I flung open the glass door that led outside, barely managing to evade the grasp of the vomit-inducing scent that belonged to overpriced perfume. I left the crowd of attendees inside the mansion behind me, as at that moment creating distance from all of them was the only thing on my mind. Outside, the only thing to greet me were the fresh, cold air and the shining full moon.
I never would have thought I could hit the limit to my patience this quickly, especially when none of them really even tried to be obnoxious. Sadly though, it seemed to be their natural state of being. I couldn't even really pity them, as I was closer to being utterly bewildered by the behaviour of those overgrown rich brats. At least for the sake of my grandfather's appearances, I had made my exit be unnoticed by the other guests.
As far as the eye could see, mine at the very least, the surrounding land would be something definitely more worthy of respect than that oversized house. It's after all where my grandfather's true interest and hobby was reflected. It all superficially resembled an oversized, overcomplicated garden, but it was populated solely with exotic plants. If you could even classify some of them that way. At some point it became dubious to think whether some of them were even plants to begin with, let alone alive.
Glowing hot vines, brilliantly shining tulips of unnatural colours, trees of pure transparent wood, all infested with what could only be described as sparkling, polychromic, crystalline moss. On top of all of that one of the trees bore gems as fruit right now, while the others did not. Forget it being out of season, none of them even bloomed at the same time despite looking similar.
Aside from that, there were clearly more of those new variations than there was normal plantlife compared to last time. And because of that, it seemed the moss had spread quite a bit further overall as well. How were the gardeners even capable of keeping up with all of that?
One of the biggest questions I tended to have to my grandfather was what he would do if these plants began to violently overgrow, as I had a feeling they weren't what one would call 'tamed'. But the hanging white moon and the countless stars of the sky provided just enough light for one to enjoy their magnificence. The occasional lamp post also helped in making this maze of a garden navigable. I guess that was the reason why he never came up with a concrete answer. He said he would think of something when it happened. To him it must have been a crime to worry about containing beauty, especially when it hadn't done any harm yet. Not the most reasonable approach, but it was charming in its own way.
Still, this attendance of mine had been a waste of my time. It was a festival held to commemorate the world's most excellent people, those that contributed to the world's peace the most. It was one of the few major events that remained even after Europe's fall. Not that I had much of an interest in it, as the people that attended were rich brats, no matter their age. Even though the mansion appeared lively and its bright lights scattered everywhere, I didn't feel any envy or jealousy. I was just fine with being here, taking in this sight.
Still, I do regret not grabbing one of those sparkling wine bottles or at least something to chew on this otherwise chilly night. I would just sit down here somewhere and my entire evening would be made. Was it worth it to go back to the mansion just for that?
Before I could even dismiss that ridiculous idea, my thoughts were interrupted by the pained groan of someone else nearby, the rustling noise from the plants giving away his location.
"Why are they so hard to-?," someone let out an irritated groan, directed towards no one.
As I slowly stood up, my head reflexively turned towards the origin of that commotion. It seemed like a singular large thicket was the only thing separating us right now. I casually strolled forward, not making any effort to mask my approach. But for a moment I hesitated, while I was still hidden from their sight. Did I really want to interact with a person that was present here today? The chances were very high that he was just like the people in the mansion, someone I would choose to avoid anyway.
"It shouldn't be this annoying to pluck a single rose!," they seemed to have grown only more impatient with their complaints.
They definitely appeared to be quite immature, raising their voice like that over nothing. And to begin with, this was still private property. Admiring the garden was one thing, but messing with it was bordering on disrespect. I took the final step, preparing myself to confront that person head-on, to call them out for what they were doing.
What awaited me was not what I had quite expected. It was a young man, not far removed from my own age. Though his voice had been loud, I realised it wasn't particularly deep. Thanks to a nearby lamppost and the shining clear sky, I could actually make out his appearance. He was dressed in an olive green military uniform adorned with a few golden chains hanging on his left shoulder on top of a bit of golden embroidery accenting the green all across his body. Strangely, his hair was white, devoid of any particular pigment. Then there was his fair skin that had been blemished with a bit of blood. It flowed from his wounds that he earned when he tried to grab one of the metallic roses in front of him.
Even now that I stood here, he hadn't noticed my presence. It became clear to me that he was still fixated on the flowers in front of him. Though I would have described it as metal that had taken the shape of roses instead. They too sparkled with gem covered moss, giving them a beautiful quality that made each rose different individually.
Suddenly, he made another attempt at reaching for the rose, with the same hand that had been hurt several times so far I assumed.
"You should stop that-," I tried to interject.
In part because he should leave the flowers alone. Another part of me felt obligated to stop him from hurting himself more. But my words didn't register with him at all it seemed, as next thing he tightly clutched one of the flowers in front of him. Mustering all the strength he had, he finally pulled one free from the wild bouquet in front of him.
