Chapter 23: The Ceremony's Initiation
"How tedious…" Sebastian murmured under his breath while sitting within the confines of his own, dimly lit office.
His eyes shifted towards the insistently ticking clock on the wall every so often as it continued to tick towards midnight. Indicating that Alduin was set to return home from the Sitri Manor any minute now.
Lamentably, the pile of paperwork on his desk still demanded a few more hours of care. Meaning his duties would have to bleed into the night lest he wanted his workload to worsen even further.
"I'll never understand how Martha's able to cut through paperwork at the speed she does… Hmph! It's probably just another bloodline trait. Damn Sallos genetics… doing everything for their wielder like a doting parent." He griped, leaning back into his chair and rubbing his hand down his face in exasperation.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Enter," he instructed. Already well aware of who was on the opposite side of the room's door, the act of matching a person to the signature of their demonic power was as easy as breathing to someone of his caliber.
The knob twisted, revealing the frame of an elderly-looking man with a soft, welcoming facial structure. Like the kind one would expect to see on their grandparents.
He wore a dark, officer-styled cap with House Buné's emblem embedded into the center, a black long coat coupled with a dress shirt and tie, a pair of pristine white gloves, and a set of rounded glasses calmly resting atop his nose-bridge.
"My Lord," he greeted the household's Patriarch, putting one hand on his chest and performing a courtly bow chock-full of earned reverence. "They've returned."
He was none other than the chauffeur responsible for bringing Alduin both to and from Sona Sitri's birthday.
"And?" Sebastian folded his hands under his chin, his expression hauntingly desolate as ever. "You wouldn't have the audacity to come here if you didn't have something worthwhile to report. So hurry up and spit it out already, I'm not in the mood to have my time wasted."
Even without exerting his presence, the mere act of Sebastian's pressuring, frosty draconic eyes falling upon the chauffeur was enough to make the latter feel as if he were naught but a frightened little child once more.
Nonetheless, he forced himself to muster up his courage and swallow his fear. Adjusting his marginally wetted collar and gulping nervously.
Stammering in front of Sebastian would undoubtedly end badly for him.
"Before the Young Lord entered the Sitri Manor, I caught wind of a conversation occurring between him and the receiving attendant." His composure gradually steadied with each word he spoke. "As it would seem, Lord Sitri invited him for a discussion of sorts—in private."
"I see, is that all?" The Lord's response was quicker than he had anticipated. Sebastian spent little to no time contemplating what he had just heard, either because it was of no consequence, or it was something he already anticipated.
The chauffeur couldn't even begin to guess which it was, but it wasn't as if he had any interest in trying to pry into the Patriarch's train of thought. He wasn't suicidal.
"Yes, that's all." He replied somewhat apologetically.
He wasn't a man with any real magical prowess, and Sebastian had kept it that way on purpose. Sending someone strong enough to infiltrate the Sitri Clan's residence to spy on Alduin and Thora, whose loyalties he believed to be… questionable as of late, didn't seem feasible to him.
The chances of them being exposed were simply far too high, after all, one of the targets would be a Senjutsu practitioner trained by the greatest wielder of the art in the history of the Underworld—and the other a mage talented enough to master the scarcely seen technique that was quad-casting.
A figure with the prowess to dupe both of them at the same time wasn't someone Sebastian could call upon at a moment's notice. Nor did he have any interest in doing so.
He was wholeheartedly confident in his ability to keep things under control, no matter what antics his fractious fool of a son tried to pull on him.
"Then what are you still doing here? Leave." His chilling tone crawled down the chauffeur's spine, scaring him shitless as he scurried away with abandon. Forgetting even to pronounce his departure out of sheer dread.
Fortunately for him, Sebastian wasn't a stickler for formalities in the first place.
"How odd," he inquisitively stroked his stubble. He got up from his chair and opened the drapes covering the window frame behind him, allowing him to get a good look at the Underworld's scenic night sky. "Sigrid doesn't have the necessary mettle to oppose me. However, it's not unthinkable that he'd do such a thing with Martha's support."
