Chapter Text
Cale opened his eyes as the moonlight shone on his face. He exhaled through his nose before sitting up in his bed. He could feel the headache, exhaustion, and his eyes swollen from crying.
Observing the room, he could see the familiar furniture, the intricate walls, the golden linings of the pillars, the high ceiling, and books that had been tossed aside on the coffee table in his receiving area.
The place was too familiar-the room he grew up in. The room that witnessed his warm childhood with his mother, the room that witnessed his agony, struggles, neglect, and his vulnerability.
Painful memories surged in his mind as he smiled sadly. He looked at the calendar and saw that today was April 1, 771st of the Felix Calendar, two days since his mother died.
He shook his head. He had a lot to do and no time to address what he really felt right now. He ignored the heartache and bittersweet feelings he had. Even if he had regressed, fate still didn't want him to save his mother.
He got out of bed and took a paper and pen to write down the plan that both he and his husband had made before regressing.
Organizing his thoughts, he could feel that he still had his Record, which was both a blessing and a curse. So the guideline helped him see what he would prioritize.
"Love... Did you land safely? Any discomfort, wounds, or side effects?" He raised his eyebrow when he realized he still had the mindlink with his husband.
"Just exhausted and have swollen eyes. My younger self probably cried until he passed out from exhaustion." He was glad to find out he could still talk to Alberu just like in his second life.
"Are you... okay?" There was a hint of hesitation in his voice, probably because of the timing.
"I'll survive." A small smile crept onto his lips. A simple concern made him calm down and feel a bit of comfort. Alberu really had a knack for making him happy with simple things.
He remembered getting close to Alberu in their first life, when Alberu saw through his facade and recognized the brilliance of his mind. At first, they were using each other-Cale for revenge and Alberu for strategy-until he found out Alberu's secret by accident.
They got closer and fell in love, both dying in the final battle with the White Star.
He remembered their second life, when Alberu was Combat Medic Seo Soo Jin while he was Support Strategist Kim Rok Soo. Both of their memories were sealed for more than half of their lives until they reached their 30s. Still, even without the memories, they fell in love. Alberu helped him cope; he became his pillar of support and the reason he kept moving and surviving.
It was the memory he cherished the most. Something that gave color to his rather dull life, where he always needed to survive.
"We will talk tomorrow, okay? You should get some sleep." Cale looked outside and could still see the brightest light the moon could offer. It felt tranquil, like something that could calm his heart.
There were a lot of things to do. And he had no time to mourn again.
*＊✿❀ ❀✿＊*
Early in the morning, Ron went inside Cale's new room. They had just moved him to the eastern wing yesterday as per the Count's order, which made him feel mad.
The eastern wing was the farthest wing from the Central Wing, where the traffic was concentrated since most of the important rooms in the castle were located there. This place rarely had maids and butlers, who deep-cleaned the area once a month. Only a few rooms, such as the biggest library, Kitchen 2, and the music room were located here, and they were rarely visited because the library mostly served as storage for old books. The modern and newest books were always located in the Central Wing, and there was also the main kitchen there. Nobody in the family was interested in the music room, so it had also just become storage for instruments.
Yesterday, Ron and Beacrox, his son, voluntarily assigned themselves to the eastern wing. His son took over Kitchen 2 and cleaned it thoroughly. Since nobody even used the kitchen, Beacrox practically owned it.
Ron could still feel the resentment in his heart, wanting to take his dagger and kill that cowardly Count.
But right now, his puppy-like young master needed him. Carefully, he prepared his young master's bath before waking him up.
Ron was taken aback when he saw his puppy young master's eyes. It made him want to dash out and beat that Count to a pulp.
They were emotionless eyes. Eyes that had given up the will to live, eyes that let fate dictate their destiny, eyes that had seen too much, eyes that belonged to someone who had experienced traumatizing situations. Ron clenched his fist but gave a benign smile, offering his hand.
"Young Master, the bath is ready. Would you like me to help you?" Cale nodded and accepted the hand. Ron carefully helped Cale bathe and helped him wear his mourning clothes.
"Is the funeral arrangement done?" Cale's voice was soft, with a hint of maturity in his childish tone. Ron's heart ached to see his young master in this state. He needed to monitor him more, as he might do something drastic.
"Count-nim hasn't yet gotten out of his room, Young Master," Ron answered. Cale sighed and looked at the mirror with dead eyes.
"Prepare the funeral ceremony as fast as possible. And Ron, I want you to investigate each of the rats roaming around. Take care of them efficiently," Cale said, walking out of his room toward the Count's study.
"Where are you going, Young Master?" Worry immediately flashed in Ron's eyes.
"Who else would take care of the matters regarding the territory? My father is unavailable at this moment. Even if Mama is... dead..." Cale clenched his fist and exhaled through his nose.
"The matters in the territory will still keep on going," he said. They reached the study, and Ron reluctantly left to take care of the matters Cale asked for.
Cale immediately immersed himself in the Count's work, with the help of his passive Record ability. It only took him a few hours to finish all the paperwork that normally would have needed at least three days to complete.
