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Chapter Text

If you happen to live in Rowoon kingdom, you might have heard of the Henituse twins.

Cain and Cale Henituse, though the older one goes by the name Roksu.

They're subject to many rumors. Some good, some bad. It's a split, really. Maybe you happen to attend a party or another and even met with them personally.

You may think that of the two, Cale would be more dangerous.

It's true that Cale is the more outspoken twin. The brasher, prone to react, more insolent twin.

But the Henituse twins had a lot of secrets.

And if we're talking about dangerous... well, here's a fun fact for you all:

One of the twins has killed before.

There's a rumor saying so, anyway.

If you ask them directly about it Cale will scoff and tell you you're out of your mind. He might even insult you for saying such nonsense. Just like the rumors!

Roksu though... Roksu would just smile. He'll pat your head and ask you where you heard such an absurd tale, and you'll be compelled to tell him. You'll tell him because Roksu is nice. The rumors says he's nice. He's the nicer twin!

So nice in fact that you won't notice the cold sweat on Cale's brow or the nervous look he points at your direction.

You won't notice because you'll be busy spilling your secrets to Roksu, and if you look at Cale's direction you'll think he's glaring at you, and you'll think he's being mean.

If you keep that observation to yourself though maybe you'll be lucky, and maybe Cale will vouch for you.

Why do you need Cale to vouch for you, then?

Well, here's another fun fact:

Roksu loves his brother. He loves his brother so very, very, very, very much.

This one's not a rumor. It's true. Roksu does love his brother so very much.

So very much in fact that it's not an exaggeration to say that the only thing keeping Roksu sane is Cale.

Roksu has lost everything he loved except for Cale, you see, and Roksu doesn't want to lose anymore.

In fact Roksu doesn't want to lose the people he loves so much that he's willing to do anything. Absolutely anything just to keep them safe.

You can see now why Cale needs to vouch for you, right?

If not, well, at least don't be offended when Cale pushes you away. Maybe he'll even curse at you and tell you to get lost. It is important at this point that you don't take offence.

Just walk away. Maybe give Roksu a friendly wave goodbye.

You may not know this, but as you leave Cale will probably give out a sigh of relief. He'll talk cheerfully with Roksu, distract him from thinking over the things you've told him.

If you look back you'll probably notice Roksu giving Cale his coat.

It's not that chilly, but Cale looks like he's shaking a bit.

You'll probably wonder why.

Or not. 

It's not important.

What's important is that you're alive.

As Roksu would sometimes say, "Being alive is the best."

That's what the rumors say anyway.

Chapter Text

Cale Henituse returns home and greets his brother standing by the door. He gives Roksu a little wave, smiling widely, and Roksu frowns at him.

"Aw, so grumpy" Cale complains playfully. In reply Roksu turns him this way and that, raising his arms, checking his face, and inspecting him for injuries.

Cale lets his brother do what he wants. Roksu has been doing this since they were little and everyone is used to seeing the eldest Henituse son fussing at his family like a mother chicken. A lot of people even consider it as a cute behavior. By the looks of the smiling knights stationed at the door, that opinion didn't change at all.

When Cale sees that Roksu looks satisfied with his assessment, he suddenly throws himself at Roksu, making his brother yelp in surprise before wrapping his arms around his brother's neck and putting his entire weight on him until Roksu grunts from the effort of trying to hold him up.

'Is this cute behavior too?' Cale wonders. He giggles like a drunk person for added effect. The flush on his cheeks makes it believable too.

"Cale, you're heavy!"

"You can just drag me across the floor. I don't mind hehe." 

To everyone else, it looks like Cale is just drunkenly messing with his brother. It's a sight the servants and knights are used to seeing too.

For Cale though, this is one of his tactics to distract Roksu. Earlier he had snuck out to go drinking and he just knows Roksu would nag at him for going out alone again.

"I know what you're doing. You can't get away with this." Roksu tells him. Despite the chiding tone though he still maneuvers Cale so he doesn't fall over and carefully holds him as he half-carry, half-drag Cale back inside the house.

"But I'm fine~" Cale whines, pouting at his brother "You checked, right? And you knew exactly where I was anyway."

"You still shouldn't have snuck away—"

"Roksu, this Cale is sorry. Forgive me, please? I promise it will happen again but I'm back now, and that's all that matters right?"

Roksu starts grumbling and Cale starts annoying him with several "Right? Right? Right?" In quick succession.

When Roksu finally groaned to signal his defeat, Cale cheered and giggled, the sound echoing around the house. He is still being half-carried, half-dragged back into his room though.

Through it all Cale has been peeking at his brother's face. It's still as stoic as ever, but Cale had long ago figured out how to read Roksu's several barely noticeable facial expressions.

Right now there's something bothering his brother.

Cale made a mental note to figure out what it is.

Cale's twin brother has always been a little bit strange.

For example, when they were young, when their mother was still alive, his brother always complained that his name was not right.

"I'm not Cain!" He would say, "That's not my name!"

When asked what his real name is, he'd say he does not remember. This always made their mother worried, but everyone else dismissed it as the antics of a small child.

When their mother died, his brother had told him that his name is Roksu.

He has been known as Roksu Henituse ever since.

Cale does not really fully understand his brother. Ever since Cain changed to Roksu, he just became a lot more strange. Sometimes he's scary, even, not that anyone else noticed.

It is alright though. If there's one thing that stayed the same it's that Roksu loved their family very much. Sometimes a bit too much.

Cale loved Roksu too. Maybe not in the same extreme way that Roksu does, but Cale knows that his love came from a good place and for Cale that is enough.

Sometimes it is a bit of a challenge though, taking care of a strange brother.

"No, Roksu. You can't kill Lilly's swordsmanship instructor" Cale tells his brother. He pats Roksu's head purposefully to emphasise his point. He can feel Roksu tensing, the hand on his back curling into fists.

They are currently laying down in the couch with Roksu laying on top of him, ears pressed on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

The sound of his heart always calmed Roksu down, and right now Cale needed him to be as calm as possible.

"He hurt Lilly" Roksu says. Cale looks at his brother and sees Roksu staring at nothing, unblinking. He put a hand over Roksu's eyes, stopping him from seeing whatever it is he's looking at. He could feel Roksu's lashes on his palm as he blinked, startled at the sudden darkness.

"Roksu, you know that getting hurt during sword practice is normal." Cale says, slowly and deliberately, like he's making a child understand, "The only way for Lilly to get better is to continue to spar, and during sparring it is normal to get hurt every now and then. It does not mean Lilly is in danger."

There was silence as Roksu digested his words, and Cale waits. He could feel Roksu start to relax though. It's a good sign. Cale removes his hand over Roksu's eyes.

Finally,

"I know" Roksu concedes, but "I still don't like it."

Cale sighs in relief. There's only one thing left to do now.

"Let's go see Lilly!" Cale cheerfully says and they get up. On their way out Cale asks Ron to go and call Bassen over. They head to the training grounds.

The twins find Lilly doing running drills with the other knight trainees. It's a bit of a comical sight watching a small child jogging in front of a line of grown men, but by the look on her face and the general atmosphere, it looks like everyone was having a good time all around.

Cale waves as Lilly turns to face their direction. She lit up and runs over to them, sweaty and grimy and out of breath but otherwise fine.

"Hey Lills, what were you up to today?" Cale asks, crouching down to her level when Lilly got close. Roksu pats her head.

"I sparred for the first time today!" Lilly excitedly tells them, "We are still using wooden swords though so it is not that exciting, but I landed a good hit to Sir William!"

Lilly then mimicked her winning sword swing, turning to her eldest brother "Roksu-oraboni watched us spar. I was really good, right?"

"You did great" Roksu says, earning a big smile from Lilly.

"You should come and watch next time too! You better do that instead of drinking, Cale-oraboni"

Lilly pouts and Cale just gave a small laugh.

"Ok, ok. I'll do that. But Lills, don't grow up too fast ok?" Cale then grins mischievously, "Roksu was whining to me earlier that you were growing up too fast. Where did our baby sister go!? He says."

"I did not say that!" Roksu protests while Cale and Lilly shared a laugh at their brother's embarrassment.

Cale then signalled to Lilly with his eyes, and Lilly took a moment to understand before nodding, smiling all the while.

"Roksu-oraboni! Catch me!" Lilly warns only a second before launching herself at Roksu, wrapping herself on her brother in a full body hug that had Roksu stumbling as he reflexively hugs his sister back to prevent her from falling. 

Cale catches them so they don't fall over before joining in on the hug too, much to Lilly's delight.

"Cale-hyung, you called for me?"

From their left Bassen appears, followed by Ron. Cale waves him over.

"You're just in time!" Cale says, "It's a hug party!"

Bassen took a moment to blink at his siblings. His Roksu-hyung is struggling to carry Lilly who was moving around and giggling in his hold, while his Cale-hyung is hugging them both on one side, his chin resting on Roksu's shoulder, grinning mischievously.

"Come on Bass-oppa!" Lilly calls, and that's all Bassen needed before he joins them too, a bit embarrassed that they're in full display of the knights and the knight trainees but a bit too used to this too to care much.

"Heavy! Heavy!" Roksu says, breathless, but he still kept holding on and keeping still, even when his arms and knees shake a bit.

Cale kept them in the hug for a few more minutes, just until he's sure that all thoughts of murder had left Roksu's mind.

Judging from the small smile on Roksu's face though, it looks like he's succeeded.

Cale let out a small huff.

Really, taking care of his strange brother is a pain sometimes, but...

In the arms of his siblings, listening to them laugh at the silliness of the situation, and knowing that Roksu's happiness lies in keeping them all safe, in making sure moments like these can continue...

Cale thinks it's all worth it.

In the middle of the night, Cale is jolted awake at the sensation of being looked at. 

He opens his eyes and managed to reel in a scream, freezing in place as his face stares down on him unblinking, the reddish-brown eyes seemingly glowing in the moonlight filtering into his room.

It took Cale a fear induced moment before he realizes what he's looking at.

"Fucking hell, Roksu. What are you doing!?"

Only then did Roksu blink, lowering his head to listen to Cale's heartbeat.

"Your heart is racing." Roksu says matter-of-factly.

'No shit' Cale thinks, but instead he says, "I'm just excited to be alive, that's all."

Roksu nods like it's a good answer, mumbling "Being alive is the best" before settling beside Cale, sitting and staring down at his twin before saying, "You are not allowed to drink."

"What?"

"You are not allowed to drink."

Cale blinks at his brother, trying to shoo the sleep away. He needs his full brain capacity to understand what Roksu is on about now.

Slowly, he asks, "Why?"

"I can't kill him" was Roksu's quick answer.

When Cale didn't give any indication that he understands, Roksu added, "He's too strong. I can't kill him" as if that explains everything.

Cale sits up, trying his best to think through his brother's logic. He recalls all the events related to his drinking and could not think of anything that could trigger his brother's murdery tendencies. Roksu is agitated though, and if there's one thing Cale learned it's that when Roksu is agitated then there's a good reason for it.

Cale gathers Roksu's hands in his, trying to bring back his brother from wherever place his mind has taken him this time.

"Roksu, tell me. Who is this 'he' and why do you want to kill him."

Roksu seem to gather his thoughts for a moment. Cale braces for his answer.

"I read it in a book"

Cale blinks.

"In the book a korean kid beat you up"

A kor— what?

"He beat you up because you were drinking and insulted his village."

What the fuck.

"I want to kill him for beating you up, but he's too strong. I can't do it."

Cale takes a deep inhale.

"So you are not allowed to drink. If you don't drink you can't meet him, and he can't beat you up."

Holy fuck. Cale knows his brother is a bit strange but this is another level. His brother has never responded to fictional threats before. First thing's first though:

"Roksu, where did you read this book?"

Sensing that Cale may not believe him, Roksu clams up. Cale sighs, rubbing his thumb soothingly on Roksu's hand. 

"I promised, right? That I'll believe you. No matter what. And you promised to tell me everytime you have these kinds of thoughts, right? Have I broken my promise before?"

When Roksu shakes his head, Cale urges on, 

"So, Roksu, tell me? Please?"

Roksu nods again, inching closer.

"In my dream" he finally answers, "I read it in a book in my dream."

Cale takes a deep breath again. Right. Ok. That's new, but he can work with this.

"Ok. So. You dreamed you were reading a book. In that book, you read that I was drinking and I insulted a ker—"

"Korean"

"Right. Korean? Boy? And that this boy beat me up. But he's too strong, and you can't kill him for beating me up. Is that right?"

Roksu nods again, and he looks up at Cale. There is deep, deep worry in his eyes and maybe something else. Something else that scares Cale a little.

"In the book, when did it say I got beat up?"

"Tomorrow."

"So if tomorrow I stay inside and not go out to drink, would that make you feel better?"

Roksu seem to think on this before he nods. Cale is relieve to see the tension leave Roksu, and it seems his brother is almost back to normal again.

"Don't drink all day tomorrow."

"Ok, but just for tomorrow."

"Ok"

Roksu checks his heartbeat again and Cale runs a hand through his hair, wondering if Roksu believing in books he reads in his dreams would be a thing now. Hopefully not.

They lay back down again. Now that his worries are gone, Roksu is too lazy to go back to his own room. That's all the better though. This way Cale will be sure Roksu won't run around the night looking for this fictional korean boy. Whatever the fuck korean even means. Maybe it's a word Roksu learned from all the novels he likes to read?

"Roksu, what's the name of the book you dreamt about?"

"The Birth of A Hero"

"What a lame title"

"It's alright"

Cale makes a note to find that book in the library. Roksu might have dreamt of a book he has read. Maybe he should burn it to ashes. Should he start monitoring the books Roksu reads?

Cale pulls Roksu closer, making sure he's secure in his hold. This seem to relax his brother even further. Cale smiles despite himself.

Who would've thought that hugs would be one Roksu's weakness?

"Cale?"

"Hmm?"

"Call me hyung."

"Mhm."

"You used to call me hyung."

"Go to sleep, Roksu."

Cale snuggles closer. Maybe next time he will call Roksu hyung again, but that word is better used for emergency situations.

Situations that Cale would rather not experience again.

Chapter Text

Living with an overprotective twin with a tendency for murder is a challenge.

But you get used to it, eventually.

 It was harder when they were younger, especially on the first few days after their mother's death.

It was especially hard on Cale, having to deal with their father deep in grief, the servants more busy with keeping everything running while the Count is indisposed than on comforting the twins, and his brother Cain suddenly becoming catatonic after the funeral.

It was a challenge, but Cale quickly got used to it.

He even got used to when Cain changed his name to Roksu and started becoming more strange.

Cale learned to deal with it, whatever it is.

Roksu suddenly imprisoning him in their room and saying it's to keep him safe? Well he'll just have a tantrum of epic proportions and force Roksu to let him out.

Roksu stalking him everywhere he goes? He'll just hold Roksu's hand then and bring him everywhere instead.

Roksu seeing their new family members as a threat? Simple. Accept and love the new family members so Roksu has no choice but to accept and love them too.

Roksu kills somebody? What can he do? Help stage it as an accident and pretend you don't have blood on your hands, of course. 

Roksu getting paranoid that anyone that approaches him is a threat that must be eliminated? Just got to act like a lout to push them away and maybe drink to cope.

It had taken a lot of trial and error, but whatever the case, Cale has more or less figured out how to deal with his twin brother. 

Roksu getting anxious over a book he read in his dreams is certainly new, but Cale just has to deal with it. Staying inside and not drinking for a day is small price to pay for Roksu's peace of mind.

So today started just like any other day.

As always, Cale and Roksu wakes up later than everybody else. Just in time for breakfast though. Roksu never misses breakfast with the family, and in consequence, so does Cale.

 They make small talk. Roksu confirms everyone's schedule even though Cale knows his brother already knows this information by heart. Their father tries and fails to have them have a go at administrative affairs. Lady Violan reminds everyone of the upcoming social events. Bassen tells everyone of interesting things he's learned lately. Lilly boasts about her swordsmanship skills.

A nice family breakfast. The usual.

The children then got their daily allowance. Cale took his even though he never planned to go out today. It's always nice to have extra pocket money. That or Roksu's tendency to hoard wealth has rubbed off on him too.

Since Cale is not leaving the house he joins Roksu in his "slacking off" activities. Maybe he'd go watch Lilly's swordsmanship practice later, and maybe even help Bassen with some of his studies.

The twins settled in the library. Roksu made himself comfortable in his reading nook, a novel propped between his knees while Cale walked around the expansive library looking for the book Roksu mentioned.

At one point a servant came to bring snacks and Cale joins Roksu to eat some sweets and drink some tea.

Maybe he'll figure out what Roksu is up to this fine morning.

Cale wakes up, disoriented.

He gets up, rubbing his eyes and looking around, getting confused when he noticed he's in the library.

It seems like he fell asleep in Roksu's reading nook. Not at all surprising considering how cozy the place is. A blanket is draped on his shoulders and for moment Cale just sat there processing the waking experience.

Cale looks out the window.

"Hmmm..." Cale wonders, "Why is the moon and stars visible?"

Cale slow blinks.

Cale realizes something.

"FUUUUUCK!" Cale screams as he threw the blanket off of him, hurriedly getting up.

He stomps off the library, loudly cursing and scaring off the servants he meets in his way, his face contorted in displeasure. He is angry. He is very angry right now.

Cale turns a corner just in time to see Roksu hand over a bottle towards Hans. In front of Roksu, his back turned away from Cale, is Ron. Not far behind Roksu is a knight.

Seeing his twin Cale approaches, pointing a finger at him, and angrily shouts: "ROKSU YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

Everyone looks at Cale. Ron turned around to face him, stepping aside and reveals another person that was hidden from view.

Black messy hair and black gaunt eyes on a face with foreign features. Clothes dishevelled and dirty. Fingers and boots caked in dirt. A sword strapped to the waist. A blank look on his face.

For the briefest moment their eyes met and Cale is reminded of how his brother's eyes looked the day their mother was buried beneath the earth and his life was changed forever.

A chill ran up Cale's spine.

Instinctively, Cale knew this man is dangerous. That if he makes the wrong move here, he'd be in very real danger.

In the split second this all happened, Cale looked at the situation and decided on what to do.

He stops approaching and made a show of looking surprised when he looked at Roksu's flushed face, "Are you fucking drunk!?" He asks, and before Roksu could answer he interupts, throwing his arms up the air like he's so done with everything and declares: "Whatever! I don't want to talk to you right now anyway" before turning around with a hmph! and walking away as fast as he could without looking like he is running away.

A tactical retreat. That's the best thing to do right now.

Behind him Cale could hear his brother hurriedly telling Ron to take their guest to kitchen 2 before hurrying after him.

"Cale! Wait!" Roksu calls out to him. Cale speeds up.

When they're far enough away from everyone Cale lets Roksu catch up to him. Roksu places a hand on his shoulder but Cale shrugs him off.

"Cale, are you mad? Why are you mad?" Roksu asks, voice soft and full of concern and Cale suddenly feels his eyes prickling with tears. He blinks it away.

"You drugged me!" Cale says, lowering his voice so only Roksu could hear him, "You drugged me again!"

Roksu looks at him in confusion, "But you are safe now. You woke up earlier than expected but you are safe now."

"Haaaaa...." Cale pinches the bridge of his nose, trying very hard not to cry in frustration. He could talk about the so many things wrong about drugging a person but he also knows his brother will just ignore all of it. Instead he says:

 "I do not like being drugged, Roksu."

It was at this moment that Cale's stomach rumbled.

Roksu looked at him with confusion and concern, "You didn't eat?" he worriedly asked. Cale just crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, his whole demeanor saying: "Take a guess why. Take a wild fucking guess why."

"Ah" Roksu made a noise when he realized why. Cale wants to throttle him.

Instead of apologising, Roksu took hold of Cale's arm and drags him to the kitchens. 

"You have to eat" Roksu firmly tells him.

"Then don't drug me again!"

"I'll make sure you won't miss your meals anymore"

Cale let's out a long, frustrated groan.

"I'm still mad at you" Cale whines but lets Roksu take him to the kitchens anyway. They arrive not long after Ron and the black haired boy, and there was a tense few minutes while Roksu orders food to be made for Cale and for the guest.

Cale observed the tense atmosphere between Ron and the boy that Roksu didn't seem to notice. He still has to figure out why Roksu brought the dangerous kid home, but Cale was too hungry to care at that moment.

Roksu guarded him the whole time he was eating. He didn't leave Cale until he was satified that he'd eaten properly.

Cale wanted to stay mad, but he honestly can't.

So instead Cale asked Roksu what he's been up to while he was unconscious.

When Roksu showed him the shield, Cale choked on the cookie he was munching on. Roksu had to give him the heimlich maneuver and Cale had to stop Roksu from firing the entire kitchen staff and instead let him release his anger by stomping on the offending cookie until it is reduced to dust.

Cale let's out a long suffering sigh. He is used to living with an overprotective twin with a tendency for murder, but some days are more challenging than others.

Cale looks at their father in surprise, crossing his arms defensively.

Roksu, Cale, and Bassen were called into their father's office and the Count informed them that instead of Bassen, the twins will go to the capital and attend the King's birthday celebration instead.

"It will be good for both of you" their father tells them, "Roksu, you can take this time to try and make some friends. Cale, you can take this time to figure out what you wanted to do in the future. Help each other out. You don't have to participate in all of the social gatherings, but at least make an effort in the royal events."

As the eldest, it was Roksu's responsibility to go to social events as the family representative but for a few years now, Bassen was the one who goes.

There wasn't any particular reason, but when Roksu used to do it he would not make an effort to talk and socialise at all. He'll politely greet people as expected, but other than that he'd just stand in the corner or sit in the table and do nothing else until it was time to go home.

To remedy this, their father let Cale go with Roksu instead. It worked for awhile, with Cale even making friends with the neutral faction heirs, but Cale started getting rowdy and causing trouble while Roksu became even more reserved and not wanting to go anymore.

That's what everyone else thought anyway.

In truth, Roksu had gotten very defensive of Cale. Honey insults and jabs that are part of interacting with noble society are seen as threats and Cale had to work extra hard to prevent Roksu from doing anything rash.

Cale gained a reputation of being trash. Roksu developed a reputation of being hopelessly introverted. Bassen was welcomed as the Count Deruth's only normal son.

So now Bassen is the one who attends events and has been going for the last 3 years. Then what changed?

Well, Roksu suddenly went out to town alone, was seen having a conversation with Billos, and brought home a guest the same day Cale just stayed home, didn't drink a drop of alcohol all day, and didn't cause a fight.

Count Deruth suddenly got very hopeful that his eldest sons are changing. He had been very worried about the twin's future and Bassen was more than happy to help if it is for the wellbeing of his older brothers.

So that's why they are here.

Normally Cale wouldn't be worried. Roksu would normally just refuse and Cale will just support his decisions, but his twin has been extra weird lately.

All throughout the meeting, ever since their father mentioned the King's 50th birthday celebration, Roksu has not stopped looking at Bassen.

Cale just knows Roksu is planning something. He just doesn't have a clue on what it could be and it is making him nervous.

"Roksu-hyung, I don't mind if you go." Bassen tries to reassure Roksu, "Cale will be with you, so you don't have to be nervous. If you are still scared of going, I can go with you too."

Cale wanted to laugh. Scared? Roksu? If anything the King should be scared that Roksu is attending his birthday. He keeps this opinion to himself though.

Roksu pats Bassen's head, "I'll go. You won't get hurt if I go." he says, and Bassen smiles.

Their younger brother probably heard Roksu's statement as a question because he nodded and says, "No! Don't worry hyung, I won't feel hurt if you go!"

Cale, however, caught on what Roksu was saying and starts getting really nervous now.

What in the world is Roksu thinking about now???

Cale put on a cheerful grin, swinging an arm around Roksu's shoulder in a playful manner and messed with Bassen's hair even more.

"Don't worry Bas, I'll make sure our Roksu here won't get into trouble!"

"If anything, it's you I'm worried about Cale-hyung"

"You cheeky brat. Can you believe this kid, Roksu? He thinks I'm a trouble maker!"

"You are, though."

"Gasp! How dare you! I'll have you know that I am the very image of an upstanding citizen."

"Whatever you say, Cale-hyung."

As his sons continue their playful banter, Count Deruth smiles as he looks at them. He was rather glad things turned out well. Now all he has to worry about is fortifying the walls to prepare for the changing times and the investigation on the worrying events that happened to the guest Roksu had brought over.

He'll have to take care of that boy too. He might be Roksu's first friend that isn't his siblings, and Deruth wanted to make a good impression.

Cale meets with the boy Roksu brought over. He at first thought that Roksu was planning to kill the kid for his dangerous aura, but then he learned about what happened to the kid and to Harris village.

Then he learned from Roksu that this was the korean kid he was talking about.

What surprised Cale even more than the fact that the contents of Roksu's dream book were real was the fact that Roksu seemed to like the kid. 

Roksu never liked anyone outside of the family. Not even Ron, who he was a bit scared of instead, and Ron practically raised them!

So when Roksu talked about this kid, of how strong and of how much of a good person he was in the book he read, Cale wanted to get to know the guy.

If Roksu still likes him even though he was supposed to beat him up, then he must a good person. If he really does become friends with Roksu...

Maybe Roksu would mellow out a bit and Cale doesn't have to worry about him much anymore.

"I'm Cale Henituse." Cale introduces himself, holding out a hand to shake hands with the boy.

"Choi Han" the boy says, and Cale could already see he looked a lot better than he was last night. His clothes are new, and he had cleaned up well. He also looked rested and the tension in his shoulders are gone.

Cale could tell he was still grieving and angry though, but at least he wasn't looking like he was ready to murder everyone in sight.

He somehow reminds Cale of Roksu a bit, and he shuddered at the thought.

"I apologize for last night. You must have been surprised."

"Ah, no, it's alright."

"You sure? I know I can be a bit dramatic sometimes. I shouldn't have cursed so much in front of you. You are our guest after all."

"Yes, I really didn't mind."

"I heard you met with Roksu already. What did you two talk about?"

"I did. I apologize, I can't say."

Cale observed Choi Han. The boy looked squarely back at him, like he's observing him back too. Cale likes that gaze. He has a feeling that Choi Han is no pushover. That's good.

"That's fine. If it's important then Roksu will tell me. Is everyone treating you well?"

"Yes. Everyone has been very kind."

"That's good. Alright, we're done here."

Cale stands to leave. He heard Roksu went out again so he better check on that, see what Roksu is up to this time. He needs a drink too.

Him just leaving like that without asking for anything surprised Choi Han though, and he ended up blurting out a question he had been wanting to ask since he got here.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

Cale just looked back and scoffed.

"Why else? You're Roksu's friend."

Cale left Choi Han there and didn't turn back even as he felt Choi Han looking intensely at him. If he looked back he might have seen Choi Han's shaking pupils, or the way he gripped tightly on his sword, or how Choi Han looked happy and ready to cry.

No. Cale doesn't see all this. Doesn't even consider what impact his words could have made.

Instead Cale worried about something else, and all thoughts of Choi Han went out the window the moment he saw Roksu again.

Roksu stands there, wet from the rain, and in his arms are a pair of kittens.

Cale sighs.

"Damn it Roksu."

Chapter Text

Cale sits in the couch in Roksu's room. In one hand is a wine glass filled with wine he takes sips from occasionally. His lap is currently being used as Roksu's pillow while his other hand is petting Roksu's hair. 

They had been in this position for a while now and Cale could tell that Roksu is greatly enjoying the attention even though his face remains stoic as usual. How does he know this? Simple. It is because Roksu is starting to nod off.

A sleepy Roksu is a happy Roksu.

Cale refills his wine glass for the 3rd time in less than an hour. He looks down. Roksu looks so peaceful and content. If only he could enjoy this peaceful moment as much as his twin did.

Cale sighs, and the kittens sitting in the low table in front of them fidgeted. The silver one's tail swished back and forth while the red one's feet did a little pitter patter on the cushions they are sitting in. They looked cute, all things considered, especially after Hans was done cleaning them up, but Cale wouldn't be as stressed as he currently is if they were just simple regular kittens.

"So..." Cale continued from their discussions, summarizing the events from what his twin told him,

"You didn't know these two were beast people at first. You only figured it out when they followed you back home and you smelled the herbs you gave to the kids you met when you got your shield?"

The red kitten tilted his head curiously at the mention of a shield but didn't say anything. Cale found it really cute but resisted the urge to pet the kitten. Instead he lightly scratched at Roksu's scalp, earning him a pleased hum as well as an affirmative noise from his twin.

Cale looked down at Roksu and let out an amused huff. His brother had taken in these two children like it is no big deal. This is why Cale could not hate his brother. Any other person would just feed the kittens and call it a day. Most people would just choose to ignore these kittens. Some people would even hurt them instead.

But Roksu chose to take care of them even though he doesn't even have to because at his core, Roksu is a good person.

The problem though is because these kittens are also children.

If Roksu wanted to have pets then Cale is perfectly fine with that. Taking care of pets would probably keep him busy. It might even take his mind off of murder sometimes.

But children? Children are a whole different story. Cale doesn't know how they would affect Roksu or how Roksu would affect the children. 

When Lilly was just born, Cale had been scared that Roksu would not like her somehow. Then Lady Violan made them carry her. It was a wonderful experience. When it was Roksu's turn he had frozen up, afraid that any movement would hurt their little sister. Cale had seen so many emotions on Roksu's eyes then, and he felt at ease that Roksu seemed to accept Lilly as part of their family.

However for the first few months Roksu also had almost obsessively watched over Lilly, spending hours just staring at her and not leaving her side. Sometimes he'd even forget to eat or sleep. Everyone thought it was adorable, a big brother being protective of the new baby, but Cale knew better.

Roksu was afraid that if he looks away, Lilly would die.

It was also the same year the murder incident happened.

So Cale is worried. 

Cale took another long sip with his wine and thought of how he should go about taking care of the kittens if Roksu ends up not liking them, or worse, if Roksu ends up getting attached. The Choi Han kid could at least defend himself and is old enough to think for himself. The kittens on the other hand are very young and impressionable. They deserved to have nice happy childhoods free from murder.

While Cale is having these thoughts his long silence must have made the silver kitten nervous and made her think he does not approve because she started appealing to him.

"Please let us stay! We'll be very good and we'll be very useful!" and before Cale could say anything the red kitten also piped up.

"That's right! My noona can make fog and I can make poison!"

At the word poison Roksu perked up and Cale froze.

"Oh? That's very useful" Roksu says to the kittens who looked happy at being acknowledged.

Cale drank more wine.

"I didn't know you could do that" he says.

"We are very good at it!"

"Yes, yes! Do you want to see?"

"A demonstration would be nice."

"I'd rather not."

Everyone looks at Cale.

"I mean, aren't you hungry? I'm hungry. Let's eat instead. What do you want to eat?"

"I want meat!"

"I want cake!"

"Sandwiches"

So they all went to eat, but the kittens still end up demonstrating their abilities, and Cale had to rethink about a lot of things as the kittens recite all the ways their enemies could be defeated with their poison fog while Roksu attentively listens to them.

Ron is highly amused.

In the week leading to the twin's trip to the capital, the young master Roksu suddenly just became hostile towards him which is funny for several different reasons.

The first and most amusing reason was because the young master Roksu has always been afraid of him. Even before the twins could walk up until now, the boy seemed to have a healthy amount of fear towards him. Ron could not figure out why, but it is amusing all the same.

Especially now, in the middle of the night, with the young master straddling him and doing his best to connect the knife aimed at his throat.

"Young master Roksu, it is bad manners to wake people up in this manner" Ron tells him. Roksu paid him no mind and hammered at his hand with the knife to force it to make contact with Ron's neck.

Ron's grip on his hand and on the knife is strong though, and although the knife did descend a few millimeters it did not go any further.

"May I ask why the young master is having a hissy fit?" Ron asks, enjoying how the young master trembles in fear and yet still puts his weight down on the knife, determined. It did nothing though and Roksu lets out small grunting noises of frustration. 

Seeing as Roksu seemed intent in ignoring him, Ron decided to just continue talking.

"Young master, if you really wanted to kill me you should have done a better job at being more quiet."

This is the third time this week that the young master Roksu had made an attempt at his life. They were all sloppily done though, almost like Roksu is hesitant to do it. This attack was done while Ron is asleep but Ron could hear Roksu coming minutes before Roksu arrived. He let the boy get close though, give him some experience with sneaking around and maybe scare him a little.

The scared kitten must have known that he was anticipated and yet he attacked anyway. Truly, what an amusing young master he served.

"Young masters should be asleep at this hour. I should tuck you back into bed as a good servant should."

Ron flips their position with ease so now Roksu is under him, facedown on the bed, the arm with the knife twisted and pinned to his back.

"Apologies if it hurts a bit young master. I'll let you go once you have calmed down."

Roksu struggled in his hold but Ron held him in place. Eventually Roksu stilled. When he did, Ron slowly let him go although Ron is still vigilant in case Roksu decides to suddenly attack again.

"Now, will you tell this Ron what has been bothering you?"

Instead of answering Roksu sits up and stared at him with his unblinking stare. Whenever Roksu looks like that it means he is still in, as the young master Cale would put it, his "murder mode."

So Ron waits while his kitten young master calms down even further. Eventually,

"You cannot leave, Ron."

"Is that why the young master Roksu is upset?" 

"Cale likes you. You cannot leave."

"Is that so?"

"You left. You left Cale alone. You went away with Vicross. You left Cale alone."

Ron looks at Roksu curiously. At first it sounds like Roksu is talking nonesense, but Ron has learned from Cale that often Roksu's anxieties have reasons. Ron may not be as good as Cale in figuring it out, but he could take a guess.

The day Roksu started being hostile towards him was also the day he brought that Choi Han punk home. That was also the same day that Ron found traces of the secret organisation that destroyed his home from that punk. He and Vicross had been planning to leave to find more traces of that organisation, but they haven't decided if they should leave yet. 

Did the young master Roksu perhaps notice what they were planning? Is this his way of saying they will he missed?

Really, this young master is amusing. He has a few screws loose maybe, but very amusing all the same.

Ron unconsciously touched his bandaged neck from where Choi Han grazed his sword during their stand-off in the kitchens. He didn't notice Roksu's eyes following the movement.

If the secret organisation really is here, it might be safer for Vicross to stay with the Henituse. Being a servant to the rich Henituse would certainly bring some form of protection. It would also keep this kitten young master from throwing another hissy fit. He is rather fond of Vicross's food after all.

"I will make sure the young master Cale is not left alone then. Will that make the young master Roksu feel better?" Ron asks, smiling his benign smile. Roksu shivered at the smile but also stopped staring, nodding to indicate he is satisfied for now.

Ron thought that's that, but Roksu suddenly handed him something from his pocket. Ron recieved it, surprised to find a healing balm in his palm.

"Don't get hurt." Roksu says as he hurriedly exits, leaving the knife behind and headed off to the direction of Cale's room, probably to terrorize his twin in the middle of the night again.

Ron picks up the knife, looks at the healing balm in his other hand, and laughs.

Really. So amusing.

The twins stand in front of their carriage preparing to leave while their siblings gives their well wishes. Unfortunately, their parents cannot see them leave, but they did say their goodbyes during breakfast.

"Do you want a present?" Roksu asks Lilly who was clinging to him.

"I want a sword!"

