11. My Cute Little Sister.
Just like a little kid excited about the bunch of new toys he had been gifted for Christmas, Orion was equally interested in finding out just how strong he had become now that his strength and attributes were comparable to that of an Early Stage First Order Mage.
But since he was more interested in seeing Mia, he decided to test out his strength later while making a mental note to awaken his mana core and study a bit more about his new world.
Although he knew a bit about the new world he was in, he was interested in finding out if there were things he had yet to learn about his kingdom's history and the world in general.
Also, once he awakened his mana core, he would take a proper look at his status. But for now, family came first.
And so, with that out of the way, Orion walked out of his bedroom and through the long palace corridor.
While walking, he noticed that there were no butlers or maids around, the only thing he could see were glowing green orbs lined up on the ceiling as they illuminated the way towards Mia's room.
It was currently a few minutes after midnight, so everyone in the castle was asleep, but this wasn't the reason why there were no butlers, maids, or guards around.
The reason was quite simple and that was because most of them had willingly resigned from serving the Azvameth Royal Household.
Ever since Orion's father died a few months ago and his stepmother grew dangerously ill a few days ago, the scarcity of food in the city had increased, and so had the crime rate and level of corruption.
There was also no money in the treasury to pay his maids, guards, and butlers, so they all willingly resigned from working in the castle.
However, Orion knew the real reason behind all these; which was that it was the handiwork of the nobles of his kingdom who were trying desperately hard to start a revolt.
The nobles were doing everything in their power to ensure the people wouldn't be against their decision to take over the Kingdom.
However, Orion wasn't interested in that right now. Rather, he vowed in his heart to make each and every one of the nobles responsible regret their decision.
He would make sure they rued the day they ever made an enemy of him.
Orion also had a strong indescribable hatred towards these nobles for what they did to him according to the game's plot, but this was a discussion for another time.
Right now, his family took priority.
As he strode across the corridor on his way to his sister's chambers, Orion noticed that he had arrived in front of her bedroom.
He also noticed a faint light from a slit underneath her bedroom door.
'Could Mia be awake?' He wondered, then knocked twice before hearing Mia's feeble weak voice emerging from the other side of the room.
"Come in."
Hearing her words, Orion opened the door and stepped into the room, but the moment Mia heard the soft creak of the door, her eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of her brother walking into her room.
"Big brother? What are you doing here…?" Mia tried to sit up from the bed but because her body ached all over, she decided to gently lay back.
As he walked closer, Orion noticed how her silver hair was spread out on the pillow, highlighting the paleness of her face. Her beautiful blue eyes which were always bright with life also looked tired and filled with pain as she struggled to move.
But as he got really close to her, Mia continued to have a worried look on her face.
"Big brother, you shouldn't be here."
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Orion's face. He knew she was being considerate of him because of his weak body and she knew how extremely difficult it was for him to move around the palace, but Orion wasn't in such pain any more.
He gently sat down beside her and assured his cute little princess. "I'm fine Mia. I had to come here to see my little sister."
Mia's worried expression briefly turned into that of relief. Deep down, she couldn't deny how she had missed visiting his room to play with him.
But ever since she got ill, she had been unable to do that. She was glad he came to her despite his weak body, but that wasn't really why she was worried.
"Seriously, big brother, you have to leave, I don't want you to get sick because of me...." Mia coughed while trying to send him away so Orion wouldn't become sick as well.
After seeing how her mother got sick and how she contracted the sickness the moment she started spending time with Lucretia, Mia feared that Orion would get sick as well if he continued to stay in her room.
However, Orion wasn't bothered by this. He simply held her hand gently and leaned forward to plant a kiss on her forehead.
"Who cares about that? I'm here because I've missed you barging into my room every night to keep me company."
Mia smiled with a weak giggle. "Then you'd better be prepared, big brother, because I'll definitely barge into your room again once I'm better."
"I'm counting on it," Orion replied with a smile and Mia became worried once again after seeing his smile. She wasn't just worried about him this time around, but she was worried for herself.
She knew that those who had the disease plaguing her always died because no cure had been discovered yet. Moreover, there was no healer in the city who was capable of healing anyone with the strange disease.
Mia held on to her brother's hand tightly than ever before with tears slowly streaming down her cheeks.
"Big brother. I am scared....."
Orion hushed her by placing a finger on her lips. He gently placed his other hand on her forehead and assured her. "You'll be fine my little princess. I promise you, your big brother will figure out a way to rid you of this illness."