Death, Devotion, Dissonance

"Young master Phelippe, your father's calling for you," the house butler spoke from behind the door.

"I'll be there after a clean myself!" Phel replied, and then added to himself silently. "I just came here, at least give me some time for myself…"

He then undressed, and went to his bathroom. The water was a bit too cold for him, but he solved the problem soon enough with a spell.

As he submerged himself into the warm water, his mind settled down. Though, he still couldn't prevent the sigh from escaping his mouth.

And he was very much looking forward to spending time with Arza on the weekend. But, his family called for him abruptly the day before. They did not even tell him why he was called, only saying it was urgent.

Phel apologetically explain his situation to Arza.. Thankfully, Arza was understanding and let Phel go without issue. A part of Phel hoped for the red-haired boy to make a bigger fuss, but one couldn't have everything in life.

And besides, they were still only two weeks into dating. They held hands and exchanged a few pecks on each other's cheeks, but they didn't do much more. Arza seemed like he didn't mind trying more, but Phel felt it was unnatural to move at such a rapid pace. They needed to truly be comfortable with each other for their relationship to develop and prosper.

Phel smiled, thinking of the past two weeks. At first, a part of him feared that Arza would call off the relationship, the way he did with his previous girlfriends, but so far, nothing suggested an action like that. Arza never showed worry or discomfort.

Phel wanted to ask why Arza's relationships lasted for such a short time, but he didn't want to stir anything between them, fearing he'll say something unnecessary and ruin the peaceful status quo.

There was no conflict between them, since the red-haired boy was always very vocal about his wants and needs. Phel was also not the type to be fussy about the little things, so he usually agreed to work on whatever Arza wanted. And most of them were things that Phel would want as well. Things like exercising together in the morning, Arza asking Phel to be more proactive in the Helm Class, etc.

On the other side, Phel only had one request from Arza, which was to keep the relationship secrets. For various reasons.

Arza did not make things difficult for Phel, and the two have been dating secretly, but peacefully.

Humming, Phel finished cleaning himself and got out of the bathtub. He dressed himself, and walked out the corridor.

"Young master," the butler greeted him.

"You're still waiting for me?" Phel asked. "What's the problem?"

"Lord Perre hasn't informed me of his reasons, but he seemed slightly impatient to see you."

Phel nodded and the two made their way towards his father's study.

The butler declared Phel and he entered, wondering what this was all about.

The door behind him closed and Phel looked inside the room.

Phel's father was standing in front of his desk, lightly biting the base of his index finger. There was a subtle frown on his face and his gaze seemed out of focus.

"Father?"

His father sharply turned his towards Phel, almost as if he was startled to see him.

"Phel. How was your journey? Hope you didn't have any plans for the weekend?" his father asked.

"Don't worry about it," Phel smiled. "But why did you call me all the way here?"

"Oh, of course. Ah, first, take a seat. You want some wine?"

"Uh, no."

"Take some anyway."

The two got comfortable on a little tea table, and Phel's father started speaking after a brief pause.

"You ever heard of what happened to the Earl of Havencastle, right? Earl Merlyn Tuchat?"

Phel saw the name before, but he couldn't remember from where exactly. But Havencastle was a city that was the main trade hub with Tower City. The current ruler was a woman name Zakha Nabid, an easterner who was granted a noble title due to her talents.

'Since their family name's different, maybe this Mervyn Tuchat was exiled somehow?'

"An Earl from the east? I feel like I've heard of him, but I can't tell exactly."

"He was executed some decade ago, after being found in the bed of another man," Phel's father said grimly.

Phel suddenly realized where he saw the name. It was during the time when he was searching for the existence of gay people in the kingdom and other countries. Realizing this and what his father's reason for suddenly calling for him was, Phel turned very defensive.

"He was also convicted of arranged rape. He let his two servants do whatever they wanted with his them wife."

"So you have heard of him…"

"I told you, the name sounded familiar. But why are you telling me this all of a sudden?"

"Yes. Well, Mervyn's case also included rape, but hm… Have you then heard of Viscount Gion Atherson? Hanged publicly on charges of homosexuality, alongside his steward, who was his lover.

"..."

"Then you must know that the man was very well-regarded in his little town, famous for his kind and selfless personality. Everyone loved him, but he still couldn't escape the kingdom's harsh judgement of such people."

"…"

Phel did not want to have this conversation. He wanted to go back to his room and enjoy dinner with Arza. There was no need for him to hear these words.

He wanted to keep his silence, hopefully make his father too tired to continue speaking… but due to his irritation, he just decided to end the conversation quicker.

"Dad, why did you bring me here? I was worried something had come up, since you were so urgent."

Phel's father sighed deeply and poured himself another bottle of wine.

"Phel, my boy. You're not a fool," he continued. "You know why I'm telling you all this."

"…"

Phel went back to his silent treatment.

"When did you two start dating, anyway?" his father sighed. "You know, I don't have a hobby of spying on my son. It's just that I was feeling that something was off. That something bad was going to happen if I do nothing… I've told you about my random anxiety attacks, right?"

"…"

"I'd start feeling anxious whenever something comes up. That time our house was suddenly hit by a stray spell from a mage, I started feeling it coming almost a month prior. I got irritated easily, I couldn't sleep well. My heart was telling me that something bad was going to happen, but foolishly, I ignored it, thinking I was just overreacting."

Phel wanted to lash out at his father, to make him stop talking, but he knew that wouldn't solve anything.

"The next time it happened was right after I invested in that savings thing that offered monthly percentage incomes for customers. The moment I put my money in the thing, I started having those anxious thoughts all over again. Thankfully this time, I decided to trust my instincts and pulled out my money. It later turned out that the business was a scam. Countless people lost their moneys, but I managed to win, since I was the one to pull out early."

"…"

Phel wanted to call bullshit, but he himself was an avid believer of his father's miracles. He would proudly talk about his father's sudden premonitions to his friends and classmates.

"Phel. I was insomniac since two weeks ago. I couldn't tell what the hell was going on, so out of desperation, I asked a good friend of mine to check up on you. He told me about what's happening with you and that red-haired boy… Oh, how I wish to let you do what you want… but, listen. It won't end well."