「 Vybekya, 11th of Zataghum, 1257 AL 」
Kian left the servant to be in charge of his cleaning the bedchamber as he walked through the familiar yet unfamiliar corridor of the second storey of the apartment.
It was a bit bleak at the moment but thanks to that he could see the faint glowing lights dotted, lined and interwoven all around him better; outlining the carpeted wooden floor beneath his feet and the walls of the corridor, clarifying his sense of perception.
He promptly changed direction and peered into his personal sculpting atelier. His shattered sculpture pieces had all been removed but the remaining ones, through his right eye's ethereal vision, he could see slightly more saturated amount of spirituality embedded within them, glowing and pulsing like tiny yellow stars.
A thought flickered in his mind before he reeled it in and slowly turned back to amble his way along the corridor to the stairway.
A maidservant was lighting up the candles one by one along the corridor, obviously preparing for the evening.
And when she noticed her master, she immediately lowered her head with surprise written all over her face and greeted him,
"May my lordship be gathered in the Dawn. Congratulations on milord's recovery."
Kian nodded simply and made his way slowly down the stairway, and there he was greeted the same by the servants, and he could see his sister was already in the dining hall, apparently overseeing the celebratory dinner she had had for him.
Her butter-yellow evening dress was tantalizing a bit too much to his liking although a smile still carved itself naturally on his face as he walked over to her.
"Annie, my darling sister..."
The siblings hugged each other warmly for a bit as Annie avidness poured out of her eyes, infecting him and the servants with her chirpiness.
"Brother, you came down at last. Have a seat and the roasted turkey would be ready in a bit. Mr. Rolf, tell the servants to bring in the turkey right away. And take out my brother's favourite wine from the cellar as well..."
"Annie, you're still not drinking wine, and Mr. Rolf, take out the one I received from the Vilheims last year."
"Noted, my lord."
Kian ushered his lovely pampered sister who pouted against his alcohol-ban to the six-seater oakwood dining table which was already ladened with relishing Tovkomeric specialty dishes.
It was the most exuberant dinner he had ever had outside formal banquets, not that he had frequently went to one.
As the two took seat—his sister sat on the decorous head seat and he in the seat on the left side of the table—the servants at the side began busying themselves serving and plating honeyed steaks, smoked knackwursts and half each of deep-fried chicken garlic, not to mention the one whole roasted turkey that was at the moment being sliced and served on a platter.
Mouth-watering smell wafted across the dining hall.
"It seems that my darling sister has grown up well, preparing all of these...I praise my cute, little Annie."
"Hihi, thank you, brother. The new cook really did an wonderful job for this evening's dinner."
Then, the servants stood to the sides as both the siblings held each other's hand.
Her sister led the prayer, as per the church tradition - women were spiritually closer to the Goddess.
"Hear us, O Shepherdess of the Dawn, we offer Thee our praises for Thy Mercy and Thy Blessings, on our tables and in our lives. Only in Thee we turn to and only in Thee we seek refuge, O merciful Goddess Lvena."
Kian's right eye glinted a slight metallic lustre as he observed his little sister reciting grace, his lips curved as he came to an unexpected understanding. Lights could be seen moving reflected in that eye of his.
When his sister was done, he then took the glass of wine handed to him by the ever-attentive butler at his side and raised it for a toast, before he brought it to his lips and took a sip.
He could see his sister eagerness in taking up her own glass filled with fruit-and-honey cocktail and clinked it against his own.
"To brother's health!"
"Cheers!"
.....
"...and then Grandfather caught us destroying the library, hahaha. Remember that, brother? Hahaha!!!"
"We ended up being disciplined a whole week memorising and reciting the whole book of The Vilheim's Historium..."
His sister was laughing so hard to that that her eyes were pooling tears as she accidentally dropped her fork on doing so - she was through and through abandoning all etiquette before him.
Kian motioned to one of the maidservants and another fork was quickly provided to his still-giggling sister.
He simply smiled at her and shook his head with a sigh.
"Alright, Annie, that'd be enough. We'll stop with the jests and focus on finishing our dinner."
"Yes, brother...it was hard for us back then, was it not, brother?"
Kian's face dimmed for a moment as he replied,
"You lost your voice that year, and I lost my eyesight...we've lost so much that winter, but the Goddess' Dawn had always guarded us. We were taken in by Grandfather and the rest of the Vilheims with great love and warmth. Uncle Rupert even read that historium book for us and helped us memorised it— "
It was a sombre memory for both of them as the two dined sullenly. They had talked about many things, be it memories from their childhood or the time they spent at their grandfather's.
Anneliese also shared about her recent days studying in the academy.
He could see the joy in glinting in his sister's face as she spoke of lessons she learned in her classes or gossips amongst the her social circle.
"Brother, can you remember anything from that day? It was such a horrifying day, for you and and for me. It was such a blessing from the Goddess to have mercy on us."
