Questions

The dinner with the family continued. After that bizarre incident, Ayre continued his dinner like nothing happened. Of course, his excuse which was "slapping" Enson, his brother who's three years younger than him, wasn't swallowed by Crill however, Crill didn't push him to give an answer.

"I will go back now. Thank you for the meal."

Ayre hurriedly left the dining room. He slowly opened the door. He was wondering if the outside of the room returned to that pale environment he was in earlier.

'Has the outside really returned to normal...?'

As he was in the middle of walking along the hallway, he saw a displayed vase. He picked it up and thew it away just seconds after.

Break!

The sound of glass breaking echoed through the empty hallway. Ayre's heart was still beating fast. He figured that if he receive no reaction like earlier, then he might still be inside of that "separate world".

As his heart was just about to burst out of his chest, he finally heard footsteps. Normally, he should be afraid of these footsteps but strangely, he appeared to be sighing out of relief.

*Calm*

"Ayre... first it was the door. Now you're even making noises using the vase? What are you doing?"

Crill arrived with a male servant.

"Father, will you believe me if I say I'm practicing throwing things to Enson's face?"

"I don't believe that lie even for just a bit. No matter how pissed off you are, you see violence as a pointless endeavor especially towards your siblings."

Crill replied. He indeed knows his son best.

"Then dyou know why I tell you these lies in the first place?"

"Like how a blank letter tells me that it's urgent, you lying just means that you don't want to be bothered because of it. However... I'm your father. I know its unfair but you don't have the authority to tell me to not pursue it."

"Well said. Like every parent I guess?"

"You... Then that's the last time I wish to hear something loud. Next time, no, there is no next time. Clean this up."

Crill left with a little bit of curiosity and a bit of damage to his pride as a parent however, it was indeed unfair, hence, he left. He told the servant who was with him to clean Ayre's mess, literally.

Ayre on the other hand, started walking towards his room on the second floor. He felt that the day took away too much of lifespan just from the surprises alone. Add to that, the experience. A person without a strong will would've already fainted. He needed to calm down, process, think things through and finally, plan. It was not clear what to plan for but he was already involved, or he got caught up, is the right phrase, in some kind of business, bad business.

When he entered, he noticed that all of the things that supposedly broke earlier, the cupboard, the mirror, and the various things on his desk, they were all in place, as tidy as it could ever be.

"Strange...does that mean it was really a kind of a separate dimension? Not leaving me with any evidence to work with huh. It will be quite hard to look for information about you all but time will always be the answer. Hmm?"

Ayre was whispering to himself, not really surprised about the fact that his room cleaned itself, when he noticed his pocket was bulging. When he checked, he saw the candle he used from earlier. He actually put it in his pocket along with the "blank" paper letter.

His messy untied hair swayed as he turned his sight around, away from the candle to look at the window. It was strange, he felt.

'Someone must have been observing me. Just when I finished reading was the exact timing that dude chose to knock. Coincidence? Possibly but that would be the like, most perfect coincidence I would probably experience my whole life. Now...where could be this surveillance coming from?'

He covered his room's wide windows with the curtains as he asked himself the last question.

'Another weird point is that, they could have waited until I fall asleep again if they have some business with me, be it killing me or as that guy said, just erasing my memory so why would they choose to do it in the middle of dinner time when everyone's so active? The confidence of that world? If so, then they must have been overconfident because that was literally what made their plans fail...'

Two strange points. One was answered, one wasn't. What they did was simply illogical. Man, even me as author-kun can't figure it out.

'And finally, the apparition. Let's throw that bullshit about drugs. I know myself best, at least in terms of what I consume. It, it was real. Magical abilities exist in this world? How come I only learned this after twenty plus years of living? Being the foreign affairs department head, I am familiar with how the world works outside this city, hell even outside this country. At least it's true until that guy showed up though. Eryl Syth...'

Eryl Syth, the new cathedral cardinal. This whole incident revolves around that letter. He was asked if he would be so kind as to let that guy erase that part of his memory, the memory of him reading that letter sent by the Brachium Cathedral so even a primary school student would be able to figure out that the church's people would know something about it, at least those who have a high enough position to obtain clearance for the said information.

He was thinking deeply while staring at the ceiling. A stare at the night sky would be able to calm him down but even that is not an option right now. Who knows, maybe next time instead of knocks, some kind of these "magic" may just directly pierce his head without warning. He readied himself, took a bath and rested his tired body on the bed.

Before sleeping, Ayre prepared a box. It will be used to contain both the blank paper and the candle. These two things are the only things connected to these events after all.

After that, he just slumped into his bed and directly fell asleep.

***

Second day of the current revolution. The system of tracking time consists of a sixty-minute hour, twenty four-hour days, thirty-day months, and twelve-month years. Ayre did his usual routine. He tidied himself up and went to the dining room for breakfast.

'Still as noisy as ever...'

The breakfast occured as usual and the family members started heading out for their respective business. However, Ayre stayed and told his father. No, it was more like a request for a day leave.

"Father, I wish to do something today. It is a personal matter. As a department head, I don't have much free time but I hope you can make an exception just this time. Will that be alright?"

"I don't permit of a worker leaving his post. I will tell you right now that I will not allow it. But if you still go absent later, I will not do anything about it. A few cuts of your paycheck is the worst."

Crill clearly knew there's something going on but he didn't push Ayre to tell him. He wants the young man to have a settled mind, that's why even though he told him he would not allow it as a pretext, he still indirectly said he'd allow it.

"Thank you, Father."

Ayre left the dining room after this. He called Dan just outside.

"Don't go to the usual... We'll go to the church. I want to meet someone."

"Aight."

Dan was curious but it was not nice to stick his nose into his boss' business. It wasn't really the first time his boss did a work leave so he easily suppressed his curiosity.

"To the church we go I guess."