Still, it didn't all quite add up. What incentive could Lord Sitri possibly have to get involved with Alduin? What was there to gain? What objective was Martha working towards here? Assuming she had indeed orchestrated something, or at least attempted to behind Sebastian's back.
Of course, taking the words of a mere chauffeur of all people at face value would be blatant foolishness on his part. There was a chance the information itself was flawed, coupled with the fact that he wasn't capable of getting any intricate details with his meager capabilities.
"Tch! It's all her fault! There's no question that she's the one responsible for teaching him how to sink his fangs into Thora. Does she honestly expect me to believe that a child hardly capable of memorizing even a dozen pages—would be able to convert someone as deeply ingrained as her on his lonesome? Don't make me laugh!"
Deep down, he knew that the Head Maid he had cultivated for nearly a century had begun to question her duties.
He couldn't bring himself to believe it at first, but as time went on, and as he continued to observe how the attendant and master interacted with one another, living in denial proved more and more futile.
She was wavering.
"To think I rescued her from that miserable fate all those years ago, just for her to turn tail over the feelings of a brat, hardly even a tenth of her age." He held his head in embarrassment. "Ridiculous! How truly ridiculous!" He took a deep breath. "No matter, strength always prevails above all—and I'm the strongest one here. Which is why I'll succeed regardless of the petty little obstacles they choose to throw at my feet."
Despite the firmness of his words, his face appeared to be plagued with uncertainty.
He didn't want to admit it out of fear of jinxing himself, but in his bones, he felt as if something had gone awry in that household.
Sebastian turned around, his own contorted face—filled with indignation reflected right back at him across the surface of a whiskey bottle.
"This is precisely why I kept him at arm's length!"
He picked the carafe up, throwing it across the space of his office and letting it shatter against the wall. The light-brown alcoholic liquid was staining the coat of paint and filling the room with its pungent odour.
He proceeded to clasp his hands over his nape, biting down on his lower lip in chagrin.
Sebastian couldn't help but inwardly scorn his current wife, if it weren't for her meddling—then Alduin would never have needed to attend Sona Sitri's nameday in the first place.
===
A month had gone by since that fateful day at the Sitri Manor, making me officially eighteen years of age.
I still remember the deal I made with the Satan Leviathan and Satan Lucifer like it was yesterday, a deal on the cusp of making its presence known. And when that happened, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that chaos would follow.
Chaos that'll be composed by none other than my parents.
Speaking of which—
"Now's not the time to be distracted. I shouldn't need to remind you of that." My father's admonishing voice reached my ears for the umpteenth time.
"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes out of tedium.
Doesn't he ever get tired of his insistent nagging? Just give it a break already, old man, we wouldn't want your blood pressure spiking now, would we? Hehe. Sarcasm.
It's just the two of us today, no Thora, and no Martha either. He even made sure I woke up considerably earlier so I wouldn't have a chance to let them wish me luck beforehand, not that I'm worried—I plan on passing my ceremony with flying colours.
I have to. Otherwise, everything I've worked up until now will have been in vain.
The ceremony itself is going to take place in a location I wasn't even aware of beforehand, a place called "Mount Selvaro", aptly named after our founding ancestor. The region is where every member of House Buné is sent to perform their awakening ceremony, including Sebastian and Ladora.
In essence, it's our family's sacred grounds. Located at the northernmost section of our territory, in the complete opposite direction of Dragon Mountain's border. Guarded by dozens upon dozens of highly-trained guardsmen I didn't know we had, all of whom exist for the sole purpose of keeping outsiders away from the territory.
Anyone unfortunate enough to be caught trespassing—is met with swift execution.
"Hey, isn't it about time you told me why I'm dressed like this?" Strangely enough, Sebastian had me wear an ensemble unlike anything I had ever adorned before.
I was clad in a loose-fitting, baggy, drab robe with cerise accents lining down my sleeves, and of course, House Buné's emblem stitched into the back just like every other piece of clothing in my wardrobe.