"Ok." Roksu then turns expectantly towards Bassen who is shyly standing by the side.

"I would like a fountain pen please" Bassen says. He looks a bit embarrassed but happy. Roksu nods.

"That's it?" Cale playfully complains, "You should ask for more. Or not. We'll bring souvenirs back either way."

Lilly cheered, Bassen laughs, and goodbye hugs and headpats were given. Soon the twins got into their carriage where the Ohn and Hong have been waiting.

Before they depart, Choi Han stopped by their carriage.

"Roksu-nim, is it ok for me to not be in the same carriage protecting you?" Choi Han asks, and he then looks at Cale before looking back to Roksu again, "and to protect Cale-nim as well?"

Cale raises an eyebrow at Roksu, but his twin ignores him.

"No, it is alright." Roksu tells Choi Han, "It is harder to swing your sword inside the carriage. You can protect Cale better if you are outside."

Choi Han didn't say anything else, just nodding his head and walked away. Roksu just settled in his seat and ignores Cale making a "what did I just hear?" face at him. From beside the driver's seat they can hear Ron going "Hoho!", clearly amused at the interaction.

"Why am I the only one that needs protecting? You need protecting too." Cale grumbles but does not comment any further. Instead he just petted Hong who jumped at his lap.

Meanwhile Ohn is on Roksu's lap and they are watching Choi Han join the knights outside. It seems like some people, like Vice Captain Hillsman, were giving him a bit of hard time and looking down at him.

It is unavoidable for it to happen. Choi was the first guest Roksu brought home so he was treated as a special guest by the Count. He also hid his abilities so everyone thinks he is average, but now suddenly he became part of Roksu's guard.

What really bothered everyone though was Choi Han being on friendly terms with Roksu. Basically, everyone is worried Choi Han will take advantage of their innocent and kind young master. Of course, Roksu does not know of this reason at all.

"They're going to regret that" Roksu says, and Ohn agrees with him. "Being mean is not nice!"

Cale peeks at the window to see in time as the Vice Captain looks at up and down at Choi Han and smirking, like he is looking down on Choi Han.

Choi Han ignores the Vice Captain, but Cale got nervous at Roksu's statement. He knows Choi Han is not a pushover, but if Roksu starts having a vendetta against everyone that looked down on Choi Han then it's going to be a problem.

"I think Choi Han can handle it. We don't need to interfere." Cale nonchalantly says.

"Why would we interfere? Choi Han is strong." Roksu tells him. Cale does not believe him though because Roksu glared at the Vice Captain Hillsman when he came to tell them that they were ready to leave.

Well, that's a problem for later.

Right now Cale focuses on enjoying the trip. It will be their first time going to the capital and he is excited. Will their wines taste different? Are there more shops? Maybe he can convince Roksu to go attend a party or two, see if the nobles in the capital are worth messing with.

"Roksu, I heard there will be dancing and festivities in the plaza for the commoners after the King's speech. Can we go there instead of the palace ball? I bet it would be more fun."

Roksu flinched at the suggestion but Cale paid it no mind. He's always paranoid about safety anyway. He could always just convince him to go later anyway. That, or Cale could just sneak out.

"Will there be a lot of cake?" Hong asks.

"And meat?" Ohn adds.

"I bet so! Lots of pretty lights too, and stall games. I'm really good at the throwing games." Cale brags, grinning at the kittens who are starting to get excited. They then started talking about the many activities they can do and the food they can eat. 

"We want to go! Can we go?"

"Take us with you!"

"Of course! That is, if Roksu would let us go..."

They all look at Roksu who was getting quieter the more they talked, avoiding joining their conversation.

"It's not s—" Roksu starts to say but closed his mouth to the expectant looks on the kittens. Instead he says, "Do whatever you want."

The kittens cheered and started planning on what they will do in the capital once they arrived. As thanks, Cale gives Roksu headpats and assures him that they will be careful and bring guards with them. He even said Roksu can always join them too.

Roksu seems to be thinking a lot of things though. Cale could not figure out what it is. Is his brother planning something?

Their peaceful travel was interrupted when they were stopped by some bandits.

"You think they can't see the symbol on our carriage?" Roksu asks them.

"I guess so" Ohn answers, yawning.

"Idiots! Beginners!" Hong says.

Cale didn't say anything, just leaned back and scratched at Hong's chin.

"Young masters, it looks like we will need to take a break. There seem to be quite a lot of rabbits here." Ron then went, ‘Ah!’ before smiling and added on.

"Ah, this rabbit is different from the rabbit I was going to catch for you, young masters. Of course, these rabbits will not be caught by me but by other people."

Roksu shivers and Cale clicks his tongue.

"I hate it when he does that" Cale grumbles and Roksu nodded, inching away from the window where Ron is benignly smiling at them.

There were sounds of fighting, and not long later Choi Han approaches and the shocked Vice Captain came to report that the battle is over.

 Cale notices that there is a blood splatter on his Choi Han's cheek and he pales, feeling a bit faint. Seeing this, Roksu quickly took a hankerchief and handed it to Choi Han.

"Choi Han, wipe your face."

"Ah, thank you Roksu-nim!"

The carriage moves again and Roksu made Cale lean on his shoulder, petting his hair and back. The kittens rubs on Cale worriedly.

Cale had his eyes closed. He is dizzy. It didn't help that they could smell the blood as they pass by the scene of the battle. He clings to Roksu.

"Hyung, I don't like blood..."

Roksu holds Cale closer, "I know, I know. It's fine now. Hyung is here. I'm sorry you have to see that..."

They stay like that until they camp out for the night. Cale is usually ok with seeing blood but there are times, like now, that he still gets affected by it.

"I'm fine. Roksu, I'm fine now, don't worry anymore." Cale laugh it off, drinking his wine. Ohn stayed by his side and Hong pats at his leg.

"I will make sure you will always be ok" Roksu tells him.

Cale shivers.

"That is what I'm scared of" Cale thinks, but instead he says,

"Of course. Now, let's have a fun trip!"

Chapter Text

Some people have a death wish, or well, some people don't realize they are basically courting death.

One example is Venion Sten.

Granted, Venion Sten is vile human being and probably deserve a most painful death, but Cale would rather he do his death-courting somewhere else.

Specifically, Cale would rather that Venion be not anywhere near his rather murdery twin brother, like now.

It all started with, as Roksu would say, a cliché situation.

Cale was rather enjoying the carriage ride with his brother and the kittens. They were passing by the Tolz territory and looking for a place to stay the night when Roksu's friend rescued an old man about to be hit by a speeding courage.

Cale didn't actually see what happened since he is facing the other way.

What he did see was Roksu's reaction when he recognized the carriage that stopped and the driver that Choi Han was arguing with. At this point it was getting rowdy enough for Cale to know that something has happened, although he was focused on Roksu's face.

Roksu is staring. There is a slight tick in his eyebrow, a tenseness on his jaws, and a small frown on his lips. For those who don't know him well enough, Roksu looks stoic as usual. But Cale knows his twin really well, and for Cale the most telling sign that shit is about to go down is the hazy look on Roksu's unblinking eyes. 

"Shit!" Cale cursed as Roksu stands up to leave the carriage.

Quickly Cale reached out and grabbed Roksu at the back of his collar and pulled. In his hurry and because of the small space, Cale collided with Roksu and they both fell down on the carriage floor.

"Cale let go — !"

"I'll handle it! I'll handle it just stay here!"

Cale holds Roksu's wrists down and Cale gets on top of him to pin him in place while Roksu struggles to get up.

"Let me go. Venion needs to die—"

"Oh fuck he's here?"

"I'm going to kill him. Get off of me Cale."

"Fuck you can't do that — ack! Stay still Roksu!"

"We are in the middle of nowhere if Venion dies no one will know."

"Roksu there are children here, calm down and let me handle this!"

Wisely, this is the moment that Ohn let out a meow. During the commotion the kittens had ran to the corner of the seats, surprised and a bit scared at the twin's scuffle.

Roksu froze at the sound of the meow and Cale took that moment to scoop the kittens up. They let out a startled "MRROAAWW!!" and Cale placed them on top of Roksu's chest. Instinctively Roksu holds them.

"Here, pet them. Stay here ok? Guard the kittens. I'll be right back." Cale then turned to the kittens, "Don't let him go out. I'll give you lots of treats later."

Ohn and Hong do not really understand the situation but they nodded. Ohn then sat on Roksu's chest and placed a paw on Roksu's hand that is holding her. Hong on the other hand splooted all over Roksu's face, holding on when Roksu tries to remove him.

The arguments outside are getting louder. Cale wasted no time and messed his clothes and hair a bit and drank half of the bottle of wine he had brought with him, instantly making his face flush.

He gives a quick exhale, shaking his hands trying to calm his nerves. 

"Haa. Here we go." 

Cale then pauses for a second before he kicks the carriage door open and half-falls and half-stumbles out. The loud bang startles everyone outside and instantly all eyes are on him.

"What in the ever loving fuck..." Cale slurrs but makes sure his voice is loud and clear, pausing for dramatic effect as he look at everyone present, "...is going on here?"

Cale makes eye contact with Ron who gave a small nod and surreptitiously stood guard by the carriage door. Hans approached him to tell him the run down of the situation. 

Venion slowly got out of the carriage. Cale guessed that the narcissistic bitch only came out because he saw the symbol of the golden turtle on the carriage and not because he wants to resolve the situation.

Cale observed the situation. The arguing had stopped because of his carriage exit, but the driver looked smug and unrepentant while Choi Han looks about two seconds away from exploding. The old man that Choi Han saved had bowed down in fear and Venion smirked when he saw the display.

"Tsk."

Cale doesn't like this situation. He knows he needs to de-escalate if only for the old man that didn't ask to get caught up in this. Choi Han looks distressed too. Cale doesn't like how Roksu's friend had only started to get adjusted with them after the death of his family and now has to deal with this.

He put a hand on Choi Han's shoulder and pressed down so he pays attention and whispers, "Calm down. Let me handle this."

Cale steps in front of Choi Han, hiding him from Venion's view and giving him time to calm down. He is only 17 after all, and grew up in a remote village. He doesn't have any experience dealing with nobles, and good-hearted people like him should not be tainted by dealing with nobles like Venion. 

“Nice to meet you. Are you someone from Count Henituse’s household?” Venion greeted him. There's a look of disgust of on his face but he kept up his noble demeanor. 

"Nice to meet you my ass" Cale thinks. They have actually met before but Venion is pretending like he doesn't remember him. It is starting to piss him off.

Cale put on his trashy expression and made his voice sound whiny and annoyed.

"Hah? Or course I am. There is clearly a golden turtle in my carriage. Is this why we stopped? To offer niceties?"

Venion's brow twitched. Before anyone could say anything Cale continued talking, making his expressions exaggerated. During this time he really looked like a trashy thug who is a bit too drunk.

"Haaaa, can you believe this?" He turns to Hans who is looking at them nervously, "Hans can you believe this? I am about to run out of drinks so we are looking for more, but I have to stop drinking because of something like this?"

"Your servant is the one who caused trouble and got in the way of a noble!" Venion's driver could not stop himself from correcting Cale, pointing at Choi Han behind him.

Cale looked at Venion like he could not believe his ears.

"Are you hearing this? Your servant could not even do something so simple as avoiding peasants on the road. Is that how the future Marquis train their people?"

Venion tried to say something again, but he could not decide whether to be insulted or complimented. Cale didn't let him talk though. He is on a roll. He has to finish this before Roksu realizes he could just carry the kittens out with him. He turns to the driver.

"Do you even know what will happen if you had hit this peasant? There will be blood everywhere! Do you want blood on your carriage? Do you want your master to go around with blood all over his carriage? And doing it outside of your territory too, haaa for a Marquise household... how shameful!"

"That is enough, young master." Venion stopped him. There is a barely concealed fury in his demeanor because Cale just indirectly insulted him, but if he corrects Cale that means he'll be stooping on Cale's level and his ego would not allow it.

"I'm just saying, for someone going to become a Marquis, it will not look good going around surrounded by incompetent people. But hey, you're the one who hires them, you would know better what to look for in people. What do I know, right?" 

Cale put his hand on his chest while saying this, smiling at Venion, looking very sincere with his statement. 

"That's right, someone of your caliber would not know. If everything's resolved, we best get moving. It was nice meeting you, young master Cale."

"So you do remember me you pretentious bitch" Cale thinks. He is enjoying the ice in Venion's tone. He held out a hand for a handshake.

"It was nice meeting you too. We should have drinks together sometimes. What do you say?"

Venion returns his handshake very briefly, like he doesn't want to spend any more time with Cale, saying "I'll think about it" before glaring at his driver and closing the carriage door a bit too hard. 

"What a prick" Cale says while smiling and waving at Venion's leaving carriage. He then took out a handkerchief, wiped his hand that touched Venion, and asked Hans to burn the handkerchief.

For a moment Cale wondered if he really should've just let Roksu kill Venion. That blonde bastard is certainly vile enough that he wouldn't feel bad if he dies. He probably deserved it too but...

'I don't want more blood on Hyung's hand...'

Cale turned and went to the still kneeling old man, helping him up.

"You ok, old man? You should stop kneeling, you're going to hurt your knees."

It was at this moment that Roksu finally got out the carriage. He is holding Ohn in his arm and Hong is in his head. There is a frown on his face but didn't say anything, just helped Cale who was helping the old man get up.

They soon found out that the old man owns an inn and they all headed to that place to stay the night.

Cale plops on his bed, suddenly very tired.

He remembers what he overheard earlier, when Roksu spoke with Choi Han.

"Cale did that so you and the old man won't get in trouble. He's very kind like that. Sometimes his kindness gets him hurt though. Choi Han, if I'm not around, please protect my brother in my place."

"Of course, Roksu-nim."

Kind? He's kind? What nonesense. He is not a good person. 

"And don't worry. That Venion bastard would soon get what he deserves."

Cale shudders.

"What are you planning, Roksu?"

What Roksu was planning was a dragon rescue.

Cale could still not believe it, hours later.

He had caught Roksu sending the kittens off the mountains and managed to make Roksu tell him what he's planning. He wants told the whole plan, but he managed to piece together that it has something to do with pissing off Venion and rescuing a child.

So of course Cale helped.

For their alibi, Cale stood on top of the table, screamed, "IT'S A PARTY!" and had managed to make everyone get into drinking (except Choi Han and the kids) and the inn keepers very happy with their revenue.

When Roksu looks so flushed he's as red as their hair, they used it as their excuse to "sleep" early and not get disturbed and told Ron that they were going out but not to follow.

Choi Han and Roksu then changed into this black outfits while the kittens had their fur coated with black charcoal. Cale was a bit offended that he wasn't included and insisted on going with them, if only to monitor what Roksu is up to.

They made him wait in a far away area. Roksu left him with a necklace that will turn him invisible for 5 minutes in case he gets into trouble, and Cale watched from afar as his brother, his friend, and the kittens caused chaos.

He paced back and forth as he waited patiently. He understood why he was left out, but it made Cale wonder what other things Roksu was keeping from him. It made him anxious. If Roksu stops telling him things, who knows what could happen?

All that thought went out the window when he spots the four heading his way.

In Roksu's arms is a dragon. A DRAGON.

A very injured and small dragon but a dragon all the same.

Roksu sets the dragon down and Cale hands him the tools they left him with. Cale watched dazedly as Roksu cut off the dragon's collar, healed him with mana potions, and told him to be free.

They left the dragon with some potions and left, although Cale gave him some candy too.

Dragon or not, he's a child.

Behind them, the cat children are talked amongst themselves.

“Noona, I think he’s going to follow us.”

 “Uh huh. I think so too.”

 “Am I going to get a younger brother?”

 “It looks like it.”

Roksu scoffed at them and retorted back.

“No way. Dragons are extremely prideful and will never accept being under a human. Furthermore, this dragon hates humans.”

Ohn’s expression seemed to disagree. If a cat had a mocking expression, it would probably be the one on Ohn’s face right now. Ohn shook her head and quietly mumbled.

“…I don’t think so.”

 “…Uh huh.”

Although Cale agrees with Roksu, he couldn't help but tease his brother a bit.

"I wouldn't mind travelling with a dragon. Did you see his face when he saw us? He looks so cute all confused. He probably thought there is two of you!"

Roksu made a face that made Cale and the kittens giggle. To change the subject Roksu told the kittens to get the orb back. He then patted Choi Han's shoulder.

"Good work."

“Roksu-nim.”

 “What.”

Choi Han was silent for a while after calling out to Roksu’s name, before he finally started to speak once again. Cale remained silent too, just observing. Roksu rarely speaks to anyone else, and he wants to see what Roksu is like with his friends.

“What if the dragon decided that living as it wants was to follow you, Roksu-nim?”

 “That will never happen.”

 “What if. Just hypothetically speaking.”

Roksu was silent for a while, before lightly responding.

“I don’t think about what ifs or the past.”

Cale looked at his brother.

"Liar." That is what he wanted to say.

"That is all you ever think about."

But Cale kept quiet, keeping his thoughts to himself.

When the kittens came back, they all returned to the inn.

Chapter Text

It was funny when they all confirmed that the little dragon followed them by gifting them hunted animals for food.

It was even funnier watching Roksu be in denial that the little dragon is really following them.

"I'm sure that the dragon would get tired of us and leave soon" Roksu says.

"I'm sure it would...pfft!"

"Of course, nya!"

"I. Think. So. Too. Roksu-nim."

"Nyahahaha Choi Han that's terrible!"

What is not funny is Roksu getting agitated because of it.

"...What if it attacks?"

"I don't think so!"

"Yah. The dragon will become my little brother nya!"

"Don't worry Roksu-nim, I didn't feel any bloodlust when it visited last night."

"Hear that? No bloodlust. And didn't you say Choi Han is very strong? He'll protect us, right? Choi Han?"

"Y-yes! I'll protect everyone, Roksu-nim!"

Cale reaches over his back where Roksu was leaning on him, scratching at his hair. He could not see his brother's expression but he could feel that he's still a little tense.

They're currently resting by the fire, away from earshot of the knights. This will be their last camp outside before reaching Puzzle city where they can finally stay at an inn.

The little dragon Roksu had rescued had been following them since that night, leaving behind fresh hunt every morning for them. It was a shock at first but everyone soon got used to it. Vicross for one was excited to have fresh high quality ingredients every morning.

They expected the little dragon to leave after they got out of Tolz territory, but it kept following. The kittens are convinced that the little dragon will join them soon but Roksu was having none of it.

It was really funny to see, but whenever Roksu oscillates towards anxiousness, Cale had to calm him down.

Cale decides to change the subject.

"We're reaching Puzzle City tomorrow right? We can finally sleep on proper beds. Camping out is all nice and fun but it's starting to get old."

"I like camping!" Hong pipes up, raising his paw, "It's fun chasing the small animals while waiting for dinner!"

"I like watching Choi Han train! It makes the knights train harder. It's funny to watch nya" Ohn says, a mischievous smile on her cat face. 

They start talking about random things and the night was going good until Choi Han decided to destroy the mood. Or well, only Cale's mood anyway because apparently he's the only one that didn't know that Choi Han is leaving.

"Roksu-nim, Puzzle City is the halfway point right?"

"Hmm? Ah, yes. After Puzzle City we are going our seperate ways."

"Wait, you're leaving?"

This was all news to Cale. When he looked around he noticed that he was the only one surprised. Even the kittens know about it.

"Roksu-nim asked me to do something else. I'll be gone for a bit but we'll meet again in the Capital."

Choi Han explained but Cale doesn't seem to hear. There's a strange unpleasant feeling in his chest.

"Oh? Is that so?" Cale absentmindedly says. From behind him Roksu stirs and the kittens stopped their play to look at him.

"Cale, your heart is beating faster."

"Cale-nim, are you ok?"

Noticing the sudden attention, Cale smiles cheerfully.

"Of course I'm ok! I need a drink though. I better get more." Cale stands suddenly and Roksu almost stumbles because he's leaning on him but Cale catches him, "I'll be right back. I'll be visible so don't follow me ok?"

Cale leaves, and the Roksu, Choi Han, Kittens trio watch him go.

"He still haven't finished his wine though..." Ohn observes.

"Is Cale-nim really ok? He looks upset."

"Cale says he's ok so... he's ok..." Roksu says, head turned away as he follows with his eyes where Cale went, not once letting his brother off his sight.

The kittens and Choi Han looked at each other meaningfully.

"Choi Han let's play~" Hong says instead.

They let Roksu be.

Meanwhile Cale headed straight to the supplies wagon to get his wine. Getting one from his supplies, he quickly uncorks one and drinks it like water. Immediately his face starts turning red.

Cale doesn't understand why he just left like that. So what if Choi Han is leaving? They'll meet in the Capital again anyway. There's no reason to be upset. Sure, Roksu could've told him about it, but it's not really important for him to know, right?

So no. Cale is not upset. He takes a deep breath and says to himself: 'Everything is fine.'

Yes. Cale is perfectly just fine.

"Young master"

Cale flinched at the sound. He turns and sees Vicross holding a plate of food. In his surprise Cale unconsciously scowls and blurts out:

"What? Are you leaving too!?"

For a few seconds they just looked at each other. Cale could not tell what Vicross was thinking but after a moment the chef just sighed.

"Young master Cale I'm just here to tell you dinner is ready."

Cale blinks. He then drinks the rest of his wine, his embarrassed blush hidden away in the alcoholic flush on his face, and wordlessly returns to where Roksu is.

Vicross looks down at the plate of food he is holding and sighs again before following behind Cale.

Roksu, Cale, the kittens, and Hans all look at the rock tower in disappointment.

"I don't know what I expected, but it's certainly not this" Cale comments.

"It really is just rocks" Roksu adds.

After arriving in Puzzle City and listening to Hans' story, the group decided to visit the ancient rock towers in the center of the city. Although the city's festival is coming up, there really isn't much to look at but rocks.

They still made wishes though. The kittens wished for a lot of meat and to have a little brother.

Cale wished for Roksu to finally feel safe enough so he will not to worry about their family's safety anymore.

Hans's wish is for the kittens to not ignore him so much.

“Roksu-nim, are you not going to make a wish?” Choi Han asks.

Roksu just casually answered.

“I don’t do things like making wishes.”

 “Why not?”

 “It makes you have higher expectations.”

Choi Han, Cale, Hans, and even the kittens all turned to look at Roksu. Roksu looked at the rock towers like Choi Han had done, and slowly continued to speak.

“It’s so much easier to live without high expectations.”

Cale frowned at that. Not having expectations also means not looking at a good future. Having expectations is like hoping, it is a normal thing to do. Whether you get a good future or not, what's important is you hope for something better, that you look at a future and see something good.

Cale wonders what Roksu sees in the future that he doesn't want to look at.

Roksu turned his gaze towards Hans who was about to tap his shoulder. It surprised the deputy butler Hans but he still smiled and started to speak.

“You are right, young master. There is no such thing as dreams or hope in this world.”

Cale smacked Hans lightly at the back of his head.

"Young master, why?" Hans cried at him, although he was not hurt. He is just dramatic like that.

"You're annoying" Cale tells him, and goes to Roksu's side.

Nothing much happened after that.

They let Choi Han have a moment alone to say his prayers though, but other than that and the near encounter with the eldest Sten, nothing really happened.

They did confirm that the little dragon followed them in the city.

"Should we go look around the shops? We're leaving tomorrow so we should take this time to buy souvenirs. I'm going to try and see if they sell rocks here" Cale says, a bit excited to go exploring in a new place. When he looks at Roksu though his twin is avoiding looking at him directly.

"I'm going somewhere else, Cale. I'm only taking Choi Han with me"

Cale looks at his brother. He could guess what Roksu is about to say.

"Can you stay in the inn until I get back? The kittens will stay with you so you have company"

Ah. He's right. At least Roksu has the audacity to look guilty this time. Cale crosses his arms at his twin.

"Take me with you or let me go around town. I won't accept other options."

The twins have a standoff and Choi Han looks back and forth at them, awkwardly trying not to interfere but also not wanting an argument to break out.

"I'll tell you what I'm planning but you stay in the inn." Roksu offers.

"That goes without saying, and that's not in the options." Cale counters.

"You'll be safer in the inn."

"I'll be just as safe, if not safer, with you."

The kittens had climbed up Choi Han like a tree at this point, watching the standoff.

"I think Cale-nya will win" Ohn bets. Hong agrees, nodding his head.

Finally, after 5 minutes, Roksu concedes.

"Fine. You can go with me."

Cale breaks out a wide grin, giving his brother a hug as reward for accepting. Roksu sulks in his hug but returns it anyway. Choi Han sighs in relief.

So that's how the three end up going to the mountains. The kittens stayed behind with Hans though, but Cale is satisfied with that.

When they reached a certain point, Choi Han stopped to talk to them.

“I’ve been debating this for a while, but there is something I need to tell you.”

The twins stopped to listen. Choi Han hesitated for a moment before looking at them, although his gaze was looking past them and on the top of a nearby tree near the entrance of the mountain.

"Mr. Ron is a dangerous person."

Roksu flinched while Cale just blinked at Choi Han. He doesn't know why Choi Han suddenly brought this up.

"Is that so?" Roksu calmly responded.

"Well, I guess he is?" Cale says, thinking back to all the times Ron would tease them about hunting rabbits or the times he'd serve them lemon tea.

“You are not surprised? There is a dangerous stench of blood on him. He is a strong person who has shed a lot of blood. At first, I thought that Roksu-nim and Cale-nim knew about it already and still had Mr. Ron by your side.”

Cale paused at the mention of blood. Can Choi Han really sense the stench of blood? If so, why is it that he can't sense it on Roksu? Is it because Roksu has not killed a lot of people?

While Cale had these thoughts, Choi Han kept talking.

“But neither Cale-nim nor anybody else seemed to know about Mr. Ron’s strength.”

Choi Han had debated about this for a while. Honestly speaking, the fact that Roksu had said that he did not have any expectations made him decide not to say anything about Ron. However, the fact that Roksu had chosen him to be the guard today made Choi Han feel guilty.

“That was why I thought I needed to tell.”

"I know he's strong." Roksu says, "But I also know he is not dangerous to us. Otherwise I won't have let him anywhere near Cale."

Cale was surprised at that.

"Since when is Ron dangerous?" Cale asked. He can't believe it. Ron is scary sometimes but dangerous?

"Cale, he cleans his knives while guarding us in our cribs. He tells us how to dismember a rabbit to put us to sleep."

"Knives!?"

"Ron is an assassin, Cale."

Cale gaped at his brother. He looks back and forth between Choi Han and Roksu while his mind thought of his memories with Ron.

Cale thought of how silent Ron is, or how he always knows where Cale is no matter how much he hides. The way he'd just talk about hunting little animals, or call Roksu a hissy kitten, or the way he's so nonchalant about Roksu's murderous episodes.

But Roksu also said that Ron is not dangerous to them, and Cale also remembers how Ron tucks them into bed, or makes sure they eat their meals, or how he chastises him for drinking too much, or how Ron helped him keep Roksu's tendencies a secret.

Cale remembers that time when Ron protected him from Roksu, of how softly he wipes the blood off of him, and how gently he wraps the bandages around his arms.

"Huh. I guess that makes sense." Cale concludes.

"So Roksu-nim knows..." Choi Han says, he seem to be thinking about it deeply. He then turns to Cale, "Cale-nim, now that you know too, will you still keep Mr. Ron by your side?"

"Of course" was Cale's quick answer.

"It's all the same" Roksu says in support.

"Excuse me?"

"Whether it's you or Ron. It's all the same. You are both dangerous, but I still keep you both on our side." Roksu adds, “You say that he has a dangerous strength, but why do you leave Ron alone?”

"That's because—"

“It is probably because he has not done anything to you.”

Choi Han remains silent, so Roksu adds more.

"I also know for sure that he won't do anything to us. You have a dangerous strength too, but in the same way, I also know for sure that you won't do anything to us."

"But how do you know that?"

This time it was Cale who answers.

"It is because you are a good person."

Choi Han let out a gasp. Cale didn’t know the reason behind it, but continued to speak.

"Just because you are dangerous does not mean you are also not a good person."

Cale holds onto Roksu's hand. It might be his personal biases talking, but just because Roksu has killed before, and Ron was an assassin, does not mean that they are bad people. Choi Han has killed people before too, and yet he's a good person in Cale's book.

He doesn't know how it is for Roksu, but for Cale, it is all the same.

"You have nothing else to say, right? Don't follow us."

Choi Han silently nodded. When Roksu and Cale are no longer in sight, he talks to the tree.

"You heard them, right?"

Ron jumps down smoothly down the tree. He glared at Choi Han but smiled, saying in a blunt voice.

"I changed their poopy diapers and raised those boys since they were young."

Choi Han stood in front of the path to the mountain and started to speak.

“Roksu-nim had said that nobody is to follow him from here on.”

 “I know, you little punk.”

Ron turned his back to the mountain with no regrets. After hearing that Roksu was only going with Choi Han and Cale, and even leaving the Cat Tribe children behind, Ron had followed, just in case something happened.

He stopped for a moment though and looked back to Choi Han.

"If you think I'm the dangerous one, you should train your senses more."

When Choi Han glared at him, Ron smiled even more.

"Just an advice from this old man."

They say that you get more fickle the older you get, and this fickleness was such a pain. He should not have worried about the puppy young master. Out of all them, between killers and assassins and murderers, he was the most dangerous one of all.

'Anyone that can control that monster disguised as a kitten is bound to be more dangerous.'

Ron walked back to the inn at a much slower pace than when he had left, and Choi Han watched Ron disappear before sitting on a boulder to wait for the twins.

Cale did not follow Roksu inside the cave. It was something Roksu insisted on, but he also gave instructions to Cale to call for Choi Han if he's not back out after an hour.

So he sits on a rock outside the cave. Cale suspects that Roksu only gave him those instructions to keep him out, but Cale didn't mind it that much. Despite all appearances, he knows that his brother is strong, and he knows Roksu will come out within the hour.

In the meantime, Cale entertains himself with watching the tiny pawprints on the grass. He is pretending not to see it, but it's funny to see the tiny pawprints following them up the mountain.

The pawprints then circled around Cale once, like he's inspecting him, before following Roksu inside the small cave.

While waiting, Cale made a flower crown out of the flowers from the field. He is going to make the little dragon wear it.

It didn't take long for Roksu to return, and Cale snickered at his dirty and dishevelled appearance.

"You look like you rolled around the mountain" he teased, patting some dirt off of Roksu. His twin in not paying attention though, instead looking at the patch of grass with pawprints by the entrance of the cave.

"I can see you, you know" Roksu says and the pawprints disappeared.

"Oh?" Cale smiles. It seems like Roksu finally accepted the little dragon. 

"The kittens are going to be so happy" Cale says, feeling great when Roksu returns his smile.

"I guess they will be."

Cale then dramatically put the flower crown on Roksu's head.

"Oh no! This flower crown is too small for your head! I guess this flower crown fit for mighty beings is not for you! What a shame!"

Cale then gently puts the flower crown on the ground, and catching his intention Roksu plays along.

"Ah, what a shame! If only a great and mighty being can wear this flower crown. Alas, there is no one here but you and me!"

The twins left with smiles on their faces, but they did look back just in time to see the flower crown float up and settle on a small invisible head, the grass around it dancing as if a great and mighty being is flapping it's wings in happiness.

Chapter Text

Everyone gathered at the front of the inn early in the morning to see Choi Han off. From here on out he will be going another way up until they meet in the capital again later.

"You better come back without a single scratch on you" Cale tells Choi Han, patting him in the shoulder. If Choi Han comes back injured, Cale is sure that Roksu will not be happy about it.

"Take this" Roksu gives a pouch to Choi Han. Inside is money, potions, preserved food, and other things that Choi Han might need in his travels.

"Come back home soon."

When Roksu mentioned "home", Choi Han's eyes trembled. He has just lost his second home not long ago, and now he has a new home to go back to.

Choi Han smiled. He is very happy right now.

"Meow!"

"Nya!"

The kittens have been circling Choi Han's legs for a while now were surprised to see Choi Han's smile and happily taps at his foot to tell him to be careful and that they'll see him soon.

"Ahem. I will be training myself so that I will be the young master’s personal guard when we are at the capital." Vice Captain Hillsman tells him. After witnessing Choi Han's strength, the Vice Captain had started to respect Choi Han and even start to be friendly with him.

The Vice Captain also had a nightmare one night about a shadowy demon surrounded by fog looking down on him in his sleep and telling him to be nice to Choi Han, but the Vice Captain swears that is not the reason for his change of heart.

Hans cheerfully says his goodbyes.

"I will keep my blades sharpened"

"See you later"

Ron and even Vicross were also there to say their goodbyes. The kittens patted Choi Han's legs one more time, letting him know that they'll be waiting for him too.

"I'll be sure to come back home" Choi Han says, clutching on the handle of his sword, heart full of emotions.

With a final wave, Choi Han leaves but not before smiling even more as he felt the mana of the little dragon surrounding him.

Everyone returns back to the inn to prepare to leave except for Roksu, with Cale hanging back and waiting for his brother.

Roksu watched Choi Han leave until he is no longer visible. Only then does he turn around, holding on Cale's arm and looking at his brother like Cale holds the answers of the universe.

"Choi Han will be fine, right?" Roksu asks. There is deep worry in his voice and Cale recognises what it is. There are times when Roksu starts to doubt himself and his decisions. It seems that although it was Roksu's idea to send Choi Han away, he is still worried if he did the right thing.

Cale doesn't know why Choi Han has to go but... 

"He will be fine. I'm sure of it." Cale pats Roksu's head, "You said so yourself right? Choi Han is strong. So strong that you won't be able to kill him even if you tried."

Roksu nods, and Cale is glad that his twin isn't as anxiousness anymore. For good measure though Cale smiles brightly at Roksu.

"And if Choi Han doesn't come home, we'll just go and get him, right?"

Roksu returns a small smile.

"Yes, you're right."

"Of course. I am your brother, afterall."

They left Puzzle City without further incident, that is until it was time to set up camp for that night. Cale noticed Roksu became alert when an unmarked carriage approached their camp.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it" Cale says, already going to where the Vice Captain and the carriage driver was talking but he was stopped by Roksu who held onto his clothes.

"You can't" Roksu says.

"Why?" Cale asks.

"You could get cursed"

Cale blinks at his brother. Roksu stares at him and Cale could tell he is 100% serious. Hearing about a curse the kittens circle the twins worriedly, meowing their worries instead of talking because they are outside the carriage.

Cale pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes, taking a moment to compose himself, wondering not for the first time what on earth his brother is on about this time.

Curse? How is he supposed to get cursed? He is just going to talk to the carriage owner. It is one of his duties to resolve or prevent any issues with their traveling party afterall. Cale can understand if Roksu thinks they're secret assassins or something, but him getting cursed?

Threats of curse aside, Cale gauges his brother and determines that this reaction falls more on general paranoia than to murderous intent. This means he is wary but doesn't really see these people as any real threat. Cale makes his decision.

"I'm pretty sure I won't get cursed but you can go with me if you like. You better behave though." Cale says before turning to the kittens, "You stay here. We're just greeting them. We'll be back immediately."

"No, Cale wait!"

Resolutely Cale walks towards the carriage, not caring one bit how he looks like with Roksu holding onto his clothes in a feeble attempt to stop him and reluctantly getting dragged along instead.

