"Song, you are being too paranoid""I am not! There is definitely something very strange about Young Master, and you should know that better than anyone, Elian!"
Two maids, one with red hair and one with blonde hair, were heading towards the temple of G.o.ds. Many residents of the kingdom worshipped G.o.ds within the temples; it was not uncommon for people to go there to pray to G.o.ds.
Along the way, their master ended up being a topic of their conversation.
"Just the other day, I saw him heading towards the graveyard, again" Song"s expression was of clear suspicion and distrust.
"Poor Young Master, he must have lost someone, which must be why he was heading there…" Elian, on the other hand, had a much warmer view of Runfar.
"With a shovel and a sack?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Hesitating at first, Song retold Elian the story of how she saw Runfar dig up a corpse, put a dress on it, and dance with it. Song also told Elian how she saw Runfar recently visit the graveyard with a shovel in one hand and a bag in the other.
"Song, that"s insane. Have you been sleeping well? Maybe you were having a hallucination?"
"There is nothing wrong with my head! But I am certain there is definitely something wrong with Young Master"
Song continued.
"Not only that! Just the other day, when I went to the well to get some water, I could hear someone singing from the inside of the well. And what do you know; the very next day, Young Master comes back, completely drenched from head to toe!"
"But it did rain that evening…"
"He came back to the mansion in the afternoon"
Facing Elian, Song uttered.
"Don"t deny that he is a suspicious person, Elian, you know that I am not wrong"
"Yes, but even if Young Master Runfar does have some strange quirks, he is a far better master than his father ever was. We have such happy lives right now because Master Runfar is not a cruel man like his father, so please don"t forget that. No matter what kind of flaws Young Master has, I would prefer him over his father any day of the week"
"Sounds practically like a love confession"
"What?! Don"t be absurd! I am just a servant…There is no way I could harbor such notions in my head, maybe in my dreams… no, that is forbidden as well….Oh, what am I saying?!"
Seeing Elian get completely fl.u.s.tered while fidgeting from side to side made Song sigh in disbelief.
"This girl, it is so obvious she is head over heels for Master Runfar…"
* * *
"I don"t know why, but lately Master Runfar seems very strange, much more depressed than usual, and if he really was sleeping inside that well…It almost feels like Master Runfar wants to die"
"Don"t be silly, there is no way Master Runfar would think of doing something like that"
Inside the temple, they saw the ceremonies being held for the deceased who were put inside the coffins. By the next day, the coffins will be carried away to be buried.
"Even if he is not suicidal, it does feel as though he has a lot going on in his mind."
Elian had to admit.
"But I am sure we must be worried for no reason"
Then, both of them heard a sound of the coffin lid opening and much to their horror and disbelief, a familiar form now proceeded to sit up and yawn.
It was Runfar Sevilles, waking up after sleeping inside of a coffin on its way to be buried.
"MASTER RUNFAR!!" Both maids ended up exclaiming.
"Oh, it"s you guys. Hey Elian, hi Song"
It was almost like he just woke up on his bed inside Sevilles mansion not from a coffin made for the deceased.
"Young Master, what in the name of Solaris, are you doing here?" Elian hesitantly asked.
"Well, lately I have been coming here very often to observe funerals, but it seems like this time I ended up falling asleep inside the closest thing I could find to a bed, hick~"
Runfar was swiveling from side to side, almost like his balance was way off.
"Master Runfar, are you…drunk?"
"I would be surprised if I wasn"t …hick! I did chug a whole barrel down before coming here after all…hick!"
Song was very disturbed by the situation, choosing to stay silent while covering her mouth.
Her reaction was understandable; after all, finding the master of the house she served, sleeping drunk inside of a coffin was not something she expected.
Needless to say, Runfar"s image within her mind was now irreparably damaged as someone with a very disturbing hobby of digging up corpses and sleeping on coffins.
"Let me help you up" Elian ended up pulling Runfar out of the coffin, helping her completely wasted master take each step forward, with his left hand clinging to her shoulder for support.
Strangely, his body was far lighter than she expected.
"Song! Help me out, he is slipping down!"
"Yes!"
Now with both maids supporting Runfar, helping his balance, they headed back towards the Sevilles mansion.
"Just what were you thinking? Not just visiting funerals but sleeping in a coffin? This almost became your own funeral, young master. What could be so important that you needed to visit temple funerals so many times to the point you fall asleep in one?"
