All Zhao WuTian wanted to do was just eat breakfast, comfortably.
He had long, come to terms with the fact, that with the original past aggressions, his seat in the family would be rocky. It wouldn't be a far stretch if he was the black sheep of the family. A straight up disappointment to the Daniel's.
But who would've thought that it was actually quite the opposite.
After waking up this morning, Zhao WuTian realized he hadn't had the chance to eat last night and had went to bed without dinner. Having that sudden realization with the rumbling of his angry stomach he disregarded his current disheveled appearance and quickly headed straight towards the dinning room.
Walking down the hall of the west wing, he couldn't help but notice his butler's absence.
Aiden was somehow still missing.
Not that he was complaining about his absence. And the thought of constantly being watched, waited on, and followed wasn't an ideal experience for him. So he didn't quite mind.
It was just that, he couldn't recall if such things like this was the norm for Bonny. When he possessed the originals body he also had inherited their memories. Yet between the time of yesterday and today the memories of Bonny were blurry and inconsistent. They were broken off into bits and pieces, large and small, each section covered by an unmovable thick fog. Preventing him from getting a overall picture of Bonny's life. Which he figured was an issue that would be solved with time, so he wasn't too worried about it. But he did acknowledge though the matter was small, nevertheless it was definitely something to keep in mind of.
It didn't take long before Zhao WuTian stood in front of the door to the dinning hall and pushed it open, stepping through with ease.
Steadily, he walked toward his seat and sat down. His chair was the farthest away from his father, located at the end of the table. Befitting his position in the family as the youngest.
Quietly, Zhao WuTian lightly glanced around, studying the room. No one appeared to be glaring daggers at him, unlike the maid's he had passed by yesterday when he came home.
The silence shared between the five was quite deafening. Everyone staring at him intensely.
Zhao WuTian noticed, there was no negative emotions being directed his way. If anything it appeared that they seemed worried about him.
All but one. This person's gaze was dark and unreadable.
'Odd.'
Zhao WuTian didn't recall the novel mentioning anything about Bonny having three older siblings.
'Was this person a distant relative?'
If only he could read Bonny's memories. It might give him a clue of everyone who was around him and of those who weren't.
"Bonny." A smooth gentle voice called from across the table. "Are you okay?"
Bonny shifted his attention to the front of him, meeting Alden's sun set amber eye's. "I'm fine." He replied casually.
'Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?' Is what he actually wanted to say but instead went for a more simple approach.
"Are you sure?"
Bonny nodded an began chewing on his food.
A low growl came from the left side of him. Belonging to his older brother Liam. "Stop trying to beat around the bush, and just ask him the damn question. Or I'll do it for you."
Alden ignored the oldest and continued talking to Bonny gently. "You were taken away by pirates yesterday did anything happen?"
The silent young gentleman in the room perked his ears up in slight interest, a cold light flickering through his dark eyes.
The conversation he wasn't paying much attention to had surprisingly peeked his interest. From what he had heard it appeared that yesterday the young master of the Daniels family, was kidnapped. By Pirates, and was able to survive to tell the tale.
'Interesting.'
Pirates weren't ordinary people. They were people who didn't care much for morals especially on sea. They were deranged, callous people who robbed from both the rich and poor, they were selfish yet loyal, silly but dangerous, fickled and smart. They were tricky and unpredictable. Crossing them was having a death wish. They even slaughtered their own kind, what difference would be in killing off a little noble.
Yet here Bonny was, a degenerate, thin-weak spoiled brat. Who somehow was still alive and well with not a single scratch on him. And furthermore he wasn't whining or complaining about his unfortunate encounter. For someone who was a coward and caught fits over the most smallest things. The youth was relaxed and unfazed. And if one looked closer at the small movements of his mannerism you could see that he seemed to be uninterested in the topic.
'What happened to the cowardly rabbit?'
Bonny shrugged. "Like I told Liam, it was just a misunderstanding. Nothing more."
"Dammit all." Liam hit the table, staring at his little brother with frustrating eyes. "Bonny, you don't need to lie to us, you can tell us if something happened to you. We don't care who it is we will quickly see to it that they are dealt with."
