“Try, try, all you can, but you won’t be able to doooo it. Ah, it’s all so fun, isn’t it!” – a sadistic philosopher

‘…’

Alex breaths in and out.

‘So that didn’t work, what next?’

Alex then proceeds to attempt numerous ploys to get his father to come with him and died many deaths because of it. Whether pleading or begging, showing him the futility, threatening to stay with him, none of it worked. When he tried forcefully evacuate Walter out of sheer frustration, he was met with even less success, and his father had simply subdued him. At some point, he became numb to it, numb to the pain, numb to the time, numb to his death. Beheaded, stabbed in numerous places around the body, one time after he used some particularly nasty language, he was even taken out and hanged. It was at that point, once he was simply tired of it all, and had possibly gone a tad insane, that he found a way.

Alex had challenged his father to a sacred duel, and the plain shock of it caused him to faint.

‘Really, out of all the things I’ve done, this is what does it, I know it’s a major deal and all but…’

Alex shakes his head and walks over to his father, “Albi?”

“yes, sir?” Albi says while opening the door, a surprised look crosses his face when he sees the fainted duke.

“Could you lead me to the cellar, I think my father could do with a nice glass of wine,” Alex says while picking up his father and carrying him piggyback style.

“Umm… sir, I believe he would benefit more from medical attention than a glass of wine…” Albi says while slowly backing away from his master.

“Don’t worry, Albi, on second thought, just point me the way. You can meet us there with medical personnel if you feel it necessary.

‘As long as we all make it there, it really doesn’t matter if Albi goes off for a bit, he’s not going to find anybody anyway.’

During his numerous resets, Alex had gotten to know the majordomo pretty well, if not simply by the hoard of different reactions he had had with him, or at least he thinks he does. At a certain point, he had simply started talking to different people during his attempts, and had started to learn quite a few things about his father, and the majordomo. No one else, though, as it seems that at the beginning of the ‘reset,’ all the servants and the army had already cleared the mansion. The three of them are the only souls in the manor, how his father and Albi had managed to avoid knowing this is one of the many mysteries that Alex wondered about during his time in the ‘loop.’

Albi considers for a moment, and then lets his shoulders slump, “It’s just down the stairs young master, the third door on your right.”

‘It’s been a difficult heading, but it will all be over soon. We’ll escape and finally be free.’

Alex nods at Albi and starts on his way.

‘We should have another ten minutes, it’ll be close, but I think Albi should make it in time to come with us.’

Alex starts towards the main staircase and looks out to his left to see through the vestibule and out into the yard outside.

‘I wonder why I never explored in my time alive, or even my time here, dying and yet living…’

‘maybe it’s because I’m afraid of the unknown?’

Alex ponders while walking down the steps, trying to keep his mind off of the weight of his father weighing him down, visibly sweating at the exertion.

‘I wonder, why did I never check the cellar before now, it would certainly have helped to at least know the directions…’

Alex continues down the stairs, globules of sweat darkening the stone beneath him.

‘If I knew it was this far, I would have at least tried to get Albi to help…’

Panting, Alex reaches the bottom of the stairs. Gently as he can, he lays his father onto the ground and then goes to the.

‘Wait, which wine stack was it again?’