Cale put together the documents with shady financial calculations of their monthly spending and income. He wrote official letters to some of the guilds and departments like the merchant guild, construction guild, artistry guild, bureaucracy, and the knighthood, and prepared some new policies that he wanted to implement in the territory.
He found a good vassal family to take care of establishing orphanages, small schools for learning skills, and browsed the citizens of Rain City to see if there were hidden gems hiding in the haystack.
All of this was done within 12 hours of work.
"Young Master... did you eat already?" Ron asked the moment he entered. Cale looked at the time and found out it was almost 6 p.m.
"I... I forgot," he admitted, having really forgotten to eat lunch, which made Ron give a benign smile that looked vicious.
"No maid even came in to deliver food?" An unpleasant feeling surged through Ron's body. He had been too busy taking care of some rats and didn't even realize his young master hadn't eaten either breakfast or lunch.
"No one." Cale's stomach grumbled, making Ron sigh.
"I'll call my son to prepare some food for you, Young Master," Ron said benignly, bowing a bit.
"Oh, by the way, Ron, please trace these documents and see if there's any financial fraud. Summon them here tomorrow. If they don't comply to defend themselves, you are free to seize their property and send them to legislation. Bring this letter to the messenger to send to the people I want to talk with," Cale instructed.
Ron went back and checked the work of his young master.
He was shocked to find how efficient Cale was at doing the work. But he didn't ask, simply taking the documents before leaving to find his son.
*＊✿❀ ❀✿＊*
That night, Cale slumped down on a couch near the window where the moon shone so brightly. Having a small body took a toll on him despite having a strong mental capacity.
"You should take a rest, Young Master," Ron said, tucking him into bed.
"Ron, would you believe me if I told you I regressed time and this is my third life?" Cale just blurted it out. To be honest, Ron had been more of a father to him than Deruth. And he understood the reason why he abandoned him in his first life.
As an assassin in hiding, after finding out that their chasers appeared a few kilometers away from where they were, they decided to leave so they wouldn't drag him into their mess. Still, he just wished they had left a letter before departing. He would have understood.
Cale felt anxious looking at Ron, who was staring at him with complicated eyes. But Ron sat down at the side edge of the table.
"Want to talk about it?" Cale looked at Ron's face. There was no doubt or hesitation. He believed in him.
Cale burst into tears as he anxiously played with his fingers.
"Everyone died. They won. We tried to resist, but it was futile. It was devastating and dragged everyone into this massive war. The world just led into doom." Sorrow surged within Cale's mind, emotions he tried to suppress.
And he was surprised to know he could still cry. He thought he had destroyed his tear glands from all the emotion he had bottled up. Clenching his fists, Ron pulled him into his embrace.
"Father... he will leave after the ceremony. He'll meet Lady Violan and Basen," he murmured.
"Do you want to do something about it?" Ron didn't break the hug and just continued to comfort his young master.
"No. I like them. They are nice and respect boundaries. And Father... he is happy with Lady Violan," Cale played with his hands, not looking at Ron's intense gaze.
"She saved me, died to protect me, and she's the kind of woman who didn't force herself to be my mother. She just respected my space but was still ready to help me in any way. She's... pretty cool, I guess."
They stayed silent for a while. Ron looked at the anxious appearance of his puppy-like young master.
A grim feeling surged within himself, and his emotions went into chaos. It only meant that there was more behind those emotionless eyes. He exhaled through his nose before inquiring,
"Did you regress with someone?" Ron observed Cale intently. He gently held his hand and gave his genuine smile.
"Alberu. The Crown Prince came back with me. He should be here tomorrow." Ron pulled the blanket up to Cale, seeing that he was really tired.
"Let's continue this tomorrow, okay? I need to process this information first." Cale nodded cutely. It didn't help that he had chubby cheeks and doe eyes, which made him look even cuter. He looked sleepy and tired, probably because of dealing with all the paperwork.
"Does that mean you believe me?" Cale asked.
Ron chuckled and gave a benign smile.
"While Young Master often hides things and lies here and there, you would never lie about something this big. So let's continue this tomorrow, okay?" Cale nodded again. He immediately fell asleep, probably having been suppressing himself from resting.
Ron smiled darkly as he looked at the bright moonlight.
'I should investigate this Lady Violan and talk to the Crown Prince.' He went out of the room lost in thought. He had a lot of questions, but he didn't want to force the young child.
Despite saying he was probably grown up already, from the few hints and information he gave, he probably didn't have time to develop his emotional maturity. Just thinking of the Count abandoning a child to take care of his work and returning with a woman made him want to march into the Count's room and torture him.
But it seemed like his Young Master had affection toward the new Countess, so he would let this happen.
He went to his son and had a discussion about what Cale said. Beacrox offered to help. They decided to enforce a strict rule when it came to eating and would monitor his mental state. They would talk to him for more information but would not force him to say anything until he was ready.
*＊✿❀ ❀✿＊*