Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rok Soo could feel someone gently shaking him, it was odd. It didn't feel like anyone he knew, it was warm.

“Young Master, it’s time to wake up.”

The unfamiliar voice caused Rok Soo to quickly open his eyes. He sees an old man looking down at him, with a gentle smile.

Rok Soo sits up, only to be much smaller than normal. He looks up at the old man, but his eyes shift to the bright red behind the man.

It was a mirror, but he couldn't see much of his reflection, but why was it red?. 

“Young Master Cale?”

Rok Soo moves to get off the bed, frowning slightly when he realizes he has to hop down. He makes his way to the vanity that was behind the old man, and there he finds a child in his reflection, with bright red hair.

The name, Cale, was definitely directed to him. That and the red hair, in his reflection was Cale Henituse. That would make him Cale, wouldn't it?

Rok Soo turns around, back at the old man who now wore a confused expression. The gentle smile that man had didn't feel as gentle as Rok Soo once thought, because if he is Cale then that man must be Ron. 

Cale Henituse and Ron, both were characters of a novel he was reading the night before.

‘The Birth of a Hero’

“Young Master?” Ron tried to get his attention with a voice which Rok Soo knows is filled with false concern.

“...Cold water, please.”

While watching Ron leave, Rok Soo swears he can feel a headache coming on, he needs to clear his mind to sort through what is happening right now. Rok Soo buries his face in his tiny hands, he can’t even remember the last time he was so short…

He looks back up at the vanity mirror, reaching up to touch his now red hair.

“Hah… I really am Cale.” He sighs, he wasn’t even teen Cale, or adult Cale but child Cale. He would look around for more confirmation but he can't trust all of his information for this place since he has been placed back before the novel has begun.

That novel, ‘The Birth of a Hero’ he thinks back again, he was able to finish the fifth volume before he fell asleep. He remembers Cale, a less than minor villain, more of a rude inconvenience in the novel. One who got beat up in volume one of the novel by the main character, Choi han. Choi han was fun to read about but imagining himself getting beat up by a guy who lives as long as a dragon causes him to feel his lifespan melting.

“...is this bad?”

Cale sighs, he shouldn’t need to worry about Choi han beating him up if he doesn't create any bad blood between him and that powerhouse.

One more thing he needs to consider is that this is the body of a child, children need supervision. That thought didn't bring much comfort but considering the personality of Deruth he would probably have enough freedom to get protection from all of the wars in the near future or just from the people in general. In a world like this there could be an artisan with the ability to cut Cale in half.

Yes, he'll need to be sure he'll survive the events and surprises of this novel. He isn't allowed to die.

An icy cold glass presses against his neck causing him to jolt and snapping him out of his thoughts. He looks up and sees Ron behind him with a glass of ice cold water.

“My Apologies, young master, my hand slipped.”

“...” Cale isn't going to make it, this vicious old man is going to give him high blood pressure. He definitely needs to send Ron off with Choi han. He originally went with Choi han so that shouldn't be so hard, Cale will even give them an extra push to make sure they leave Cale alone.

Ron places the tall glass onto the vanity in front of him. “Thank you.” Cale takes the drink before going back to his thoughts, it's not like he has anything else to do. He should just live as the count's lazy son, avoid the war, and live a peaceful life full of riches. 

Yes, this sounds perfect, in fact… can't he just lay back down? More sleep sounds nice-

“Young master, your bath is ready.” Ron informs Cale while he was picking out clothes for him.

“Ah, thank you.”

Cale takes his time, there is nothing else for him to do. The plot is far and his actions are limited. When he returns to the room he finds a set of simple dark clothes. 

The clothes do fit his preference but they don’t look like something a child would normally wear and taking a glance at the closet shows there are definitely more colorful clothes to pick from. He chooses not to dwell, dressing in the dark outfit.

Ron re-enters the room, “Young master, it's time for breakfast .”

Breakfast is always good, to be a good slacker, Cale must eat well. He follows behind Ron, often catching maids and other workers whispering to each other as they walk by.

Cale can’t think of a reason why, Cale hasn’t done anything yet. The novel said that Cale started behaving like trash when he became thirteen and with how small he is right now he doubts the age of this body is thirteen.

When Ron opens the door to the dining room Cale can assume the reason for the worker’s whispers, all the seats were empty and only one plate was set out. Seems that Deruth will not be joining him for breakfast but why would Cale care about that? If Deruth keeps his distance from Cale then it will actually be easier for Cale to do the things he has been thinking about.

The novel had described Deruth as one of the only people that seemed to really care for Cale, but Cale never took him as a truly caring person for the Cale he saw in the novel. If he did really care, he would have stopped Cale from acting so trashy.

Taking a seat, Cale finds that the food served to him was nothing that he would usually eat. Before he would eat just to fill his stomach before getting back to work. He takes a quick bite of the food and-

Damn. is it delicious? It’s just some sausages and eggs right? Since when did they taste so good? He can’t help but smile, he guesses that this fantasy world just had better tasting food. He is so used to everything just tasting bland. 

Cale grabs some of the fruits from the center, stuffing them into his pocket. They won’t get mad at a child taking some food from the table, or at least he doesn’t think any of the workers would say anything about it.

Cale looks back at Ron, “I’m done.”

“Then it is time for your studies, young master.”

Cale nods his head, moving to follow Ron, who was as a great guide seeing that Cale has no idea where anything is here in this house. Cale isn’t planning to listen to anything he is meant to learn, he knows that other than history or etiquette that he already knows all he needs to know. Along with the fact that he can’t be the next Count because that would interfere with his slacker life. 

Cale affirms with himself, if he doesn’t do any of the work, they can’t assess him, and therefore wouldn't dare to think of making him the next Count. 

Ron opens the door to his study where a man was waiting, he looked to be preparing a lesson plan. Cale takes a seat, looking up to see the chalkboard and shelves of books.

It was comfortable. He continues to look around until his eyes land on a calendar that was placed next to a collection of maps. The 28th day of the 3rd month in the 771st year of the felix calendar. The exact month and day of the massacre of Harris village just ten years earlier. Which would make Cale nine.

That’s good, that definitely means he has time to help out Harris village. Cale grabs a history book while his instructor's words go in one ear and out the other. He quickly flips through the pages before moving to the next book.

“Young master?”

“Hm?” Cale looks up at the instructor.

“Can you please answer the question, I wrote it on the board.” The instructor gently removed the book from his hands.

Cale looks at the board, it was a classic example for a faction. A circle cut into sixths with two missing with the simple question of what faction of the circle is missing. “I don’t know.” He answers, acting dumb.

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s like the question you answered a few days ago,” The instructor gives him a small smile, “Since the circle is cut into six slices, if you take two then it would be two out of the six. We call that two sixths and it can be simplified or reduced to one third. Does that make sense?”

Cale nods his head, the instructor had explained it well. 

This process continued, the instructor asking him questions and Cale telling him that he didn’t know until Cale’s instructor had left. Does this mean Cale is done for the day? That’s good-

“Young master,” Ron places a few letters onto his desk, “You have some letters from your friends.”

Cale nods, might as well look and see what’s here. He opens a few, quickly scanning the contents before sighing.

‘I am sorry to hear of her passing-’

‘It was so difficult to hear of her passing I do hope that-’

‘Thinking about about you in these troubling times-’

All of them were condolence letters, some not even a full page, ones written with someone over the sender’s shoulder definitely.

But, the fact they were condolence letters gave Cale a bit more insight, he must have woken up in Cale’s body right after the passing of Countess Jour. 

Grabbing the last one he was prepared to see the same phases copied and pasted again.

Dear Cale,

 It’s Eric, I am inviting you over. Mother said that I am not supposed to invite you so early in your mourning but I want to see you. I don’t want to just send letters back and forth, I want to talk to you.

This Hyung of yours will listen to anything you want to say. I also do not mind if you don’t want to talk about it or even talk at all. Father had told me that when he lost his mother he didn’t want to talk about it at all. 

 If you don’t want to come over then I will respect that decision, but if you do we can treat it just like an ordinary playdate. If you want to just forget about everything your Hyung will be here to help you.

 I know that even though Countess Jour has passed that we will always remember her. I know that she must miss you as much as you miss her and that she is keeping watch over you.

-Eric Wheelsman

P.s 

Sorry if my writing seems a little different, my instructor insisted on helping me write this, he said that I needed to be formal.

Cale glances back to the maps on the wall, the wheelsman territory is near Puzzle city where he could get Vitality of the Heart but he would need The Indestructible Shield here in order to pass its test safely… 

“Can I go?” Cale looks up at Ron, he is aware that he is a child so he’ll need permission to do anything.

“I’ll ask the Count.”

Cale nods, then he’ll be sneaking out in order to feed the glutton and obtain the shield. He was already planning to grab both of these ancient powers, he has to protect himself after all.

Heading to his room, Cale awaits nightfall.

Chapter Text

Ron had already told him that his visit was approved by Count Deruth but it will take around three days since it’s proper etiquette to send a letter informing the other they will be visiting. It seems rather inefficient to Cale since it was the other party who invited him but it works in his favor. 

