Another story: Arthur's Arc #5

Arthur lived in trepidation these past few days. It is mainly due to the original's little sister, Seiran, who might already know his deepest secret.

His heart palpitated every time they met. Even if he wanted to act normal, he couldn't do that.

He feared for his safety and the consequence of failing the mission. He also cannot bear to look Seiran straight in the eyes as he is laden with a guilty conscience. He is afraid he can no longer withhold his secret if she keeps looking at him with that pair of pure and innocent eyes.

It makes him wonder, should he confess the truth? But can he bear the consequence of exposing the secret? Can he retain his life since he, casually speaking, had forcibly occupied someone else's body and might or might not be had accidentally kicked out the original soul from his vessel? If the original soul's family comes to know this, he can only say that an easy death is too cheap for him.

Even if this possession is not his fault, he also has a share in this tragedy. He cannot escape the torture that might impose on him, nor he has the gut to accept the punishment willingly. A punch or two is all he can take on. Any more than that, he sincerely hopes the executioner will spare him some pity and kill him immediately instead of playing with him.

Thus, he spends the following day in listlessness. He tries his best to act like he is the bona fide Arthur Knight, not daring to let out any mistakes and be implicated by them later on. He gradually minimizes his contact with others and confines himself to his room.

To his dismay, the farther he tries to distance himself, the closer these people are. They dragged him out of his room, forcing him to spend time with them and, as if having tacit understanding, never let him alone most of the time.

Oddly enough, the little girl treats him as usual, calling him "Eldest brother, eldest brother" with an affectionate tone, like he is her real brother. He finds no sense of estrangement nor alienation from their interaction which makes him dumbfounded.

Was his acting managed to fool that little girl? He didn't think so because from what he heard, no, he shamelessly eavesdropped on the servants' conversation; these people had long discovered his strangeness and often discussed the topic of their Young Master's abnormal behavior among themselves.

How a taciturn guy suddenly became talkative, or how an expressionless Young Master turned all smiley and took the initiative to greet everyone. As strange as he could be, the servants were afraid to point out his oddity. They didn't know whether his changes were for the good or bad. And frankly speaking, seeing the gloomy Young Master turn sunny and jubilant made them doubtful of their life.

It makes them wonder whether the end of the world is coming.

Arthur: "..." Facepalmed.jpg.

It is a shame, but his acting can barely fool a three-year-old child. How could you expect someone like him to deceive the original's family, whose relationships are close-knit? He can control his expression to some degree. Even so, old habits die hard, and a leopard cannot change its spots. He couldn't possibly change his disposition.

For example, The original Arthur disliked celery, but he is not. During dinner yesterday, he ate them deliciously, and his family looked at him suspiciously. They began to doubt him more and more. And that jerk Julien had to point it out, making him all flustered and almost losing his composure.

To make it worse, the original Arthur hates coffee, but a coffee fanatic like him cannot survive without drinking coffee once a day. He tries to control his caffeine intake by drinking coffee once every two days, yet the backlash is not something he can bear.

As if venting his anger, Julien keeps provoking him and pointing out his mistake and abnormality, in which his family unanimously starts to observe him more closely than ever.

Arthur: "..." These people might drive him crazy. Can somebody save him from his misery?

Although, the one who contributes the most fault leading to this strict supervision is him. You cannot possibly blame anyone for the stupid mistakes you make.

The original is an early riser and always does his task according to the biological schedule he had set in mind. But him? Even an earthquake cannot possibly wake him up, and what makes you think he is willing to leave his comfortable bed?

He knew the consequence of waking up late, but he still did it. The one at fault is him.

Liliane needed to come into his room and wake him up twice. Seeing him unwilling to leave his bed had led her to drown him in water once or twice. His mother has no patience to deal with him, so she uses many tricks to wake him up. Being drenched is only one of the tricks.

She often reminded him about his daily training because if not, there was no way the current him would do that. For a workaholic like him, being lazy is tantamount to telling everyone that the core of this body has changed into someone else. But, sorry to say, to become someone else is not something he can do easily.

