3.01

Raum has been forming a thought about its host, which most of the time should be a dangerous thing, but then again it was specifically built to be a little more sapient, along with six other system agents. It has, after the trial world, at least confirmed one thought.

Furan Shi's potential is covered in soot and cowardice, and that is not including the times whenever he's high. In those times, he ought to make decisions impulsively. After Miss Shi, there was Raum by his side, and Raum had regretted it. It should have just kicked the host out of the nest instead of acting as his next parental figure.

So it did just that in the second world, hoping it could still remedy the damage it had done to the host's development. Showing this card "accidentally" to him was one thing it would never admit to Furan Shi, and selecting Desmond as his character was another.

Also, this.

「 [Mother's Eye] development progress: 99. 96% 」

It won't budge. Raum had thought about what to do for it to continue, but none came to mind yet. Nothing possible at the moment, that is.

There was one thing Furan Shi had realized a little too late. He should have, but he wasn't one to pay attention when he was busy admiring his new character in the mirror.

"Why am I the villain?" he asked out loud in surprise, one day when he was reviewing the missions sent his way. Raum could sigh in relief. He was alone, sucking up his free time the best he could when he'd barely squeezed it in between Desmond's suffocating classes.

Yes, he snuck out. He'd definitely receive some good whippings from it, but he, too, needed to calm down after being stimulated with too much data as a transmigrator. Or that's how his excuse went when he explained himself to Raum. He didn't even know why he had to explain anything to that bird.

He was sitting down on the grass behind a bush in the garden, hugging his knees so he'd take up less space. The holographic windows were floating in front of him, displaying the eight missions that had been given to him. He'd accomplished one just the other night, so that left him with seven.

However, looking at them now felt wrong. Raum chuckled beside him.

"I told you," it said, matter-of-fact-ly. "Pay attention."

"Is it my fault I have a short attention span?" Argued the host, to which the system agent only laughed at.

"Short attention span my ass."

Furan Shi ignored that so he could only suck it all up and think.

Desmond Canaris, the fourth son of Duke Canaris, was originally… "a villain? Really?"

"Depends on what you see," the crow replied with a small bird-y shrug. "Is he a villain? A hero? An anti-hero? Or just a kid who grew old? You decide, actually. You're only ten years old, anyways."

Oh no. Raum's doing it again. The crow immediately crossed its claws in prayer, hoping it wasn't considered as backseat driving or… spoonfeeding, whichever term was more accurate.

"No… OOC?"

"As long as you don't do something so abruptly uncharacteristic, you should be fine. I should be fine. Ugh."

Then his worries were for naught.

He had just sighed out his breath of relief when he heard the bushes behind him rattle. He froze, and slowly turned around. Idiot turned instead of breaking into a sprint, forgetting he was still supposed to be in hiding.

A face met him from the bushes, with messy, silver locks of hair and furrowed brows, and a lighter shade of glaring green eyes.

"Why aren't you with the rest of your classmates?" Bennett whispered, his gruff voice not really making it sound any less threatening.

The runt pup in front of him shrunk further into himself and could only muster up a little squeak.

「 "Using skill: Teary Eyes level maxxxx!!!!" 」

「 "Pfft haha.." 」

「 "You should really be limiting your laughing to a soft one like that." 」

「 "Why?" 」

「 "Because you sound sexy if you don't sound like a dying crow." 」

Raum proceeded to detail the fact that it was just using a voice that's according to Furan Shi's fantasy. Meanwhile, Bennett wasn't planning on scaring his wuss of a brother, but here he was, tearing up from simply being asked a question. "Are you really my brother? What the hell?"

"B-but.."

Furan Shi teared up some more as he felt it wasn't working. Bennett looked challenged seeing it.

"Ho? Desmond, are you.. for real?"

He grabbed Desmond's wrist and pulled him up onto his feet, the younger pup obeying quietly like a limp sack of potatoes. Sad potatoes. He started dragging him out of the garden, all while lecturing him.

