A cluster fuck.
That's what I used to think about my family.
Kralier family. One of the two duke families that serve directly under the royal household.
Though from the outside, it seems like they are serving them, on the inside, they are like a family.
The current king who married into the family, William Inhart, was a scholar, not a warrior. He is the first person in the kingdom's lineage to become a king without learning even how to throw a punch.
The royal family, Inhart, was first formed by Benjamin Inhart. He was the light hero who got selected 1000 years ago to defeat the demon king.
My family, the Kralier's, was formed by the lightning hero, who fought along with the light hero against the demon king.
After the defeat of the demon king, Benjamin formed a kingdom that people could call home at that time.
My ancestor, Quinn Kralier, decided to support him by forming a dukedom, and along with him, the fire hero, Jack Hertlin, also decided to support him.
Sure enough, Inhart Kingdom can be called the home of the majority of the people residing in the kingdom.
As time went on, peace developed among the four continents. Demons who accepted their defeat retreated to their continent, which is known to be at the edge of the world.
Not even the heroes dared to step in there. If not for the demon king to step out of his continent to invade the continent on which humans were residing, which is known as the Levon Continent, heroes would be toast by now.
Peace was ensured for 500 years until a new demon king appeared. He was stronger and more fierce than the previous one. Still, the heroes managed to defeat them.
Pretty cliche, right?
When I first heard the contents of the past, I was in awe. Heroes were cool. They saved people. People admired them.
Sure enough, I developed a wish to become a hero. Howerer,I couldn't.
Heroes were selected by the elemental gods themselves. They determine who's worthy and who's not.
Every 500 years, heroes get selected to defeat the new demon king.
I expected, with anxiety, that I would become a hero. An orphan with no home, becoming the strongest hero, defeating the demon king, and getting all the girls!
Who wouldn't daydream about it!?
But fate had a different plan for me.
I was adopted by the Kralier family when I was 9 years old.
A dream every commoner and orphan would look forward to.
I did, too.
I expected loving parents, lovable siblings, and horrible-joking but lovable grandparents, just as I read in the books that were in my orphanage.
That was all.
I didn't wish for luxury, being a hero, girls, or anything when I heard the news I was going to be adopted by the Kralier family.
I just wanted a family. A place to truly call home.
What waited for me was different. When I was adopted into the family, it was a tough time for them.
They had just lost their eldest son, Leonard Kralier, in a civil war that happened between the branch families and them. Leonard Kralier was 14 at the time.
He disappeared when the Kralier house was invaded by the soldiers and was never to be seen again. However, there was a huge amount of blood in his bedroom, which made his death even more evident.
He wasn't even awakened and was still a normal human.
I sympathised with the family members who I haven't met yet. I felt bad for them since I knew how much a family member's value is.
For two months, I was just sitting inside the room they provided me, nothing else.
Food would be served to me by maids who looked at me with cruel gazes.
One day, the maid told me that there was a meeting with the family.
I was excited. More than anything, I was happy.
I thought they were finally okay. I thought we were going to be a happy family.
To this day, I still laugh at how naive and vulnerable I was.
What awaited me were my family members sitting in a large, decorated room. I was dressed neatly, like a noble, to say the least.
I bowed down like I was told by the maids.
"Come and sit down, Noah," said a man who was dazzlingly handsome. He was wearing a blue suit with diamond gem decoration on the sides. His hair, in contrast to his suit, was black.
Beside him sat a beautiful woman who had blue hair and blue eyes. She had a kid, a boy, probably younger than me, sitting on her lap who was super cute.
Sitting in front of the trio was a young girl who was much older than me. She had black hair just like her father but blue eyes just like her mother, which added even more to her beautiful looks.
"Theresa, this is your new younger brother, Noah," said the man looking at Theresa.
"Mark, this is your new older brother," said the woman, ruffling the boy's head.
Silence gripped the environment as nobody spoke for a while.
I was about to say something to ease the mood when Theresa spoke up.
"This is a disgrace to Leo's memory. How could you do this?"
"I don't want an older brother like him! Give me my cool brother Leo," said the boy as he started crying.
I didn't change my facial expressions during their banter. I did not know personally how it would feel to lose a family member since I had never had one.
I knew how parents each day came to our orphanage to adopt a child. They were full of excitement to select their future child.
I was never adopted due to my ordinary looks and frail body. It's not like I had a disease or something, but parents who came to adopt me usually avoid me like a plague.
My food got stolen every time by my fellow orphanage inhibitors, so I never had a proper meal, which contributed to my frail body.
The only time I was happy was when I would learn about the duke's household affairs and the kingdom's affairs.
It made me hope that somehow I would hold out enough to get adopted into a well-off family and get to experience what they are doing firsthand.
I was particularly interested in the Kralier family. They had three beautiful kids who were dazzling every time they went outside. They were happy.
The father, Samuel Kralier, was an accomplished war hero. He had done feats that were even praised by the elf king, which made him a famous person. Moreover, he was kind to commoners and treated everyone equally.
The mother, Amanda Kralier, is known as the best mage of this century. She is a formidable opponent who is an expert in all kinds of magic.
The daughter is Theresa Kralier. She was awakened at the age of 13. She had dual attributes, which made her special in all respects. She awakened the elements of water and lightning, which made her one of the prodigies of the century.
The brother...
