Chapter Text
A place to belong to, a place where a person can feel a sense that they are needed, that they are included in a certain community. A place where they can stay and live, a place to call home. Or maybe a hometown.
For a dream seer, there is no place to call their hometown, though. Since dream seers can’t live as a community, as they aggravate each other misery and dream power so it is dangerous for them to live as a group. That’s why they spread out around the world, trying to find a place to stay without bothering any other dream seer.
Maybe that’s why Leno feels a bit of envy when he sees how elves and some other race live together. Because, even though dream seer is still a human, sometimes he feels that he is too different from other humans.
Well… he has Cale though, for now.
“What is this…?” Leno asks the older man. The hero of the Western Continent, the hero of this century, the Silver Shield, and so on. Cale Henituse, or originally, Kim Rok Soo, got transmigrated by force without any consent into Leno’s body around three years ago. He managed to change the doomed future, execute the fate that originally wasn’t his own, and made an irreplaceable place in this world.
Also, his older brother.
Leno still needs to get used to thinking about him that way.
“Can’t you see? It is a library,” Cale huffs with a more sarcastic tone. But he grins at Leno as if he looks proud of himself. Leno just blinks then he looks around the room.
This library is bigger than the library in Henituse Castle, but of course not as big as the Imperial Library.
“I did promise you that I will build you a library,” Cale reminds him.
Leno blinks then he tilts his face, because he can’t really remember when Cale promised him something like that. It feels like… he did, at a certain point. But, since Leno didn’t expect him to fulfill any of his promises, Leno just forgot about it.
“I see… that’s good, I guess. This place certainly needs a library,” Leno says, it is a bit hard to accept that Cale made this for him. It is easier to think that this is the library for everyone in this Raon’s Black Castle, not only for him. After all for Leno, since he has access to most of the libraries from the Roan Kingdom and the allies, he doesn’t really need his own personal library.
He rubs the brooch on his clothes, this is the most useful gift anyone ever gave to him. He feels thankful to Alberu for this.
Oops, he should never mention that to Cale ever. Who knows what that old man will do if he knows it.
Cale gives him a look as if he can guess what is in Leno’s mind. “I know that you can borrow the books from many libraries, but it can’t beat of having your own personal book which you can do whatever you want with it.”
“Well, I guess you are right.” Leno just goes along with Cale, it is best to not banter with the old man in this matter. Cale is sometimes really stubborn about weird things.
“We have a vast collection of books from around the world with various languages,” Rosalyn approaches Leno with a bright smile. “I hope you like this, Young Master Leno. So many people put a lot of effort to gather various good books as much as we could.”
Leno just awkwardly smiles back at Rosalyn. She doesn’t need to emphasize that these are all for him, seriously.
“For now, we managed to gather mostly the recent and common books in the market. But if you have some older or rare books that you want to have, please just tell me, Young Master Leno-nim. I will make sure to get them for you,” Nio adds as well.
“Honestly, this is enough…” Leno mutters under his breath. He is happy enough to have a bookshelf inside his room, he doesn’t need thousands of books that he can’t finish reading in his lifetime.
“And of course, we get various fictions collection for Young Master Cale as well, just like you requested, all of these books are recommendations from various sellers and merchants, I hope you like them,” Rosalyn says as well, as she points out at big shelves in the middle of the room. “I don’t really know what your favorite genre is, so I buy a bit of every genre I could find.”
If Rosalyn isn’t going to be the Head of Magic Tower, she probably will do well as a merchant. The ex-princess can do almost anything, Leno feels somewhat amazed by her.
“I’m not really picky of books, you did good,” Cale gives a compliment. Rosalyn nods with a satisfied smile. Leno sees how Cale approaches the fiction section naturally, he has a clear different taste than Leno for that one.
“I’m sorry Young Master Leno-nim,” Nio approaches the young dream seer. “Can I clarify that this library is open to everyone here, isn’t it?”
Leno blinks as he stares at Nio.
“This library isn’t mine,” Leno says flatly. After all, all of these books are bought with Cale’s money, not his.
“Oh, I’m sorry then.” Nio doesn’t deny his statement, he just bows politely. Perfectly knows his master’s personality.
“What? This library is yours, or do you want a library bigger than this?” Cale shouts out from his place, having one book in his hand and he is about to read it. Based on the older man’s expression, Leno can tell that Cale is teasing him. It annoys him how Cale starts to learn how to tease and annoy Leno in various ways.
“No, just no. This library isn’t mine. Let’s just make that this is an open library and not belong to anyone…” Leno wanders through into the other sections of the library. He isn’t in the mood to banter with Cale regarding this matter.
