* * *
That morning, Arius was holed up in his room, as usual, buried in dusty books with nothing else to do. This was the last batch of books the town's library could offer him. He had read everything else and anything that was readable inside the library: the historical archives, the sales records, the magic grimoires, and even the librarian's private collection of oddly mature novels. The last one had nearly gotten him kicked out of the library, had he not been the son of the town's lord.
It wasn't like he had anything else to do other than kill time with books. School? He had graduated from his class on the very first day by taking all the year's exams, as he had done every year. It really saved him the hassle of socializing.
So now he was flipping through the pages of an old bestiary grimoire, feeling bored until growing loud cheers from his neighbors disrupted his concentration.
'Again?' Arius thought with a sigh, glaring at the grimoire before discarding it into a mixture of books and blankets. 'Gods, how many birthdays do these people have?'
"Mail! It's the mail! The couriers are here!" A yell rose, and he flung open the windows to look. Many of the neighbors were also at their windows, either cheering or looking on with curiosity. Being barely taller than the windowsill, Arius had to stand on tiptoe and crane his neck to get a better view of the streets.
Sure enough, a convoy of messengers on horseback were trotting briskly through the streets of Wruens, their saddlebags brimming with letters. The use of postal service systems hadn't been brought about yet, so couriers had to deliver mail personally. Considering the amount of traveling they had to do, they only came about twice every year and was quite a rare occassion.
What's more, the town had been cut from communication with other towns a few days ago due to quarantining of a spreading plague in the area- or something of the sort, so it was surprising to see couriers in the place.
A few couriers broke away from the group every now and then to deliver letters to the designated doorsteps before rejoining the line. There were several armed guards escorting the convoy, hurrying the message bearers along.
Having no interest in this, Arius turned away back to his book. But not a moment too soon, there came an urgent knocking on the front door.
Now, due to his father's noble rank, the Scerriton estate was prone to getting work-related letters quite a bit. However, these were always either delivered by a personal messenger or servant from another household, or relayed through the town's magic transmission tower.
So the only other person who would send a message this way was Arius's sister. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to go check and stepped out of his room. It had been a long time since he'd heard from his sister after all.
Hastening down the large stairs, he made it to the bottom just in time to see his mother talking to one of the couriers. However, he was dressed in an army uniform which caused Arius some worry. He barely made out the words "condolences" and "good day, madam" before the man in the uniform left with a bow.
His mother was clutching a small envelope as she slowly turned away with a pale expression. The Baron shut the door behind her, looking equally nervous.
"Mother?" Arius called, approaching his parents tensely. His mother jumped a bit at the sound of his voice. "It's from sister, isn't it?"
His father, the baron looked surprised at his appearance. He probably hadn't expected Arius to show up outside his room. His mother, however, only gave him a strained nod. She wavered for a while before carefully opening the envelope, reading in silence for a minute. The baron put a hand on her shoulder as if to support her. The tension in the air was so thick that you could've cut it with a knife.
But upon reading the letter, she stifled a sob and dropped the letter, sinking weakly into a nearby chair. As she burst into tears, Arius's father hugged her gently with a pained look Arius had never before seen on him.
"What did she say, mother? What was it about?" Arius asked, but he could already guess the answer from the devastated looks on their faces. The looks of a grieving parent. Arius simply couldn't believe it.
Not wanting to wait for a reply, he picked up the fallen paper slowly. The first few sentences instantly confirmed his worst fears.
"To the Baron of Wruens and House Scerriton," The letter began, "We at the Felagan Military Academy regret to inform you that your daughter, Miss Adelais Scerriton has been killed in the line on duty. She died bravely on the frontlines while in combat and defending our country from Paverian Invaders."
That was as far as he could bear to read. As the letters drifted through his vision, his mind went blank at understanding the horrible truth. His expressions deadened, the usual feeling of regret creeping its way into his body.
This was the one exact reason why he didn't want to be close to anyone. He had felt this same feeling hundred of times, seeing a person he cherished disappear- or a person he cherished seeing him disappear. He had never gotten used to it and thus shut out everyone else in his life. But his sister had squirmed her way into his life, instilling false hope in him before leaving like many others before her.
"I see." He said, his emotions deader than the grave. Placing the letter on the table, Arius turned back to the stairs without another word.
His father, taking this as a cold, unsympathetic expression, flared up immediately. "That's the only thing you have to say? Your sister- You may never see her again, and yet you don't even have a shred of sadness for her in your heart?"
"Leave him be, dear." Arius's mother, the kind-hearted person she was, tried to calm the baron down in between sobs. "What happened to Adelais is not his fault."
"Yes... You're right. The fault is mine for letting my son become such a heartless child."
"Dear, calm down!"
Arius ignored their tearful looks, leaving them behind as he went up the stairs and straight to his room. The very last words he had heard from his sister before she left kept ringing through his mind with a hollow echo.
"Take care of mom and dad for me, will ya? I'm counting on you, lil' bro!"
Throwing himself on his bed, he tried to shut away his memories of his sister. She didn't exist anymore anyway, might as well wipe away all traces of her. But he couldn't. He had gotten too attached to her to throw away the memories. But in doing so, all the feelings in his memories were now just bleak emptiness.
'I've done it again... Now... How long will it be until death finds me again?'
* * *
The loud chime of bells woke him up with a jolt from his sleep. How did he even fall asleep in the first place?
'These bells..." He sat up with his head still spinning dizzily from his thoughts. "Aren't these the ones on the watchtower? The ones that are rung to signal an enemy invasion? What's going on?'
The clanging reverberated throughout the town, almost loud enough to shatter glass. However, that was not the only noise that was ringing loudly in the air. Arius could hear screams and the clash of metal.
Until the harsh bang of a gunshot seemed to make every other sound in the vicinity feel quiet.