This is also a sight that the Henituse subjects were used to seeing. It was one of the reasons why everyone thinks Roksu is shy and introverted. In the Henituse territory he is mostly quiet and reserved but otherwise amiable. However, whenever there are visitors or when he leaves the territory to attend social events, Roksu is often seen hiding behind his brother and letting Cale do all the talking.

It was one of the reasons why his friendship with Choi Han was such a surprise for everyone.

Seeing their young master Roksu being all shy again and hiding behind Cale tho brought smiles to the faces of their accompanying servants and knights.

"What's going on?" Cale asks the Vice Captain, not at all bothered when Roksu bumped into his back when he suddenly stopped walking.

"These people from the Marquis Sten's Estate wanted to share a camp ground with us, young master Cale" the Vice Captain explained. He then gestured towards the carriage where Cale recognizes the Sten eldest son Taylor. Beside him is a short haired woman Cale doesn't recognise.

At the sight of the woman he could feel Roksu clench on his clothes tighter so Cale observes her more and notices that she's wearing a priestess robe for the god of death. Seeing it Cale now understands what Roksu meant by getting cursed although...

'How did Roksu know that a priestess of the god of death will be here?'

Cale approaches the carriage. Behind him is Roksu who is still holding onto his clothes although now his attention is on the carriage and it's occupants.

Seeing the twins approach Taylor Sten uses this time to introduce himself.

“My name is Taylor Sten. I saw Count Henituse’s crest and am asking for help, even though I’m sure it is not ideal.”

Taylor is being proper but he looked a bit desperate while the priestess was observing them intensely. Behind him Roksu tenses and pulls at his brother but Cale resists his efforts.

Cale could not help but sigh.

Another Sten. First it was that piece of shit Venion and now his older brother, although Cale has heard mostly good things about Taylor.

The problem though is Roksu and the priestess. Clearly his brother has some issues with the woman and Cale is not sure what will happen if they stay together in one place for too long. He needs to think things through.

Cale dropped his head before lifting it back up again. Once he did, he could see that it had become much quieter. Cale thought the silence was odd and looked toward Hans.

Hans smiled awkwardly, before stealthily gesturing toward the driver and Taylor.

Taylor had a bitter smile on his face as he started to speak.

“If it is inconvenient for your party, we will leave.”

Taylor knew about the twins. Cale is known as the trash of high society and his older twin brother Cain the meek turtle. Twin brothers that are always together. A luxurious golden turtle as their symbol, as well as being a handsome young men with red hair. There was no one other than the twins in front of him who fit that description.

After his legs were paralyzed, everyone had ignored or avoided him to curry their favor with Venion. It seems like even someone like Count Henituse, who did not join a faction, could find it uncomfortable to associate with someone like him.

Taylor had remembered the reality of the situation after hearing Cale’s sigh. But at that moment...

“Why would you leave?”

It was Roksu that spoke. Cale looked in surprise to his brother, and everyone else did as well. Roksu was looking toward Taylor’s carriage with a stoic expression on his face. 

“This isn’t our property. We wouldn’t do something so childish when we are both fellow travelers.”

Seeing this as a go signal from Roksu, Cale quickly agreed.

"That's right. We are all travelers here, and in the road it is better to help each other out, right Roksu?"

Roksu nodded from behind him and Cale inwardly sighed in relief. At least he doesn't have to do much deescalation. He should still try and steer Roksu's attention elsewhere tho to be sure.

"I am Cale Henituse of the Henituse territory" he then points at his brother behind him with his thumb, "This is my older brother Cain Henituse. He goes by Roksu though, so refer to him with that name." 

Cale then held his hand out to shake hands. Taylor looks at his extended hand and opens the carriage door. Etiquette dictates that he should step out of the carriage to return the greeting.

“It is difficult for me to step out because of my legs.” Taylor says.

"Do we look like the sort who cares about such things?" Cale bluntly asks, extending his hand to urge Taylor to shake it, and Taylor smiled at his question.

Etiquette also dictates that as the eldest, Roksu should be the one who does introductions and yet here it is Cale that does so. Actually, a lot of the twin's actions just now would be considered very rude in high society. Taylor also notices that Cale is not calling his older brother "hyung" as he should.

"I suppose not" Taylor says, shaking Cale's hand, "It is nice to meet you young master Cale, young master Roksu." 

Taylor then turns to his companion, also introducing the woman.

“This is my companion, priestess Kage-nim. She is a follower of the God of Eternal Rest.”

The priestess called Kage gracefully greeted him like a proper priestess.

“Nice to meet you, young master Cale, young master Roksu. My name is Kage. May the peace of the night always be with you.”

Peace of the night. Cale knows it is just another way to say death. By saying that Kage basically said "May you be at peace like the dead" and frankly Cale doesn't want to think about death or dying anytime soon.

He blurts out, "I'd rather not" before he can stop himself. Behind him in almost the exact same time Roksu says "I do not believe in a god"

Taylor and Kage look at the twins in surprise and mild amusement. Before anyone could react though Roksu steps forward so he's side by side with Cale and directly asks Kage.

"Can you talk to your god?"

Kage is taken aback by the sudden question directed her way but she managed to say, "I cannot talk to the god of death directly, but we believe that the gods can hear us when we pray."

Taylor was amused at Roksu's expression that says he thinks what Kage just said just was pure nonesense.

"Tell your god they better stay away" Roksu resolutely says. He still has a hand gripped on Cale's clothes and it looks like he's about to hide behind Cale again at any moment.

"Roksu, you can't just say that." Cale blandly tells his brother. There's a slight twitch on the corner of his mouth though like he can't decide whether to frown or smile.

"I already did." Roksu replies matter-of-factly.

Unable to stop herself anymore, Kage guffaws. "I'm sorry! Hahaha! I'm— I'm BWAHAHAHA!"

Taylor turns to the twins sheepishly, although he also has a smile on his face, "I think what the esteemed priestess-nim is trying to say is that you two are an interesting person."

"I guess we are" Roksu replies, stoic as ever.

Cale made a show of running a hand through his hair and sighing like he is already done with everything.

"Roksu, you are embarrassing me in front of our fellow travelers. Why would you say that?"

"If they find us interesting then that's on them"

"They think we're funny"

"If they find us funny then that's on them"

"Pfft!" Taylor almost let out a laugh too but he covers his mouth in time. Beside him Kage is also uselessly trying to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

Cale smiles, and claps his hand once, "That's settled. Then I will be on my way, young master Taylor."

 "Thank you for your benevolence, young master Cale, young master Roksu"

 "Whatever. Hans!"

"Yes, young master."

"Help them out."

After giving Hans instructions to take care of their new camping companions, and Roksu adding on that they should take care of the guarding duty as well, the twins head back to their carriage but this time with Cale holding onto Roksu's wrist.

"Haaa. Really. You are so brave in the most inappropriate of times. Telling a priestess to talk to their god like that. You are making me feel embarrassed..."

"Better embarressed than dead"

"Roksu, I am not going to die just from meeting a priestess"

"You will not. I will make sure of it."

They get on the carriage and the kittens happily joined them, rubbing at their legs and wanting to know what happened.

Cale opens another bottle of wine and drinks while Roksu answers the kitten's questions until,

"I know those people!"

"Hong, I was there too!"

"Pretend not to know"

"Like the dragon?"

"Yes"

Cale stops mid-drink and looks at his brother and the kittens.

"You met them? Before today?"

Roksu didn't say anything but Ohn and Hong was happy to answer.

"Yes! Noona and I piled rocks for them!"

"We delivered a letter!"

"Ho? You did a good job then" Cale tells the kittens, smiling and giving them headpats, "Why don't you go and ask Ron to give you treats? Tell him I sent you."

The kittens happily went and when Cale closes the carriage door again his smile is gone.

"What are you planning, Roksu?"

Roksu returns his steely gaze, the softness when the kittens were around now gone.

"I'm planning to keep you safe. To keep our family safe."

"Then why won't you tell me?"

"I'm not planning on killing anyone... not yet."

Cale sighs again, head down and pressing his palms to his eyes, trying hard not snap at Roksu.

"It's always with the fucking loopholes with you"

When they were younger, Cale made Roksu promise that he will tell him anytime he thought of or plans to kill anyone. In exchange, Cale promised that he will believe in Roksu no matter what. It was a promise that salvaged their relationship as brothers after that incident that changed their lives forever.

Cale may have had doubts with Roksu's reasons sometimes, but he never once doubted that Roksu loved their family and that keeping them safe was his top priority.

But sometimes... sometimes Roksu could be a bit too much, and if he starts keeping things from Cale?

"Cale, are you mad?"

Roksu kneels in front of Cale, gently prying his hands off his face. Cale kept his eyes closed for a bit longer, knowing that the moment he sees Roksu's deep, deep worry he'll falter.

Eventually he opens his eyes and he's right. Roksu looks at him with so much worry and care that all the brewing anger and hurt that he's feeling at being left in the dark again just vanishes.

"No... no I'm not mad. Just tired." Cale smiles at Roksu and tries not to flinch when Roksu cups his cheeks.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes... just, tell me your plans next time ok? It would make me feel better if you tell me. Can you do that?"

When Roksu hesitates, not saying anything, Cale takes his hands in his. He needs Roksu to at least tell him the basics and he can figure out the rest for himself.

"At least try. Please, Roksu?"

Roksu seems to think it over, but after a while he agrees.

"Ok. I'll try."

Cale gives Roksu a smile and headpats until the kittens returned, rewards that his brother gladly accepted.

In the end Roksu never told Cale his whole plan.

He did, however, share with Cale what he plans with Taylor and Kage. That was how they ended up making a deal and helping the two enter the Capital undetected.

Cale was there when Kage invoked the vow of death, although Roksu didn't let him participate. 

Roksu also told Cale about Taylor's fate as written in that book he read, and at how Kage ended up becoming the crazy priestess that uses powerful curses. Apparently that was what the kittens prevented by delivering them a note telling them of the location of an ancient power that they needed. 

It is not everthing, but at least Roksu is sharing, and for Cale that's good enough.

They all arrived in the Capital safely, and the twins entered the Henituse residence in the capital together.

Cale does not know what's in store for the future, but as he roamed the city he has one thought in mind.

"This should be fun!"

Chapter Text

"... There are a lot more people here than back in the county. The shops are larger too! The streets are all decorated, likely because of the celebration, but everyone looked like they're in good spirits..."

Cale is currently sprawled on Roksu's bed like a starfish, his head on his twin's lap, recounting to his brother all the things he's noticed ever since they arrived in the capital. Roksu on his part is just listening to him talk animatedly, petting his head occasionally or giving the kittens chin scratches.

Since this is his first time in the capital, Cale is obviously very excited to go exploring. He had seen a lovely cafe on the path the carriage took, as well as a candy store, a clothing store, a toy store, a place with strange looking displays, and many others that looked interesting. Cale has also heard about the public library and a botanical garden and he wanted to visit those too. Of course, he is also excited to visit bars and taverns, as well as the night market.

Now all he needed to do is make sure that Roksu is actually ok with going.

"We're going, right? You said we would. We can go later! We still have a few days until Choi Han arrives and until the event right? We totally have time!"

When Roksu frowns a bit, Cale clasped his hands and gives Roksu his patented puppy eyes, pouting at his brother.

"Please, Roksu? Please?"

Roksu turns his head, avoiding looking at his brother, and Cale in turn moves so he's in Roksu's line of sight, putting pressure on Roksu as he gets more and more sparkly and pouty.

They kept at it for a bit, with Ohn and Hong having fun following their movements.

"I think Cale will win" Ohn bets.

"I think so too!" Hong agrees.

When Roksu was about to crack, there was a knock on the door and Hans arrived with their food.

"Damn it!" Cale glares at him.

"Aigoo, young master Cale. Why are you so cranky?" Hans cheerfully comments while the food is set up, soon forgetting everything else as he's busy cooing at the kittens.

"Hans, make sure Cale doesn't go out today" Roksu orders, avoiding looking at his offended brother while Hans confirms he recieved the order.

"That's not fair! We might not have enough time later!" Cale whines, crossing his arms and plopping on the sofa to sulk.

Hans decides to comfort him.

"Now, now young master Cale. I'm sure you are excited to go out and play, but you just arrived! You should rest first! And young master Roksu needs time to adjust in a new place!"

"Hmph!" Cale decidedly avoids Hans who just cheerfully smiles, not at all fazed, and leaves after waving at kittens.

Roksu locks the room and ruffle's his brother's hair as a gesture of peace. Cale grumbles but doesn't swat him away.

"We'll go tomorrow. You can even... dress me up. If you like..." Roksu offers, and Cale instantly beams, looking up his brother in disbelief.

"You mean that? You really, really mean that?"

"...yes"

Cale launches himself at Roksu, almost suffocating his twin with his hug in his happiness.

"No take-backs! And complaining! And you will let me style your hair!"

"Ok, ok! Cale you're heavy!"

Placated, Cale let's go in high spirits, smiling and humming and giddy. Now that he'd secured Roksu's word, he can now proceed with his "Have Fun in the Capital" plans.

It is also a good opportunity to do normal sibling things with his brother. It's rare to get Roksu to leave their mansion back home, so Cale is really looking forward to spend this time with Roksu.

"Since the food is here, let's invite him in?" Cale asks, talking about the little dragon. When Roksu gave a nod, Cale opens the balcony door.

Cale is annoyed.

Contrary to what Cale expected, the twins never got to explore the city together.

With Choi Han suddenly arriving with two people in tow, everything suddenly got a whole lot busier.

There's helping out in taking care of Lock who is still weak after going berserk, to arranging accomodations for the princess in hiding Rosalyn, and to making sure the little wolf tribe kids gets situated properly.

The Henituse twins were very busy.

It's not like Cale doesn't understand. He knew what was important and taking care of Choi Han's new friends takes priority over casual strolling in the park.

But then Roksu and Choi Han went somewhere while Cale was dealing with the logistics of arranging everything and giving instructions to the servants who suddenly had to deal with a lot of new people.

Then the twins had to fulfill their noble obligation to attend the northeastern alliance's meeting and the Crown Prince's gathering.

Then Roksu met with Billose (Cale didn't even know they knew each other), and also had a meeting with Rosalyn and Lock individually about something important (that Roksu won't tell Cale the specifics of)

Between all these things, the twins just didn't have time to go and explore, and it annoyed Cale.

Cale understands that it can't be helped, and it's not like Cale didn't get to go. He still went around the shops and bought souvenirs and ate Capital food. He even went with the kittens and the wolf kids. He should be satified that he managed to do the things he wanted to do in the Capital.

It's just... he didn't get to do those things with Roksu.

So Cale is annoyed.

"I'll make it up to you" Roksu said. Cale believes him, but there's this nasty feeling in his chest that he can't get rid off, especially since he had noticed that Roksu is becoming more tense as the days went on but he won't tell Cale anything.

Then Cale noticed his brother, Choi Han, and the little dragon sneaking out almost every night.

Then Ron informs them he is leaving after the King's Birthday.

And Cale... well Cale put on his usual smile and carried on as usual.

Then on the night before the King's Birthday celebration, with Roksu distracted with scheming with his new friends...

Cale Henituse snucked out and went drinking.

The bar Cale chose to drink in is found near the outskirts of the city.

Cale didn't have any particular reason why he chose that place. It just looked like a regular bar for the regular people. A kind of place that is just popular enough to have a lot of regulars but not too nice that Cale risks meeting other nobles, and not too shabby either that it attracts brigands and lowlifes.

It is nice place. Just the perfect spot for Cale to unwind and drink his wine in peace.

These past few days had been annoying.

Cale agreed to go to the Capital expecting a change of scenery and a chance to go spend some normal bonding time with Roksu.

He had been looking forward to it. He was excited. Doing fun things with Roksu had been something he had missed doing. It had been so long since they had the chance to go on new places again.

He just wanted to enjoy this trip with his brother. Is that too much to ask?

Cale gulps down the wine in his glass and the bartender refills it immediately. Cale gulps it all down again.

What's worse is that Roksu is definitely doing something and keeping Cale out of it. It wouldn't have bothered Cale as much if it also doesn't make Roksu a lot more tense than usual. It is like he is anticipating for something to happen. Something he won't tell Cale.

Cale has no idea why Roksu is acting this way. He used to tell him everything. Now he just keeps telling Cale that it's for his safety, that he won't let anything bad happen to Cale.

It made the unpleasant feeling in his chest twist.

"Stupid brother..." Cale murmurs angrily, knocking back another glass. His face is all flushed now, but he doesn't stop drinking.

After drinking a whole bottle's worth, Cale sighs deeply, knuckles to his chin, mind wandering as he tried not to get annoyed at his brother too much.

"Bad day, little red?" A voice asks beside him.

Cale glances to the speaker and finds a blonde man with reddish eyes sitting beside him and watching him a bit too intensely. 

"Not really" Cale answers blandly, reaching over his glass and drinking again, making it clear with his body language that he doesn't want company, "Just annoyed."

Cale expects the man to leave after that. He had been approached several times that night already, but when he made it clear that he wanted to be alone they all let them be.

"Your red hair is mesmerising" the man speaks again, "It goes great with your pale skin... may I touch it?"

Cale pauses and looks over at the man. The weirdo is looking at him with wide crazy eyes and his fingers twitching, like he is barely able to control himself, and a wide smile like he finds Cale the most fascinating being in the world right now.

A real weirdo, but his presence distracted Cale enough that he forgot his annoyance with his brother for a bit, and although he is not his type at all, the guy is also kinda cute in a unhinged kinda way.

So Cale thought, why not?

"Shouldn't you be buying me a drink first?" Cale flashed the guy a flirty grin, and the man positively glowed. Yup, this guy should distract him long enough to get over his annoyance with Roksu.

"Cale" he introduces, raising his hand for a handshake.

The man takes his hand, carressing it gently before raising it to his lips, placing a kiss on his knuckles and returning a flirty smile of his own.

"Reddika" the man says, "A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

Slam!

Roksu looks for his brother that night, frantically going door to door all over the mansion to look for any sign of his twin. He had noticed that Cale is gone shortly after he sent Choi Han's party, along with the little dragon and the kittens, away to go to their respective places for tomorrow's plan.

It was a massive error in his part, and Roksu is getting more and more panicked the longer he couldn't see his brother. He is close to calling back everyone and putting a wrench on his own plans just to issue a city-wide search just to look for Cale.

Following close behind him is Ron, enjoying the sight of Roksu running around the house getting frazzled. Cale had told him where he would be before he left. He could easily just say something to his charge, but Ron also thought Roksu needed some exercise, and so he elected to say nothing.

"Wake the coachman and gather the knights" Roksu orders as he put on his coat, "We are going to comb the city. Have them visit every store still open at this hour."

Ron waits until Roksu has buttoned up his coat before saying anything.

"I don't think that would be necessary, young master. The young master Cale should be on his way back right about now."

Ron just smiles at his kitten young master, really enjoying how Roksu is so torn being angry and scared. Finally, Roksu's concern wins out and he asks for his brother's whereabouts.

"Tell me where Cale is right now."

As if on cue the door opens and Cale walks in. He reeks of alcohol and his face is deeply flushed, but he walks steadily and his eyes are clear.

"Why are you in my room?" Cale asks as soon as he noticed the people inside. Immediately, Roksu is all over him, checking him for any scratches or injuries, and Cale stands there and lets his brother do his thing like usual.

When Roksu is done he hugs Cale, much to his twin's surprise.

"Where did you go? Why didn't you tell me you are going out? I thought you were gone..." 

Roksu's voice is muffled in the hug but Cale could hear it cracking a bit and he immediately felt guilty. He knows that Roksu is stressed out. Maybe he shouldn't have let his annoyance win out like that.

"I'm fine" Cale reassures his brother, rubbing circles on Roksu's back and pressing his cheeks on his brother's head to return the hug, "I'm here, right? Safe and sound. I just went out to drink for a bit is all."

When Roksu shows no signs of calming down, Cale braces for a long night of consoling and cajoling his brother. 

"Stop worrying, okay? I had some knights and Hans following me all night, and I clearly told Ron where I'm going and what time I'm going back."

"He didn't tell me..."

Cale glares at Ron who just smiles.

"Well, I'm here now. That's all that matters right? Stop sulking already. That's supposed to be my job..."

Roksu hugs him tighter and Cale sighs, estimating that it'll take at least an hour before he can peel his worried twin off of him.

"Fine, fine. Hug party it is until you are no longer worried..."

Cale decides not to tell Roksu about the funny crazy guy Reddika or the welcome gift he recieved from him that is currently in his pocket.

No need to needlessly worry Roksu more, after all.

Chapter Text

In the morning of King Zed's birthday the Henituse twins had gotten up early to prepare. All over the capital the same is true for other nobles. That is just the way of things. It was supposed to be a standard affair of dressing up and ensuring not to be late, but for Cale it was a rather stressful morning.

The dressing up part itself is not stressful. In normal occasions Cale actually enjoyed coaxing his twin into wearing matching outfits with him and putting on more accessories. It was one of their routines, and this day should not be any different.

However, Cale had noticed that Roksu is very tense this morning.

It is difficult to deal with a tense Roksu. One time when they were younger Cale barely stopped Roksu from hitting a servant's head with a heavy duck figurine. It was lucky that the servant wasn't looking when that happened and Cale was able to disguise that scuffle with him drunkenly losing his balance.

That servant's fault? Apparently he placed some olives on Cale's cocktail. Cale is mildly allergic to olives but the servant didn't know that because they were attending some party. It wasn't a big deal. Cale didn't even drink the cocktail or eat the olive. No harm done.

But Roksu had been tense because they were away from home and there were a lot of people. He immediately thought the olive in the drink was a threat and proceeded to choose murder. Cale barely calmed his brother down while keeping their reputation intact.

So yes, Cale is stressed at the moment.

It did not help that he also noticed that everyone, aside from the servants, were gone. Even the kittens and the little dragon, which was weird because they had gotten into a habit of always being with Roksu as much as possible.

Something is definitely going on and Cale doesn't like it.

Still, Cale tried to act the same as usual. Him being normal seems to have a calming effect on Roksu, even just a little. It's all he could do at the moment.

"You should wear this ruby brooch." Cale says, comparing two kinds of brooch on Roksu before deciding on the ruby one, "It goes great with the color of your attire, don't you think so too, Ron?"

"An excellent choice, young master Cale" beside him Ron agrees. He is the only servant left that helped with dressing up. Cale had to dismiss the others early to prevent triggering Roksu. He even dismissed Hans.

"Is this really necessary?"

"Of course! As the eldest Henituse son, you should at least have this much. And I can't have you looking shabby when I'm looking this dashing, you know?"

So as usual Cale is improving his brother's outfit while Roksu complains. When that's done, Cale did a quick look at their attire and declared it good. Just one more accessory for him to complete his outfit.

Cale takes out the gift he receives from Reddika last night, inspecting the opal pendant before putting it on.

It is not as expensive or as high quality as the jewelries he usually wears, and there are better choices to wear other than this, but he'll wear it anyway because Reddika said it's a magic item that has a protection spell on it. 

Also... maybe because he promised to wear it.

Memories of last night resurface. Of Cale getting Reddika so drunk he spilled out that he's a high ranking mage. Of Cale convincing the guy to perform magic tricks on top of the table in the middle of the bar while he claps politely on the side. Them dancing to the music in the rowdy bar after Cale loudly announced he'd pay for everyone's drinks. Of Reddika singing him drunken sonnets of how he's the prettiest red he's ever seen. Of Reddika going on one knee and presenting him the pendant and then vomiting on the alleyway beside the bar while he slurred "Promise you'll wear it tomorrow my carmine muse! Promise me!" And Cale patting his back and promising he'd wear the pendant so he'd stop trying to cling to his leg.

Cale cracks a smile at the memory. Maybe Cale will find Reddika later and have drinks with him again. He really was a funny guy.

"Cale, let's go" Roksu calls for him and Cale joins his brother, "Stay close to me, ok?"

"Okay~" Cale gives his brother a reassuring smile that had Roksu relaxing a little bit more, "I'll stick to you like glue."

They went to the carriage and for the brief moment he was under the sun, Cale's new pendant glints.

Cale did not expect to meet Reddika again the way he did today.

At exaclty 9 am, just as King Zed Crossman was making his speech, a group of individuals dressed in dark robes appeared on top of the Bell Tower.

Standing proudly atop the Bell Tower is a certain blonde-haired, red-eyed man smiling ear to ear that Cale immediately recognized as his drinking buddy the night before.

Cale should be surprised. He really should. He can already tell that Reddika is being crazy in a not fun way like last night. That that guy is dangerous and at this moment everyone around him is in danger. 

However, Cale couldn't bring himself to care. Right now he is more concerned at Roksu's hand clamping his wrist, pulling Cale behind him in a protective stance, shielding him from the perceived threat.

Looking around, Cale notices that although Roksu is alert in his assessment of the danger, everyone else is not. The crowd were either pointing at the figures or murmured with the people with them, but everyone was more curious than scared.

Everyone watched as Reddika's hands became covered in red mana.

"Should be fun" Reddika says in a chilling voice before he suddenly swung his arm down.

Many things then happened all at once.

Reddika's red mana shot out in multiple directions all around the plaza before stopping mid-air.

A vibration started on the Bell Tower and magic devices started going off in multiple places all around the plaza in an effect that Cale recognised as a work of a mana disturbance tool.

The people started panicking.

"Stay behind me" Roksu tells him amidst the chaos, holding his hand in a reassuring manner the way he did when they were kids. It was then that Cale notices that his brother is way too calm even when Reddika started laughing maniacally and his cronies started launching offensive attacks at the knights trying to apprehend them. He even managed to calm down Eric and the other northeastern nobles, and all the while he made sure that Cale is safe behind him.

Amidst the chaos, Cale observes his brother. Roksu has been looking around the crowd, and when Cale followed his gaze he saw Choi Han rip a necklace off someone, tossing it in the air where it floated towards the sky and away from the crowd. It was then that Cale started connecting the dots.

It all made sense now. Roksu agreeing to go to the capital instead of Bassen. The secretive meetings. Roksu being tense all week. The sneaking out with Choi Han and the little dragon. Everyone not being around last night and that morning. The constant checking of the time. Being way too calm in what is essentially a terrorist attack.

"You knew..." Cale says in a small voice so only Roksu can hear him,

"You knew this would happen and you're trying to stop it..."

Roksu squeezes his hand in reply, "Just stay behind me. I'll keep you safe."

So Cale stays behind Roksu, hidden on his brother's back. Despite the chaos all around him, and everyone either being stunned or panicking, Cale remains calm.

How can he be scared? He's in the safest place he could be. A crooked genuine smile appears on his lips. It's been a while since it felt like Roksu is indeed the older brother, and Cale can't help being happy.

Maybe I should call him Roksu-hyung later as a reward.

Just as he thought that, there's a sudden shift in his brother's demeanor.

"...What?" His brother's confusion alerts Cale. He then notices that the ringing alarm from the mana disturbance tool is slowly quieting down.

“Activate Mana Stability Magic!”

The mages manages to stabilise the mana around them, and Reddika's red mana chased after a random assortment of objects floating away towards the remote mountain range before,

BOOOOOOOOOOOM—!

A truly large and powerful explosion happens, causing the citizens to scream in surprise and fear. Even though the explosion was far away from the plaza it was still strong enough that a gust of wind rushed through the crowd. It was so strong that everyone was shocked into silence, with the mages turning pale as realization hits.

"...Those were magic bombs."

Taylor Sten muttered those words, but in the silence that stretched a lot of people had heard him. The murmurings of the mages around them also confirmed this, and everyone was standing still, stunned at the thought of what could have happened if those bombs exploded in the plaza.

“Guess this one was a failure.”

Reddika's screeching voice filled the silent plaza, and Cale felt Roksu becoming tense again, his body becoming stiff. He wanted to ask what's wrong but the King started to shout toward Reddika.

“What are you doing? Who are you? Do you think you will be fine after attempting to commit such a deed?!”

Roksu's visible strange reaction was also noticed by others. Taylor Sten who was heading towards them stopped walking. Eric who was also about to ask them if they were alright also stopped.

"Roksu, what's wro—?"

"Oh well then." 

Snap.

Reddika's voice interrupts Cale's question. The red mage snaps his finger and two people appeared beside him. These two are wearing a black attire with a red and white star symbol on their chest that Cale recognized seeing somewhere. They are also wearing backpacks.

The two people then took out scrolls, ripped them apart, and as their bodies burned they rushed to the citizens below the magic tower in the orders of Reddika who sent them mana the same way he did to the earlier bombs.

All at once chaos reigns again.

Everyone was panicking or screaming. The mages tried to stop the bombers and the mana that would detonate them. The citizens and the attending nobles were trying to run away, but their way is blocked by the knights and the barricade that was placed there earlier. Eric, Taylor, Amiru, and Gilbert were trying to run as well but they were also trying to bring the twins with them.

Cale knew though that it was futile to run away. The bombers were too close and it would be too late to dodge.

Still, though, Cale was not scared.

"Cale, stay behind my back."

His older brother is protecting him. If there was anyone Cale could trust in keeping them safe, it would be Roksu. There is nothing for him to fear.

Roksu lets go of Cale's hand, raising both his hand palms up into the air. At the same time, Rosalyn teleports in their location, creating a two layer shield around them.

"Explode!"

Reddika shouted out with joy.

The red mana reaches the backpacks of the bombers.

A large holy looking silver shield appears and envelopes the bomber heading their way.

Cale's necklace starts to glow.

Then the bombs went off.

The moment the bombs exploded Cale closed his eyes to shield them from the bright light caused by the explosion and Roksu's shield, crouching behind his brother to hide.

"Young master Roksu!" He hears Rosalyn say in alarm. Cale opens his eyes to see what happened to Roksu but was surprised by what he saw instead.

He saw Roksu's shield starting to break like glass, the wings of the shield crumbling, falling away and revealing smoke, the person inside completely gone.

He saw people injured on the royal's side where the other bomber went, smoke and broken debris everywhere where mages weren't able to put up a shield in time.

He can see the side that Roksu had protected, the nobles and civilians looking shaken but otherwise unharmed.

He saw Rosalyn, Eric, Taylor, Amiru, and Gilbert assisting or fussing over his brother who had kneeled to the ground.

Lastly, he saw Roksu looking up at him, eyes wide and a look of panic on his face. He was about to say something but he coughed, a glob of black blood pouring out of his mouth.

Belatedly, Cale realized what was wrong with what he was seeing.

He is seeing the entire view of the plaza.

Cale Henituse is currently on top of the Bell Tower, looking down on everything.

"Hello, little red."

In horror Cale turns to his side. He is now standing beside the crazy mage and Reddika has taken hold of his arm so he can't escape. He tried to back away, pulling at his arm, but the grip on him is too strong and the roof tiles he is stepping on were unstable, making it hard to stand.

"I was hoping to collect you a little more mangled. You look great in red afterall." Reddika talks to him, eyes glinting crazily and his lips stretched into a huge smile, before looking over to where Roksu is.

"But little red, I didn't expect there to be two of you! So many colors of blood that I like! I want to put you in a display case! I want to paint this city in your blood!"

Cale's blood runs cold and he starts trying to get away harder, but Reddika's cronies took hold of his arms, keeping him in place. In his peripheral vision, he can see a commotion happening below, and he can hear Roksu screaming his name while Eric and Taylor tried to hold him back.

"Let go of me you bastards!" Cale curses as Reddika inspected the necklace he is wearing.

"I am so happy you wore this today, little red" Reddika whispers to him before tucking a stray hair behind his ear.

Everything then happened so fast.

"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF MY BROTHER!"

Roksu screams. Suddenly a flash of silver falls down in front of Cale, slicing the air in front of him. Reddika dodges in time but one of the cronies that was holding Cale had their arm slashed off, their blood spraying on the roof and on Cale.

Embedded on the roof is a cracked and bloody silver shield that started to crumble. Below Cale sees Roksu coughing out more blood, being supported up by Eric, one hand stretched out at him.

Cale was let go and he stumbles, falling on his side and he slowly starts to slide off the roof tiles.

Reddika laughs.

"A present before I leave. See you next time!"

Reddika then disappeared, taking all his cronies with him.

Meanwhile, the plaza is in chaos.

King Zed and the Crown Prince Alver is leading the task of trying to calm everyone down although it is hard to do with everyone watching Cale about to fall off to his death.

Cale is sliding down the roof, and he clung to the tiles to slow his descent. He let out a yell when the tile he was holding dislodges and he slides a few feet before he manages to stop, his feet just a few inches above the edge.

Below Roksu is frantically trying to conjure another shield, but in each attempt the shield is too weak that it shatters before it can fully form. Each time the shield shatters Roksu coughs out a bit more blood, but he is not stopping or listening to Eric and Taylor telling him to stop and calm down, while Amiru and Gilbert had ran off to get a prince.

Beside him Rosalyn was about to cast a levitating magic on Cale but she stopped, her face showing surprise. She then saw another mage also trying to cast a spell but she screamed at them to stop.

"Nobody cast any spells!" Rosalyn yells, taking charge, quickly explaining what the invisible dragon is telling her in her mind.

"Young master Cale has another bomb on him! It's the kind that gets triggered when it comes into contact with any magic not done by the caster!"

"What? Ack–!" Cale slid another few inches, his heart hammering in his chest. He heard what Rosalyn has said and he is trying hard not to panic. He is very scared right now, but he is more worried about Roksu.

Although he can't see them, he can hear Eric trying to hold back Roksu. At this rate Roksu might end up killing Eric in a blind rage. He needs to calm his brother down!

Just then he felt a weight on his back, holding him on his shoulders and helping him stay in place so he doesn't slip down further.

— Human's brother! I will hold you so you don't fall!

The little black dragon began speaking on his mind, but his voice is a bit sniffly, like he has been crying and is trying his best not to cry more.

"Th-thank you!" Cale manages to say, "How is Roksu?"

— The human is coughing out blood. He is not listening to the person with glasses or to the mage! He is not listening to me either! Human's brother you have to be safe or the human will bleed more!

The little black dragon's voice trembled and Cale could feel a growing wetness on his shoulder.

— Human's brother, I cannot use magic on you... you will die. You cannot die! I don't know what to do. I am not great and mighty...

Cale could feel the little black dragon's claws dig on his back and shoulders. He could also feel wind, likely from the little dragon flapping his wings in an effort to keep him from sliding off, but he also knew that this small dragon can't keep this up. He may be a dragon, but he is also still just a child.

He needs to think. 

"Little dragon, can you relay a message to Miss Rosalyn for me?"

Finding out that there's another bomb, a lot of people are trying run away and flee. 

Rosalyn on the other hand had approached a bloodied Roksu, following the directions the dragon is sending her.

— The human's brother says you have to cover the human's eyes to calm him down!

So Rosalyn follows.

Right now Roksu is trying to conjure another shield, his eyes unblinking as he looks at Cale, clear panic evident on his features. He is also muttering something under his breath but no one can understand what he is saying because of all the blood coughing. He is not listening to anyone and even when Taylor tries to pull him away he does not budge.

Rosalyn quickly steps in front of Roksu, blocking his line of sight and putting her hands over his eyes. 

"You have to calm down" Rosalyn says clearly and firmly, relaying to Roksu the message from Cale.