The outfit was coupled with a grassy scarf draped around my neck, the color of which reminded me of Martha's hair—and honestly, it was pretty damn comfortable. A word that I imagine is rarely ever associated with Sebastian, if ever.
Part of me kinda wants to make it a permanent addition to my arsenal of attire, even though it's something I got from the grumpy old bastard of all people. I feel snug as a bug in a rug.
"It's tradition."
Yeah, that spells everything out for me.
"Care to elaborate?" I crossed my arms, unimpressed with the constant mask of indifference he loved to adorn.
"No."
"Mhm. Great talk," I sighed, shaking my head.
Ever since I got back from Sona's birthday, the old man's been even grumpier than usual, which is saying a lot. It's almost as if he's going through an emo phase despite his advanced age.
I know for a fact Thora didn't spill the beans to him, because if she did—I'd already have been executed by now. Either that, or Sebastian would be in the midst of a battle with either Lady Leviathan or Lord Lucifer out of a fit of rage.
I'm glad I made the right decision by placing my trust in her, and I'm equally delighted that she did the same for me. It took some convincing, but she eventually shared my perspective.
This household's future isn't as bleak as most people would think. Call it naive, but I'm still confident things can be improved. Sure, I might not be able to breathe life into a complete rehaul. However, as long as I can make it even just a little bit better, I think it's worth a try.
I plan on reaching for everything I desire without so much as a morsel of restraint in this second existence of mine.
Isn't that what it means to live a life you won't regret?
"We're here," Sebastian came to an abrupt halt as we trudged through the dense marshland, the soles of our feet utterly caked in mud.
I don't understand why we don't just fly over there, marching like this is such a hassle. There's also a myriad of insectoid demonic beasts residing within the area, and I can't help but feel my stomach churn each time I catch a glimpse of them darting away out of the corner of my eye.
Insects are creepy!
I walked forward, my eyes widening as I peered over Sebastian's shoulder. Faced with a row of figures shrouded in mystery, all of them neatly arranged in ranks with one another and garbed head to toe in dark, imposing knightly armor.
These bastards are all at least High-Class level! Why on earth would such an impressive gathering of people be relegated to mere guard duty? It doesn't make any sense!
I couldn't see so much as a square inch of their faces, nonetheless, I could feel their eyes all fixed on me like circling hawks.
Sweat started to build up on the back of my neck as I grew increasingly fidgety with each passing second. I didn't know how to explain it, but there's something—off with these people.
Even now, I can already sense roughly twenty of them gathered around our position. I can't begin to fathom why our house has such a force just sitting around here all day, gathering dust.
"Don't bother trying to converse with them," Sebastian cautioned me. My instincts were warning me to take his words at face value. "This creepy bunch was here long before I was ever born. They're supposed to be our family's Royal Guard, but I hardly know a thing about them. Not that it matters, they never leave the mountain, no matter what happens around them anyway. Even during the Civil War, all they did was sit on their assess all day."
Shit, if even Sebastian's calling them creepy—then I might want to tread lightly.
Although, I doubt he has anything to worry about. They're certainly a threat to me with their combined numbers, but they shouldn't stand a chance against him.
Or so I hope.
"Sebastian, I take it thou art yet unacquainted with the essence of respect."
A bold, womanly voice hollowed by the interior of a steel-plated mask spoke up. Her armor was the same as the others for the most part, save for the presence of gilded laurels encrusted atop her helm, and a long, flowing cape draped in royal purple.
"Alas, thou art the most illustrious scion to grace our lineage since the demise of our forebear. Yet, thou art ever unable to ascend to the heights of his resplendence."
What's with the fancy talk? I can hardly understand a thing coming out of this woman's mouth.
"I really couldn't care less about you and your cult-like doctrines," he yawned, nudging me forward with a firm palm to the back. "He's eighteen now, and you already know the drill. So, can we please get this thing started already? Because if you make me listen to your monotonous drivel for a third time, I'm seriously going to incinerate you."
"How vexatious thine impatience doth appear," she sighed before turning to me. "Verily, let us advance forthwith."
At long last.
It's time.
———
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