He has been waiting for so long because there is no way he can sneak out when Ron is nearby, that ex-assassin would find him in less than a second. Cale has a much better chance sneaking past guards.

Speaking of which, it seems late enough for everyone but the guards to be off duty. Cale quietly gets out of bed, grabbing a hat to hide his hair, the bright red stands out even in the dark.

He feels his pockets for the fruits he had taken earlier, it wasn’t a lot but it was originally meant for him and not the glutton. He peeks out his door, clear.

He steps out, he doesn’t truly need to sneak around until he gets out of the house, while he is inside he can just act but when he is outside it will be practically impossible to give a good excuse.

Cale peeks through the windows, he watches the guards as they walk past. They looked to be in stations except in the garden, the garden which looked more like a mini rainforest. The guards in the garden had walked around in intervals, it made sense because the garden had more places to hide. Tall trees and big walls of bushes, and the garden had a wall that could be climbed over into and out of the grounds of the manor. He watches them for a while longer, engraving their movements into his head. 

Cale jumps up to unclip the lock on the window, pushing it open and climbing onto the sill, he looks down… yeah no. What is he, the main character? He isn't jumping down, this is like the second floor.

Even if he went through the garden, the second he tries to climb that wall he would get caught.

However that isn’t the problem, the biggest problem is finding a way of getting back. There are bound to be side doors he isn’t aware of. He hops down back inside, closing the window. He heads down the stairs, looking around for another entrance and exit.

He thinks back to another book he once read, he remembers the main character and his party had pretended to be supply runners for a manner in order to sneak in and repeated the same technique in order to sneak out. Cale did enjoy that book, however the main point is that if that book was based in some form of how real manors used to be built then the area for supply runs should be connected to a place around or in the kitchen.

Cale heads towards the dinner room, one of the only rooms he knows where to find and starts branching off from there, it doesn’t take too long to find the kitchen doors. He pushes the doors open only to enter a staredown with a teen holding a mixing bowl.

…

Who is this guy? Moreover, who cooks in the middle of the night with no lights on?

The teen places the bowl down and moves to turn on the light, “Young master?”

Cale starts to connect the dots when he can properly see the kid's face, this is Vicross, Ron’s son, future torture expert and amazing chef. Why must he meet this guy tonight, the kid should be in bed by now. “Why are you up?”

“I could say the same, it's past your bedtime.”

“And not yours?”

“My father is aware of where I am.”

Cale sighs, Ron is definitely aware that Vicross is here but Cale can only hope that Ron himself isn't here.

“But um,” Vicross speaks up again, showing the batter inside the mixing bowl, “I'm making a cake, do you want some?”

“...”

Cale nods, he might need to sneak out but it's important that he gets to try this. He remembers reading about Vicross’ cooking, the author made the food sound mouth watering.

Cale looks around, spotting the door that would lead him outside.The new problem is that he can't really sneak out when Vicross was in the same room as him.

“Young master,” Vicross pops the pans into the oven, “is there, um, any particular reason you are up?”

“No.”

“...are you sure?”

Cale gives Vicross an odd look, why is this guy pressing him so much? “Yes.”

Vicross finally just nods and a silence is brought into the room. Cale was fine with the new found quiet but he started to hear Vicross tapping his foot against the floor. And it doesn't take long for Vicross to speak again.

“Young master,” Vicross shifts slightly, “did you know nightmares are common after a um, bad event?”

“Yes?”

“Yes. So if you are having any problems sleeping I’m sure you could go to Count Deruth-” Vicross stops to think, “I’m sure you could go to my father for help. He can brew some tea for you, I can too if you wish. I also guess that I wouldn't mind joining in your games.”

Cale blinks, looking up at Vicross once more. He felt less on guard once he realized that Vicross, the Vicross of now, is nowhere near the Vicross he read about. Cale knows that the words meant to comfort him aren’t really meant for him. They are meant for the real Cale. “Alright, thank you.”

Vicross nods, heading back over to check on his cakes. Cale watches him, he can take a portion of those cakes to that glutton. However, the set back of waiting he would have to run at this point in order to make it back here in time. 

Vicross brings the cakes out and taps them out of their pans. 

“Is it done now?” 

“No.” Vicross sits next to him, “I still have to make buttercream and some other stuff, do you want to help?”

Cale is sure that if he helps that the cake will be done much faster, “yes.” he reaches out to grab the bowl only for his hand to be pulled away.

“Wash your hands first.”

“ah, okay.”

“That's salt not sugar.”

“Oh, got it.”

“No, you have to fold it over itself.”

“Isn't that just mixing?”

“Just give me the bowl.”

“Young master, you have to let the cakes cool.”

“Haven’t they cooled enough?”

“No.”

“You have to spread it around the cake.”

“It's falling off.”

“That's because you aren't doing it rig- just give it here.”

“We're almost done.”

“I thought we were done??”

“No, we still have to make it look good.”

“hah…”

Vicross finishes up and steps back with a satisfied glint in his eyes. “Good.”

“We're done?” Cale thinks he just shaved off ten years off of his life in order to make this cake. Vicross nods before turning around. 

“I don't like to eat sweets.” Vicross randomly brings up, “So, I'm going to head to bed. Make sure to get some sleep after you eat some or… I won't play with you tomorrow.”

Cale raises a brow at the odd threat but nods his head. “Alright.”

With that Vicross is finally gone, Cale wastes no time deconstructing the cake into easier to carry slices and digging around for anything to carry them with.

He shoves them into a basket and heads out of the supply run door. Quickly steps out and behind a crate.

He can hear them, the guards don't walk quietly which means Cale doesn't need to worry about memorizing their places. 

This is easy for him, especially at this size. Crouching down he moves from crate to crate.

He reaches a point to where he is only a few meters away from outside the walls of the manor, he peeks his head above his crate of potatoes and sees the guards walking and talking. The more important part is that they are facing away from him. 

He breaks into a sprint. He passes the exit and immediately jumps to the side, the wall now hiding him from sight in case the guards turn around. 

Perfect.

He continues to run, passing tall trees that soon start to shift into buildings but he starts to feel drained rather quickly. “Hah… hah..”

…He blames his tiny legs and small lungs.

He isn't going to be able to do all the runs he was planning to do tonight, or any of the nights. He'll still feed the glutton but he now is aware of the fact that the actual possibility of getting that shield in time has halved. 

That doesn't mean he is just going to stop though. He continues moving, speed walking instead of running.

Cale eventually makes it to the slums, making sure to keep his basket close. Cale thinks many people are frightening or vicious, this can be due to their inhuman strength or their violent methods. However, there is one group of people he fears more than his earlier listing, people who have nothing to lose. 

Such people are capable of scary things, things that normal people wouldn't even think about.

Walking up the hill, he has finally made it. Pushing open the rickety gate and frowning at the ominous tree before him. The tall inky black tree was known as the man eating tree. This tree houses the glutton which will be his ticket to protection. He looks down at the ground, the barren land surrounding the tree.

Everything here was dead. The dirt was dry and there wasn't a single sign of life other than the tree. He heads to the base of the tree and spots the hole hidden amongst the roots.

He looks down the dark hole, wasting no time and dumping the basket in. He watches as the hole starts to turn brighter. It was turning much brighter than he thought it would, he was sure that the novel said that it required a lot of food. Perhaps quality matters?

Either way, Cale was grateful until he heard a loud voice.

‘more… Give me more…’ A weak girl’s voice begs him, “I need more…”

“Hah… I will. Be patient.”

Cale turns around, at least by the end of night he'll have a nice slice of cake.

But for now, he starts to run again. Repeating the motion of sneaking behind crates and digging through the kitchen before feeding the glutton once more. There was a sense of familiarity with these actions, thinking back to when he was Rok soo, sneaking around for food like this was quite common throughout all stages of his life. 

Cale walks back into the kitchen, shoving the basket back into the cabinet. It was sometime in the morning, but there was no light just yet.  He was able to fit in two trips to the man eating tree and fed the glutton until the hole had turned into a light gray.

He wasn't able to get the shield just yet, but he was expecting that.

But for now...

He looks at his reward, a single slice of cake. He can't help but smile as he walks back to his room.

Sweets are the best.

Chapter Text

The world is unkind, is what Cale decides when Ron shakes him awake. He didn’t get enough sleep, maybe an hour or two but Cale prefers these hours to be around eight. 

“Young master, It’s time to get ready.” Ron helps him to sit up and frowns at him, “Vicross told me you didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Yes, sorry about that.”

“It’s nothing to apologize for, I will do better to ensure you have a proper sleeping routine.”

Cale ignored the kind words which somehow sounded vaguely threatening to him.

“Ah good news, the Wheelsman family has replied to our letter so we will be able to leave tomorrow.”

Cale nods, “Yes, that's good.”

He and Ron followed the routine of yesterday, bath, dressing and eating. He had noticed the lack of Vicross in the kitchen which peaked Cale's interest for a bit. Cale enjoyed the easiness of the day, until he tried to go back to his study to wait for his instructor.

“Young master, today you work on your swordsmanship.”

“...” Cale thinks about this, he has already trained to fight with weapons- never a sword but he doesn't want to carry a sword around. He could see training with this body as a positive or he can see it as it really is, torture. 

