Cale Henituse remembers having an aloof man as his uncle.
His father’s younger blood brother. Someone much, much younger than his father, who stays in Rain City and supports him with some of the family business.
Cale remembers a man speaking leisurely with his parents, remembers hearing disgruntled rebuttals over his parents’ warm laughter. A man who smells like books, who played chess with his father, who drank rose tea along with his mother.
Remembers a warm hand patting his head whenever the man came to visit the Henituse estate, when mother died and father was crying and empty.
A warm hand at his back, grounding him as he was directed towards the carriage to go home and leave his mother’s body under the ground.
Cale remembers his uncle, granted a funny name befitting of the Henituse territory, a Rock within the Kingdom of Boulders.
Long, well kept brown hair reaching over his shoulders. Stoic reddish brown eyes, a near expressionless face.
And a warm, warm hand at the top of Cale’s head.
Uncle Rock lives in a villa in Rain City, bestowed upon him by the grace of Cale’s father. He spends most of his time in that place, only coming out for leisure walks and on official business or casual visits to the Henituse estate.
Yes, he remembers that. Uncle Rock used to visit more often when mother was still alive. Because mother was the one who always invited him, the near-hermit uncle who, in mother’s words, would grow fungus on his own body if he didn’t get invitations to drink tea with mother. Cale remembers laughing while he sat on his mother’s lap, and the funny near-offended look on his uncle’s face. Cale remembers presenting mushrooms to his uncle as a joke, and the loud laughter his mother let out at the time. He remembers how uncle did not get angry, and only looked annoyed and betrayed for a few seconds, before he started talking about whether he should eat mushrooms for dinner or not.
He remembers mother laughed harder because of it.
It has been a long time since uncle last visited.
His uncle stayed for a few weeks after mother died, taking over father’s job for a short while while Cale was busy comforting his own father and dealt with the loss of… of his mother. His uncle sat with him and took him to dinner during the times when father was too upset to get out of his room, a grounding presence that Cale didn’t truly appreciate until it was gone.
After that, uncle was barely seen.
Cale didn’t really pay much attention to it at the time as well, too overjoyed with how father began to show up more, taking over his work once more and having breakfast and dinner with him once again.
Time passed, and Cale-- Cale is, he is… alone.
He’s not alone, but somehow… Cale feels like he’s alone.
Father found a new wife, a sudden decision that Cale didn’t get the option to give his opinions about. Lady Violan is a tall woman with a stoic expression, and with her comes a little boy three years younger than him.
A new mother, and with her, a new brother.
Cale doesn’t really know what to think of it.
He accepted father’s decision fairly easily, a smile and a congratulation given to his father. It was easy for Cale to do so, especially when he saw how happy father was, something he didn’t see on his father’s face ever since mother died…
He remembers attending father’s marriage with Lady Violan (not mother, because Cale doesn’t want to replace his mother, how can he replace his own mother--?), remembers seeing his uncle attending to give his own congratulations to the new couple, only to eat and then leave almost immediately afterwards.