Since mostly he knows he will lose.
“Well… let’s do that then,” strangely Cale accepts his suggestion without much of a fuss. Leno glances at the older man, suspicious of his hidden agenda. He will try to find out in his future dreams later…
Leno shakes his head and then continues to browse the various books, trying to distract his own mind. Cale is free to do anything, after all, Leno just hopes that the annoying older brother of his can stop bothering him in peculiar ways.
Leno picks out a new economic book and then flips through it. Might as well take this chance to update his knowledge to help him decipher future dreams. Leno takes out some other books to read. Politic, mathematics, anything that catches his attention. He comes back to the comfortable couch and chairs in the middle of the open section of the library. Cale is sitting there with a book in his hand.
And he is frowning.
Leno puts down the books on the table and pats his chest, wondering if something is wrong with Cale’s sudden mood changes.
“Wow, the library is done already now!?”
“Oh… This place looks really good…”
“Oh wow… books.”
“So many books...”
Raon, Choi Han, and along with the kittens appear in the library as well, seemingly just coming back from daily training. The little dragon flies around while browsing through the book then he settles on the table beside Cale. “What are you reading, human?”
Cale just grunts as he flips the page.
Raon blinks then turns at Leno. His expression is as if the little dragon is asking him about Cale’s sour mood. Leno just shrugs. Since he can’t feel anything in their connection, it seems Cale’s sour mood is still at a normal level. Maybe the book is bad and the old man feels annoyed by it.
Leno opens up his choice of book and he is about to read when suddenly Cale slams the book onto the table suddenly.
“Is something wrong, Cale-nim?” Choi Han asks with a surprised face. The sword master glances at Leno as if checking whether Leno is okay or not. The young dream seer is a bit confused about Choi Han’s expression.
Since Leno doesn’t really understand that Cale is usually being emotional because of him.
“This shitty genre… to think that this world has this genre as well…” Cale seems to ignore people's attention on him. He stands up and walks away from the chair to the fiction section.
“Is something wrong with the book, human?” Raon picks up the book curiously.
But it seems Cale doesn’t hear him, because Cale starts to pick up and flips the book in anger, with amazing speed. Leno just blinks, he knows that Cale is currently using his record ability, something that Leno has witnessed a long time ago.
“I’m sorry, Young Master Cale. Is the book really that bad?” Rosalyn looks worried. Cale throws a book into the floor carelessly, visibly pissed. Then he turns at Rosalyn.
“So this genre is popular?”
“Huh? What genre?” Rosalyn asks back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you have a strong distaste for a particular genre. Can you please tell me what it is, Young Master Cale?”
“Oh!” Raon chirps out in surprise, he is also currently reading the previous book that Cale has read. “Oh-- Urgh…” Raon has various expressions on his face, starting with confusion, then anger.
Choi Han approaches Raon in confusion while Cale is still browsing and speed-reading the fiction books with anger. The sword master picks up the book and he starts to frown.
“Ah…” He seems to understand what is the problem.
Rosalyn looks restless and impatient. The kitten just looks at each other with a confused expression, they are walking to Cale while avoiding all of the scattered books on the floor.
Choi Han lifts up his face, he has this troubled expression. As if he doesn’t know how to explain what he wants to say.
“It is… a novel… about… someone being transmigrated into someone else’s body.” Choi Han finally says with a heavy face.
Then suddenly there is a heavy silence among them.
Everyone in the library can understand sudden Cale’s change of mood.
Leno looks at Cale’s back, even if he can’t see the older man’s expression, Leno starts to be able to feel it in his chest. Cale’s emotion is there, he is pissed.
Incredibly pissed.
Leno takes a deep breath. He stands and walks toward Cale. The kittens just sit around Cale, unable to say anything because of Cale’s rising anger. Leno feels a bit guilty about Cale’s unstable mood like this. This old man used to be so calm, reserved, and cool in even the direst situations.
And now he is like this.
“Old Man.”
Cale huffs in an ‘I’m very angry and annoyed right now’ way. Then he turns at Leno.
“Go out from this library, I need to find every book of this damned genre… Damn it…” Cale clicks his tongue in annoyance.
Leno just blinks and picks one from the floor, but Cale already takes away the book before he can read it. “Don’t read this damned book… just don’t.” Then Cale tosses the book further away.
Leno just stares at Cale, he understands that Cale is being over-protective toward him right now. And Leno feels a bit guilty because it originates from Leno being too weak and sensitive toward many things.
