Chapter Text
Cale Henituse was sitting on his rocking chair, relaxedly leaning on his comfy seat while his half-lidded eyes stare at the view behind his open window. It was a peaceful day, sounds of his children playing below and the sounds of weapons clashing on the training ground were welcome in his ears.
He reached his hands on a bowl full of grapes placed on a small coffee table situated right beside his chair. Plopping the juicy goodness of freshly plucked grapes on his lips, the young master let out a satisfying hum.
The warm rays of the sun shone on his face, and in addition to the cold breeze that greeted him, he could not withstand the drowsiness that slowly envelope him like a warm and comfy hug during a harsh winter night. The book on his hands was placed on his lap, long forgotten as he closed his eyes and drift off to sleep.
It was peaceful. A tranquil sunny day wherein he had nothing to do whatsoever but slack around. Eat, sleep and repeat— that has been the summary of his life so far, thanks to the war that ended months ago.
However, before he could fully enter dreamland— where he could dream of himself farming, tending to the carrots or whatever— the door to his room slammed open and an all too familiar shout of his child rang across the room, successfully waking him up from his near slumber.
“Human, human!” Shouted Raon who was chubbier than ever, his paw by the door when he abruptly opened the door to his room. His turquoise eyes were a bit wide as he looked at Cale. Before he could open his mouth, his eyes looked over his door, thinking if it needed replacement considering the strength of a dragon.
“Raon, what’s wrong?”
“It’s the Crown Prince!” He opened his paws, revealing the harsh red light emitting from the communication device. It was from the crown prince— no, the emperor of the Roan Empire. It was red, meaning something serious had happened.
What could’ve possibly happen? Peace has long reigned over the continent for over months now. Could it be some remains of the bastards that Alberu managed to catch? Or something worse and dreading?
Cale slowly hardened his face as he leaned away from the comforts of his rocking chair. The young master inwardly cursed as he felt the warmth embracing him suddenly gone as if it were a lie. His other children, On and Hong appeared behind Raon and approached him with soft meows.
“Then Raon”
“Okay Human!” Raon prepared to connect the communication device, immediately the face of his hyung appeared.
Cale frowned. Alberu Crossman, his hyung and the emperor, looked especially tired— no, perhaps more tired that he has ever been. He looked a bit paler than usual and the bags under his eyes were more evident that ever. There was a large frown on his lips and his brows wrinkled horribly. He looked absolutely irritated, perhaps angered even.
“I greet the glorious sun of the Roan Empire, your majesty the—“
“Stop, Ugh” Alberu groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose and held out his hand to stop Cale from his nonsense flattering. Fortunately, Cale clamped his mouth shut and tilted his head slightly to the side as he eyed Alberu cautiously.
Alberu stared at him for a while with tired eyes and let out a deep sigh. He opened his mouth in hopes to finish what he wanted to talk about.
“Cale I-“
“Was that Cale? Hey let me see Cale!”
“Um?”
Suddenly there was a new voice that appeared which oddly sounded almost exactly like Alberu yet more uplifted, excited and playful. The sounds of a chair being dragged on the floor and hurried steps were heard from Alberu’s line. Cale could see Alberu averting his eyes from the device and stared at something from the front with gritted teeth.
It left Cale dumbfounded but did not speak anymore, only waiting for an explanation. There was currently no one so far who could speak so informally to the current Alberu (other than him of course) who was crowned as the emperor of the Roan Empire of the Western continent.
“You-you! Shut it—!“
The last image shown was Alberu roughly pushing someone from their side and the communication was cut off in an instant. There was silence in the room as they only watched the device losing its light.
“Nya, the crown prince seems to be in trouble nya!”
Cale stared blankly at the communication device which previously showed his hyung and shook his head. It was an unusual sight to see Alberu— who remained unfaltering and continued to smile brightly while having a conversational war with disagreeable nobles—losing his grace that he almost let out a laugh but held it in because he wasn’t harsh.
For a bit he was curious. He glanced at Raon and opened his mouth,
“Raon call Choi Han and teleport us to Alberu’s”
“Sure thing Human!” The little dragon exclaimed happily and zoomed away from the room to grab Choi Han from the training ground. Cale watch the happy child leave and turn his head to his window, the fresh grapes on the bowl were ignored as he suddenly lost appetite. The cat children rubbed their heads on the young master’s pants as they felt Cale becoming gloomy.
