9 Chapter 9

Travis and Darius dragged him to the main area of the town. Cecil lingered behind them awkwardly, wondering if he should just find a moment to sneak away, but every time his thoughts started wandering there, Travis would look over at him to ask his opinion on something. Instantly adopting an innocent expression, he would answer Travis, so he couldn't escape after all.

However, now that Travis was gone for the time being ("I'll go call a carriage to take us back, please stay here and wait for my return."), Cecil slowly started inching away from Darius, entertaining the thoughts of a successful escape along with beating the two nobles up.

"Let's play a game!" Darius interrupted loudly, shaking Cecil from his daydream.

"Huh? I mean, I guess so..." Glancing at the road, Cecil confirmed that Travis wasn't going to come back anytime soon and reluctantly agreed. "What game?"

"A question and answer game! I barely know anything about you, and you probably don't know much about me either. Lying is prohibited, and we only get 3 skips!" Darius answered, using hand gestures along with it.

Cecil considered it, and since he didn't have THAT much to hide, he agreed. After all, he likely wouldn't even need to use all 3 skips.

"Okay, I'll go first. Why are you wearing all, that?" Gesturing vaguely at Darius's attire, Cecil struggled to find the right words to describe it.

"Ah, this?" Darius looked down at himself before looking up and grinning. "Because I like it! Doesn't it look absolutely horrendous? I want to make people gag when they see it!"

"Ah, I see." Cecil winced.

"My turn, my turn~! What are you doing here?" Darius questioned with a cheery smile on his face.

"What am I- didn't you drag me here?" Cecil returned, bewildered.

"Answering a question with a question, tsk tsk. Naughty, naughty!" Darius shook his head. "I mean, why are you here in this little town as a stinky little thief? I'm sure you could find a decent family or a nice job."

"Skip." Cecil used his first skip. "Why is your personality so different right now than from last night?"

"Ah, that." Darius didn't show any outward reaction to Cecil skipping. "I just felt like it! It's very relaxing. I normally go meet people for work at night, so that's why I normally act like that once the sun goes down."

'What is he like during sunrise and sunset then?' Cecil briefly wondered before Darius asked his question.

"Do you have any siblings?" Darius asked a surprising question.

"Used to." Was Cecil's curt response. He exerted a lot of effort to control his facial expression. "What about you?" He responded instinctively. Going by the pleased smile on Darius's face, he felt like he accidentally messed up somewhere.

"A little sister! Oh, and Travis has a little brother! You might be wondering how Travis can deal with the daytime me, but it's because of him! His name is Theodore! He is a total brat! Did you know, when he was 9, he had the Royal Barber executed because he didn't like the way his hair was cut? He cried for a whole day! I remember that story circulating around in the Upper Families for a while." Darius ranted to Cecil who had a stunned expression.

'Travis is an older brother? He does seem like he would make a good one, but his little brother is like that? Poor man.'

"Ah! I got off track!" Darius realized. "Sorry, don't mind any of that! In fact, pretend you never heard that, okay? Anyways, what do you think of the current state of the royal family?"

"A complete mess." Cecil responded instantly. "All of them are incompetent bastards who just got lucky!"

"Lucky? Ah, you mean how they became the new royal family by a coincidence after the original family perished? I see, I see..." Darius contemplated. "Oh, look! Travis is back! Traviiiissss!"

Darius waved wildly at the golden carriage that strutted down the street, attracting the attention of everyone in the nearby vicinity. People who heard Darius's shout glanced at him with intent in their eyes. Could they make a connection to him?

Darius, most likely aware of those thoughts, continued waving like it wasn't a big issue as the carriage stopped in front of them. Cecil's eyes drank the sight in greedily. When Travis reached out a hand to pull him inside, he absent-mindedly gave his hand.

It was only inside the carriage when he realized and hastily took back his hand.

"It's always money that gets me into trouble." He grumbled, earning the laughter of both Travis and Darius.

While a servant drove the horses in the direction of the Royal Capital, Travis and Darius lounged around inside. They informed him the trip would likely take around a week and to just relax until they get there.

Cecil obeyed very seriously. He made it his mission to lay on everything inside the carriage while Travis and Darius just let him.

While he relaxed, he also learned some new things.

Travis was from the Whitegrove Family, a family that was very high in the unofficial rankings of the Upper Families. His family had a company that specialized in trading with other nations, and as the oldest child, he was expected to inherit the company once he was old enough.

Darius was from Fogward family, an inconspicuous family that was among the lower ranks of the Upper Families. His family had a clothing company, but since he was the middle child, he did not need to act as serious.

"You might have heard a rumor in that town earlier," Travis said suddenly, "about the current royal family holding a competition among the higher-class noble families. Keep this a secret, but it is true. I am far too busy to take part, but Darius and my little brother are going to compete in it as well, so-."

"Wait, sorry to interrupt, but as well? With that wording, you couldn't possibly mean..." Cecil looked at Travis and Darius hesitantly.

"Yup! You're entering the competition too!" Darius revealed with a cheer.