The journey back to the Frenzel household was one of tense silence and comfort. Despite the blatant stare coming from his so-called elder brother, Aether couldn't help but notice the exquisite detail of the carriage. Not only were the cushions of the finest silk, but the embroidery on them was not only complex, but also a shiny gold. For a moment he was almost certain that it was real gold. He reached out tracing the design with his fingers.
'I wonder if you ever got to feel such pleasantries in your life.' Although he had experienced such luxury in his previous life, he couldn't help but still trace the small details. It was his way to give the previous owner of this body a fulfillment in experiencing a luxury he would have otherwise never had.
The journey sadly came to an abrupt end. Before he could even process that the carriage had stopped, Leon had grabbed him by his hand and dragged him out of the carriage, only letting go once the front door had opened.
The servants who had ignored him before were standing in the entryway openly glaring at him. He wanted nothing more than to glare right back at them, but what was the fun in that? Instead he held his head up high and gave them the smuggest smile he could muster. He could see some of them visibly twitch, but he knew they wouldn't do anything. After all, he was standing next to the Eldest Young Master of the household. One wrong move and they would be dead.
The door slammed shut behind him and the purple haired butler from before quickly ran past him and caught the coat Leon had thrown to the side. Leon did not give the poor butler a chance to catch his breath as he ordered him to go and alert his father that they were here.
Aether wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of meeting his new father. From what he had gathered his brother wanted an audience with their father and with everything that had transpired beforehand he was almost one hundred percent sure that the topic had to do with him.
He shuddered at the thought.
Erik Frenzel. One of the famed war generals of the Soline Kingdom and now his father. Other than his appearance and how brutal and ruthless he was both on and off the battlefield, the man was barely mentioned in the novel. Though that didn't mean Aether knew nothing about him. He was able to gather from off hand conversations in the novel that due to his war general status, Erik Frenzel was the right hand man to the King and was often seen at his side. To him, it looked as if the two might have been friends, but there was never enough evidence to confirm that.
Although the thought of discovering if his theories were correct or not was appealing, at the moment he did not want to meet his new asshole of a father. After all, it could end very badly for him. His new father was ruthless when it came to power. The moment his children's abilities appeared he trained them to wield their abilities as a weapon and crafted them into monsters who were ready to kill anyone that got in their way. Yet one of his children was born without an ability? Ha! It was almost comical. If he wasn't standing here, he would have assumed that Erik had personally killed his youngest child.
Obviously that didn't happen, but that didn't mean it couldn't. One small slip up. That's all it would take for Erik to kill him and that was a risk he wasn't willing to take.
"Take me to my father." Leon's voice broke him out of his thoughts.
An older butler was at the bottom of the stairs. His outfit was pristine and he held in his hand a small golden pocket watch. He had to be the head butler, for small golden and silver flowers lined the cuffs of his sleeves. His buttons were not like the plain black ones the other butlers wore, but instead a bright gold that matched his pocket watch. His age was showing in his appearance. He had dark black hair that was combed back, but silver and white strands of hair were evident. His dull gray eyes were warm, but they also held a distant coldness that came with years of experience. Although he looked sturdy for his age, the beginning of what looked like wrinkles could be seen underneath his eyes. A pair of gold rimmed glasses were sliding down his nose, but he made no motion to fix them. Aether felt like he was staring at a man that could know everything about you with just one look.
'Yeah, I'm not dealing with this right now.' Aether turned around and walked away from the two, though he didn't make it very far.
"Where do you think you're going?" Leon gritted out as he grabbed onto the collar of Aether's shirt. Aether let out a startled yelp and gripped his collar, preventing himself from being choked. 'Seriously!' He blinked and scowled at Leon.
Leon's nose scrunched up in what looked like a mixture between anger and disgust and, wait, his eyes squinted, it couldn't be, was that confusion?
Aether smiled internally, 'Oh, he could work with this.'
He quickly changed his scowl into a pout and struggled until his outer jacket that Leon was currently holding onto was off. With a slight gasp he said, "I have things to do." Without waiting a beat he gave Leon a curt nod and turned on his heel continuing his long walk towards his room.