Cale bent down to pat the two cat children, On and Hong, softly on the head. Both leaned on to his warm touch and satisfied purrs to escape their mouths. The red haired young master felt his heart soften from the sight.
He felt a twinge of annoyance as the other person seemed to be looking for him. He wishes not to interact with people as of the moment as he find it bothersome. Especially when it seems that Alberu hate this certain person’s guts.
However, he felt inclined to go to the palace and assist his hyung out of his trouble. It didn’t sit well to him that the already tired emperor is pushed to an extent that he was not able to finish his call with Cale and abruptly ended the call.
‘This is going to be a long day…’
He immediately lamented the fact he wasn’t able to continue today’s slacking.
—
Cale, Choi Han and Raon were immediately teleported to the royal palace and on Alberu’s balcony. As they landed softly with quiet footsteps, there was a slight commotion in the emperor’s room and Cale could feel the tips of his lips twitching.
The young master was the first to take a step, reaching the balcony doors and letting his pale hands to push them open. The door opened with ease and he took a step inside, the others trailing behind him.
“Hyung, what is—“
“Oh, my precious Dongsaeng, Cale!”
Suddenly Cale felt himself enveloped in a tight hug by a man slightly taller than him. The red haired froze in place as his reddish brown eyes slowly went wide from the sudden hug.
“It’s nice to see you” whispered Alberu who leaned to Cale’s ears. It was low and breathy, Cale felt himself shiver and goosebumps to appear on his neck down to his back.
As Cale was left bewildered, it was Choi Han who was behind Cale, opened his mouth in a puzzled expression. “Your majesty?”
“…” Cale woke up from his stupor and glance up to the person hugging him so suddenly. It was in fact his Hyung, specifically in his dark elf from wearing only comfortable clothes of a pair of white shirt with the first two buttons unbuttoned and pants, grinning brightly at him and hugging him tight. He immediately masked his shock and wore his stoic face while raising one of his brows.
This sight was seen clearly by the dark skinned man whose honey brown eyes curled into crescents. His arm tightly clasped around Cale’s small waist, while his other hand went to play with his long red hair, caressing it gently.
“What the…”
‘Wasn’t he calling me, all tired and shit? Now what is up with this hugging crap?!’
There was no signs of fatigue on his eyes contrary to the one he’d seen from the communication device.
Did his hyung call him over just to hug him? No did he really just come all the way here, abandoning and waving his comfortable heaven at home a sad farewell, to hug Alberu? The audacity! To hell with being sworn brothers. He may be the emperor, however, no one dares to interrupt his slumber! Cale wished to grab him by the collar and yell at the dark skinned man all his frustrations.
‘If he wanted a hug so bad he could’ve been the one to visit instead!’
“Hyung I-“
“Hold it” a low voice was suddenly heard and Alberu was suddenly pulled away by the collar, successfully letting go of Cale from his tight embrace. Cale subconsciously raised his head to see who grabbed Alberu by the collar and immediately his eyes went wide and he felt his jaw slack.
“This…”
“…uh, Alberu?”
“Huh? Crown prince and… crown prince?”
Choi Han blinked his eyes over and over again while Raon with his mouth wide open, continued to wipe his large eyes with his paws.
There who stood behind Alberu, whose skin was dark as chocolates and his hair a darker shade, was dragged by the collar by another Alberu, whose skin was lighter and his hair a vibrant color of gold that shone under the sun. They both had the exact copy of each other’s frowns on their faces. The lighter skinned Alberu glared his ocean blue eyes at the other with fire, seemingly tempted to toss him out.
Cale blinked his eyes at the sight and rose both of his hands to rub his face.
‘What the fuck’
What even is he looking at right now. Had he gone crazy? Has his eyes become damaged at some point that he started seeing doubles? Cale glanced at his back in hopes to check that he wasn’t the only one who was out of his mind. Fortunately or unfortunately, it seemed the others all saw the same thing as he did.
“Your majesty, why…” Choi Han rubbed his eyes, “Why are there two of you?”
“H-human, the crown prince!”
“Damn this, I want to go home”
“Sigh, please come inside first, while you—,” He turned to the other Alberu and spat out, “Sit still or your out”
The dark skinned Alberu shrugged and broke free from the hand that was holding his collar and immediately turned to Cale. He swiftly moved and wrapped his arms around Cale’s shoulder before anyone could even react.
