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Lloyd Frontera is the disgraceful eldest son of the Frontera Barony. That is a fact. However due to unknown circumstances, the real Lloyd Frontera finds his soul displaced and later taken to hell and Suho Kim finds himself in the original Lloyd's body.
This new Lloyd is a distinct improvement.
However this Lloyd has a flaw, one that causes his trusty knight great strife. You see, this Lloyd Frontera is very-
“Look out!”
“Wha- oh shit!”
Very self sacrificing.
Or stupid. Either way, the outcome is the same.
Lloyd pushed himself up off the ground from where he'd landed. A rogue warlock's spell had been coming right at him. Yet before he could be hit, Javier had tackled him out of the way. Lloyd turned to where Javier had landed, intent on getting them both out of the situation they were in.
Yet all he found was a pile of Javier's crumpled clothes. His blood turned to ice and he froze in terror at the idea that Javier was…
Movement caught his eye and he scrambled to get to where Javier had to be. He feared the worst. Fatal wounds, missing limbs, or even death… Still he bravely ventured to Javier's location. His royal blue clothes pile rustled and Lloyd caught sight of the distinctive silver hair. He huffed a breath of relief as Javier was still alive.
“Javier, c'mon let's defeat this warlock and get out of here- Javier?” Lloyd watched as the mop of silver poked the rest of its head out.
A child's face greeted him.
Lloyd stared back.
The child blinked at him.
Then, “You're ugly.”
Lloyd fumed, “Why you little shit, I am not! Where are your parents, why are you here and not with them? Don't they teach you manners?”
The child's eyes were downcast and Lloyd got the impression he had misstepped somewhere along the way.
“My parents are dead…” the child said in a small voice.
Lloyd cringed, “Okay, sorry kid, I didn't know. Look, once I find my knight, Javier, we'll get out of here okay? You can stay with us till you have somewhere to go, okay?”
The child looked at him with a familiar scrutinizing gaze, “Your knight?”
Lloyd nodded, “Yeah, his name's Javier. He's super cool and strong. But don't tell him I said that or else he'll never let me live it down.”
The kid, man Lloyd really ought to learn his name, tilted his head to the side in confusion like a puppy, “I'm super strong? I don't even know how to use a sword…”
Suddenly it occurred to Lloyd that it was odd to find a random, silver haired child in the pile of his knight's clothes while in the midst of a battle. The orphaned child had meek mannerisms, silver hair, and didn't seem to know what was going on. Almost as if…
Lloyd grabbed the child's shoulders, “Are you Javier Asrahan?”
The boy nodded, silver locks of hair bobbing with the motion.
Lloyd groaned though he wasn't so cruel as to be upset with the now de-aged Javier.
“Well this isn't great.” Lloyd said in frustration.
Mini Javier looked down, “Sorry…”
Lloyd sighed, “You're… I'm not mad at you, kid.”
Should he tell baby Javier who he is? Would he be angry to see him? In the novel Lloyd was terrible to Javier, breaking his precious swords and treating him cruelly. Lloyd was a bully to this version of Javier. The kid version of his knight would likely hate him.
He wouldn't say anything for now Lloyd decided.
Lloyd also decided that they would leave the warlock for when they had Javier back, not that Lloyd couldn't handle it himself, but rather he didn't want to potentially make Javier's sensitive state permanent. Instead, he grabbed his knight's clothes and pulled the dress shirt over the boy's head. He folded the rest over his arm and held a hand to mini Javier.
“C'mon ki- Javier, let's get out of here.” Lloyd said.
Javier took his hand and it was almost cute how adult Javier's clothes draped on the kid version.
“What about your knight?” Javier asked curiously and Lloyd cursed his lack of foresight.
Lloyd hesitated, “He- he'll catch up later.”
Javier's brow furrowed and it was comical how expressive he was as a child, “Aren't you worried about him?”
“Yeah, I am.” Lloyd admitted softly, “But he's strong. He can take care of himself.”
Javier accepted the answer with ease, and their walk away from the warlock's lair was mostly silent. Lloyd mulled over writing a letter to Alicia about the matter, the rogue magic wielder was a threat and the nation's strongest was now a child. She would be keen on reverting the matter. If it could be reversed that is. He shook his head, trying not to think of the worst case scenario. Instead he tried to think of how he was going to explain Javier's state to his- er, Lloyd's parents.