"Young master Cale said that if you want to save him, you must calm down first. You must calm down. You can't think straight if you are panicking."

At the words Roksu pauses. Rosalyn sees this as a good sign. She listens more to what the dragon is saying to her and speaks again.

"Young master Cale also said that if he finds out that you were panicking he'd get mad at you..."

Rosalyn pauses, and a small smile tugs at her lips when Roksu reacts to that,

"He also said, and I quote, 'Tell Roksu to act like a hyung for once and rescue me properly.'"

There was a moment of silence as everyone in their circle processed the words.

"That cheeky brat–!" Eric couldn't help but say. On Roksu's right Taylor also looked like couldn't believe what he heard.

Roksu on the otherhand let out a huff.

"You can remove your hands now, Miss Rosalyn." He says calmly and Rosalyn reluctantly let go.

"Are you really alright now, young master Roksu?"

Roksu stands up, wiping the blood off his chin on his sleeve. He takes a breathe, closing his eyes for a moment before exhaling slowly. He then looks up to where Cale is, and although he clenched his fist, he didn't panic this time.

"I am fine now. Thank you."

For the final time that day Roksu holds out his arms, ready to conjure another shield. He then turns to Rosalyn, giving her instructions. Her eyes widen but she nods, and she too gets ready to cast a spell.

On their minds, the little black dragon who heard their conversation confirmed that he understood. He relays the plan to Cale who smiled, even chuckling a bit. He nods. The little black dragon lets go of him, flying away and also readies to cast a spell.

— Don't worry humans, I may not be very great and mighty, but I can at least do this much

The three redheads nod.

Roksu then screams.

"CALE!"

There was a pause, and then.

"JUMP!"

All around them the people watching gasps and watched in bated breath at what happened next.

High above the Bell Tower Cale jumps backwards and at the same time snatching at the necklace off of his neck and throws it as hard as he can upwards.

The necklace stops midair and the moment it starts to fall back down Rosalyn's magic (strengthened by the little dragon) accelerates the necklace even farther up the sky.

Meanwhile Cale falls but he did not fall far before a silver shield catches him, the silver wings covering him protectively and lowering him on the ground slowly. The shield and wings had cracks on them, likely from Roksu forcing a shield out when it was shattered by the bomb earlier.

Still, even damaged and cracked, Cale felt safe inside the shield. He barely even noticed the explosion above him when the necklace detonated. Instead he traced at the cracks on the shield, suddenly feeling very, very tired.

This cracked shield resembles Roksu a lot.

When he arrived on the ground Cale didn't waste any time and ran straight to his brother. He didn't even bother acknowledging the Crown Prince that was suddenly just there. All he wanted is to be by his brother's side as soon as possible.

Seeing Roksu's worried face, Cale couldn't help but feel relieved. He's safe now. He is alive and he is safe.

Cale ran faster, his face crumpling as a sob made it's way out of him.

"Hyung!" Cale calls, crashing into Roksu, hugging his brother with shaking hands as all strength left him body and they both fall to the ground. 

"You're ok now. Hyung's here. You are ok now."

Now out of danger and back in the safest place he could ever be, Cale Henituse promptly passes out.

Chapter Text

When Cale woke up it is to the rythmic swaying of a moving carriage and the gentle pat, pat, pat on his hair.

As he regained his senses he realized he is using his brother's leg as a pillow, having used it as a pillow enough times to notice, but for a confused minute he doesn't know why he's sleeping in a carriage.

Did Roksu drug him again? Nah, doesn't make sense why he's in a carriage. Maybe he fell asleep while they're traveling? Weren't they going to the Capital to attend the King's birthday celebration? But that's strange, he could have sworn they arrived there a week ago...

— Oh! Human's brother! You're awake already!

The little black dragon greeted him energetically.

A series of events flashed across his mind as all at once Cale remembers everything.

"Gah!" Cale suddenly bolts awake, sitting upright and narrowly headbutting his twin's face.

"That lying crazy bitch!" Cale says to no one in particular, voice slightly high pitched in anger and annoyance and maybe a bit of hurt as he catches up with his memories, "He said the necklace has a protection spell on it! And I believed him! I believed that fucker!"

"Cale, lie back down" Roksu tried to get Cale's attention by gently tugging at his arm to get him to lie down again, but Cale continued his ranting, too worked up to notice.

He is mortified. Absolutely appalled. Now that the adrenaline has left his system and he is not in danger anymore, all the emotions he should have felt during the plaza terror incident had come and surfaced and Cale doesn't know what to do with it all, so he settles with gesturing his arms around and talking his emotions out while Roksu tries to get him to lie back down again.

In front of them the Crown Prince Alver opened his mouth to say something too and make his presence known but promtly closed his mouth again after receving a truly nasty and definitely treasonous glare from Roksu.

"I thought we were friends! I invited him to go drinking again tonight! I can't believe he tried to blow me up! Roksu he tried to blow me up! With a real bomb! There was an explosion!"

"Yes, yes he did." Roksu affirms, patting his head and gently pulling him to a lying down position again, "It was a very bad thing to do."

"It was! He's horrible!" Cale laments, finally calming down enough after his ranting and laying his head back down on Roksu's thigh.

— Don't worry human's brother! We'll make that bad mage pay!

The little black dragon assures him too, and Roksu nodded to agree.

"When I see him again," Cale continues, clenching his fist up the air "I'm going to scold him. Really give him a piece of my mind! Make him regret tricking me!"

In Roksu's mind the little dragon chimed in.

— Let's tear that bad mage limb from limb! Human he made you cough up blood and human's brother almost gets blown up! I will crush him under my paws!

Roksu nods seriously in agreement to both Cale and the vicious things the little dragon was saying. Cale does not hear what the little dragon was saying to Roksu though, and he lays there indignant and oblivious.

While this conversation is happening the Crown Prince Alver sits silently in front of them, a fake smile plastered on his face as he tried not to twitch in annoyance while the twins continue to ignore him in his own carriage.

"I swear! I'm going to make him cry when I'm done!"

"Yes, yes. And then I'm going to ki—"

GASP!

Cale gasps, cutting what Roksu was going to say. Now that he had ranted, he had started to notice his surroundings and had noticed the amount of blood on Roksu's clothes. He sat up again, worry lining his features. He had just remembered that Roksu had been coughing up blood over and over again.

"Roksu! You're bloody! Are you ok?"

Although Cale knew that Roksu coughed up blood, he did not actually see it happening. The little dragon had told him about it but he did not expect it there to be this much blood. Most of Roksu's front shirt was drenched in it, especially around the collar.

The sight made Cale queasy, but he was more worried about his brother. This much blood can't be good. 

Before he could say anything more though, Roksu gives him head pats and answered his unspoken concerns.

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry."

"But there's so much blood!"

"It looks worse than it actually is."

"But—!"

"I'm fine." Roksu gently but firmly tells him, "I really am. Of the two of us, you're the one that's actually worse for wear."

Cale can't really argue with that so he looks up, trying not to look at Roksu's bloody shirt. Now that he had noticed it, Cale had became hypersensitive about all the blood and he tried not to look at it. Still though he could smell the mettalic tang of blood inside the carriage and nausea starts to set in. 

— Human's brother! You are becoming pale! The human had told me that you do not like blood. Are you afraid of the blood? Are you pale because of the blood on your clothes?

Cale made the mistake of looking down at his clothes the moment the little dragon mentioned it. He did not know there was blood on his clothes. There was even blood on his hands. Most of it he remembered came from that guy that had his arm cut off, but the blood on his fingertips were from the cuts he sustained while he was holding on for dear life on the roof tiles on the tower.

For a moment Cale sees a smaller version of his hands overlapping with this one. That hand was also covered in blood.

The world blurs a bit and Cale pales even further.

"Hyung, I'm dizzy" Cale admits, closing his eyes and his fists. Roksu starts rubbing his back and guiding him to lie down again.

— Oh no! Is it the blood human's brother? Is it because you are covered in blood? You must be very weak if the sight of blood makes you dizzy! That's right close your eyes and don't look at the blood human's brother!

Cale wanted to tell the little dragon to stop talking about the blood already but instead he says,

"I think I'm gonna hurl."

Just then he heard another voice speak. Cale didn't even notice there was someone else in the carriage. The voice sounds familiar too.

"Young master Cale, please endure a little bit longer. We are almost at the palace. I will send the best physicians to take care of you immediately, so please endure a little bit longer."

"My brother can vomit here if he wants."

"He could, but I'd appreciate it if he didn't, young master Roksu."

Cale doesn't care who the other guy is at the moment. It will be future Cale's problem. For now, Cale purses his lips and keeps his eyes shut, concentrating on not puking all over the carriage and trying to ignore the voice of the little dragon in his head talking about blood.

Cale did not vomit in the carriage, but it was close. 

True to what the other guy in the carriage said (Cale tried not to think about how the "other guy" turned out to be the Crown Prince), a physician was there immediately when they arrived at the palace. There Cale learned that when he was passed out a priest had checked him and healed minor cuts and injuries, but advised to have a physician look over his fingers first because some ceramic from the tower's roof tiles embedded themselves on his skin and those had to be removed first.

So they did that. It was a quick and mostly painless process, with the physician assuring him that there will be no scarring since the wounds were superficial and looked worse than they actually are. A blanket was draped on his shoulders and he was also given some kind of lozenge for his nausea that he sucked on while his hands are being treated. 

While all this was going on Roksu sat opposite him, still as a statue and staring holes behind the physician's head, ignoring the Crown Prince's attempts at conversation. The little dragon then helpfully informed him about how Roksu was very, very worried when Cale had passed out.

— I saw the human pick up a rock when the person called the crown prince said we should bring you here. I think the human was going to throw the rock at him. Good thing he didn't though! The person called the crown prince said we can heal you here, and he's right! Your fingers are ok now!

Cale shivered as he realized things could've gone really bad had the Crown Prince not de-escalated things. The shiny royal probably didn't know the mess he just prevented. Just thinking about it is giving Cale a headache so he elected to stop thinking about it.

Seeing him shiver Roksu approached and wrapped him better in the blanket. Cale took that moment to observe his brother closely. Roksu does not looke tense anymore and actually looks relieved instead. Now that Cale is out of danger and free from any injuries, it seems like his twin had stopped being murdery and is now being more big-brothery.

"I want a bath..." Cale whines, pouting and giving his brother puppy eyes for greater effect. When Roksu is on his big-brother mode he is very, very doting and you bet your ass Cale would thoroughly take advantage of his twin's pampering mood.

"I'm tired...." Cale adds and just like that Roksu took charge. They were whisked to their rooms the moment the physician declared that he's healthy and Cale let his brother take care of everything else.

With the danger over and given something to do, Roksu should stop being too paranoid and Cale should have a few moments of peace. He took this time to head straight to the bath and thoroughly scrub the blood off of himself and to soak a bit in the warm water to relax.

Just as Cale was about to nod off in the bathtub, the little dragon made itself known.

"Human's brother you can't sleep!" The little dragon suddenly appeared on the side of the tub and surprised Cale so much he almost jumped out the bath, "If you fall asleep you'll drown!"

Cale blinks away his surprise. 

"Oh hello," He managed to say, "why are you here?"

"The human asked me to guard you while you are in the bath!" The little dragon said proudly, puffing his chest out and his wings fluttering.

"Of course he did" Cale mumbled.

"Did you say something, human's brother?"

Cale puts on a smile, "I said you are doing a good job! Thank you."

"Of course! I am a dragon after all!"

The little dragon seems satisfied because it's wings fluttered again and it settled on the side of the tub, playing with the floating rose petals on the water. Seeing that, Cale tried to relax once more but he had noticed that the little dragon seems to be thinking about something.

Cale waits a bit and sure enough...

"Human's brother..."

"You can call me Cale, you know. It's easier."

"Human's brother! I have a question."

Sigh. "Sure, ask away."

Cale sits properly and seriously, or as properly and seriously as he can while naked in a bathtub, and waits for the little dragon's question.

"It's about the human" the little dragon says, sitting straight as well when he noticed that Cale was listening to him properly,

"How did you make the human listen to you?"

The little dragon looked expectantly at Cale, chin up and chest out to look intimidating. The little dragon looked cute instead, but Cale could tell that it was really curious.

Cale remembered how upset the little dragon sounded before. Since it was rescued the little dragon had grown attached to Roksu. It must have been hard on him to watch Roksu all bloody while having a panic-induced break down like that. It had been so long since Roksu reached that point, but it must still be a disturbing sight to witness.

Cale should know. He rubbed at his arms, feeling the phantom pain of glass shards on his skin as he remembers a particular memory.

A broken mirror.

 

Cale trying to run away.

 

A deranged Roksu.

 

So much blood.

Cale puts on another smile as he waves the memory away and answers the little dragon.

"It is actually really simple" Cale says as nonchalantly as possible, "You just have to cover his eyes."

The little dragon blinks, suprised, not at all expecting that answer.

"Like what you made the mage called Rosalyn do?"

"Yes, exactly."

The little dragon tilts it's head, clearly confused.

"Does covering the eyes make you hear better?"

The little dragon then covers it's eyes with it's paws, as if to verify if it does make you hear better. The cute sight made Cale chuckle but he clarifies.

"Not exactly. In Roksu's case, it is so he can't see."

Cale then hums, thinking over how to explain it properly while the little dragon waits patiently for him to continue.

"Roksu... when he gets too agitated he starts to see things... Mom used to say Roksu can see ghosts."

"Ghosts?"

"Not real ghosts, that's just what we call it, but whatever it is that Roksu sees it makes him afraid. So much so that he can't see or hear the world around him anymore. If you don't stop him from from seeing the ghosts, he gets more and more frantic, like what happened earlier. If it takes even longer he develops a fever. Ron said that when we were younger Roksu would also nosebleed, but I don't remember that one."

What Cale remembers though is their mother cradling his crying brother, letting him hide his face on the crook of her neck and her long red tresses, whispering words of comfort until he falls asleep.

"Mama, why is hyung crying?" Cale would often ask.

 

"He is seeing ghosts, my sweet" his mother would say, "Ghosts that are no longer real, but Cain does not realize that yet."

 

"How do I make hyung feel better?"

 

"Remind him of what is important of course!"

 

"What is important, mama?"

 

"That we love him and that we are here with him..."

 

Their mother would then smile sadly at him, and Cale never figured out why their mother smiled like that.

 

"...You have to remind your brother that he is not alone."

"Anyway, that is why it is important that you cover his eyes."

The little dragon contemplates his answer, thinking it over his mind. 

"So if the human's eyes are covered, he stops seeing the ghosts?"

"That's right. It also helps Roksu concentrate on the present and stops him from thinking about unnecessary things. When that happens, he can hear us."

"And the human stops panicking!"

"Exactly. You are very smart little dragon."

The little dragon huffs, feeling satisfied at solving the mystery.

"Hmph! Silly human! He should stop being afraid of ghosts now that he has me! I am mightier than ghosts that are not even real! I will protect the weak human and always stay with him so he is no longer afraid!"

Cale laughs, "You should do that."

"Then finish your bath human's brother! We need to go to the human soon!"

"It's Cale."

The little dragon harumphs, suddenly impatient, eager to go back to Roksu.

"Hurry!"

"Ok, ok!"

Cale had no choice but to oblige. Who is he to say no to a dragon? So Cale finishes his relaxing bath and with that, Cale's moment of peace ended.

"Young master Caaaaaaaale!"

What greeted Cale when he entered the room assigned to him was Hans running towards him, teary eyed and looking very worried. It looked like the butler was about to hug him.

Cale avoided this by stepping to the side as they are about to collide.

"You are ok!" Hans says, stopping before he hit a wall. He looked like he was about to cry because his young master avoided him.

"Of course I am" he arrogantly said and sat on the edge of the bed, electing to ignore hands in favor of petting the kittens who meowed at him in greeting. He also acknowledged Choi Han, Rosalyn, and Lark who are also in the room.

"Hans, you can leave now." Roksu orders. It looked like he was just talking to Hans before Cale arrived.

"Please don't forget to contact the master-nim, young masters!" Hans reminds again before leaving, locking the door as he left.

“There are no video or audio recording devices in here.” The little black dragon says the moment Hans left, appearing on the bed and starts eating the fruits on the bedside table. 

"Good job" Roksu praised, approaching Cale and taking the towel on Cale's hand and starts to dry Cale's still wet hair. Cale let's him. At the same time, Rosalyn casts a noise cancellation spell around them.

“It’s better to be safe.” Rosalyn says.

“Miss Rosalyn, that side of you is wonderful.” Roksu tells her.

Cale elected to keep quiet and keep still, just observing and letting Roksu pamper him. By the seats he had noticed that Choi Han had been keeping his head down since earlier and wondered if it has something to do on why Choi Han was nowhere to be found earlier.

“Tell me.” 

Choi Han lifted his head up. He looked like a sad puppy who was scolded by it's master. Cale felt a bit sorry for Choi Han.

"Roksu-nim, that mage appeared in the location you told me. I tried to kill him, but his subordinates rushed toward me."

“I’m sure they were ready to die.”

“…Yes.”

Cale narrowed his eyes. He has a suspicion that the mage they were talking about is Reddika. He knows that Roksu somehow knew about the bombing, but did Roksu know more than that?

“So they escaped?”

“…Yes.”

Choi Han lowered his head again as he continued to speak.

“I only managed to cut off his left arm.”

Cale blinks. He also felt Roksu pause.

“I then burned the arm up in case he came back for his arm to put it back together. Ah, his left eye should be injured as well.”

"Just the left arm and the left eye?"

Choi Han was sitting there with his head down and fists clenched while Cale mentally reeled.

“Yes, Roksu-nim. I was supposed to kill him. I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. It should be enough for now. You did well.”

Cale almost choked. 'You did well!?' He screamed at his brother in his mind. 'You did well!? After ordering Choi Han to kill people how can you just say 'You did well!!!???'

Cale gaped at his brother, then looked toward Lark, Ohn and Hong who were sitting next to Choi Han. Ohn and Hong were sitting stiffly in Lark’s arms. Lark was looking at Roksu with a desperate gaze.

Roksu looked toward Choi Han and asked.

“His subordinates?”

“I thought it was better to kill them, so I took care of them.”

That made the Hong rub his face on his sister Ohn’s body. Choi Han had used his black aura to completely get rid of them without any traces. This was the first time Hong realized that you could melt a person with aura. On the otherhand Cale sat stiffly, only moving because Roksu had started brushing his hair.

It seems like Roksu misinterpreted the whole situation though because he said:

“It’s best to be thorough to prevent any future issues. You didn’t break any buildings or anything like that, right?”

“Yes, of course. As Cale-nim mentioned, I made sure not to damage anything around the area.”

The kittens remembered what Choi Han said to the subordinates as he killed them. ‘All of the important people in my life were killed or almost killed by you. Including today!’ The buildings were not damaged, but the look on Choi Han’s face as he melted the secret organization members alive was quite scary. He did not go berserk, however, that made it scarier. Ohn and Hong finally moved toward the little black dragon to get a sense of relief by the dragon’s side. The strongest, cutest, and nicest individual in this room was this black dragon.

Cale of course doesn't know this, but by the way the kittens reacted he can tell that it was a scary situation. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He supposed it doesn't matter if the people who died were the enemies. They did try to kill a lot of innocent people after all. The methods might be vicious but Roksu is just trying to keep them all safe.

“I see, you worked hard.” Roksu said, and then turned towards Cale, "Don't worry, everything is going to be ok."

Cale doesn't think he'll ever stop worrying, but he trusts his brother. Roksu’s words though made Choi Han look up. Roksu then sat beside Cale and looked at Choi Han and everyone else as he continued to speak.

“All of you did something amazing today. It is thanks to you that all that innocent people lived. You worked hard, and I am glad that everyone is safe.”

Choi Han’s tightly clenched fists loosened up a bit. Rosalyn looked at Lark, Choi Han, Cale, and the kittens that were wagging their tails, before finally landing her gaze on Roksu. An odd sense of cohesion surrounded her.

The Black Dragon started to speak at that point.

“You worked hard too, and we are glad that you are safe too, human.”

This made Roksu smile. A small smile that pinches at Cale's heart.

"I am really glad everyone is alive and well." Roksu says quietly. There is a distant look in his eyes that Cale removed by putting an arm around his brother and shaking him playfully.

"Of course we are!" Cale says as loudly and as energetically as he can, gesturing towards everyone in the room, "Everyone here is strong. That's why you trusted them to help you, right? You can depend on them more, you know?"

"That's right, Roksu-nim! I will surely kill that mage next time! You can count on me!" Choi Han declares, standing up with a determined look on his face.

"I... I will be more useful!" Lark shyly but bravely adds, also standing up.

"Count me in too!" Rosalyn cheerfully says.

"I'll help too nya!"

"Me as well!"

"I will also help, since you are very weak!"

Cale pokes at his brother's cheek, grinning widely, "See?"

"And you?" He asks Cale.

"Me? I'll always be here when you need me. Do you want me to say that while also standing and shaking my fists in the air?"

Cale shot a teasing glance at Choi Han and Lark who looked embarrassed. Choi Han resolutely keeps standing but Lark slowly sat back down.

Roksu huffs, but he does not refuse their words. Despite grumbling and his face remaining stoic, he also looked happy.

"No need to do that. That is so cliché."

It made everyone smile.

Later that night, after talking to their father, talking with the Crown Prince, and having their fill with the palace food, the twins finally had time to just rest.

On Roksu's insistence they shared a room, and to compensate for only having one bed, the palace attendants gave them mounds of plush pillows. The kittens and the little dragon seem to enjoy it, playing hide, seek, and chase around the bed while Cale tries to sleep. On his chest is Roksu listening to his heartbeat like usual.

"Cale?"

"Hmm?"

"You called me hyung a lot today."

"Well, you were being a hyung a lot today."

"That so?"

"Yeah."

Cale's eyes are closed, but he can tell his brother is looking at him. He let the silence stretch to give Roksu time to voice out his anxieties before they sleep. Finally,

"Cale?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't die."

"I won't." A quick answer.

"Don't die."

Cale pats Roksu's head reassuringly. It seems like the events of today still bothers his brother.

"I won't, so go to sleep Roksu."

Light bloom around them as a silver shield encase the bed and everything in it protectively.

Cale takes a peek. The shield is still damaged although there are fewer cracks on it compared to before. It is a bit too bright for his liking but he does not complain, just put an arm over his eyes and tries to sleep again. His other arm is still absentmindedly patting Roksu.

Around them the kittens and the little dragon also finally settles down after they got tired of playing. They also say nothing about the shield around the bed.

"I'll protect you, so you can't die." He hears Roksu speak.

"I know."

Cale murmurs his answer, too sleepy to form proper words. Still though it seems to finally reassure Roksu because he feels his brother starting fall asleep as well.

Relieved, Cale finally succumbs to sleep.

That night the silver shield continues to protect those within it's embrace, the cracks on it's surface slowly mending with each thump of it's owner's steady heartbeat.

Chapter Text

Crown Prince Alver Crossman is on his office finishing off the last of that day's paperwork. It has been 3 days since the terror incident and Alver had been very busy with dealing with the aftermath as well as preparing for the memorial and acknowledgement of heroes ceremony to be held at the end of the week.

Sighing, Alver rubbed the bridge of his nose and leaned back on his chair, taking a moment before going back into drafting the necessary paperwork to release a golden plaque.

A cursory glance at the clock says it is already way past midnight. Still, Alver persists. He has a gut feeling that investing on the Henituse twins would yield good results. At the very least he would be in good terms with the Henituse household. At worst he would lose a few million. How much can the twins spend in a single purchase anyway?

Alver recalls the last few days where he first met the infamous Henituse twins during the dinner he had organized. At first glance they were like all the rumors and reports they were made out to be. Although completely identical in appearance, you could easily tell the twins apart.

The older one, Cain Henituse, trails behind his younger brother Cale, not speaking to anyone and holding onto the hems of Cale's shirt like the shy kid that the reports said he is, only answering when spoken to and otherwise just keeping to himself.

Cale on the other hand had already insulted and chased away two other young nobles in the span of 2 minutes that the Northeastern heirs weren't paying much attention to him, then laughed and brushed it off when heir Eric Wheelsman chstised him for it, truly a trash of high society as his moniker suggests.

When it was time to greet him Cale then lead the introductions even though it was rude etiquette-wise and didn't seem to care. 

It was supposed to be routine niceties, but then Alver was surprised when he recognised that Cale's cheery demeanor is a mask, one as carefully crafted as his own. Suddenly this simple happy-go-lucky young noble became much more intriguing to the prince.

But then Alver met Cain, or rather as his brother introduced him; Roksu, who had matched him glib word for glib word while also looking at him with a sharp gaze and Alver doesn't know anymore. Isn't he supposed to be a shy, innocent, and naive kid? Alver had planned to befriend him in hopes of gaining support from the stubbornly neutral Henituse family but now Alver just wants to get away from him as soon as possible.

And then, and THEN, the plaza bombing happened and the Henituse twins showed another side of themselves that had Alver reeling. He's still shuddering at the memory of Roksu's viciousness during the brief time Cale was unconscious. Not many caught it but Alver did, and whatever he saw made him wary.

However, Alver also could not forget that despite everything it was also because of the twins that many of the kingdom's people were saved. Roksu's quick judgement at using his shield and Cale's level-headedness saved a lot of people. He also suspects that the initial bombing was prevented because of the twins too but he does not have any proof.

Either way, the Henituse twins are intriguing and at the very least are people worth looking into.

'Maybe after this I should review the files we have about the Henituse. It's time to make adjustments to that file and maybe I should start investigating the twins properly too...'

As he thought this Alver felt a bone chilling sensation at the back of his neck, like he is being watched, the hairs on his arms standing on end.

Danger. That is what his instincts are telling him. Right now he is in danger.

In a flash Alver pulls a sword within reach and wirls around, ready to defend and strike. Years of assassination attempts had taught him never to ignore such feeling. What he saw though froze him in his tracks.

Outside the window is one of the henituse twin, staring straight at him in a blank look that betrayed no emotions. He is just standing there outside the window, hair gently swaying in the night breeze, the moonlight casting an eerie light that made that infamous red hair shine and his reddish brown eyes glow.

Goosebumps erupt all over Alver's skin.

Then Alver blinks.

And the man outside the window is gone.

It took Alver a moment to compose himself but when he did he immediately opened the window and searched outside, getting more and more confused when he saw nothing amiss.

Was he hallucinating?

His office is located on the 2nd floor of the palace and is quite high up the ground. From here he could see most of the important rooms, including the one the Henituse twins are currently staying at.

Looking over he could see the white glow of the silver shield that the older twin had been using every night. Could it be?

The Crown Prince leaves his office in a hurry. It is a good thing that he hasn't changed yet and still looks presentable as he was that morning. Using various shortcuts, Alver was able to arrive in the Henituse twin's room in less than 3 minutes.

By the door, a boy stood guard. Alver recognizes this man as part of the Henituse guard. Although he is young, Alver can tell that this man is strong. Alver also suspects that this man was part of the group who prevented the first wave of bombs in the plaza terror incident, but he doesn't have enough evidence to prove it yet.

"Choi Han, good evening." Alver greets, smiling brightly. This seem to surprise Choi Han who didn't know that the prince knows his name.

"Good evening, your highness." Choi Han greets back, bowing slightly before standing guard again. His greeting is disrespectful etiquette-wise, but Alver let it go. It is obvious that Choi Han is new to the noble society. It is not his fault that the Henituse failed to educate him on noble etiquette properly.

More importantly,

"I'd like to see the Henituse heirs."

Choi Han looks at him suspiciously.

"Your highness, Roksu-nim and Cale-nim are asleep."

This does not faze Alver though, just acted that he is worried.

"I just want to check on them. There has been a disturbance in the castle and I just want to make sure that our guests are safe."

His act was convincing but Choi Han is hesitating so he added:

"I would like to just take a peek. There is no need to wake up the young masters."

This finally seem to convince Choi Han and he opens the door a bit, just enough that they could look inside.

Alver saw the twins sleeping. Surrounding the bed is the silver shield, but it is faint and transparent enough to see the sleeping people inside. He cannot tell who is who because they look so alike, but on the left side one of the twins is sleeping on his side and hugging a pillow. On the right side the other twin is sleeping on his back, a sleeping kitten on his chest and another kitten curled on his neck. Both look to be deeply asleep. 

With one sweeping glance at the room Alver nods and smiles at Choi Han.

"Everything seems to be ok. Thank you for your cooperation, Choi Han. The Henituse is lucky to have you guarding them so diligently."

With that Alver leaves after giving Choi Han one last smile. He took his time to go back to his office, thinking things through.

Nothing seems to be amiss. The twins are sleeping and since neither of them are mages they can't possibly be able to fly out just to stare at him working. The magic detection alarms in his office will be triggered too if that's the case, and besides, why would they even do that?

Crown Prince Alver contented himself into thinking that he must be seeing things. He was tired after all. He should probably sleep now.

Still, even as Alver prepares for bed, he thought he should keep a closer eye to the twins. Just in case. It doesn't hurt to be prepared.

Afterall, Alver had noticed their window open, and if one of them has an ancient power, maybe the other one has one too.

The moment the Crown Prince Alver bid Choi Han farewell and closed the door to their room, Roksu Henituse opened his eyes.

- The crown prince has left, human!

The little dragon reports and became visible. The kittens also opened their eyes, their tail swishing in excitement while Roksu sits up.

"Patrolling is fun nya!" Hong says, rubbing his face on Roksu who then petted him.

"The crown prince is the only one who noticed us patrolling! He is very observant!" Ohn says. She looks very impressed.

Beside them the sleeping Cale stirs and mumbles,

"Nooo... no patrolling... mmh... bad Roksu..."

Cale then hugs the pillow tighter, mumbling all the while, still asleep.

The children all turn to Roksu who looked like a sad kiten after hearing Cale. The little dragon shyly gives Roksu two pats on his leg before going beside the kittens.

"You are not bad, human" the little dragon says, "I'll tell your brother that when he wakes up!"

"That's right! Roksu is not bad!" Hong adds, nodding in reassurance.

Roksu shakes his head, gathering the children in his arms. The little dragon is startled at the action but kept still, liking the feeling of being hugged with the kittens.

"I am not a good person." Roksu says, he looks at his sleeping brother and then back to the children, "As long as all of you are safe, I don't mind being a bad person."

The children look at him in confusion.

"That does not make sense" Ohn says.

"No sense nya~" Hong added.

"If we say you are good, then you are good, human!" The dragon says, huffing in Roksu's hold, "I am a great and mighty dragon, so you should believe me!"

Roksu smiles, but does not agree.

"We should go back to sleep."

Roksu tried to remove the pillow Cale is hugging so he could take it's place but Cale just hugged the pillow harder, his face pinching in his sleep at the disturbance.

"...mnnh...said no patrolling...nooo...go back sleep..."

Cale then started patting the pillow.

"Pfft! Cale thinks you are the pillow!"

The kittens and the dragon giggle at the amusing display while Roksu glared at the pillow.

Roksu then gets out of the bed, the wing on the silver shield opening up to allow him access, and he approached and opened the door where Choi Han is standing guard.

"Choi Han, let me borrow your sword."

Wordlessly Choi Han unsheathes his sword and hands it hilt-first to Roksu. The older twin thanks him before going back inside, the shield's wing lifting up again to let him inside the bed.

Roksu crawls towards Cale, careful not to hit the curiously watching kittens and dragon with the sword. He then kneeled beside Cale, adjusting himself so he won't be off-balanced in the plush bed, before lifting the sword above his head, about to stab down.

Sensing that something is amiss, this is also the moment Cale woke up and opened his eyes.

Although it is dark there is the dim glow of the indestructible shield all around them. It is enough to see his older brother's stoic face, staring down at him. It also enough to see the glinting sword about to stab down on him.

Cale Henituse screams.

Before any sound came out of him though, Roksu clamps his mouth shut with a hand. His other hand is still holding the sword.

"Don't scream. You'll wake everyone up."

Cale continues to scream despite it being muffled. He thrashed a bit trying to push his brother away, so Roksu gets on top of him, leaning down to prevent his hand from slipping off. Cale continues to scream, eyes not once leaving the sword.

"Cale. Cale. I need you to be quiet."

"Mmmpphhhh!!!"

 "I'll remove my hand but you have to stop screaming."

"Mphmm! Mmmphhh!!"

"I'm sorry I startled you. Can you please calm down?"

After a moment Cale quiets, stills, and then he nods. With that Roksu removes his hand and gets off of his twin who just lays there staring at the ceiling, still a bit in shock.

With Cale now awake and calm, Roksu takes the pillow Cale had been hugging and gets off the bed again with the sword. The wing opens. Cale and the children watch as Roksu chucks the pillow out the window, then approaches and opens the door, returning the sword.

"Choi Han, thank you for the sword."

"Your welcome, Roksu-nim."

After that's done Roksu returns to the bed, the wing closing one last time, and takes his place on Cale's side, snuggling comfortably beside his brother and Cale automatically moves to hug him the same way he did with the pillow.

Cale's face still has the look of shock though, his mouth hanging open.

After a few moments, Cale regains his sanity.

"Roksu, what the fuck!?"

By the foot of the bed Hong and the dragon giggled. Hong beside them just smiled and huffed.

"Cale, you shouldn't curse in front of the children."

"Roksu what the fuck!?"

Roksu starts patting Cale apologetically and he rearranges them so he is hugging his still shocked younger brother.

"Hyung is sorry. Go back to sleep now. It's alright..."

"Do not do that ever again!"

"Yes, yes..."

"You scared me!"

"Hyung is sorry..."

While this is going on, the children took their places around the twins, yawning and stretching and preparing to finally sleep, with the little dragon's last thought being that the human's brother sure gets scared a lot.

Eventually Cale really did calm down, falling back to a somewhat fitfull sleep, his brother holding him protectively even as his eyes are closing.

All is well again in the palace.

The next day, Cale Henituse climbs down the window and escapes.

Chapter Text

The day before the memorial ceremony and awarding of medals, the Crown Prince Alver finds himself with a brewing headache as he watched the twins from his office window.

He was just supposed to clear his head for a bit. Just a five minute break to drink his tea and gaze at the pretty flowers in the garden before going back to work with a clearer head and better perspective.

So why?

Why is young master Cale climbing out the window of their room in a makeshift rope made of blankets? Why is young master Roksu pulling at his brother's clothes like he's trying to pull him back inside? Why are their kittens meowing by the windowsill?

Crown Prince Alver sips his tea as he passively watch the scene unfold. Sure he could intervene, but he also still has a headache from their last interaction. From the looks of things the younger Henituse does not seem like he's in any real danger anyway, and if he really did fall Alver is sure the older Henituse would catch him with the shield (and if not, then the dark elf he had asked to discreetly guard outside the windows would).

Plus, this is kind of entertaining in a way.

Young master Roksu says something, pulling up young master Cale again but the younger twin says something back and starts removing the outer layers of his clothes much to the distress of his brother. Alver is quite impressed by young master Cale's determination and dexterity considering the man is currently also slowly descending the rope. When he successfully removes the clothing articles that his brother had been holding onto, young master Cale then quickly continued his descent.

Then Choi Han appears by the window, probably called forth by young master Roksu.