“Young master?” 

“Can I just not go?”

Ron hums, “The Henituse family is a knight family, young master.”

“Just say no.”

“I'm afraid not.” 

Cale sighs, he has two options, one is to listen and train or perhaps he could just run away and hide. He doesn't need to be anything to the Henituse family since Basen will soon come and become the heir. He has no responsibility here.

With that thought in mind and a new plan already forming he nods his head, “Alright.”

Ron leads Cale to the courtyard, where he sees knights training…they were panting and swinging their swords. They were working so hard.

which only reinforces his determination to get out of this one way or another. 

“Young master!” A man with dark blue hair calls out to him, “Are you ready for your training?”

Cale nods his head, “Yes, but I have to use the restroom first.” Once he receives a nod of approval he walks off.

Now, of course he doesn't need to use the restroom. That was his excuse, now it's time to find the perfect place to hide. He walks into his study and finds a small cabinet that could fit him comfortably. A small place is the best because people forget to look there. 

Crawling inside, Cale feels similar to how he did as a kid. Hiding and sleeping in his small places, hoping not to be found. However, this hiding place had lighter meaning since he was simply running away from lessons that would make him a viable heir to the Henituse family.

Cale gets comfortable, resting his body against the four walls surrounding him.

It doesn't take long before he hears the busy footsteps in the hall, muffled calls of his name.

People enter and leave the room, some call his name, others just look around.

But in the moment of a silent room, the cabinet door opens and Cale's eyes snap forward. Ron, who has entered the room and managed to find him without making a sound, smiles. “Hello young master.”

“...” Cale takes a minute to calm his beating heart, “Hello Ron.”

“Are you ready to come out?”

“...”

Ron chuckles at Cale's silence and closes the cabinet door, and Cale can only assume that he left the room.

Cale definitely needs that shield, if only for the comfort of it. Ron sneaking into the room without a sound speaks volumes of his skills as an assassin, not that Cale ever doubted it. However, Cale would prefer it if he didn't have to experience a scare like that again.

Cale decides to focus on the better part of that encounter, the fact that he left Cale alone. Perhaps it was pity or amusement, the reason doesn't matter.

The amount of footsteps rise in frequency again, and eventually the door of his study opens again. 

The steps are slow, and Cale can hear the person opening each and every cabinet. Seems like Cale’s avoidance is over, however he has definitely wasted enough time for there to be little to no training today.

Eventually his cabinet door opens and he sees a ginger with a small smile.

“Ah, I knew it.” The ginger smiles and takes a seat on the floor, “Hello young master.”

“Hello…” Cale draws a blank for a name, he has never seen the ginger before nor has he read about him in the book.

The ginger chuckles, “I’m Hans and you, young master, have worked everyone into quite the worry.” Hans hums, “Come on, do you need help getting up? You have been in there for hours.”

Cale shakes his head, crawling out but stumbling to stand. Perfectly normal when choosing such a small place to hide in, but that small space just saved him from working out. It also is helping with his plans to not be a viable option of an heir since all the heirs need to learn swordsmanship.

Hans puts a hand onto Cale's back, “Are you hungry? It's already too late for training, lucky you.”

“I want Vicross to cook.”

“Huh? Ron's son? Does he even know how to cook?” Hans grins, “Well, if the young master demands it then who am I to not try and fulfill the order? I will ask Ron.”

Cale nods, he had assumed that Vicross hadn't yet got any job even near the kitchen whenever he noticed that he wasn't the one cooking for him. He knows that even child Vicross enjoys cooking, or at least baking, so why not push for it?

Hans sits Cale down at the table, “Food will take a bit, the whole manor joined in the search for you.”

Cale blinks, “Wait what? There was no need to get everyone to look.”

“Well, when Hillsman and Ron mentioned they were looking for you, everyone naturally joined in.”

Cale frowns, he miscalculated, he thought that less people would be looking for him. 

That was his fault; he shouldn’t have based his calculations on the reputation of the Cale he had read about. Of course more people looked for him since he was a child. 

“Well then! I need to talk to Ron about your little demand and then we'll see if the kitchen will let Vicross in.”

Cale nods, getting comfortable in his seat. Soon enough Hans enters back in, sending Cale two thumbs up.

It doesn't take too long for fresh plates of food to be placed in front of him. He takes his time, he doesn't need to do anything except to visit the glutton again tonight so there was no need to rush.

When Cale leaves the dining room, he spots Vicross in the corridor, “Vicross?”

Vicross turns around, “Young master,” he takes a minute to think, “Are you going to come to the kitchen again tonight?”

Cale nods his head.

“See you there then.” Vicross then walks off.

After that weird and short interaction, Cale returns to his room. He grabs his hat from before and this time he looks in his closet, sets of both colorful and dark clothes, jewelry and bags. He grabs the biggest bag, it sits against his side, it was more storage if he grabbed the basket again. He sits on his bed, digging through the bag. 

It was well used, dirty handkerchiefs stuffed into the side of the bag, a little bag of marbles, and a harmonica. He takes out all the items, they might have meant something to the old Cale so he decides to store them into the bedside table for safe keeping. He then replaces the contents of the bag with only the hat for now.

He turns out the light and sits against the bed frame, he was expecting the night to play out how it did before but this time the door of his room clicks open.

He looks up to see Ron smiling at him, Ron walks in handing him a cup of hot tea. “To help you sleep young master.”

Cale can't help but notice the lemon scent in the air, “What's in it…?” Cale hates sour things, even the old Cale agrees with his taste. 

Ron smiles, “Lemon balm, it helps with both sleep and stress.”

“...” Nature didn't need to make so many sour plants, one would have been enough. Is this punishment for running and hiding? How evil. Cale quickly downs the drink.

Ron chuckles before turning to leave, “Sleep well, young master.”

“...You too.” Cale feels as sour as his drink.

Cale watches him leave, he then waits again. Nightfall wouldn't be too far from now.

Once he is sure that enough time has passed he grabs the bag and walks out to the kitchen, where he spots Vicross waiting for him. 

“Vicross?”

Vicross looks at Cale and stays quiet for a minute, “Do you want to cook something again with me?”

Cale nods his head, he'll need a lot of food for the glutton. “What do you want to make?”

“We made a cake last time, how about cookies?”

Cale nods.

“Good, then grab the flour, baking soda, salt and-” Vicross freezes, “Never mind, sit there. I'll grab the ingredients.”

Cale doesn't know if Vicross remembered that Cale doesn't know where anything is in the kitchen or if he is still hung up on the salt and sugar mix up. Either way he takes a seat.

“Okay, wet ingredients first. That includes the butter after I melt it.”

“Alright.”

“Do you want me to show you how to fold in the dry ingredients again or do you know how to do it this time?”

“I got it.”

“...huh, you do get it.”

“Have more faith.”

“Two cups of chocolate chips.”

“We can't add more?”

“Two cups of chocolate chips.”

“Just say no next time.”

Vicross puts the cookies into the oven and looks back to Cale, “Hey.”

“Hey?”

“Thank you.”

“Hm?” Cale looks up at him, “What for?”

“You got me into the kitchen.”

“You would have made it there anyways.” Cale waves his hand, “I just sped up the process.”

Vicross shakes his head, sitting next to Cale. “My thanks to you isn't a mistake, accept it.”

“Ah, thank you then.” Cale turns away from him, this guy is still a bit scary as a teen for some odd reason.

“Ah, father told me that you will be leaving tomorrow.”

“Yeah, do you want to come?”

“Would I be allowed? I'm not an important part of the staff or anything yet.”

“You're my chef.” Cale points out, “How will I eat if I don't have my chef?”

“...” Vicross gives him an odd look, before shaking his head. “Well, if you drag me with you then I will have no choice but to follow.”

Cale nods, turning to look at the cookies. “Are they done?”

Vicross quickly checks on them, “Yes, they are.” He brings them out onto the counter, “I'm going to clean, let them cool down before you eat them.”

“I can help.”

“Yes, you can help eat the cookies, I don’t want any in the first place.”

“I meant with the cleaning.”

Vicross looks like he just got whiplash, “Young master, you do know that you don't just run them under the water right?”

“Yes.”

“You have to scrub them.”

“Yes.”

“And-”

“Just scoot over.” Vicross listens only for Cale to not quite be able to reach anything on the counter.

“..Pft..” Vicross covers his mouth, “Ahem, let me grab you a stool.”

“...thanks.”

Cale stands on the stool and starts to help clean under Vicross’ watchful eye. 

“Huh, you do know how to clean.”

“I know.”

When they finished up, Vicross went ahead to put everything away while Cale grabbed a cloth to wrap the cookies in. 

“Good night, young master.”

“Good night Vicross.” Cale watches Vicross leave before starting to stuff the cookies into his bag, along with fruits and vegetables. He grabs the basket and stuffs it too, looking around and grabbing a soft fruit that looked to be nearing its end just to test something.

He digs out his hat and covers his hair before slinking out of the supply run area by slipping behind crates once more. 

He was able to reach the outside of the wall quicker than before, since he has become more familiar with how the guards move. 

Cale calmly walks the quiet streets, he is aware he doesn't need to be afraid of things such as human trafficking but he still needs to be wary of the people around him. 

