Xidriel nervously waited for Lysander to respond to his request.

The original Xidriel was not fond of drinking any alcoholic beverages and his request might come off suspicious but he could justify this change, given what he had gone through.

It’s a flimsy excuse, but it’s all he has.

He also realized, as he tossed and turned on his bed for hours, that he was successively knocked out by whatever Amon and Lan did to his psyche, and not once did he naturally fall asleep ever since he transmigrated days ago.

Even if he knew he’s now in a safe location, the silence in his room was so oppressive that he wished there was some sort of device that could record and play soothing music.

He even had the night lamps on dim, closed the curtains tightly, with the fireplace giving off a cozy warmth, and swapping around his pillows for a more comfortable position yet sleep never came.

Whenever he closes his eyes and finally about to fall asleep, the accursed hypnic jerk his body does always wakes him up.

It would have been fine if it was the usual falling off the stairs scenario, but now it was replaced by blurry visions of ‘priests’ wearing purple hooded garbs and veiled masks covering the lower half of their faces, holding him down while another swung a bloody ceremonial dagger down to his abdomen over and over again.

He wouldn’t be surprised if they actually pulled his innards out while he was still conscious and relishing his cries of agony.

Xidriel forcibly brought himself back to the present when he noticed Lysander peering at him worriedly, probably taking note of the changes in his expressions and breathing when he was reminiscing about those visions and gave him a strained smile.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.” Lysander finally replied.

Instructing Xidriel to stay put, Lysander made his way to a cabinet that he pulled open to reveal his collection of tea tins and whiskeys, along with a variety of mugs and glasses, and a personalized expensive tea kettle.

Xidriel then crawled onto the soft mattress, finding a comfortable spot where he parted the curtains to look outside.

Minutes later, Lysander returned with a hot toddy that surprised Xidriel, as it had a vaguely reminiscent taste of mulled cider.

The comforting warmth spread through his chest and back, as he sipped on it little by little, wanting to savor it to the last drop.

Lysander sat next to him, his own cup in his hands. Neither of them talked, choosing to immerse themselves in the warmth of their drinks and the comforting presence of one another in the same shared space.

“Hey, San…I have a favor to ask…” Xidriel finally said once he finished his drink.

“You know that I’m always ready to help you, as long as it’s within my capabilities and moral integrity.”

Xidriel lets out a hollow chuckle. “Don’t be dramatic. I only want you to stay by my side until I fall asleep…”

“...you act as if we were not roommates back in the Academy’s dorm.”

“There’s a difference between sharing a room versus sharing a bed, you know.”

“Did you erase the memory where you crawled into my bed because you were spooked by Hanie’s ghost story, out of embarrassment?”

“I’m pretty sure I did that because I was concerned for you. You were pale and shaking at that time, if I remember right.”

Lysander rolled his eyes at that and the two of them continued on chatting lightheartedly, reminiscing about their Academy days, with Xidriel mentioning in passing that he wanted to meet with an exceptional engineer to discuss a potential project that he refused to elaborate on.

Once sleepiness finally visited Xidriel, he laid down on his side of the bed, hugging a pillow and was lightly snoring in a matter of minutes.

After stowing away the used cups, Lysander dimmed the lights in the room once again before returning to the bed, carefully removing his eyeglasses and setting it aside then pulling the blanket up to cover the both of them.

He quietly stared at the back of Xidriel’s head, still finding it unnerving that his once beautiful rose gold hair had turned black like a matchstick head with its flame extinguished, and the light in his crystal blue eyes were now replaced with the grayish blue dullness.

He let sleep claim him awhile later, thinking this vulnerable state of his friend is only temporary and he would be back to his jovial and slight obliviousness of how the real world works in no time.

It came as a surprise to him that Xidriel came looking for him over the next two nights as well, having the same sleeping problem with a strained smile that Lysander had to summon a doctor to thoroughly check Xidriel’s well being.

×××

A week later, Xidriel is enjoying his bowl of fish salad where a pan seared fatty salmon shredded to bits is the star, along with a cold and refreshing drink made with sweetened hibiscus tea.

A hardbound book sat in front of him, which was secured to a simple book stand.

A lot of stress-relieving food was prescribed to him along with mild medication that would mitigate his mood, as the doctor deemed that what’s plaguing him is strong mental distress.

The chef in kitchen two was put in charge of Xidriel’s meals and snacks, who viewed it as a challenge since Xidriel is a voracious snacker; his requests were often vague, and the poor chef had to figure out what he wanted with the taste description he provided.

Surprisingly, his physical exam came out better than expected, as if he was not a victim stuck in a remote and rundown place for months.

He looks up from his book when Lysander walks in, accompanied by Lan and Amon. Xidriel raised his eyebrows with a silent question, curious as to why his friend would bring them there instead of his office.

Noticing his expression, Lysander sat down across Xidriel while gesturing for the other two to grab a seat of their own preference.

“You said you wanted to meet with an engineer for a project you’re thinking of.” Lysander started as he tried his best not to furrow his brows. “I asked around the members currently in the Capital if they have any available engineers in their employ but only Amon responded to my query. He refused to hand over the engineer’s contact details until he personally heard from you about the project.”

“I’m only being considerate about the time and effort my engineers would put into the project.” Amon shrugged.

Xidriel hesitated in replying when he picked up on the slight displeasure in his tone, his eyes darting between Lysander and Amon, wondering if something had transpired between them in the past.

“You…didn’t have to go out of your way to do that…” Xidriel replied carefully as he placed his fork down. “It was only a passing thought…”

Lysander gave him a critical look. “Knowing your history about dabbling into things because your curiosity got piqued, I’d rather have someone keep an eye on you than have you disappear on us for mixing with the wrong crowd.”

Xidriel flinched at his words, then slouched in his seat to hide. “Okay, okay…no need to harp about it…but what about Lan? Why is he also here?”

Lan only smiled in his direction but did not respond. Instead, Lysander crossed his arms and leaned back on his seat.

“He came forward and asked to be in charge of supplying your medication when he heard about your condition. I brought him here so you two could talk if you’d accept his offer.”

“I deeply apologize for not noticing it much earlier, young master.” Lan said softly as he gave a small, seated bow towards him. “I should’ve known better that no civilian would be that calm and composed after what you have experienced…”

Xidriel quietly stared at the three of them, wondering if this is how it actually feels like to have proper connections as someone from an old money family, unlike in his old life where he struggled to make actual social networking in his industry.

“Oh, by the way. I received a response from your grandfather.” Lysander said, making Xidriel blink and sit up straight. “He sent a handful of people to escort you home. They’ll probably arrive in the next two days. It’s best that you conclude your talks with these gentlemen before then.”

“But our family doesn’t have any mansion in the capital?” Xidriel frowned. “I refuse to run them ragged after coming all the way here…”

If only his family could stop being stuck up because of some bad history with the royal family and purchase a mansion in the Capital, he wouldn’t be crashing in his friend’s home for a week like this.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ve already prepared their lodgings in one of the hotels down in the Sapphire District.”