(Alver half wonders what exactly his relationship is with the twins. From what he's observed, Choi Han is more friend than servant to them, even when the young man seem to serve them diligently. He did notice though that Choi Han seemed to take his orders exclusively from the older twin which Alver finds interesting.)

Choi Han then exchanged places with Roksu, listened to some instructions, took hold of the blanket rope, and with surprising strength starts easily and quickly pulling up the dangling younger Henituse.

Although Alver is too far to hear, he could guess from young master Cale's rapid mouth movements that he's letting out a litany of curses. From the windowsill the red kitten jumped on Choi Han’s shoulder to observe the "rescue" more closely, while the silver kitten swished it's tail as if amused. Young master Roksu doesn't seem to mind young master Cale's words and continued to wait, still clutching on his hands the pieces of attire he liberated from his brother.

When young master Cale is about halfway back up he grew silent and seemed to accept his fate. Then he said something that had Choi Han freezing in place and looking at young master Roksu for further instructions.

There was a tense few seconds where no one said a word or moved. The twins are looking at each other, having a battle of wills. The kittens are looking back and forth between the brothers. Choi Han has a serious look on his face as he awaits young master Roksu's orders.

Alver bit on his cookie and watched in anticipation, his now empty tea cup still in his other hand.

After what felt like forever, Alver saw young master Roksu say something. The twins exchanged a few words before young master Roksu nodded at Choi Han, who then slowly lowered Cale down the ground.

The moment young master Cale's feet touched the earth he only gave a quick glance up before running off to the direction of the gardens.

By the window young master Roksu kept watch at his twin. Alver couldn't see the other redhead from the angle of his office, but he can see how young master Roksu didn't move an inch away from the window, not even when Choi Han cleared the blanket rope away and made the older Henituse sit on a chair he had procured.

With the show over Alver returns back to his work.

What the Henituse twins are up to is none of his concern yet, and besides he'd probably receive a report later that day on the twin's activities. He is still puzzled why young master Cale didn't use the door, but frankly he'd rather not think about it.

Halfway through the third document he's drafting Crown Prince Alver had a terrible thought.

What if Cale Henituse didn't use the door because he was sneaking out of the palace?

The headache that had been subsiding started to rear itself back again, and Alver let out an unprincely sigh.

"How troublesome..."

Crown Prince Alver stood up from his desk and headed to the direction of the palace gardens.

Alver is not sure what he expected, but when he found the young master Cale in the gardens he didn't expect what he saw.

The younger Henituse twin, Cale, just lying down on the grass underneath a tree doing absolutely nothing. Flat on his back, hands on his stomach, eyes just staring above him.

Although he won't admit it, the Crown Prince had been worried. Why? He is not sure either, but in any case Alver decides he can use this opportunity to get to know one of the twins without the other one around.

"Hello, young master Cale" Alver approached and greets, making sure to wear his most friendly smile as he steps into the young master Cale's field of view, "Fancy seeing you here."

The young master Cale glances his way before looking up again. Alver follows his gaze but all he sees is the sky obstructed by the leaves of the tree, the occasional sunlight peeking out whenever the wind blows.

"Forgive me for not getting up your highness" Cale says, not looking at him, "I should, but I don't feel like it."

One of Alver's eyebrow twitched, but he didn't take offense. He is starting to get used to the twins disrespecting him. He probably should not get used to it, but at the same time it is quite refreshing. Still, he should really reprimand them on their behavior.

"Should I consider this as one of your rewards fulfilled?" Alver asked instead.

When the prince had a talk with the twins about rewards for their acts of heroism, Roksu had asked for money while Cale asked to be forgiven 3 times for any future mistakes. Alver had agreed, granted that the mistakes does not cause harm to the kingdom, and this is the reward he is talking about now.

To use that reward for something so small like this is petty. Alver also knows he is being petty, but he also wanted to tease Cale a bit.

"Yeah, ok."

"Then you are forgiven."

"Hmn."

For a few moments there is silence. Cale wondered if the Crown Prince will leave. He should, right? He is really not in the mood right now.

Because he is looking away, he did not see the Crown Prince frown.

Alver sits beside Cale.

They stay there in silence for a few more moments. Cale tries to ignore the presence beside him, but the longer the silence stretched the more uncomfortable he got. He peeks at the prince sitting beside him and the Crown Prince Alver just smiles his way but otherwise did not bother him. He is also sitting a few feet away, not too close to feel like he is invading Cale's personal space but also not too far that Cale would feel alone.

Crown Prince Alver is being considerate of him. It is a nice gesture, but this consideration is what is making Cale feel uncomfortable.

"Am I making you feel uncomfortable?" Sensing his discomfort, Crown Prince Alver asks.

"Yes." Cale's answer is firm and immediate. His tone is rude, even.

Cale looked at Alver with steely eyes and for the first time since they've met the Crown Prince realized that Cale is not smiling.

"I want to be alone your highness. Please leave."

Cale Henituse is a very patient man.

He may not look like it, but Cale really is a very patient man. He had to be, especially with his brother. The amount of shit he put up with really is outstanding. Still, Cale does not complain. He understands that his brother loves their family but finds it hard to express this love. Cale also understands that in the eyes of society, (and even their own parents), Roksu's behavior is not considered normal and that it is dangerous to let people know about it. More importantly, Cale also understands that Roksu is in a lot of pain that causes his strange behaviors and that his presence is the only thing keeping his brother from falling apart completely. That of all the people in the world, he is probably the only one that can accept Roksu as he is.

Cale loves his brother, and given a chance he's choose to be Roksu's brother over and over again even if he had to deal with Roksu's craziness every time.

Even so, Cale is only human. He has his limits.

Being under constant surveillance is exhausting. Having to keep a cheerful façade everyday so Roksu doesn't get anxious is tiring. Having to be vigilant all the time so he can stop Roksu from committing more murder and prevent innocents from getting hurt is draining.

Cale Henituse is a very patient man, but even he needs a break every now and then too.

Just one hour.

That is all he asks. Just one hour alone without worries, to recharge himself.

All he wants is to lie down here under this tree and do nothing for an hour but breathe. Can't he at least have this much? Is it really too much to ask for some peace and quiet?

"I apologize, young master Cale" Alver sincerely apologizes to Cale. He can tell that Cale really needed this time alone, "But as your host, I cannot leave you alone here by yourself. I have to make sure that you are safe, especially since you are recuperating."

There is also the risk of someone from the other Prince's faction approaching Cale. The royal palace have eyes and ears everywhere and it would be bad for Alver if anyone finds out that the twins were not injured at all and that the rumors that Roksu is recovering from grave internal injuries is a lie. Alver can't take any unnecessary risk, especially at such a delicate time as now.

Alver would also like to be closer to Cale if possible. From their interactions, Alver could tell that Cale is more naive and innocent than his brother, and that Roksu heavily dotes on him. If he got closer to Cale, he can also get closer to Roksu, and then maybe he could get the Henituse County to side with him.

"The saftey of my people is very important to me" Alver adds, smiling beautifully, "That includes you as well."

Instead of being impressed Cale just rolled his eyes and turned to his side, facing away from the prince.

"No need for that" Cale grumbles to himself, "I'm the most protected man in the whole continent."

"Did you say something, young master Cale?"

"Nothing." Cale blandly says, still not facing the crown prince. Maybe if he is rude enough the shiny royal would take a hint and finally leave him alone. Behind him Alver's eye twitched in annoyance.

Then, while Cale is thinking of ways to be more rude without committing treason, he suddenly had a thought. He sat up suddenly, startling Alver although the prince tried not to show it.

"Hey, I have a question." Cale sat cross-legged facing the prince, face suddenly so serious.

"Yes?" Alver's eye twitched again at being called 'hey' but decided to let the blatant disrespect slide.

"Yes?" Alver's eye twitched again at being called 'hey' but decided to let the blatant disrespect slide, thinking about the benefits of being on Cale’s good side. He wonders what Cale’s question could be though. He looks so serious that it must be important.

“Do you like my hyung?”

 Alver blinks at Cale, a bit surprised at the unexpected question. Frankly he is wary of Roksu, and would like to have nothing to do with the sly bastard pretending to be all innocent and shy, but he can’t really say that to that guy’s brother now, can he?

Before Alver can answer though, Cale continued talking.

“I’ve never seen hyung talk so much with other people before. Usually he just ignores everyone, even when they try to talk to him. I was really surprised when he talked to you though!” The more Cale talked, the more animated he is, gesturing with his hands and face expressive, “Your highness handled talking to hyung really well and that made me glad! You even managed to make hyung smile a couple of times! I was really impressed! Hyung doesn’t really have friends you see. Well, there’s Choi Han, but he doesn’t really understand hyung that much yet, and I think it would be great if hyung had more friends who can understand him. Anyway, what I mean to say is...”

Cale then grabs Alver’s hands in his and gave the Crown Prince his most radiant smile that he often reserved for when he really wants something from Roksu. This smile has proven to be effective in getting 100% of what he wants, and he is using it now before the Crown Prince realizes anything is amiss.

“...Your Highness, can you be friends with my hyung?”

Alver Crossman has faced many hardships in life. Life as an unwanted prince in a palace full of two-faced people that wanted to either get rid of you or take advantage of you is never easy, but Alver has persevered through it all and had learned to master the art turning every disadvantage into an opportunity and manipulating situations into his favor. Alver had learned that people are predictable, and greedy nobles even more so, and Alver had honed his glib tongue as a weapon to use against said people. Alver is also a very meticulous person while also a very adaptable one. There is very little that can catch him off guard.

That is until he met the Henituse twins.

“You will do it right? If his highness is hyung’s friend then it is like his highness is my hyung too!”

Alver does not understand. He could not figure out what the twins want. They refuse fame, power, and glory but would gladly take money and favors that don’t affect anything but themselves. Now, suddenly, Cale wants friendship? Not even for himself too but for his brother! He has never met anyone like these two.

One thing is for sure though. These two... they are trouble!

“Young master Cale I don’t think that’s a very good idea­­...”

“Why not? Is it because of all the politics? So what? Let’s keep it a secret then! I’m sure you’d like friends too. Please? Crown Prince-hyung?”

Alver tried to decline. He really did. But seeing Cale’s pleading face and the sincerity on the younger man’s eyes... In the end Alver couldn’t say no.

Cale cheered and Alver just sighed before escorting the young master back to his room. There Roksu eyed him suspiciously but soon got distracted by Cale telling him how nice the prince is for making sure he is safe while he went out exploring the gardens. In the end Roksu also agreed to be “friends” after Cale pestered him about it too.

It was only later that night with the Alver getting ready for bed that he remembered something he had noticed earlier.

“He wasn’t smiling...” When Alver found Cale alone in the gardens, the redhead was not smiling. He had wanted to figure out why that was but lost his chance. It had bothered him, but Alver didn’t really know why it bothered him so.

Then Alver remembers Cale calling “Crown Prince-hyung” and he sighs.

Guess he’ll try to figure it out somehow.

Alver hopes Cale is alright.

"That's a person."

Currently Cale is on the shores of Ubarr territory. Like Roksu promised, they went on the beach after they leave the Capital and Cale is enjoying seeing the sea for the first time. He was walking barefoot on the seaside, letting the waves lap on his ankles and the sand get between his toes when he stumbled upon a big thing lying on the ground.

"It really is a person."

He can't believe his eyes. There is a huge person in front of him, lying still on the sands, the waves pushing it's body on the shore. Cale really can't believe what he is seeing. Just his luck. The one time he takes a stroll on a beach and he finds a dead body.

Cale was debating on what to do when suddenly,

"Cough!"

The dead person coughed, water spurting out of their mouth. Cale was so surprised he jumped back, eyes shaking and all the hair on his body standing on end.

"Oh my god it's alive."

The dead person is actually alive.

Cale suddenly regrets not taking anyone with him on his walk in the seashore.

Chapter Text

"It's the sea!"

Cale, Ohn, and Hong were pressed closed to the carriage windows, eyes glittering when the water came to view. Next to them is Roksu who is just looking stoically at the sea (though Cale can tell he's in a good mood), and on his shoulder the black dragon who is equally just as excited as the kittens.

"Sniff! It smells salty!"

"Oh! Look at that sharp cliff!"

"Is that all water?"

After the memorial ceremony and the awarding of heroes, Roksu had decided they would stop by the Ubar territory to have a quick vacation on the pretext of recuperating from using his ancient power. No one in their party (except Vicross) have been on the sea before so everyone is very excited.

(Although there are a lot of social events happening all over the Roan Country, the Ubar territory rarely hosts. Although they are a County and part of the neutral faction, their territory is not very rich because they are located farther away from the usual land trade routes and they could not trade via the sea because of the whirlpools. That is why Roksu and Cale haven't been in the Ubar territory even though they'd known Amiru since childhood.)

It is a trip everyone is looking forward to.

Cale knows this trip is not an actual vacation but has more to do about surveying the area for the naval base as requested by the Crown Prince. Although it is nice that his brother and Prince Alver is starting to get along, Cale had wanted this trip to be a real vacation, especially since their Capital trip was a disaster.

So Roksu promised they'd spend quality time just having fun to make up for not being able to do so in the Capital and now Cale doesn't really mind the extra work.

It's a shame though that Choi Han, Miss Rosalyn, and Lark couldn't come. It would've been more fun if they did, but Cale understood they had more pressing matters to deal with. The trio did promise to bring souvenirs from Breck Kingdom and come home as soon as possible so Cale is not very upset about it.

Still, Cale thought it would've been nice if everyone was here.

"Something on your mind Cale?" Roksu asked when he noticed his younger brother suddenly getting quiet.

"Uh, nothing really" Cale scratched at his cheek, a bit sheepish at the sudden attention when everyone turned to look at him, "I just thought it would've been nice if Ron came too."

Even though Ron had told them earlier that he'd take a leave of absence for a year, Cale is still sad that he wasn't able to say goodbye properly since they were still in the palace when Ron left.

>Young master Roksu. I will report to you once a month. I didn’t know that you were hiding such a power, young master. Choi Han told me about how that mage looks like. I will remember it. I have also informed Vicross about everything.<  

That was on the letter Ron gave them. Then, further below that note is a single line:

>Young master Roksu, don't cause too much trouble for your younger brother.<

Truthfully, Cale is a bit worried. Aside from Cale, Ron is the only other one that knows how to manage Roksu. Even though Ron left behind Vicross to watch them, the chef doesn't really understand Roksu the way Ron did. He was also busy looking after the wolf children so he won't be able to be around as much.

Although Roksu mellowed out a lot after meeting Choi Han, the kittens, and the dragon, without Ron around Cale doesn't really have any backup in case Roksu goes murder mode again. That is why Cale appreciated the letter Ron left behind. It was Ron's way of reminding Roksu to behave.

Cale is still a bit worried, but no use fretting over it now. He shakes his head and smiled at his brother.

"Don't worry, I know Ron will be back. I'm not very sad about it."

Roksu gave his brother some headpats and reassures him.

"If Ron misses sending a single letter, we'll look for him and drag him back."

"Pfft! As if you could do that!"

The thought of Roksu dragging anyone anywhere is too amusing, and even the children thought so.

"Human, you are too weak to drag anyone."

"That's right! You can't even drag Cale-nya back from the window!"

"It was very funny nya!"

"Roksu-hyung have noodle arms."

"I do not have noodle arms!"

"Human's brother is right! Your arms look like noodles, human!"

"I'm hungry! I want to eat noodles!"

"We want noodles with fish nya!"

"Yes, yes. We'll have noodles with fish when we arrive..."

Everyone inside the carriage continued their banter until they got distracted by the pod of whales swimming in the sea. Their conversation moved on, and soon they arrived to their destination.

The Henituse arrived in the Ubar territory around 10 that morning with the young lady Amiru welcoming them. As the host and their future business partner, Amiru is in charge of making sure their stay is comfortable and productive, and so during brunch she proposed that the twins take a dip in the sea and relax on an inlet near the villa they were staying at.

"That place is a cove that is a bit away from the whirlpools so it is a safe and ideal place to take a relaxing swim in the sea." Amiru proudly explains. It was one of the few places mentioned in their tourism proposal before it was changed, "It is also a sandy beach, so you do not have to worry about stepping on corals when you swim, and the cliffs on one side and a rocky shore on the surrounding area provides you with good privacy!"

So after their visit to the biggest island where Cale thoroughly enjoyed the intense boat ride, laughed at Hillsman for puking his guts out, lost Roksu for a bit while he was busy talking about whirlpools with Amiru, got an ominous talk from the dragon about different kinds of corpses, and finally a seafood feast for lunch, the twins head off to have their relaxing fun in the sea!

There is just one problem.

Cale stood on the shoreline in only his swimming trunks, looking at the beautiful clear water lapping at his bare feet. He is currently ankles deep in the water and he was eager to swim. However,

"Roksu!" Cale turns and calls at his brother. 

On the far shore Roksu looks up from the book he is reading. He is currently sitting comfortably on a deckchair, a wide umbrella shielding him from the sun, a small table with snacks just on arm's reach. Beside him are 3 smaller deckchairs with it's own smaller umbrellas where the kittens and the invisible dragon are sitting. Hovering behind them is Hans gushing over the kittens and trying to give them snacks.

(No one really questioned Roksu when he asked for 3 deckchairs when he only had 2 kittens. Hans suspected he made a mistake when he asked for it and was too shy to correct himself, so everyone just played along.)

"What is it?" Roksu called back. He does not know why Cale was looking for him. He had already said he would not swim, and Cale didn't really force him to do so. Since the wolf children and the Henituse staff are all present Cale should be safe enough and have enough playmates to have fun comfortably in the water.

Cale pouts. Roksu sits up more alert when he notices his brother's distress.

"Roksu..." Cale calls again, the slight whining timbre in his voice alerting Roksu to be ready to take action immediately, whatever his brother needed.

"I do not know how to swim!"

Roksu blinks. That's right. They never actually had swimming lessons because they never attended the academy and had never been near any big enough body of water to swim in. It makes sense that they can't swim.

Everyone in the cove all looked away to avoid laughing. Fortunately, the staff are professional enough not to show their amusement while the wolf kids were too excited to dip into the water to notice Cale's predicament.

Frowning, Cale leaves the shore and strode towards his brother, sitting next to him and plopping his head down on Roksu's lap, sulking. Automatically, Roksu starts patting Cale's hair to comfort him.

"It's ok young master Cale! You could still enjoy the charms of the sea even without going for a swim, like young master Roksu here!" Hans chimed in, but when he saw Cale glare at him he backtracked, "I will get snacks for the kitten-nims!" And escaped.

Now that Hans left, they can stop pretending like ordinary cats again.

"It's ok Cale-nya, the water is not that great!" Hong says in comfort. The kittens do not like their fur getting wet, so they did not go near the water. 

"That's right! We can build sandcastles instead! And collect seashells!" Ohn added.

"We can also play tag in the warm and soft sand! There is no need to swim!" Raon, even though still invisible, also chimed in, eating fruits from Roksu's bowl.

"But I want to swim..." Cale said sadly, watching the wolf children having fun in the water, as well as some of the Henituse staff helping with babysitting duties. They all look like they are having fun, even Vicross who would go back and forth from the grill and the edge of the water to check up in the wolf kids.

"Do you really have to swim?" Roksu asks. He does not like seeing Cale being sad. Although Roksu is content to just sit and read all afternoon, it does not mean Cale would want the same thing. He clearly remembers how excited Cale had been when they arrived in the cove.

"Yeah... I really want to swim hyung..."

Cale looks up to him. This is not intentional, but he looks like a sad puppy anyway. Roksu can't help but sigh.

"Then get up."

"Huh?" Cale obediently gets up even though he is confused.

"I'm teaching you how to swim."

"Hah!??"

At the same time, Hans arrives with a lot of snacks for the kittens.

"Hans" Roksu says as he removes his outer covering so he is only in his swimming trunks too, "Play with the kittens while Cale and I go for a swim. They want to build sandcastles, so do that."

Hans let out a very happy "Yes! Young Master!" very happy to have an excuse to spend time with the kittens as Roksu takes a very confused Cale's hand and brings him back to the water.

"I can only teach you the basics, but you are a fast learner so you should be able to swim decently enough to have your fun today."

Cale gapes at his brother, very surprised.

"You know how to swim!?"

"Yes."

"Since when!??" 

"Do you want to swim or are you gonna ask questions all day?"

Despite the stoic face and voice, there is a gentle tone as Roksu said those words. Cale can't help it, but there is a big genuine smile on his face right now.

They reach the water, and the happy smile didn't go away while Roksu starts explaining what to do, leading them gently to high enough water to practice in and not letting go of his hand. By then some of the wolf children also gave Cale tips, and by the time Cale learned how to float the twins were roped into playing a ball tossing game in the water.

A while later they leave the water and joined Hans and the kittens (and secretly the little dragon) in making a really huge sandcastle that the kids had an absolute blast in digging holes and collecting seashells and stones for.

Then they had snacks, collected more pretty shells and rocks, splashed in the water, had another game in the beach, went back to the water to swim some more, and generally had great fun with everyone, filling that small cove with laughter and sounds of merriment.

By sunset they finally got out of the water completely to shower and put on dry clothes, set up a bonfire, and toasted marshmallows and seafood (although it's mostly the staff doing the cooking and just handing it out to their charges), and shared around stories.

By the time the stars starts appearing in the sky everyone had gathered around the bonfire. 

A bit away from the fire, in their own little private area, sat Cale and Roksu just contentedly observing. Currently Maes, the oldest of the wolf children, is telling a scary story he learned from his uncle and is doing a really good job at it that everyone is a captive audience.

"I had a really fun day today" Cale tells his brother, because he really did and he wants Roksu to know. Atlhough they are always together, spending quality time like this just having fun is rare for the twins, and Cale really appreciate it that his hyung indulged him.

"Thank you, hyung."

When Cale didn't hear a response he looked over and saw Roksu had already fallen asleep on his chair. He must've been tired. The sight just made Cale chuckle and he observed everyone in their little party.

The Henituse staff have joined in sitting around and listening to the stories, relaxed and comfortable after the twins told them to treat this day as a rest day, even Hillsman who is starting to nod off from where he is sitting. Nearer to the bonfire is Vicross busy wiping a younger wolf kid's face while also making sure the toasted food don't get burned. The kittens were sitting in a log, listening attentively to the scary story while Hans feed them snacks every now and then. Between the kittens, judging by the disturbed sand, the little dragon is probably swishing it's tail lazily as it discreetly ate food and listened in on the story, too engrossed to ask Roksu his usual questions.

It was peaceful.

Cale hums. Today was really fun. Maybe they can bring their siblings here next time, and even maybe their parents too. It would be nice too if all their new friends are present. Roksu was also in a really good mood so Cale didn't have to worry about anything.

It's been so long since Cale felt this relaxed.

The night is so peaceful. So peaceful in fact that it's circling back to making Cale feel a bit anxious. It made him wish that everyday could be just as peaceful as this, even though he also knows that that is impossible.

Sensing his mood turning, Cale decides to take a walk to clear his head a bit.

He considered waking Roksu up or asking someone to accompany him, but one look at everyone having fun and he decided against it. He's not going far anyway, and he'll be back soon. No need to disturb the peace.

So Cale gets up, careful not to attract anyone's attention, and before anyone notices he disappears into the night.

There is a dead person in front of Cale.

Technically speaking, it was a person that Cale thought was dead but is actually alive, just a little wet and roughed up from drowning and getting washed up into the shore but still is absolutely definitely not dead.

Cale looks around, unsure on what to do.

He had walked quite far from the group, past the cove already actually, and was just following the shoreline and letting his mind wander while he enjoys the feeling of the waves on his feet and hearing the sound of the sea in the quiet night.

The moon is bright out and Cale could see everything clearly even when he didn't bring any light. From where he is standing he can see a whirlpool not far in the water, and when he looked around he also noticed wood debris that could be the boat this man was in before it got smashed by the whirlpool.

Cale frowns and approaches the unconscious man.

"Wow, you're really big!" Cale observed, noticing how bigger the man is up close. The muscles are absolutely bulging everywhere and made even more obvious because of the wet clothes. Long shaggy brown hair are splayed on the sand, and bits and pieces of seaweed clung to the man everywhere.

Crouching, Cale then held out a hand and touched the man's neck to check his pulse and retracted it immediately when the man started coughing again. 

Cough! Cough! More water escaped the man's mouth. Then his eyelids fluttered, looking at Cale for a moment before shutting back down again to unconsciousness. This won't do.

"Heyyy. Don't sleep. Wake back up!"

Cale starts poking at the man's face trying to wake him up.

"Heyyyyy. You have to wake up. You're too big to carry so you have to walk."

The man remain unconscious.

Cale stares at the man for a minute, regretting not bringing anyone with him on his walk. Since he is the first one to see the man, he is now Cale's responsibility and he now have to carry this man all by himself back to safely. He can't just leave him here after all.

Shaking off his nervousness, Cale positioned himself just above the man's head. Then with a grunt Cale slowly pushed his arms underneath the man's armpits, hooking his elbows and pulled with all his might, cursing loudly because good lord this man is very heavy and so big Cale could barely move him. It does not help that the man is very wet and slimy too which feels really gross.

Still, he managed to pull the man a few meters away from the shore, their tracks recorded in the sand. By then Cale was breathing heavily and his arms are trembling from the weight and exertion. He is not going to give up though. Just one step at a time. If he could just drag the man away from the rising tide then he can then rest easy and call for help.

Then Cale slips, falling backwards into the sand with a thud, the air knocked out of his lungs when the man falls above him.

"Fuck! Get off!" Cale tries to wiggle away but the man is too heavy. He pushes and wiggles and curses and struggles for a while, kicking up sand everywhere, until finally he breaks free, glaring at the man for being so big and heavy and wet and slimy.

Cale stands there for awhile to catch his breath. He is very annoyed now. His arms ache and he looks disheveled, all sweaty and covered in sand, his hair a mess.

More importantly Cale feels like his pride has been wounded. 

'I just lost to a half-dead person'

Although Cale is not a warrior and does really care about things like his honor or dignity, for some reason he feels embarrassed.

Should he just leave this person behind?

Cale shakes his head. He can't do that. It's not this man's fault he drowned or that he is big and heavy. Also, as the person who found this man, Cale felt responsible in helping him.

'I'll ask hyung for help'

For things Cale could not solve on his own, it is easiest to just ask his hyung for help. 

With great effort, Cale moves the man into the recovery position. This way he won't choke in case he coughs out water again. He also removes his cover-up and drapes it on the man to help with the cold, although the cloth barely even covers the man's torso.

Satisfied, Cale trekks back to the cove.

"Hyung... hyung..."

Roksu is gently awoken from his sleep. Opening his eyes he saw his brother shaking him awake. Still half-asleep Roksu doesn't really question why his twin is currently topless and covered in sand, but he does know his brother is using his "I need something" voice and chooses instead to focus on that.

"What is it?"

Above him Cale looks reluctunt, probably debating whether to tell him or not, but soon enough he starts talking.

"Uh, well. Hyung. You see there is this dead person—"

"Do you need help burying the body?"

Before Cale could finish explaining, Roksu answers immediately without a moment of hesitation. If his brother needs help disposing a dead body then Roksu will do his best to do it properly.

Cale mouth hangs open and you can see the exact moment his brain starts functioning again.

"Why would I want to bury a person??"

"Because they're dead"

"But they're not dead???"

"But you said there's a dead person?"

"I thought he was dead but he's not that's why I'm asking you to help me!"

"I see. We can't bury him because he's alive, so now you are asking for my help."

"Yes?"

Roksu nods. He understands now. He stands up, already thinking of best the best way to help, and says his suggestion as he helps Cale dust the sand off the younger twin's body.

"I think it's best if we bring Vicross with us and let the children stay behind."

"Shouldn't we need more people? That man is very big and heavy."

"No. It's best if we have as little witnesses as possible."

Cale pauses. He blinks at Roksu, suddenly realizing there is a big misunderstanding here. His twin looks at him in question, wondering why Cale suddenly looking at him like that.

"Hyung..." Cale says very carefully, "Why do you think I asked for your help?"

Roksu looks at his brother, brows furrowing slightly and tilting his head like he's confused, his shining wide eyes a picture of innocence.

"To bury that person after making sure they're dead?"

Cale blinks. Ah. He wants to cry. His brother probably thought Cale had accidentally killed a man and now wants help in getting rid of the body. This is his fault. He should have outright said what he wanted instead of trying to explain what happened first.

Cale places his hands on his brother's shoulders and sighs. He got careless after having a day of just relaxing and now his brother is going to be thinking about murder this whole trip. Vacation time for Cale is now over.

"Roksu..." Cale says, feeling defeated,

"...That's not it."

In the end they resorted to reporting the drowned man to the Ubars and got ready to rest for the night.

The Ubar knights collected the drowned man and Amiru assured them that they'll take care of it while smiling and telling them they're good people for some reason.

"I heard that even though the young master Roksu was very shy and wary of strangers he still went and personally checked on the drowned man to see if they're ok."

"The young master also had a look of worry on his face when they took the man away, and even when he hid behind his brother again, he made sure that the man is taken cared of."

Somehow sentiments like this were heard. Roksu was actually just checking if the man is really alive when the Ubar knights arrived, and when he recognized who the man is, glared at his unconscious form while holding Cale's clothes to stop him from getting close to the unconscious barbarian.

"If that man wakes up, don't go anywhere near him, understand?" Roksu had told Cale, just loud enough that no one else could hear, and his twin just noded.

If anyone misinterpreted it as Roksu asking if the drowned man is okay and Cale nodding seriously to reassure his worried brother, then that's their problem.

Cale woke up to the sound of Hans pounding at the door.

Blearily he opened his eyes just in time to see Roksu taking off some diving gear and put on a robe. He also tossed something to the little dragon before opening the door.

"Young master, young lady Amiru asked me to verify that you were safe. So please wake up and open-"

 "What do you want?"

 "Oh! Young master! … Were you washing?"

Roksu swept back his wet hair and leisurely answered Hans’s question.

"I couldn’t sleep, so I was sitting in the sea water bath. Why are you so loud? You woke up my brother."

 "I’m sorry, young master-nim."

Cale watched the interaction with disinterested. Apparently there has been several loud explosions in the sea and Amiru is currently making sure everyone is safe before going out to investigate. All throughout Cale is eyeing his brother suspiciously, sure that Roksu somehow got something to do with it, especially when the kittens went towards him to hide in his blankets.

"What did you do?" Cale asked the moment the door is closed. He is petting the kittens who looked like they were spooked.

Instead of answering Roksu just went to the bathroom to get a tub of salt water. This is also the moment the dragon turned off the invisibility and revealed himself along with a dead beautiful person and a dried severed arm.

"Roksu what did you do!?" Cale stood up in alarm, suddenly very scared. Who is this person? Did Roksu kill him? Why did he bring him here? What's with the corpse arm??

"It's not what you think" Roksu tells him, dunking the arm into the water where it sizzled, the shriveled up arm returning to normal. At the sight, the kitten's hairs puffed up in fright and Cale had to hold them to comfort them. Truthfully, Cale also needed to comfort because he is very scared right now too.

What is going on!?

"Then tell me what is happening!" Cale did not really shout but his voice is higher than normal. He is very upset. "Roksu, did you kill this person!?"

"No, I—"

"Why would you do that!?"

If Roksu really did kill another person, then Cale doesn't know what to do. There was no indication that Roksu was in the mood to kill someone, even forgetting about the drowned guy from earlier, so Cale let down his guard. Why did Roksu kill this person? Was he a threat? But they're all safe at the moment, so Roksu shouldn't be triggered. Did he miss something? Why didn't he wake up when Roksu got up? Why was he so careless—

- Silly Cale!

Cale's spiralling thoughts were stopped by a loud voice of a young dragon in his mind and also by a pair of paws on his face. In his arms the kittens are looking up at him worriedly while in his mind the dragon continues to scold him.

- You are so silly! The human did not kill this whale! We are saving him!

Huh?

Cale looks at his brother. Roksu is currently making the person (that the dragon called a whale) drink blood from the severed hand and then pouring the remaining blood on what Cale can see now is a wound on the leg.

"I'll explain completely after I'm done." Roksu says, ignoring the confused look on the whale's face in favor of reassuring Cale. He can't leave the whale's side because otherwise the blood will dry up and he won't be able to use it anymore. Still, he hopes Cale doesn't get too upset.

 "Please trust your hyung just this once."

Cale sits back down in the bed with a thump, a bit dazed at the sudden turn of events. He watched passively as Roksu talked to the whale dismissively,something about mermaids? Before shooing him away and ignoring him completely.

Baffled, the whale bowed awkwardly, saying he'd be back to thank them properly, and went to the window to leave. Before he can jump away though Cale stopped him.

"Wait!"

The whale turns back, confused, and Cale took that moment to hurriedly shove the first snacks he grabbed by the table into the whale's hand.

"Eat something so you can recover properly" was all Cale says before turning away and finally letting the whale leave.

There was a few moments of tense silence where Cale just stood there looking at his brother. Roksu wanted to ask what that was about, but he doesn't want to risk upsetting Cale further. The children, sensing that something else is going on, wisely kept quiet as well.

Finally, Cale speaks.

"If you are going to save someone, you might as well do it properly. At least make sure they have extra medicine or food with them before they go."

"Th-that's right! You are very wise human's brother!" The little dragon suddenly said, wings flapping when he remembered that when he was rescued, Roksu also gave him some potions and fruits.

"That's right nya!"

"Like with the herbs and cake nya!"

The kittens also agreed, also remembering when Roksu rescued them from the slums.

The sight made Cale smile a bit, and Roksu took it as a cue that Cale is no longer upset with him. Although he kept his activities a secret to protect Cale, seeing him get so upset and afraid makes him uncomfortable.

No. Not just uncomfortable.

A memory of Cale pushing him away, crying and shaking as he runs away from him surface in his mind. 

Roksu would rather die than make Cale afraid of him like that again.

"I'm sorry..."

Cale playfully hits his head, and Roksu is reassured when he sees his brother smiling again.

"Why are you apologising? You saved someone from dying! You did a good thing!"

Cale then ruffles Roksu's hair, a gesture that says he is forgiven.

"Of course keeping secrets from me is something to be sorry for, but you are about to tell me everything now right?"

"I did say I'll explain everything"

"Yes, you did. No leaving anything out!"

Cale sits comfortably in the bed and waits for Roksu to start explaining. Of course, before they start talking they have to give attention to the children first.

"Human's brother, I also helped with saving the whale" says the little dragon, puffing his chest proudly.

"Noona and I guarded the room!" Hong raised his paw, also declaring his contributions.

"Yes, yes. You all did very good!" Cale enthusiastically praised, petting them, even Ohn who was a bit shy.

"You are all great and mighty." Roksu added, also giving out heat pats. 

"You are all amazing and wonderful! I am very proud indeed! I am very honoured to have met such heroic and mighty being as you!" Cale continued, making his praise more exaggerated and his delivery more dramatic until the children are a giggling mess. Occasionally Roksu would nod and agree, making the children even more proud and happy.

"You too, hyung." Cale says, giving Roksu a headpat, and a small sincere smile

 "I'm proud of you."

There is a warm feeling on Roksu's chest. He doesn't quite understand how to express this feeling, but he is thankful. Before he can say anything though, he was drowned out by the overexcited children.

"I'm proud too nya!"

