NOVEL WEB Chapter 03 – Awake and confused
The weather was good. The window was open and it was easy to hear some birds singing on the trees. The sunshine brightened the room and gave it a good feeling. The time seemed to be in the early afternoon.
Klaye lay in bed and watched the light. His thought was a mess. He remembered, he went to the party and drank a lot, but after that, his memories were so muddled.
He slowly sat up and supported his head. His body was sore and he felt so lightheaded. He massaged his temper, while he tried to remember. He slowly placed the memories’ fragments to the right place. He threw away the part about those bastards and sighed. He succeeded, he was infected and got a high fever…
He looked down and touched the pajamas on his body. He was puzzled. If he remembered right he fell asleep in his dirty suit, so when he changed clothes? Was he sleepwalking? He smelled the pajamas and frowned. That’s not right! Even if I changed clothes I couldn’t wash them!
He lifted the quilt and watched it carefully. Not just his clothes, even the beddings were clean. He was confused. He felt that he forgot a lot of important things. He started to sweat while he desperately tried to remember. He had a vague impression about going out to open the door, but who come? Why don’t I remember?!
He grabbed his hair and forced his brain to work. He didn’t hear the door was opened and someone came in.
„Oh, you are finally awake.”
Klaye’s body stiffened. He slowly looked up and his chin fell.
„Hey, what’s with that face? How can you be so stupid?” the man mocked him.
Klaye finally came back to his senses. He thought that the last person who would visit him would be Vincent, yet he stood in front of him.
He walked to his bed and touched his forehead.
„It still doesn’t go down completely, so stay in the bed.” Vincent stepped back and turned away. „I need to go out, but Egbert is in the kitchen. Just call him if you need anything.” he casually walked out and closed the door.
Klaye released his hair and dropped his hands. He stared at his palm, then lifted his right hand and touched his forehead. Yes, it’s really gone down, so I’m not dreaming…
He lay back in the bed and watched the ceiling. He desperately tried to remember his script, but no difference how many times he went through of it, it didn’t mention any visitors during his fever… It’s such an important part, he couldn’t be so stupid to forget it.
At the party, Vincent told everyone that they would go on a month long vacation. He still remembered so vividly his happy face, when he planned where to go…
Klaye pulled his quilt and hid under it. The fever lasted for 2 weeks, so at this time Vincent needed to be in the middle of his traveling, so what changed? Why did he come back? Or did he ever left?!
He felt frustrated. How far he could remember everything went following the script, so where it went wrong? What did he miss?
He suddenly sat up and threw away the quilt.
„Egbert!” he cried out.
He heard someone running and the door was opened.
„What’s the problem? Are you hungry?” a young man in his twenties asked him.
„… Why are you here?” Klaye stared at him.
„It was the young master’s command.” he said confusedly. He didn’t feel good being watched with those burning eyes.
„No. I mean didn’t you…” he finally realized what was amiss. Egbert was exiled from Vincent’s family!
Compared to other modern worlds, in this one, the countries were still ruled by kings. Behind those kings were some noble families. Their positions were high and deeply respected. Generation after generation, they worked hard and now all the best businesses were owned by them. They had different families serving under them. Some were bodyguards, some were servants, but all of them swore loyalty, and some even let their masters chose their marriage partner. They needed to be sure they would remain trusty, so the candidates were investigated and needed to go through a lot of tests before being accepted.
The Warburton family was one of the oldest noble family. They had 2 servant families working under them. One of them was the Thanos family. Their children, from a young age, were taught to be a good servant.
The other one was the Eichert family. The Warburton family adopted young orphans and they were the members of this family. They were taught the same way as the other family’s children, but they needed to achieve more to become acknowledged. For them, the biggest honor was to marry into the Thanos family.
Every Warburton family member had their personal servants and they grew up together. Vincent had two, Maia Thanos and Egbert Eichert. They were even engaged a year before. Sorrowfully, it didn’t lasted long.