Once again there was another pull at his collar.
Leon once again was holding him tight, preventing him from leaving. Aether sighed heavily and looked back at Leon who was now gazing at him with pure confusion.
"I asked you a question, answer me." Leon seethed through clenched teeth. He should have looked menacing, but to Aether he started to look more like a confused dog.
"To my room."
"Why?"
Aether's eyes twitched. 'He's an idiot. A bonafide idiot.'
Leon did not make a big appearance in the novel, but when he did it usually ended in bloodshed. When reading the novel, Aether had originally thought that Leon was intelligent. After all, he always seemed to see through those who had heinous thoughts, killing them one after another, but could that have been just a mere coincidence? Was Leon just throwing his sword around because he was bored? Did he actually lack common sense?
Aether pursed his lips. He couldn't just go and say that if he met their father he would probably die. So he gave the best confused face he could muster and responded, "Because you brought me home. So I have to go back to my room, right?"
His innocent and simple minded answer worked. Leon's mask fell even further. He was opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water while his eyes wandered to the old butler on the stairs as if he were asking for help.
The old butler sighed, tucked his pocket watch away and made his way over to them. "Young Master Leon, Young Master Aether. You shouldn't keep the Master waiting." The butler didn't even bother with looking at Leon, but instead focused on Aether.
Aether shivered under the man's gaze. It was as if the butler was seeing right through him. 'This man is dangerous. I'll have to be careful in front of him.'
The old butler's words worked like a charm, Leon snapped out of the daze he was in and roughly pulled Aether towards the stairs, "You are coming with me, you have a lot of explaining to do."
The old butler walked quietly behind Aether as if he knew that if he didn't follow, Aether would have taken the opportunity to escape. He didn't miss the way the old butler's eyes watched his every movement. He openly frowned at the old butler. The look the old butler was giving him was like he was daring Aether to make a run for it, to see what would happen. Oh, how tempted he was to do so, but Aether wasn't stupid. He knew what this world was like and he knew that this man, though old, was the head butler for a reason.
'He's probably a skilled assassin.' Aether thought while eyeing the old butler's clothes. They were perfectly flat with no wrinkles as if he had diligently prepped them the night before, but even then he would at least have some dirt or wrinkles from doing chores all day and yet he didn't. Which left Aether wondering, did he prepare his clothes to look pristine because he was hiding something underneath them?
He didn't have time to ponder on the thought as they soon came upon a large red door. Aether gazed at the door with a deadpan face, 'Of course it would be a red door.' Leon stood in front of him slightly blocking the door. It was hard to see, but he could have sworn that if he looked just a little bit to the right, the door would glow an ominous red. Yet, when he looked straight at the door the red glow disappeared. 'How strange.' He wanted to keep testing it out, but froze when he heard a rough call from the otherside of the door.
"Come in."
Aether couldn't breathe. The voice shot deep fear into his bones and he found himself unable to move.
'What is this?' He looked down at the floor, his hands were shaking and his heart was beating so loud he thought it would burst from his chest. 'Is this another warning from the previous Aether?' If it was, Aether wanted nothing to do with the man behind that door.
His breathing was coming out uneven and he was struggling to catch his breath. He knew the fear would leave soon just like it did when Neal used his wind ability on him, but if this was going to be a recurring issue, he needed to figure out a solution and fast.
"Let's go." Leon mumbled as he grabbed him by thewrist. Aether gasped out in pain and against his better judgment he pulled back. Ignoring the way Leon glanced back at him in confusion, he used his one good hand and attempted to pull his injured hand from Leon's grasp.
"I-I don't want to." He mumbled. The fear was too strong, overtaking him as seconds passed. He was trying his hardest to bury the feeling, to voice some type of reasoning, but all that came out was that measly excuse. All he could think about was that Leon was too close to his injuries, all it would take was one wrong move, one hard pull and it wouldn't just be a broken finger and injured wrist anymore.
Leon scoffed and pulled him forward again. That was all it took for something inside him to break. His mind went fuzzy and he couldn't stop himself from freaking out.
