"Our hands are still holding—it feels like a corpse, it's lifeless."
The typical hymn felt longer than usual. Kai'len's heart was racing, he couldn't explain why. With every lyric the choir sang, his fear only intensified.
The stranger kept singing beside him, utterly consumed by the hymn, as if nothing else mattered.
All the while, Alexander and Lyn'chael were immersed in the moment, eyes closed, lost in the angelic hymn—oblivious to the unease that lingered like a shadow over Kai'len, for they were too devout in their faith.
"Calm down,"
"Time will pass,"
Kai'len's palms were starting to damp with sweat, yet the stranger's hand remained disturbingly frigid—like something long past... dead.
"Is this man even alive?!"
The service wasn't helping, and Kai'len hesitated to make a scene—his reputation and public image meant too much.
Subconsciously, he is deeply affected by how others perceive him.
He had endured moments like this for years, but this was the first time he felt truly uncomfortable.
Before meeting the stranger, Kai'len had held hands with many during service whether it be an old lady, a tired laborer, a mother with her children, and even those who attended reluctantly yet shared a mutual understanding of doubt.
"Everything will be fine,"
His eyes were closed, yet he could feel the man's ominous gaze in every corner of his mind, and the hand placed on his mother's tightened, seeking comfort.
But again, Kai'len asked himself.
"Why am I so afraid of him?"
His ears rang; he couldn't even hear the hymn anymore. Perhaps his anxiety was spiking, He could almost hear his own heartbeat, like a train drawing nearer—louder, closer, louder, and closer.
"Kai'len..."
"Dull and empty, dull and empty, emptiness..."
"KAI'LEN!"
His mother's sharp voice jolted him upright. He felt her hand rest on his shoulder—she was concerned, as Kai'len's face was... pale.
"The mass is over. Let's go."
The final hymn marked the service's end. The priest gave his blessings, incense burned, and the congregation stirred and chatted, gathering their things, ready to leave and dwell again in normalcy.
To them, nothing happened.
He looked around—the man was already gone.
He realized that the man's presence was anomalous—it was almost impossible to detect. He couldn't put it into words; there was a contradictory feeling, as if the man had never been there in the first place.
Like somehow, he never existed.
Yet, his hand…
His gaze dropped to it. The lingering cold was still there, seeping into his sensitive skin. He clenched his fingers, but the sensation isn't fading.
"What happened to me?"
"Are you okay?" his mother asked upon noticing the distress in Kai'len's eyes.
But with just one glance, she knew something was off.
Ana'lyn's chest tightened with anger as her eyes darted through the crowd, searching for the stranger. But he had already vanished. Around her just noises of families talking, children laughing utterly oblivious.
"It can't be..."
Kai'len brushed his hands against his trench coat before shoving them into his pockets, trying to warm away the disturbing cold.
"Mama! Pudding time!" Lyn'chael's voice calmed the situation. Ana'lyn can't fight the urge to smile, easily charmed by her daughter.
"Ohh, brother, looks like he's just seen a ghost!" she teased.
Kai'len exhaled, forcing composure.
"But the ghost is you!" he shot back.
"Heh?!"
Lyn'chael made everything feel normal again. But deep inside, Kai'len wasn't sure if the cold he felt was just anxiety—or something else entirely.
"Give me your right palm," Ana'lyn commanded.
Hesitant, he obeyed. The moment her fingers brushed his skin—She felt it. The cold was real.
Kai'len's breath caught. "How did she know?"
But Ana'lyn had other motives. "Looks like I overreacted. You're fine," she lied...
That lie gave Kai'len a small sense of relief—perhaps exactly as Ana'lyn intended. Working at a clinic, she understood the power of a placebo.
In the background, Alexander and Lyn'chael were still enjoying their father-daughter time.
"I know a place that sells really good pudding,"
"Ana, Kai'len, let's go."
But Alexander wasn't unaware. He caught the unease in Ana'lyn and Kai'len's expressions instantly.
"Did something happen?"
Ana'lyn explained that a strange man had sat beside Kai'len and held his hand too tightly. "I'll explain everything later, but first, let's grab that pudding."
Alexander understood.
"But Mom, maybe the stranger was just mentally retar—,"
Before Lyn'chael could finish her sentence, Ana'lyn suddenly ruffled her daughter's hair.
"You're so silly."
Kai'len, however, couldn't help but agree, "She has a point."
"Hey now, don't assume things like that," Alexander advised.
"That's rude."
Lyn'chael just let out a cute noise.
"Heh~"
..."Sorry~"
As the family made their way out, Kai'len glanced toward the church's grand entrance.
The stranger was still nowhere to be found.
Beneath his trench coat, the chill finally started to fade, replaced by a slowly growing sense of relief.
And yet… being called "dull and empty" sticks with him. The unexplainable fear still stays, but now, so does something else—an unwelcome sense of insecurity.
He should've paid more attention to the person beside the stranger. After all, he wanted to know if that person had experienced the same thing he did.
All he remembered was that the person wore a grey flat cap, looked to be in his thirties, and had a thick beard.
"Did he felt the same cold?"
"Dull and empty," and a "bleeding crimson eye tattoo"—to Kai'len, this was just a very strange day.
As they stepped outside, Kai'len didn't want the encounter to ruin his mood—after all, they were about to eat pudding. Approaching the grand entrance, they were greeted by the friendly sight of Roderick Al'wood and his family.
Liam Al'wood stood beside his older brother, Gareth—a tall, broad-shouldered boy dressed similarly to him—while their sister, Celeste, chatted with their parents, Sir Roderick and Priscilla Al'wood.
Sir Roderick, a rugged man with a thick grey beard, opposed with his wife, Priscilla—a slender woman with long, silky brown hair, resembling a more refined version of their daughter Celeste in her younger years.
Roderick Al'wood wore a fur-lined overcoat, high-collared vest, and sturdy boots—rugged and dignified, his silver brooch marking his lineage—while Priscilla donned a deep blue high-neck dress, a lace shawl and a pearl pendant accenting her mature grace.
The Imperias and Al'woods shared a long history. Once esteemed paladins, Roderick and Alexander had since retired—Alexander choosing a quiet life as a watchmaker, while Roderick built a successful logging company in Leuvana where his sons now worked. Having witnessed the burdens of duty firsthand, Roderick had no desire for his sons to follow the same path.
But the Paladinic Order still lingers in their lives; the Church wouldn't let go of them that easily.
Lyn'chael was drawn to fashion and often looked to Alexander for stylistic inspiration.
Her father had an impeccable formal fashion sense and was quite a charming man.
"No wonder Father managed to win over Mother," Lyn'chael mused wistfully.
Priscilla and Ana'lyn also played vital roles in the community, co-managing the local "LeBlanca" clinic. Meanwhile, Lyn'chael studied at Luxford Academy, a prestigious institution on the mainland of Złoto—though her branch in Leuvana was a lesser one.
But the uproar regarding Sophia and Hanz deeply affected her school.
Though she isn't the type of girl to get lost in problems that are out of her control.
Lyn'chael dreamed of running her own clothing line, yet she also nurtured an interest in watchmaking, inspired by her father's craft. To that end, she taught herself to crochet and sew while also assisting Celeste at her flower shop, a well-loved local business!
Kai'len, however, had no such freedom...
As the eldest son of the Imperia family, it was his duty to become a paladin.
A duty he despises.
Although Alexander had left the Paladinic Order, it remained his responsibility to train his son. And yet—every time he looked at Kai'len, standing within these church walls, he knew.
This life wasn't meant for him.
But what choice did he have?
He made a vow...
He could never defy the church...
Chapter End.