12 12. Demon Beast (1)

Holding Penelope's hand, Francis led her through the garden in silence. He wanted to speak but was worried she'd burst up into flames again.

'Haaiz. How can I hold a normal conversation with her if she keeps getting embarrassed? It's cute but it'll have to change if we are going to get married.'

He didn't think she was nervous and flustered because of him specifically. He figured that she was just a shy person by nature who hasn't had a lot of contact with the opposite sex. It's natural for her to be like this.

'I suppose the only way for her to stop getting embarrassed and flustered is to talk to her more.'

And so, he started a conversation.

"Um, do you have a favorite flower?"

Penelope wasn't expecting the sudden question, "I…um-"

She glanced around the garden before his eyes landed on a white orchid.

"I quite like the look of that one," she said softly whilst pointing.

Francis followed her line of sight and saw the flower she was pointing to.

"White orchid…" Francis found her choice quite interesting. Most young girls her age tend to be drawn to more bright and vibrant flowers like roses or gerberas - at least, that's what Francis assumed. Maybe he was just being sexist.

"It's a lovely plant," he smiled at her.

"Y-Yes. It is," Penelope brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I think my favorite is the white roses," Francis told her. "They are beautiful to look at and they smell nice."

In saying this, he gestured for her to smell them. Bending down, Penelope sniffed the white roses and said softly, "They do smell nice."

"Right? Come, let's have a seat on the bench," he tugged her hand away.

Penelope let him lead her without resistance and the two walked over to the bench and sat down.

"Hey Penelope, why don't we play a game?" Francis asked facing her.

Penelope blinked at him, "U-Um, sure."

"Great. It's called 'twenty questions'. It's a game for us to get to know each other by asking twenty questions about each other. I'll go first, then you go, and back and forth. Do you get it?"

Penelope had never heard of such a game before but she nodded her head understanding his explanation.

"Alright. I'll start…" Francis paused before, "What is your favorite color?"

"Color? Hmm, I like the color blue," the girl responded.

"Now it's your turn to ask."

Penelope nodded her head and thought for a second before asking, "W-What is your favorite dessert?"

"Anything sweet. I'm not very picky when it comes to desserts," Francis said. "What do you enjoy doing in your free time?"

"Oh, I l-like to read…"

The two continued playing their little game of twenty questions as time passed.

A slight breeze blew against the two of them. Francis was unaffected by it but Penelope shivered a little.

Seeing an opportunity, Francis cleared his throat and said, "Would you like to borrow my jacket? I'm not cold."

Glancing at him taking off his jacket, Penelope began waving her hands frantically, "Oh no no, I couldn't-"

Ignoring her, Francis covered her back with his jacket and smiled at her, "There you go."

She turned red again.

Although he seemed confident, Francis was mentally cringing at his own actions.

'Gahh! I feel so cheesy doing these kinds of things!'

Just a note to remember; Francis was originally a shut-in virgin boy with close to zero contact with girls. Everything he said or did to impress Penelope was literally taken from any romance novel or movie he could recall.

"Francis~!!"

'Huh?'

Before Francis knew what was happening, his body was lifted off the bench and brought into a tight hug.

'What the- Who-?!'

Something smooshed against his cheek and he recognized it as someone's cheek.

"Oh, my dearest baby brother! How this brother missed you dearly!"

"???"

Brother?!

Francis wiggled his body around and finally caught a glimpse of the said brother.

"Arthur…" he said the name as a statement after recognizing his face.

Arthur Taron; the eldest child of the Taron family and the next head of the Taron household.

"Arthur? Call me brother," the older boy said with a pout. "I so missed seeing you every day. After father sent me off to that blasted academy, I haven't been able to see my cute brother anymore."

'Okay, what the hell is going on? Did the original Francis have a good relationship with his brother?' thought Francis utterly confused. He hadn't thought of this possibility at all.

Francis frowned slightly, 'But what if it's all an act?'

In all honesty, Francis had little knowledge of his actual family other than whatever the staff had told him. And now that he thought of it, they had never mentioned him having a good relationship with his eldest brother.

Something obviously didn't add up.

"Um, could you let me down now?" Francis asked awkwardly.

"Heehhh~Don't you want to be held by your amazing brother anymore?" Arthur nuzzled against Francis's cheek causing the latter to flinch in surprise and a little disgust.

'Oi oi oi, what's this? Why's this guy acting like a bro-con?'

Francis gasped, 'Don't tell me…'

And then he gasped again, 'Ah! Penelope is still here!'

This time, he struggled against his brother's tight grip and said, "B-Brother, my fiancé…"

"Hmm?" Arthur raised an eyebrow and turned to the bench where a very flustered Penelope was sitting. Her eyes were averted away from the scene of the two brothers but her cheeks were died red. "Oh yes. My apologies. It seems I've interrupted the two of you."

Though he said so politely, there was something dark underneath.

Francis swore he could see the red flags just popping up above Arthur's head.

'Surely…there's no way…'

Just as he was set down, there was a sudden notification from his system that had been silent for a while.

[Danger! Danger!]

[Detected C-rank demon beast approaching!!]

"What?"

Francis turned his head to the right where the forest lay. His expression was transformed to a serious one.

"What's wrong?"

Arthur followed his line of sight confused but suddenly, his expression contorted.

"There's dark mana energy coming from the forest," he stood up straighter. "A demon beast."

[Ding! You have received a task!]

[Task: Using your newly acquired skills, take down the C-rank demon beast in under ten minutes]

[Reward: ??]

[Failure: Death]

Looking at the screen in front of him, Francis let out a sigh, "Dammit."

.

.

"Francis, take your fiancé and head back into the mansion," Arthur ordered seriously. "Alert father of the demon beast."

"..."

"Francis?"

Arthur looked to his side where Francis had been standing and saw the spot empty. He swished around his head and shouted at Penelope, "Where is he?"

Penelope, utterly terrified, only pointed in horror at the forest.

"H-He just s-suddenly r-ran-"

She could barely get her words out but Arthur understood what she had said and immediately took off running.

****

A/N: I have exams next week so...wish me luck.