"Well, you see, I was …waiting for the Reaper"
Might be due to the heavy alcohol content, Runfar was not holding back on the truth.
"I guess young master was not successful in that regard" Elian interpreted his words as him seeking death, not actually seeking an Angel of Death.
"Oh, I was quite successful in that regard. They were Reapers all right, so many different, unfamiliar ones, yet, not the one I was looking for"
"Oh no, he is delirious…" Elian was worried that being drunk was messing with his mind.
"Would you believe how hard it is to find the right Angel of Death out of the bunch? I knew there were many, but to have different one coming for nearly every corpse inside the temple…Gotta hand it to Master Olim, he sure has a lot of angels under him…."
Now Runfar ended up falling on his knees and hurled on the ground, but apparently his stomach only had alcohol in it.
"You can go ahead; I will come back to the mansion once Young Master feels better"
After Song left, Elian and Runfar were left alone. They sat down on the gra.s.s.
"Young Master, why would you ever drink this much? What plagues your soul so much that you would resort to this?"
"What plagues me? Oh, I will tell you what plagues me! A knight in jet black armor that hunts me down, every single d.a.m.n time! This is already the 38th time I am living this day, and you know what, at this rate it will end the same way as the other 37, with him single-handedly destroying everything I have so painstakingly built. With the way things are going, I wouldn"t be surprised if I live this day another fifty times before I get it just right."
"You would think the strongest knight is the key problem, but no, it is he who is the biggest threat to everything I have been trying to accomplish so far!"
"I don"t know how to deal with him, nothing I tried so far has worked, and I dare to say, I ran out of ideas. And by now, I am seriously considering giving up…."
"YOU CAN"T DO THAT!"
"Huh?" Runfar was surprised by Elian"s sudden emotional outburst.
"Master Runfar, please, I will not pretend to understand what you speak of, but it seems like you have been under a lot of pain and stress. But no matter how great a burden, you must not give up"
"Easy for you to say, Elian. You don"t know any of it."
"True, I may not understand any of what you are going through, but I know when someone I love is about to make a choice he would regret"
Runfar was stunned by her response. It seems there was far more to this woman than meets the eye.
"You have pushed yourself too far, so please, for once, rest"
She laid Runfar"s head upon her lap.
"Wow, the sky is so blue" Runfar remarked, with his head resting upon a soft lap pillow.
"It sure is"
"Elian, I just….wanted a way out. No matter what option I took, he always bested me; I thought that if I could find my Reaper, I could just abandon it all"
"You can"t do that"
"Why not?"
"Because…Master Runfar, if you were to go away, I…We will lose someone who is precious and irreplaceable to us. You have brought so much happiness to our lives ever since the day you took over as the head of the Sevilles Estate, gave us a reason to love living again, so please, let us help you, let me help you. If you can"t tell me what is going on, that is fine. But at the very least, know that you are never truly alone."
Apparently Elian was under an impression that Runfar wanted to kill himself, she wasn"t completely wrong, in a sense.
Abandoning his goals would mean the end of the Dark Lord, and in his case, it would be the true cessation of his existence.
The realization that her beloved master was on the brink of self-destruction made the normally happy maid visibly tear up, yet she still talked calmly, hiding just how much it hurt her seeing the man she loved in such a state.
Right now Runfar was at his weakest, which is why right now, she had to be brave, otherwise; her beloved could fall.
"Elian…I have many enemies.... All of them are far more powerful than me"
"But did that ever stop you?"
Runfar felt an epiphany strike him like a lightning.
He never thought like that.
He was always so focused on the future that he forgot to think about just how far he had come ever since he emerged within that that prison cell, on that fateful day.
He smiled.
"It never did, did it?"
Within his mind, he couldn"t help but chuckle.
"How foolish am I? Getting depressed over such a trifling issue…So what if I could not deal with him 37 times? I don"t care if I fail hundred times, I still will find a way. Besides, I have been obsessing so much with the Knight of Night lately; I almost forgot about my main objective- the destruction of this kingdom. Considering I came back due to the curse, I did not really waste time, so I can still succeed."
"I must learn from my past mistakes, which means, I need to modify my plans…So many things to think through, but… oh well, I am used to it by now"
Seeing Runfar smile, Elian couldn"t help but say.
"This expression suits you much better, Young Master"
"Thank you Elian, I am glad to have a servant like you. Thanks to you, my life does not seem as pitch black as I thought it was"
"Life is a present that is only given once, Master Runfar, so please cherish it"
"Right…."