Three months before, Gardena lost one of her necklaces. It was an antique one that she got from her grandmother. She cried desperately, and they turned upside down the whole villa to find it. After a whole day of searching, they found it in Maia’s room. They were sure, she couldn’t be the culprit. To protect the Thanos family’s name, in the end, they let Egbert undertook the crime. He was Maia’s finance, so they said that he gave it to her as a present.
They broke up the engagement and erased Egbert’s name from the servant list. He was exiled. At that time, everyone knew that Vincent intended to marry Gardena. So to show their respect for the next head’s wife, they even used the oldest punishment. All the other servants were sent out to gather in front of the villa. Even some neighbors ran there to see the incident.
Egbert was tied up to a pillar and he got 50 lashes. Someone prepared for him a piece of luggage with some clothes and money. He was unconscious, yet they threw him out. He lay on the sidewalk who knew how long before he woke up and left. No one dared to call the ambulance, but even if he went to the hospital, no one dared to treat him. Being exiled by a noble family was the same as being dead.
Klaye watched the young man in front of him. If he remembered right, the book mentioned something about Egbert’s injuries weren’t threated and his state became worse. Later he was bitten by a rat and became one of the first zombies. He watched the man in front of him, but couldn’t see him properly.
„Forget it…” Klaye shook his head. He touched the bedside table but didn’t find anything. „Don’t you see my glasses somewhere?”
„Oh, it was broken, so the young master bought a new one.” he ran out. „I bring it here right away!”
Klaye pulled back his quilt. Egbert seemed to be in a good spirit. He wasn’t sure if he could be so energetic in his position. After he was exiled, Maia got another finance on the same day. To them, was it really nothing more than one of their master’s command? He couldn’t understand them, but he knew he wasn’t in the position to say anything. 8 years unrequited love, yet he still running after that man…
He laughed and didn’t realize Egbert came back. He patiently stood next to his bed and waited. Klaye wasn’t used to have anyone around him, so he took the box out of his hand and opened it.
The glasses was different than his previous one. He always wore grey, but this one was green. It was too vivid, but he accepted it until he buy a normal one. He needed it to see…
After Klaye put on the glasses he watched Egbert. He was really in good health.
„When did you come here?” Klaye asked suddenly.
„… 3 days before.”
„What is the date today?”
„… the 24th of June.”
„24th? The party was on the 10th…” he felt more confused. He really slept for 2 weeks that was the only thing that was right. „Why did Vincent come here? When did he come? What happened with his month long holiday?!”
„… I don’t know.” Egbert felt pressured from the sudden questions.
„Can you tell me what happened with you? If you don’t want, then it’s okay. I just don’t understand Vincent. He never visited me, or cared for me…”
„I can tell you, but I don’t think it helps. I’m as confused as you.” Egbert smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. He slowly told his story.
After he left he bought some medicines, but he couldn’t apply it on his back properly. Every time he moved they always reopened, so his condition became worse. He ran out of his money after a month and he lived on the street.
In the beginning, it was still okay. He had a strong and trained body, but he wasn’t invincible. He reached his limit and broke down. When he was the most desperate, Lex appeared in front of him. He was taken to a private clinic, but he didn’t dared to accept the treatment. He knew that it would only cause problems. He only calmed down when Lex told him it was Vincent’s command. He spent more than a week there until his condition became better.
Vincent visited him on the day he left the clinic. He only asked if he was still willing to serve him.
Egbert felt complicated but still nodded. He was taught to be a royal servant, he couldn’t change it that easily. And he knew, deep inside in his heart he still wished to follow him.
And now his job was to take care of Klaye.
„…” Klaye was speechless. This really didn’t help him to understand anything. He just had more questions.
„So, why do you need to take care of me?”
„That’s what I want to know too.” Egbert shrugged his shoulders. „You were just a little follower. The young master pitied you for being bullied, so he helped you out sometimes…”
Klaye kicked down Egbert from the bed. He knew it from the beginning he wasn’t anything in Vincent’s eyes, but it still hurt him to hear.