Lloyd stuck his hand in his pocket and coaxed Ggoming out.
“Listen here you lazy bird, you're gonna take us home okay?” Lloyd intoned.
Ggoming rolled his eyes but stood and accepted his sunflower seed. Javier watched with unconcealed awe as Ggoming grew ten sizes and knelt for them. Lloyd offered Javier his hand as he himself climbed on the bird's back.
“Don't worry, it's fun I promise.” Lloyd consoled upon seeing Javier's nervous look.
It was commonplace now, so much so that he'd forgotten that for Javier it was likely a big deal. Oops.
Javier took his outstretched hand and carefully climbed on, hands sprawled across soft feathers. He said nothing, something Lloyd was noticing was a habit of his, and nervously fidgeted. Lloyd patted Ggoming to let him know it was time to fly and then he carefully held Javier to make sure he didn't fall. He smirked as Javier jerked in surprise as they shot up into the sky. Still, Javier didn't comment.
He was awfully calm for waking up in a strange unknown place with a stranger and then flying on a giant magic bird.
Lloyd wasn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth…
Soon enough they reached the Frontera border and Lloyd pointed it out, stating that they were almost home. Javier perked up at that. Yet as they reached the center of the estate, Lloyd noted curiously that Javier seemed to frown the deeper they got into their territory.
“What's wrong? Figured you'd be happy to be back.” Lloyd asked.
Javier turned to look at him, “This doesn't look like the barony…”
Ah. Yeah. Lloyd had forgotten about that part.
“There's been renovations.” Lloyd waved a hand.
Mini Javier didn't seem convinced but he didn't say anything more.
Ggoming landed and they hopped down, Lloyd assisting Javier as he had yet to hit the growth spurt that had given him his future height. Javier looked curiously at the Frontera home, Lloyd idly noted that it was likely different. He guided the younger version of his knight through the house until they reached his father's study. That, Javier seemed to recognize.
“Come in!” called Arcos Frontera from inside.
Lloyd entered and Javier dutifully followed.
Count Frontera took in the sight, eyes switching from Lloyd to Javier.
“Lloyd, mind… uh, explaining?” His father asked.
Javier's eyes widened and his head jerked to Lloyd. Whoops. The cat was out of the bag now. Thanks a lot Arcos.
Still, he gave the Count the answer he was asking for.
“During our mission, Javier was hit with an unknown spell. This is the result. I'm planning on sending word to Her Majesty in hopes that she'll have a solution.” Lloyd reported.
The Count sighed, “Alright… in the meantime it would probably be best to put off some of your workload. I trust you'll keep Javier safe till we can revert the spell?”
Lloyd sputtered, “Me? Can't he stay here?”
Count Frontera leveled him with a look, “Well you are the one who got him into this mess.”
He cringed. It was the truth. He just… didn't think it was the best idea.
Reluctantly he nodded, “That's… fair, I'll see to it that my work is put on hold for now.”
“Good.” His father nodded along.
They left the Count's office quietly. It wasn't till they were almost to Lloyd's room that Javier finally asked.
“You're… Lloyd?” the small voice asked.
Lloyd didn't turn around, too afraid of what he'd see, “I am.”
Javier was silent for a moment before speaking again, “You're older Master Lloyd.”
He chuckled. The second the kid realized he had to be formal it was like his Javier was back, just with a prepubescent voice.
“No, you're just younger.” He said in a teasing tone.
He looked back just in time to see the kid wrinkle his nose, “Is that why everything is different?”
Lloyd nodded, “Yeah.”
“Are… What happened?” Javier asked cautiously.
Lloyd hummed. It surely wouldn't be a problem to tell the truth would it?
“We were fighting an evil warlock, you got hit with a spell.” Lloyd said as nonchalantly as possible.
Javier scoffed, “That was foolish.”
Lloyd agreed, “It was.”
“Does that mean I'm a knight?” The kid asked and Lloyd didn't miss the hint of hope in his voice.
“Yeah, you're my knight.” Lloyd admitted, watching Javier for his reaction.
Javier to his credit didn't seem to mind, “Does that mean I'm the cool and strong knight you mentioned earlier?”
Lloyd huffed a laugh, “Yeah, that's you. But don't let it get to your head, you still got hit by that spell!”
