Apparently, when Helena said she'd be back, it meant tomorrow. You'd think someone as arrogant and proud as she was would have a hard time coming back to meet me.
Well, she was not that simple, I guess.
Still maintaining the same stern look when she left yesterday, Helena peered me in the eyes and asked.
"Are you a Hero?"
"Pfft!" Alyson burst out laughing.
"Can you shut the hell up!?" Helena glared murder, but that was far from enough to stop Alyson.
'Come to think of it, it was a reasonable guess...'
For her to assume that I was a hero was not that far-fetched. For one, she too was said to be the future Hero of Boreas kingdom. A title that was but a remnant of the cruel past yet now served a completely different meaning.
The title of Hero was solely given as a symbol of prestige in this day of age.
"A hero? I think not. As you can see, I'm as fickle as a dandelion. You can blow me, and I'll be gone...Just like that..."
"Hm..." She hugged her arms together, showing a rare expression on her face.
"I hope you'll get better soon, Alexander." Called Howard.
"Thank you, Howard. I appreciate that."
"It's not a big deal." He waved his hand bashfully. For someone who could handle himself well in the banquet, Howard was strangely shy when he received a straight and genuine compliment.
"Ugh, disgusting!" Complained Helena, seeing our interactions. "You can have your tea party later, girls. But show it to me first."
"Show you what?" I asked with a straight face.
It was obvious what she meant, but I don't know. There's this urge in me that just wanted to mess a little with the little bitch from time to time.
"What else, damn it? Magic. Your magic! Do I need to freaking spell it for you? Are you an idiot?"
'Yea, she's a bitch, all right...'
"You know, it won't hurt anybody if you can tone down the salty tongue a bit, Helena." I refuted back.
"What's that? You're making fun of me, you bastard!?" And I should've known it was a hopeless endeavor, to begin with.
"Whatever...So, I was thinking, can you guys teach me magic?" Seeing her emotions jumping from zero to a hundred in a snap, I chose not to humor her.
The mood dove suddenly, and only silence prevailed. I could see the minute changes that were happening in the room. Especially Howard and Helena.
He was surprised by what I said and then cast a worried look toward his sister, who, on the other hand, seemed like she was on the brink of blowing up.
"I've been trying to play nice and hold myself a lot, but this asshole just keeps being funny, isn't he?" Muttered Helena.
'Shit, what did I say?'
I was flustered, yet I kept my cool and tried to keep my face straight while I thought of the things I should say to salvage this.
"Will you keep spouting shit to my face, you bastard!?" And she screamed her lungs out.
'Holy shit!-'
And it hit me right at that moment...
I know why she was acting that way, and it was in fact, my bad.
I said that I was kinda similar to Helena, and because of that, I've unknowingly projected myself onto her. I was expecting her to see things from my point of view. To understand what I was saying even with the lack of context.
Alyson's shocked face further cemented those thoughts in my head. Even she never thought I would say that out of the blue.
Long story short, I was just being an idiot, who had all these hundreds of things juggling in my brain, while I spoke merely five or ten out in the open.
"Wait." I raised my hand urgently. "I meant, I don't have a teacher to teach me magic. I assume you two have a teacher, right? So, what I'm saying is, in regard to magic knowledge and basic theories, I'm blank."
I have to finish my words in one breath since the blood-haired maiden had started to cook up some nasty shit which would only result in a headache if I didn't handle it immediately.
Again, silence prevailed.
"Are we cool?" I asked for confirmation.
All eyes were pointing to a certain girl.
"Tch!" She clicked her tongue and swiped her hair to the sides in annoyance. "I'm not doing it...Howard will teach you."
Howard sighed quietly, probably grumbling inside why he always got the short end of the stick.
'You're completely at her mercy, that's why.'
"Okay, okay. Fine..." Be that as it may, Howard didn't seem to mind the idea too much. As a matter of fact, he seemed kind of excited for some odd reason.
"Do we start now?" Questioned him.
"A minute...Sister, can they both dine with me?"
"I see why not, but I think Mother and Father will be a little sad, dining without the two of us." Replied Alyson.
'Two of us...?'
I ignore the irrelevant thoughts, knowing it'd only do me bad should I choose to go down that road.
"This won't happen again," I reassured her.
Alyson simply smiled gracefully.
"How about it, Howard? Helena? Why don't you ask your attendants if you can stay a bit longer and have dinner together with me-...I mean, us."
"Huhu, I doubt they'll have any problem with that." Alyson's remarks were soft and low, but it was by no means harmless.
And Helena who caught on to that frowned with displeasure.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, Princess. I humbly believe that both of you have been enjoying the company of my dear brother, Alexander. That is all."
No, she ain't. I could clearly sense the underlying sarcasm that was hidden behind Alyson's supposedly innocent comment, especially since Renata had told me about the implications and risks it would bring when I invited the Prince and Princess of the kingdom to my family.
It meant, Dawson had chosen to step a bit closer to the center of the storm that was the power struggle.