"As a great and mighty dragon, I am proud of you too! You should be honored!"

"That's right! We are proud of you nya!"

Roksu smiles, "I am proud of all of you, too."

That night their conversation continued until the early hours of the morning. Roksu told Cale everything he read in the book, his ancient powers, what he has been doing, and what he plans to do. As much as he could say, as honest as he possibly could.

They continued talking even when the children had long fallen asleep, and when all of that was done, they talked about random things, of anything and everything, of the past and the future, even when up the stars starts blinking out of the sky and the first rays of the sun pierces the sky.

They talk until they finally fall asleep, and in their dreams they remember when they were younger, when would talk and giggle for hours on end under the covers so Ron won't notice they're still awake, just happy being born with a brother by their side to keep them company.

That night, for the first time in a long while, Cale and Roksu were truly, honestly, and genuinely...

Happy.

Chapter Text

Roksu told his brother about a dream he had.

In that dream he was reading a book, and that book was called "The Birth of a Hero".

In it is a story of a korean boy named Choi Han who was transmigrated from another world into the Forest of Darkness where he has to struggle to stay alive for many, many years. Then, when he finally found a new home with the people of Harris Village, they were brutally massacred by a secret organisation and Choi Han was too late to save them. Fueled by vengeance, Choi Han then set off to fight this organisation and along the way he met different people who helped him in his journey.

According to Roksu, he dreamt about reading that book a day before we met Choi Han, and he only managed to read up until the 5th volume before he woke up.

"Is that why you wanted me to stay at home all day that day?" Cale had asked his twin, "Because of what you read in that book?"

"Yes," Roksu had told him, "The book said that Choi Han beat you up so much that you are on the brink of death."

Roksu had then looked at Cale desperately, the way he usually would whenever he feels like anyone in their family is in danger.

"You can't die."

"I won't" Cale immediately reassures, "Hyung did a good job protecting me."

Roksu then told him about the plot and a lot of details inside the book. Every now and then Cale would ask for a clarification or ask a question, and Roksu would answer him the best he can.

The more Roksu talked about The Birth of a Hero, the more Cale understood his brother's actions for the past few weeks.

"Hyung really is a good person" Cale thought, thinking about what has happened so far, "I'm glad." 

Only a good person would try and save everyone, even if Roksu claims to do it for selfish reasons.

The more Cale listened though, the more a certain question kept nagging at him.

The book was too detailed to dismiss as just Roksu's delusional dreaming. Even briefly, it mentioned people that Cale knew personally in real life with accurate description of who they were, and even told them about events that happened that Cale didn't know about but later on experienced. The little dragon and the bombing was proof enough of it's legitimacy, and Roksu finding ancient powers when they're so rare just solidifies it.

Still, no matter how specific and accurate the information in the book is, one thing became clear the more Roksu told him about the book.

"Hyung," Cale had wondered, "Why are you not in the book?"

In the story of "The Birth of a Hero", the person called Cain Henituse, also known as Roksu, did not appear or was mentioned even once. Even their family had brief descriptions describing them and even hinted that there was a former Countess before Violan. Everyone, even some servants, were in the book.

Everyone except Roksu.

It was like Roksu did not exist.

"I don't know" Roksu had told him, "Maybe I was not meant to exist."

He said it so nonchalantly that it made Cale a bit upset.

"Don't say that!" Cale denied, "I will fight anyone who says that Roksu-hyung is not meant to be exist."

"Even if it's me who says it?"

"Especially if it's you!"

Cale can't imagine what it would be like to grow up without his twin. Despite the difficulty of growing up with someone like his brother, it can't be denied that Roksu has always been there for Cale through everything.

A big brother that Cale can always rely on.

A constant companion from the very beginning.

"I will be sad if hyung is not around."

To grow up without his hyung would be a lonely existence.

"Don't worry. I will not go anywhere."

Roksu promises. Cale believes his brother. Still, Cale holds onto Roksu's sleeve, the same way he would do when they were younger, when he feels like his brother is drifting away from him, and Roksu pulls him close.

"If only hyung can stop being so troublesome, that would be perfect." Cale says jokingly to lighten up the mood and chase his own anxieties away.

"My dongsaeng has no respect for me."

"It's because hyung is so troublesome."

"...You should call me hyung more."

"I only call you hyung because hyung was being a really good hyung today. Tomorrow hyung is back to being Roksu."

"Aigoo. And you say I'm troublesome."

Cale giggles, and Roksu pats his head, and they talk about other things that does not involve being alone or whether or not they are meant to exist.

That night they were not able to solve why Roksu does not appear in the book. 

In that moment, it doesn't matter.

"GYAHAHAHAHA! So it turned out there really is two of you!"

Cale gaped at the drowned man he saved the other day, now fully awake and well. Cale knew that the guy was tall and big, but he is still amazed on how truly big and tall the guy is. He had to crane his neck to look at the guy's face properly. He is also as loud as he is big. Amazing. Look at that lion's mane of a hair! And wow, his muscles. So much muscles!

"Go away." Roksu says, unimpressed.

Behind him, looking like he is hiding behind his brother but in reality is holding onto Cale so he does not approach closer, is Roksu. His brother is glaring daggers at the man. Full on hissing cat mode.

Apparently the other day Roksu got drenched, got covered in dust, and was forced to use his shield all because of this man. Cale wasn't there when the incident happened, having overslept, but Roksu mentioned something about shrimps and whales. Anyway, whatever happened it is clear that his twin is holding a grudge. 

The man, stupidly named Bob, just laughed harder. They are currently at the port. It turned out Bob got exiled for the aforementioned shrimp and whatever incident, that's why they're here. Cale is still not sure what he is doing here, exactly, but apparently they're here to send Bob off? Even tho Roksu is hissing at him?? Did they become friends somehow???

"So this is your brother!" Bob points at Cale, "The man that found me! He looks very weak. Even weaker than you!"

Cale's jaw dropped, feeling offended but otherwise can't refute the statement. He wants to insult Bob's intelligence as retaliation, but refrains himself because this Bob guy could likely crush Cale's skull with just his thighs and he'd rather not make the man angry. He is also still confused on why he's here. He doesn't even know the big guy!

Beside him, Roksu bristles, and then snarls:

"Go away."

Roksu's hostility just amuses Bob though. There is a dynamic here that Cale doesn't understand.

But then, Bob suddenly speaks seriously to Roksu.

“Come after two months. The world will be different.”

"Go away. Go home already."

Roksu immediately answers. Cale senses something going that he's too sleepy to piece together. He looks at Roksu, then looks at Bob, and back at his brother again. Did they know each other? What is Bob talking about?

"Are you friends with my brother?" Cale innocently asks.

"GYAHAHAHA YES! If he comes in two months, then that means we are!."

"No. It does not. Go away."

Two contradicting answers. Cale's brows knit together in thought. That is when Cale remembers Roksu mention about meeting "the crazy barbarian" again when he went to check on the whirlpools last night.

Understanding fills Cale.

The crazy barbarian, Tunka. It seemed like Tunka and Roksu met last night and had an understanding of sorts. They probably talked about the mage tower. Maybe that's how they became friends? 

"Make sure to come after two months. Bring your brother with you!"

"Go. Away."

Tunka laughs again as he steps on the ship. As the ship leaves Tunka waves at them, and they wave back, although Roksu is still glaring at Tunka even as he waved him goodbye. Maybe they really are friends. The thought made Cale a bit glad. It's good for Roksu to have a variety of friends. 

From the ship, Tunka suddenly shouts: “My name is Tunka! Don’t forget it!” and waved at them enthusiastically. Cale waved back more, which made Tunka wave even more enthusiastically with two hands. They waved at each other until Tunka is no longer visible in the horizon.

"So he really is Tunka. He seems nice!" Cale, amazed at meeting a character from Roksu's book and a bit breathless from waving his arms a bit too enthusiastically, tells Roksu his thoughts.

Beside him, Roksu just clicks his tongue and does not comment any further. He looks so annoyed, but not in a murdery way, more like a "finally the annoying kid went home" kind of way that Cale finds a bit funny.

They head back to their room. Now that they sent Tunka off they now need to prepare to head back home too.

"Does this mean we're going to the Whipper Kingdom?" Cale asks conversationaly as they walk. Beside him Roksu nods. Cale continues to ramble out his thoughts.

"A trip abroad sounds fun. Oh! That means we'll meet Tunka again! Neat. He's a bit rude, ignoring me and calling me weak, but I guess I can forgive him. He's kinda adorable, waving at us like that. And did you see the size of him!? He's bigger than I thought! And his muscles! Got to admit that it's kinda hot. Do you think if I ask him to sqeeze my head in his biceps he'd do it?"

Beside Cale, Roksu suddenly stops in his tracks. Cale looks back at his brother, confused why he suddenly stopped, only to see Roksu looking pissed off.

"I'm going to sink his ship." Roksu says and turns back toward the port. Cale catches him quickly, putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him in his tracks.

"You will do no such thing." Cale commands. 

Begrudgingly, Roksu obeys.

"We're back!" Cale kicks the carriage door open and hops out, spreading his arms wide and taking a big inhale of air in front of their home as he spins around, ignoring the concerned voices of their staff telling him to be careful.

Behind him Roksu climbs down the carriage a lot more normally, followed by the two kittens and the invisible dragon. Cale stops his spinning and skips towards his brother.

"Welcome home, hyung." Cale smiles, and a bit more silently, "Welcome home, Ohn, Hong, and Little Dragon."

Roksu smiles back at his brother, "Yes, this is our home. It's good to be back." Around him, the kittens meow excitedly and the dragon is flipping happily in the air.

"ORABEONI!!!" From the front door Lilly runs towards them, followed closely by Bassen. Behind them approaching in a walk is their father Count Deruth and their step mother Countess Violan. They have been waiting for the twin's arrival all morning.

"WELCOME BACK!" Lilly excitedly screams, jumping towards Roksu who expertedly caught her. He still stumbled a bit, but Cale is there help steady both of them.

While Lilly is busy hugging Roksu, Bassen approached more carefully and gave Cale a hug. "Welcome back,Cale-hyung" he shyly says as Cale ruffles his hair as a greeting, he then turns to Roksu, "Welcome back, Roksu-hyung."

Roksu tried to pat Bassen's head, but Lilly, still full of excitement and energy just shrieked "WE MISSED YOU!!!" before pulling at Cale and Bassen for a hug too. Never one to miss a hug party, Cale let himself be pulled into the hug, making sure he got all of his siblings inside his arms and ignoring his twin's protest on being piled on.

"Heavy! Heavy!" Underneath the pile of hugs, Roksu struggles with the weight. His arms and knees shake, but he also resolutely held on. In his mind the little dragon offered to help, but Roksu subtly shook his head no, indicating that he can manage.

"Children, please release your poor brother." The voice of Countess Violan cuts through cooly. The siblings breaks the hug. Bassen and Lilly used this opportunity to hold their brother's arms instead, with Bassen holding onto Cale and Lilly holding onto Roksu.

"Welcome home my sons!" Count Deruth spreads his arms wide the moment his twins came back into view, immediately turning it into a hug before checking up on them and making sure they don't have any injuries, first inspecting Cale and then Roksu who looked very uncomfortable at being fussed over.

While Roksu is being inspected, Cale lightly elbowed at his brother.

"That is what it feels like whenever you fuss over me everytime I go home from drinking" Cale whispers loudly, grinning mischievously when Roksu pouts at him.

"Now, now Cale. No need for the teasing. Nothing wrong with making sure your family is not hurt." Deruth says, patting his eldest sons in the head after he is done, "I am just really worried when I heard what happened at the capital. You can't fault your father for being worried can you?"

"You worry too much, father," Cale says nonchalantly, rocking on his heels, "Roksu definitely got his nervousness from you."

Deruth sighs, "And you are too carefree..."

"We are just glad to have you home safely. Welcome back. " Violan adds, more gracefully than her husband, getting straight to the point as always. Cale flashed her a bright smile as thanks.

At the same time, the kittens, wanting to get Roksu's permission to start exploring already, started rubbing on Roksu's legs. This made Roksu look down on them, but the action is misinterpreted by their parents as Roksu being shy and timid.

"We heard what happened." Deruth says, a lot more seriously now.

"And were all worried" Violan added gently, turning to Roksu and holding his hands in hers, "Roksu, I hope the experience did not scare you too much. We know it took a lot for you to even just leave the house. You know we are always here to support you, right?"

Roksu looks up at Violan when she held his hand. However, he didn't really pay attention to what she said because the dragon kept talking loudly in his mind, excitedly asking for permission to explore the new home already. The kittens also tapped at his leg, and Roksu looked down on them again before nodding, letting them know that they can go.

Assuming she was welcoming them home though, Roksu also says: "It's good to be back home." However, because he is looking down, to everyone else it looked like Roksu was shyly saying those words.

Violan just smiles, sharing a look with Deruth. Their eldest son might be shy and timid, but at least he knows that he is loved by the family. With the news of Roksu's bravery in the capital, they hope that one day Roksu would fully come out of his shell and live a full and happy life.

Cale watched the misunderstanding happen but didn't interfere at all. It is better that their family thinks that Roksu is a shy, timid, and nervous person. It is enough that only Cale knows about his twin's vicious side. As long as their family is happy and safe, then that's all that matters.

"Come on Roksu-hyung, Cale-hyung. You two must be tired." Bassen pulls at his older brothers, ushering them inside.

"That's right! You can tell us about your trip later! For now, rest up!" Lilly adds, running around her brothers happily.

"Ah! But the gifts..." Roksu tries to stop for a moment in order to hand out the gifts they bought to his siblings, but he was whisked inside too quickly.

"Let's hand them out at dinner later," Cale tells his brother, already yawning as the tiredness of their long travel finally catch-up to him, 

"Ah I'm tired! I missed my bed! It's really great to be back!"

At his words Roksu starts to feel tired as well, just now realizing that he's been a little tense all the the time while they are traveling. That's right. This is their home. There is no threat here. It is ok to relax here.

When Roksu starts yawning too, Cale can't help but smile. A sleepy Roksu is a happy Roksu. He's glad to see Roksu letting his guard down now that they are home.

Although their trip was fun, at the end of the day, being at home is the best.

Back in the carriage where the two disguised whales are...

"What a good family," Whitira says as they watch the Henituse family have their reunion. Even from afar she could tell that theirs is a family that love and cherish each other. Seeing them, her heart swells with determination as she is reminded of her own family that she wished to protect.

"They really are." Paseton agrees, "It is easy to see how young master Roksu and young master Cale grew up to be good people."

Not only did the older twin rescue him, the younger twin also made sure that he is taken good care of. For that, Paseton is forever grateful. For him, it is no wonder that a dragon favors the twins enough to follow them everywhere.

"I heard that they also offered to care for all those young wolf cubs who lost their home, and also took in a young swordsman who was the only survivor of their village." Whitira says. While traveling with the Henituse twins, the servants and knights have told them of the twin's good deeds. It is easy to see how much of a good person the twins are just by seeing how fond their servants are of them.

"Our young master Roksu might be shy and timid, but he is compassionate to everyone and very brave when he needs to be." Hillsman, the knights vice captain, had said to them. "And young master Cale may seem happy-go-lucky and careless, but he is actually very caring and thoughtful."

The vice captain then went on and on about how moved he was to see their shy young master Roksu step in and protect everyone with his silver shield, and how reassured he is when young master Cale made sure that all the servants were safe from the bombing and that the wolf kids are provided for with everything they need.

"Let's make sure to properly give back their generosity" Paseton says, and Whitira agrees with her younger brother.

Later:

Meeeeeeow!

Meeow!

In Roksu's room, the kittens are excitedly rolling around in the bed. Meanwhile, around the bedside perimeter, Roksu is busy putting pillows around the bed. When he ran out of pillows, he went and got more from Cale's room until he was satisfied that every edge of the bed have pillows on it.

By the couch, Cale watched his brother idly. By the door, Vicross stands patiently, waiting for Roksu to finish.

"What are you doing?" Cale finally asked.

"The kittens are rolling around." Was all Roksu says, patting the pillows down firmly, very serious with his work.

"Yeah, and?"

"They might roll too far and fall."

"It's a big bed, Roksu."

"And we have a lot of pillows."

Seeing Roksu's determination and seeing no harm in it, Cale let his brother be and refocused his attention at Vicross.

"Why are you here?"

Vicross hands Cale a letter.

"It is a letter from my father."

 "Ah, Ron."

 "He told me it was a report."

At the mention of a report, Roksu perks up and approaches, looking at the sealed letter in Cale's hand. Although Ron had sent a letter through Hans when he had left, it seemed like he was now going to make his reports through his son.

"Great. Thanks." Cale says, handing the letter to Roksu.

 "Yes sir."

Roksu takes the letter and looks at Vicross.

 "I set it up so Maes and the rest of the Wolf children will help out with the kitchen and serving." Roksu tells the chef.

Vicross’s shoulders flinched, but he managed to answer after a few seconds of silence.

"…I understand."

He seemed to be very weak while walking away. Before Vicross could fully leave though, Cale takes pity and called out to him.

"Hey, don't worry too much. I arranged people to help you out. The kids seemed attached to you, so you'll be their main caretaker, but you'll get help in taking care of them, especially the younger ones."

At this Vicross seemed to look better, giving Cale a curt nod before leaving.

"Vicross is doing a good job with them so far though" Roksu says the moment Vicross leaves.

"Roksu, there are 15 kids. 15!" Cale reasons, "Vicross is very capable, but he is only one man. And do you know the logistics that goes into taking care of that much children? The planning and budgeting I had to do — hey! Are you listening to me?"

But Roksu was not listening. The moment Vicross left and the bedroom door was closed, the little dragon had appeared.

“Our house is great. Our house is very very great.”

The Black Dragon jumped onto the bed with On and Hong in excitement. Roksu smiled at the actions of the three children, and then went on to reinforce the pillow walls he made around the bed, arranging them everytime the pillows get jostled from the children jumping and rolling around.

"Roksu, leave the pillows. They'll be fine." Cale tells his brother, getting tired just watching Roksu run around the bed and arranging the pillows (making the kids laugh at the weird game they're playing so they jump even more, dislodging even more pillows).

"They're children, not babies."

At his words, Hong raises up a paw.

"I'm a kind of a baby." Hong says cutely, big eyes and a wide smile, wholeheartedly believing his words.

Not to be outdone, and not really knowing yet what a baby is, the little dragon also raises a paw.

"I am a great and mighty dragon! But I can also be a baby!"

Ohn doesn't say anything, but she looked like she is stopping herself from laughing a lot.

Roksu looks at the children, considering their words seriously. Then he turns towards Cale.

"We need to put a fence around the bed."

"No. No we do not."

Chapter Text

Count Deruth Henituse was in his study reading the last reports for the day before going to bed when the door creaked open. He looks up from the papers only to see his eldest son peeking at the door at him. At the sight of Roksu, Deruth smiles, mildly curious why his son is here, but welcoming his presence all the same.

“Can I come in?” Roksu asks.

Deruth motioned for his son to come inside, setting aside the reports and putting down his reading glasses in favor of listening to whatever worries his son may have. It is very rare for Roksu to seek him out first after all, and whenever he does Deruth makes it a point of making time for his son no matter what time of the day it is.

“Is something the matter?” Deruth asks, patting the space beside him in the couch for Roksu to sit, which he does, pulling his feet up, hugging his knees, and leaning on his father. Deruth lets him, in turn putting an arm around Roksu in a half-hug so he can pat his son’s hair in a gentle, rhythmic manner.

When Roksu got comfortable, he finally speaks.

“Cale went out drinking again.”

Ah. Deruth understands now. His sweet, timid, and adorable son is sulking and went to seek his father for comfort. He pats Roksu’s head comfortingly, suppressing a smile when Roksu leans into his touch.

“You didn’t go with your brother?”

At that, Roksu pouts, sulking even more, clearly wanting to go too but not being able to go, and Deruth chuckles knowing exactly why that is so.

“Not much of a fan of young master silver shield, huh?”

At the mention of the nickname Roksu scowls and Deruth can’t help but laugh a bit at his son’s cute reaction. He had heard from Deputy Butler Hans how when the twins arrived in the city expecting a peaceful homecoming, they were met instead by a crowd of people excitedly cheering at their return and are shouting and chanting about the heroic deeds of young master silver shield. It must be a horrifying experience for his very introverted son to be receiving this kind of attention, but it also does not make it any less funny.

“I want to go drinking too,” Roksu grumbles, hiding his face in his knees, “But everyone is being annoying. I told Cale we can just drink here, that we have a lot of good wine here too, but he said it’s not the same and went out anyway.”

“And you are sulking because your brother left you behind?”

“...I’m not sulking.”

Definitely sulking.

“Do you want to go to bed instead?”

“No. I will wait for Cale to return.”

Deruth hums in acknowledgement, continuing his comforting head pats, half-reminiscing about the time when Roksu was younger and Deruth would pat him to sleep in his shoulder while working late in his office, smiling at the memory. His son is now too big to be carried but Deruth feels good knowing that he is still finding comfort in his father's presence.

"Then I will wait for Cale's return with you. In the meantime, I'll listen to your grievances, and you can sulk with your father in peace."

"I am not sulking."

"Yes, yes, of course. If you say so."

They chatted. About their trip in the capital. About the crown prince. About Harris Village. About Choi Han. About the Henituse history and the wise words of their ancestors. Roksu even showed him the shield and Deruth laughed as he grumbled that it looked too holy.

Deruth was rather glad he sent his twins to the capital. Although the terrorist attack was unfortunate, in the end the trip overall was good for the twins. Roksu was able to make friends and interact with people other than his siblings and Cale was able to find something he wanted to do and use his considerable talent in management on.

Still, though, Deruth worries for his sons. Especially his eldest, who was too sickly as a baby and was plagued with terrors no else can see since he was a small child.

“Roksu?"

"Yes, father?"

"Do you still have the nightmares?”

Roksu sidles closer to his father, fiddling with his fingers.

"Only sometimes now," Roksu confesses, “...it's less when Cale is around.”

"That's good." Deruth is relieved that it's getting better for Roksu now, although he would rather Roksu never had the nightmares in the first place. 

“You know you can always rely on our whole family, right? Not just on Cale?”

“...I know.”

"As long as you know."

There was a knock on the door, and a maid informs them of Cale's return.

All at once Roksu springs to life, almost leaping out of the couch and toddling out the door before remembering himself, just pausing briefly to acknowledge his father before he leaves.

Deruth just sighs fondly at his son's antics, cleaning up the documents on the table and putting them in the pile for tomorrow, and follows after Roksu.

As a father, Deruth was really glad that his twins have a close bond with each other. Roksu was a very closed off child and it was only through Cale's efforts that Roksu even manages to speak with other people. Roksu relies on Cale for many things, and Cale let's his brother rely on him without complaint. Deruth is really lucky that the two grew up so well.

Still, Deruth is glad of Roksu's growing independence. Cale is very reliable, but his tendency to always prioritize his older brother had left him without dreams and ambitions of his own. Deruth would like to let Cale be his own person, pursuing his own goals in life without worrying about Roksu.

Although relying on each other is a good thing, being overdependent will only cause hardships in the end.

Still, the twins are still young. They are still learning about life and discovering themselves. His role is to support his sons in whatever path they choose in life and make sure they are safe as they do so.

Near the front door, Deruth could see his twins.

“I’m back” Cale grins, holding up a large bag that smells delicious while Roksu does his routine check, “I got chicken skewers.”

Roksu looks up, and even though his face remained more or less stoic, you can tell that he's surprised.

“You just bought chicken skewers? You did not go drinking?”

Cale raises an eyebrow, “Of course not? I just went to buy us drinking snacks.”

“Why? We can just have the chefs cook some.”

“We could, sure, but it’s not the same!”

“You really just went to buy snacks?”

“Yes? Did you think I’d invite you to go drinking and then not drink with you?”

“...No.”

“...You did. Is that why you’re sulking?”

“I am not sulking.”

“He was sulking.”

It was at this moment that Deruth chose to make his presence known.

Roksu turns to him, looking a bit betrayed and his cheeks puffed, while Cale's grin grew wider at the confirmation that Roksu really was sulking.

“I was not!”

"Oh, Father, you’re here too? Want to join us for a drink?”

"If you don't mind, I'd be happy to join."

"No, not at all! Drink with us father!"

The father and son playfully ignored the huffing and puffing older brother.

"I really was not sulking!"

"Yes, yes. Whatever you say hyung." :)

"Cale!"

Deruth smiles, just glad that his sons are so lively, and joins them for a drink.

"Your brother is quite talented." Whitira tells Roksu as they observe Cale running around managing and supervising the reconstruction of the burnt down Harris Village and the care for the wolf children who would be living in the place.

"Of course he is." Roksu says proudly while Ohn, who was in his arms, gives him a look.

During the entire carriage ride to the village Cale had very thoroughly lectured Roksu about his decision to revive Harris Village and just leave all the planning and management to the servants. 

"Roksu! Even if our people are trained well and are talented, you can't just let them handle a project as big as this! This should be handled with care! With care, Roksu!"

Cale had then ranted on and on about planning and budgeting and more words that Ohn could not understand but had the whales, who were also with them, sweating a bit and looking at Roksu like they're trying to make him get Cale to stop.

It made the entire carriage a bit too awkward for Ohn's liking.

When Roksu first shared his plans about Harris Village, Cale had been very supportive. This changed however when Cale found out that Roksu just up and left all the planning to the butlers. This prompted Cale to march over to the Count's office and personally asked to be in-charge of the project which their father was more than happy to approve.

This made Cale very busy in the days leading up to their trip to Harris Village, which led to many sleepless nights as Cale made sure that at the very least the wolf kids would have a decent place to sleep in once they arrive in their new home, which led to Cale being cranky and ranting to Roksu the whole carriage ride to Harris Village.

Naturally, Cale is also very busy once they arrived in the village, handling everything properly and making sure everyone is comfortable and taken cared of. In turn everyone helped him as well. Even the Whale Tribe siblings helped out.

Cale was doing a really good job with all of these, and of course, Roksu would proudly agree with everyone's praises for his brother's efforts.

Still, though, their purpose for going to Harris Village is not just for it's restoration.

After Roksu paid his respects to the fallen villagers and arranged for a proper funeral and burial for them, he gathered the While Tribe siblings, Ohn, Hong, and the little dragon for a small meeting.

"Tomorrow we are going into the Forest of Darkness."

They are finally going into the forest of darkness to go and find the source of the increase of strength of the mermaid poison.

"I have already arranged everything for the journey. All I ask is that we don't tell Cale that we are leaving."

Roksu shared his conditions for the trip. This, understandably, surprised everyone in the room.

"Young master Roksu, is it really ok not to include young master Cale?"

Whitira asked, confused. She is so used to seeing the twins always together that leaving Cale out feels wrong. Beside her, Paseton also looked troubled by this.

"Wouldn't it be better if we tell young master Cale about this beforehand?"

The whale siblings looked at Roksu, wanting answers. However, Roksu just shakes his head.

"I don't want Cale to be in danger." Roksu tells them honestly, "It is better that my brother stays behind."

Although one reason for this trip was to provide a safe environment for Ohn, Hong, and the little dragon to test out their abilities, that does not mean that it is the same for Cale.

Cale is weak. Weaker than even Roksu. He does not have any fighting experience, or abilities that needs to be trained, or even any ancient powers to protect himself. Just one unlucky move and he could die.

Roksu is not confident he can keep Cale safe while in the forest, even if with overly strong individuals with them like the whales.

"You are also an older sibling, Whitira-nim." Roksu meets Whitira's gaze, "You should understand my feelings."

The two looked at each for a few beats until finally Whitira relents, even though she does not wholeheartedly agree. This is not her decision to make after all.

"Since we are in need of your help, we'll do as you say, young master Roksu."

"Thank you."

Even with that decided though, the children still feel uncomfortable about keeping things from Cale. 

"Human!" The black dragon, who was sitting beside the kittens flew up and landed on Roksu's shoulder and voiced out his concerns.

"You promised human's brother to always tell him your plans, right? Why are we keeping this a secret?"

The children, being always around the twins, have learned about this promise. Breaking that promise feels wrong. 

"I didn't break my promise though?" Roksu says, and the children look at him confused, so he explained.

"I promised to tell Cale my plans, but I did not promise Cale I would bring him."

A loophole.

Roksu had promised to tell Cale of his plans, and he already told Cale about the trip to the Forest of Darkness and what he plans to do there. However, he did not promise to involve Cale in his plans, or promised to tell him when he plans on taking action, or promised to tell everything that happens while executing the plan.

Technically, Roksu already fulfilled his side of the promise.

"I did not break my promise."

Even with the explanation, though, the children still feels iffy about it. The little dragon frowns as he thinks it over. Ohn flicks her tail, and Hong paws at Roksu's leg, getting his attention.

"But..." Hong asks, when he got Roksu's attention, "Won't Cale-nya feel sad if we leave him behind?" Hong asks.

"Cale-nya will get mad at you nya" Ohn adds, agreeing with her brother.

Roksu pats their heads, but does not relent.

"I know that," Roksu tells them, "But I'd rather he get angry with me than put him in danger. He'll understand if I explain it to him when we get back."

The little dragon does not accept this reasoning though.

"Human, if you are scared of your brother getting hurt, then I will protect him! I am strong and great and mighty! I can protect both you and your brother!"

The little dragon declares, puffing his chest to show his confidence in being able to protect Cale.

"It is very easy for a mighty dragon like me!"

"Yeah! Yeah! That's right!"

"Our youngest is right!"

The children continued their protest, and Roksu's resolve wavers in the face of their determination. 

Then, Paseton, who had been silent this whole time, also shared his own opinion.

"Young master Roksu, I understand that you only wanted for young master Cale to be safe."

Paseton takes a deep breath, closing his fists in his lap as he finds courage to speak his mind. 

"However, I am a younger sibling as well. I can imagine what young master Cale would feel the moment he finds out that he is left behind."

Paseton briefly galnces at his sister, then looks back at Roksu, meeting his cold gaze head on.

"Young master, he would feel hurt. He may understand why, but he will feel hurt nonetheless. I know this because I have been in his position before. Even though I know noona only wanted to keep me safe, I still feel hurt whenever she puts me in the rear."

As someone who is weaker than the other while tribe members, Paseton is often left out of the frontlines in order to keep him safe. Although he understands why, he still feels hurt for not being able to help more. It is why he followed those suspicious mermaids in the first place.

Paseton's desire to contribute more, to feel more included, is what got him almost killed.

"Please reconsider, young master Roksu. Please understand our feelings as younger siblings as well."

There is a moment of silence as Paseton's words sink in.

Roksu's eyes shook, and he feels an uncomfortable feeling in his chest so he started petting the kittens in comfort until he could analyze his emotions.

Although Roksu's number 1 priority is keeping Cale safe, it is also true that he wants Cale to always be happy. Roksu had been prepared for Cale to get angry at him because of this, but he had been confident he can assuage Cale's anger. His brother had always been reasonable and although he gets angry at times, it never really lasts long.

Roksu didn't account for the possibility that Cale would feel hurt.

The thought makes him uncomfortable. He tried to recall the times Cale got angry with him. There was that time when he locked Cale up in their room because there were a lot of strangers in their house. And that time he drugged his tea so he won't go out drinking. And that time when he didn't tell Cale that Choi Han was leaving because they'll meet him again anyway...

Has he been inadvertently hurting Cale all this time?

But Cale said... But Cale said he's fine and Cale never lies to him... so it can't be, right..?

Roksu's mind can't comprehend it.

Unbidden, a memory surfaces.

The blood, it drips.

 

It pools on the ground, sticking on the sharp edges of the broken mirror.

 

In each reflection is Cale, with fear in his eyes.

 

Cale is crawling away, screaming for help. 

 

Where is he going? Can't he see he's hurt? His life is leaking out of him, and Roksu must make it right.

 

So much blood.

 

Blood and tears and a thousand reflections of blood and death.

 

Cale can't die.

 

But They were dead. DEAD. dead. BecaɄ₴Ɇ Ø₣ Ⱨł₥. ĐɆ₳Đ. ɆVɆryone is dead. Cale is dead.

 

Cale is going to die.

 

He can't die.

 

HE CAN'T DIE.

 

No. N̸̞̠̱̦̆͑͑O̵̭̯̟̾͐. He can't. 

 

Dead. dead. ĐɆ₳Đ. Dead.

 

Everyone is dead.

 

CaⱠɆ ₥ust not die.

 

Cale must live.

 

Beḯ̭̩̩̞̮̮̝̱͝n̨̦̮ͫ̓͌ģ̪̙̻͓̒ alive is the ƀɇsŧ.

 

Ƀɇɨnǥ Ⱥłɨvɇ ɨs ŧħɇ ƀɇsŧ ɃɇƗNǤ ȺŁɨvɇ Ɨs ŧĦɇ ɃɇsŦ ɃɆƗNǤ ȺŁƗVɆ ƗS ŦḦ͚̻̺̈͝E͎͈͚ͣ̕ ͕̠͍̠̖̣̉ͦ́B̛͕͈̼̞̗̭ͣE̠̥̮̮̜̍́S̩͔̯͈̮͌͒͊͠ͅT̛̬̟̂͒͒̋.͚̟̗̝̣̞͔̩̑ͧ͆ͭ͢ ̛͚̭̏ͯb̝̟͊͘ͅē̹͉̻̳ͣͥ͟i̧̺̞̚ͅṅ̢̰̟̗͎ͪ̓̈́ͅg̵̙͔͚̫͚͚̦̹̈̄ ̶̦͇̑a̢̠͉̣͈ͪ̊͋ͩl̫̙͇̣̘̳ͭͬ͋͡i̴̝͙̟̗͎̇̄ͪv̈́̎̔ͣ͏͓̬̬͇͙e̴̺͚͊̃ͬ ̓͏͖͉ͅi̵͚̮̺̺͓̣̖̩ͣͬ͑ş͓͙͕̲̫͎̈́ͣ͗̋ ̤͍͓̠̪̯̜̌̀ͅt̷̘͍̩̔ͯͯh̖̩̺͎̲͚̊̈͆͡e̪̪̱̰̪͊͒̈́́ ̝̼͈̘̪͎̂̊͡b̘̩̩͕͎̂͢e̷͎̣͈̗̖ͪs̸͔̻̫̠̤̩̓ͅt̵̜̟̭ͩͩ.̂̋̍҉̬̮͙̲̺̞̫ ̛͔̰̼̦̾̈̓b̞͖͖̭͇̳͚̻̔͢Ë̸͉̜̭̰͎́̚I͎̣̠̓̀̔ͦ͟ͅñ̛͚̟̮̤͍̟̍ͤG̨̰̝̫̰̟̲̩ͭ̀ ̢̩̗̟̠̻͎̀͒̆̔Ả̵̮͙ͣ̆l͓̘̲̒͘ȋ̯̬̳́̕ͅV̛̭̪͇̽͆ę̣̘ͫ̑͒ ̛̼͉̚i̧̙̤͚̮̻̐s͇̱̥̦̪̠̣ͦ̑́̀ ̲̭̼̺̦̘̿ͫ͘ͅt̠̫ͭ̎̆̕h̳̮͈̯̲ͣ͠E̡͉̜̼̞̮͈̗̺ͪ̐̊̎ ͇͖̘̭͚͑̕B̺̣͈̥͕̩͇͗̐́E̢͎̳̥̥̝̔̍̉s̷̗̤̣̪̼͎̏̽t̙̗͇̘̲̭͚ͫ̒͗͠ͅ.͎̻͇͙̘̂͟ ̠͖̝̤̤̈́͊̌̑͠B̮̜̯̝̟̠͍ͧ̾̌̑͝E̴͕̥͌̄̎I̝̱̝̟̠̜̰͂ͦ͊̌̀ͅN̓͂͛̚҉͕̜ͅG͋̒҉̠̩͙͓̲̙͎ ̝̜̼̭͓ͤ̋͗͐͜Aͯ͏̘̝Ļ̜̯̖̮͎̙̺͛̋ͥͫI̷̖͍͖̦͒̌͐V̶̹͇̫̠̭̱̎̄͆̌E̋̏҉͍̥̖̜ ̴͓͇̥̣͕ͧI̸͖̝͍̮̥̬̱͍̾̉̆ͯSͬ͋ͧ҉͉̼̜̭͙̭͔̞ ̞̟̣͚̤͑̂̂̒͘Ṯ̡̪̣̻̫̈́́H̰̼̜̠̘̿͠E̶̩̠̯̹ͨ̉͊ ̧͙̺̭̗̥̥͚̄ͯͣ̇B̴̦̻͍͎ͥE̶͕̜ͫ—̭̬͍̪̤̜̰͓͋̒͞

 

"Hyung, please... you're hurting me..."

