176 Family? Love? Meeting?

Later that night....

"Arthur seems..... quite different these days, don't you think?".

Leon raised an eyebrow, taking a sip from his cup as the fresh scent of wine filled the air. He turned his head slightly, peering at Dominic beside him, whose eyes and expression betrayed the soft tone he let out.

The second oldest son of the Clan Leader opened his mouth to speak, but let out a sigh before anything else.

"Arthur is.... well, he is a genius. We can't even know the thoughts of our sister or our two younger siblings sometimes, so how would we know what Arthur is thinking?".

Dominic paused for a moment, not liking the answer that Leon had given him.

"That's not what I mean Leon. His demeanour, his temperament, his personality.... hell, even his will and emotions.... why is it so different to ours? You and I are brothers and have similar tastes and experiences, yet why is Arthur so-".

"Cold? Aloof? Distant? Different?".

Dominic nodded.

"Different is probably the word I would use".

Leon took another sip of wine before leaning back, letting the soft grass tickle the back of his neck. The full moon was completely visible tonight, and there wasn't any signs of clouds for more than a hundred miles. The warm breeze swept through Parachenko Village, making it appear much more lively than the previous past nights....

The age difference between Leon and Dominic was less than two years. While the age difference between Leon and Arthur was more than six years. That meant that Dominic was more than eight years older than his third brother.

He even remembered the day that Arthur was born.

He was so small.... so tiny, but in that moment, when Dominic held onto Arthur, he felt as though it was his duty to protect his younger sibling. All of them.

Dominic knew that Arthur could defend himself, but in that moment after the second beast tide, he seemed so fragile, just like he was a child again.

He had seen how Arthur had been acting ever since, and even with the responsibilities that came with being a parent, Dominic still didn't quite understand just how Arthur..... pulled himself back together.

Niklos, their Father had told him a little bit, and his words still resounded out in Dominic's mind.

"Arthur.... is far more suitable to be a Father, than a Clan Leader Dominic. He understands the bigger picture, but when it comes down to it, he would definitely choose his loved ones over the rest of the Clan. He would choose you over the rest of them..... Your brother will not ever betray you, but he does not have the best interests of the Clan at heart".

Dominic took another shot of wine.

Arthur seemed..... happy? Pleased? Even cheerful at times.

Dominic couldn't help but wonder, if he was just hiding all of his pain behind a thick curtain of lies.

It was his younger brother. He couldn't help but be worried about his wellbeing.

"I suppose that all we can do is just continue to do whatever we have done in the past. We just have to be there for each other".

Dominic nodded at Leon's words.

"I hope things will get better, when Arthur's two kids are born. I mean, that was quite the surprise, but it seems to have perked him up quite a bit. He never would've continued to stay in that shack alone, wallowing in his own sorrow, but I'm pretty sure those two girls definitely helped pull him back to reality".

Leon nodded for a moment, his cheeks red from the wine.

"Yeah, those two girls definitely "helped" him eh?".

Dominic rolled his eyes at his obviously drunk brother before taking another sip himself, shaking his head slightly.

Leon, despite his usually reserved personality, was quite the.... open-minded person when he became drunk. Perhaps it was something that he was suppressing unconsciously, but he had messed around with quite a number of different people from some of the smaller Villages outside of Parachenko Village.

"At any rate, when are you going to get yourself hitched, Dominic!? The Clan Leader can't support the Village without someone to support him! Are there any young female Fae Masters who have caught your eye?".

Leon wiggled his eyebrows slightly, alluding to something lewd.

Dominic sent a sideward glance toward his brother before letting out a sigh and shaking his head.

"I don't think I've met anyone like that yet. There's nothing wrong with me, but I just don't think that I've met the right person yet".

Just like Arthur, Dominic was quite the romantic. He had seen the instant connection between Arthur and Andrea and knew that he wanted something similar for himself in the future. Now that Andrea was dead, Dominic had been focused on helping rebuild the Clan, and helping his family rather than his own personal happiness.

The two brothers sat in relative silence for a short time, before Dominic stood up, causing Leon to lift his head and turn towards him.

"You going already? It's barely midnight!".

Dominic just gave his drunk brother a wry smile before nodding his head.

"I think that its time for me to hit the hay. I've got to head out of the Village for a couple days in order to check on some of the hidden territories that we've established. One of the Elders is coming too".

Leon drunkenly nodded, continuing to sip on his gourd of wine, as Dominic slowly retreated off the roof. The young Clan Leader walked away from the roof of the tavern, landing on the streets of Parachenko Village, walking amongst the mortal villagers for the first time in a while.

He had walked through this very same street not even a few months ago, but it appeared completely different due to the recent reconstruction of many houses and key infrastructures. Not as many people lined the streets either, as Dominic waved and smiled at some of the familiar faces he had seen in the past.

Dominic walked amongst the mortals for the first time in quite a while, before noticing the figure of a young girl kneeling in front of a large tree. The girl was wearing the robes of a Fae Master, yet considering he didn't recognize her face, Dominic supposed she must've been one of the new Fae Masters.

Her short, yet straight, black coloured hair seemed slightly familiar to Dominic as he smiled and took a step forward to greet her.

By the time he had gotten within several feet of her, he had noticed that she wasn't kneeling in front of this large tree, but the small tombstone that laid at the bottom of said tree.

Dominic wanted to take a step back, not knowing that he had interrupted her, but the girl turned around slowly, her eyes slightly red and her cheeks puffy.

She had been crying.

The moment this girl saw Dominic, her eyes widened, and she wiped the tears from her face as she put on a happy expression.

"Young Master Dominic! What are you doing here?".

For the second time tonight, the image of a flash smile flashed through Dominic's eyes. The twenty three year old man clenched his fist as he unconsciously pulled the girl into his arms, the same way he did Arthur right after the beast tide.....

The girl's figure froze slightly, and her cheeks turned red as she tried to push him away. Her weak Rank 1 Fae Master strength did nothing in the face of his peak Rank 2 Fae Master embrace.

His tone was gentle and sweet, and as similar as he heard Arthur try and speak.

"You.... don't have to force yourself to feel happy. This may seem strange seeing as though you don't even know me but..... I don't want anyone around me to fake being themselves anymore".

The girl's expression froze and she bit her lip before sobbing quietly in Dominic's arms. For a second there, it almost seemed as though he was eight again, and cradling Arthur's crying figure.

Dominic smiled slightly, not feeling so useless anymore.

In the distance, from another rooftop, Arthur smiled politely as he took a sip of his own wine.

He knew exactly which girl his brother would fall in love with in the future, so why wouldn't he take advantage of their emotional distress?

Even if they were both destined to die in the future, the least he could do was allow them to meet before he took their lives from them.