"You shouldn't be sneaking away like that, you know. You'll give your teacher a hard time, and not to mention father. He will seriously whip your a—"

He stopped when he heard it. He wasn't sure what it was at first, but when he turned over his shoulder, there he saw it. "Why are you crying?"

Desmond was doing his best to hold back his tears, or at least that's what Furan Shi wanted to look like, and it was working magnificently. His round, pup-like eyes turned up to hold Bennett's questioning gaze, which softened just a tad bit. He wasn't used to seeing Desmond cry. If anything, the pup would rather die than be seen being already weak like this.

This wasn't his Desmond today.

"Wha…" And Bennett did not know how to pacify someone whom he usually saw as a prideful kid. "Hey now…"

Furan Shi yanked his hand off the other's hold for special effects and began scrubbing at his eyes to "wipe the tears away", but all it did was redden up the rims. He looked like a mess, with even a stray leaf on his usually impeccable hair. Bennett awkwardly plucked that off for him. And of course, Furan Shi didn't forget to flinch when he saw the hand stretching towards him.

Bennett felt worse. "Des…"

「 "Raum, why isn't my charm working? I thought I was supposed to be cute?" 」

「 "Well…" 」

"I'll go ahead, then.." the runt pup quietly said and began to walk away. His brother immediately latched onto him by the wrist again.

"Wait..!"

The pup looked over his shoulder, his eyes glistening with tears, and for a moment Bennett had forgotten to compose himself. Desmond was… adorable, even when he cries, and Bennett wasn't usually one with a keen eye for beauty but-

"Wow.." he mumbled to himself, which went unheard by the runt pup.

"I'll…" Bennett awkwardly continued, straightening up. "I'll walk you back to class." And then he did his best to mimic his usual stern voice. "But don't skip classes next time, alright?"

The pup helplessly nodded along.

——————————

Desmond wasn't punished — only because Bennett didn't tell on him. Nonetheless, he never skipped classes after that, although it drained him more than ever. Not to mention the sudden pheromones he could sense everywhere now that he's no longer in a trial mode.

Raum had mentioned it was still optimized for a beginner like him, but he couldn't imagine how it would be if it wouldn't be anymore.

Still, when night comes, he gets to relax thanks to his new "big sis". Ashlee was very kind to him, always bringing him his nightly glass of milk and playing chess with him. After teaching her the rules of the game, she'd taken a liking to it somehow. Furan Shi couldn't blame her. In a world with no modern gadgets like a phone, people get entertained by other things, such as beating another person in the form of a board game.

As for Furan Shi, he's plenty occupied by Ashlee's inherent trait.

「 Using skill [Empathy lvl2] on character [Ashlee] 」

「 Using skill [Empathy lvl2] on character [Ashlee] 」

「 Using skill [Empathy lvl2] on character [Ashlee] 」

「 Using skill [Empathy lvl2] on character [Ashlee] 」

「 "Darn it.." 」

Ashlee was intently focusing on planning out her next moves on the board, different strategies playing in her head. She can't let Desmond win again. Not this time. Ah, but the boredom was quite obvious in Desmond's face if Ashlee would just be bothered to look.

"Big sis…" he softly whined, his tail sweeping across the space behind him. The two of them were on his bed, a wooden chessboard separating them. He was hugging a soft pillow that's on his lap, and Ashlee was hunched over as she focused on her remaining pieces.

"Yes..?" She replied without looking up. She moved a pawn forward, blocking Desmond's.

Her field of vision was shortly blocked by the angelic face of the runt pup who leaned down to meet her gaze, his eyes widened and pleading. She almost cooed.

"Can we play another game?" His ears were also pinned flat against his head. Ashlee could only sigh before reluctantly nodding along.

That's when a few knocks came from the closed door of his room. Ashlee excused herself to answer it.

Desmond only followed the girl with his gaze, curious to see who it was that decided to visit him this late at night. In his memory, no one should really give a fuck about Desmond — not unless it was to lecture him about keeping the family's image.

