Bonus Short Stories

The Mens’ Dance - Glen’s Lament

Now that I think back on it, it was at the start of autumn that my days of suffering first began.

“Please, I’m begging you, Commander Glen.”

The sun had set on Sauslind’s capital. At the behest of the other guards, I, Glen Eisenach, was being forced to adjust my usual schedule and accompany them on a nightly patrol.

As fall came to a close and winter began to creep in, the kingdom turned its attention to the upcoming Holy Night’s Banquet. Anticipation was building because in just a few short months, the crown prince would be officially married. As a result, the noble ladies of the kingdom were even more enthusiastic about the Holy Night’s Banquet than they had been in the past.

Not even I was spared from the influence of everyone’s mounting excitement. It was customary for my mother to pester me every year, saying, “I would love a nice daughter-in-law, you know,” but this year she’d redoubled her efforts.

Noble ladies of marriageable age, as well as their parents, kept a vigilant eye on me, looking for any opening in hopes of approaching me about an engagement. The pressure and intensity were akin to what one might feel on the battlefield. Despite how friendly and polite I acted when interacting with any woman, the situation was beginning to take its toll. I retreated to the barracks hoping for some solitude. It was then that this request fell into my lap, figuratively speaking.

“We have eyewitness accounts saying it keeps showing up in the northern wing. No one else wants to go out on patrol there now. Really, though, what an odd season for ghost stories to be floating around.”

“I don’t see why I have to be the one to do it,” I groused.

“Lord Alexei said you had so much free time on your hands you would be the best person to investigate.” The guard paused. “Uh, how about I treat you to a drink in the red light district afterward?”

I kept a disgruntled expression on my face as we made our way to the “haunted” part of the palace. When we arrived I suddenly felt dread welling up within me. I should’ve known what we’d find the moment I heard people’s stories. A certain lab was located in the northern wing of the palace and a certain individual had been frequenting the place for the past four years.

The room was pitch black inside, not a silhouette in sight, and yet we could hear the muffled sound of whispers.

“Is someone here?” One of the guards thrust their lantern forward, illuminating the area. The voices we’d heard moments before abruptly ceased.

The table in front of us was loaded down with a variety of research materials. There was a dried out, wound-up snake carcass and a jar filled with dead insects. It was gruesome enough that people avoided this place in broad daylight, but seeing it in the dead of night made it even more eerie.

The man at the front of our formation gulped and summoned his courage, taking a step forward. His foot had barely touched the ground when we spotted a head floating on top of the table. It was so dim in here that it was difficult to discern at first, but it was a girl’s head. She was so pale that her skin seemed to glow with a ghostly light. She showed no emotion on her face until she spotted us. Then, her lips seemed to peel back in what looked like...a grin?

My men shrieked at the top of their lungs and flung themselves at the exit. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched their retreat. I already had my sword out of its sheath as I stood there, steadying myself.

Two voices called out to me simultaneously. One belonged to the bodiless ghost of a young girl. “Lord Glen?”

“Oh, it’s Glen. What are you doing here?” The other was the carefree voice of our court’s master musician.

When I glanced back, I saw Alan peeking in from the corridor, a lantern in hand. “Tsk, tsk,” he clicked his tongue. “Lady Elianna, did you get ink all over you? You look like a ghostly floating head. It’s a bit terrifying.”

“After the researcher dropped his glasses, I started feeling around to help him search for them. Then I knocked into the table, and the ink spilled all over me.”

Apparently the headless ghost was none other than Lady Elianna. Looking closer, I realized her manservant and the researcher were standing nearby as well.

I breathed a sigh of relief as they filled me in on the details. It seemed they had come here to investigate the real identity of our phantom as well, and that was how they’d discovered the ink was luminescent. Then their lantern went out, and the researcher tripped and dropped their glasses. Alan left to retrieve some proper lighting, and in the meantime, Lady Elianna started fumbling around in the dark beneath the table, trying to find the man’s glasses.

I was almost impressed with how many ghost stories the prince’s betrothed managed to stir. But at least now that we knew the truth behind our rumored specter, the case would be over. At least, that was what I’d naively assumed. Little did I know how wrong I was.

Days later, I realized how conspicuously the ladies’ relentless obsession with me had tapered off without warning. As I puzzled over the reason for it, I soon learned ridiculous gossip about me was circling around the capital.

“Commander Glen Eisenach is being haunted by the disembodied head of a young girl,” they whispered.

That was why the noble ladies refused to approach me.

Alexei praised me for it. “You certainly used a clever trick to ward them off.”

I couldn’t tell if he was being facetious or not. I wasn’t even sure whether I should be pleased at the result or correct everyone’s misconceptions.

I was an idiot for wasting time, wringing my hands and wondering, because shortly thereafter, my mother heard the news. She panicked, thinking her poor son might never find a partner at this rate, which led to the subsequent engagement talk between myself and a ten-year-old girl from abroad.

The Mens’ Dance - Glen’s Requiem

Someone must have cursed me this year. That was the only explanation for all my misfortune.

Thinking back, I hadn’t had much time to rest since all the uproar this past spring. Ever since that cleared up and a certain noble lady became romantically involved with our prince, I thought the rest of His Highness’s inner circle (including myself) might be rewarded with some peace in exchange for all the anxiety we’d suffered up until this point.

I was mistaken. If anything, our problems had multiplied in the aftermath. Still, I never dreamed I’d witness something as terrifying as what I saw today.

A fearsome silence had descended on the room, as if no living being within dared even breathe. No one spoke a word. They couldn’t. Not unless they wanted to offer themselves up as the first sacrifice.

“...Glen.”

Crap, of course it would be me! I screamed inwardly.

The man calling my name was the demon incarnate—or, as everyone else saw him, Sauslind’s handsome prince. He turned his gaze toward me, undisplayed rage boiling within. I could almost feel the fumes from here.

“Finalize your engagement immediately and chase that meddlesome pest back to Miseral,” he snarled.

“What?! Wait a...hold on! What does what Lady Elianna said have to do with my engagement?!” I howled at him. Moments ago, said lady had spoken a few explosive words and left us stupefied as she rushed out of the room. I couldn’t help resenting her for it.

Chris was being unusually open with his emotions as he glared at me. “As if there would be any other reason why she would do this! For Eli to say something like that means someone must have been feeding meaningless gossip to her!”

“That’s why I told you to talk to her! Don’t ask me to fix stuff for you when your desire to keep up appearances is what landed you in trouble in the first place!”

“I had my reasons.” He scowled. “Besides, this whole thing started because of you and all your trysts. Marry that little pest and drag her off with you to Miseral. You can live out the rest of your miserable existence there with her.”

“You’re being a tyrant, Chris!”

As the two of us snapped back and forth, Alexei sighed and cut in, “Your Highness, shouldn’t you follow after Lady Elianna?”

The prince jumped, snapping back to reality. He almost kicked his chair over as he went flying out the door.

My shoulders immediately sagged, as if haunted by—no, not going to use that word—riddled with exhaustion. I slumped forward on the table in front of me, face first.

As I recalled all the events that had occurred since the beginning of spring, I cursed the gods for my misfortune. The real clincher had been my possible engagement to that scrawny ten-year-old girl. Now I was reflecting on my life choices. I decided when the accursed new year came, I would abstain from my usual womanizing as much as possible.

So please, God, put an end to my agony. It’s not fair for me to be the number one sacrifice every time the demon lord descends.

God, I beg you...

That winter day, I made my desperate, sincere prayers to the gods.