Rumor

Third-Person POV:
3 days ago...

Eirian and Darien were now in the study room with Aidan, who was reading a book. The reason they were there was simple: Aidan didn't want them to fall behind in their studies. So, sometimes he would be their teacher, or most of the time, it would be their tutors from the palace, because the two of them didn't want any tutors other than Aidan and the palace tutors.

Why not just send them to school? Well, there were two reasons. One, the government still hadn't finished unraveling what was happening in this world, and with the status window and all, they needed more time to understand everything before adding new subjects. So, most parents weren't sending their children to school yet because it felt pointless.

The second reason was Darien. He realized all this after waking up three days ago. Because his power had been exposed to the world, and it was known that he was the reason the Serenity Kingdom was trapped in that snow globe that day, Aidan thought it was better to let everything settle down first before putting Darien and Eirian in the same school, or more or less, Aidan wanted them to control their powers first.

But that didn't mean it would stop their freedom, especially Darien, who had been waiting for this day. Aidan said that after three days, Darien would be allowed to go wherever he wanted.

So now, the novel's writer was trying to convince his brother and their new guardian, Aidan, to go out to Serenity City, but of course, Eirian's answer was no, and Aidan's?

He had been silent all this time without saying a word, after he had given the two brothers an essay to write about what they understood about the history of the Demon Kingdom. For Darien, this was as easy as pie. He was a novel writer; he finished everything in less than 30 minutes, unlike Eiiran, who was still struggling, made worse by his brother bothering him, which prevented him from focusing.

"No, you've just truly recovered, but don't forget your body is still fragile, and today is just after three days, and you already want to go out to the city? No, wait another week," Eirian said, sounding stressed and annoyed.

He didn't even look at Darien, knowing his brother was using his strongest weapon, those pitiful eyes, like a puppy or a kitten abandoned on the side of the road in the rain. To Eirian, it was more like a fox kid because he was trying to deceive people.

Eirian sighed, rubbing his forehead because of the headache or because he couldn't remember what he had just studied.

"Ehhh~~~ Eiri-niichan, I'm bored! Let's go to the city~ I heard there's a food festival there. Come on~"

"The answer is still no, hmph," Eirian said as if his decision was final, with his arms crossed and a pout on his face.

Grr... Darien looked angry, as if he wanted to bite his brother. 'Why is he the one pouting at me!?', Darien thought, still gritting his teeth.

Suddenly, Darien got an idea, his last hope. The hazelnut-haired boy glanced at Aidan, who had been sitting in his chair all this time, reading a book. He smirked as if he had a wicked idea.

Aidan could feel Darien's gaze on him. He tried to pretend he didn't know and continued to read.

'Oh? Is he just trying to avoid my gaze? That's why that book is stuck to his face! If I can't use my puppy eyes on Eirian, I'll use them on Aidan. Eve told me that Aidan likes cute things. I can use that. Hehehe~', Darien thought with a small but evil laugh. Even Eirian looked at his brother with a strange expression, wondering what was wrong with him today.

He got down from his chair and went to where Aidan was sitting in the middle of the study room. Eirian stopped his work and turned to look at his brother with a confused expression.

When Darien arrived, he took a deep breath to prepare to embarrass himself again. 'Ugh, I don't like having to make myself more adorable, but I'm in Darien's body, so it's not a problem because no one in this world knows my real self.'

The novel's writer pulled on Aidan's sleeve to get his attention. Aidan then lowered his book a little, only revealing those beautiful venus-blue eyes. He frowned as if he were in trouble, and that trouble was probably Darien.

"Nee... Aidan-san~"

"..."

"Can Eiri-niichan and I go to the festival? Please~~~" Darien tried to make his eyes more watery and big, with a sad facial expression and a cute tone. Aidan's frown deepened, and he tried to avoid looking directly at his face.

If that's the case, let's be more childish. "Aidan-san! You promised you'd let me go out after three days! Today is the last day of the festival... Please, Aidan-san... You're not going to break your promise, are you?" Darien begged again, this time, making fake tears while shaking the poor man.

Aidan was speechless, not knowing what to say or what excuse he could give to reject this little boy's request. Darien, meanwhile, could see from the corner of his eye that Eirian was slapping his forehead and muttering something under his breath.

"Sigh... This kid..."

Skip...
In Serenity City,

In the middle of the city, there were so many people crowding the place in the late afternoon. There were many stalls decorated with various ornaments that showed the characteristics and identity of each stall. The scent of food filled the air there, competing to see which stall could get the most sales.

