Two more years passed and we are now at our 7th birthdays. The past two years were peaceful. Family bonding, parties, learning, and playing. That’s all Michelle and I did for the past two years. We were but children, but now that we were growing older, our parents decided to increase the workload on our studies, or more specifically, on politics.

Yes, since we are an Earl in rank, gaining political clout is very important, much more since we were disliked by other noble houses due to Father being the fourth son, and head of the family. His other brothers were killed in an unfortunate accident, while his sisters were married off into other families for more power.

Good thing Father was raised differently, otherwise, I would’ve just been a back-up if Older Brother died, and Michelle would’ve been married off into some noble to ally with, but because our family is like this, we are more liked by the populace, making the people under our rule generally happy.

Father knew the hardships of a bad life, so he could empathize with the commoners better than other nobles, and one thing that made most of the nobles hate him, even more, was the marriage of both him and Mother.

Do not get me wrong in this, Mother is a strong, if not one of the strongest female mages in the country. She has the power to level a city in an instant if ever given a reason, and quite frankly, she was a scary woman, but nobles will be nobles, and with all this, “keeping our blood pure,” bullshit that is going on, our family is looked down upon in the noble society.

“Listen to me, Mike!” I was slapped out of my thoughts when Michelle grabbed and moved me side to side. “You were inside your head again.”

“Ah, sorry Mich,” I apologized with a tired smile. She pouted and released me from her grasp.

“Anyway, Father and Mother were talking about having our birthday party in the city, to formally… What’s the word?” she asked me with a tilt of her head. Finding this cute, and at the same time funny, I flicked her forehead with my finger, causing her to wince and pout.

“It’s ‘introduce,’” I answered and she quickly perked up.

“Ah right! To formally introduce ourselves to the common populace,” she said with a confident demeanor, before shrinking back into her nervous state. “Did I get that right?”

“Yes, you did get it right, Mich,” I replied with a grin, “and quite cutely too.”

“… Meanie…” she then went back to pouting, before rebounding back into her bubbly and cheery personality. I think she’s bipolar if that’s how quickly she shifts moods in a single moment. I laughed the moment her mood shifted, causing her to pout again and glomping me with her body.

“Agh! Alright, alright! Get off me!” I chided playfully as she stuck her tongue out at me, before proceeding to knock the both of us to the floor with a loud thud. We then stared at each other, the two of us, lying on the floor side by side before bursting out into laughter.

“Young Masters?” a knock interrupted our laugher and both of us quickly stood up and fixed our clothing, “it is time to depart.”

“Of course, Mich, time to go,” I said while dusting off the dust from our formal dresses. Michelle did so as well, her smile radiating from her face.

“Yes, Brother,” she replied in full formal mode. This is what she would call me when it was in public or when we’re not alone, just for the sake of appearances. The both of us exited the room and were guided by the maids towards the carriage where our parents and older siblings were waiting.

We boarded the carriage after having the maids and butlers bow to us and were greeted by our parents’ and siblings’ smiling faces.

“Happy birthday you two,” Father said, a warm smile gracing his lips. “Come now, we don’t have all day.”

“Yes Father,” both of us said at the same time, which made everybody in the carriage smile.

“Oh, you are dressed rather dashing, Michael,” Mariam said with a hint of pride in her voice. Of course, she would, she did pick the clothes after all, though she didn’t stay for long to keep how I look in it a surprise.

“I agree with, Mariam,” Mother said with a pleased smile, “but Michelle is dressed even better. My compliments to the person who arranged the dress.”

Mother gave a nod towards Maxim, who in turn gave a silent nod back. Father gave a tired smile at the actions of his eldest son, at least he is taking his education well.

“Anyway, I think it’s time we departed, shall we?” Father asked and the two of us nodded before taking our seats. That day was the best I ever had and will be the final day where I could act like a child and start getting serious.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

I woke up startled, pain coursing through my body. I was inside a dark cell, and beside me laid my sister, still unconscious. I quickly checked her body, seeing no injuries whatsoever, I let out a sigh of relief. I scanned my surroundings, but the darkness made it impossible to see through the bars.

“Awake now you brat?” a torch lit up a few meters away from the bars, making a figure visible to my eyes. He wore what seemed to be a leather vest full of knives strapped to it, and dark pants that blended with the dark, a couple of glints signifying the presence of a blade. He had brown, shaggy hair that covered his eyes and a bearded face.

“Where am… I?” I let out a weak whimper caused by the pain, as well as the cold I was beginning to feel. The man chuckled darkly and I let out another question, “what do… you want with… us…?”

“Hehe, as for your first question, brat,” the man approached and grabbed my hair through the bars with force, “I’m not obligated to answer your question, and for your second question…”

The man then forcefully banged my head on the iron bars, causing my forehead to bleed. I yelped out in pain at the sudden impact and dizziness. I then fell next to my sister’s unconscious body, who was beginning to stir awake.

“I’m still not obligated to answer your question, get it? You noble scum,” the man then spat at my open wound, causing it to burn slightly. I winced in disgust as the man just kept on laughing as he left with the torch in hand, darkness once again creeping into our surroundings.