Leno hasn’t read too many storybooks in his life, the last one he read may be the picture book he read together with his late mother. So, Leno doesn’t really know about this genre either. He doesn’t know that there are stories about transmigrators despite not many people knowing about them.
Leno wonders what the story is like. Someone is being transmigrated into someone else’s body. Will it be like them? Maybe not…
It makes Leno feels curious and he wants to read one.
“Can you please tell me why are you so displeased with the books in this genre?” Leno asks in curiosity.
A stupid question, he guesses.
Because most of the people in this room looked at him with utter disbelief.
“I mean… it is just a story…” Leno defends his stupid question. “It isn’t real and there is nothing to be angry about it.”
It isn’t like the writers are mocking them through this story.
Cale’s anger seems to bubble down, he eyes Leno as if this little brother is a total idiot. “I see that you aren’t really into fiction…” He huffs.
Leno nods, he never really has any leisure time to read fiction. It seems a waste of time when there are tons of future dreams to be deciphered.
“It is just pissing me off… I have read this genre too, in my previous world. Usually, the story is about someone taking over another person’s body, replacing them, and taking over the role. Most of the story is about… the transmigrator doing a better job living the life of the original owner of the body.” Cale grips the book in his hands so hard till the book is getting crushed. “And… most of the story shows… that no one else cares about the original owner of the body.”
Leno is quite shocked. Wow, it is a lot of like their own life… it is kind of creepy.
So, in short, it is like reading Cale’s biopic book but with different characters.
“I can’t believe this kind of genre is popular…” Cale grunts again in anger as he continues to browse the bookshelves.
Leno crouches and picks one book again. He glances at the older man. It seems this time Cale is letting him check one. Because Leno is a total novice of fiction books after all.
He reads the summary on the first page. It is a story about someone from the other world replacing a saintess that is fated to die. The main character refuses to go along with the fate of her dying, so she runs away and tries to change her fate. The saintess is written as someone weak-willed and pushover, letting herself die to save everyone around her. While the main character refuses to die in such a way, she wants to live the best life and not die for anyone’s sake.
Leno flips the book while he situates himself to sits in a more comfortable position on the floor. The kittens are peeking through the side, reading some of the story along with him.
Leno reads how the main character takes over the saintess’s life and family. She saves the family as if it is her own family and she might do it in a better way than the original saintess. The main character is adored by everyone around her but her enemies.
Well, understandable, she is a very likable character, Leno admits that. She is funny, charming, stubborn, and strong, the way she resists fate and doesn’t want to give up is the main point of the book.
Leno flips the book and he can’t find any of the parts that mention… what happened to the saintess?
Did she just disappear like that?
Maybe she died and the writer forgot to write about that part. After all, writing the saintess died may make the main character become the bad one.
“Urgh… what is this story…?” Hong mutters.
“Terrible…” On agrees.
“Is it?” Leno asks. The kittens look at him in disbelief again.
“Well, I mean… if I’m someone who doesn’t know anything about transmigrator, just a regular people… I think I can understand why people like this kind of story.” After all, this book is recommended by the sellers. “The main character is replacing a weak character, so I guess it is interesting the see the change in how everyone treats them. Like, satisfying?”
Leno looks up and sees how everyone sees him with grim faces, even Choi Han is covering his face with his hand. Then he turns and sees Cale beside him, the older man is staring a death glare at him.
“I didn’t mean to be sarcastic at you--” Leno realizes his own mistake fast. “I mean… it is the interesting part of the book… so I can somewhat understand that… I mean, of course… it is… sad for the original character to be replaced and forgotten… but… it isn’t the story about them. It is the main character’s story, so… it isn’t that weird that the original character got forgotten…”
Cale gives Leno an unidentified expression then the older brother huffs in an exasperated way.
“I used to enjoy this kind of genre, back then in my previous world. You are right, there is something satisfying about a better character replacing a frustrating character…” Cale takes away the book from Leno’s hand. “Until I live as one and found it ironic… Everything in this book with this genre, I found it ironic and laughable.” Cale snorts with a sarcastic expression. Then he huffs again with a dark expression.
“No one should take over someone’s life and identity like that… not even in a story, especially when it isn’t written as something wrong to do,” Cale mutters.
Leno just looks down. Maybe, Cale has a point about that.
“Well, let me ask you.”
Leno blinks and looks straight at Cale.
“If you ever find out that you get transmigrated into someone’s body and you know that the body has an impending doomed future, what will you do?”
“Isn’t this question a bit unfair-”
“Shut up, just answer me.”