He continues into the slums, already on a steady trek to the man eating tree. 

However something catches his eye, a man. A man in the corner of his eye was watching him.

Cale keeps moving forward, just keeping his eye on the man. Noticing how the man was eyeing his basket. If the man asks for some food Cale wouldn't mind, but if any other method is chosen…

Cale’s hold tightens on the basket when he sees the man stalk forward. Cale turns around, facing the man to see what choice he would make.

The man chose the wrong choice as he sped up, Cale took the cue to run.

Cale dug into his basket, grabbing the close to rotting fruit. 

Cale can hear the man catching up with him.

When the steps behind him start to sound uncomfortably close is when he turns around.

Taking the few seconds he has to aim he throws the fruit.

He watches the fruit smash against the man's eyes, temporarily blinding him.

Cale takes this chance to truly sprint, seeing the rickety fence at the top of the hill. He closes the gate behind him and lets himself sit down on the dry dirt.

“Hah… hah…” He looks up at the man eating tree. He had wanted to test if quality mattered with the tree, if the hole would turn lighter even if tried to give it a rotting fruit, he wanted to see if it would even accept it or not. 

However, his safety is more important than a test. He can still test this however, instead using a cookie and a fruit. 

He drops the fruit in, watching as the shade barely changes. 

But when he drops the cookie in there is a more noticeable change. Quality does make a big difference, that means when he fed the glutton that cake he had much more progress than he thought.

He dumps the bag of food and gets startled by the loud voice that rings in his ears.

“More more! Just a bit more!” The girl's voice was much louder than before, “I'll give you a gift if you give me just a bit more!”

Cale knows what the gift is, he dumps the contents of the basket in and watches as the hole starts to glow white.

“Ah! That was sooo good! Did you cook them yourself? The cookies were so chewy and gooey! Oh and that cake! It was just so perfectly sweet!”

The obnoxious voice bounces in Cale's head, “I cooked with someone else and I'm glad you enjoyed but-”

“Awh! Did you bake with your friends or maybe a family member? It doesn't matter! The food you gave me was so good that it filled me up quickly! You are such a good kid!”

The tree started to turn white, leaves growing from the branches and framing the tree with bright green leaves.

Cale reaches his hand down into the glowing white that now came from the hole and he hears the voice again, but this time she sounded calm.

“It will protect you.”

A bright silver light surrounds Cale, it was warm as it wrapped around his body and gathered at his chest.

There was a fulfilling feeling that enveloped him when even the light started to sink into his chest.

Peeking down into the shirt he was wearing, he could see the shield had taken its place over Cale's heart.

A mark of protection, for as long as Cale's heart is beating he will have the shield to lean on.

It was a nice feeling.

Cale lifts his hand above him, summoning a silver shield in front of him. The shield had intricate engraving and a pair of pure white wings sprouted out from behind it.

Cale takes his time to test the shield, making it grow and shrink, even letting it twirl around him. 

Cale couldn't help but grin.

The Indestructible Shield which can actually break is still very sturdy and can come back after it breaks. 

Which means Cale now has the perfect means of protection!

The shield runs on the beating of his heart, and Cale refuses to let his heart stop beating. 

There was just one small problem with the shield.

It looked like a divine relic. It looked like the gods themselves blessed this shield. 

However, Cale won't have many reasons to use the shield so he doesn't need to worry about any misunderstandings brought by the shield's appearance.

Cale lets the shield disappear, turning around to head home.

He has another ancient power to grab soon after all.

Chapter Text

Vicross never really liked Cale, he didn't hate Cale but it was hard to be around someone with so much energy. That didn't stop Vicross from playing with Cale from time to time. It felt a bit like an obligation since, even if he hates to admit it, is the only other child at the estate.

So he had gotten used to the hyper kid that would drag him outside to play hide and seek or tag. The one who would only play with him if his mother was busy. Vicross liked being the second option, he couldn't imagine having to deal with Cale jumping around 24/7 like how Countess Jour did.

That's why it was such a jarring change when Countess Jour died. Vicross heard that Count Deruth began to lock himself in his study but that didn't provide any change to Vicross' day to day life.

The biggest change to Vicross was Cale.

Cale went from a hyper, if not a bit mischievous and spoiled, to so quiet so quickly that he could have gotten whiplash.

The first day Vicross had asked Ron where Cale was. Vicross never had to ask where Cale was since he could always hear him. The only time where it would be quiet would be when Cale was trying to perform a prank of sorts, but even then Vicross would still be able to hear him giggle. It was jarring to not have that constant source of sound.

That's why it was hard to just ignore Cale when they first ran into each other in the kitchen. That was why Vicross gave Cale sweets even though it was late. That was why he tried to let Cale know that he didn't mind Cale going to him for tea. 

He didn't know exactly what it would do, he just didn't know what else to do.

So then Cale started to bake with him. Vicross didn't know if it was pity or not but he enjoyed that time that was spent with Cale, even if he was comparing the Cale of now to the Cale of before.

Either way, it didn't matter. It didn't matter if it was pity or maybe even a fondness growing like mold.

Well, it didn't matter until Cale had anointed Vicross to be his personal chef. Vicross didn't even know Cale could do that but no one in the manor seemed to care.

Vicross was happy to be brought into the kitchen staff, to learn under the guidance of real chefs. But there was an odd twist in his stomach when he thought more about it. 

Why had Cale made him a chef? Was it simply because he noticed Vicross liked cooking or was it because he wanted Vicross to like him more? He didn't know, there wasn't a sensible reason for it.

Vicross knows it's not something to worry about, especially now since he was packing his things for Cale's trip to the Wheelsman estate.

“Father, is this enough?” Vicross lifts his bag for his father, Ron, to see.

“Yes.” Father nods before tilting his head, “You seem excited.”

Vicross shrugs, he might be a bit excited. He doesn't think he should be excited, all he is doing is leaving the territory.

Father smiles at him, “By the way, I was able to get Hilsman's clearance on your sword.”

Vicross couldn't help perking up at that, he might not be the greatest at wielding his greatsword yet but that's why he practices. Because in a faint memory he remembers Mother swinging her own greatsword as if she was in a dance. Vicross will be as good as her one day, he will make sure of it. “Thank you.”

Father nods, “I have to go now.” he walks off. Vicross knows that it will be to tend to Cale but he stopped minding that a long time ago. Instead he picks up his bag and walks to meet with the kitchen staff, since he will be with them during the journey.

“Vicross! Over here!” A man in a white chef's coat identical to the one Vicross was wearing calls him over. “Hey, we met yesterday but since we were busy cooking I wasn't able to actually introduce myself to you. I'm Elowen.”

Vicross nods, looking over at the rest of the kitchen staff.

“Oh, we are just deciding what exactly we want to bring, what pots to grab or leave and which vegetables or fruits to take. We don't take meat through. It's better to get it fresh in a hunt! Oh, I can even show you how to butcher whatever we catch-”

Vicross lets the words flow in one ear and out the other, the idea of learning some butchering did excite him though. Cooking always brought something out of him, and he wants to be able to take whatever it was and show it in his food. “What can I help with?”

“You can help me bring the stuff to that carriage over there.” Elowen points outside, seeming unbothered with Vicross interrupting him.

Vicross lifts a basket of some pans, carrying them over to the carriage and repeating the process with Elowen until everything they wanted was in. It fit in well, leaving space for other items that would be their personal belongings. He drops his bag in before turning to Elowen who was dropping his bag in as well, “How do the kitchen staff travel? I know the young master will be in his carriage, and the knights ride beside him on horses but what about us?”

“We get a carriage too, don't worry they don't make us walk.” Elowen chuckles, “I think we are leaving soon so let's go ahead and get the window seat.”

Vicross follows Elowen, taking a seat across from him. The carriage was nice, good quality for just being for staff. Soon other people join in and they set off. He looks out the window, watching as the buildings and structures turn into tall trees.

It has been a long time since Vicross has been out here. He wonders if his Father is thinking about how long it's been too.

Vicross doesn't let the thought wander, instead looking at the other staff in the carriage. He knew Elowen, he didn't know the rest even though he should. He remembers one or two of them introducing themselves yesterday among the chaos of the kitchen. The problem was he couldn't even hear them since they were not yelling over the sound of everyone running around to cook.

Vicross would be lying if he said the ride was fun, since all he was doing was watching the sky as it turned darker. He could engage in a conversation with some of the others here but… he would rather not.

He watches as one of the older men talked to someone riding beside them out the window. The older man he was almost one hundred percent sure was the executive chef. Vicross likes the idea of being an executive chef but that's something he needs to work for.

“Alright guys.” The older man speaks which brought silence into the carriage, definitely the executive chef. “Help the others set up camp, Elowen, take some of the knights with you to find some game.”

“Aye, Aye.” Elowen chuckles, “Oh can I nab Vicross to come with?” What?

“Yes, just get on with it.”

Elowen nods, “Alright, let's go.” Elowen hops out of the carriage and gives an expectant look for Vicross to follow.

Vicross sighs as he follows, taking the gloves out of his pocket and making sure they are seacure on his hands. “Show the way.”

