Reuniting With Brother (2)

"Y-Young master, I'm sure the madam will be back soon..." The butler tried to comfort his master's second child.

'Madam, just where did you go? Without you or Lisa, none of us can ever make the young master happy!' The butler pondered—as he regretted letting Duchess Maven and Maid Lisa out of the mansion.

Currently, inside of a luxurious dining hall—situated within Duke Gide Aried Polarias's mansion—a staff of servants are attempting to comfort a sulking Tain.

The reason for his sulking? The absence of his mother. Tain enjoyed every moment he spent with her. Without her, he felt empty, dejected, and most importantly—just like a spoiled child—Tain refused to go or do anything but to wait for her return. But Lisa would always be there to keep him entertained. Now that the both of them were absent—no one else could cheer up the sulking Tain…or at least that's what the servants thought.

"It's not good for you to sulk like that, you know, Tain?" A familiar voice echoed throughout the dining hall.

'T-This is...!' All of the servants redirected their attention to the direction the voice came from.

'...Brother?' Tain thought, as he turned to see who was behind him. His lips curved into a smile, as he saw his one and only brother—two meters away from him—walking towards him.

Their sky blue eyes met with each others'. His older brother could gauge just how much he had missed him during his absence.

Tain immediately jumped off his chair, and hurried to his older brother.

"Brother!" Tain shouted as launched himself at his brother—hugging him tightly and not letting go.

His brother giggled and embraced the joyful Tain. All of the servants were baffled to say the least—as they weren't notified of his return.

"Young master Dilet." The butler interrupted the pair of brother's joyful reunion—and bowed down to his master's first child. The maids promptly curtsied to him—after the butler had bowed to him.

Dilet Aried Polarias—first child of Duke Gide Aried Polarias—Tain's half brother—and Arcadia's top graduate.

Dilet is a prodigy among his peers—but is often alone due to his lack of social skills. He acts indifferent, cold, emotionless, and aloof to most—but his persona changes to that of a kind, caring, and gentle person to his family—specifically to his little brother and the current duchess.

His relationship with his father—Duke Gide Aried Polarias—is incredibly bitter, as the duke never once gave even the slightest attention to his mother. Even when his mother died—the duke barely cared and just gave him some money so that he could prepare for the late duchess's burial—while the duke attended to other issues—whether important or not.

When the duke got remarried—Dilet felt a surge of hatred growing immensely deep in his heart. After all, the duke never once batted an eye to his first wife. Yet he showed affection, and unconditional love towards his second wife.

At first, Dilet envied Maven's position—and wanted to kill her—for succeeding in achieving something his deceased mother couldn't do until her death. Only after a few chit-chat with Maven did he understand why his father showed unconditional love to her.

Maven was a soft-spoken person whose only wish is nothing more than for her children to grow up into excellent people. Even though Dilet wasn't related to Maven by blood—she still treated him like her own son. The previous duchess never once treated him like her child—but rather an item to be used—so that she could continue being with the duke.

When news broke that he was going to get a little brother—for the first time in his life—Dilet shed tears of happiness.

Even if it meant destroying the entire world—he would gladly do so for the sake of his family.

Dilet gestured at the servants to give him and his brother some alone time. Noticing Dilet's gestures, the servants soon left the two brothers alone on their own.

"Have you been doing well, Tain?" Dilet asked while caressing his little brother's head.

Looking up at Dilet—a smile couldn't help but to form on his face as Tain joyfully said "Yes!" His pair of innocent eyes oblivious to the gruesome acts his brother had committed just a few hours ago.

'Ah…my cute little brother! if you look at me like that… I won't be able to suppress myself!' Dilet desperately fought against his desire to hug his brother until he suffocated.

…

After their joyful reunion, the two brothers enjoyed a wonderful dinner consisting of: steaks, truffle, caviar, parmesan cheese, pasta, etc.

"Do you like it, Tain?" Dilet asked while watching his ever so cute brother—eating a wide variety of exotic, lavish dishes.

With a mouthful of food—Tain nodded energetically, and made an "Mhm!" sound—signifying that he did in fact like the meals that were served to him.

'Ah… How cute!' Dilet desperately fought against his burning desire to pamper his little brother.

While the pair of brothers enjoyed themselves—something else was happening behind the scenes...

…

Somewhere—situated in the middle of a mountainous and forested region—inside of a small, shabby wooden cabin—containing a single bed, a wardrobe, and a shabby desk—Elena could be seen gazing at the stars twinkling in the sky.

"...Father…Are you still alive somewhere out there?" she muttered as she reminisced the last memories she had about her father—who went missing during an expedition—just when she turned 18.

The wind blew strongly, as leaves soar into the sky. Elena could feel the sudden change in atmosphere. Grabbing a sheathed broadsword she stored in her wardrobe—Elena headed outside of her cabin—and watched as the wind grew more violent.

Unsheathing her blade, she shouted "Come out right now!" in a voice full of authority, as she points her blade towards the seemingly endless trees that towered over her.

A few figures donning crimson red robes that obscured their appearances—could be seen emerging from the darkness.

"What do you bastard want?" She spoke with hostility—while pointing her sword at them.

One of the figures—presumably their leader—says "Nothing much. We just want to make a deal with you, Miss Elena."

"Stop your idle chit chat and get lost before I kill-"

"Your father."

Elena's entire being shivered. Although she couldn't see the appearance of the figure standing in front of her—she could sense that whoever was under that robe—had a smirk on their face.

Still, she couldn't just give away the worries she had for her father. Putting up her invincible facade—she responded coldly. "What about that lousy deadbeat father of mine?"

All of the figures chuckled, before the leader continued. "If you're going to act like that, we might as well show you proof."

"Proof…?"

A small wooden box was taken out of the leader's robe. Upon revealing the content of the box—Elena could feel her aura rampaging throughout her entire body—as her emotions gradually became unstable.

Her eyes widened as her pupils dilated—bewildered by what was inside of the box.

'There's no way. It isn't possible, right!?' Elena desperately struggled to keep herself composed—but she was gradually starting to break down, as well as her reasoning which was starting to waver as more and more speculations began to circulate inside of her head.

Even if she wanted to deny it, she couldn't. She recognised the content of the small box. Clenching her fist, she felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness wash over her.

'Why...is that thing in there? And how...did it end up within their grasp in the first place?'

Before she could ask where they got it from—the box was closed and the leader added. "Join us, and we'll help you find him."

Elena had to choose. Did she want to stay loyal and keep training Tain. Or, was she willing to betray him for the sake of her father?

Of course she would choose the—

…