Ryo, who was viewing this part of the original's memories, felt a slight twinge of pain in his heart. The original's whole body was trembling not only from excessive crying and laughing but also from the paranoia caused by his first kill.
He looked disoriented to the point of madness. It was only to be expected since even though the original blackened, he had never experienced killing somebody before. He had the thoughts but implementing it was a different experience.
Ryo wanted to comfort the boy but he couldn't, since the original was already gone and what he was seeing now was just the original's memories of the life he lived in this lifetime.
Ryo felt the familiar pull that was indicating that this memory viewing ends here. When he blinked his eyes open, he was faced with a questioning look from Minerva, wondering why he was in a daze.
Ryo immediately exchanged pleasantries with her to cover up his initial inattentiveness. Minerva squinted her eyes on him but didn't say anything more. After exchanging pleasantries with them, Ryo excused himself to relax his mind.
While walking outside, Ryo passed by the fountain and stopped to look. The fountain looked the same as the ones on Earth but the layers of it were floating and there was a blue stone in the middle. It was the source of water but the stone was glowing as well, creating a magical feeling. Under the moonlight, it gave a relaxing mood coupled with the sound of the flowing water.
Ryo somehow understood why the original Ryo chose to calm his chaotic mind here. It's because it was giving an illusion of a separate space from its surroundings. It was a feeling similar to soaking in a hot spring, enjoying it all to yourself after a day's work.
He couldn't help but to lament the fateful encounter of the original Ryo and Minerva here. The hatred they felt to the same person caused a friendship to bloom between them. Due to the memories he saw, he felt a sense of familiarity to Minerva but he can't establish a friendship between them yet since the situation has already changed. He would just let time and chances to do the work for him.
With a wistful sigh, Ryo left the fountain and walked towards his greenhouse. He felt drained from interacting with so many unfamiliar people that he needed these plants to recharge his fatigued mind. Just as he opened the door of the greenhouse, he could already hear the suppressed choked sobs coming from somewhere in the room.
His eyebrows furrowed since he clearly reminded the servants to tell the guests that this greenhouse is off limits. Not only because it's his personal lair but also because of the dangerous plants he was raising. It would be too dangerous for other creatures to invade this place as those plants are not that intelligent. They attack anything that gets close to them other than him.
He walked towards the source of the noise but as he approached, his eyebrows furrowed tighter as this path clearly headed towards the location of the dangerous plants. He couldn't help but to click his tongue as he felt a little bit irritated by this stranger.
The boy could hear footsteps headed towards where he was and his body tensed up unconsciously. His body was trembling from fear and his choked sobs as he tried to tone down his noise. When he saw a pair of polished black shoes, he raised his head up and his eyes directly met with a pair of beautiful ruby red eyes.
The moonlight that entered through the gaps of the building illuminated the youth before him. His curly black hair was side swept to emphasise his tender looks. His tawny skin looked livelier and healthy under the moonlight, amplifying the youthful glow that the youth exudes. His upper body was covered with layers of clothing but it didn't obscure his slim figure coupled with the outline of his long slender legs.
Overall the youth exudes a lazy air about him but instead of looking dull, it complimented his looks. As if it was the right temperament for him. In the eyes of the boy, the youth in front of him was the most beautiful existence his eyes ever laid on. He didn't even notice that he had already stopped crying.
The youth looked so beautiful that he couldn't take his eyes off him.
Ryo looked at the boy who was squatting down with a tear stained face with snot running down his nose. The boy looked up at him stupidly and was in a daze as if he was looking at an entirely different and not yet discovered species. Ryo grimaced at the boy's messy face and raised an eyebrow as the boy just stared at him unblinking so he took the initiative to speak first.
"What are you doing here? Weren't you informed that this place is off limits?" Ryo asked as he crossed his arms across his chest.
The boy snapped out of his daze when he heard the youth speak. His voice was still immature, indicating that he was still a child and although it sounded soft, it clearly belonged to a boy. His mind was blank as he was still half immersed in mesmerizing the youth's beauty coupled with the pleasant voice, he was rendered stupid.
His mind was in a jumbled mess as he tried to answer the youth.
"U-um…I was wandering…I didn't… I'm sorry I didn't know where I was headed and ended up here." The boy said after a round of stuttering.
He nervously pinched his index finger as he tried to suppress the anxiety he was feeling. Ryo noticed that the boy was so tense that he even forgot to wipe the mess on his face. Ryo pulled out a hanky from his pocket and handed it to the boy. Ryo got tired from standing so he sat beside the boy.
The boy tentatively took the hanky and shyly cleaned his face. The tips of his ears were blushing all the way down his nape. Ryo let him finish before asking the boy out of boredom.
"So why were you crying?" Ryo asked casually as he leaned against the fence.
The boy pursed his lips for a moment, hesitating whether to open up to the beautiful youth beside him. He was hesitant since he didn't want the youth to look down on him once he heard the reason. Ryo thought that the topic might be too sensitive because of the boy's hesitation so he quickly took back his words.
"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to. "
I wasn't that curious anyway.
Ryo closed his eyes to take a short nap but when he heard the boy speak, he opened his eyes and listened to the boy ramble on.
"I-It's not like that! I…I was hiding from my siblings since they didn't want to see me." The boy said and his voice gradually softened to the point that it wouldn't be heard by a normal person.
