Chapter 001: An Angel in the Morning

Ernest Coy woke up to the sound of silence.

Sprawled on a king-sized bed and tucked underneath a set of dark red comforters, he absentmindedly stared up at the ceiling with a hazy fog in his gaze.

The ceiling itself was ornate, styled with a series of intricate, complex, and overly extravagant designs. Gold molding ran along the edges of its gilded frame, while a ribbed outline sectioned of the ceiling into neatly organized squares. It was an expensive piece of architecture that may even qualify as art, but to Ernest, it was something that he had long grown tired of seeing.

What drew his attention was not the familiar ceiling of his bedroom, but rather, it was the thing floating directly above him.

For lack of a better term, it was an angel.

It had wide eyes, a rosy complexion, and little dimples on its cheeks. A somewhat impudent smile floated to its lips. It was the sort of face that one instinctively wanted to punch.

The thing was female in form and slightly cherubic. It was similar to the floating baby angels that so often decorated valentines’ cards, but instead of a baby, this one had the proportions of a five-year-old little girl. If it was any consolation, she was still only about a foot tall.

As for her appearance, she had light brown hair that shimmered, despite the fact that there was no discernable light source anywhere within the room. Her hair was cut short, only reaching down to her collarbone. Her eyebrows were thick but short, kind of like bisected caterpillars. A glowing halo and a pair of tiny white feathered wings completed her appearance.

Ernest frowned.

As his eyes slowly came to focus, he tilted his head and turned his gaze to the side. He stared out at a wide, Victorian-era window. It was tall, almost as tall as he was, and nearly just as wide. The window was framed with a simple, yet strangely archaic design, matching well with the ceiling’s previously lavish nature. The glass was coated in a light layer of dust and provided an obscured view of the outside world.

Ernest’s eyes slowly wandered. The room was desolate. It was impossibly large, almost three times as big as a normal living room, but at the same time, it was sparsely decorated. With the exception of the bed, which acted as the lone centerpiece of the space, there was only a single drawer, tucked away in the far corner of the bedroom.

He did not know how, but for some reason, such a large space felt incredibly small.

The digital clock on the dresser indicated that it was still 7:30 AM.

He turned back up to the ceiling. The angel was still there. It stared back at him with the same, ever-present smile.

He blinked.

Am I still asleep? He silently wondered to himself. Is this a dream?

Ernest tried closing his eyes. He counted down to sixty before he opened his eyes again. Once again, the angel was still there. Once again, the same impudent looking smile greeted him.

Before he could do anything else, she suddenly spoke. In a cheery, bell-like voice, she said, “Hello. You have a message from God.”

“…”

His eyes widened. Just as Ernest was about to respond, an unexpected noise startled him.

A faint knock came from the oaken double doors located all the way on the other side of the bedroom. An unconscious frown formed on his face. His gaze darted back and forth between the door, the angel and then back again. A few seconds later, the door abruptly opened.

A beautiful lady who looked to be in her early twenties walked in.

The newcomer possessed an almost perfectly sculpted figure. The parts that needed to be slender were slender, while the parts that needed to curve, curved. Her skin looked soft and supple, while her complexion gave off a healthy rosiness. Her appearance radiated a youthful glow, but her expression conveyed a certain sense of maturity.

The girl’s almond-shaped eyes were adorned with magnetic, emerald green irises. It was a bit unfortunate that such a pair of beautiful eyes were currently creased into a stoic, almost impassive expression.

Her hair flowed down in cascading strands of black, while the crown of her head was decorated with a white, ruffled headband. To the experienced eye, the headband could easily be identified as the same ones that French maids normally wore. What made it stand out though, was that she wasn’t wearing a matching uniform, but rather a pair of light aquamarine colored pajamas.

Her stone-faced gaze wandered through the room before they landed onto the impossibly large bed.

“Oh, you’re already awake, Young Master Nest.” Her eyes slightly widened. Although her face was like a board of wood, her voice betrayed her inner disappointment.

Nest stared down at her with a narrow, scrutinizing glare. His gaze lingered on the ruffled headband that sat firmly on top of her head.

“Why bother wearing that thing when you’re going to walk around dressed in pajamas.” He voiced out the complaint that had been bubbling inside his heart.

“It’s because I’m a professional maid.” She instantly responded.

“Professional maids don’t normally walk around in pajamas.”