George has been doing a magnificent job at keeping the neutral stance of the house, and with all this thing, I was going to dump yet another big homework on him.
Guilty as I felt, I couldn't be weak. As I said, I need them. It is what it is.
"I do enjoy it. It's so tense and awkward at the beginning, but it is getting better." Replied Howard cordially to ease the tense air.
Helena, who gritted her teeth in frustration rose to her feet and to the door.
"I'll tell them, Howard. It's better and faster if I'm the one asking them." Amidst her step, Helena sounded, as though she was explaining the motive of her sudden action.
'I bet she doesn't want to feel awkward if Howard is gone and she's left alone here with us.'
Maybe it was, maybe she just wanted to cool herself down.
But I digress.
"Okay, that's settled. Let's wait for Helena before we start."
"Why? Don't you want to start immediately, Alexander?" Asked Howard.
"Hm? Why should we? I think she'll be pissed if we leave her out, though?"
"...I didn't have the chance to say this before, but you seem to know her pretty well, Alexander."
Deep and grim. Something that Howard, who usually smiled rarely showed.
"Why, I am trying to be her friend. And yours, too, for that matter. It'll do me great if I can get to know both of you well."
So, I tried my best to humor him.
"Can you really hold on to that word? It might seem like nothing but I'm telling you, my sister is really trying her best right now to be on her best behavior. If she loses her mind, we all know it won't be pretty."
Howard warned us with sharp eyes, darting between me and Alyson. No longer was he the meek and pushover boy who always hid behind his sister's shadow.
Alyson also maintained her silence, seemingly hoping that Howard's foreign side would be able to dissuade me about this whole friends thing.
Well, too bad for them. I have to save the fucking world. If one little girl with anger management issues was enough to put me down, then fuck me...Nay, the world is fucked...
"Can you hold her down physically when that happens?" I quipped lightly.
"What" Of course, he'd be confused.
"Look at me, Howard, I can't hold her down physically, so it'll be up to you. If she's trying something with magic, then it's on me. You have nothing to worry about because I am strong. At the very least, I am way stronger than Helena."
Howard blinked in a daze, letting the absence of words sink in between us.
"Do you really want to be friends with us?" Then he opened his mouth.
'This is a positive sign, right?' I can't say for sure, so I have to make sure of it by looking at the one who I trust the most regarding social skills.
Renata.
Oh god, no.
I was joking, ladies and gentlemen. If I have to rely on that nutty fanatic for intersocial relationship advice, I might as well go in blind. She, if not as bad as me, was much worse.
No, it was Alyson. My good Sister, who seemed too attached to me for her own good.
She looked at me with half-open eyes and sighed in relent after a long while.
'Well, I think that is a yes. Hell yeah, dude!'
"I do."
"Then...Can I call you Alex from now on?"
"I don't see why not. My Sister calls me that when we're alone."
"I know, I heard it at the party. It was quite a surprise to see the Rose of Dawson in such a hurried state."
"Ehem...Do pardon me for becoming a subject between your conversation, fourth Prince." Chided Alyson.
"I'm sorry, let me take that back...Then...Let us be friends from now onwards, Alex..."
Howard strode forward and stretched his hand in front of me.
"Good. Let's be friends, Howard."
"Haha...This is nice..." A bright laugh escaped his lips.
"Will you be alright, though? To decide this alone without Helena?"
"Why? Because we're a set?"
'Because she has her leash around your neck?' Even I know not to say that to a nine-year-old boy, so I simply nod in reply.
"I love my sister and always let her tug me around here and there, but even she can't dictate my whole life, Alex."
'You really know nothing about yourself, Howard...'
He was a sympathetic boy, that's for sure.
Without knowing about himself and the depth of his sister's existence actually meant to him, he could say those words easily now.
He didn't know what would happen to himself and what kind of hell waiting for him should Fate rob his dear Sister forever away from him.
'She can't dictate your whole life? She can actually...'
She would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he'd turn into a maniac who'd fucking lost his mind whenever he sees blood. Why? Because it reminded him of Helena's hair.
It didn't make any fuckin' sense? Well, I thought so too. Of course, it didn't. Not in the slightest. That meant that anything red would drive the punk ballistic at the drop of a hat.
But who was I to say shit.
I never knew what it felt like to love someone deep and strong enough to make your mind go crazy.
"Is that so...? That's good." Thus, my reply. 'I hope so...No, I will make it so.'
That was what I needed to do, after all.
"Tch, what's this shit? Why're ya'll suddenly get so chummy?"
That being said, I needed to protect this salty as fuck Princess until they're out of danger or until they're strong enough to protect themselves.
"What're you staring at, you sick bastard? Don't like what I said? What, it got on your nerves?"
'Yeap, I hope she does grow strong in the future. Imagining a crazy little bitch like her letting loose on the battlefield, I really pity her enemies...Be a bit more patient, Alex...You can do it. It's for the greater good, Alex. Take a deep breath...'
If it was to help me realize my dream, I would even gladly take in the insults and sneers from some pompous princess any time, any day.
Hell, they were starting to sound like music in my ears already!