The Ghost In The Well

2

A/N: Nah, more plots. Not enough angst.

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The count who oversees the territory was buried beneath mountains of documents and reports. The last time he went out of his office was already a day ago, yet his heavy workload prevented him from taking a rest. The Plaza Terror Incident and the vacant heir seat of the Henituse household are the two most common concerns he receives these days.

After his eldest son got beaten up by a black-haired commoner, two of his most loyal servants followed that commoner to the capital. Deruth was saddened by the fact that they left Cale so easily as they were the ones who took care of Cale since his birth.

His mood turned even bitter when his eldest son, who was meant to be resting in his room, vanished without a trace after he sent his second son, Basen, to the capital for the king's 50th birthday celebration.

Cale has a habit of being dead drunk while sleeping on the streets or staying overnight at an inn, Deruth could only ask his knights to keep their eyes on his son.

Deruth always lets the redhead do whatever he wants and lavishes him with the finest clothing, accessories, and alcohol. He knows it was his fault for raising the child to be a spoiled brat, but Cale's blood red hair reminded him too much of the boy's mother.

The news of his second son being heavily injured broke his heart and he threaten the mage to rush to the capital. He was afraid of losing another precious person and thankfully the bleeding stopped. Priest, healers and doctors are rushing in and out of the Henituse mansion but nobody could put back a broken leg.

It had been a few days since then, and there was still no sign of the redhead.

The vassals have been babbling their mouths a lot lately. With Cale missing, Basen injured and Lily being too young, those greedy bastards are trying to win the count's favour to be the next heir.

The circles under Deruth's eyes are getting worse, he wanted Cale will stop his tantrum soon and return home peacefully. And so, he waited all day and all night.

But when will Cale be coming home?

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A rumour is a narrative or remark that is circulated without verification that the information is accurate. It all started with a young boy from the slums talking about how there was a well near the man-eating tree that talks.

At first, the people brushed it off as a child's prank but when more and more children started saying the same thing, they got curious about that old well too. "The well actually spoke!", "It's so creepy!" and so on.

Not that Cale was unhappy about it but when the amount of people who visited him exceeded the number of apple pies he had eaten, he became annoyed. 

"Mr. Ghost, will I get married to my boyfriend in the future?"

"No, go away."

"Aww! He's so mean!"

"Young lady, this is not a wishing well or some sort."

"O-Okay..."

The reason as to why he took the trouble to spread rumours about himself was to get additional information. And he found quite a few interesting things.

After shooing off another annoying visitor, Cale gathered his thoughts.

Number one, the original Cale Henituse got beaten up by the main character and up until the Plaza Terror Incident, the story did not change much. And as expected, Basen could no longer use his left leg.