Chapter 3: Sigrun

Black hair neatly combed back, revealing the white forehead; long narrow brows that seemed to never move along with his expression, and those big black eyes that made him look like a doll, along with the small mole under his right eye that gave him a certain charm.

The bowtie under his chin was more eye-catching to him though. With the big blue gem that just screamed expensive and priceless. At least that was what Kai thought as he looked at himself in the mirror, but with his mother standing right behind him, he couldn't say that out loud or he'd be called too materialistic by her.

"Don't you look so cute, Kai?" She flicked at the gem on his bow. "If you smiled a bit more this look would feel a bit more complete, you know?" She gripped his shoulder and Kai reluctantly put up a smile.

"Well, I guess this is better than nothing." She patted his shoulders. "Remember to make some more friends, okay Kai? You've been doing well with the prince but he can't be your only friend. Besides, he seems a bit too attached to you."

Kai was hesitant to respond and when Nanaia noticed this she pulled his ears, waiting to hear her expectant response. "Ow! Yes, mom! I'll make a new friend today!" If you can consider this Kingdom's future general a friend.

He rubbed the tips of his ears that turned red from pain, glancing up at his extravagantly dressed mother. Her dress was long and flowy, just barely hiding her good figure. Her shoulders were hidden with slightly puffy sleeves and the ends of her dress barely dragged along the floor. There was extra jewelry on her neck and wrists to show more extravagance but the familiar pendant still hung around her neck like always.

Without even thinking, Kai blurted out.

"Dad, big brother."

Nanaia immediately froze in place after hearing his words, but she soon turned around with a smile on her face. "Don't worry, Kai. They're alright. Come on, it's time to go."

Alright? If you mean alright as in dead...then I guess you're right.

The banquet they arrived at was very lively, with every corner lit up with warm yellow lights and surrounded by the posh. Kai never enjoyed these kinds of atmospheres, and he really couldn't immerse himself in them like those other people. His reason for coming here was completely different; it wasn't to make a connection, enjoy a good show, or make a scene, but it was to meet a certain future general and do his part of the script, which was to bully the other party.

A script, Kai thought of it like that. But in reality, it was nothing more than memories of his previous life, which have already begun to blur to him.

There was no inclination or reason for him to do this, it was pure intuition that made him feel this way. Made him feel that he had to follow a line, any deviation would bring him disaster. Recalling a faint memory in his head, Kai walked over to the food carts, grabbing plates of sliced cakes and pieces of sweets before leaving the bustling ballroom.

A vision of large hedges and a black lake came into his head, with a small bench placed near the edge to view it from a distance. On the bench was a teenager, about 14 or so, looking blankly into the lake but the most eye-catching thing about him would be his striking red hair. Following the guide in his head, he finally stumbled upon a familiar scene.

Just like the image in his head, the scene before him was the replica. There was a black lake surrounded by tall hedges as if to hide the unusual pool, and on the edge was a young boy sitting on a bench. Red hair and everything.

With a plate of cake and cookies in hand, Kai unabashedly approached him. "You." He pointed with his free hand.

"You look impoverished."

The boy looked at him surprised, perhaps surprised by his inexplicable appearance. But the surprise quickly turned to annoyance as Kai's words registered in his head. "You've got some nerves saying something like that, in a place like this, kid."

Kai ignored his words and shoved the plate into the other's face. "Take it. I'm giving you a generous offer that you won't ever get in your lifetime again." The plate was slapped away with an ugly expression from the other boy. He stared at Kai and told him to leave.

Kai stared back at him with a blank expression and under the other's surprised gaze, he tore the blue gem that was on his bow, placing it on the center of his palms before presenting it to the other party.

"What the hell is your deal..." The boy muttered under his breath, staring at the gem. Under the moonlight and fragile-looking white palms, the ordinary-looking gem looked like an ocean materializing into his palms at first glance. He couldn't help but feel dazed and his hands moved to take what the strange boy offered him without question.

When he realized what he had done, a blush slowly rose to his face in embarrassment. Staring at Kai's smug smile, he pinched the gem in his palms tightly, yet he felt reluctant to throw it away.

