*SLAM*

”I CAN’T HOLD ON! ZOEMI, JUST GO ON WITHOUT ME, I WILL CATCH UP SOMEHOW!”

”REO?!”

…or they weren’t paying them much attention until the carriage’s door was kicked open and flustered green-haired young noble juped out of, before the vehicle could properly stop – which caused the other passenger to reach out after him with a shocked gasp.

That was a truly bizarre scene – especially considering that the next thing that happened was the runaway green-haired boy bolted straight to one of the shops.

Not an inn, or apothecary, mind you – but a shop dealing with magic crystals that were one of the oldest buildings in the entire city…

What couldn’t he hold on for…? Buying himself a mana crystal?

—-

”…sir…? Should we wait for him?”

The coachman asked cautiously, pulling on the horses’ reins and slowing down while glancing at the black-haired boy looking out of the carriage with a concerned expression.

”How difficult it is to get from here to the Banemor mansion?”

Zoemi asked in response while stretching his neck trying to see whether Reo was allowed to use the toilet or would be thrown out.

”We are basically there already, it’s at most a ten-minute walk straight down this street – look, you can see the mansion from here.”

The man raised one hand and pointed at the tastefully white and gray building to which the surrounding garden – and the wall going around it – began only a few feet from the spot where they were at.

”…”

Zoemi furrowed his brows in contemplation.

On one hand, it felt wrong to leave Reo while he was clearly not feeling well…

…but on the other hand, Zoemi was aware of the event from the Banemor questline that was supposed to happen when the heroine and Reo arrive at the Banemor mansion…

The thing was that in the game, the green-haired capture target wasn’t the only Moyena who came up with the idea to show off to his father by returning the Banemor territory under the rule of the Bellcephora kingdom – two of his older siblings would try to do the same, and they would be very pleased to have their favorite pushover close by to bully while their plans are useless against the protector of the territory and keeper of lord Banemor’s will, Benevirau.

The entire quest was about making Reo realize that he doesn’t have to win his family’s approval because he is already fine how he is, without changing to fit their vision of the world.

Zoemi couldn’t be sure whether Aerea and Vianee would really show up and even if they would, then if they would be mean to Reo or not, but he knew one thing.

In the game, once the three Moyenas would meet, there will be a small-scale skirmish that Reo would lose, getting his butt kicked for daring to talk back to his older brother and older sister.

Truth be told, during the said unfortunate event, Aerea and Vianee would be on their way OUT, after failing to accomplish anything – one could say that they were there just to set the mood for the whole questline.

Well, the timing didn’t match because the whole questline should happen during the summer break, and the heroine herself was back in the Aspakeony Academy, but even so, Zoemi preferred to stay on the cautious side.

Honestly, his reasoning was pretty simple and kind of childish.

He didn’t want to see Reo get beaten up by his water-attribute-wielding sister or the fire-attribute-wielding brother, the green-haired boy was his second favorite character in the game, and in this world, he was basically the same character-wise – so impossible for Zoemi to dislike.

”He said that we should go without him and that he will catch up to us – I trust him. Let’s go.”

”If you say so, sir. Please, now get back inside and close the door.”

The black-haired boy ended up shrugging his shoulders and nodding at the coachman, who nodded back and lightly smacked the horses with the rains to make them go faster, as they seemed to be creating an inconvenience on the street.

Just a few minutes later the carriage stopped in front of the mansion’s imposing door.

”Sir, I was told to return straight away, but I can pick up young lord Moyena and bring him here…”

The coachman said with a conspicuous expression while leaning down towards the surprised Zoemi.

”Oh, no, no – it really is alright. Reo will be alright. Thank you for the offer though.”

Zoemi raised his hand to wave it to the sides dismissively and smiled gratefully to the concerned man.

|If those two are here, it really would be better if Reo wouldn’t show up for a while.|

The black-haired attendant finished the sentence in his mind while the coachman was gazing over at him with an unconvinced expression.

”No, really. It is okay. Have a nice way back.”

The concern was heartwarming but unnecessary so Zoemi simply nodded at the man and turned to the mansion.

The imposing door was closed and there was no servant in sight that would invite him in, making things slightly more troublesome.

Not by much though – Normally the uninvited guests would be forced to wait until someone from the house would show up and let them in as just walking in on their own was extremely rude and could incur the wrath of the host, but Zoemi wasn’t uninvited.

Well, it depended on how one looked at it.

He was arriving while posing as the son of the missing heir to the Banemor family – although farfetched as that excuse was, since the black-haired boy was supposed to be convincing, he should be acting as if the mansion – and the entire city, and territory – were already his.

That could turn out to be a double-edged sword – or the most efficient way to trick the overpowered servant.

”…”

Having decided on how to act, Zoemi straightened his back and his face turned serious.

Things could turn out really good or horribly bad, but either way, he would at least get the points for trying.

…as long as Benevirau would not kill him…

Without wasting any more time the black-haired boy walked up to the door and started opening them – despite their size their hinges were well maintained making for a very easy movement, and the black-haired boy couldn’t help himself for a little bit of theatrical flair and set it ajar stepping inside like an overconfident young master.

”What do you mean he will not see us?! We’ve been coming here for two weeks already! Do you hear me, peasant? TWO WEEKS!”

”I seriously start to doubt whether sir Benevirau even wants to cooperate with the kingdom – I wonder how would he like an entire army at his do… hmm…?”

Just as he did, he became the witness to a young hot-headed red-haired man and a young haughty-looking blue-haired woman talking down to an upset dark-blue-haired misty-gray-eyed boy in a butler’s uniform, who couldn’t be much older than Zoemi.

The blue-haired woman noticed Zoemi’s entrance and stopped talking before tapping the red-haired man’s side and they both glared at the black-haired boy.

”You, darkness magician, back off – do you know how many trash already showed up here thinking that they can trick sit Benevirau that they are the heir to the Banemor family?!”

The red-haired man scoffed and waved his hand to chase off Zoemi who stopped in place at the sight of the two and frowned.

|…Reo’s route basically goes exactly as it did in the game – but we are here earlier than we should, so those idiots aren’t quite done yet…|

The black-haired boy thought to himself with annoyance at his own miscalculation.

He was already so used to events happening out of place and with a different timing that he just assumed that if Reo’s siblings would be at the mansion, they would be on their way out after trying to get to talk with Benevirau for over two months.

…but as Vianee had already shouted at the young butler, they were there for mere two weeks…

”Are you deaf?! Get out!”

”…!”

The red-haired man, Vianee, got agitated over the complete lack of reaction from the black-haired boy – but his sister Aerea squinted her eyes before straightening her back at the realization.

”Via…”

”Hmm…?”

She poked his side and leaned in to share her observation with the unamused man.

”Ah… I see… You are the guy who killed young lord Xoenith – what, YOU were the one whom my useless youngest sibling chose to help him?”

After listening to the hushed explanation, Vianee scoffed, looking down on the silent Zoemi, and shook his head in disbelief while a mocking smirk twisted his mouth.

”My name is Zoemi Auequas, attendant of lady Miriette Lisea Espine, and a rightful heir to the Banemor family – sir Vianee – I don’t remember you becoming the judge of the ongoing case – unless you think that you have greater authority on the matter regarding the death of young lord Drizno than his highness the king, I advise you to shut up and watch your tongue unless you want to go from the second son of the Moyena family to the tragically deceased second son of the Moyena family.”

”…!”

In response to the mockery, Zoemi simply raised his brow and casually threatened the red-haired young man, making him become stunned from receiving the same thing he was dishing out.