'Huh?' "I'm not lying." said Bonny, his tone a bit cold.
"Bonny." His father spoke. "Tell us exactly what happened."
Bonny shrugged setting his fork down. "I went to the Tavern. Gambled with a group of commoners, I was a bit lucky and they didn't quite approve, causing us to have a dispute. I told them I was a noble they backed down or so I thought. Because after I left the Tavern, soon after I was knocked over the head from behind and kidnapped by them. Then I was brought to their ship as a prisoner where I stayed in a cell for some time before being brought up onto deck. There, I met their captain and that is when I realized that they weren't commoners but pirates. And to take me prisoner the group claimed that I had stole 100,000 silver."
Liam seethed with hatred "Those despicable pirates."
The father signaled for Bonny to finish. Zhao WuTian continued, "The captain planned on killing me as he referred to me death as 'Dead men tell no tells'. And so I convinced him that killing me would bring trouble to his ship. And that my family was aware that I was gone, though honestly that in its self was a bluff as I wasn't sure that anyone had witnessed my kidnapping." Saying this Zhao WuTian unknowingly appeared frail and soft to the others.
'He must of been deeply scared.' Was a thought that both brothers shared.
The father didn't say anything as he slowly processed this knew profound information. His reverse scale was poked. 'Who dared kidnap his son!' "He asked slowly. "What was the name of the captain?"
"Dorian Woods."
Hearing this name everyone besides Bonny and the gentlemen whose interest was peeked even more, frowned. The air in the room dropped a few degrees. Causing Zhao WuTian to scrunch his nose up in confusion.
'Just what the hell was up with this atmosphere?'
The father pursed his lips slightly as the situation was now a bit troublesome. Dorian Woods. They all knew exactly who he was. And who was backing him. Still, as a father he had his pride and no one under any circumstances could touch his children and get away with it. To deal with this matter it meant he had to visit the king.
Alden couldn't help but ask, "Is this a problem we can't solve?"
Liam added. "Yeah, do we just let those bastards get away with what they did?"
"No need to fret." Eric calmly spoke. "This issue will be settled soon."
Zhao WuTian nodded to himself. It would seem that he had it all wrong. Though Bonny was a spoiled, bratty, unfair person. He was still immensely loved by his family. Zhao WuTian had to admit, he didn't see this one coming. His guess was wrong. But what he was definitely sure of now, was that his family had condone Bonny's behavior. And had no qualms with how he acted. And from what Zhao WuTian could tell it was all because of two reasons. Bonny was the baby in the family, the youngest and Bonny was weak and frail so they sheltered him and gave him all that he wanted. Along with letting him do whatever he wanted. Which in the end had back fired and killed their son.
At least in the novel it did. After all Zhao WuTian was now inhabiting the body and therefore Bonny had survived. Or in this case his body did.
Zhao WuTian was now full and figured he'd go back to his bed room. Standing up he nodded briefly. "I'm going to retire now." Reaching the door he glanced back at his family members only, and bowed slightly. "Father, older brothers, thank you for breakfast."
Walking back to his room he became idle. Looking around at the paintings on the walls. He hadn't notice before but each painting was a drawing of each family member. Paintings that appeared to be in order, the last one was positioned across his room. Which so happen to be the one painting that caught his attention, it seemed the painting was of the originals mother. Resulting in Zhao WuTian approaching the frame in curiosity.
His mother had a sculpted figure which was twine-thin. Her waist was tapered and she had a tan complexion. A pair of arched eyebrows that settled over her sweeping eyelashes. Her delicate cheeks framed a button nose. And a set of dazzling, angel-white teeth that gleamed as her heart shaped lips gently smiled in bliss. Her warm blue eyes glowed brightly clashing against her carmine-red hair, but blended well with her blue dress. She had a cheerful, grace felt look.
The only word that came to mind as Zhao WuTian observed the painting, was beautiful. Very beautiful. It was too bad that she had died long ago.
'It would have been a nice encounter.' He thought taking one last glance. 'If we had met before hand.'