Runfar, of course, could not tell her just how wrong her statement was, at least when applied to him.
But then, a word got stuck in his mind.
"Present"
Then, an idea was born and Runfar smiled.
"It is tomorrow, so it is perfect timing"
After having a long talk with his maid, Runfar and Elian returned to the mansion.
Then, Runfar met up with the young page who worked for him.
"Master, you wanted me here?"
"Yes, Morphie, I need to ask you for a favor"
"Anything you want, Milord"
"I want you to possess me again, but only for one day"
"Are you sure about this? Last time I did that, your body was messed up pretty badly"
"It should be fine if you don"t stay there for too long, but this is a task I can only accomplish with your aid, so please help me out"
"As you wish, Milord"
* * *
"Lord Runfar, did you wish so see me?"
"Yes, Mira, you may enter"
A maid with tanned skin, long lavender hair that reached her waist, entered the room.
Her name was Mirabelle Siros.
She was wearing the standard maid uniform with the Sevilles crest on it.
What made her stand out were the blindfolds she wore over her empty eye sockets.
"It is impressive how well she can navigate without eyes or using a walking stick"
After she entered the room and closed the door, Runfar took her by the hand and had her sit down on the couch next to him.
"For starters, happy birthday, Mira"
"Thank you, Lord Runfar"
"I have been pondering for a long time, thinking what would be the perfect present for you, and now I finally have my answer"
As Mirabelle sensed Runfar come closer, she flinched slightly, expecting some kind of punishment, but he proceeded to place his hands upon her eyes, covered by the blindfold.
Then, Mirabelle felt a strange sensation, as though she was floating away, her mind seemed to drift towards the clouds.
She didn"t even notice that she ended up falling asleep.
* * *
As she opened her eyes, she saw a blonde man with a half mask, out of breath, panting.
"I hope that is satisfactory"
"It is, thank you, Morph"
Young man seemed to be talking to himself.
He had a piece of cloth in his hands…
…It was her blindfold.
As she looked down and saw her hands for the first time after six years, she thought she was still dreaming.
Hesitantly she closed her eyelids and touched them; they were no longer empty, there were actual eyes in there.
"It can"t be….this must be dream…an illusion conjured by my imagination…"
But the more she saw, the clearer the truth became.
Her eyes were restored
Mirabelle didn"t even notice as long streams of tears started to flow down her face.
This was a miracle.
"But how?"
"This is my gift, though it does take quite a toll on my body so it is not something I can use often"
"Lord Runfar….I…" Mira couldn"t even finish her words; her emotions were now flooding her mind like a tidal wave.
"I hope your present is to your satisfaction. I know this does not even begin to make up for my father"s sins, but I hope you accept it"
"I don"t understand…why…why go so far for a lowly servant like me?"
"Because…" Runfar proceeded to embrace Mirabelle who was now on the ground on her knees. As her head was now buried on the left side of his chest, she could hear his heartbeat.
"You guys are part of the Sevilles mansion; therefore, all of you are my family. And I will do anything for my family, and that includes you."
As his sole crimson eye gazed into her newly recreated navy blue eyes, Runfar was quite satisfied with the result.
While he did think of giving her some kind of present, he chose to give her this for a reason.
Aside from being an excellent servant, she did one thing that impressed him the most.
She hired Sariu Lixus to work at the mansion.
Dark Lord may have wanted to have Sariu as far away from him for her safety, but he never realized just how much relief he would feel after seeing her again. The only reason she ended up in Sevilles mansion was because Mirabelle hired her.
And for that action alone, he chose to repay her in grat.i.tude.
Dark Lord"s grat.i.tude was worth more than all the gold in the human kingdom. And to this woman, he chose to bestow it.
After all, it was natural to reward your subordinates when they have pleased you with their actions, even if they didn"t realize the importance of the said actions.
"Lord Runfar….Thank you, thank you…thank you so much…"
"Mira, the world is large and beautiful, so why don"t you see it for yourself?"
Runfar offered his hand to the maid on her knees.
Without hesitation, she proceeded to take his hand.
Both of them proceeded to exit the room, with Mira marveling at the sight of all that was around her.
This was truly a miracle, at least to those who worked within the Sevilles mansion.
Afterwards, Runfar Sevilles became known as a miracle healer.
None of the staff could have guessed that their beloved master was the Dark Lord who would bring forth calamity unlike any other.
To them, these were the happiest of times….