Elowen walks over to some knights, getting them on board and now they have a hunting team. “Come on little guy, let's go hunting.” …Little?

Vicross still follows, sandwiched in the middle of the little crew.

“What are we looking for?” A rather tall guy asks Elowen.

“Honestly? anything.”

“Sounds right.” 

Vicross ignores the conversation until Elowen taps him on the shoulder, “Hey, look here.” He points down at hoof prints, “You know what those are to?”

The only thing he could think of that has hooves in the area is, “Deer.”

“Yeah, you're right. Though I suspect that was just a guess.” Elowen chuckles before showing the rest of the crew and moving in that direction.

They move until they spot a deer that was staring right at them.

“We can't sneak up on it if it's staring right at us.” someone who he didn't even look at before speaks up.

The tall guy brings out his bow, “Were you planning on bludgeoning it?”

“...No."

Vicross spots a bunny to the side, he decides he wants to try hunting without help. He was both curious about if he could do it and wanted to get away from the loud banter of the group.

He keeps in mind what his father has taught him, quiet steps and shallow breathing. He was behind the bunny. It looked so unaware just existing. He gently pushes up his coat to grab the hidden dagger that was attached to his belt. He can't risk getting closer so instead he shifts over until he can aim at… well just at it since it was small, but generally at its head. Can he even hit a target that small? This is why he prefers his greatsword.

Strengthening his stance and trying his best to aim he throws the dagger with all of his body weight.

There is a sound and he looks at the rabbit, it has collapsed against the ground with the dagger lodged into the body. 

He did it.

He grins, he doesn't know if he had ruined the meat or not with how he killed the little guy but he had done it. He picks it up and walks back to the group who were teaming up to carry the deer which they were able to kill.

He quietly goes over to Elowen and taps his shoulder, “Hm? Whatcha got?”

Vicross holds up the bunny.

“Woah, when did you get that?” Elowen takes the bunny, “Hey you did a good job, it looks like you aimed at its head so the meat that we want is still usable. When we get back I can show you how to butcher this, okay?”

Vicross nods and joins them on the journey back.

Elowen tells the others where to put the deer and helps butcher it before finally joining Vicross again.

“Sorry that took a bit, but that deer is what everyone is going to be eating so I had to prioritize it.” Elowen grabs his knife, “But I made sure to work quickly so we can work on this.”

Vicross nods, sitting down at a makeshift table so he can watch.

“Okay so, first let's take this guy's head off.”

“Now that we got it cut open, we gotta empty this cavity out since we can't eat any of this.”

“Mhm.”

“Now here in its hind legs, there is this joint point and that's how we'll remove it… just like this. Now you try with the other hind leg.”

“Like this?”

“Exactly.”

“There is a bit of meat here that hangs off the ribcage, you see it?”

“Mhm.”

“It’s some good meat so we gotta cut it away.”

“Okay, so there are some bones here that are in our way of the tenderloin, that means we need to get them out of the way. Then we will be able to cut out the tenderloin.”

“Got it.”

“Now we got all this excess bones and we can throw this away but they can be used to flavor broth. That's something to keep in mind, alright?”

“I understand.”

Elowen chuckles, “Well, I gotta help the other guys again. You won’t be able to cook the meat yourself since you need to help with prepwork, I’m going to go and give this to the other guys and see if they can incorporate it into the meat.” Elowen walks off but stops to quickly give some directions,  “You cut up the potatoes and I'm going to do some of the other vegetables when I get back.”

Vicross nods.

He peels the potatoes, Elowen coming back and sitting beside him to join in the prepwork. He washes them using the nearby river before cutting them. It wasn't the best part of cooking but he knows that he hasn't yet proved himself to the rest of the kitchen staff.

But he will.

And once he does he will be able to cook everyday, play with recipes and ingredients and be recognized as a great chef.

“What are you smiling about?” Elowen leans into Vicross’ sight.

Vicross frowns, “I wasn't.”

“No, you were making a real goofy smile.”

“I'm just peeling potatoes.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright kiddo.” Elowen chuckles, “You done chopping those guys up?”

Vicross nods, handing him the basket.

“That's all the prep work we need, and, sorry to say, but you haven't had enough training to allow you to work the cooking part. We just need to test your skill when we aren't camping out, alright?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

“Good! Um, let's see… oh the young master is over there!” Elowen points over to a spot near the carriages. “Maybe you should hang out with him? You guys are friends right?”

Vicross shrugs but heads over to where Elowen pointed.

Vicross spots Cale laying in the grass. Cale must have been bored doing nothing, just laying down. He leans over Cale, “Young master, what are you doing?”

“I'm photosynthesizing.”

Vicross blinks the odd word, that has to be made up. “Uh huh, when we get back to your territory are you going to practice swordsmanship or are you going to run away again?”

“I don't have to anymore.”

“What?”

“Ron told me that Count Deruth no longer expects me to practice swordsmanship.”

That was so odd to Vicross, if it was his Father then even if Vicross hated all types of fighting he would at least be taught one or two. Father always deemed being able to fight and protect one's self or even other people as important.

Vicross considers it important too, so if Count Deruth won't push Cale to learn it then he will. It will be a good way to pay Cale back for getting him in the kitchen. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

Cale gives him an odd look but gets up to follow him anyway.

Vicross leads Cale to the carriage that held his greatsword, quickly dragging it out.

Vicross lifts the greatsword up, it was heavy but he tried not to let that show, “This is the type of sword my Mother used to use, a greatsword.” He lets the sword rest against the tree, “It's important to know what kind of sword you want to use in order to know how to train.”

“I don't want to learn swordsmanship, of any kind,” Cale sighs.

Vicross hums, it was wrong to hear Cale say that. Cale was always excited to swing swords around. “I don't like daggers.”

“Huh?”

“They're small and I'm good with them but I don't like them enough to focus on them.” Vicross pulls out a dagger that was hidden under his coat. “Give it a try since you don't like swords anymore.”

Cale sighs but he stands up.

Vicross can only hope that Cale will listen to him and learn.

Because he knows that Cale once loved the idea of learning how to fight and he wants to see if this will work to make Cale happier.

Because if it works then lighting that joy would be a good payment for Cale getting him into the kitchen.

Chapter Text

Is… is this kid trying to kill me? Cale was having a good, no a great day. Doing nothing but laying in the grass or his carriage. But then Vicross started sprouting this nonsense about training?

Hah, no.

“I would rather not.” Cale waves his hands to try and reinforce his disinterest.

“It's important to try.”

Cale rolls his eyes, he knows enough about fighting. There is nothing he wants to learn, “Drop it Vicross.”

Cale looks at Vicross for a moment, feeling slightly bad about the frown on Vicross' face. But he turns around to try and progress the day, “C'mon we should see the progress on the foo-” 

“I’ll be sad.”

“What..?”

“I'll be sad if you don't train with me.”

Cale stares at Vicross, that can't be true right? But how would Cale know, he can only base his guesses on the Vicross in the books and the Vicross in the books is an adult not the teen in front of him. But Vicross was frowning, that meant he was upset.

Did it really matter?

…

It wouldn't be that hard to entertain Vicross, it would just be some easy stuff since he is a kid, right? Cale doesn't really want to train but, he guesses it would just be review over things he already knows.

“I guess it won't hurt to train with you.” Cale sighs, “But I refuse to do any intense workout.”

Vicross nods, handing Cale the dagger. “Good.” He taps on his thigh while he thinks, “I'm going to chase you, if I catch you then you have to escape me by tapping my chest with the dagger.”

“No.” He hands the dagger back, picking up a spare twig that looked sturdy enough for him. “I'll use this, it's safer.” Cale pauses, thinking about the rules of the game, it basically wasn’t even training. This was great. All Cale has to do is run around a bit, get caught and then do nothing. “Alright, is there another way I can win?”

“If you can land an attack on my back.” Vicross hums, “And if you don't escape in time for dinner then… I won't make you any sweets.”

This is manipulation, villainy, a true evil that Cale shouldn't be forced to face. He doesn't even wait for Vicross to speak again as he runs away from him like he was the source of all evil in the world.

“I didn't say start!” Vicross starts to chase him.

Cale doesn't respond. Why would he?

He could go into the woods but that would cause a hassle for everyone. There is a spot under the carriages where he could hide but he doesn't consider winning to be worth being covered in dirt.

But he can't hide when Vicross is right behind him anyways. Cale makes a quick turn and sees the bright orange of Hans' hair.

Perfect.

“Hans! Block Vicross!” 

“Huh?”

Cale runs past him, glancing back to see if Hans listened. Hans had quickly side-stepped in front of Vicross and started to talk about duties or something Cale doesn't care about. 

The only thing that mattered was that Vicross was being stalled.

Cale moves behind his carriage, it works as a temporary hiding spot while he looks around. He looks up a tree.

That could work. He walks up to the tree and realizes that the dream of sitting in a tree until this was all over was a bust if he was going to climb it on his own.

Why?

Because he was too short to reach the closest limb. He swears the most jarring change of living as this kid was how he was so much shorter than what he is used to.

He looks around and decides to make a shot in the dark before Vicross catches up to him, “Ron?”

