I had woken up to find I had fallen asleep in a rather uncomfortable position on the armchair last night. The fire had already died down and the early morning chill make me shiver in my half-dried clothing. After taking a long soak in the bathroom adjacent to my room, I returned to find that the maids had replaced my ensamble with an elegant two-piece surcoat with fine trimmings and a pair of black, laced-up breeches.

Dressed and ready, I looked over myself in the full-length mirror with a critical eye before shrugging and walking out the door. Soldiers standing on guard did nothing but salute and let me go without a word.

The walk to the Kitchens gave me time to think and muddle over many of the possibilities of what awaited me. Sunlight poured into the corridors from high, arced windows and in no time, I was lost in the memories of building this Castle. I allowed my feet to guide me to my destination as my mind drifted off...

[OOC: Okay guys, time to meet Ruffie. You can stop him while he's on the way to the Kitchen or you can wait for him there. ^^]

It’s a cold night in Blood Pledge Castle. After the unsettling incident in the corridor, the wind had picked up, making the windows rattle under the consistent onslaught of the storm. Inside, the warmth of the fireplace only confuse me further as I gaze at my hands. Turmoil seeks to overcome my sloppy attempts to make logic of the situation. This shouldn’t be happening…

I shouldn’t be sitting here, comfortable in this unfamiliar room. I should not be able to feel the heat on my face, or the slight itchiness of the rough fabric against my skin. My pants, soaked through and sticking to my thighs, only serve to be a reminder of the wrongness of it all. I shouldn’t be alive; not when thousands of others lay without breath. Why was I given a second chance to live, when he was the one who truly possessed life?

After being found lying near the East Garden, I was taken up to this room where soldiers are to keep watch on me until further notice from Shinou-heika. So my Cousin is here too. This can not be a coincidence. However peculiar my being alive is, none can match the ridiculous experience of being addressed as “His Excellency”. At first I was inclined to believe that the guard was joking, a silly jibe on the likeliness between my kin and I. Then, he elaborated. The nameless guard spoke about him, my current heir to the von Bielefeld line. I admit my heart sped faster when his name was mentioned.

Wolfram … A good, strong name, for (hopefully) a good, strong soldier.

As I lean forward on my hands, the absurd reality comes crashing down. I, Rufus von Bielefeld am alive. I possess a title and deed to one of the Royal lines. The guards bloody call me “His Excellency” and bow before my presence. I am unused to being anyone else’s superior. Cousin always took care of things, especially during the War. Now, faced with new life and new status, I am lost without Alarik’s guidance.

( Thinking back, I am again hopeful that the events of that night had not endangered my line.  )

[OOC: Yes, the death scene was about a riot a little after Blood Pledge Castle was built. The riot does not take place in the Castle but in a manor house ran by Rufus' family.]