The memory distorts, and it breaks into pieces before it is buried deep within his records again.

Roksu doesn't remember what he was remembering. Something about Cale being angry?

Oh. Right. Maybe he should reconsider leaving Cale behind. His dongsaeng always attracts trouble, after all.

He should apologise to Cale. Roksu doesn't know why he should though. Still, he must apologise.

There is a buzzing noise inside Roksu's head, like a high pitched static that whines unendless.

"Human?"

The little dragon tilts his head to look closer at Roksu's face, the human suddenly just freezing and staring unblinking at something on the floor even though there is nothing there?

"Human?" The little dragon asks again, poking at the human's face with his paw. This seem to jolt Roksu from his trance, and he blinks, then raises a hand to pet the dragon's head.

And just like that, Roksu looks normal again.

Still, the little dragon feels like there is something wrong with the human's face. He couldn't place why that is though, so he decides to tell Cale about it, seeking the other twin's consciousness.

– Human's brother! I think the human is seeing the not real ghosts again, but I am not sure. Can you come and look?

Meanwhile, the whales, who had were talking softly amongst themselves, did not seem to notice anything strange happened. They were busy bonding after Paseton's expression of his feelings, their sibling bond getting stronger with more understanding.

They only payed attention when Roksu spoke again. 

"We are still going to the forest as planned."

Roksu says, almost in a trance, the kittens rubbing themselves on him having sensed the same uneasiness that the little dragon felt. 

"However, I have considered your words. I will talk to Cale. Please let me tell my brother about this myself."

As if on cue the door to their room slams open.

"Roksu!" Cale arrives, out of breath and sweaty like he had been running, immediately scanning the room to analyze the situation.

Everyone was looking at him, surprised by his sudden arrival, but Cale didn't pay them any attention, instead heading straight towards his brother.

"Where have you been? Do you know how busy I am? You really should help me out you know?" Cale says to his brother, wearing a cheerful expression as he checks his brother's face, petting the heads of the children in turn, generally pretending like he didn't just run here at full speed because of the little dragon's message.

The whale siblings took this time to leave and excused themselves, and Cale waves at them goodbye as he sits beside his brother. The kittens and the little dragon then crowded at him, looking up at him expectantly like he can answer their question on why Roksu is being so weird.

Roksu remains sitting there, just staring at him.

'It's close...' Cale is feeling nervous because Roksu is definitely in the beginning stages of his murder mode but he doesn't know what set him off. If he turns full on murdery Cale doesn't know if he can't stop it.

The children had not seen Roksu like this yet either and Ron is not here too. If Cale can't put a stop to this right now, things are going to get ugly.

Cale puts on a pout and tugs on his brother's sleeve.

"Roksu is ignoring me. Why are you ignoring me? Did something happen? Did the whales say something?"

Instead of answering, Roksu just looks down. He looked, sad? Conflicted too, and a bit lost. Not like he was about to murder someone like usual. This confuses Cale so he ushers the children out with promises to explain everything to them later and locking the door so they won't be disturbed.

Cale sits carefully beside his brother and pulls him in for a hug. They then lay down on the couch with Roksu's ear pressed on Cale's chest so he can listen to his heartbeat like they always do, and Cale just waits until Roksu feels calm enough to speak. Eventually his twin does.

"Don't die."

Roksu hugs his brother tighter and Cale covers Roksu's eyes with a hand, willing it to close, just to be sure. Roksu does. The hug loosens and Cale relaxes a bit.

"I won't."

"Hyung is sorry, so don't die."

Cale pats his brother's head. He doesn't know why his brother is apologising, but he answers anyway.

"Don't worry. I won't die."

"Hyung is sorry. Don't die. I'm sorry."

"I won't. Why are you apologising? Did you do something wrong?"

"Hyung is sorry."

"I forgive you. You still need to tell me why you're sorry though."

Roksu remained silent, and Cale waits patiently. Every now and then Roksu would say he is sorry and ask him not to die, but he never answers the question. Eventually Roksu falls asleep, and Cale had to lie there wondering what is happening.

Cale guessed it must be something to do with going to the Forest of Darkness. That's the only logical explanation. Cale knew his brother planned on going there, and that there is a possibility that Roksu was going to leave him behind, using a loophole to their promise to justify it. Cale planned on forcing Roksu to bring him anyway, so it's not really a big deal, but he did not anticipate this.

Why is Roksu apologising?

In the end Cale never figured out why, not even when he went and talked with the children and the whales. He managed to join their expedition though, so that's ok. He can figure things out later.

Roksu also never really snapped out of his murder mode. He calmed down enough that it is not noticeable, even passable as being back to his normal self, but the unblinking stare and the dangerous air around him never really went away. They still went anyway. Cale figured that the whales are strong and they'll be far from civilization anyway, so no one will get hurt even if Roksu went full-on murder mode. It should be ok. 

It should be ok, right?

Inside the Forest of Darkness, Cale stands perfectly still inside the little dragon's shield, holding a notebook to his chest, a serene smile on his face and a thousand yard stare in his eyes.

Splat!

Monster guts flew and landed on the shield, sliding down slowly and falling on the ground with a wet plop.

"Wow~ the forest is so pretty! So many wonderful sights!"

Cale says in a flat voice, a forced cheer in his tone, for the 7th time in the past hour.

"CALE-NYAAAAAAAA!"

Hong wails, his kitten arms holding at Cale's leg.

"He's lost it!"

Ohn shouts. She's on Cale's shoulders, batting at his face with her paws, and trying to shake his head.

"CALE HAS REJECTED REALITY NYA!"

Chapter Text

The trip to the Forest of Darkness started out peacefully enough.

"I'm glad you are able to come with us, young master Cale." Paseton says to the redhead as they are nearing the wall that seperates the Henituse territory from the monster infested forest.

He turns toward Cale beside him, smiling to show sincerity to his words.

Last night Cale had informed the whales that Roksu had relented and allowed him to go with them to the Forest of Darkness, much to the delight of Paseton in particular, who felt happy that his words were taken seriously.

"Of course!"

Cale says cheerfully beside him, smiling back at him and skipping as he walked,

"I was actually planning on surprising everyone by just showing up on the wall and force you all to bring me. I had prepared a teleportation scroll and everything! Glad that I didn't have to resort to that."

Cale then grins mischievously at the whale, enjoying the 'mortified but still trying to look polite' expression on his face. 

Meanwhile Paseton blinks at the redhead, a bit surprised at the revelation but trying not to look like it. He did not expect Cale to know he would be excluded, or actually have a plan at the ready to counter it, and the thought had his mind reeling with thoughts of how the twins are so different than what they seem.

Then the whale prince remembers the Vice Captain Hillsman saying something about Cale.

"Young master Cale is a happy-go-lucky sort of person, so he gets into trouble a lot! That's why young master Roksu is always worried about him! Hahaha!"

 It seemed that Roksu's decision to not tell Cale about the trip was not entirely unwarranted.

Sensing his thoughts, Cale just leans closer to Paseton, eyes glinting with mischief and preening slightly when he sees the whale Prince getting a bit flustered at him invading his space, before whispering to his ear:

"You can't get rid of me even if you tried."

Cale then chuckles and skips away, pumping his fists in the air and shouting "Adventure!" when he reached where the children are, who then matched his enthusiasm with shouts of their own, running around Roksu who just let them be with their antics while also being very careful where he steps to avoid colliding with the running children.

The sight had Paseton shaking his head while smiling. Although this trip was supposed to be a serious affair, one that would decide the fate of their tribe, the atmosphere was light because of Roksu's reassuring confidence, Cale's cheerful excitement, and the children's boundless enthusiasm.

With the twins there with them, Paseton felt that he doesn't need to worry. That everything would be alright. That him risking his life to figure out the source of the mermaid's poison was well worth it.

His thoughts were interrupted with Whitira bumping shoulders with him and smiling knowingly, making the younger whale feel embarrassed for some reason.

"That's — !"

Before he could defend himself though, his sister had already walked ahead with a chuckle, leaving him flustered and confused.

Then, they finally reach the wall.

It was a tall solid structure made of thick rock bricks that are worn and old but still sturdy and well maintained, and it evoked a sense of history that old structures tend to have.

Like a sentry keeping watch the passage of time.

Idly, Cale wondered if this wall witnessed how his mother died too, but pushed the thought away almost immediately.

"Let's go." Roksu says, after awhile.

 The little dragon starts flying up the wall, floating the twins up with him with Ohn in Roksu's arms and Hong perching on Cale's shoulder.

The whales sibling followed suit, manipulating the water they brought with them and running up the wall at a quick pace, the water on their feet propelling them upwards.

The Forest of Darkness and its vast natural setting appeared in front of the group.

“Wow!” Hong’s voice rang with admiration the moment they reached the top of the wall, while Ohn's tail swayed and her eyes glowing at the sight that greeted them. The little dragon did not say anything, but he had perched on Roksu's shoulder with his wings fluttering behind him.

"It's big." Roksu comments.

"It's beautiful." Cale adds.

Unlike it's name, the Forest of Darkness was not actually dark at all times. In fact, the forest, that was starting to light up from the rising of the early morning sun, was actually beautiful to look at.

They took a moment to soak up this scenery.

It was in then that Whitira approached Cale. 

"You have a request for me, young master Cale?"

The day before, after Cale informed the whale siblings about his involvement in the upcoming trip, he had told Whitira that he has something to say to her when they arrived at the top of the wall, insisting that it was a request that needs to be said when they are on top of the wall and nowhere else.

Of course, the whale tribe heiress was curious on what Cale's request could be that it needed a right place to be asked. She had been anticipating this moment.

Beside Cale, Roksu looks at his twin, eyes sharp and wary, but Cale just put a hand firmly on Roksu's shoulder to say that it is alright and he should not worry.

Cale then smiles and carefully hands Hong to Roksu who is now alternatingly staring at his twin and Whitira with an unblinking piercing gaze.

"Whitira-noona..." Cale begins. 

'Noona???'

At his words, both Roksu and Paseton whips their heads towards him with their mouths hanging open in shock, but Cale ignores them in favor of holding his hands together and giving Whitira puppy-dog eyes.

"Whitira-noona, can you carry me down the wall in your strong, beautiful, reliable arms?"

Absolute silence, and then, all at the same time:

 Whitira bursts out laughing.

The little dragon huffs, "Human's brother I can bring you down the wall myself!", absolutely offended.

"Why is she noona and I'm not hyung?" Roksu mutters, also offended.

"Noona is my noona!" Paseton had an unexpected outburst.

"Nyahahaha!" Hong wheezed, enjoying the chaos.

"So silly nya..." Ohn giggles, amused as well.

Of course Cale has a defense for the complaints, especially for the offended little dragon who he pats on the head while ignoring the glare his brother is directing his way.

"Look, there is only so many moments in one's life that an opportunity like this comes by."

Cale explains, and although still peeved, the little dragon stills to listen to him properly.

"Your greaty and mighty dragon magic can always make me fly, but I won't know when I'll get another chance to be carried by a strong and beautiful noona. It is something that I always wanted to experience at least once in my life. You understand, right?"

The little dragon looks at Cale like he's lost his mind.

Paseton pipes up in a soft voice, "Please stop referring to my noona like that." The whale prince is not sure why it a sore point to him but he feels like he needs to protest.

Roksu continues to stare holes into Cale, but the younger twin ignores him resolutely.

Whitira continues laughing. 

After a moment Cale felt like he had given everyone enough time to process his request, so he then spreads his arms out, grinning ear to ear.

"Well? Am I gonna be carried by a strong beautiful noona or not?"

With a big smile, Whitira wipes the happy tears off her eyes and answers Cale's request by scooping him up in a princess carry, making the younger redhead yelp gleefully as he hooks his arms around Whitira's neck.

"Hold on tight, young master Cale." Whitira says in a cool tone, approaching the edge of the wall.

Cale took this time to look the others, giving them a smile and a wave, glancing briefly at Roksu to gauge his reaction.

He wanted to change Roksu's focus so that he thinks of winning Cale's attention instead of being hyper-vigilant of outside threats.

By pouty look on his brother's face, Cale feels relief that he got the intended effect, even for a little while.

'Sorry, noona' Cale gives Whitira a silent apology for using her for his schemes even as he giggled and squealed when the Whale princess jumped off the wall.

Well, he actually really did enjoy being carried by a strong beautiful noona, but that's beside the point.

Everything is going well.

Slash!

Whitira slices through leaves and branches with a sword made of water as their group slowly make their way through the forest.

She is currently taking the lead to carve a pathway towards their destination, with Roksu behind her navigating and telling her where to go, followed by Cale who keeps track of their path on a notebook, and then Paseton on the rear to watch their backs, with the children running around them within view.

Every now and then they'd encounter monsters which Roksu lets Ohn, Hong, and the little dragon fight off as practice, with Roksu joining in occasionally to guide them and practice his own ancient powers. 

During these moments the whales would stand by the side and let them do the fighting, with Cale standing between them and scribbling in his notebook.

They are making great progress, and everything is going as planned without any problem.

This is making Cale anxious.

"What are you writing-nya?"

Hong asks curiously when Cale crouched down beside him while he was munching on some poisonous plants.

"I'm trying to record the types of plants you are eating so we know what to look for later,"

Cale then tilts the notebook so Hong could look inside, showing the descriptions and drawings inside. 

"I'm also drawing us a map,"

Behind Cale the sound of fighting can be heard,

"And I also write down things I find interesting!"

Cale explains the contents of his notebook to Hong while also trying to ignore the ruckus of the monsters Roksu is currently pinning on the ground with the shield behind him.

"What's that?" Hong then asks, pointing on a particular drawing on Cale's notebook with his paw.

"That's you!" Cale happily tells the kitten.

"It does not look like me nya~" Hong honestly and innocently says with a smile.

Cale's eye twitched but he did not let his smile slip.

"I just started drawing, so I'm still not very good at it. I'll practice more."

Hong puts a paw on Cale's arm in a consoling manner.

"Good luck nya!"

The kitten then bounds away when Roksu calls for him to practice using his poison on a monster without Ohn's fog this time.

Paseton, overhearing the exchange and feeling pity for the young master Cale who is now pouting while crouched on the ground, decided to try and cheer him up for a bit.

He stands over Cale to look into the notebook just in time to see Cale had added an arrow poiting to a drawing and then writes [this is definitely Hong] next to it.

"I think your drawing looks... charming... young master Cale."

Cale looks up and observes Paseton's face for a bit, knowing that the whale prince was trying to cheer him up, saw his drawing, faltered in his praise, and tried to pretend that he didn't think the drawing looks shocking.

Cale appreciates the sentiment, but also he felt just a tad insulted.

So he stands up, patting some dirt off of himself, and decides to mess with the whale prince just a bit.

"No need for flattery, Ton-ton."

At his words, the whale prince's eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"Ton-ton...?"

"It's a nickname." Cale hurriedly says, waving it off like it's no big deal, "Anyway! You can just be honest and tell me that my drawing looks like shit."

"W-wait! Nickname??"

Cale harrumphs and pouts at the whale. Behind him are sound of monsters groaning in agony from poison and Cale drowns out the noise with his words, not even giving a flustered Paseton a chance to reply.

"Oho? Are you changing the subject? Is my drawing really that bad?"

"Uh! Uhm—!"

Cale crosses his arms and pouts even more, making a show of being offended, turning his head away and making his expression look like he is about to cry but is holding back tears.

"Ah! How cruel! I only started drawing anyway because Lady Violan told me to try new things! I thought practicing drawing in this notebook she gave me would make her happy! Alas! I guess it is all for naught!"

"Y-young master Cale?? That's not—! I mean—! The drawing—!"

By now Paseton is thoroughly flustered, waving his arms around and stuttering as he tries and fails to appease Cale while also being very confused on what exactly is happening.

Behind him, Whitira is turning away with a hand over her mouth trying to hide her laughter.

Pitying the whale, Cale pats Paseton's shoulders as he laughs.

"I'm just messing with you! Calm down! Hahaha!"

"Young master Cale you are so mean..."

"Sorry! Sorry! I'll stop now hehe"

Pat.

Cale, who was having fun messing with Paseton, flinched when a hand suddenly patted his shoulder from behind. 

"Cale."

Turning around, Cale tried not to flinch again as he faces Roksu who was looking at him very intently.

"Stay close to me."

Roksu then grabs Cale's arm and drags him away, not even acknowledging Paseton's presence.

Sensing Roksu's shift in mood, Cale follows him without protest, careful not to let his expression show to the children and the whales that Roksu is acting any different.

'Did I ignore hyung too much?'

Cale has been ignoring Roksu for most of their trip in the forest.

Whenever they encounter monsters, Cale would look away and stick close to the whales. Of course he did not make it obvious. He disguised it as being interested in journaling new and interesting things around them. He also used the excuse of Roksu dealing with the monsters to ignore his twin, only talking to him when Roksu talks to him first.

Cale has been doing this for two reasons.

First, to avoid being an inconvenience.

It only makes sense that Cale stay away from fighting since he can't contribute anything to that. Also, since Cale gets dizzy at the sight of blood, avoiding looking at monsters being slaughtered ensures he will not be a liability during this trip.

He has to justify joining this trip after all, and not worrying anyone is one of them.

Second, it is to force Roksu to prioritise winning his affection instead of prioritising his safety.

To anyone else, Cale's behavior in this trip is normal. Staying out of the way of the fighting is normal. Getting to know the people you are traveling with is normal. Being fascinated by a new place is normal.

However to Roksu, who is used to always having most of Cale's attention, this behavior is strange.

For Roksu, being ignored by Cale feels unpleasant. It feels uncomfortable. It makes him restless and upset, and it makes him think of nothing else but having Cale's attention back again.

Cale knows this and, knowing that his brother would eventually seek him out, he will then proceed to the next step which is to comfort and reassure his brother.

If done right, Roksu would be too relieved to think of the percieved threats he is worrying about and would turn back to his normal self.

Right now Cale is using this tactic to slowly and discreetly stop his brother from going into full murder mode while also giving the illusion to the kids and the whales that nothing is wrong.

It is a delicate balance of preventing Roksu from wanton murder while also keeping his murdery tendencies a secret.

In normal circumstances, this method would have worked.

"I will keep you safe so don't stray away."

"Yes, yes..."

Right now, Cale thinks his plans are working. By observing his brother's micro expressions, Cale determined that his brother is getting jealous of the attention Cale is giving everyone else but him.

Just a little bit more and Roksu's priority will completely shift. Although Cale also can't overdo it incase Roksu's jealous feelings circles back to wanting to murder the whales for hoarding his attention, he is confident that he can pull it off.

However, Cale failed to properly grasp how truly dangerous the Forest of Darkness really is.

After all Cale had lived all 18 years of his life being protected from all harm by a twin brother who considers all threats to be extremely dangerous.

In consequence, Cale's perception of danger is a little skewed.

That is to say, Cale only realises he's in real danger when the dangerous situation blows up on his face.

And because Cale does not realise that the forest they are in is truly dangerous, Cale chose a method that divided Roksu's focus.

This resulted into a minor mistake.

Cale hugs the pouting Roksu, draping his cheerful self over his brother.

"You worry too much, Roksu. I'm very safe!" Cale reassures, rubbing his face over Roksu's hair, "You are here after all!"

Cale then points to the little dragon, who was a bit farther away talking with the kittens.

"Not to mention we have a great and mighty dragon with us."

Cale then took several steps back, playfully dodging Roksu's hand trying to grab him.

"And if you're busy, the whales will protect me too. So don't worry hyung..."

With Roksu's full attention to him, Cale gave his brother a winning smile, full of assurance and confidence that his words are true.

"Nothing bad will happen to me here!"

It was then,

Whoosh!

A large dart flew straight to the side of Cale's head.

"Ah! I made it in time!"

Behind Cale, Whitira sighed in relief. In her outstretched hand is a large dart that was about a centimeter away from pirecing Cale's skull.

The twins had walked a bit ahead from the group and had, unknowingly, entered the inner circle of the forest without Roksu noticing.

Whitira, noticing the approaching monsters that are stronger than the monsters they had fought so far, was about to warn them when a monster shot a dart towards Cale and barely made it in time to catch it.

If Whitira had been just a little bit late, Cale would have at least sustained a serious head injury.

At worst, Cale would have died on the spot.

Cale, realizing this, meets the eyes of his brother and flinches at what he sees.

'Oh no...'

So much for preventing Roksu from going full murder mode.

BOOM!

Chapter Text

BOOM!

There was a sudden loud explosion, followed by a strong gust of wind that picked up and scattered dust and leaves everywhere, making it hard to see and had Cale closing his eyes and shielding his face with his arms.

"Are you ok?"

Whitira, who was beside Cale and had shielded him from the blast, asked. Cale nods, and they both squint over to the source of the explosion, trying to see what just happened.

Behind them were Paseton who was with the kittens and the dragon. He had shielded the kittens and the dragon from the blast. They were a bit shaken but otherwise ok.

As the dust cleared, they were able to see just what caused the blast.

They see a tree. A thick and tall tree, the kind that must have been growing in the Forest of Darkness for hundreds of years.

However, the tree on itself is not that interesting.

It was what is on the tree that had their eyes shaking in shock.

A monster.

A large, ugly, goblin-like monster was embedded on the trunk of the tree, twitching and spasming, it's eyes bulging out and a trickle of blood dripping between it's sharp teeth from it's open mouth.

It was the monster that shot a dart at Cale.

Across it's stomach is Roksu's silver shield, embedded so deep into the monster that it lodged halfway into the tree with only the edges of the shield and it's wings visible.

With horror, Cale watched as the upper half of the monster starts to slide off the shield, coating over the bright silver color in blood before completely toppling over and falling on the ground with a wet thud, it's innards splattering everywhere.

The shield flickers, then disappears, and without the shield holding it up the lower half of the monster also falls forward, spilling monster guts on the ground.

A wave of dizziness wash over Cale, but that was the least of his concerns.

Creak.

The tree starts to creak and crackle, the dent left from where the shield pierced it caused the tree to splinter and break, slowly toppling forward.

By the direction the tree was falling, it will fall on where Roksu is standing.

Seeing this, Cale momentarily forgot about what just happened and immediately tried to warn his brother about the falling tree but froze at the cold look his brother is giving him.

Roksu had not taken his eyes off of Cale.

One step. Then another. Roksu calmly walks towards Cale, face so eerily calm that it had Cale shivering.

"Hyu—"

Crash!

Cale tried to scramble for some words to say but his words were cut off when he flinched as the tree completely falls behind Roksu with a loud crash, sending up more dust in the air so thick that for a few seconds nothing is visible but the brown of the earth.

Roksu, seeing his twin flinch, stopped in his tracks.

He held a palm up, and in the next second a whirlwind appears, sucking away all the dust and debris, growing in size until finally it picked up the fallen tree, spinning the tree up into the air. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the whirlwind tosses the tree far away from where they are standing. Roksu then closes his palm into a fist, and the whirlwind dissipates just as quickly as it formed.

There was a distant crash followed by the noise of squawking birds taking flight.

Through it all, Roksu never took his eyes off of Cale.

Cale shivers.

Cold sweat starts forming on his back. He could feel his limbs turning cold and the tips of his fingers tremble. His heart is beating wildly in his chest and his breath starts seizing from the onset of hyperventilation. Every single muscle in his body tenses, priming him to run. His vision blurs as another wave of dizziness had him feeling faint.

He is afraid.

Cale is afraid of his twin older brother walking towards him.

Still, Cale kept still. He closes his fists to stop it from trembling. He holds his breath to steady it, forcing himself to breathe normally. He does not step back or flinch away. He does not turn away. He does not run.

Instead, Cale smiles.

"Hyung!"

Cale forces cheer in his voice.

"I'm alive!"

Roksu does not react, but he did stop in his tracks, just a step away.

Cale takes that step forward, bridging the gap, and he pulls Roksu into a hug and gently but firmly presses his brother's face on the crook of his shoulder, obscuring his brother's vision.

"See? I told you I'll be fine."

Damage control.

Right now Cale needs to do damage control so that Roksu does not do anything worse.

"I'm not dead."

Exerting as much control as he can muster to stop his hands from trembling, Cale starts to gently pat Roksu's hair to soothe him while also keeping his brother in place, hoping against hope that his twin calms down.

Cale is so afraid.

Roksu, on his part, reaches a hand towards Cale's neck, pressing a bit too hard below the jaw to check for a pulse. Cale lets him even when he wants to turn away, the action too close to the feel of being choked for it to be comfortable. Instead he continues assuring his brother again and again in a soft voice.

"I'm alive, hyung."

Beside them, Whitira's eyes shake as she looks at the twins. She does not know what to think.

On one hand, she understood Roksu's reaction. As an older sibling herself, she would have reacted similarly if Paseton was ever in danger like that.

However, she could smell Cale's fear.

Although it is normal for the young master Cale to be afraid given the circumstances, Whitira does not understand why he is more afraid now that the dangerous situation is over.

Furthermore, his actions are the opposite of what a scared person would normally do.

Not to mention young master Roksu...

The Whale princess' thoughts are interrupted by her brother that have rushed over them with the kittens and the dragon.

"What happened? Are you ok?" Ohn asks, looking up worriedly at the twins, tapping on Cale's shoe restlessly.

"There was an explosion! It surprised me nya!" Hong exclaims, rubbing himself on the twin's legs nervously, fur still a bit puffed up from fright.

"Human! Are you ok human!?" The little dragon, seeing Roksu being comforted by Cale, assumed that Roksu was the one who was scared and had perched on his shoulder to try and look at his face.

The little dragon did not see what had happened because he was occupied with chatting with the kittens. By the time he sensed the monster approaching, Roksu had already reacted and killed it, and he wanted to make sure that the weak human is fine.

Something is not right though.

The little dragon could smell fear in the air so thick that it is noticeable, but also it smells concentrated to where the twins are.

Cale opens his mouth to answer the children, wanting to reassure them that everything is ok, but the little dragon suddenly swiveled to his direction, his little face getting really close to Cale's own.

"Human's brother, you smell scared!"

Instead of Roksu, the little dragon can smell Cale being afraid.

"I'm not—!"

Cale, feeling Roksu tense, tried to refute the little dragon's words but failed when the little dragon continued talking, cutting him off.

"You smell very, very, very scared!"

'Shit!'

Cale curses in his mind, panicking as the little dragon innocently and casually shattered all the hope Cale has for this trip to end without incident, just chatting away his observations.

"Are you scared of the monsters? Is it because of the many monsters approaching? Human's brother, you are trembling! You must be very scared of the monsters."

As if on cue, monsters starts appearing. Monsters like the ones that attacked them earlier but also other bigger and scarier monsters. Some mpnsters have clubs and other crude weapons but most just have sharp fangs and claws. All looked dangerous.

The monsters were attracted by the loud noise and the smell of blood in the air, and they showed no fear even in the presence of the whales and a dragon.

At this, the whales took on defensive positions around the twins and the children, with Whitira on the left and Paseton on the right. The kittens bristled, pressing themselves closer to the twins, while the dragon spread it's wings to appear bigger, eyeing the monsters with sharp eyes. 

There are more monsters here now than what they have encountered so far.

They are surrounded.

Cale's eyes tremble at seeing the monsters. This is the first time he has seen such scary looking creatures, and a lot of them at the same time too. Even with the whales and the little dragon's help, they still might have a hard time getting out of this mess.

'I fucked up...'

Cale tightens his hold on Roksu, unconsciously seeking comfort and assurance from his brother. This, in turn, causes Roksu to tense even more.

It was then,

"....kill... all... die..."

In Cale's hold, Roksu starts mumbling under his breath. At first it was too unintelligible for Cale to understand, but he recognizes some of the words. It didn't take long for him to piece together some of the words Roksu was mumbling, and when he did goosebumps erupted all over his skin at the words.

"Kill them all."

That was one of the phrases Roksu kept repeating.

"Please stand back, young masters!"

Whitira held a hand out in a gesture that hides the twins behind her while also readying a water whip with another. On the other side Paseton is doing the same, aiming his water sword towards the monsters circling them.

The monsters are being cautious at approaching them, but it won't take long until they attack. Knowing this, the whales are readying themselves to fight with everything they have.

It was not necessary though.

Roksu pulls away from Cale. The younger twin tried holding onto Roksu but a firm hand on his shoulder had him letting go and looking down, meek under his older brother's piercing stare.

This situation is his fault, and Cale knows all he could do now is stay still and not be a hindrance to the others.

Cale does not protest.

Roksu touched Whitira's arm, getting her attention. When she looks back she flinches at the look Roksu is giving her.

"Stay here."

That was all that Roksu said but it was enough for Whitira to lower her arms down, understanding what Roksu means. She then turned toward her brother, meeting Paseton's trembling eyes. He had also noticed the dangerous air Roksu is giving off.

The siblings nodded towards each other.

"We'll stay with Cale and the kittens." Whitira finally says.

Roksu stared unblinking at her for a few seconds and, as if accepting her answer, he turns away, patting the little dragon's head on his shoulder and picking up the kittens.

Without a word Roksu hands the confused kittens to Cale who automatically accepts them in his arms, face pale as he looks up at his brother.

"Hyung I—"

"Stay here."

Roksu interupts him.

"Listen to your hyung just this once and stay here. "

Roksu's words had Cale pursing his lip shut and his eyes stinging with tears, feeling guilty for being the reason why they are in a situation like this.

It is his fault that his hyung will have more blood in his hands.

Nothing can stop Roksu now.

Maybe he really shouldn't have come.

But then...

Pat. Pat.

Roksu pats Cale's hair.

Cale, startled, looks up and meets Roksu's smiling face.

"Leave everything to hyung, ok?"

Cale shivers.

"Hyung will take care of everything."

It is scary.

"Cale just needs to stay alive."

Roksu's smile is scary.

Cale looks at his twin's deranged smile and... gives up.

There is nothing else he can do now, so he should just let Roksu do whatever he wants. It is not like his brother is going to kill people. Hyung is just going to kill monsters. It's fine. The monsters are going to attack either way, so it is better that they attack first. So what if Roksu is being a bit weird? Cale could just come up with an explanation for the children and the whales, so it should not be a problem.

After all, Roksu is just cleaning up the mess Cale made.

So Cale nods, and gives Roksu a carefully crafted cheerful smile.

"I'll leave it to you then, Hyung!"

All Cale could do now was put his trust on his hyung just like always, and believe that things will end up ok.

If it doesn't, well, Cale will still support his hyung anyway.

And with that,

A mana barrier is cast.

Roksu faces the monsters.

The slaughter begins.

A blood bath.

Cale could not think of anything else to describe what he is seeing other than a blood bath.

'Hic!'

Cale flinches as severed monster arm hits the little dragon's mana shield with a loud thunk.

"Cale-nya, do you wanna sit down?" Ohn gently asks, rubbing herself on his left leg.

"You don't have to look Cale-nya. Don't look at all the blood!" Hong helpfully adds, rubbing his head on his right leg.

Despite the kitten's concern though, Cale ignores them. Or, rather, he does not notice.

All his attention is focused on the scene in front of him.

Outside the mana barrier several whirlwinds raged, wreaking havoc in its wake as it pick up dirt, debri, and shrieking monsters that gets flung up in the air.

"Explode!"

Up in the sky the little dragon shouts with glee, shooting mana blasts at the monsters  mid-air when they start to fall down, making them explode into many pieces with their blood, viscera, and body parts falling back down the ground.

What few monsters that managed to evade the whirlwinds are caught and pinned down by the silver shield, pressing down so hard that it sometimes leave an imprint of the monster on the ground. 

Once pinned down Roksu would approach the monster and hold it's head, gripping it tightly whether it be on the fur or a horn or just skin, and with a sharp dagger, would stab the monster's neck.

Of course, since monster necks are thick and tough, it usually takes a few stabs to fully kill the monster.

However, Roksu does not stop there. 

Roksu stabs, again and again and again, the entire time his face devoid of any emotion, plunging the dagger into flesh with so much ferocity and determination, not stopping  until the monster gets decapitated.

Only then does Roksu move on.

'This is...'

Cale does not take his eyes off his brother.

No. It is more accurate to say that Cale can not take his eyes off his brother.

Smash!

Monsters that Roksu can't pin down with the shield gets smashed into trees instead. Sometimes Roksu would step on it to evade an attack. Other moments the shield is used to corral the monsters towards the whirlwinds.

Although the silver shield's main purpose is to be used for protection and it is limited on how it can be manipulated (like being able to move in one direction at a time), Roksu uses it quite efficiently to the point that, if Cale doesn't know any better, he could mistake him for a veteran monster hunter.

Roksu slaughtering the monsters is as fascinating as it is scary to watch.

Splat!

Another monster dies a gruesome death, splashing it's blood everywhere.

By this point Roksu has become covered in so much blood that Cale can barely tell where his red hair ends and where his skin begins.

'Isn't this a bit too much?'

Covered head to toe in blood, face blank and eyes glinting with madness, Roksu Henituse looked more like a monster than the monsters he is killing.

Cale's heart throbbed painfully in his chest.

'No. I can't think that.'

Cale won't accept it.

'Hyung is not a monster.'

That is simply not the reality.

Cale rejects that thought as soon as he thought it. He has no time to think about useless things. Roksu is simply Roksu. That's it. He may be scary right now, but he is still Cale's brother and he won't let himself be swayed by nonsensical thoughts, no matter how scared he feels at the moment.

Instead of just standing here being scared, Cale determined that he should do something useful.

So, Cale takes out his notebook and starts jotting down his observations.

The way Roksu uses the shield. The rate in which the whirlwinds pick up the monsters. The descriptions of the monsters and how they move. Which parts of the monsters are more vulnerable. The accuracy rate of the little dragon's mana blasts...

Cale will document his observations in hopes of it being useful in the future, starting now.

Well, he tries to, anyway.

Plop.

His pen falls to the ground.

Cale can't even hold the pen properly or write anything down because his hands are trembling so much.