"Stop! Let me go! I don't want to go in!Leave me alone!" He thrashed as hard as he could, hitting Leon with his hands and scratching at the wrist that was holding onto his hand. His nails dug into Leon's skin, drawing blood.
The sudden atack startled Leon just enough for him to let go.
Aether wasted no time in running away. Though once again he didn't make it far. Two pairs of hands held him down. One belonged to that old butler who had been watching him from the start. The other belonged to the purple haired butler that drove them back from the Academy. Aether didn't know where he had come from and at the moment he wished for nothing more than for him to disappear.
He wasn't given time to process what was happening as a pair of arms circled around his waist and hoisted him up. Aether thrashed, slamming his head back, but the person behind skillfully dodged. Aether frowned and out of anger he lifted his leg and slammed it as hard as he could down onto that person's sensitive area. They groaned in pain and dropped to one knee, but their hold never let up. After a moment of recovery, the person stood up and entered the room with Aether in their arms.
Aether whimpered. His chest was stuffy and the fight in his body slowly drained away. He was hopeless and he despised that.
He was placed down on a soft couch. The arms around him turned out to be Leon. He gave Aether a pissed off look before sitting down next to him. His actions were more careful as if he was placating a wild animal that could startle at any moment.
Aether's eyes roamed to Leon, then to the door, but before he could even make a move the old butler from before placed a single hand on his shoulder. Stopping him from moving. He glanced up at the butler. Cold gray eyes met his and that was all it took for Aether to snap back to the issue in front of him. With great hesitancy he glanced at the man sitting at the desk before him.
The man lived up to his name. He had short silver hair brushed back and out of his face. His face was handsome, but rough. He had two scars. One on his right cheek that was barely visible to the naked eye and the other ran vertical over the left eye. He had a silver goatee and his red eyes were more piercing and fierce than anything he had seen before. He was wearing a white shirt with a black vest. Gold and silver accents decorated his outfit and a small emblem on his vest finished off his outfit. He screamed rich and powerful as he stared at Aether, an evident frown on his face.
This man was Erik Frenzel, his new father.
"I heard you left your lesson and came all the way back demanding a meeting with me. I expected that it was because of something urgent, but" his eyes drifted over to Aether, "I see that you wasted my time."
Aether flinched. It felt like a cold bucket of water had been thrown over him. The fear was still there, but now there was a mix of anger in that fear. How dare he think that meeting his own son was a waste of his time. He clenched his teeth, but otherwise stayed silent.
"He is the reason why I requested a meeting." Leon responded crisply.
"Oh? And what could he have done that warranted a meeting?" Erik said with a hint of mockery.
Aether noticed that no matter what his new father refused to look in his direction, even though they were talking about him.
He wanted to scoff at such a sight, but held it in. The anger boiling inside him slowly began to eat away the fear.
Aether idly glanced over as Leon had pulled out the book he had taken from Aether earlier. Aether narrowed his eyes. 'What was he planning?' He chanced a glance over to his father who was also eyeing the book with narrowed eyes.
'Could he…'Aether smiled as Leon passed his father the book. Flipping it open, his fathers eyes narrowed further. As the minutes ticked by the flipping of the pages became harder and faster. Aether smirked. It seems his theory was right, the people of this world were not intelligent, at least when it came to mathematics.
"I see." His father hummed, "and he solved this all by himself?"
"Yes. I witnessed Professor Rondell escorting him into my advanced mathematical theory class and handing him the book personally." Leon reported.
"So? Anyone who studies enough would be able to solve these equations one day." His father leaned back, seemingly bored with the new discovery.
"If you open the book to chapter seventeen you will see why I called the meeting." Leon said with a serious tone.
Aether frowned. 'Chapter seventeen? What was on that page again?' He had gotten bored and began to solve random problems on random pages, he didn't necessarily remember each equation. 'Was chapter seventeen important? Argh, I can't remember.'
Aether watched his father's expression carefully as he flipped to chapter seventeen. His father froze for a single second and Aether knew he found what he was looking for. He only hoped that it was a good thing.