It was at this time that Michelle woke up, her eyes slowly opening and her face scrunching up in pain. She looked over my figure and voiced out a weak call.

“M-Mike, is… that you…?” still groggy, she crawled towards me, but when she felt the warm liquid on my head, she regained clarity and saw my condition.

“MIKE!” she quietly screamed out, tears flowing down her cheeks. “Don’t die, please don’t die… Don’t die… What can I do…?”

My vision was still swimming and my head was still being assaulted by a massive headache. I think I had a concussion. The blood flowing down my head already drowned my right eye, making it impossible to see through.

“Mike… Come on, think…” she searched everywhere for something to stop the bleeding, then her eyes landed on her gown. The gown she wore to the party yesterday. She quickly ripped out a part of it using her meager strength with her hands and nails. She ripped out a huge strip of cloth and quickly grabbed my head and laid it on her lap. She then quickly, but gently, wrapped the wound around my head. It was at that time my mind was beginning to clear up, but I was still feeling the pain.

“Mich… You’re alright…?” I asked hoarsely, my voice cracking up under the intense pain I was feeling.

“Quiet, let me treat you,” she said in a no-nonsense way, prompting me to shut up and let her work. I felt cold, pain was still evident throughout my body. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe properly… shit I was probably hyperventilating.

“Mike! Calm down!” she asked in a pleading tone but I couldn’t not when this situation felt eerily similar to one from my past life. The laughter, the mockery, the beatings… It’s all coming back to me, the memories… Shut up… Go away… Don’t come any closer… Shut up… Shut up…

“Worthless degenerate…”

“Useless asshole…”

“YOU WORTHLESS CHILD! YOU’RE NOT PART OF OUR FAMILY!”

“Michael, it seems that you’ve been underperforming lately.”

“Come on! Keep trying!”

“You’re useless!”

Stop… Stop… Please… It hurts… Stop… Don’t put it in… Stop… I can’t breathe… It hurts… It hurts… It hurts… Can’t breathe… Go away… Hurts… Breathe… Shut up…

“MIKE! CALM DOWN!” the shout of my sister brought me back from my nightmare. She was looking at me with a haunted expression, tears leaking from the corner of her eyes.

“M-Mich? What… happened…?”

“You… you… kept on muttering…” her voice trailed lower and lower until it was barely audible. My breath hitched and I stared at her face in horror. She heard… She heard it… Everything… I need to leave… Need to run… Don’t look back…

“Mike!” she snapped me out of my thoughts before she stroked my hair. “It’s going to be ok. Mother and Father will come looking for us. I know it. I also won’t tell what I heard from you in here.”

I… That’s right, I’m no longer in that world. In that world, I’m dead, and in this world, I’m Michael Drismond, not Michael Fraser. I am a member of one of the most loving and caring families in the whole Haiyecaea Kingdom.

I calmed down and sunk my head onto her lap, a shaky, but reassuring smile plastered on Michelle’s face. The two of us just sat there in silence, hoping to the Gods that we would be rescued.

“Oi! You two! You’ve been noisy for the past minutes, what the hell happened!?” the man from earlier made his way back to the front of the cage, “was it you, girl?”

Michelle flinched and stared at the man snarling horrified. She could do nothing as the man unlocked the cage door and stepped inside.

“You noble brat, this will teach you to wake me up from my nap!” the man cocked his fist backward and let out a punch. Gathering all of my meager strength, I stepped in front of the fist, the hand impacting the side of my jaw.

I fell on the ground tasting iron, all the while Michelle was screaming out my name. This, however, didn’t make the man’s mood any happier, so he tried to punch Michelle again. I willed my body to move, and it did, and once again, the fist impacted my body, this time at my gut. I coughed up blood and got it all over him, which sends him into a blind fury.

“You goddamned brat!” the man lunged at me, another fist cocked behind his body armed for another punch. I brace myself, but a thud had me opening my eyes and seeing the lifeless body of the thug. The next moment, I was tackled to the ground by Michelle, crying and sobbing all over my bloodied clothes whilst calling out my nickname.

The last thing I saw was the figure of Father looking at me with a face of pure rage, although I knew it wasn’t directed at me. Knowing that my Michelle was now safe, I closed my eyes and let the darkness consume me.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

My eyes fluttered open and a familiar ceiling greeted me. It was the ceiling of my room, so of course, it would be familiar.

“MIKE!” a loud voice washed over my ears and I groggily directed my vision towards the source of the voice. The face of a relieved and teary-eyed Michelle greeted me, and she promptly hugged me. Feeling her warmth made me break a smile, a few tears threatening to escape my eyes.

“I’m okay now, Mich, don’t worry,” I said while stroking her blonde hair. She just continued to cry all over me that the sheets were beginning to soak. Her loud voice attracted attention as seen by the door slamming open, revealing the figures of the rest of the family.

All of them approached, but I was focusing on Father specifically.

“Father, please teach me how to fight.”