Chain Of Tragedies (1)

'Ah…YOU'RE SO CUTE, MY LITTLE TAIN!!!' Dilet had an incredibly perverted look etched onto his face—as he caressed his little brother's hair—strand by strand—as if each single one of them were worth more than a million bucks.

Presently, Dilet is currently in Tain's bedroom—caressing and comforting Tain—due to the absence of Duchess Maven and Maid Lisa.

The oblivious Tain—while seated between Dilet's legs—pondered as to where his mother had gone—having taken Lisa to accompany her through her journey as well.

"Brother."

"Y-yeah?" Dilet asked—concealing his perverted gaze in case his brother turned his head around.

"Will mom…come back soon?" Tain asked in a dejected voice.

"I'm sure she will, Tain! Don't worry, I will be here for you until she comes back, okay?" Dilet reassures Tain of Duchess Maven's return.

'Still…it's a bit strange for the duchess to be gone for this long. Just what was she thinking?" Dilet pondered—as he continued to caress his little brother's hair.

While caressing his brother's hair—an idea suddenly came into Dilet's mind—that just might improve his little brother's gloomy mood.

"How about we surprise mom by waiting at the entrance?" Dilet suggested.

Tain's ears perk up—as he fantasizes the joyful expressions his mother might make—from having him waiting to greet her at the entrance.

Staring into his brother's eyes—Tain nodded his head enthusiastically.

Seeing Tain's mood improving—Dilet couldn't help but to smile inwardly…yet he also couldn't help but to feel a sense of unease in his heart.

'Is something happening outside?' He pondered.

Letting out a sigh—Dilet decided to postpone his speculations for now—and focus on improving his little brother's sour mood.

As they made their way downstairs—the mansion was…eerily quiet—as if a storm was brewing quietly under their noses.

There were servants roaming the hallways—cleaning the decorations, sweeping the floor, and just overall making sure the mansion was as clean as a whistle like always.

But…something about the servants didn't feel right. None of them uttered a single word to Dilet and Tain—nor did they converse among themselves.

This was really bizarre—as the servants were known to gossip among themselves during working hours.

Not to mention—the servants didn't show even a hint of emotions while working. Something was happening behind the scenes, and Dilet could feel it. While Tain—as usual—was as oblivious as always.

'I have a really bad feeling about this!' Dilet eyes darted everywhere, as he searched for a weapon he could use to fend off the servants in case things go south.

"Brother, are you alright? You seem tired…" Tain asked as he noticed that Dilet looked distressed.

Seeing that Tain was worried for his well-being—Dilet couldn't help but to feel his heart aching—overwhelmed by the cuteness Tain exuded just from existing alone.

'AAHHH! MY TAIN! YOU'RE SO CUTE!!! IF YOU KEEP DOING THAT, I'M GOING TO DIE FROM DIABETES!!!' Dilet struggled to suppress his desire to overindulge his little brother.

"Young masters." The servants uttered at the same time—startling both Dilet and Tain and breaking the once silent atmosphere.

Dilet turned Tain to be facing him and whispered "Don't worry, Tain. Brother is here to protect you."

The servants gradually approached the pair of brothers from both sides—slowly and ominously—with seemingly ill intentions hidden underneath their emotionless facade.

"What do you guys want?" Dilet spoke with hostility—while also covering Tain's ears—in case he was influenced by his brother's hostility.

The crowd stayed silent, and simply continued to move—getting closer and closer with each step they took—until Dilet and Tain were back to the wall.

Dilet was now ready to do anything and everything in his willpower to protect Tain—even if it meant becoming a serial killer in his brother's eyes.

"Young masters." The crowd spoke in unison once more.

"What?" Dilet asks—attempting to buy time as he quickly conjures an idea of a way to escape from this situation—without wanting to let his brother see the horrors he was about to commit if there were no other choices.

"Happy birthday!" The crowd shouted—causing the pair of brothers to be bewildered by the sudden change of mood.

From creepy to wholesome—the sudden change of mood is a surprise—but a welcome one.

Amidst the crowd—the black-hair maid that woke Tain up in the morning for today—walked towards the pair of brothers—while holding a plate tray with a knife lying beside a magnificent, circular white-colored cake on top of it.

Lowering herself—just enough to be on the same eye level with Tain, she smiles at him—before handing him the knife to slice the cake.

Dilet let out a sigh of relief—as the uneasy feeling he felt was just due to the servants wanting to surprise Tain for his birthday.

However, that doesn't mean they are innocent in his eyes—yet. He is still suspicious as to why he wasn't invited into the plan—but he didn't want to ruin the moment—so he'll let them off the hook for now.

