"Remember now, you must be on your best behavior, Benjamin. Despite our position of the Duke title, Lord Taron is this kingdom's Prime Minister."
Outside the Taron's grand estate, a carriage carrying Duke Norton's family of four. The handsome silver-haired man sat on one side of the seat next to his beautiful wife while their two sons sat across from them. Their youngest, Benjamin had a pout plastered on his face.
"Why are you only saying that to me father? What about Bernard?" the ten-year-old asked with a huff.
"Because I'm not the one who runs around causing trouble like a little brat," the snarky response from the fourteen-year-old prompted Benjamin to scowl.
"I don't do that!"
The expressions on the Duke and Duchess's faces said differently.
"Hmph!" Benjamin crossed his arms huffily and collapsed into the seat.
Bernard rolled his eyes at his younger brother's childish ways before turning to look out the window of the carriage.
"The Taron residence is incredibly grand," he muttered.
"That's because half our tax money belongs to them," Duke Norton snorted.
"Dear," Duchess Norton softly scolded her husband. The Duke looked at her innocently, "You know it's true."
"Hmm…"
As the carriage finally came to halt, the door was opened by the footman.
Duke Norton was the first to climb before he held out his hand to his wife and escorted her down. The two boys came out after and the family made theirs through the entrance of the mansion.
'Tsk, who wanted to go to this stupid party anyway,' Benjamin thought bitterly. He'd so much rather be back at home in the barnyard playing with the horses. That or be practicing his magic.
"Now announcing the arrival of the Duke and Duchess Norton and their two sons!"
As their names were announced, the doors to the banquet hall were opened and the family of four entered holding their heads high.
The guests who had arrived earlier stopped to look at them before many of them hastily made their way over to give their greetings.
Lord Taron included.
"Frederique, you're looking as well as ever," Lord Taron said with a smile that was anything but friendly.
"Oswald, you're still the same since the last time I saw you," Duke Norton responded with a tight smile.
Though their exchange of pleasantries appeared friendly and innocent enough, the distaste for each other was evident in their eyes.
Sensing the hidden tension between the two men, Duchess Norton quickly led her two boys away from their practically abandoning her husband and taking them to someplace quieter.
"Why don't you two find the other children? I'm sure Lord Taron's boys are around here somewhere," Duchess Norton said.
"Urgh," Bernard made a sound of displeasure. The thought of having to meet those two pretentious punks was anything but enjoyable. "I respectfully refuse to do anything of the sort mother. Those two…"
"Don't be like that now. I'm sure they're not that bad," she meant to say that with confidence but even she didn't believe herself. The Taron siblings had quite the reputation.
In the meantime, Benjamin had long snuck off to the dessert table where tons of delicious-looking sweets and pastries were nicely displayed. His mouth watered at the sight of them.
"You'll start drooling over the floor the longer you stare."
A light-hearted voice startled Benjamin out of his thoughts. He turned around to see who the owner of the voice was and came face-to-face with a pale-skinned boy with a handsome face. He looked to be the same age as him but he held himself in such a way that made him appear older.
"You are…"
The boy smiled, "Francis. You can call me Francis."
****
Francis didn't have much of a plan in mind when he approached the silver-haired boy standing by the dessert table. If he wasn't ordered by his father to socialize, he would've happily made his way over to the balcony.
The silver-haired boy seemed like the harmless kind seeing as he practically drooled over the sight of cakes and cookies so Francis figured he may as well make an acquaintance.
"You'll start drooling over the floor the longer you stare," he said as he neared the other kid.
The silver-haired boy turned around to face him with a face that said 'who dares speak to me like that?' but stopped and said, "You are…"
"Francis. You can call me Francis."
The silver-haired boy frowned, "What's your surname? You should know that you speaking to a son of a Duke."
'Hmm? A Duke?' thought Francis. Suddenly, his brain clicked and he mentally face-palmed.
'Dammit. How could I be so stupid?! Silver hair, an innocent but haughty appearance - this is Benjamin Norton! A capture target!'
Francis wondered if it was too late to backtrack and pretend this never happened.
Then again, it wasn't entirely his fault for not remembering sooner. Having spent a couple of years in this world, some memories of his past life had begun to blur a little and it sometimes took him quite a while to recall certain things from his past.
"Hey, are you scared now that you offended me with your casual speech?"
The voice of Benjamin Norton broke Francis out of his thoughts.
Looking at the boy in front of him, Francis felt his face twitch.
'I was right. Pretentious.'
"My name is Francis Taron," he revealed his surname with a raised eyebrow. "As far as I'm concerned, I believe that makes us stand on equal ground."
"Taron? The Prime Minister?" Benjamin asked with surprise. But then he huffed and blushed, "W-Well, why did you hide your identity?!"
Benjamin felt quite embarrassed now. He spoke so haughtily in front of a Taron!
"I didn't hide my identity. You just assumed," Francis pointed out. "Anyway, I'm not here to pick a fight with you. I just thought I'd try socializing with someone my age."
'Although, I'd rather socialize with another extra like me' he thought bitterly. Nevertheless, there was no turning back now. The damage had been done.
"I-I…" Benjamin had nothing to say. He did assume the other was lower than him in terms of title. "Tsk. Sorry."
'Oh?'
Francis looked at the boy with red cheeks and crossed eyebrows and thought;
'Ah. We've got a tsundere here.'
This was quite a surprise to Francis considering the in-built character of Benjamin was vastly different from the current Benjamin in front of him.
In the otome game, from what Francis recalled, Benjamin had an arrogant and very cold personality. He had his guard up against everyone and only the protagonist could break through the barrier to his heart.
However, Benjamin right now was more like a brat who didn't know how to control his mouth. From the way he turned red whenever he made a mistake, it was obvious that he wasn't a rude person on purpose.
'Maybe it's because he's still a child,' Francis muttered in his head. 'Hmm, I originally didn't want to get involved with the main characters of the plot but if I could maybe improve their personalities a little…'
No.
Francis shook his head.
That was not a good idea. Given that this world is governed by deities, and is riddled with supernatural phenomena, changing anything major might have catastrophic consequences.
'It's better for us to stay simple acquaintances.'
"Announcing; Baron and Baronness Barnet, and their three daughters!"
****
A/N: Muahahahaha!!