"Gasp! Hurry, Eiri-niichan! Let's go there!" He ignored his brother's protest while navigating through the sea of people filling the street, pulling Eirian's hand, who was caught off guard by his brother's sudden pull. The writer couldn't ignore that delicious smell; he knew that smell. His eyes shone with excitement.

"Wait-! Darien! Don't run!!!"

"Aaahhh!!! Young masters! Wait!!!" A panicked scream was heard from a girl wearing a maid uniform and two guards who were running after their young masters. Aidan couldn't follow because he had to go to the palace for something sudden, again. Darien didn't know what it was, but he hoped it wasn't something bad.

The novel's writer didn't want to deal with it now. He just wanted to have fun for a while.

When the two of them arrived at one of the vendors, some of the people there and the seller looked shocked when they saw the two brothers and immediately distanced themselves as if they were a virus.

But Eirian and Darien seemed not to care, ignoring them. What the writer was focusing on now was the dessert being sold in front of him.

They both had already expected what people would think of them later, because Aidan and Eirian had already asked Darien about it, whether he was sure he still wanted to go to a crowded place like this. They were only worried about his mental health, especially since he was too fragile and still a kid.

'I might be a fragile kid in this world, but my soul is an adult. Besides, I'm used to being ostracized or getting criticized, especially after becoming a novel writer. Some people who didn't like and criticized my story, even tried to slander me, but of course, none of it succeeded because of my huge fandom; I was safe.

And in this world, I have Eirian, and I admit that Hirayuki and Aidan have also become my protectors. No matter what they want to say, I don't care, even though honestly... It hurts a little, but it will disappear. As long as I have Eirian. Everything will be okay.'

Darien was still gaping at the various types of desserts being sold with eyes shining with delight, and Eirian was trying to catch his breath after running just now.

Darien then heard the sound of footsteps belonging to three adults. He was sure it was the maid and the two guards. Mina, the maid who was assigned to take care of them, and the two guards for their safety were Len and Nana.

They looked kind and close. But Darien could still see that they kept their distance and were wary of the two of them. Honestly, it still hurt Darien's feelings, but he knew there was nothing he could do. He had learned from his original world.

This was their choice. He didn't blame them. He knew that we can't make everyone like us, after all. There will always be people who don't like us or don't want to care. This is human nature.

"Huff! Huff! Young masters! Gasp, don't run like that again..." Mina said, still panting, as did Len, except Nana, who looked normal. he just gave a faint smile to his two childhood friends while giving them water.

"...Sigh... We're seriously going to be in big trouble if we lose them in this crowd," Len grumbled while wiping his sweat. Darien just gave an awkward chuckle before continuing to look at all the desserts again.

'Hmm... Which one, huh? I'm glad I studied all this time so I can read the language in this world. Chocolate moist cupcake? It looks--Huh? That's not-! Gasp!'

"Mint-chocolate cupcake!?"

"..."

"..."

"Ah... Mint flavor? Seriously?" Len commented, looking weird and disgusted.

'Ugh, mint-chocolate haters exist in this world too!?' Darien thought, giving the man side-eye. "Mint-chocolate is delicious! Len-nii is the one who's never eaten it, hmph!"

"Len... Nii?" Eirian whispered with a cold tone, and a black aura came out of his body, making Len immediately shudder and run to hide behind his two best friends.

"Wh... wh... Why did you call me 'Niichan'!? Do you want me to die early!?" Len even stuttered and looked threatened because of the aura and the look my brother was giving him. Darien was amused by it and, instead of helping the poor man, he used this opportunity to amuse himself.

"Eh? But, it's not Len-nii then... Len-ojisan?"

Len immediately turned to stone after Darien gave him that retort. 'Oops, it looks like I went too far hehe, but, it feels fun to tease him.'

Nana and Mina giggled at their best friend's reaction. Eirian shook his head ta the three childhood friends before he came to me with a proud smile and rubbed my head.

"Good job, Darien."

"Hehehe, thank you, Eiri-niichan."

'Ah. I made that cute smile again, didn't I? Eirian looks like he wants to pinch my cheek right now!!!', Darien screamed, panicking inside.

"Eiri-niichan! I want to buy this," The blond boy stopped his hand from reaching for his brother's face, then blinked many times with a confused look.

'Fuh, I'm safe--'

"I didn't know Darien liked mint flavor after all..." Eirian muttered while tilting his head to the side, looking innocent.

'Oh shoot... I'm doomed now. Ah... How am I going to explain this?', Darien thought as if he had been struck by lightning and turned to stone too. Again, his brain got an idea. This was from this world's experience, belonging to this body.

"Ah... That's because I've wanted to taste it for a long time, but we... Um.. We didn't have much money, and a lot things happened before, so... Aidan-san gave us a lot of