(Cecilia POV)
Well, there was one thing that Kizen was right about. It was the fact that he needed me in the war council. I was intelligent way beyond my age. And since no one trusted him, I think that they may have held important information from him. You know what, just scratch that. I know they had withheld important information from him. It was not his fault really. He was just born this way. But no one seemed to notice. I was younger than him. But even still I knew that Kizen was not born healthy. Since the time I gained consciousness of self, I saw all my family members abusing him. He was always treated as a failure. I noticed that he always gave it his all, but his body was too weak to keep up. He was abused for something that he was never responsible for. Yet he tried his hardest. I knew that he was being abused by our older siblings but I could not do anything. Dad would never believe that his perfect son and daughter would ever do something like this. So, no one would have believed me even if I had told them. So, I always tried to cheer him up on my own.
When I was little, the only person except for mom who ever visited me was Kizen. He was like a big brother. I mean he is my big brother but he was the only one who acted like a big brother. He came to see me, he played with me and he took care of me when mom could not. He did every thing he could for me, all while fighting against the living nightmare called his life.
When I turned seven, his spirit was already broken. Since he could not do anything against his older siblings, he turned all the hate towards me. He started to bully me as much as he could. But my parents were cautious and then I had protective guards around me. The next thing I knew, He was abusing his power to hurt others. He would bully any peasant he could find just to quench his thirst for vengeance. He would go and flirt with any girl that was even a little bit cute. He became an addict and a prideful jerk. At first, he was only depicted as the trash of the family. But then he really became the trash of the family. I tried to help him several times but he was beyond help at that point. So, after a few tries I too gave up. Thinking back at it now, I should have tried harder. He had become too prideful and never bowed down to any-one. So, imagine my amazement when I heard the word, please from his mouth. I was flabbergasted. I had heard the rumors that Kizen had changed since I had crowned him but this was the first instance, I had seen it with my own eyes. And right now, that same lazy, drunk and prideful jerk was riding a horse with us and going to the city to find some enemy spies that had infiltrated our city.
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"Okay now I want a patrol team there and there" He was Giving orders like he was born a king. The orders were .... Well ..... amateurish at best. But considering my expectations for him, this was a great improvement. He was ordering guards to patrol different areas of the city. Since we were on war, there was a food shortage. The army had set up base camps and food was being distributed to the refugees. The condition there was miserable. I was looking at the scene when ....
"There is something on your mind ...… right?"
I jumped due to the sudden hand on my shoulder.
"Don't scare me like that. You almost spooked the life out of me" I put a hand on my chest to calm down my nerves.
"Uh ..... Sorry bout that" He scratched the back of his head.
"No it's okay I... " It was a tab bit late but then it hit me
(Did he just say he was sorry. First the thank you then the sorry)
I raised my head a bit to look him in the eye. He was saying something but my focus was else where.
"Hey you listening to me" He jolted me.
"Uh ...… haan ...…. What ?"
"Are you okay, little sis?"
(LITTLE SIS)
"Yeah, I am ...…. Are you?" I asked him.
"Why did you ask that"
"Never mind. What were you asking me" I brushed off the subject.
(Maybe it's nothing. How can someone change that fast?)
"I said that you have something on your mind. You have been staring at those people for sometime now. Help me here. These soldiers are getting nowhere" he said
"You are right. I do have something on my mind. If you want to find a spy, If he is an old player in our city then check the nobles, if he has just entered, then ….."I pointed towards the refugee camp.
"Of course ...….. I am such an Idiot." He face palmed "Thank you sis, I could not have done it without you" He clutched my hands for a moment and then left running towards the encampment while shouting orders.
I looked at my hands.
(Once is coincidence, twice is luck, I don't know about thrice but the fourth time definitely means he has changed or is at least trying to)
I looked to the encampment where he had gone.
(Maybe he is trying to change. Just maybe my decision was not wrong. If all this is correct then it means that all the other signs were also correct. I am afraid ....)
I slowly walked towards my brother and joined him.
"So, what's the plan now?" I asked
"We are gonna search each and every single person here" He replied
(Huh ?????)
"Besides the fact that it will take forever, How will you even identify the spy?"
"We will check their papers and Identities" was his reply
"Papers??? Identities???? What are you talking about"
"Papers as ...….. " he stopped and then I saw an expression of true horror on his face. He crabbed his head and sat down.
"We are doomed" he said
(HHHHHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN ?????)
"N-N-No we are not. What happened to all your enthusiasm you had just now" I shouted.
"How will we find the spy"
"Well if you are willing to hear, I do have a plan" I replied
"Really. Why did you not tell me before?"
"Because you never asked" I replied "The plan is simple"
"What is it? tell me."
(Its confirmed. He definitely has changed)
"Sometimes you have to dangle your feet in the water to attract the sharks" I smiled at him