“Yes young master?” Cale's heart skips a beat, he had suspected that Ron was nearby- but right behind him?! Cale looks up and sees Ron's head poking out of the carriage with a smile which looked kind but Cale still didn't like it.

“Do you have a ladder or something?”

“I'm afraid not, young master.” Ron doesn't offer any other solutions but opens the door for him.

Cale sighs, stepping into the carriage for more ideas. He peeks over the window to see Hans finally let Vicross run past him. He needs to find a hiding spot, he refuses to run around for no reason. He needs to find one quickly since this might be the only time he has some space between him and Vicross.

The seats, most carriages use the inside of seats as storage right?

He looks at the seats, feeling them to see if the top lifts up. To his dismay, it was a no. Perhaps in one of the other carriages it would have lifted but not here. He looks back up to see if Vicross was nearing, which he was. Walking around the carriages to look around to see if Cale was hiding behind them. Cale quietly steps out while he is still far enough away to not notice him.

He never knew he would hate a clearing so much. There were so few places to hide and the good spots were inaccessible.

Well, if he can't hide to wait it out then the only other choice would be to win by sneaking up on Vicross. 

Cale looks over his shoulder, Vicross just entered one of the other carriages.

He starts to head over, keeping his steps quiet. He reaches the door, holding onto the stick tightly. All he needs to do is reach out and poke him.

“Vicross! Can you help plate the food?” Someone from the kitchen staff calls out, causing Vicross to turn around. Cale had shifted to be out of the doorway of the carriage.

Vicross steps out and looks at Cale.

They stare at each other, until Cale turns on his heel to run only to be grabbed by his shirt.

Does lady luck just hate him?

“I win.” Vicross grabs Cale's hand, the one with the stick to stop any possible attacks.

“No, it's not dinner time yet.” Cale tries to worm his hand out of Vicross’ grip but instead drops the stick into the other hand. He then quickly taps Vicross’ chest with it and runs off. “You have to help them plate the food!”

Cale grins, he knows he won because unlike Vicross, he doesn't have any responsibilities that he needs to attend to while Vicross has to help the kitchen staff. And once the food is plated, dinner will commence, meaning Cale's victory.

Vicross rolls his eyes, “Fine.” he walks off to help plate dinner.

Cale, to confirm his victory, quickly taps the stick on Vicross’ turned back.

Vicross stares at him, “You had already won?”
“Just to make sure I get my sweets.”

Vicross just shakes his head, turning away again. “Yes, young master, you'll get your sweets.”

It doesn't take long for Hans to call Cale over, “Young master! Dinner is ready!” He hands Cale a plate which has a bag of cookies along with it. “Isn't Vicross nice, he got those out for you.”

Hans sits beside him, with his own plate, writing in his small notebook while eating.

Cale smirks and starts to eat, along with some cookies Vicross gave him due to Vicross’ loss. He earned this, the sweet crunch of a cookie. He looks around him, at the other people eating with him, the loud chatter of it all.

It was a bit weird. Cale had gotten used to eating alone. These guys were so loud, a contrast to what he knew. He couldn't tell if he disliked it or not.

“Young master, are you excited?” Hans leans over to smile at him.

“For what?” Cale asks but he got the answer on his own rather quickly, “To be visiting the Wheelsmans family?”

“Yep!”

Cale thinks about Vitality of the Heart, he is actually pretty excited to get it so he nods his head. He looked around again, there were small cliques of people around him. Vicross was with the other kitchen personnel, mainly bantering with a man who kept ruffling Vicross’ hair. It was nice to see that the kitchen staff looked to be accepting Vicross, even though he already knew it would happen.

He was sure Hans had other people he would want to talk with, he must have been assigned to look over him.

He shoves the last cookie in his mouth and heads off to the tent someone had set up for him, “Night Hans.”

“Huh? But it's still pretty early, young master, you can play for a bit.”

“No, I'm alright.” He didn't really care that it was still a bit too early to sleep. He couldn't come up with anything else to do other than sleep and he didn't want to keep Hans with him. It's good to take a break from all this noise anyways.

He walks into his tent, grabbing the pillows and blankets and shoving them into a corner to make a more comfortable spot to lay in.

Cale wonders a bit about how Eric is going to be, he didn't read much about him at all. All he knows about Eric is that he is a part of their northeastern alliance which is brought up from time to time in the novel. Eric seems nice from the letter he wrote but Cale still doesn't know his personality.

Cale shakes his head, he just hopes that Eric will like the idea of visiting Puzzle city.

Chapter Text

Cale steps out of his carriage, his arms and legs were sore since yesterday. Vicross found a new way to torture him by making him practice the different ways of attacking with a dagger. He is willing to bet money that Vicross went to Ron for lesson plans since there was such a difference from the game they played before.

He looks up at the Wheelsman estate, does he just go in? Does he wait outside? How does one conduct a playdate? He then spots a little boy with white running out of the estate.

That said boy practically pounces on him, trapping him in a tight hug.

“Was the trip okay? If you are tired then we can wait to play, if you don't want to play at all then that is fine too. Nothing bad happened right, dongsaeng?”

Cale would respond if he could, but he is low on the resource of air at the moment. This must be Eric.

Eric lets him go and frowns, “Sorry, it's just um, I haven't seen you in a while! So come inside, I have those cakes you like too. We will probably be able to eat them during snack time. ”

“Okay, thank you.”
“No need to thank me!” Eric smiles, “Just relax, okay? Think of this as… as a vacation.” He grabs Cale's hand and starts to lead him inside. Cale can see that the Wheelsman’ estate was smaller than the Henituse’s estate but the Henituse are richer than rich so he isn't surprised.

“What are we going to be doing?”

“I was going to let you decide, to see if you wanted to um… talk about her or just wanted to hang out.” Eric gave him an awkward smile before shaking his head, “Sorry if you didn't want me bringing it up- it's just that I wanted you to know you could talk about- or not talk about if you didn't want to.”

Cale couldn't help but frown. He didn't know anything about Countess Jour. It wasn't his place to talk about her anyways. “I don't want to talk about it.”

“Okay. I won't force you.” Eric looks to the side, thinking about what to do. “I got it, we should play outside for a while since dinner hasn't been made yet.”

Cale nods his head, he doesn't mind playing with the kid. However he does want to bring up Puzzle city before everything gets too hectic, “Hey, can we-” 

“Tag!” Eric quickly ran off after tapping his chest.

…

Cale sighs before running after him. “I never said I wanted to play tag!”

“You love Tag!”

Apparently the old Cale loved tag and has now doomed him to this fate.

Cale keeps chasing Eric, he wasn't making any progress since they were running in an open field along with the fact that Cale was not willing to push his limits to play tag. Eric seemed to notice that Cale wasn't catching up since he could see that the boy ahead of him was purposely slowing down.

Cale decides to follow through with whatever Eric is doing and taps his back, “Tag.” He quickly turns to run but a man waves them down.

“Young master Eric and young master Cale, dinner has been prepared.” The man bows before walking away.

“Awah, you won again! I have no idea how you always catch up to me.” Eric was beaming at him, that's weird. Eric had clearly thrown the game. Was this something that was common before he became Cale?

“You were really fast.” Cale decides to say to him, what else is he meant to say? It felt like a good compliment to give the kid.

Eric takes his hand again, leading him to the dining room where Count and Countess Wheelsman were already sitting.

“There you two are, I was starting to get worried that you two got lost.” The Countess laughed before nudging the Count, “I remember when we had to send out a search party for those boys only to find them fumbling around in the garden.”

“You bring that up everytime we're even a second late.” Eric shakes his head, “Plus, it's not our fault that place is practically a maze!”

Cale follows Eric to his seat. He supposes the sight shouldn't be odd to him but it is. The table had an air around them that was so light and they all looked happy to just be around each other.

“Cale,” The Count turns to look at him, “I know that this is an awful question but, how are you holding up?” 

The table became quiet as they waited for him to speak. He only shakes his head. “I am fine.” He can't speak on another person's grief, he doesn't know how the old Cale truly felt during this time. He can't just act like he was close to Countess Jour because he knows absolutely nothing about her and even if he knew her, he wouldn't tell his own grief in the place of Cale.

The Count frowns but nods his head, “Alright, we can talk about something else.”

The Countess jumps at the opportunity, “I made a blanket, it's a little wonky thing but I want you to have it. I'll give it to you after dinner.” She laughs again, “Working on it reminded me of back when I was your age and planning to be a seamstress all because my maid had taught me how to sew my torn dresses back together.”

“She once tried to make me a suit.” The Count shook his head, “She had covered a waistcoat in dog patches since I had mentioned I liked dogs.” 

“Oh, speaking of which, what are you guys hoping to be right now?” She looks at Eric and Cale, “I know you boys used to drone on for hours about how you guys were going to build a new kingdom to rule over.”

“Well, I know that I will be the Count when I am of age. It is something I look forward to.” Eric looks over to Cale, “What about you?”

“I'm going to become a slacker.” Cale couldn't help but nod when talking about his future plans, “I will eat, roll around, and play.”

The Wheelsman all blink at him before giving their input.

“That sounds like a retirement plan for the elderly.”

