes with a dumbfounded expression.

“Gilbert… old man?”

“What are you doing here, Bocchan?”

Gilbert was dressed like a bartender, holding a bottle and a glass in both hands.

He tipped the bottle, filled it, and pushed it across the table as if handing it to someone.

The one who received the cup was a broad-built man with black hair who was sitting on a chair in front of the table.

If Gilbert is a bartender, he is a man who exudes the atmosphere of a guest at a bar.

He drank his glass at once, and slowly turned his head as if following Gilbert’s gaze, who was staring at me.

“ah…..”

Black eyes stare at each other.

A middle-aged man with black hair and black eyes, said to be the rarest in this world.

He looked at me and greeted me calmly.

“It’s been a while, Raiden.”

“…..father?”

I let out a dazed sound as I gazed at Gilbert and my father.