To his surprise, the door revealed Bennett's figure as it opened. The young man was clad in cherry red pajamas with cherry prints. He'd defend it by saying red was for blood or whatever alpha wolves say. Ashlee politely stepped to the side, and the tall, intimidating wolf welcomed himself in. His eyes landed on Desmond's small figure on the bed.

"Desmond.."

He gestured for Ashlee to leave. She reluctantly did so with a small wave towards Desmond. Silence enveloped them once they were alone.

「 "Now what?" 」

「 "Reminding host about the quest." 」

「 "...right." 」

"Brother…" the runt pup mumbled as he let his legs dangle off the edge of his bed. The older wolf momentarily watched the movements, and then it was quiet once more.

Among the three older brothers, it was Bennett who wasn't the closest to Desmond — well, none of the brothers are, but it was him who's more strict when it comes to disciplining the youngest pup as compared to the other two.

Tonight seems different. He'd never seen the youngest cry as he'd always been a brat. There must be… something wrong with his lessons, or perhaps his mentor… and Bennett ought to find out tonight.

「 "Raum, what's he staring at me for?" 」

「 "No clue lol. Maybe thinking of a way to reprimand you without involving peas this time around." 」

Furan Shi couldn't feel Bennett's pheromones, though it wasn't a guarantee Bennett wasn't going to give him the Duke's usual treatment. He could already feel his knees trembling like it did when he'd knelt on peas and corn.

"Brother..?" he called out again.

Desmond had never called anyone "brother" before. It was always their names for some reason, although the runt wolf had always feared his brothers. That made Bennett's tail twitch. The older wolf subtly grabbed on the base of his tail just in case.

He cleared his throat to regain his composure. "Desmond. Can you… call me that again?"

"Why?"

Bennett was taken aback. What, he can't give decent orders anymore? "N-nevermind." He took a step towards the runt pup.

"Brother.."

Suddenly, Desmond looked like a baby in Bennett's eyes, with his small hands reaching out to him. He suddenly remembered the time when Desmond was little, one summer night, and the pup couldn't sleep. If Bennett hadn't rejected him that night. If only…

He closed the distance between them. He knelt down on the floor in front of the bed where Desmond was seated and placed a hand on the pup's knee.

"How's your lessons going?"

「 "Raum… I didn't think being bratty could make people kinder to me." 」

Furan Shi teared up for the fun of it, pretending to be touched that after all these years, he was finally noticed and acknowledged.

"It's all fine, brother.." Of course, he had to answer coyly to give the illusion that Desmond didn't want to be seen as weak, but the tears in his eyes were telling another story for him. Muhehehe.

Bennett could feel his heart being twisted. He wasn't one to fall for weak beings, but it's Desmond. His hand climbed up to the pup's shoulder, holding onto it gently.

"Big brother's not going to reprimand you, alright?" Since when did he refer to himself as "big brother"???

Furan Shi couldn't care less. If it was to escape being knelt on something painful, then he'd gladly take it.

"I'm just here to ask about your day," the older wolf continued. "I know you can't take a break, but if you're in need of help, just come to me, alright?"

"Y-yes… big brother…" Furan Shi made sure to add the nickname in the end.

「 "Are you speedrunning the quests?" 」

「 "No????" 」

He had no clue what was happening, either, but to know wasn't his main goal.

So he put up his acting face. "I assure you I'm fine, big brother~"

Ugh, the tilde.

To be honest, the older wolf had assumed it would smooth saily once he asked about Desmond's day. He'd expected a natural conversation. However, he hadn't put into account that he's more of a military wolf, and his brother was too scared (not really) of him to say anything. Desmond kept denying it! He can see it in the pup's eyes!

"You can tell big brother anything." Not really. He unconsciously gripped the pup's shoulder tighter. "Alright?"

The pup whined when it hurt too much. Bennett immediately let go, as though he'd been scalded by something.