Leno huffs, he wants to point out that it is useless to ask him that kind of question because Leno already knows the right answer to it. He knows that Cale still hugely regrets taking over his life and identity, then not trying to find out what happened to him. Leno himself is fine about that and he never harbors any hatred for Cale.
Well, maybe at first, he did hate Cale but then that hate shifted toward himself as time went on.
“Hm… At first, I will say to everyone around me, that I’m not this person. That I’m different and I get transmigrated into the body…” Leno pauses, trying to use his imagination but it is hard to do that because he already knows the answer. “I don’t know if I can avoid someone’s else future, but… I guess what I want to do is… I want to find where the original owner of the body goes to so that I can give the body back to them.” Leno pauses again. He sees Cale’s complex expression.
“Well, if I’m stuck in the body and I can’t do anything and I can’t find the original owner of the body then… I guess I will just kill myself.” Leno huffs while he folds his arms. “I will kill my soul in the dream world, so at least the body will stay alive for three days. Whether the original soul will go back or not… I don’t care, I won’t live someone else’s life. My own life is already hard enough, why should I live someone else’s life?”
Now Cale’s face is changed into a deadpan expression. “So you choose to die.”
“Yeah, I mean, unless I have a strong reason to go back to my former life then maybe I will try to find a way to go back. But if I can’t... I would rather die…” Leno huffs. “I’m not that strong enough to preserve someone else’s life…”
Cale’s expression changes again and finally he snorts, more genuine now. “Gosh, you are really…”
“I don’t get that sudden change of feeling even after I got a second chance to live, you know. I don’t think I can imagine myself being like you, ‘I’m going to live and survive no matter what in this life’-- no, even if I get trapped inside someone else’s body, I think I will still be me…” Leno pouts a little. He is like this, a pessimist, weak-willed, and maybe too fast at giving up.
He isn’t fit to be the main character of a story, he knows. If there is one, then the story will be unpopular and the readers won’t be able to read it. He isn’t interesting and charming after all.
“I hope that kind of thing won’t ever happen to you…” Cale says again with a faint smile. “Getting transmigrated sucks.” Cale’s eyes still show deep regret and Leno doesn’t know how to console his older brother.
“Especially getting transmigrated to my body, right?” Leno jokes with his depreciating-himself-joke style. But maybe Cale has gotten rubbed off of his own taste of joke because the older brother snickers softly. Then he smacks Leno’s head lightly.
“You turned my world upside down, you punk.”
Leno rubs his own head, wondering why Cale hits his head when the older man can feel it as well.
Well, maybe Cale regrets everything. Maybe, if Cale gets a second chance to redo this, he might doesn’t want to get transmigrated into Leno’s body.
But, Leno doesn’t regret this. So, he still will go with the same choice, even if he has a chance to redo this.
After all, after all those hardships and suffering, Leno managed to gain an older brother.
It is worth it in the end, for him, at least.
“Still, I still find this genre disgusting no matter what you say. How about we make a bonfire of these damned books?” Cale asks as he turns around to hear the other’s opinion.
“Yay! Bonfire! Like camping!” Raon seems happy.
“Let’s go burn everything!” The kittens say in unison.
“Then we can roast some food as well,” Choi Han nods. “Leno-nim likes roasted sweet potatoes, right? Oh, the savory one I mean…”
“Really? Then I better prepare some sweet potato dishes…” Nio mutters while nodding.
“Let’s gather the books.” Rosalyn goes along with the flow.
“We can just donate the books to other places, like orphanages and schools, you know…” Leno reminds them.
They freeze as they look at Leno.
“You punk, you said you aren’t a saint,” Cale ruffles Leno’s hair with a grin. “But I don’t want other people to read this kind of damned stories. Actually, this genre needs to disappear from this world,” Cale shows Leno a very scary smile but then he turns around and huffs. “But it seems hard to do something like that, people are free to like whatever they want to like. So, at least, let me burn all of these damned books. I will just buy better books and donate them to the orphanages and schools.”
Eventually, Leno nods. “Okay…” Maybe it is better to just go along with Cale’s suggestion for the sake of their sanity.
And the writer’s well-being as well. Cale is scary when he gets angry…
“Good, let’s burn every book of this damned genre then.”
“Yay!”
“Bonfire!”
“Roasted sweet potatoes!”
Cale pats Leno’s back as he picks the books that he has chosen. Leno just sees him and huffs with a small smile.
He has gone through all of those hardships and gained this troublesome and very over-protective older brother.
Seriously.
He wants to laugh in irony.
End