A single pristine rose, sparkling in his victorious, bloody hand. He raised it towards the sky, wishing to fully appreciate its lustre with his green eyes…
Only for it to begin to rust immediately in the next moment, crumbling in his hands. As if the laws of the world had returned, once more beginning to apply. Naturally, he was dejected, I could feel his disappointment from here even without him putting it into words.
I didn't know why, even though he got the hollow victory that he deserved…
Not one part of me felt satisfied in seeing that rose wither. If he was that insistent on wanting the rose, I wasn't even going to be that upset at him taking it even without permission.
However with all of that over, the man in front of me finally began to notice my appearance.
"Wait, how did I not…," he stared at me in bewilderment, his deep emerald green eyes almost appearing like they were glowing.
"You will have to excuse me, but I didn't sneak up on you. I in fact called out to you before when you were trying to reach for the rose again…," I pointed out calmly to his flustered self.
"That's not what I-," he tried to say something but stopped halfway through.
It's not that he immediately calmed down, instead he just proceeded to stare at me directly. For a rather uncomfortable amount of time as well, during which he was of course silent.
"Can I ask what you are doing?," I finally asked him.
"You are there, right? I mean standing right in front of me, definitely, yes?," he replied with a weird question as he suddenly chose to approach me.
With all prior hesitation he had gone, he walked up to me, grabbing me by the arm. It seemed that the military uniform was not just for show, as I did feel somewhat of a tight grip. That was a mild surprise, given his thin physique.
"This is…," it almost felt like he was admiring me, or rather, appraising me.
"Can I ask you to mind my personal space?," I tried to remain courteous.
In return the man simply stared at me as if I was an object, no different than the rose he held in his hand before.
"You sound like you are annoyed, but it doesn't really show that well on your face…," he seemed to doubt me.
"No, I assure you, I definitely don't like being this close to strangers," I replied curtly.
Though his expression continued to remain cautious yet inquisitive of me, he did indeed let me go, only for me to realise that his bloodied hand had blemished my suit.
"You got blood on my suit…," I pointed out, trying to convey my genuine irritation at this point.
It wasn't going to come out easily either, because not only were they hard to clean to begin with, but also blood wasn't particularly easy to remove either.
"I guess now it's noticeable a tiny bit," the man stared at me.
I shot him a silent glare in response.
"Your irritation I mean," he added with a laugh, while hand was still bleeding.
It would have been enough to make someone worry, but given his behaviour, I made the calm decision to try and remove myself from his presence as he seemed to be doing just fine. I was wrong in equating him to the people in the mansion. He was after all far more annoying than any of them ever could be. That's how it felt anyway.
"Ah, did I happen to offend you? My bad!," he shouted half heartedly.
At least, I couldn't figure out if he was genuine in attempting to apologise or not.
"I just had to admire your suit from up close," it suddenly came from him.
It was enough to make me pause my gait, even if for just a moment at least.
"Well at least you realised that much," I stated.
But as I turned around to look back at him, I saw that he had already closed the distance between us.
"Indeed, it was very pleasant to touch… But why is it purple?," he voiced his uncalled for critique with uncanny innocence.
"Is there something wrong with it?," I felt aggravated, not knowing if this would lead to intentional mockery.
"Well, don't you think there were better options? At least you could have dyed this one in another colour or something," he spoke bluntly.
"Thanks for the suggestion…," I voiced my dismissal.
"Wait, did I just make it worse?," he asked himself loudly.
It was hard to tolerate his presence. Now that I thought about it, he hadn't even given his name yet, but as of this moment I didn't feel like getting to know him. I think it was best for me to go away while my name still eluded him.
"It's a bit hard to tell you know…," he whimpered.
I knew that already, that I was often called expressionless. However in this case it didn't seem like it would have made a difference to begin with. Once more I turned away from him, trying to walk away from him.
"So, where are you going?," he still insisted on opening his mouth.
I wasn't partial to giving people the cold shoulder, but I wished that person finally got a clue.
"Somewhere that isn't here," I replied dryly.
"Not even the mansion lies in that direction though…," he pointed out as I headed towards another section of the garden.
"That's right, because I don't want to be there either," I clarified.
"Because of all the rich people, right?," I heard him declare with a sneer.
It's not like he seemed much different from them… Is what I would have initially described him as, but thinking back to his bleeding hand, I couldn't envision any of the rich elite going out of their way to expose themselves to such discomfort if nothing else.
"At least tell me your name!," he began shouting behind me as he matched my speed.
I certainly wouldn't share it out of my own volition.
"Oh right, I should introduce myself first, that's the polite thing to do!," he exclaimed loudly as if he suddenly remembered his manners.