“Doing those things are good but you can't do them too much!” She shakes her head, “You'll have too much energy pent up, unless you play really hard then-” She starts to really think about it. Cale appreciated that.

“Is that what you really want to do?” Eric asks him in a bit of a hushed voice.

“Yes.”

“Mmm..” Eric’s face scrunches up a little, “Alright, I do think you should do something to better suit yourself. But if you become a slacker then you still have to make plans to visit me.” 

Cale nods his head, though he is almost certain that Eric won't stick around for so long. Of course he will still be alive but why would he stay with Cale when he isn't even the real Cale? 

Would this be a good time to ask about Puzzle city? He opens his mouth to ask but notices Eric has already finished eating his meal.

This whole visit is playdate and he doesn't want Eric to just sit there and wait for him to finish eating. He goes back to focusing on eating faster.

Once they finish up eating, The Countess gestures for Cale and Eric.

“Ta-da! here it is!” She lifts up a small patchwork blanket with the patches containing things like red flowers and teacups. “Sorry if it's a little girly but- well, it was originally something I was making for your mother's birthday.” 

“Thank you.” Cale takes the blanket, handling it with as much care as he could. As he saw it, this gift doesn't belong to him. But he can't just deny it since that would be wrong. He'll see it as something he needs to hold onto.

The Countess smiles at him but Cale can see that she isn't all that happy right now. “I'm really sorry. I know it's hard. It's just I always imagined that she would end up sharing this blanket with you so it feels right to receive it now that…” She waves her hand “ It's best that I am off now.”

Cale stares at the blanket for a minute before Eric tugs at his hand, “Huh?”

“Let's go to my room.” Eric gives him a smile, “We can eat the cake you like there.”

Cale nods his head and lets himself get dragged to Eric's bedroom. Cale would never turn down cake.

Eric leads Cale to sit down at a small table in his room. “I'm going to go ask for the cake.” 

Cale takes a seat, gently folding the blanket into his lap. What is he going to do with this blanket? Perhaps he could use it as a throw pillow or… give it to a person who is actually mourning Countess Jour.

However, Cale has never even interacted with Count Deruth. How would- “I got the cake!” Eric steps back in, someone else placing the pre-cut cake onto the table along with two cups of tea before leaving.

Cale nods, “Thank you.” he then grabs a slice. Everything was nice and sweet. Cale finds this a good time to ask about Puzzle city so he looks up only to spot a frown on Eric's face.

He immediately looks back down at his cake. Nevermind it was a terrible time. What is he going to do now? “Are you alright?”

“Oh!” Eric looks up, the frown being replaced with a smile. “I'm fine.”

Cale stuffs his mouth with cake. He isn't good at giving comfort nor does he know how to handle kids. “Do you want to build a pillow fort? Maybe read a book?”

“You want to build a pillow fort?” Eric perks up, “Yeah, yeah, let's do that.” He stands up, taking the sheets off his bed. “Come on! Grab what you can.”

Cale collects what will fit comfortably in his grip. He turns to see Eric walking off, “Where are you going?”

“I don't have a lot of books here.” Eric pushes open the door with his foot, “So off to the library we go.”

Cale follows after him and soon Eric leads him into a small library with tall shelves. They weren't actually that tall but they looked tall to Cale right now.

They start on building the walls of the fort, hanging blankets from the shelfs. Stacking books to make sure it doesn't all come crashing down.

Cale decides to be in charge of the internal design by collecting pillows and stuffing them on the inside of the fort while Eric works on making the hanging blanket taut. He made sure that the pillows he deemed best were the main stars of the show.

“Is this good?” Cale peeks his head out of the entrance.

Eric nods, a big smile on his face, “It's perfect, now do you want me to grab a story to read for you?”

Cale blinks, why would Eric do that? “I can read.”

“I know that!” Eric chuckles, “Can't I do it for you though?”

“I guess?”
Eric runs off. Cale can hear a slight struggle before Eric returns with a book of fairytales. “Will this do?”

Cale nods, scooting over to make more room. Eric sits close beside him before opening up the book. 

Eric would read the words carefully, his voice being kept in an even tone. Cale couldn't help but yawn. It wasn't boring by any means, he was just tired. 

The fairy tales were new, the stories keeping to gods or different ways the world could have been created. Though there was one fairy tale he hated so far. 

“That one was about the God of Death right?”

“Yeah! I think that it was nice.” Eric smiles at him, “It has a good lesson to enjoy life.”

“...Did someone have to die in order for them to learn that?” It didn't make sense to Cale, the story chose the worst way to teach children to try and live life to the fullest, he would rather hear about how little Suzie missed out on a fun party or something.

“Well… no. There could have been a different way but we got to see he was happy in the afterlife.”

“But he won't be able to interact with his friends and family even though he can watch over them. He can't do anything for them.”

Eric frowns, closing the book. “Well, when you look at it like that. It is a very sad fairy tale.” he hums, “But it's time for bed so no need to dwell on it.”

“Huh?”

“What? Did you think I would let you stay up?”

Cale shrugs, “No but-”

“No buts!” Eric grins before grabbing one of the big fluffy blankets in their little fort, “We can sleep in here or in separate rooms.”

Cale has already gotten comfortable so there is no point in moving, “Here is fine.”

Eric smiles before laying down next to him. Cale thinks for a moment, this was finally a good time to bring up Puzzle city. “Tomorrow can we go to Puzzle city?”

Eric sits up, “What? Why? Are you bored here already?” He freezes for a second, “Do you have a wish you need to make?”

Cale shakes his head, “No, I'm not bored and I don't do wishes. I just want to build a tower or two.”

Eric stares at him before his expression softens, “Okay, I'll ask. I hope you'll be able to destroy your ‘not wish’ towers some time in the future.”

The way Eric said it made it sound like Cale did have a wish but he really didn't, why would he? Wishes are a set up for disappointment, he would rather live a plain mellow life as a slacker.

But Cale didn't need to drag the conversation. Eric said he would ask and that's all he wants.

Chapter Text

Everything was moving much faster than Cale expected. After he told Eric that he wanted to go to Puzzle City, Eric wasted no time running to his parents. The countess, who Cale learned was named Anais, immediately dragged the Count, Clement, along too. 

Basically it became a family trip. A family trip plus Cale. 

Since they were leaving from the Wheelsman estate, they were using Wheelsman personnel. However Cale still had no choice to bring Ron along since Ron was his personal butler. 

Cale looked at Eric, who was sitting beside him. Eric should be easy enough to sneak past. The Wheelsman staff didn’t look particularly difficult to avoid either. Ron was his only problem.

He couldn’t sneak past Ron, trying to outrun him would be both suspicious and impossible which only left Cale one option.

Trickery.

Cale looked back out the window, his head resting on his gloved hand, it was time to take advantage of his childish appearance.

“Cale!”

Cale was tired. He was hoping to be able to use his childish appearance to his advantage but so far he had been forced to deal with the disadvantages.

The disadvantage being known as playing.

Eric had been playing with him almost non-stop since they arrived at Puzzle City. The area they were staying at was perfect, it was in the upscaled area mentioned in the novel right at the base of the mountain. 

The mountain that was the home of a grave containing the ancient power known as The Vitality of the Heart.

“Yes, Hyung?” Cale smiled at the boy. Cale just wanted to grab the ancient power and then take a nap but he wasn’t going to just disappoint Eric like that. Eric invited him over for a playdate and Cale accepted so he planned to play till Eric got tired too.

“Do you want to play tag again?”

No.

“Sure-”

“Eric! Come here for a moment!” Anais shouted, waving her hand. She was smiling but it was an odd mix of endearment and worry that Cale didn’t quite understand.

Why was she worried? Was Cale being a bad influence? It’s highly likely since Cale had no clue on how to act like a proper noble.

“Oh… I will be right back, okay? Don’t be sad, Dongsaeng!”

Why would he be sad? Cale shook his head before standing up. This looked like it would be his only chance to get The Vitality of the Heart.

Cale looked to where he knew Ron was and-

…

Why was Ron already looking at him? Why did that punk have to be so scary?

“We’re going on a walk.”

“Of course, young master.” Ron nodded at him before slightly bowing at the Count nearby.

Cale stepped ahead and led the way. He took the time to look around and pretended to take seemingly random turns. 

The plan hinged on what Cale knew about Ron. Combining what he had read about and what he had learned so far. In Cale’s opinion, Ron was the type to let troubles that didn’t affect him fester. Ron was the type to clean up a mess rather than prevent it. When Ron found Cale hiding in the cabinet, he did nothing even though the whole estate was looking for him. With the real Cale, Ron never stopped him from getting into trouble. Ron, from what he read, didn’t even attempt to curb the drinking habit that started at 15.

Cale theorized this behavior came from a lack of care. Ron didn’t care about Cale, and Cale would use that to his advantage.

Cale stopped before the entrance of the cave. He moved to inspect the vines covering the entrance. The vines entangled themselves into such a large mess that made the cave hard to find unless you were looking carefully or knew where to find it like him.

The cave entrance was small so he would have to crawl, it made him quite happy about the style of clothes that Ron had been giving him.

