27 Chapter 10: The Change 1 (1/2)

|The entire Chapter 10 will be AERON's POINT OF VIEW.

”Aeron, you will protect your sister for me, wouldn't you?” Papa beamed at me. His big warm hand patting my head gently while his eyes quietly focused at me as if he already knew the answer.

Uhn—!

I nodded,

”I will always protect Aerra.”

That was a memory from when I was younger.

However lately, I began to feel it's the other way around.

My name is Aeron Leingod, young Lord of Greenrun. I live in the castle with hundreds of servants and soldiers alike that surround and serves me —but the hand that truly held mine, from the farthest memory I could recall, belongs to my twin sister.

For that, I believe I am never truly alone in this big castle because someone is beside me smiling brightly like the sun.

But that smile slowly began to change.

I always believed then that my twin sister is dimwitted. She's naive and gullible but she won't listen to anyone except me.

She's hopeless when I'm not around.

But despite being such a handful, I can't help but to worry if she's not by my side. Being who she is, I know she won't survive a day without me. She cries easily but grins back more after.

And no matter how much I allow her to tail me around, when I glare at her from my back she would always say the same thing, ”It's alright, Aeron. I'm here!”

As if I'm lost. As if I'm the one who needs the company. As if she's the one who's looking after me. I hated it when she say that.

But to my ears it was an assurance she always utter to let me know I'm never alone.

”I know.”

I always answer and with that she will grin at me contentedly.

But after she woke up from the tree incident, she began to act differently. Her wondering eyes became watchful and brooding. She never followed me around anymore and she became more composed and mature.

And as time passed, she become more and more distant.

It scared me honestly.

It scares me that she's no longer dependent on me. That she began to consider things without me. But if she's out of my reach, how would I be able to protect her?

Instead of letting her grow independently, I admittedly became stubborn and assured she's always around me and never out of reach. I was insistent to keep her close.

But despite all my efforts, she was kidnapped. Both of us were taken. It irked me that I wasn't able to do anything amidst all the precautions I did to assure she'll be safe as long as I'm around.

It was then I learned, especially from meeting Stray, who now we call as Eriol, that everything around us is changing and if I really wanted to protect my sister, I needed to grow as an individual first as much as she needs to learn to grow on her own. And that the stubbornness I was honing was only hurting her more than protecting her.

In the end, I concluded, the change is essential.

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”We need to see what type of powers you have. It's important that we monitor you and your sister before letting her go off traveling again.” Says Uncle when he summoned me few days before the day Eriol was asked to leave without us knowing. ”Why, uncle?” I asked, ”Prince Aldrey is already the scion to the crown. And Greenrun is independent from the entire seven domains of the Kingdom. So why are our powers needed to be monitored?”

Uncle smiled, perhaps pleased to hear my inquiry, and then explains how he's sure that our powers will awaken within two years time. Since we are the remaining Arcanian descendants of the latest generation, it's essential to monitor our state and assure that the Ouboros won't be hunting us back again. Not just Ouboros, perhaps any one at all that is interested in 'harvesting' someone like us.

I find this bothersome to the fact that uncle keeps snooping around our own affairs. How did he even know that we plan to leave for Nora's brooches anyway?

Uncle is a respectable man but cunning. He's manipulative as he is keen. I understand why he keeps us safe as much as he does with his own children but it's honestly bothersome that he has to decide things for us when even our own parents are never that strict.

However...

With the unexpected turn of events though, Eriol became part of our Household, holding a title as a Lord under his god awful House name 'Windstray' which he got from adding both mine and Aerra's suggestion. After that, we all went back home to the Dukedom of Greenrun, a peaceful Southern nation.

I watch the white world outside from the windows of castle Greenrun as the ice slowly melted back to water

I watch the white world outside from the windows of castle Greenrun as the ice slowly melted back to water. The cold became warm. The twigs and bald branches up in the trees slowly grew back their leaves and flowers once again bloomed.

The valleys were once again rejoicing with the warmth of the sun and lush prairies, under the clear blue skies stretching far and vast over the summer atmosphere that has returned.

Yet again, after the warmth came the cold and winter once again visited as expected.

So with that—

...two years has passed.

And tonight we will be celebrating our 12th Birthday party.

Summer time has arrived but in a corner the winter chill is once again dreading to arrive.