“But I do.” She bluntly spoke with a serious expression plastered on her face. Straightening the headband on her head, she approached his bedside with even footsteps. “I came here to wake you up, but I see you’re already awake. While I find your efforts commendable, I can’t help but feel a tad bit disappointed…”

Hearing her words, Nest’s complexion worsened. For a moment, he completely forgot about the angel floating above him.

Anya Loris, a maid employed by his family. Whether or not she was good at her job, he couldn’t say, but there was one thing about her that really bugged him: every morning, without fail, she would come to his room in an attempt to wake him up.

That in itself wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but with her, such a simple task snowballed into a very unpleasant experience.

In short, Anya had this very malicious way of waking people up. Dumping a bucket of ice water on his face, banging a marching drum in his room, or just straight up shouting into his ear, these were just a few examples of the rather ‘creative’ methods that she loved to use.

It had gotten to the point where Nest accidentally conditioned himself to wake up earlier than normal, all in an attempt to avoid the routine suffering that he so often faced in the mornings.

Despite waking up earlier and earlier these days, Anya still routinely came to his room every morning. According to her, she needed to make extra sure that he was really up, but Nest knew better. He was convinced that she was simply looking for an excuse, waiting for the moment he slips up. When he does… Nest felt a cold shudder crawl down his spine.

He let out a sigh.

If it wasn’t for the bit of sentiment that existed between the two of them, then he would have long since fired her.

Nest shook his head and asked, “Is breakfast ready?”

Anya nodded. “The food has already been prepared downstairs. Pancakes and eggs, your favorite.”

“That’s not my favorite.” He replied. “That’s yours.”

“Oh, I apologize.” She feigned a look of shock. “It seems like I’m already coming of age…”

He rolled his eyes. Coming of age my ass. Anya was only twenty-one this year, about a year older than him. If she was coming of age, then grey hairs were already growing on his head.

Anya stared at him for a moment, before she shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I will leave you to your own devices. Please quickly get changed and come down soon, Young Master. If you’re too slow, then there might not be any food left.”

He bitterly stared at her. This glutton, she’s not really going to eat all the food, is she? Knowing her, he was somewhat worried.

Just as she was about to walk away, Nest suddenly remembered something. He discreetly glanced up. As expected, the angel was still there. Much to his dismay, it hadn’t disappeared. It simply looked down at the room with curiosity-laden eyes.

“Wait,” Nest suddenly called out.

“What is it, Young Master?”

“Um… is there anything, uh, strange going on?”

“What?”

“No, um…” he had trouble wording out just what it was he wanted to convey. Nest kept glancing up at the angel. In response, it stared back at him and chuckled. Eventually, he managed to spit out, “Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary within this room?”

Anya tilted her head. “I don’t know what you mean.” She thought for a moment, before she widened her eyes and made an ‘oh’ sound. “Do you want me to change you?”

“No!” He shouted. “Where did you get that idea from!? Since when have I ever asked you to change me!?”

“Then, is there a pimple on your back that you want me to pop?” She exaggeratedly sighed. “Although I loathe to touch your acne ridden back, as a poor maid, I can only do my utmost to assist you…”

“No! Damn it, my back is normal!” Nest eventually sighed. In the end, he gave up. Conversing with this girl simply gave him a headache. He waved his hand dismissively, “Never mind, just go already.”

Anya stoically nodded before she left the room.

After she was gone, the bedroom once again descended into silence. Nest turned his attention back over to the angel. He inwardly shook his head. After one nuisance gone, now I’ve got to deal with this. I’m not losing my mind, am I?

He awkwardly cleared his throat, before he asked out loud, “Um, little girl? Are you my subconscious? Am I going insane? Why couldn’t she see you?”

“Hmph!” The Angel scoffed and crossed her arms across her chest. “Only you can see me. Nobody else is allowed to lay their eyes on a creature of divinity!”

“A creature of divinity…” He muttered to himself. “Is that what you are? You really are an angel?”

The angel enthusiastically nodded. She paused for a moment, before she suddenly flew towards the center of the room. In a grand gesture, she raised the cuff of her dress and bowed towards him like an actress at the end of a play. “Greeting, human! I am the angel, Niphilili. As the ninety-seventh retainer of the God of Origin, I have come bearing his message. Will you accept?”

“Um…” Nest was caught off guard. He blankly nodded. Even now, his mind still could not quite catch up with the current situation.

“Good.” She nodded back in response. “Then listen carefully human! Your world is about to face a calamity of apocalyptic proportions!”