But Ryo still heard it clearly since he's a vampire. His head slightly tilted to the side as he inquired. He observed the other's droopy ears and the tail that was swaying weakly behind the boy coupled with the reddened eyes and nose, it made the boy look delicate and pitifully cute. This made Ryo unconsciously soften his tone. The boy looked oddly familiar though.
"Was it your siblings that made you cry?"
The boy fidgeted as he looked down on the ground.
"No… It's just that they didn't like my weak physique despite being identified as an alpha. I looked more like an omega that's why they didn't like me. A-also because of me…our mother died…" the boy said as he started crying once more.
"I-It's because of me… If I wasn't born then mom would still be alive…" the boy said between sobs.
'Woah, man. That's too much information you're unloading to a stranger.'
Ryo thought but also reproached himself since he was the one who asked for information anyway. The boy looked like he had been repressing his thoughts and emotions. Since Ryo felt bored, he would let the boy treat him as an emotional garbage dump. They wouldn't meet anymore anyway.
"Hey, I don't know your family circumstances and your culture but I'm sure that your mother was the happiest woman alive when you were born. She wouldn't give birth to you if she wasn't anticipating your arrival to this world. Before you, she gave birth to your siblings. That's why she knows best what she's doing when giving birth. Mothers are just like that. They're strong women alright. It's not your fault."
'Though it depends on the situation.' Ryo kept the thought to himself since he's supposed to comfort the boy.
"Your mother would be sad if she saw you like this. Though it's mainly because of your siblings' treatment of you, you can choose to fight back. I'm not saying that you go physical with them, instead you can improve yourself so that they can eat their own sh-words. But it's best to do it for yourself. To boost your confidence, you know. Or you can just choose to ignore and get used to the status quo but I think you're better off with the former." Ryo said and smiled kindly to the boy.
Ryo wasn't sure if his words really reached the boy but it doesn't matter to him if it didn't. People have their own brains and are perfectly capable of deciding things for themselves. It would be good if the boy would be moved even just a little with the words he said and use it as an inspiration to slowly build his confidence but he's well aware that just a few words isn't enough. But hey, some people do change just from a few words from another person. It just depends on the mindset of the individual.
Ryo's words did manage to move the boy but he didn't show it. It was the first time that someone told him that it wasn't his fault. He knew it wasn't his fault but his siblings' constant blaming and his father's silence led him to doubt himself resulting in his current situation. Ryo's words held some truth in it. It wasn't his fault so why was he letting them treat him this way? If he wants something to change then he could only start with himself.
There was a moment of silence but it wasn't awkward nor stifling. It was a comfortable silence that let them sort their own thoughts and absorb the youth's comfort. It was relaxing enough to make Ryo sleepy. Just as he was about to yawn, the boy finally spoke.
"Thank you. I really feel a lot better now." The boy said with a smile.
"You look really good with a smile. You should smile more often." Ryo said absentmindedly since his heart received a straight arrow from the boy's lovely smile.
"Alright." The boy blushed but didn't refuse.
The boy's heart was palpitating fast from receiving the youth's compliment. He felt giddy for some reasons he couldn't quite describe. All he knows is that he's feeling better now. Thanks to the youth's comfort.
"A-are you heading back now? Can I accompany you?" The boy asked and stood up, giving a hand to Ryo to help him stand up.
Ryo took the help and stood up as he patted his ass off some dust.
"Sure." Ryo replied.
As they were heading back, Ryo reflected on what happened in the greenhouse. It was unusual of him to talk so casually with a kid. And a stranger one at that. He used to be interactive in his youth but the years he spent slaving away in that company eventually changed his personality into a somewhat introverted one.
Maybe he was talkative earlier because the boy managed to distract him from the memories he saw earlier. The memories were so stimulating that it affected his mood. He'll just think of his talkativeness earlier as a thank you for the boy. As they neared the entrance of the Palace, Ryo suddenly thought of something.
"You know, you really look familiar. Have we met before?" Ryo asked.
The boy tilted his head to the side as he rummaged through his memories then he finally found out why the youth seemed familiar to him too.
"Um…I think yes? My father introduced us to you earlier. My name is Alarick Beowulf." Alarick said with a slight smile on his face.
Ryo furrowed his eyebrows as he recalled the surname Beowulf.
"Ah! Mr. Beowulf's son. I see, that's why." Ryo said with a chuckle.
Hearing that chuckle made Alarick blush slightly once more as his heart started palpitating fast. He doesn't know why he's feeling this way but he must admit that Ryo's chuckle sounded nice. He wanted to hear more. Alarick wanted to talk more with Ryo but he felt shy and he didn't know what to talk about so as they made their way back to the hall, it was complete relaxing silence. Before they went back to their respective tables, Alarick finally had enough courage to talk.
"I'll hand you back this hanky once I clean it up." Alarick said as he held the hanky in his pockets.
"No, it's yours. You looked like you needed it more than I did. Just think of it as a gift from me." Ryo said with a smile then went back to where his family was.
Alarick went back to his family's table and was met with taunting and mocking gazes from his siblings but he was too distracted to pay attention to them. Ryo's words echoed repeatedly in his mind and looked at Ryo with his eyes filled with determination.