Knights of Tezoth

An unpleasant day, filled with grating notes. How Axel hated such gatherings. They brought him nothing but discomfort. Especially birthdays. Who even came up with celebrating that? Fine, children — that's understandable. Any event with guests and gifts is a joy for them. But adults, what are they celebrating? Their own aging? The inevitable approach of bodily weakness, illness, fading beauty? Rejoicing in that is absurd. The day of death is better than the day of birth.

Over time, Axel learned to endure celebrations with less pain, but they still felt unpleasant to him. A crowd of strangers, noise, clamor, bustling servants, muttering from all sides, not always pleasant smells. Axel focused on guarding Deus, trying to carefully watch what was happening. He certainly had no intention of talking to her, of course. That was his usual behavior — silently controlling the situation. But his mind kept drifting into his own thoughts. Morgana's portrait. He had to finally finish it. A stroke here, a stroke there. Fix a shadow here, a color there…