in sickness and in death (totcf)

gone too soon, too fast

Year 785 of the Felix Calendar, the 29th day of the third month:

Cale Henituse's 2nd death anniversary.

"Beacrox, are you ready?"

"I finished making the first bouquet a while ago. I made four more."

"Ho..." Ron chuckled, something that was light and airy but in no way mirthful. "Our young master will get to sleep in a garden of roses again tonight."

It was silent after that; Beacrox was more apt to pay attention to the bouquets, with Ron quietly watching his son work.

There was nothing more that could be said after Ron's statement. After all, Cale Henituse was always asleep. And there was always a garden around him.

A garden full of grieving flowers.

As Beacrox continued to work diligently on the bouquets, Ron couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness in his heart. It was a bittersweet feeling, knowing that his y̶o̶u̶n̶g̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶n̶ young master was always surrounded by beautiful flowers, but also knowing the reason behind it.

Cale's constant slumber was a reminder of the heavy burden he had carried and of the sacrifices he had made for the sake of his family and his kingdom. Ron watched as Beacrox arranged the flowers with care and precision, each petal placed thoughtfully and with love. The room was filled with the sweet scent of roses, a fragrance that seemed to linger long after the bouquets were complete.

It was the perfect ending to a tragedy.

...

Well, too bad Cale didn't give two fucks to tragedies.

Cale hated tragedies because his whole life was a tragedy. As Kim Rok Soo, he never really tried to pick up any books that reminded him of such tragic points in his life.

Ironically, he also picked up <The Birth of a Hero> and finished reading up to five volumes with the intention of continuing the next ones. The story itself had started at a sober point, and the plot was obviously heading towards disaster at the turn of each page.

Maybe that's the reason of why continued to read it. No, that is the reason why he continued to read it even though there was no Choi Jung Soo there to nag him about it. He could've just stopped after the 1st volume, and he'd still fulfill Jung Soo's wishes for him to read it.

But he didn't.

It was just too relatable. And through every character he met, he saw a sliver of him peeking through their griefs and losses. He found solace in the characters' struggles and felt a strange comfort in their pain. It was as if the story was reflecting his own inner turmoil, allowing him to confront his demons through the fictional world laid out before him.

But he still hated the story. He hated almost everything that happened and would want to retype the whole series if given the chance.

So, he did just that.

And that's how he became a certified ghost.

Still lost? Let's backtrack.

$$$

A few hours earlier, Cale was yet again forced into bed by Ron and Eruhaben. He did not object because he didn't want to be rude to his elders (On knew that he was actually just afraid of them).
Eruhaben was fixing his bedhead (cause of course, Cale ran towards the dungeon in his pajamas and bed hair right after waking up from a comatose nap) while Ron was tucking him in. The golden dragon kept his hair down but added braid along the two sides of his head to keep them in place (and just because Eruhaben found the style pretty on the redhead).