Chapter 6: Stealing Panties is Wrong

A flicker of fear danced in Rudeus' eyes. He darted his gaze between his goofy, cheerful father, Paul, and his quiet mother, Zenith. The unspoken words burned on his tongue: "The other baby! He looks like he wants to strangle me!" But his underdeveloped vocal cords refused to cooperate.

Suddenly, Paul jolted as if remembering something. With a wide grin, he plopped a rather impatient Roya down in front of Rudeus. "Now you two play nice, alright?"

Their eyes met. Rudeus' instinct screamed at him to look away from those cold, piercing green eyes. In that moment, a wave of genuine fear washed over him.

Paul, sensing the awkward tension, tapped Roya's forehead with a playful yet serious tone. "Listen up, boys. You two need to be friends, especially you, Roya. Being the older brother means giving in to your little bro sometimes, understand?"

Roya released a helpless sigh, nodding in resignation. Paul chuckled, interpreting the gesture as acceptance. "Don't worry about Roya's grumpy face," he reassured Rudeus, unsure if the baby could even understand. "He's actually a gentle soul deep down."

Paul contorted his face into a silly expression, trying to lighten the mood. Sadly, it failed to elicit even a giggle from Rudeus.

After a while of forced playtime, during which Rudeus slowly calmed down, Paul finally let out a sigh of relief. He gently placed Rudeus back in his crib, turning his attention to Zenith for some well-deserved relaxation. Roya and Lilia were left to handle the remaining diaper duty.

Rudeus squeezed his eyes shut, feigning sleep. In reality, his gaze darted towards the child positioned before him. While undeniably beautiful, the boy's face remained an emotionless mask. Those cool, indifferent eyes mirrored a chilling emptiness. A jolt of recognition coursed through Rudeus – a terrifying echo of the bullies from his previous life.

Had they looked at him with such detached coldness? Panic clawed at his throat. Would this new family become his tormentors, mirroring the horrors of his past? Unsure, fear choked him like a vice, compelling him to curl into a defensive position, mimicking a familiar posture from his forgotten life.

Just as paranoia threatened to consume Rudeus, the two-year-old approached his crib. With surprising agility, he dragged a chair and climbed onto it, towering precariously over the crib. The sight turned Rudeus' already pale face ashen. His body trembled uncontrollably, the rational part of his mind screaming that everything had changed, yet the primal fear refusing to distinguish reality from the shadows of his past.

This silent scene didn't escape Roya's notice. He observed the baby, ostensibly calm but trembling like a leaf in a storm. Despite his disdain for the previous Rudeus, a flicker of empathy sparked within him. Ultimately, this fragile creature was truly pitiful.

Roya reached out, his hand hovering over Rudeus' chubby cheek. The approaching appendage sent shivers down Rudeus' spine. Memories of schoolyard violence flooded his mind, morphing into a suffocating darkness that threatened to consume him. Tears welled up in his eyes.

But instead of the anticipated pain, a gentle touch grazed his cheek. The imagined suffocation evaporated, replaced by the unexpected warmth and coolness of a tiny finger. This unexpected sensation left Rudeus stunned. He blinked his eyes open, tears streaming down his face.

Roya, naturally perceptive, sensed the change in Rudeus. A hint of amusement flickered across his face. Paul, even with his slower wit, would have realized the change in personality. Thankfully, it was Roya here.

With a sigh, Roya decided to ease the tension. "From now on, you're my little brother," he declared, his voice childish yet firm. "And I'll protect you."

The voice, surprisingly gentle yet curiously familiar, washed over him. Though the words held no force, they resonated with a crystalline clarity. Of course, the meaning was lost on Rudeus, a newborn in a world utterly foreign.

Yet, inexplicably, a tremor shook his tiny heart. Tears welled up anew, spilling down his cheeks in unchecked streams. In that moment, his very soul felt raw and exposed, a fragility that bordered on the unbearable.

Instinctively, he reached out, a clumsy attempt to erase the evidence of his vulnerability. Then, a flash of memory – he was a baby. Now, the charade transformed into a desperate act. He opened his mouth, a wail erupting to mask the silent storm within. This wasn't pretend anymore. This was real.

Roya, momentarily speechless, watched the scene unfold. Footsteps hurried into the room, and Paul's gaze flickered between the chair-climbing Roya and the wailing Rudeus in the crib.

"What happened?" Paul asked, concern creasing his brow.

Roya, his face still devoid of emotion, offered a quiet apology. "I might have startled Rudeus. My apologies, Father."

Paul, accustomed to Roya's stoicism, sighed helplessly at the impassive expression. "You need to learn to smile more, kid."

Roya pondered for a moment, then contorted his face into an awkward facsimile of a smile.

Paul groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Just stay the way you are," he muttered. "Dealing with all this must be tough enough as it is."

---

Two years had flown by since the tearful crib incident. Rudeus, now a rambunctious toddler, had grasped the fact that the perpetually serious boy with the strangely tender face was his older brother, Roya. However, Roya was... different.

Whenever mischief tickled Rudeus' fancy, using his adorable age as a shield, he'd be met with Roya's piercing gaze. "Rudeus," Roya would pronounce in a chillingly calm voice, "boys like you who peek at women's underthings are considered... perverts." Rudeus' hand, inches from a particularly lacy pair of panties, would freeze mid-air.

He'd attempt to melt Roya's resolve with a gap-toothed grin, a classic baby ploy. Unfortunately, his big brother wasn't buying it. Roya would scoop him up with surprising ease, a light tap on the forehead followed by a not-so-gentle plop onto the bed.

"Don't ogle other people's stuff with such lecherous eyes, Rudeus," Roya would admonish, his voice serious yet oddly endearing with his baby face. "Do you want to end up like… well, Paul?"

Rudeus desperately wanted to blurt out that Paul, with his fondness for pretty girls, seemed like a pretty good life. But under Roya's unwavering gaze, shame washed over him, forcing him to lower his head in defeat.

Seeing Rudeus' dejection, Roya continued, oblivious to the silent rebellion brewing in his younger brother. "Honesty is the best policy, you know." Rudeus, head still bowed, peeked up at Roya, a face full of question marks. Did Roya even know what he was talking about?

Unfazed by Rudeus' skepticism, Roya pressed on. "Stealing panties is wrong, Rudeus. Do you understand?"