Thin Ice (M/M Transmigration)

Chapter 12

On the morning of the day that the Royal Winter Ball would take place, Cale stumbled to his feet and immediately fell back on his bed. Yawning, he stayed there for a blissful minute before he attempted to get up again.

After finishing his business in the bathroom and getting dressed, he slowly stumbled down the spiral staircase, holding onto it with an iron grip as he descended to the lower floor. There, he yawned again as he wandered over to the dining hall, sitting down by the table, crossing his arms on it and resting his head on them. Closing his eyes, he very nearly fell asleep again.

A clatter at the other side of the table made him peek up over his arms. He hummed a questioning noise as he peered at Isaac. "You can keep resting until you mother arrives," said Isaac.

Cale closed his eyes again.

Not long after, Mariana arrived in a flowing blue skirt and settled down next to Isaac, across from Cale. She beamed at them both, her glittering eyes tastefully surrounded by eyeshadow and her lips painted a dark red. "Good morning," she chirped.

Forcing himself to sit up properly, Cale poured some ice cold water in his glass and chugged it down all at once. Exhaling, he put the glass down and said, "Morning."

Isaac nodded at them both. His brain was too exhausted to figure out what they were whispering about together so he got some bread and carelessly spread butter on it. Biting down on it, he rested his head on his hand and his elbow on the table as he stared with dull eyes at the wall behind Calla's parents. He mechanically chewed and swallowed down the bread.

It wasn't until breakfast was just about over that he started approaching anything resembling a waking condition. Yawning once more, Cale swallowed another glass of cold water, feeling it spreading throughout his chest and stomach. He rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Awake now?" Mariana asked, her red lips twitching.

Cale nodded. He straightened up in his seat and said, "Yes. Good morning."

"Good morning," Isaac said. The man picked up his own cup and sipped at the tea.

Mariana leaned over the table and asked Cale, "Are you ready for tonight?"

"Yes," Cale tried to smile at her. He forced his lips to move and hoped she wouldn't call him out on it. The closer they got the ball, the worse his nerves got. He had slept terribly and been plagued by nightmares all night long, and he was dearly in need of a nap. The nightmares weren't even about the Fire Spirit, they were about everything that could go wrong tonight at the ball. Because Sayer had awoken the Fire Spirit below Aurelis Academy a year before the event was originally set to happen, so who knew what could happen at the ball?

Maybe the poisoning incident that he was studying so hard to prevent would take place at the ball. Maybe a chandelier would fall from the ceiling and crush him. There was no telling what would happen, how things would change, and his brain had been bombarding him with so many nightmare scenarios that he was getting dizzy.

But he was still going to go. No matter how many ways this could have disastrous results, he was going. He would attend the ball and have a nice time with Julius, and ignore Sayer like he didn't exist.

He cleared his throat. "I'm ready," he reassured Mariana. Cale knew that his uneasy sleep had taken its toll on his appearance (he planned to take a nap before the ball) but he still hoped that they wouldn't say anything about it. He knew they worried, but he had to do this. He had to do something that was just for him, that wasn't for some far-off goal to leave the country.

For months, Cale had only been doing things that would advance his goals. No time for rest, no time for hobbies, not even any time for leisure reading. It was always about the end goal, always about making sure that he would survive. And yes, that was an important goal. It was worth the pain and the worry and the constant creeping paranoia that nothing he was doing mattered. But it tore at him. It ate away at his energy, at his hold to life.