"What do you want?" He finally asked, looking at Kai.

But Kai didn't respond and stepped back to leave. The boy was stunned and finally got up from the bench, reaching towards him. "Hey! What are you doing?!"

When he reached out and pulled on Kai's hand, the words he wanted to say became stuck in his throat. He only stared at those black eyes, as if in a trance. Kai pulled his arm back after seeing his unresponsiveness. When he was about to leave once again, the boy finally spoke up.

"Is this your method of making friends?"

"I never said I wanted to be your friend," Kai answered frankly, causing the other's voice to be once again stuck in his throat. He coughed slightly, trying to get rid of the weird feeling inside him.

"Then what the hell was all that?"

"All what?"

"You know! The things with the food and...this!" He raised his hand, revealing the blue gem lying inside. Kai tilted his head, his expression was innocent like he was speaking in the most basic sense but his words only further aggravated the other's nerves.

"It's only natural to give charity to a person you think that's in need, don't you?" A vein protruded from his head as he heard Kai's words. Taking a deep breath, he stared at him with a calm gaze but his tightly clenched fists betrayed him.

"Are you saying I look poor?"

"Wasn't that the first thing I said?" Kai responded quickly.

"Why you--!" Before he could even lift his hand, Kai turned back abruptly and dashed off, leaving the red-haired teen alone again in the garden.

Stepping into the warm yellow light and being enveloped with the sounds of talking and chattering, Kai uncharacteristically breathed a sigh of relief. He calmly walked into the ballroom, integrating with the dancing and leisurely figures as if nothing was amiss.

"Kai! Where have you been? Why weren't you here when I came?" A familiar voice echoed behind him, and the exhaustion he felt increased tenfold. Kai turned around, meeting the familiar head of blue with starry amber eyes.

"Esmond." The Prince seemed dissatisfied by this simple greeting and hugged his figure closer to each other. "Is that how you greet me now? Maybe I spoiled you too much with my kindness."

"You can stop anytime."

"You're so mean! Other people would be so happy to have my favor! Can't you at least act a little happy?"

Kai smiled.

"...I, I guess that's okay for now." A faint blush appeared on his cheeks. Kai rolled his eyes secretly.

So easy to satisfy.

In the distance, hiding in the dark, a familiar pair of red eyes watched the warm scene with unknown emotions swirling in his eyes. A paper-person floated down to his shoulders and a muffled voice emmited from the small thing.

"Have you planted the evidence yet, Sigrun?" The boy, now known as Sigrun, didn't respond, instead, he continued watching the two who huddled closely to each other like conjoined twins.

"Sigrun!" The voice finally pierced into his mind that was going off rails. "Did you finish the mission yet or not?!"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I did that a long time ago." The voice on the other end sounded angry.

"If you did then how come you didn't tell me?"

"Didn't feel like it." A muffled groan came from the other end. Sigrun twitched his brow. "Stop calling me when you're in the middle of that."

"Tsk, it's not like I want to be in this whore house. Can you blame me if all those important officials secretly come here all the time?"

Sigrun stayed silent but secretly took the paper-man from his shoulder and crumbled it in his fists. The disgust in his actions was evident.

The man on the other end looked at his communication device and was non-responsive. With an exaggerated sigh, he pushed back the head of silver hair, revealing the sharp green eyes that looked at everything as if they were mere prey.

"Insufferable. Why did I choose that bastard for this?" He muttered these words under his breath, inaudible to the people who were tightly interconnected beneath him. While the two were focused on doing it, he snuck down from the ceiling and aimed for the discarded clothes on the ground.

He took something out of his pockets and proceeded to stuff it into one of the pockets of his pants. Just as he was about to leave, he looked back and made eye contact with the vixen who was pressed down.

The vixen didn't seem surprised and even gave him a wink. he nodded and left silently.

The next day, an official was taken under custody publicly. Traces of demonic air and energy were found on the man's body and evidence of treason was discovered in one of his spare manors.