Compensation

"Now, shall we do it?" She said.

"D-d-do what?" I stuttered through my words, taking everything of me to keep composed.

"Hehe…" She smirked and finally let go of me, saying as if it is obvious, "What else are we supposed to do besides playing games--what?"

I slapped my forehead as Sean's words rang in my ears again, "Don't get your hopes up!" Clearly, he said so earlier.

"Hah, I need a break Seren…" I sighed and left my room.

I left the chamber and went downstairs to the room on the left, basically the kitchen, to breathe and drink some water.

"Ah?" A weird yawp was let out of my throat as I saw Luke in the kitchen.

"Oh, hello there," He noticed me and waved, a gentle smile etched on his face.

"Um, thanks for taking me in." I also showed gratitude towards him.

"Ah no, don't worry about it. As I said back then, the more the merrier, right?"

"Well, yeah. But it still feels, you know, a little uncomfortable to be living in your house. Sean and Seren already seem to know me, but I think it is different for you." I said, more like muttering to myself.

"Hmm, I see, that must be gnawing at you, huh? Well, I'll assure you right now, that you don't have to worry about it." He said, with that smile still on his face.

"You see… all three of us, me, Sean, and her, have had a difficult childhood… So we are used to being alone, just us three against the world…" His green eyes squinted a little as he looked upwards, reminiscing about the past.

"I welcome you here. If Sean and Seren, as you call her, welcome you here, then so do I."

"Ah, by the way, we don't have any relatives living in this house, basically it's a share house, where we three live. I and Sean work to bring bread home, while also following school lessons."

He kept taking three-second breaks between each sentence.

"You see, Sean is a little closed-off kid, so I request of you to not be harsh on him, I also see him acting like that, as if he's all right. But right now I can't do anything besides leaving him to improve step by step."

"As for Seren, she's too innocent, so I also ask of you to be patient with her. I know she is beautiful, but she's never gotten a boyfriend or anything. She doesn't know what physical and mental love truly is, either."

"So you may be her White Knight who will swoosh her off the ground and go to the moon with her."

"Y-you're not planning to die or something, are you?" I said deadpan, staring at him weirdly.

"Hahaha," A laugh slipped from his mouth, "Yeah, no, I'm not planning to die, at least not yet. Wait, what am I saying, is death creeping up on me?" He started acting weird while wriggling his fingers.

I chuckled, "No, you won't die, at least for how long I am going to exist here, you wont. I assure you of that." I said seriously.

"Wah! Getting all serious and telling me how you're going to protect me. Enough to make a grown-man fall for you," He said jokingly.

"Huhuhm, of course, this Elias Ayla keeps his promises!" I said puffing out my chest while slapping it with my right hand.

"I see, then that's great. Oh yeah, earlier I was getting all sentimental and stuff, but that's just because I wanted for you to know us better since we haven't told you anything about ourselves, besides our names that are."

"I see, thank you again… Wait, haven't I been saying 'thank you' a little too many times!?" I pointed my index finger towards myself.

"You certainly have--"

"Aa!" A female gasp was heard outside the kitchen door. "And I was wondering why Elias was taking so long to show up." She went through the gate and approached me, grabbing a hold of my arms.

Oii, those well-endowed bonkers are touching me!!!

"She's just an innocent girl…" Luke's words rang in my ears… Wait haven't I been feeling this a lot since I came here?!

Get back to reality, Elias!

"As soon as I saw you with Elias, I knew you were going to try and steal him from me, hmph!" Seren retorted, wait… steal?

No, don't tell me...

"You like guys after all."

I slowly shifted my neck towards the guy… in sheer terror, I finally laid my eyes upon him.

"Hehehe, chu~" He whipped his hair and gave me an air kiss, and what's up with the effect of the roses showing up behind him?!

"No!" I firstly punched the air, rejecting his kiss.

"Eh, and yet you seem so tasty…" What is this guy saying?

"Pff, hahaha." Seren finally broke into laughter, and so did Luke. Only I was left like an idiot veering my head to the right and left.

"No, don't worry, Elias. He doesn't like guys, we were just messing with you..." She broke into another burst.

***

Soon after, we went to bed.

"Elias, you'll be sleeping in the same room as me," Seren said sluggishly.

"What, Why?!" I panicked, well not really, "Uh, aren't you scared I might try to make a move on you or something like that?"

"Oh I don't care about that… and I certainly hope you won't do so. Otherwise, my opinion of you will drop."

"Hmm, that's surely a thing I can't risk," I said and continued, "But may I ask why?"

"My room is the widest and it can properly fit two people to sleep. One on the normal bed which is me, and you on the floor-bed."

"I see. I hope I'll be able to survive through the night."

***

We said our goodnights to Luke and finally tucked ourselves into the specific beds.

"Where will you switch off the light if you're already laying?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that, now get into your bed already." She urged me and I did what I was told, surprisingly. Since I'm a nobility, I don't take orders from everyone… well, taking orders from someone you like is something different…

"Good night, Elias."

"Good night, Seren."

She switched something at the side of her bed and the lights went out.

Stuff I didn't want to think of resurfaced now that I was calmly staying like this.

How will I go back?

Will I be able to go back?

What will happen to my geezer and brother?

Will they search for me?

Will they think I ran away from the duties I would have to fulfill?

Will they call me a coward?

Will I be able to survive in this world… I wonder?

***

Like that, darkness began to overtake me.

"You asleep yet?" I heard Seren.

"No, not really…" I replied quietly.

"I know you are overthinking like crazy right now, but don't worry… I am here for you…"

"How did you know, can you read minds?" I said jokingly as if I was shocked.

"Not really, I just know a little about that side of yours…"

"Ah, I see. Welp, Seren…" I trailed off.

"Yes?"

"I'll surely compensate it. From tomorrow on… I'll teach you and Sean… magic…"

Sleep finally engulfed me. Not ready for the new life in another world from zero.