“Cale, shall we?”
“Uh?”
He was immediately led on the couch and sat down along with the dark skinned Alberu who crossed his legs all the while still wrapping his arms around Cale’s shoulder. There was a smirk on his face while Cale’s face became blank as his mind became chaotic.
“I heard your sleep was interrupted by the call”
“…”
“Well, don’t worry. How about lying down on hyung’s shoulder, mm?” He spoke with a thick yet smooth voice while gently caressing Cale’s red hair. Cale could not open his mouth as he still froze on spot, only blinking his eyes stupidly. He wasn’t able to evade the hand that slightly pushed his head towards a lean shoulder because of his shock.
“Sleep all you want” he added softly while patting Cale’s head.
‘What is this situation?!’ Cale was working his mind profusely to not fall into the trap called sleeping on this person’s shoulder. Sure he desired to sleep, but not like this! He hates to admit that it was oddly comfortable to lean on and that drowsiness is slowly seeping through his whole body, as he continue to unconsciously relax his stiff body from the gentle movements on his hair.
Choi Han’s dull grey eyes went cold as he stared at Cale and the person beside him. Though he had Alberu’s face, his actions were unacceptable, highly unforgivable. Who was he to touch his liege so easily like that, so intimate and natural as if that’s what he was meant to be doing. To be unable to keep their hands to themselves and continue to touch his pure liege. He unconsciously hovered his hands on his scabbard while eyeing at the two sitting on the sofa.
Beside Choi Han was the lighter skinned Alberu who’s face darkened and let out a low voice that almost sounded like a growl, “What are you doing”
The other Alberu, who sat beside Cale, looked at them and tilted his head innocently. “What? I’m sitting still as what you wanted, right Cale?”
“…”
The red haired young master was still unresponsive with his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, earning a chuckle from the man beside him. The sound that escaped his lips sounded oddly alluring— it was deep and melodious that Cale found himself turning towards him and blinked his eyes.
‘This person laughing sounded so…’
Raon flew around the room. He went to look at the blonde Alberu then rushed to stare at the darker haired Alberu. “My eyes really aren’t playing with me. There’s two crown prince in the room!” The dragon cried and rushed beside Choi Han. He wished to be with Cale but he was wary of the brunette Alberu who seemed to stick to his human like a leech.
Choi Han lowered his head and walked towards the place behind the couch Cale was sitting with Raon trailing behind him and hiding behind his back. He stared daggers at the person with Alberu face, almost menacingly that he looked as if he’d ripped the arm that hugged around Cale. If this guy with Alberu’s face attempts to do something that crosses the line, this room will explode and someone’s head will fly away.
Alberu rubbed his temples and sighed. He moved his feet that seemed stuck on the floor, towards the couch opposite to where Cale was sitting. Taking a sit, his ocean blue eyes immediately met brown eyes which curled at the sight of him. He could see the other him patting Cale’s head, as if to provoke and mock Alberu.
Alberu clicked his tongue as he saw the red head leaning to the touch, looking as if he was about to doze off, “Cale.”
“Huh?” Cale blinked his slightly dazed eyes open then shook his head, suddenly coming to his senses that he was staring a tad too long at the dark skinned man. He turned to the golden haired Alberu, who sat on the couch opposite them.
“Stay away from him”
“Ah…”
It took moments for Cale to realized that he was leaning by the darker skinned Alberu’s shoulder and was too close to him for comfort. He immediately straightened up, released himself from the arm that embraced his shoulder and moved farther away, sitting on the end of the couch and immediately returned his cold face as if he didn’t just stupidly stare at someone.
The dark skinned Alberu frowned at the warmth that escaped his arms. He glanced at Cale who sat farther away from him then to Alberu in front of him with his brows slightly furrowed.
“Ehem, let me explain the situation” he coughed on his close fist, earning the attention from everyone in the room. “Me and that guy, unfortunately, are the same. He is not an imposter stealing my face or some sort. Think of it as my human half and the dark elven half splitting.”
Raon gasped, “Crown prince, you duplicated?!”
“How did that even happened?”
“If I had to be completely honest, neither do I know how the hell this happened. All I remembered was feeling a burning sensation on my necklace that kept this appearance. The
necklace itself was fine, but it suddenly exploded, causing smoke to rose in my chambers”
Cale frowned, “Exploded?” Was it an assassination attempt? “Then this guy appeared?”
