It was a long and difficult day for Lord Eternus and all he wanted to do was lie in his comfortable bed and allow the peacefulness of sleep to embrace him. However, he knew he couldn't do that, not just yet. There was another obligation on the long list of things he had to do he simply had to get down before he could allow himself the luxury of sleep.

There was a disputed delivery he needed to deal with as even that couldn't be done properly without his intervention. None of the workers on the estate seem to know anything about it prompting Eternus to take things into his own hands. After all, he couldn't just let things be as the delivery included the enchanted sword he planned to give as a present to the man of his dreams.

Instead of calling the DragonDelivery, again Eternus decided to check his wards first, to see if maybe he had made a mistake when putting up his protection spells causing the dragons to be unable to pass the magical barrier. Besides, he suspected that one of his people might have gotten the delivery and a mistake was made or it was considered unimportant and quickly forgotten.

"Well, it's a question of life and death for me," Eternus mumbled in his beard extremely annoyed that things didn't go according to plan and that he couldn't give Midnight the present during the beautiful night of full moon like he planned.

What he sensed while checking the wards left him stunned. A stranger had somehow managed to let himself into his house. Not only that, the wards didn't show him ever leaving.

"How is that even possible?" Eternus wondered out loud. "My wards should have stopped anyone unfamiliar no matter how powerful they were. I don't understand."

What was worse was that the estate was so big that the person could have hidden anywhere if his magic couldn't keep the person away, Eternus wondered if he could use it to find and drive away the intruder.

"I have been busted, haven't I?" A voice suddenly said right next to Eternus' ear the cold air making his skin shiver. "I knew I shouldn't have stolen that delivery but that sword looked so enchantingly beautiful."

"I know, right?" Eternus said excitedly forgetting for the moment the roles they were playing in this movie of life. "Wait a minute, are you a ghost?"

"Yeah..." the guy said whooshing away to stand before Eternus. "I apologize, my Lord, I just thought it would be so great to experience all the luxury that I never had the chance to experience while I was alive. And then I saw that sword and I lost reason."

"I guess that explains how you could go through my wards I never really put anything in against the ghosts as this area was never much for the hauntings. Everyone who ever lived in this estate was more than happy to live it in their death. They were trapped enough as it was in life and they didn't want to feel the same in the afterlife," Eternus said looking at the ghost with pity as it was quite a young man, one he might have considered dating in the old days when he wasn't promised to his prince Charming. "I should have considered the possibility of a ghost from another place coming here to enjoy the cold luxury of this place."

"I am deeply regretful for my actions, my Lord," the ghost said lowering his head. "I just heard you say that it was a gift for your beloved and that's what made me reveal myself. I never want to cause anyone to have problems in love because of me. Especially to someone who seems as caring as you are."

"Thanks," Eternus said liking the ghost's line of thinking. "And I am sorry for... your untimely death."

As he said that, he shifted uncomfortably not really sure how to properly talk with a ghost as he had never done that before. All his diplomacy and big titles and he was still standing there blubbering like an idiot.

"It's my fate, I guess," the guy said producing the sword in question from behind his back. "Here it is. I hope your loved one loves it just as much as I did."

"I hope so, too," Eternus said dreamily as he wasn't sure yet what his darling preferred but he was ready to use the rest of his life to find out. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"No, not for me," the ghost said. "You can do something for yourself."

"What?" Eternus asked.

"Live your life the way you see fit, stop trying to please everyone especially your mother because life is too short to live in the past. Enjoy the present and those people who have always been by your side instead of focusing on that one person who could never give you what you needed from her," he said.

"I guess that means you've been here for a while," Eternus said blushing at how much the guy seemed to know about her. "I better update my wards."

"You better," the ghost said waving one final goodbye before dissolving into the thin air.

The encounter left Eternus pensive because he was right. Eternus had wasted so much time focusing on the wrong people, it was time to change that. And he knew exactly which person he would focus most of his attention on and he would start by finally giving him the present that was always meant to be his.

A gift and a promise.