Was politeness even really on his mind? Given how he only just remembered that, I doubted it was a high priority of his.
"My name's Azrian," he caught up with me finally, matching my speed perfectly while being to my left.
Even now I still tried to only give my silence as the response. Yet it didn't seem like he would leave me alone whatsoever.
"Hmm, well I guess you prefer a silent night. Still, it does seem that you know your place around here quite well," he pretended to be just loudly thinking to himself.
He was surprisingly clingy, glued to me every step of the way. I arrived at the conclusion that I would either have to talk to him or keep listening to his one sided attempts at a conversation for the rest of the evening. Between those two hopeless options, I thought if I answered him for a bit he may let off eventually at least. That is why I conceded to him, mentally anyway.
"Of course I do," I sighed in defeat as I opened my mouth.
"Hmm?," his eyes seemed to glimmer brightly once he saw me talking once more.
"I mean that I have been here several times. I practically grew up with this place."
"Grew up with… Could it be that you are that guy's relative somehow? Bandren's I mean," he slightly furrowed his brow.
"Grandson," I told him curtly.
"The grandson… But that one shouldn't be…," he once again began weirdly murmuring to himself.
He once more stared at me, blank curiosity all across his face. This time there was less visible confusion, but it was replaced by some sort of uncomfortable intrigue that he had no intent of hiding.
"Well, I suppose the proof to the contrary does exist right in front of me," he closed his eyes while shrugging.
I didn't try to engage more than I had to, so I paid little attention to his monologues. For a while silence reigned once again, as Azrian stared up in the sky, facing away from me. It didn't seem like there was anything up there though, not even as much as a star constellation. While trying to get a look at his face to better assess where his stare went, I could have sworn that I saw a momentary green shine in his eyes.
"Then… that must mean you are Restan," he turned to face me, his face no different than before.
His eyes undoubtedly were still green, but not as bright as I had imagined there for a moment. I wasn't one to hallucinate or imagine something that didn't exist. Even more plainly put, I knew that I did not have the ability to dream. It seemed to be a weird condition of mine, but there wasn't anything to be done about it. Still, that made me wonder what I had seen there for that tiniest fraction of a second.
"So you did hear of me… I wonder how," I became slightly more cautious.
The man in front of me had after all clearly hadn't known me, or heard of me. Not that I blamed him. Despite my grandfather's efforts, I tended to keep my distance from his public life. My existence wasn't of particular interest to anyone, especially compared to his constant accomplishments.
"Ah well you see… your grandfather can't help himself when it comes to praising and sharing stories about you," despite the noticeable pause, he didn't really stutter.
It didn't really seem to be the truth. After all, was he really that type of person? Though I didn't doubt his care towards me and him displaying kindness on a constant basis, he seemed to be a bit too self-absorbed to pride himself in his relatives. Still, it was hard to tell if this was a lie as well.
That is what bothered me the most. The inability to see through him. Though he had made an unfavourable impression, I did feel assured now at least that he wasn't someone of the same stature as those from the mansion. Whether that be for the better or for the worse…
I couldn't tell. And that did unsettle me to some degree. That is why I wanted to put that emotion that faintly reeked of anxiety to rest.
"How well do you know him as a person?," I asked bluntly.
"Well, you could say that I am a… fan of his," he replied with a dumb smile.
Unfortunately, that didn't have the effect that I had hoped for in terms of quelling my uncertainty.
"Still, I hope I didn't ruin your evening too much. For that I want to apologise," I was caught off guard at the sound of those words.
Before I had noticed, a pensive expression had formed on his face. It was strangely genuine, in that I knew that he didn't really have any reason to feel bad. If he did, then that meant that he did care about others to some extent, which was more than could be said for many people I knew.
"All things considered, the mansion was still a worse option I suppose," I answered honestly.
I didn't feel like cheering him up, but at least I felt less aggravated now. Though some part of me told me to keep my distance even now, due to him being unknown to me, I didn't quite know what to do.
"Even so, I guess your face really doesn't change that much," he stared at me with some sort of childish wonder.
"Makes it hard to know what you are thinking," he smiled happily there for a moment.
I suppose that was true.
"But then, what about you? In the span of a few minutes I have seen so much of you I can't begin to imagine how you are normally," I replied with what I had intended to be a jab.
"I will take that as a compliment," he grinned with annoyance.
Would the day ever come that I could at least pretend to smile like that however? I suppose not. As far as I can remember, that's just how I have always been. Yes, as far as I can remember… What was the very first thing I remembered? Sometimes it did feel hard to tell.
"Hey, are there other places that are worth showing around here?," he rattled me awake from my thoughts.
And it was there that I had decided to give in and with nothing better to do, show him the best places I remembered, in this garden full of hollow yet dear memories.