It was a lovely melody, one that could compel someone to stay in bed — a gentle piano intertwined with the warm, soothing notes of a violin.
His eyes slowly opened to that melody, only for the sudden brightness to force them shut again.
Slowly, Altair opened his eyes, gradually adjusting to the brightness.
"…"
For a moment, Altair felt like he was dreaming; however, a small item in his grasp proved otherwise. It was Deon's droplet, drained of its previous color.
"Sir, would you like some refreshments?"
A polite voice called out to Altair. It was a man dressed in a two-piece suit, holding silver trays in both hands, one with white and the other with red wine.
"I don't, thank you."
In that moment, the music abruptly stopped.
"You don't?"
The attendants looked Altair in the eyes, whose poker face almost collapsed from the sight. The servant's face was completely blank.
He had no mouth, but he spoke to Altair. His face was completely blank, yet he had no problem holding a conversation.
Looking around, Altair felt a chill down his spine as a grand hall decorated with an unnecessary amount of gold was laid open before his eyes. Every single servant had their blank faces staring at him.
"I just didn't see the red wine. I would like a serving."
Altair politely reached for a glass of red wine while the servant pushed the tray closer to him.
"Have a wonderful day, sir."
The place where his mouth was supposed to be curled up into a horrifying, wide smile.
The music began to play once again, with the servants returning to their tasks.
What happened after I blacked out? Glancing down at himself, Altair saw he was dressed in a black suit over a white shirt, paired with a black tie; the fabric was a fine, high-quality silk.
It seems I entered the crack, but what happened to me after? I feel fine, I am no longer drained of my essence, and my wounds just vanished. No, I shouldn't waste my time; I need to gather information.
For now, one thing was clear: the crack had transported him into another place, possibly another domain.
If it is a domain, it clearly outclasses the Shepherd's.
In the meantime, more guests poured into the grand hall while the music continued to play softly in the background.
Looking at the guests, Altair didn't know if he should laugh or cry.
Monsters.
They were all monsters.
One of the men wore a red suit with a matching tie, holding a golden pocket watch in his hand; where his head should have been was a swirling black cloud, filled with drifting, unblinking eyes of different colors.
Another was a woman in a teal dress. At first glance, she seemed ordinary enough, but only one side of her face was human; the other was frozen over with the face of a transparent image of a wraith hiding beneath.
Just by their appearance alone, they were fog Entities, highly intelligent and powerful at that. Even the weakest of them appeared to be a high-tiered Wolf-class entity.
Almost none of them were human, all except one.
Walking up to that sole human present, Altair drank a sip of his wine as he saw the previous attendant stare at him from the corner of his "eyes."
Glancing around in worry, it was just a matter of time until he would notice Altair, who was walking up to him.
"—Altair? Is that you?" Almost jumping out of his own skin out of fright, Hunter locked eyes with Altair, who was leisurely walking up to him while sipping red wine.
It's high quality
Placing the gray stone into the pocket of his suit, Altair approached Hunter, the latter still gazing at him with a doubtful expression.
"How the hell did you get here?"
"Crack."
"But how? We only opened one."
"I used a different one. Doesn't matter, how long since you arrived here and what you know of this place, don't leave out a single thing."
Hunter was still fidgety but attempted to calm himself down. "The moment I entered the crack, I got… dragged here. Originally, the crack was supposed to lead deeper into the lawless abyss region, but somehow, I got here instead."
"It was about half an hour ago… ever since then, more guests keep coming, I don't know how, but I understand what they are saying."
Altair just listened while drinking another sip of his wine, almost grimacing from the high alcohol content.
"Anything else?"
"The attendants keep talking about some sort of a dance coming up, also about granting us an audience with someone…"
Altair raised an eyebrow. "Any idea about who it is?"
"None at all."
Hunter sighed in resignation before instantly tensing up as he saw another faceless attendant walk up to them. On his silver plates were a variety of pastries.