Tain was amazed by the surprise celebration they prepared for him—and couldn't help but to gasp at the cake in front of him.

It was white-colored, with gold dust sprinkled on top of it—perfectly symmetrical—blue and white icing surrounding the edges—reflecting Tain's hair and eye colors respectively—and 5 beautiful blue and white striped candles placed on it—signifying Tain's turning 5 years old.

There was also the sentence "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAIN" written on top using frosting.

Overall, the cake—albeit not being too grand—looked aesthetically pleasing to the eyes.

Tain was taken aback by the cooperation of the servants—just for his sake. He couldn't help but to feel exhilarated seeing the smiles etched onto the servants' faces.

Grabbing the knife—Tain readjusted his position and readied himself to cut the cake. He could feel his heart pounding with excitement as the knife slowly descended onto the cake.

Just before he could continue, someone interrupted him.

"Don't cut that cake, Tain." A voice echoed throughout the hallways—alerting everyone immediately.

Everyone saw Elena standing in front of the doorway. In her left hand—she held a bloodied sword. From top to bottom—she was drenched in blood—as if she was a horror movie character.

Everyone was dumbfounded by her sudden appearance. The smell of blood coming from her was horrific—as Tain and Dilet instinctively covered their noses.

"Ah…you're still alive." The black-haired maid spoke.

Dilet could sense something sinister was going to transpire. Quickly—he carried the still dumbfounded Tain on his shoulder—and leaped towards Elena.

"W…What's happening?" Tain asked—not catching up with the flow of events.

"I'm…not sur-"

"War." Elena interrupted Dilet.

The pair of brothers could sense Elena's blood boiling. A terrifyingly angry—yet composed expression was etched onto her face.

"Hmm…seems like something happened?" The maid provoked Elena. All of the servants had a creepy smile etched onto their faces—as if they were dolls controlled by the maid.

Elena stayed quiet and merely gazed at the maid with intense bloodlust.

"Well. Let's not stretch this meaningless chit chat any longer." The maid continued.

"Yeah, let's not." Elena spoke—surprising everyone.

The maid had a creepy grin—as she saw Elena getting into a stance.

Dilet eyes widened upon seeing the stance Elena was in. The posture, the position, the aura…everything about that stance reminded him of a distant horrible memory he had when he was Elena's disciple.

A faint yellowish glow encircled Elena's figure.

Tain was mesmerized as the glow grew brighter by the moments—until it was too bright for anyone to keep their eyes open.

"Sword King Verse 1: Blinding Flash." Elena muttered under her breath.

Suddenly, the light—along with Elena—disappeared seemingly into thin air. All that was left were Elena's shoe prints—which were imprinted into the concrete ground.

And then, suddenly—one by one, the heads of the servants' began to fall off their bodies and tumbled to the ground—as if someone had decapitated them.

Seeing this—the black haired maid tried to flee—but just like the rest of the servants—her head too tumbled onto the ground soon enough.

However—only the corpse of the maid had blood gushing out of it—while the other servants' flesh were almost dry—as if all of the liquids were drained from it.

Behind the pile of corpses stood Elena—staring at her sword—as if complementing something.

As Tain tried to peek his head to see what had happened to the servants—Dilet quickly knocked his brother out unconscious.

He didn't want little brother to see the horrific scene he witnessed. He wanted his little brother's innocence to be kept for as long as possible—even though he knew Tain would one day—have to kill people too.

"What a nice brother you are, Dilet." Elena remarked.

"Yes, yes…"

"Anyways, we need to get out of here. Everything is a mess…"

"...Can I trust you?" Dilet asked. After seeing what happened, he was bound to be suspicious of Elena.

"Doesn't matter if you don't trust me right now but…"

"But…?"

Her brows furrowed. "No, it's nothing. Just make sure you stay safe. We're going to have to go outside now."

"...Sure."

As the both of them headed outside of the mansion, Dilet asked. "How bad is the situation outside?"

"...See for yourself." Elena responded bitterly.

The smell of burning corpses, gunpowder, and blood entered Dilet's nose.

'This is…a mess' Dilet thought—as he saw corpses piled on top of one another—being engulfed in flames.

"Dilet."

"Yeah?"

"...Keep your brother safe, okay?"

Looking on his back—Dilet couldn't help but to smile—as he saw his brother peacefully asleep while being carried.

"Of course I will."

"...and yourself too." Elena muttered under her breath.

"Hmm? What did you say, teacher?"

"It's nothing."

…