For a moment he just stares at it and, determining why it fell, he proceeds to hug the notebook close to his chest, gripping it really hard in an effort to control his shaking.

Cale wants to cry.

'How did things end up this way...?'

All Cale wanted was to get through this day without incident. Maybe explore a bit of this beautiful forest with his brother and enjoy the wonderful sights. Let the children have fun while also helping their new friends.

How did it end with his twin brother getting bathed in the blood of his own killing?

Cale glances up at his brother, just in time to see him toss a monster head aside where it got picked up by a whirlwind and flung towards the mana barrier.

Splat!

The monster head hits the mana barrier face side looking in and Cale watches as it slid slowly down the barrier with one of it's eye trailing behind it.

Ah.

'I'm tired'

It's too much.

Cale, who was never a fan of blood and violence to begin with, finally reached his limit.

Meanwhile...

"Cale-nyaaaaaaa. Cale-nya can you hear us? Noona, Cale-nya is not listening. CALE-NYA!"

By his feet, Hong continues his efforts to get Cale's attention. He had been calling and trying several times already, but to no avail.

"Noona, what should we do? Young master Cale looks to be in shock."

Paseton, who had lightly shaken Cale already, is also at a loss on what to do. The young master simply is not registering their existence.

Bap bap bap.

Ohn, who had climbed Cale's shoulders, gently bats at his face to get his attention. It does not work. Still, she tries again.

"Hmmm... Should we just knock him out?"

Whitira, unsure on how to deal with the young master Cale being like this, accidentally shares her thoughts loudly.

Gasp!

Ohn, Hong, and Paseton simultaneously gasps, shocked that Whitira would suggest such a thing.

"You can't do that!"

"Don't hurt our Cale-nya!"

"Noona! We can't do that!"

Whitira's suggestion is vetoed immediately.

Then, suddenly,

"Wow~ the forest is so pretty! So many wonderful sights!"

Cale, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly spoke.

Ohn involuntarily hissed while Hong's fur all stood up on end.

Paseton steps back in horror while Whitira's mouth hang open in shock.

It is worth noting that Cale has been smiling serenely the entire time he is standing there. For him to suddenly speak like this caused the kittens and the whales to get spooked.

After overcoming their initial surprise, Ohn, Hong, Paseton, and Whitira, all did their best to bring Cale back to reality, but to no avail.

"CALE-NYAAAAAAAA!"

Hong wails, his kitten arms holding on Cale's leg.

"He's lost it!"

Ohn shouts. She's on Cale's shoulders, batting at his face with her paws, and trying to shake his head.

"CALE HAS REJECTED REALITY NYA!"

That day so much monster blood was spilled that the earth was permanently dyed red and any plants that grew there all mutated to have an appetite for monster flesh.

Chapter Text

There are voices inside Roksu's head.

"...sob... sob... please slow down... you're overexerting yourself..."

"So many monsters... he's really going at it... hey do you think we can eat monster meat?"

"No, I don't think so?"

"Why not?"

"...sob... you got all the monsters... please stop now... sob..."

Roksu ignores them, as usual.

He has been hearing voices inside his head since he was a kid, so Roksu is used to his thoughts being a cluttered mess. It is hard to think sometimes, but he has learned to filter the voices out as background noise.

It was harder when he was younger, often seeing visions along with the voices, and he'd sometimes end up crying when it gets too much.

Mother would usually carry him by then and sing to him softly, and just like that the voices would disappear.

She's not here anymore though.

(It was his fault)

Roksu banishes the thought as soon as it formed, focusing instead on ignoring the voices and completing the task at hand.

Eliminate all the monsters.

"...sob... he's not listening... sob..."

Roksu frowns at the whiny voice inside his head. It's a new voice. Something he only heard recently. It is similar to the voice he heard while getting the ancient power Vitality of the Heart. He heard it too, during the plaza bombing incident, and now he is hearing it again.

'So annoying...'

The whiny voice is annoying. It keeps whining, and sometimes two other voices would chime in from time to time. They keep telling Roksu advice, like how he should eat more or sleep more.

Roksu ignores them, as usual. Although their presence is a refreshing break from the usual cries and screams, Roksu feels it's too much of a bother to acknowledge them.

They might not even be real.

Not that it matters right now.

What's important right now is to kill all these monsters that dared to hurt his brother. They're threats. All of them. And the best way to get rid of a threat is to eliminate it in it's entirety.

Currently, Roksu determines that the monsters here are a threat to Cale, Ohn, and Hong. The little dragon is strong enough that he is safe, and can use this experience to get stronger. He could care less about the whales, though. They are can take care of themselves. Personally, Roksu doesn't care what happens to them, but they are important for his future plans so they should just stand back and not get in the way.

There is a painful twinge on his chest, like his heart is being lightly squeezed, but the feeling disappeared as soon as it appeared. 

"... sob... isn't this enough...? Can we stop now please?... sob..."

The whiny voice inside his head keeps pestering him to stop. Roksu ignores it in favor of decapitating this ogre-like monster thrashing widly against the shield pinning it to the ground.

Then, another voice talked into his head.

- Human! There are no more monsters coming! They are staying away!

Roksu almost ignores this one too before realizing it is the dragon talking to him. He glances up, making sure the dragon is ok, feeling at ease when he sees it currently flying happily in circles high above the sky.

Satisfied, Roksu finishes his task, tossing aside the severed head and dematerialising the shield.

With the new information, Roksu thinks through his options.

Should he pursue the other monsters? They still need go to the lake though. But what if another monster comes and attacks Cale again? But accomplishing their task faster means they can leave this forest faster. He should have Miss Rosalyn teach the dragon teleportation magic. What if the poisonous air gets to Cale? Hong is immune to the poison, but what about Ohn? What about the dragon? He should double their masks, just to be safe. Maybe he should eliminate all the surrounding monsters first. But that would take too long so maybe he should...

A female voice inside his head, the one that sounds like the hungry woman from the tree, speaks in his mind.

"...you should check on your brother... he looks ill..."

Instantly, all of Roksu's thoughts halt and he hurriedly turns to look for Cale.

That's when he hears it.

"CALE-NYAAAAAAAA!!"

Inside the protective circle of the dragon's mana shield, Roksu could see the kittens and the whales panicking as they fuss over his brother.

Hong, who had transformed back as a child, cried out as he hugged Cale's waist.

"Come back to reality! Cale-nyaaaa!"

Ohn, also transformed back as a child, was shaking Cale gently, calling for his name.

A cold dread washes over Roksu as he rushes over, nearly toppling over as he tripped on a severed monster arm on the ground in his haste to get to Cale.

The moment he steps foot inside the mana shield, as if sensing his presence, Cale looks towards him.

"Hyu—" Cale tries to say, but his legs give out on him and he collapses, caught by Paseton and helped to sit on the forest floor while Ohn and Hong transform back into kittens and rubs themselves on Cale as a form of comfort. From above, the little dragon flies down, inquiring what is going on.

Roksu gently holds Cale's cheek, assessing his twin's health.

Cale is pale and is shivering slightly. He feels a little cold to the touch, and he is sweating a lot. His breathing is short, shallow, and rapid. He looks to be on the verge of passing out.

But Cale is smiling.

Involuntarily, Roksu's anxieties melt away, even just for a bit. The sight of his brother's smile always puts him at ease.

It was his brother's way of signalling to him that he's ok, so Roksu does not need to worry much.

It seemed like Cale is shaken, but otherwise ok.

Roksu calms a bit more but remains alert, still not entirely convinced that their group is now entirely safe, and starts thinking through his options again. He ignores everyone around him, muttering to himself, his eyes looking down unblinking and yet unseeing.

By his shoulder the little dragon hovers, concerned and getting a little annoyed when Roksu doesn't answer his questions. Ohn answers in his stead, leading her younger brothers away a bit, sensing that the twins needed a moment.

Sensing the same, the whale siblings also distances themselves.

Cale glances at them gratefully, and focuses back on Roksu, observing.

The worst of Roksu's murdery episode has passed, and it shouldn't be too hard to bring him back and so Cale reaches for his brother's wrist, ignoring the sickly slick feel of blood, and gently removes Roksu's hands from his cheeks and holds it to his lap.

At the movement, Roksu looks up and focuses back at his brother.

"Cale, you are ok, right?"

His brother's smile softens. It is reassuring, when his brother smiles. 

"I'm fine..."

Cale says, gently and clearly, in the tone he uses when he explains things to him and wants him to listen.

Roksu listens.

"It's just the blood. You know I'm bad with blood. I'm barely holding on as you can see haha..."

Cale then looks straight at him, willing him to truly listen, to understand. Then he leans close, their forheads touching, and talks in a soft voice so only Roksu could hear.

"You have protected me as you always have. This is enough, ok? Hyung, you are starting to scare me... Please, hyung, come back to me."

The hand holding his is still trembling, and yet it also squeezed, ever so gently, so reassuringly, and Roksu feels his eyes sting.

Slowly, the voices of the dead recede, their cries fading into nothingness, and Roksu could think clearly again.

It was only then that he noticed how much blood was on him, and that he had stained his brother in blood, once again.

A memory, from a long time ago, played in his mind.

[ They are at the edge of the pond.

 

Cale is covered in blood.

 

He walks into the water, washing himself off.

 

"Hyung, you have to clean yourself too..."

 

Roksu is covered in blood, even more so than Cale.

 

Cale pulls Roksu into the pond.

 

They wash the blood off, staining the water red.

 

They go home and pretend they know nothing of the dead boy in the forest.]

Ah. Roksu fucked up again.

Slowly he pulls a hand off of Cale's hold before reaching to his pocket for a handkerchief and starts wiping his brother's hand clean off of blood.

It does not work.

His entire being is too bloody and the handkerchief is dyed red too quickly.

[They are at home.

 

It is late, but Cale has not finished washing himself.

 

Roksu stands outside the door of the bathroom, listening, but unable to go in.

 

"There's blood,"

 

Cale cries.

 

He had cried so much and for so long that he hiccups. He had cried so much his voice cracks. He had cried so much he could barely speak.

 

"I c-can't get it off!"

 

Cale has scrubbed himself raw, his skin a painful red, his lips blue from being in the water for so long. 

 

"Young master Cale," 

 

Ron coaxes, gently, beside the tub,

 

"Young master, there is no more blood."

 

"But t-there is!" Cale insists, "It wo-on't come off!"

 

It took a while before Ron managed to coax Cale out of the tub, and even then Cale had not stopped crying.

 

It is because he is dead, the voice in Roksu's head had said. Or dying, said another. Like us. The dead whisper.

 

There are corpses around Roksu's feet, and mother is no longer here to sing them away. 

 

It is his fault.

 

Cale's cries continue to echo inside his skull, and follows him into his dreams.

 

He did what he did to save his brother, but maybe it was not enough to save him after all.]

"I'm fine. I'll wash it off."

Cale tells him, stopping him from dirtying the hankerchief any longer. When he doesn't answer, Cale tilts his head, trying to get a clearer view of his face.

"Hyung...?"

Roksu closes his eyes, inhaling deeply, and focuses on the now.

That's right. No use on dwelling in the past. What is important is the now, and that they are safe now.

When he opens his eyes again, he is met with the sight of Cale looking at him worriedly, and over his shoulders also looking at him is Ohn, Hong, and the little dragon.

A beat passes, then Roksu breaks the silence.

"Please don't tell Ron." 

Cale smiles, chuckling as he shakes his head in amusement.

"Pfft! Hyung you are in so much trouble!" 

Roksu sighs, but there is a small smile.

All is well...

...for 5 whole seconds.

Kurgh!? Cough!

"Hyung—!!"

Roksu coughs out blood. Not as much during the Plaza Terror Bombing Incident, but enough to cause a new wave of worry for his companions.

"...sob...I told you... sob..."

The new voice whines, and Roksu thought it really is annoying.

Cale was rather glad his brother is back to his usual self, all things considered.

After the whole almost dying resulting in a "blood bath" and his brother coughing up blood again ordeal, everyone ultimately calmed down, found a brook to clean up, determined everyone is fine and it is better to continue, and managed to resumed their journey uneventfully.

Roksu did fuss like a mother hen with their masks when they neared the poison lake though...

...and the little dragon did blow up the lake...

...and they did find an adult dragon's skeleton...

...and Roksu did somehow managed to find another ancient power...

But other than that, the rest of the trip was peaceful!

They figured out the source for the mermaid poison, got their samples, and went home generally unscathed.

Overall, the trip was a success!

Only, there was one issue.

Cale got so shaken from Roksu's unexpected murder mode that all strength left his body so Paseton had to carry him on his back so they could move on.

At first Roksu had quickly volunteered to do the carrying, but it was just as quickly determined that he's too weak to do so. It was then decided that Paseton will do the carrying, with Whitira being the guard in case any unexpected things happened again.

It was so very embarrassing.

On the plus side, Cale managed to paint Roksu's actions as noble to the whales. He chatted with the whales as they walked, slowly and systematically reframing the entire monster genocide as a normal, totally not insane, reaction.

"That's just how older siblings are. Ton-ton, if the mermaids managed to hurt you, I'm sure Whitira-noona would've done the same, right?"

Cale even brought up the incident where Whitira had almost attacked Roksu when she thought he had something to do with Paseton's disappearance, causing the whale princess to cringe at the memory.

By the time they arrived back to Harris Village, Cale had the whales convinced that there is nothing amiss.

Of course, Cale needs to talk to the kids too. They shouldn't think this was normal, after all, but by then Cale got swept up with finalising the Harris Village Reconstruction Project snd preparing to head back home that he didn't get a proper chance.

Before he knows it, they are on their way back to Rain City, riding the same carriage they left in, their journey to the Forest of Darkness like a distant dream.

"Cale, are you really ok?"

Cale tears his gaze from the carriage window to look at his brother.

Roksu is looking at him worriedly.

Cale does not understand his brother's concern. Roksu had been looking at him strangely all day, and Cale can't quite decipher this one. It is not the usual general paranoia that Roksu normally has. This one is more specific, aimed at Cale and Cale only.

"I'm fine...?"

Sure he has a little headache at the moment, and sometimes when he looks at his hands he can still see blood, and ever since they got back from the forest he has trouble sleeping, but Cale knows how to deal with these things so there should be nothing for his brother to worry about.

The carriage hits a particularly large stone, jostling everyone inside, and Cale sways a little too far on the left.

"Tsk. I knew it."

In an instant his brother is on his side, supporting him so he doesn't fall and a cool hand was placed over his forehead.

"Cale, why didn't you tell me you are not feeling well?"

"Huh...?"

Vaguely, Cale realizes that he was made to lie down on his brother's lap. Around him are the children, fussing all over him, their big innocent eyes looking down at him in worry.

"You're burning up..." Ohn says.

"Very hot nya" Hong confirms.

"If you are sick you should have said so! Now you are even weaker than the weak human!" The little dragon scolds.

"But I can't be sick," Cale argues, even as his eyes are closing and his body feels like it is getting heavier, "I'm not the sickly twin."

Really. Cale is very healthy! It was Roksu who was always getting sick since they were kids!

Above he could hear an exasperated sigh.

Roksu might have said something, but Cale had passed out before he could hear it.

Back at the palace, Crown Prince Alver Crossman looks at the files he has on his hand. It was a report on the Henituse twins that he had his people investigate further and update. It was quite detailed, containing information from their childhood up until the present.

At first glance nothing is amiss. The record is clean, a rarity for a report featuring nobles. No shady deals. No connections to the underworld. No problematic history. The twins are as they appear to the world.

But ever since meeting Cain ("My brother goes by Roksu, your highness") and Cale, they had caught Alver's attention and the prince is certain that there is more to the twins than the facade they show to the public.

"I've decided on what to buy, your highness"

The message Roksu left for him still brings him a headache whenever he remembers it,

"I'm going to buy the Magic Tower."

There was also that chilling message he got from Cale.

Yes. Crown Prince Alver Crossman knows for certain that the Henituse twins are anything but normal.

"The Henituse twins have a mostly clean record,"

Tasha says, relaying her thoughts of the additional investigation the crown prince had her do,

"Nothing strays too far from what we already know of them. However, when I looked closely, there were two incidents that caught my attention."

Tasha hands Alver another folder, which the prince quickly glances through.

"Devland Henituse?" Alver prompts, and Tasha nods.

"Devland Henituse. 16 years old. He was the first born son of Count Deruth Henituse's older sister, Naenia Henituse. Before the twins were born, he was the first in line to inherit the County. About 8 years ago, he died in an accident during a family vacation with his cousins."

Alver looks at Tasha in question. This was a well known incident, and for awhile there were even rumors that the young master's death was the Count's doing. It was a bit too coincidental to be a murder though, and there really was no motive, so everyone just accepted it as a very unfortunate accident.

Tasha knows what he was thinking though, so she continued speaking.

"The details of that incident were kept under wraps, but I managed to find new information about it. First, that the late young master Devland did not die from falling off a cliff like the rumors said. Apparently, the cliff he fell into was really shallow, and it was a large rock that fell and crushed his head that killed him."

"But how is this related to the Henituse twins?"

"That's the second thing. It turns out that the last person who saw the late young master Devland was young master Cale Henituse. A servant even said that he saw them heading towards the forest together, although young master Cale later claimed that he had disagreed with his cousin about exploring the forest and he instead went to go catch fish in a pond with his brother."

Tasha's voice then softened a little, seemingly thinking about something melancholic,

"You mentioned that the young master Cale seemed to be wearing a joyful mask, right? That he is a bit too cheerful to be actually happy all the time."

"You think this incident might have something to do with that?"

"Yes. I've heard that the twins were very affected by their cousin's death. Young master Cale especially, was said to be close with young master Devland. He might have felt guilt about not stopping his cousin from exploring the forest alone. That is only my opinion though."

The two were silent for a moment, just processing the information. Alver thought that this theory is possible, but something doesn't sit quite right with him.

He'll have to think about it some more, but for now...

"What was the other incident?"

Another file was handed to him, this time shorter, with barely any information in it.

"I couldn't find much about it since it was a few years ago and the Count is quite good at keeping personal information about his family a secret, but I think you would like to know about this one."

"Ho..." Alver can't help but let out a curious sound, his brow furrowing as he reads the words.

There wasn't much on the report, but it basically boils down to this:

The twins had a fight, causing an accident that almost killed one of them.

Somehow this explained many things, and yet explains nothing at all.

Chapter Text

"Has the young master Cale been in any stressful situations lately?"

The physician asks the people present in Cale's room as she writes something in the notebook on her hand.

Cale, laying on his bed with a damp cloth on his forehead and face flushed with fever, glares at the physician like she personally offended him.

"I'm not sick," he insists, voice raspy and not convincing anyone that he is not sick at all, "I'm really not!"

He is ignored.

Instead, the Count answers the question.

"He was caught up in the terror attack back at the Capital,"

Count Deruth tells the physician, thinking about the recent events that might have stressed his usually carefree son. 

"Cale also spearheaded a big restoration project on the edge of our territory as soon as he got home, with barely any time to rest."

These are the only things Count Deruth could think of that might have caused his son some stress. Cale is usually so carefree with everything, taking anything in stride and not really dwelling on difficult things, that it is simply hard to think of anything that could cause Cale stress.

He is the direct opposite of his twin in that regard.

If Roksu is always anxious and timid, then Cale is always composed and confident.

Of course, Count Deruth had no way of knowing of the stressful situations Cale goes through daily.

As far as he knows, other than the bombing, Cale has had a great time in the Capital. He also only knows about Cale managing things in Harris Village but nothing about their little trip in the Forest of Darkness.

Count Deruth thinks that Cale might have been stressed from suddenly working after years of just playing around.

Roksu, the cause of stress, sits worriedly on Cale's bedside.

Although he is oblivious to the fact that he is Cale's number one source of stress, he does know of a recent event that caused his brother to be very stressed. However, since their trip to the Forest of Darkness is a secret, Roksu does not say anything, opting to just frown and quietly sit by the bedside, eyes never once straying away from his brother.

Beside Roksu in either side sat the kittens Ohn and Hong, and invisibly near Cale's head is the black dragon. They are also worried but are staying quiet for now.

"I told you I'm fine."

Cale, meanwhile, kept insisting he is fine even when he clearly isn't, so his words are still ignored.

"As I thought."

The physician nods sagely, writing a few more words on her notebook before shutting it with flourish and finally looking at the other occupants of the room to declare her diagnosis.

"The young master Cale's fever is caused by stress."

"That's bullshit!"

"Now, now son. That's not how we speak to the nice doctor."

Deruth, who was sitting on the bedside, pats at Cale's chest consolingly, as if calming down a toddler having a tantrum and not his 18 year old son.

Cale levels his father with a withering look that would have been a lot more effective if he was not sick. Right now though it only made him look like a pouting child.

The doctor then continued her diagnosis.

"After I examined the young master Cale, I have determined that he is healthy and should have not been sick."

The doctor, who was highly skilled and have many experience, told of the results of her examination. She had determined that Cale was physically healthy.

"However there are cases where strong or sudden emotional distress could cause a person to fall ill, and given that the young master was in the capital during the terrorist attack, we could conclude that the young master's fever was from the emotional distress caused by this."

In the doctor's opinion, the young master Cale, who she believed is an emotional and sheltered child, must have been very scared experiencing something horrific for the first time in his life. He may have hidden it well, but the stress must have accumulated and it did not help that the young master chose to distract himself with work instead of resting properly.

Simply put, Cale Henituse's mental state was severe enough that the emotional turmoil manifested physically. 

"There is nothing to worry though," the doctor assured, "A healthy meal and a good long sleep is all young master Cale needs and he will be back to his old self in a few days."

The cure is simply to rest.

Cale whines, feeling annoyed by the whole being sick thing but unable to do anything but just lay there as his father speaks to the doctor.

He was looking forward to getting back into drinking again, since the recent trips had severely limited his alcohol intake. Sure he managed to have a drink or two since he got home from the capital, but it was nothing compared to his usual!

His twin, meanwhile, is already in full caretaker mode. Apparently Roksu has stubbornly stayed by his side since he passed out in the carriage, and had been the one taking care of him since then even with all the servants.

With the diagnosis though, Cale could practically feel the worry and anxiety emanating from Roksu in waves.

"I told you..." his brother seems to be saying with just his eyes, "You should have stayed behind and not insist on going to the Forest of Darkness. Now you are sick. Do you want to die so badly?"

Of course, that is just Cale's imagination, but he is pretty sure that is what Roksu is thinking!

Ah. Cale really wants a drink....

The kittens, probably being affected by Roksu's worr and sensing Cale's desire to escape, meows nervously beside him before they both went and layed down on him to make sure he doesn't get up.

The little dragon is also going on and on in his mind about how weak humans are and telling him that this great ang mighty dragon will make sure that he rest properly.

Cale frowns some more, frustrated with the situation but unable to do anything about it.

Sigh.

"Can I atleast have a sip of wine?"

Resigned to his fate, Cale tried to at least get a request in by deploying puppy eyes that is now twice as effective because of his feverish face.

"Just a little sip is fine... please, hyung? I miss it so much..."

Unfortunately, he is shot down immediately.

"No. Sick dongsaengs don't get wine."

Cale proceeds to whine some more, and Roksu just pats his head consolingly, smiling softly down at him.

"You should sleep. The sooner you rest, the sooner you'll get better."

 Well, Cale can't argue with that. Although still annoyed, the rythmic patting of his head feels nice, and reluctantly Cale finds himself slowly nodding off.

"This hyung will take care of you, so don't worry and just focus on getting better."

"We'll help too, nya!"

"Get better soon, Cale-nya."

"Just sleep! This great and mighty dragon will protect everyone, so you don't need to worry!"

Roksu tucks him in, and despite his best efforts Cale ends up closing his eyes from the coziness.

"...am still gonna drink..."

"Yes, yes. When Cale gets better he can drink."

Cale finally falls asleep, and with that, Cale finds himself confined to his room for the next few days.

Roksu Henituse is very worried about his brother's health, but it would be a lie to say he was not the least bit relieved that Cale can't leave his room for the next few days.

Of course Roksu wants his younger brother to always be healthy, but a small part of him still believes that hiding Cale away is the best way to keep him safe.

Cale strongly disagree to this though, and any efforts Roksu had made in trying to keep him inside the estate had just resulted in Cale learning to escape more efficiently. Still, you can't begrudge Roksu for trying again and again nonetheless.

All Roksu wants is to keep his family alive and well. 

In any means, as necessary.

If Roksu had his way, he would've locked up his family inside their estate and barricaded their territory a long time ago.

But,

"Roksu. If you don't open this door I will hate you forever. Do you want that? Huh? Do you want me to hate you?"

Roksu does not want Cale to hate him.

If Roksu had his way, he would've eliminated every threat that went their way too. Outside of his family, Roksu doesn't care about anyone else. He doesn't mind spilling blood if it meant that his family would be absolutely safe.

Cale wouldn't want that too though, and Roksu highly values his brother's wants and needs.

Keeping Cale happy is just as important as keeping him safe.

But Roksu fucked up again.

The doctor might have assured them that Cale will be fine in a few days, and that Cale's fever is nothing to be worried about, but it doesn't change the fact that Cale still got sick.

Stress. That's what the doctor said was the cause, but Roksu knew better.

It was because of him.

Roksu is very aware of his brother's aversion with blood. He was the cause of that too, and it is something he will regret for the rest of his life.

And yet he still let his brother witness the killing.

Once again, Cale was stained in blood, and it was all because of him.

His innocent brother who bore witness to his sins and carried it with him without complaint.

His brother only ended up with fever now, but what next?

Will he die too, like the people from his past life? Like everyone he ever cared about?

Like mother?

Roksu gingerly held his sleeping brother's hand, feeling the pulse on his wrist, keeping watch for any minute changes so he won't a miss a moment, just in case.

"Don't die."

Roksu pleads, a whisper and a silent prayer.

"I'm sorry. Please don't die."

Roksu doesn't want Cale to hate him, but above all else, he just wants his brother to live.

Being in an almost constant state of sleep, Cale finds himself dreaming of the past.

The dreams are nothing concrete, just glimpses and pieces of memories from his childhood, gone and forgotten the moment he flits back to consciousness.

Maybe it was because he was just in that place where their mother died, but everytime he wakes up he finds himself missing their mother more and more.

And perhaps sensing his melancholy, Roksu never leaves his side. Whenever Cale opens his eyes, no matter what time of day, his brother is always there.

The only constant in his life.

Even when the fever made him feel terrible, and the dreams made his heart ache, just knowing that his brother is there with him makes everything feel better, somewhat.

.

.

.

When the late Countess Jour Henituse died, it was her eldest son that took it the hardest.

Of course everyone in the family was greatly grieved in her passing. She was beloved dearly by her husband and children after all, and losing her so suddenly affected everyone in ways that they hadn't entirely healed from even after years passed.

For his brother, though, it was like something irreplaceable broke inside of him forever.

Cale remembers that day clearly.

It was the day that changed everything, after all.

Cale remembers that it was raining heavily. 

Although the weather was pleasant when their mother left days ago, it was raining heavily that day, so much so that you could hardly see the streets from the window with how heavy the downpour is.

Occasionally there would even be lightning strikes, and everyone had agreed that with such weather the Countess would choose to do the sensible thing and wait it out rather than force the carriage to ride in such storm, and so no one thought she'd arrive that day.

Still, undeterred, Cain Henituse waited patiently by the door of their home with an umbrella in hand.

At first Cale waited with him. The twins loved welcoming their parents home after their trips, and this was no exception, but Cale is an excitable child that can barely sit still. He was lulled by the servant's reassurance that the Countess won't be coming home today, and he left to get snacks for his brother and maybe got distracted by this and that along the way.

So, when their mother arrived in a broken carriage with harried servants rushing in and calling for a doctor, it was Cain who first saw her limp form being carried towards the infirmary.

He was even pushed aside, so frantic were the servants that they didn't notice him standing there, and that's how Cale found his brother when he heard the commotion and went to investigate.

Cain sitting drenched on the ground, clutching an umbrella tightly to his chest, and staring straight ahead with a pale face like he had just seen a ghost.

Maybe he did.

It was a blur after that.

The next thing Cale knows is that they're in their mother's room with their father wailing by her side and the servants rushing about with tears on their faces.

Cale might have cried too, he couldn't really recall, but he remebered that Cain didn't, not even a single drop.

It was quite strange. Cale remembers thinking that. He felt strange seeing his crybaby hyung not crying, just standing there frozen by his side, not even moving even when father hugged them and cried on their shoulders.

Then, during their mother's funeral, Cain just suddenly collapsed and didn't wake up for a long time.

Those first few weeks without their mother were really hard.

Their father remained inconsolable, spending his days drinking and crying in their room while Cain stayed on his own room not responding to anything.

Cale spent that time going back and forth between his father and brother while also trying to keep their relatives in-line.

Suddenly he was responsible for things he was not yet prepared to deal with.

Adults looking at him to make decisions for the territory while the Count is incapacitated while also having to quickly learn how to manage the household after the Countess' passing.

With the help of the loyal and dedicated servants, Cale somehow kept it all together.

But Cale was only a young boy who's entire world suddenly fell off his feet at the same time he was thrust with a heavy burden to carry.

Cale broke down too.

It all came to a head when only a few weeks after the Countes' passing that a sickness swept through the city.

It was not a deadly sickness but it was heavily contagious and those afflicted needed immediate medical attention.

A quarter of the Henitsue staff came down with it, and one of them was Vicross.

Naturally, Ron had to take care of his son, and due to the nature of the illness had to isolate himself too to prevent Cain and Cale from getting infected.

Just like that, another constant in Cale's life disappeared.

A dead mother. An inconsolable father. A comatose twin brother. And now, a constant trusted companion that had been Cale's grounding point suddenly has to leave.

Even then, though, Cale held it together.

Just a few more weeks, he consoled himself. Once the quarantine period is over, Ron will come back by his side. His father had started to work again too! He's still a mess and they barely interacted, but it won't be long until his father is back to his usual self. And Cain is awake now... unresponsive but he's awake! Just a few more weeks and Cale will be able to coax a reaction out of him! Just a few more weeks!

Then, while heading towards his brother's room, Cale passed by his father walking on the opposite direction. 

Deruth was obviously in a hurry, surrounded by some staff members with documents in hand and serious faces as they speak about important matters.

They were so busy that they did not even notice Cale as they walked past him.

It was something simple, an interaction that only lasted seconds, but that was the moment that finally broke Cale.

If this happened weeks ago his father would have stopped to pat his head before going on his way.

Now he didn't even see him.

Cale stood there watching his father's back and felt like his father had left him behind too. 

For the first time in his life, in a mansion full of people, Cale found himself feeling well and truly alone.

It scared him, and so he ran.

He ran towards his twin's room and to the arms of his unresponsive brother and just broke down crying.

Their mother once said that having a twin is special because they are born not alone.

A companion for life, someone who's life is interlinked with yours, and the one who knows you better than anyone else.

Being a twin was a point of pride for Cale, and even if his twin is a bit strange, Cale was always secure with the knowledge that no matter what happens Cain will always be by his side.

Cale had never felt alone before, and he thought he never will.

But now Cale is no longer sure.

Their mother is dead, and their father had forgotten about them.

Ron, no matter how dedicated, will always choose Vicross over them, and there are no one else the twins felt close enough to to be considered family.

Cale only has Cain left.

What if he doesn't get better and he'll spend all his life awake but unresponsive? What if he gets sick again and he never wakes up again?

What of Cain dies too?

Cale couldn't bear it.

"Hyung... don't leave me..."

Cale cries on his still brother, his tears endless as he cries out all the grief and fear he'd been holding on since that rainy day their mother died.

"I don't want to be alone!"

Cale cried and cried and cried, until his eyes are red and puffy, until his voice is hoarse and shakey, until he is too tired to cry more.

And as if by some miracle, his brother heard him.

Cain hugs his brother, and seeing his hyung back to his usual self Cale cries again, now for an entirely new reason.

"Hyung can't leave me again! Hyung has to promise! I was very lonely you know? Stupid brother! You can't leave me behind! WAAAAAAAAAHH!"

Wiping his brother's tears, Cain, now Roksu, was thankful to have a brother like Cale who valued his existence.

"Hyung promises not to leave Cale again."

Roksu was glad to be alive.

That day, the twins promised to always be by each other's side, no matter what.

.

.

.

Cale wakes up with dampness in his eyes.

Although he is now quickly forgetting the dream, he could still feel the emotions in it, and he lay there still for a moment just letting himself feel.

It was a melancholic dream, like the dreams he's been having that he couldn't quite remember anymore, but this one did not feel as lonely as the others.

He turns to his side, and the movement immediately alerts his brother that is staying vigil by his bedside for several days now.

"Do you need anything?" Roksu softly asks, wiping stray hairs off his face and checking his temperature, tending to Cale but also careful not to wake the sleeping children around him.

Cale just shakes his head, observing his brother.

"I'm fine. I don't feel sick anymore. Just a little tired."

"That's good. Your fever is almost gone now. Are you hungry?"

"Mhm."

At the affirmative hum, Roksu goes to the food cart to get his twin something to eat. As he does Cale notes the fatigue on his shoulders and his dishevelled appearance, his hair a mess and his simple clothes wrinkled from sitting for too long.

Cale just sighs. With his brother's appearance coupled with the dark undereyes, Cale guesses that Roksu must have not slept the entire time he was sick, likely staying here paranoid that he might die or something if he so much as look away.

This is why Cale doesn't like getting sick. Roksu has done this before, anytime anyone in their family gets sick, and no amount of cajoling and reassurances would make him budge. If forcefully removed, he'd turn into this anxious mess that no one could calm down, and so everyone just ended up letting him be.

It usually ends with Roksu getting sick after though, but it was better than seeing him endlessly pacing back and forth and biting his nails bloody.

Best just let Roksu take care of you.

So Cale just sat there, letting his brother feed him, give him medicine, wiping away his sweat, and generally letting Roksu tend to him until he is content.

It's moments like this that Cale could clearly see how much his brother cares for them.

Roksu may not say it out loud, but his actions more than speaks loudly how much he cherishes their family.

Despite everything, Cale truly feels that he is lucky to have a brother like Roksu.

"Why don't you sleep too?"

Cale pats the open space beside him on the bed, urging his brother to rest too. 

"My fever has gone down a lot, right? So you don't need stay up and keep watch."

With how the kittens and the little dragon ended up sleeping around him, they must have stayed with Roksu as support. They didn't know of Roksu's habit though, so they must have been worried. If Cale can convince his brother to finally sleep, it would also put them at ease.

"And I'll sleep better if you sleep too. Please?"

It took a bit of convincing, but Roksu must have been more tired than he let on because he didn't resist when Cale tucked him in, although he did huff indignantly.

Cale just smiles. He is happy that Roksu could finally get some rest, although, his hyung can really be quite troublesome.

"Hyung?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Although Roksu is troublesome, Cale is still thankful to have him as his brother.

"Thank you for staying and taking care of me."

Not just right now too. 

"This time... and before as well. Thank you."

Roksu is always there for him, from when they were young and up until now.

Roksu looks away, his ear tinged red, probably embarrassed by Cale's sudden sincerity.

"Of course. Now go to sleep."

Cale giggles, just feeling happy.

Thank you, hyung, for not leaving me alone.

That night, for the first time all week, there were no dreams.