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It was quiet in the mountains but since when did it become lively anyway? The outside is gloomy and gray… even though the land was covered in snow. Whenever it’s like this.. the ominous aura of Dragonspine is visible.
Inside his lab… Albedo sets the timer and waits for the slow process of his experiment. It should take ten minutes between each drop and longer for a whole flask to be filled. But he has time anyway.
He opens his notes to jot down his current observation but stops when he sees scribbles and doodles on the edge. When he flips to the next page… all he can see and read is Aether’s name.
Aether… Aether… Aether.
Ever since the traveler– Aether tells him his name… Albedo can’t stop writing each syllable on every surface he can. It is like his way of being reminded… memorizing and imprinting Aether’s name deeply in his mind. He felt the honor the moment Aether opens up to him and admits there’s only a few people who truly knew his name… although hearing that Dainsleif knew before him felt irritating but he can’t do anything about it now.
At the edge of his notes is Aether’s name written in elegant and careful cursive… The letter A has the most sophisticated and curved stroke among the rest. Every part of his note has at least one Aether on it… he is not even aware that he’s doing it mindlessly.
When he flips yet again to another page… Albedo expects to see another mindless writing but instead finds little sketches of Aether. They were in a hurry but Albedo still put a good amount of care for Aether’s lashes and his long braided hair. In the drawings… Aether is making a lot of silly and possibly goody expressions… he could not remember if it was done out of curiosity or that Aether really does them sometimes.
Suddenly he heard hurried footsteps coming towards his camp and not too long when an exhausted knight arrived at the entrance.
“G-Greeting Sir Albedo.. sir…” the knight pants and catches his breath.
“Greetings, did the Acting GrandMaster send you here?”
The knight shakes his head before handing him a small envelope which appears to be a letter. He was about to ask who the sender was when he read a very familiar name at the bottom.
“Thank you.” he merely said and went back to his stool and opened the letter. He didn’t even notice the knight leaving.
He pulls out the letter… supposed to be letters but then more like a couple of pictures with Aether and Paimon in the frame. Each photo has a description below and signed by Aether themselves and he wanted to smile at how each othe them starts with ‘Dear Albedo…’
And then he reached the last photo and another paper fell… this time he was sure it was a lengthy letter. He came back just in time for his experiment to proceed.