Kian knew what his sister was trying to ask and he did not want to lie to his sister either, but it would be much better for her not knowing.
Alas, it was his burden to bear, both his secret and his plans with it.
"Sorry, Annie, I really can't remember. The last thing I knew was telling Joachim to seek help from the patrolling knights."
"...then, it's a good thing, brother. There's no need to remember such a horrendous day. Maria, tell the kitchen to serve the honey-stewed pears."
"Yes, milady."
"Brother, wouldn't it be delightful if we go sightseeing the streets of Austeirgard tomorrow? Oh no, maybe not tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, then. You haven't been out of the residence much since we came here nor have seen around the capital yourself...there's much to behold!"
Kian was not taken aback to his sister's sudden off-tangents.
In fact, it could be said, he was expecting it. He smiled to himself at his beloved sister's silliness.
"Annie, should we not wait the physician's report first for that?"
"Mr. Kesteron would be visiting tomorrow in the morning so if he concludes that your health allows it, brother, we could go out on Vyskur'ya. Oh my, we should visit the Fontaines' for luncheon! Mr. Rolf, send a messenger to Lady Maelis tomorrow and inform her that my brother and I would be visiting the day after tomorrow. And that we would like to express our sincerest gratitude for the Fontaines' aid."
"The Fontaines'?"
"Oh, have I not mentioned it before, brother? Lady Maelis Eulle of the Fontaines was the one who referred us the reputable physician, Mr. Kesteron on the day you were injured. She was with me coming back from the academy as we were hoping to be idling with some tea and tabletalks. Surprisingly, she seems very interested in fine arts, especially Esmerian-realism sculpting, which was why I wanted to show her some of brother's sculptures in the atelier that day..."
"Lady Eulle, the daughter of the Fontaine's current lord?"
It was simply etiquette to address a lady of another noble house, who held no peerage nor title, by her sacramental name so as to uphold the lady's dignity and solemn respect towards her, as in accordance to the church's teachings; it supposedly guards the lady from ill-words and slanders as the name invokes the Goddess' watch.
Which was why gossips among noble ladies were spoken in veiled pronouns such as 'the flower of such and such house'.
"Oh my, we should also go to the Merchant Guild, to get some hire and supplies to repair and restore that atelier room. And might as well order for new clothes for the season at the Giovans'..."
"...do as you wish, Annie."
.....
The dinner concluded with his sister continuously proposing one place to visit after another for their Vyskur'ya excursion plan to sightsee around the capital—Anneliese genuinely wanted to show him around Austeirgard—as well as her ideas on getting him some new outercoats and tunics, to match the season.
His sister then reminded him of the physician's visit tomorrow and bade him to rest well for the night.
Joachim was already outside his door when Kian reached his bedchamber on the second floor thereafter.
"The bedchamber has been cleaned but the candlestick by the door would have to wait as soon as daybreak to be replaced, milord. And the puncture at the wall would have to require a stonemason to repair it, otherwise a painting or a tapestry over it may work as well."
"There's no need for a stonemason I guess, so a painting from the living room would suffice. Preferably one of father's two Cimabue's. No one else but you should enter the bedchamber before the arrangements are done, understood? Should the other servants be asking, tell them that a furniture had bumped onto the wall and caused the stone to chip. Oversee the arrangements when I'm out on the excursion with my sister this Vyskur'ya. Oh, and inform Mr. Rolf that I would want a blacksmith to come, suitably on next Vyast'ya."
"Understood, milord. May my lordship be gathered in the Dawn."
Kian entered his bedchamber and closed the door behind him, his valet still in his bow.
Looking around the candlelit bedchamber, Kian saw the mess from earlier was no more, but the silver candlestick still jutted obstinately from the stone of the wall.
Removing the robe draped simply over his shoulder, he then climbed onto the silky bed, seemingly eager in his movement in spite of the pain from his bandaged injuries and the limp of his right leg.
He positioned himself to sit with his back leaning against the soft pillows by the bedhead.
Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths and relaxed the tired muscles of his limbs, taking liberal inspiration from the church's meditation practices, plus the unruly but comfortable sitting posture.
Then his eyes fluttered open, his right one began shining the golden hue.
He was diving back into the shared mental space.
Kian found himself standing in a vast darkness, surrounded by the myriads of starlike orbs, all flickering in a distance.
And before him was a radiant sphere, pulsing with the fullness of divine knowledge; it was the thought node from earlier with the mental tag 「 code: alon 」.
"Cerebrata, begin [Spirituality Sacrifice Ritual] protocol."
「 commencing spirituality sacrifice ritual protocol. establishing etheric link. etheric link: established. status: stable. minimal noise. host spirituality count: 16,979,751 ether units. uploading spirituality. progress: 1.79 percent. please wait_ 」