"Your Grace?''
Rodrick's voice drew Jian's attention back to the present, freeing him from the darkness of his own thoughts.
For the moment at least. But he had since come to realise, freedom was just another illusion.
It was hard not to catch himself drowning at every silent moment, not to find himself wallowing in self loathing so strong, it consumed his very being. This feeling of suffocation, of slowly withering away, it had become all too familiar.
So much he could hardly remember the times not long ago when his feelings were kinder...warmer.
These days, he was always right on the edge…
On the edge of breaking…
On the edge of slipping away…
On the edge of sinking into the abyss…
Yet he could never quite tip over. Just when he felt like he would, something or someone drew him back to reality.
A warmer memory, a ghostly touch of someone so familiar, someone his heart knew so well that his mind had no trouble messing with him.
This time, it was Rodrick.
