It was still morning when Ezrel left his room.
The sun had only begun to pierce the mist. No servants passed him in the hallway. No one stopped him.
They never did when he walked like this.
And now seeing his grim face makes it harder for the maid to approach him. His smiling eyes with a blank face make it easier for people to think he is a psychopath or a creepy person.
It was silent without any sound in the hallway.
Too quiet.
There is not even a little sound coming from the kitchen or any other place.
Even his footsteps cant be heard. It's like his presence folded into the mansion like mist returning to a lake.
Without caring about all that, Ezrel still moved forward.
He walks down the stairs and turns right. He continues walking past the library and the wine cellar.
He goes past the places even the maids whispered about cleaning because it was scary in there.
The dungeon where the prisoner is kept.
All this walking is to reach his destination, the storage room.
Places where his most important item is kept when he needs it.
He goes down to the iron-latched storage room where old furniture and sealed memories gathered dust.
This room can only be opened by two people in this house.
It was he and his father. Only two of them held the keys to this room.
The door opened with a single key.
Creaked
It was cold and dark inside without any light.
He burned the torch on the wall.
And see the scenery he likes the most. Dust is everywhere here, but it brings him peace because it means nothing is disturbing this place. It was undisturbed.
Exactly how he left it.
---
He walked past a few of his father's items and crouched down to lift a box.
There, a canvas sheet, and under it lay the thing he had ordered years ago.
A gesture of peace. A monument to silence.
His final resting plan.
His coffin.
He always remembers this thing that he ordered, but he just realized that his sister is lonely and he can accompany her.
But her actions last night had made him give up. Not just because of her but because of his own realization.
He knows her feelings now, but he can't accept it. It is a taboo everywhere.
Therefore, he needs to leave to have a good rest to clear his mind.
----
There it was.
His coffin.
It was not morbid.
Well...
Not to him.
To Ezrel Dormir, the coffin was a place of escape. A quiet place where no one prayed to him. No one whispered blessings. No one knocked.
Carved from moonwood. Lined in silk. Measured to fit his frame precisely. And designed to close from the inside.
It was perfect like he had ordered it
He stepped forward.
Pulled the cloth back.
And sighed.
Still beautiful.
Still waiting.
He ran a hand over the curved lid, then slowly opened it.
It groaned slightly, like an old friend rising to meet him.
The silk lining shimmered in the dim light.
He leaned in and froze.
There, sewn into the interior fabric a face.
A girl's face. Someone he is close to.
His sister's.
Lysette.
The face is stitched in silver thread, serene and smiling. Like it will accompany him even in hell.
Her eyes closed like a saint. A divine attendant watches over his eternal sleep.
He stared.
For a very long time.
"Huhhhh. Looks like I really can't run from you." Ezrel said with a smiling face
Then slowly, very quietly, he closed the lid again.
He stood still.
One hand on the lid.
Then turned around.
Then walked away.
Just retreat.
---
Later, in the hallway, he passed a maid dusting portraits. She bowed.
"Are you well, young master?"
Ezrel blinked at her.
Then said, "I think I need a bigger coffin. Maybe the one that fits two people"
"It's even better if you can put a board game in there".
Hearing that, the maid's face became blank and confused. She even wonders what kind of thing had been revealed by the deity to her young master until he became this crazy.
---
Meanwhile…
In his room, his sister is still sleeping soundly.
Like she finally got a good rest.
Her face is bright and smiling.
Well, it's all because she achieved her oath to sleep with her brother while being naked. And it means she already left a stronger mark on her brother than his fiancée.
Little did her knows that this action has awakened another side of Ezrel. One of the effect from his blessings.
Its will bring her to regrets.
Afterall The Eternal was the blessings from the god of rest,time and madness.
And this effect was from the madness side.
--