"I see, who knew my youngest would have such a telnet." It was like a complete personality change. One moment he was acting like he didn't exist and the next he was smiling. A cruel and twisted smile, but a smile nonetheless and it was directed at him.
Aether bristled in his seat, but the firm hand on his shoulder was a cruel reminder that he couldn't move.
"That's not all." Leon added. Aether's head snapped towards him. What else had he done?
"Professor Rondell was trying to lead Aether elsewhere after class as well. At first I was confused, but after reading the contents of that book I realized that Aether had solved part of the equation needed for that theory."
"What!" His father slammed the book down and gazed at Aether, but Aether was too lost in thought to care.
'What theory? Which equation? What the hell did he almost solve!' Aether was racking his brain trying to remember what theory they were talking about.
"Did he solve it?"
"No. I stopped the Professor before he could get Aether alone." Leon smugly smiled as if he had done something worthy of being praised for.
"Good." His father leaned back in his chair. He clasped his hands together as he gazed at the book in front of him.
While he was thinking, Aether was trying to piece together what was happening. It seemed like he had solved a part of something that was important. To top it off it looked like it was important to his father. 'I could use this to my advantage, right?' He leaned back into his seat. He had to play his cards carefully.
"Leon," Their father began, "do you still have the equation?"
"Yes."
"Write it on the board." their father gestured to a small black board that was on the left side of the room. Leon stood up and immediately started to write out an equation, part of which Aether had already seen before. The equation wasn't too difficult to solve, but the strange drawings next to it were foreign to him.
"Aether." his father called out. Aether didn't miss the way his new father slowly said the name as if he were testing it for the first time. Aether was pretty sure the man had never called his name before. Honestly, it didn't surprise him.
As if on cue, Leon stepped away from the board and sat back down, but not before handing the chalk to Aether.
"Solve the equation."
Aether looked up at his father, meeting his eyes for the first time. He had a feeling that the last Aether never had the opportunity, but that was going to change starting today.
His father pointed to the board. "Go ahead, solve it." he urged.
Aether swallowed. His father was testing him. The question was whether or not he should take the test.
If he solved the equation it would show his father that he was in their eyes intelligent and prove that he had some worth, but what would happen afterwards? There was no guarantee that after he solved this equation that they wouldn't throw him to the side. That of course was the least of his worries, it could, after all, be much worse.
He needed to go about this carefully. One wrong move and his life could be on the line. He looked at the board then back at his father. There was only one way to solve his issues while also showing his worth.
"What…do I get if I solve it?" Aether asked hesitantly. Everyone in the room turned to him in shock and confusion, but he didn't pay attention to them, instead he focused solely on his father. 'If anything was going to change then this man can make it happen.'
His father brought a hand to his mouth, covering the sadistic smile that was gracing his face.
Aether wasn't stupid. In order to survive in this world he needed to show his worth. He had a general plan for the outside, but for at home? He had nothing, well, at least up until this very moment.
"What do you want?" His father asked.
Aether smiled.
'Wasn't that a million dollar question.' There were many things he could ask for. Protection, objects, money, but those wouldn't help him in the long run. No, he needed his place secured if he was going to survive in this world.
"I want to be treated like a Frenzel." He smiled innocently as he leaned back onto the couch.
"Oh? Are you not already treated like a Frenzel?" his father leaned forward, clearly enjoying this sudden change in attitude. Aether smiled again, this man was falling right where he wanted him.
"You know what I mean. I want to be treated just like my siblings. A room in the main house, warm food, protection, training, all of it." He looked his father in the eyes, "I am a Frenzel, I should be treated like one too."
The silence was deafening, but Aether kept his head held high while he waited for the verdict. His fathers laugh broke the silence.
"Fine. I'll start treating you like a Frenzel the moment you solve that equation, but that's only if you can solve it." He leaned forward, a smile on his lips, "Do I make myself clear?"
"Perfectly." Aether stood up and walked over to the board. Chalk in hand he began to solve the equation with ease. When he was done he set the piece of chalk back down and turned to give his father a bright smile.
'So worth it.'