"Could I interest you, sirs, with some snacks?"
The attendant asked, and in return, Altair showed a wide smile, "Don't mind if I do, thank you," reaching for one of the pastries. Altair thanked the attendant politely, receiving a blank smile in return.
"What the hell are you doing?" Hunter felt shocked to his core, chills running down his spine as he witnessed the interaction.
The madman of Red Mansion, who barely showed indications of his humanity, just smiled politely at a monster. A horrifying one at that.
The previous smile was no longer present on Altair's face; instead, he returned to his previous blank look, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the attendants.
"I was being polite; you should do the same."
As the guests continued to enter the grand hall decorated in gold, one of the attendants stopped in his tracks and walked up to the staircase, looking over the hall filled with guests.
"Welcome, honored guests. We are delighted to see so many of you grace us with your presence. Until his majesty arrives, please, do enjoy yourselves. The ballroom is open for everyone."
With the evening's introductions complete, the crowd split into two, one part quietly conversing with each other while the other made their way to the ballroom. Couples formed as they invited each other to dance while Altair and Hunter kept their distance from them, doing their best to stay out of sight.
At least, they tried.
A guest Altair had noticed earlier moved gracefully toward them — more precisely, toward him.
It was the woman wearing a teal dress with one side of her face frozen over, offering an amicable smile.
She extended her hand gracefully, and both sides of her face showed him a warm smile; however, the icy side of her face failed to radiate the same warmth.
Her lips parted, her voice coming out inhumanly, speaking a language that Altair couldn't have possibly understood, yet still did.
"Shall we?"
She wouldn't let me refuse; I shouldn't even risk it with this many Fog Entities present.
"It would be my pleasure." Altair took her hand, following her to the middle of the ballroom.
Around them, other couples were harmoniously dancing to the gentle rhythm of the soft composition.
As the next song began, the two began to dance.
"Tell me," She spoke with a faint grin. "What does a highlander do so far from home, down here with us?"
She knew that I was from the flying cities… can I even lie to someone like her?
"Excuse me, Madam, but shouldn't an introduction come first?" Altair jested, moving in perfect synchrony, each of their step guiding the next.
"Please." She let out a jovial cackle. "Why should we bother with that? You wouldn't tell me your real name in the first place, wouldn't you?"
"If neither of us wants to answer, this is quite the pointless conversation, Madam." She spun away only to be drawn back, her eyes clearly showing amusement.
"Yes, yes, it would be." Her smile widened, and the two went on dancing in silence.
As the final notes rang out, their steps quickened until, with one last graceful turn, they came to a perfect halt.
"Thank you for this dance,"
She let out a giggle, but the right side of her face didn't mirror her expressed joy. As she slowly walked away, she turned her head without fully looking at him, only showing her cold, wraith-like face.
"By the next time we meet, we can have a proper introduction. Until then, you can refer to me as Eleanor."
Next time?
As the Fog Entity called Eleanor strolled away, the same attendant stood back onto the stairs, calling out for the guests.
"Honored guests, we pray you have enjoyed the night thus far."
The faceless figure's gaze swept over the grand hall.
Behind him, the staircase rose to the second floor, its steps adorned with gold inlay, a long red carpet stretching upward. "Please, allow me to announce the arrival of His Majesty. Those granted an audience, please follow me."
The same faceless attendant walked up to Hunter first, offering him a faceless smile. "Follow me, Honored guest, you have been granted an audience with his Majesty."
Hunter wasn't given the chance to object — nor could he. The attendant led him up the golden stairs as nearby faceless servants clapped joyfully, their blank smiles stretched wide.
As Hunter's figure faded on the grand staircase, Altair just waited with the rest of the guests.
Time passed, but Hunter has yet to return.
Then, something red began to trickle down the golden staircase — at first barely noticeable against the carpet, but soon unmistakable as it streamed lower.
Beside Altair, the Fog Entity with the swirling black head muttered under his breath,
"He shouldn't have lied before him."