The blonde nodded. “Yes, I felt pain as if something was ripping my body apart then when I opened my eyes…” he sighed, burying his face on his hands. “That” Alberu pointed offensively at the other him like he still couldn’t believe it.
Alberu had been busy with all the piled works from the ended war that he almost had no free time in his hands. He was stuck in his chambers, barely going out to relish the warmth emitted by the sun’s light. All he had been facing at for hours and days, even weeks were piles of paper about almost as tall as him.
The scale of the aftermaths of the war were large enough to make him go crazy. From dealing with nobles to the reconstruction the kingdom—problems arose that couldn’t be counted with his finger. Alberu brushed back the gold stray hair on his exposed forehead with his hand.
Then suddenly when he was about to fall asleep, a time of leisure at last for the emperor who couldn’t wink a sleep, a sudden phenomenon happen. He was on the floor and feeling an incomparable pain throughout his whole body that he thought he was going to die. Then when he opened his eyes while bearing the dizzying pain, a guy who is an exact copy of him in his dark elf form, appeared, living and breathing on the same room as him.
The pain subsided when both of them realized each other’s presences. He remembered the other being confused as he was, pointing an accusatory finger at him. They both opened their mouths at the same time, and spoke the same words of “who are you’s”
Though at first he was bewildered, then astonished. One moment he felt relief somehow, thinking that having a clone of himself wouldn’t be so bad as it might alleviate the burdens on his shoulders. Won’t the guy who looked exactly like him, think the same way as he does and join hands with him in doing work? However, all his plans in using this guy suddenly came crashing down.
This dark elf form of his is weird.
—
Cale glanced at the golden haired Alberu who was covering his face with dropping shoulders. He pondered for a while of the words the emperor spoke. If the intention was not to kill and that no serious harm was done on Alberu (maybe mental exhaustion from all the stress), then there is no other logical explanation or cause for this phenomenon except for the annoying bastards that won’t stop pestering them.
‘Those good for nothing bastards again… sigh’
Cale doesn’t understand what these gods want from them nor does he wish to try. All they’ve been doing caused headaches after another to him and his family.
Frankly, it was really tempting to only pat Alberu on the shoulders, bid him good luck then leave and resume his unfinished sleep at his sweet heaven, let him handle his own problem. He does not wish to get caught up with stupid Gods games anymore. However, Cale is not that cruel of a person. He may be trash but he can’t just let his family constantly suffer, his hyung has done so much work after all. And besides he could perhaps loot some gold plaques while he is at it.
Guess he has to do more smacking in the backs to do.
The red head clicked his tongue, turning his attention to the other Alberu beside him.
He had a frown on his face as if he was hurt, “Must everyone keep calling me ‘this guy’? I may be like this, but I’m still Alberu, the emperor”
Cale nodded his head in understanding. He must’ve felt wronged. “Then what should we call you?”
“Call him Bob” spoke the golden haired Alberu with a blunt face.
The dark skinned Alberu knitted his brows, “What in the world even is Bob…” he muttered in disbelief then smiled charmingly to Cale, “ Albe, call me that instead” then added a wink.
Seeing that, Cale’s face distorted as if he took a bite of lemons, Choi Han went scarily blank and Alberu felt the pounding in his head become stronger.
“Cale-nim I don’t trust this guy.”
“Hyung… why is this version of you so weird..?”
“Yeah crown prince! What does he want from my human!!”
“Haah, ignore him please.” He covered his face and turned it away, the tips of his ears were gently dusted with red.
This dark elf version—living and breathing with them—who is now called Albe is exactly the same as Alberu. The way they move, speak, think, work, eat, basically everything is the same. Alberu has concluded it that way after letting Albe be in his own since yesterday and continued his observation till this very moment. He tried to let the other him interact with his aunt Tasha, but even she couldn’t figure the difference and act as usual to Albe. So far he concluded that the difference between them was…
“Sigh, Cale everyone is so cruel.” Albe who slanted the ends of his brows with a small almost pouting frown on his lips, gave Cale a sad expression which oddly made the red head’s heart shook a tiny bit.
He opened his arms wide in the red head’s direction, tilting is head to the side as if urging Cale. “How about you give this hyung of yours a hug to cheer me up?”
“…”
This dark elf version of him becomes a total different person, acting like an absolute crazy bastard like what he is doing now, when Cale is mentioned or present in the same room.