Javier smiled at the praise and Lloyd was caught off guard for a moment, “If I'm such a good knight then why didn't I dodge?”
Lloyd winced, “You were protecting me.”
At this Javier finally seemed confused, “I really am your knight?” with emphasis on the word ‘your’. As if it was that hard to believe.
Lloyd didn't, couldn't, blame him.
“Yeah.” Lloyd said softly, “I know that's probably not what you had in mind.”
Javier said nothing. Silence stretched and Lloyd moved on, guiding them to his room. He sat Javier's old clothes down and rested his abandoned sword on a stray chair. It disturbed Lloyd in a way, to see the iconic sword without it's wielder. Javier however looked at it curiously. His hand twitched and Lloyd sighed.
“It's technically yours, just touch it if you want. But don't cut yourself, if you do I won't kiss it better.” Lloyd said with a roll of his eyes.
Javier glanced at him before carefully touching the sword. He gingerly tried to pick it up but it slipped from his grasp and hit the floor with a loud clanging noise. Lloyd snickered as Javier's little face flushed red with embarrassment.
“Hey that's heavy.” Lloyd added sarcastically.
Javier huffed in annoyance, “You couldn't have mentioned that before?”
“I thought you knew,” Lloyd lied.
Javier messed with the sword some more, struggling to return it to its previous leaning position against the chair. Meanwhile Lloyd scribbled on some blueprints, adjusting his plans. If he was stuck babysitting he might as well keep busy somehow. Javier seemed to busy himself with inspecting the room and it's knick knacks. They existed peacefully for a bit before a maid let them know that dinner was ready.
Dinner however was… interesting.
Marabella cooed at Javier nearly the whole time.
“Oh how I missed when you were this little and cute!” She fawned.
Javier flushed in embarrassment, unused to the attention.
Lloyd groaned, “Countess, you're overwhelming him.”
“I'm sorry, I just forgot how cute Javier was as a boy.” She said unapologetically.
Javier perked up, “Countess?”
Oops.
Arcos smiled warmly, “We're a County now, thanks to Lloyd and you.”
Javier's bright eyes widened, glancing at Lloyd curiously. In turn, Lloyd kept his head low, focusing on stabbing that one potato on his plate. The Count and Countess praised him too much. Surely it was hard for Javier to believe, his Lloyd was still that drunkard version. Although that Lloyd likely hadn't found the bottle yet. Still, he kept his head down.
The rest of dinner passed painfully slow. Javier asked curious question after curious question and the Count and Countess were happy to answer. Much to Lloyd's doom. The second they were dismissed, they retreated back to their own quarters. Lloyd led Javier to his room, though he supposed that Javier didn't need him as a tour guide.
Javier entered his room and hummed. It was the same as always.
The kid turned back on Lloyd.
“You're different.” He said softly.
Lloyd gave him a look, “I don't know what you mean.”
Javier frowned, “You're different from him. Nicer.”
Lloyd shrugged and looked away, “Maybe I just am hiding my true nature.”
“You're a terrible liar, Master Lloyd.” Javier said.
He scoffed, “How would you know?”
This time Javier shrugged, “A feeling.”
The pause lingered and Javier went back to poking around his room, eventually making preparations to sleep. Lloyd hesitated.
“I…” Lloyd paused, “I'm sorry.”
His words were so soft that he wondered if Javier had even heard him. Javier didn't seem to acknowledge them. Lloyd took it as his cue to leave.
He slept terribly that night.
Morning came fast and he groaned as the curtains were harshly yanked open.
“Javier, do you have to be such a bastard this early in the morning?” He said, not really thinking.
The second his words caught up to him, he shot up in bed. He blinked harshly, trying to push the sleep away. Yesterday hit him like a truck and he expected to see a silver haired child. Instead he saw a very smug adult opening his curtains.
“Javier…” Lloyd breathed.
“Do not worry Master Lloyd, your ‘cool’ and ‘strong’ knight has returned.” Javier said smoothly.
Lloyd groaned in exasperation as he flopped back into bed. Go figure, the protagonist would remember the whole ordeal. Guess he could cancel that letter to Alicia…
Sighing, he sat up and began preparing for the day.
“I forgive you.” His knight whispered.
“Huh? Did you say something?” Lloyd snapped.
“Nothing, Master Lloyd.” Javier replied with a hum.