Leonard Kralier was the second born after Theresa. He didn't awaken until the day he disappeared. He was an accomplished scholar at the age of 13, which even made the dwarf king compliment him. He was a genius in every knowledge-related sector.
The youngest of them all is Mark Kralier. There's nothing special about him since he just started his education.
All of them combined were the happiest family known to the media.
At least until the disappearance of Leonard Kralier.
Samuel started to say some reassuring words to Theresa, but she ran out of the room, angry.
Mark just hugged his mother and never even spared me a glance.
"I'm sorry, Noah," said Samuel, my new dad, with empathy.
"It's okay, my lord. I'm grateful enough to be just in this family."
Amanda also nodded at me while she was gently stroking Mark's head.
That was my first meeting with Kralier's. My life afterwards was, well, pathetic.
I would run around the house trying to please both the siblings, trying to have conversations with them.
Theresa would smite me with lightning or drown me in a water bubble to shut me up.
"You're not my brother, and you will never be!" were the words she would always spout.
I had to go to the family's healer frequently to heal myself.
Mark, however, was a different case. First, he would just verbally abuse me with words like...
"You vermin! Just don't come near me!"
"You're so pathetic!"
"You look super ugly!"
I never took any of the words the siblings said to heart because they were in a difficult phase of their lives.
At that time, I had a mature mentality, or, if I would like to say so myself, They were just kids who lost an important person in their lives.
Mark gradually stopped abusing me and stayed silent when I approached him and sat near him.
He would always study the theories great mages wrote in their eras. Seeing Mark immerse himself in something was interesting to watch.
"Hey, can you teach me?" I asked Mark, who was about to open a book.
He looked at me with a hint of hesitation before asking a baffling question.
"Don't you think I'm boring? I'm just reading books all day long, and I'm not cool like my sister nor like my brother Leo."
His eyes were depicting a sadness I couldn't explain. I learned to read emotions from the time I spent in the orphanage.
Usually, it was disgust and pity that was directed towards me.
"Nah buddy. That's so cool. Imagine understanding a complex theory at the age of 7. That is so amazing! You are so cooler than the other kids I have met!"
"Really?" He asked with his eyes sparking. He was so cute that my heart might have exploded.
"Of course! Don't compare yourself to others. Always do what seems right to you! You are incredibly special in your own way!"
"Hehehe," laughed Mark as he tightly clutched the book that was in his hands.
"Then I will teach you!" said Mark with pure happiness.
Seriously, this kid was too cute!
This went on for about two years, when I got closer to Mark. Theresa was still the same, but she started not to smite me with magic.
She would just ignore me whenever I talked, but she wouldn't deny my presence.
Theresa just nods occasionally whenever she feels the topic is interesting.
The topics I talked about with her only consisted of lightning and water magic theories I learned from Mark.
No personal talks, but I still felt like I made some improvements in my relationships with my new family members.
My new parents were in the same situation. My mother would occasionally check up on me and talk about her day, and she would excuse herself. The talk wouldn't even last for 10 minutes, but that was fine with me. As long as I had a family, things like these didn't matter.
One thing I felt uncomfortable about was that I would always eat my three meals of the day in my room itself. My family, or the Kralier family, would eat by themselves when they gathered for dinner.
Everything was going well—at least that's what I thought.
*****************
Theresa POV
Today also, Noah finished his usual talk with excitement and left my side when we came in front of my bedroom.
To be honest, I had long accepted that he was now part of our family. Even when Leo was still there with us, he would only talk at dinner or when we were having tea.
Noah's presence was different. I was internally happy whenever he came to talk to me. He was like a lost puppy, always flinching whenever I changed my mood.
However, I can't come to terms with my emotions.
When I try to talk to him, Leo's image completely covers him up.
I can't help but compare Leo with Noah. It's completely wrong, I know, but I can't stop it.
I walked into my room and kept my rifle on the side of the wooden table. On the table was a photo frame of my family.
It showed my mom holding Mark while I and Leo were in our father's embrace. It was one of the times when I was truly happy.
KNOCK-KNOCK
Knocking sounds resonated in my ears while I was reminiscing about the past.
"Come in"
My head maid from the Kralier family came into my view.
"What is it, Miss Berly?" I asked as I kept the photo frame back in its place.
"There have been disturbing rumours, young lady," said Berly with hesitation.
"About what?" I asked uninterestedly. Maids always spout out some rumours about us being miserable due to Leo's death; I've already gotten used to it. Half of it was true anyway.
"About...Noah"
I internally laughed at the audacity of the maid not to call Noah by the title 'Young Master'.
"What about him?"
"Young lady, Noah is going around the mansion, telling the servants that he is cooler than Young Master Leo. He asks about their opinion, and if they say Master Leo is better, he bullies them."
I processed the information Berly just gave me.
'Cooler than Leo?'
'What bullshit is this fucking maid spouting?'
"We have to keep that vermin in check or else--"
"Shut up,"
I interrupted the rantings of the maid and started thinking. Rumours are just rumours.
Even though she has never had a proper conversation with Noah as a sibling, she believed him to be kind.
"Get out of the room. Tell the maids to stop spouting bullshit and do their work," I said coldly.
Berly hesitated for a moment before going outside of the room.
I laid on my bed and started thinking of Leo and the memories we made together for as long as I could remember.
"Please, just come back, Leo."