His oddity roused his family's suspicion, but he glazed it aside with many excuses. Most of the reasons sound ridiculous, but they are acceptable and justifiable. Since his family has no evidence to persecute him, they reluctantly back down. Perhaps, they think that his changes were harmless to anyone, hence keeping a blind eye to this.

Logically speaking, apart from being lazy and having a different preference for food, the current him has a better personality and temperament. He is more approachable, easy-going, and the perfect picture of how a gentleman should behave. The gain outweighs the loss, don't you think so?

However, his behavior should already alarm the little girl and confirmed her suspicion even more. Yet she did nothing. Why? Can someone tell him why this happen?

Is she playing with him? She treacherously lays trap by trap for him to fall into, tricking him so that he gradually lowers his defense and then catches him off guard.

There's no way she's that sly. Right?

The anxiousness is killing him, but he is terrified to do anything.

"Elder brother, what are you doing?" Seiran approaches him with a smile on her face.

Her smile is so pure and innocent, oozing with warmth and affection. It makes Arthur feel guilty for suspecting her.

Even so, Arthur desperately wants to know the answer. He almost blurted out what was inside his mind when suddenly Seiran said something.

"Elder brother, are you alright?"

"Huh? I'm fine. Why?" Arthur feels nervous for no reason.

"You've been acting strange these past few days. Are you in stress?"

"...Uhh..not really..."

"Mother said that you might feel distressed about your upcoming Ranking Match. That's why you've been behaving abnormally." Seiran tilts her head, her eyes looking at him with the compassion and consideration a girl should feel toward her family member. Not accusatory gaze nor malice that he had been expecting.

Perhaps-

A bulb suddenly lit up inside his brain.

Could it be that everything is only his assumption? What if she hasn't discovered his secret yet? Is that why she treats him no differently than before?

It must be so! She's so adorable. There's no way someone as cute as a rabbit has a cunning thought!

All of this must be his imagination! They are only his delusion and misunderstanding.

His tense shoulders sagged in relief.

Whatever happens, now, he is the owner of this body, and this is a fact that cannot be changed.

***

Seiran pursed her lips. She looked at the teenager, who resembled her elder brother from head to toe.

No matter how similar the appearance is, the core is no longer her beloved brother. She knows this, but no one else knows, and she will keep this secret until her death.

Because she senses no malice from him and his eyes are pure without any ill-intention toward them. Hence, she is willing to concede. For her elder brother's sake, she will not quarrel with this new brother and harm him. He might have his reason, and until the time comes when he leaves this place, she is willing to treat him the same way she treats her own brother.

***

Mini Theater.

Arthur decided to find that brat and finally found Julien on the outskirt of the Inner Forest.

His condition is terrible. Bruises here and there, clothes crumpled, and hair disheveled. The sight of him is very pitiful.

Arthur: Where's the animal that you hunt?

Julien: ...

Arthur: Who was the one who proudly said that he could hunt? Was it me?

Julien: ....(Shrinking into a ball, the tips of his ears reddened to the point of dripping blood)

Arthur: Who was the one who said he only needed ten minutes to hunt? Was it me again?

Julien: ...(Playing dead and pretending that he hears nothing and sees nothing)

Arthur: Brat, I'm hungry. (Lightly kick Julien's leg) Where's the prey? After all that bragging, you found nothing but got beaten up by them instead?

Aren't you feel ashamed?

Julien: Please catch them yourself if you're that powerful! (Unable to stand his brother's provocation any longer, he finally snaps)

Arthur: Fine.

Seeing Arthur leaving him behind and going to search for prey to hunt without caring for his injuries, Julien curses the teenager several times inside his heart.

He walked to their tent with a limp and fell asleep soon after. Before drifting to dreamland, his stomach grumbled again.

No matter how daring he is, Julien is still a kid. At a time like this, tears start pooling inside his eyes, and he is crying pitifully inside the makeshift tent. He sobs in his sleep, and coincidentally, Arthur, who has returned, hears this.

Arthur: ...A brat is still a brat. (Feeling guilty)

To be continued again.