Maybe it was the picture or the original's body, feelings. But for some reason he felt close and mournful towards the lady in the painting. He couldn't explain it but there was a bunch of complicated feelings he was sure that didn't belong to him, bubbling within the pit of his stomach. The longer he gazed forward.
"It's a pity." He mumbled. 'It was really a pity she was dead.'
"What's a pity?" Someone whispered softly besides his ear, the voice coarse and deep. Causing Zhao WuTians body to stiffen in shock. 'What the hell!'
His attention toward the painting wasn't so invested that he wouldn't hear anyone approaching him. Yet, here someone stood behind him and not once did he hear them approach him. 'Odd.'
Frowning, he turned around and faced the other.
It was the unfamiliar man who sat next to his older brother Liam in the dinning hall. What the hell was he doing here? The mans stature hovered over him by a whole feet, maybe even more. As Zhao WuTian looked closer he noticed the man stood at a whopping 193 cm. He was tall. He gazed at the man confusingly, the golden hues in his eyes brewing coldly.
'What an stunning pair of eyes.' The man inwardly commented.
"Do you need something?" questioned Zhao WuTian.
"No." he answered simply.
"Then why are you here?"
"No real reason in particular. I was passing by and became curious." He lied.
Zhao WuTian looked at him skeptically. "About what?"
He leaned forward. "How were you really able to survive against Dorian?" He appeared familiar as he address the pirate by his first name but Zhao WuTian didn't notice as he just thought the man was strange and being nosy. "Who are you again?"
'This rabbit keeps getting stranger and stranger.'
"Why are you being like this? It's me Levi your friend?"
'Friend my ass!' Zhao WuTian wasn't stupid. He didn't need Bonny' s memories to know that this odd man in front of him wasn't his friend in the least. His gaze was too dark and sinister. His evil intentions were clear as day and any one with eyes could see it.
Zhao WuTian brushed passed him and headed towards his room door. Deciding to ignore this Levi guy. Who was no doubt nothing but trouble, he only took a couple of steps before he was suddenly grabbed by a slender hand ingulfed in a white glove.
Reflexively Zhao WuTian through the hand off him and fiercely glared at Levi. He hated being touched without permission. This odd man was beginning to anger him. He spit with venom, "Don't touch me."
This caused the air around them to suddenly become rigid. A cold silence passing between the two. Zhao WuTian shuddered, looking into two deep pools of darkness. Eyes abnormally black as a black hole, as if they could suck the life out of anything. They were dull and bitter and if looks could kill Zhao WuTian was positive he'd be dead ten times over by now.
Just when the stand still reached it's peek, Levi suddenly laughed. "Hahahaa.." The laughter crescendoed from low to high, before falling into quite shrillness. His pitch black murky eyes stared quietly at Bonny, as he suddenly took a step forward. His leather shoes stepped across the soft lava-red carpet, bringing with it an elongated shadow, that with each step rendered the carpet two shades darker. This process of him walking over towards Bonny seemed to carry on very long as if time had slowed down. Giving off the illusion of the extreme danger in walking on the edge of death. The aura around him became oppressed as he approached Bonny.
'Ah... shit.' Zhao WuTian was secretly panicking. 'Did I accidently, just step on an landmine?'
He took a polite step back, inching closer to his room.
Levi said in a relaxed tone. Voice smooth and low. "My apologies for touching you. I shouldn't have let my curiosity get the better of me."
Did he just admit his mistake and sincerely apologize?
If he didn't hear the small undertone of malice and the uncontrollable killing intent spreading his way Zhao WuTian was sure he would have believed him. And felt that he was actually sorry.
He couldn't do this anymore it was like looking at a death flag and Zhao WuTian cared deeply for his life. He didn't save his own ass just so he himself, could put it in danger again. Without saying another word he took another step back, turning around and quickly opened his door and went inside his room.
Levi watched Bonny coldly shut the door in front of him. Then casually put his hands in his pockets while the ends of his lips pulled into a callous smile. He turned around and strolled away, his footsteps oddly light and soundless. He thought amusingly, 'Rabbits can bite after all. Even cowardly ones.'
As he walked off his silhouette slowly disappeared down the hallway, his shadow perfectly blending in with the darkness of the walls until he completely disappeared.