Cursing under his breath, he opted to ruffle Desmond's hair and then hurried out of the room without another word.

「 "What was that?" 」

「 "No clue." 」

Ashlee welcomed herself back in only to walk into a clueless pup, but the tears at the corners of his eyes didn't go unnoticed by her. Her brows raised in alarm as she quickly went up to him.

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing." To the human girl, it only looked like the wolf was trying to hide something. He must be trying to hide his hurt..! Her eyes squinted at the pup.

"Nothing?"

"En."

She wasn't convinced. She started checking every limb, including the cute tail that's betraying Desmond's confusion. (Maybe it formed a question mark. Who knows.)

Ashlee found nothing. The pup was indeed telling the truth. However, the pup's image kneeling on corn and peas some days ago was still in her mind that she couldn't help but think badly of Bennett, or anyone in the main family except for Desmond.

She couldn't even help but think she's being treated better than the poor pup.

「 "Haha I'm not the villain anymore. Look at that look on her face." 」

「 "You shouldn't be celebrating." 」

「 "Why? I don't want to be the villain." 」

「 "It's literally your mission to prevent her from going down her C*nderella route." 」

「 "akajkskaksksksjakjskansksjakaj-" 」

Annoyed, Furan Shi decided to give Raum what it wanted. He pushed Ashlee away for as hard as he could. Poor girl was caught off guard, stumbling down to the floor. Her bum plopped right down and she looked up at the pup wolf in confusion.

"I-I said I'm fine..!" Desmond yelled, his tail flicking in annoyance.

「 "It's so hard to play this role. Ugh, I can feel my hands have been dirtied by that simple push. I don't wanna be bad anymore (⁠´⁠°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥⁠ω⁠°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥⁠｀⁠)" 」

Unbeknownst to him, Ashlee saw right through him when he flinched, intending to reach out to the human girl but stopped himself. Chuckling, Ashlee simply stood up and dusted herself off.

"If you say so, oh young master Desmond."

She reached out to pet Desmond, but even that the pup did not allow. Her bandaged hand was slapped away just as it was about to softly land on Desmond's hair.

Oh? The young master Desmond thinks he's all grown up now when he's just acting so childishly yesterday?

Raum sighed in its heart and flew away, maybe to find something more entertaining to watch.

Ashlee gave a mysterious smile and excused herself out of the room. She must play along now, and give the young master some face. After all, he's all grown up now, that pup.

Furan Shi waited for a solid minute before throwing himself on the carpet and rolling around like his tail caught on fire, whining, "Rauuuummmm what the hell did I dooooooooooo?????"

That was a long word.

But Raum was nowhere to be found in the room.

It was watching another more interesting scene somewhere.

Ashlee was stopped on the way to the kitchen by another one of her masters, Master Bennett. They were talking about something, and Master Bennett seemed to have some serious words before Ashlee was finally let go.

After a while, Raum flew back to where its host was, although it did not intend to divulge anything about what it had witnessed. This time, surely, it won't make the same mistakes it did by helicopter parenting (aha). From now on, Raum will be the best system agent there is, and it would start by not meddling too much into the story.

"And where did you go?" Furan Shi immediately asked right as Raum flew in through the window.

"Bird watching."

"...right."

Furan Shi huffed and sat up on the floor. He summoned a floating tab through Raum to check his progress.

「 Mission: Tame character [Bennett]. 」

It did not show his progress. "Raum, is it possible for me to..?"

"Host, you'd barely talked to your brother, and now you're looking for results already?"

Furan Shi sighed for the nth time. "Right, right. But hey, I think I could… follow along the villain route."

He made a wincing expression perhaps similar to when he tries to lick a lemon, but then again… his lemon face had always been blank because he's the type of person to pretend to be strong when someone's looking. Such was the life of a former princess wanna-be.

Anyways. "You think?" Raum prodded, to which Furan Shi hesitantly nodded.

"And I think I have the perfect method for it."