Morvain woke up to a spinning world. He had to lay back down, then woke up clutching his non-existing abs just to avoid throwing up. Once the spinning slowed down, he took in the sights—the dim lighting, the soft orange hue, and the wallpaper that screamed "cabin fever."
'Ughh...man, can't call it a dream anymore. It's a damn nightmare at this point.'
He clutched his head and let out a big, dramatic yawn, as if waking up from the craziest adventure of his life.
"Ah, you're finally awake, sir hero."
A voice chimed in from the side, and Morvain almost jumped out of bed. However, a hand clamped onto his shoulder, and a friendly smile greeted him.
'Of fucking course! I guess my misfortune does know no limit.'
The familiar face before him was handsome enough to make any girl's legs turn to jelly. However, he was a man, a man with insecurities and ego. At the sight of the sculpted face and golden hair, Morvain's first instinct was to punch it and then spit on it.
"Careful there," Lord Emberfall said, "You're still recovering. You might break some bones if you fall to the ground, sir hero."
Morvain wasn't particularly fond of the title this handsome squid was calling him; there was a subtle hint of mockery in it.
"Where am I?" he asked, resisting the growing urge to punch this beautiful face.
"Well, as of my calculation, we're currently one and a half months away from our destination." Lord Emberfall responded, a smirk playing on his lips.
"One and a half months?" Morvain arched an eyebrow. "The last time I checked, we were only a month away from the Stormwatch Provision. Not a month and a half. Either your 'calculations' are wrong, or... or we're making an emergency stop on the nearest land."
"Ah, smart," said the young lord, a smirk playing on his face. He took a step back and leaned against the walls, hands in his pockets. "By the way you're talking to me, I suppose you're not a nobody like you were claiming to be."
Morvain's face fell. He had been played. It looked like Lumiere had kept her promise, but he had been too foolish to play the subservient servant to a lord.
'Damn it. He's too good, alright.'
"Ah! Are you a lord?"
Lord Emberfall frowned. 'What are you plotting?'
"Forgive this imbecile." Morvain bowed quickly. "It seems this fool has damaged his eyes fighting that damn monster. At my current state, I cannot discern a lord from a servant and a servant from a lord. Forgive this fool for thinking that you were just an ugly, obese, foul-smelling, lilac-mouthed servant. No lord and lady would even want to be seen together with a lowlife like me, sir."
The temperature dropped by a few degrees. Lord Emberfall slowly smelled his armpits, taking a few sniffs and scrunching his nose. Morvain wanted to laugh but held his mouth from betraying him ever again.
"It-it's just that we're currently in the process of rebuilding the ship. Besides, I don't smell that terrible. You're certainly yapping, lowborn. You don't expect me to believe your blatant lie about your eyesight, do you? If so, then you're a bigger fool than you already are."
"How can I, a simple hive-minded fool from the slums, even think about a noble with ill intentions, sir?" Morvain replied with a slight bow, his words coated in an air of innocence that belied his true thoughts.
"That's enough! Your trickery won't work on me, heathen." Lord Emberfall's eyes glinted, like blue pearls on a black ocean. "I know you're not who you are presenting to be. I can see that from your actions. No lowborn would risk their life to save others unless they want some kind of prize, and no highborn, unless for name, would risk their life for others. So what are you? A grateful servant or a selfish hero?"
"Nothing of any sort, My lord." Morvian replied. "Just a humble man doing whatever I can... to help the others, that is."
The young lord snorted in ridiculous.
Unconsciously, Morvain put a hand through his pockets, attempting to grab his magical stone. Alas, there was nothing in his pocket. He then put his other hand in his other pocket.
'Surely, it would be there, right?'
But alas, the result was the same. There was nothing there.
'It was not a dream. It wasn't a dream then. The stone...'
Realization dawned on him. He had lost what was his only trump card.
"What's wrong? You seem a little out of it."
"Huh? Oh no...uhmm."
Morvain tried to form words, but his mind was too blank to even think.
'Where have I lost it? The seas? Then it's gone for good. Nobody can retrieve anything from the depths of the soulless sea. Now more than ever, as it is...'
Morvain had lost all his will. His plans were never integrated with this stone in the first place, but he had come to rely on it so heavily that he thought his entire work would be in jeopardy if he didn't find it.
'If someone tries to kill me, I would be dead before I see the knife in their hand. That's how vulnerable I am right now.'
"...I'm talking to you, scum. What happen--"
"Shut up!" Morvain roared. "Just shut up, you goddamned pretty boy!"
Emberfall was so stumped by Morvain's sudden outburst that he couldn't even react. He watched as Morvain visibly sweated buckets, looking like he just ran a marathon.
"Hey, are you alright?" Now the one panicking was the young lord. How could he not? After all, it's the damn hero of the people.
"Shut it, you scoundrel! One more word and I'll have a pike up your ass!"
Morvain threatened, as if a pike was the go-to solution for all problems. The threat hung in the air, and for a moment, both of them just stared at each other, one ready to unleash the fury, and the other trying to comprehend the absurdity of a pike threat towards a lord.