The outfits Cale had been wearing since arriving to this world were all black, fitted and simple. It reminded Cale- Kim Rok Soo of the clothes he used to wear. The neck was always quite high and the sleeves cuffed cleanly at the wrists right after the gloves started.

Cale shook his head, it was no time to reminisce. It was time to be childish actually.

“I’m going to go in.” He pointed at Ron. “ You are a knight now, so guard the entrance.”

Ron nodded his head, “This knight will guard the entrance with his life.”

The tunnel leading to the grave was quite long, however it wasn’t difficult… Cale just didn’t like admitting the fact that it was easy due to him being small. The tunnel started to become wider and Cale found his way to his feet.

The trial to gain The Vitality of the Heart had two stages. First was to get to the center of a hurricane that had different levels of difficulty depending on the time of day and the second was completing a rock tower before knocking it down.

The ideal time would have been an hour ago but Cale was too busy with Eric to come by.

But it shouldn’t be too bad, right?

“Hah…” It was quite bad. In fact it was terribly vicious. Cale already had to bring out The Indestructible Shield in order to not lose his footing. Cale watched the wind for a moment. A gust pushing past him and slicing into an already marred wall.

It should be doable. He would just need to make the shield smaller and be careful.

Cale shrunk the shield and walked forward only to be surprised.

The wind stopped? He didn’t recall this happening in the novel, at least not until Taylor had gained the ancient power.

Well, it was definitely easier.

Cale walked forward and the wind started to act up again, trying to gently push him away instead of acting as a vicious hurricane. Cale didn’t care and used his shield to keep walking forward. He was getting closer and closer until-

“Gah-” Wind swirled around his legs with increasing speed until he was floating. The wind moved and plopped him back down at the entrance.

“...” Cale sat up, staring ahead blankly. These had to be wind elementals, which Cale would have not cared about if they had not been childproofing the trial.

Would he be able to smack a wind elemental?

Cale tested the winds again by walking forward and like clockwork, the wind picked him up and brought him back to the entrance.

Right, change of plans.

Cale didn’t bother to bring out the shield before walking forward once more. The wind swirled around him and brought him up.

Higher.

Higher.

…

A little higher…

Now! 

CLANG

Cale slammed the shield against the winds below, flinging himself forward.

‘Ah! What a crazy kid?? Oh no…’

Cale summoned the shield below him in order to cushion his fall. That voice was the old man described in the novel. Though… wasn’t he meant to be lamenting?

‘Thank goodness you are alright child… that power you hold is one I know but I still hope you do not gain this power.’

“Huh?” 

Power I know? The shield?

Did the owners of these ancient powers know each other?

The wind caught back to Cale, this time acting in the way he read about. A hurricane. It was harsh but not as harsh as it was at the start. Cale was just glad his progress wasn’t getting restarted over and over.

‘Ahem, child. Both this power and I are terrible. With this power I betrayed my comrades, and grew old without them. Isn’t it shameful?’

The old man’s voice wasn’t as whiny as Cale had originally read. Instead the old man was talking to Cale as if Cale was meant to learn something from it. 

Cale just thought it was annoying. That’s why Cale forgave the wind, because that loud vicious wind made it to where Cale only had to hear bits and pieces of the old man’s dialog.

‘I wished for my friends to come back to life. My wish was something that could not be achieved. Which meant I could only lament and cry! That was the reason I could never finish my rock tower.’

How did Taylor find this voice sincere? The old man was a step away from being the type who wished to die. Cale hated that kind of style, he much preferred the people who overindulged to those who wallowed.

‘This restoration of mine is useless! I could not protect my friends, I could only protect myself. I am trash!’

Those lines were more in line to the lines he read in the novel. Seems the old man gave up on trying to seem like a dependable guy or something.

“Who cares?” Cale found the power to protect one’s self as the most important. Nothing matters as long as you can make it out alive. If that made him trash then Cale didn’t care. Being trash was a style Cale liked, it was much easier than being a good person.

‘I would not die even when the wind cut through me.’

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Wind gushed past him and into his shield. It was harsh and vicious, finally the force he read about. Though it was far too late now. If it was like this earlier then Cale might have had to focus more on shielding himself but now he could allow his thoughts to wander.

…Mainly about the fact that all these ancient powers were insanely chatty.

Step. 

‘Restoration is a cursed power.’

Step. 

‘No matter how strongly my heart beat, I could not move on.’

Step. 

‘I was afraid of death.’

Step. 

‘I was afraid of pain. I was too familiar with it, but I was even more afraid of death. The end of all pain.‘

Step. Cale found himself in the center of the hurricane.

‘I threw away everything so I could continue to live.’

“Tsk.”

The old man had spewed too much nonsense. Living comes first.

Cale let down the shield, and it returned as a comforting feeling around his heart. Cale sat down in front of the incomplete rock tower and reached out to one of the many rocks around it.

All the rocks were black like the man-eating tree. Cale took the time to alternate large rocks between small ones in order to create an aesthetically pleasing rock tower. But just as he was about to place the last rock, he frowned.

“Ugh…” Cale needed to stand up to place it. He got up and quickly placed the last rock and watched as that rock started to transform the tower white. 

‘I tried to fight with them, but I did not realize how weak I was against pain. They did not serve the lord. I only learned after we all went our separate ways and I ended up alone.’

The lord? 

‘I piled the rocks, wishing to turn back time. I hoped I could be happy if I had another chance. But I destroyed it.’

‘I hated being so selfish, I hated myself for thinking about my own happiness after betraying my friends and running away.’

“Hah…” Cale looked down at the tower of rocks in frustration. He pretended the rock tower was the old man before he spoke, “It’s human nature to be selfish.”

The old man’s voice was gone along with the wind.

Is it over? Can he knock over the rock tower?

Cale started to smile at the thought of this being over.

‘My older sister said the same thing! She was truly a wonderful Noona- more reliable than anyone else. Sob-!’

He didn’t bother to hide his impatience. “Hah…” This was why Cale preferred not to get his hopes up.

‘Ah, ahem, sorry child. You took so much care to fix my rock tower and here I am… haha…’ The old man stopped crying quicker than expected, ‘You remind me much of my Hyung too. I’m quite jealous.’

‘Break it. Then you will overcome your limits.’

Cale smiled and wasted no time kicking down the rock tower. The rocks scattered across and a light formed where the tower used to be. Cale reached out, his finger brushing against the light before it pierced his heart.

“Hah…” Cale could feel the ancient power. His vitality pulsing through his veins, the shield getting enhanced. With this Cale would be able to heal much faster than others and live what he hoped to be a peaceful slacker life. 

Normally Cale would like to test things but he worried he had been here for too long and rushed out. Cale wasn’t too worried about Ron but Eric might be looking for him.

Cale crawled out and looked up only to see Ron staring right back at him, how scary… Ron helped him out before bringing out a handkerchief.

“Did you enjoy yourself, young master?”

Cale nodded his head while Ron cleaned his face and fixed his hair. Ron even dusted off the dirt on his clothes.

“I’m ready to head back.”

Ron nodded before leading the way.

Hopefully Eric didn’t miss him too much.

Chapter Text

Anais was a good friend to Countess Jour. They met up at every chance they could get, their sons interacting was not a matter of how, only when. Eric cannot recall when he met Cale since Cale has been there since day one.

It was no surprise that he and Cale became friends, the other always seemed around to play and their mothers encouraged their friendship.

Even Eric’s earliest memories always seemed to involve Cale somehow. A ball of energy that never stopped bouncing around, even Eric couldn’t keep up with him sometimes. It was like chasing the sun, a red sun that would burn eternal. 

Everything was always so fast, Cale would drag him from game to game- to prank to prank. Fun and thoughtless ventures that Eric would look forward to since it was something he couldn’t do without Cale. He had a tendency to worry, his world was paved with many pathways he wanted to learn before going forward while Cale was someone who would make his own path if he couldn’t find one he enjoyed.

Cale was the kind of person who could never be caught up with, but kept pace so he could at least be seen. He would always look back, to see if anyone was watching or keeping up. 

Then Countess Jour died.

It was Eric’s first encounter with death, first encounter with grief. Eric didn’t feel sad at first, it was hard to understand that Countess Jour was just… gone. His father helped him understand what death meant.

It meant that Countess Jour no longer walked on the ground they walked on, no one would see or hear her again. When Eric understood that, that’s when the feeling set in. It was a deep uneasy feeling in his chest, it felt wrong. Like his heart was trying to catch up with his head. 

Eric, however, thought the hardest part was seeing the effects of Countess Jour’s death. His mother would try not to cry in front of him but, when studying he could hear it. He could hear his mother’s choked sobs. That unease in his chest would reach up and squeeze his heart. 

Then that unease would climb even further until it could poke at his brain and worry would consume him. Because if his mother was like this, then…

How was Cale?

Eric couldn’t imagine how Cale was feeling. For once Eric couldn’t even think up a single scenario. Eric seriously couldn’t even picture Cale’s expression. 

And it scared him.

Eric’s mother hugged him a lot after the week of Countess Jour’s passing. His mother was still sad but she started smiling again. 

“Mother…”

“Hm?” Anais lifted her head from his, “What is it, Eric?”

“You… You are sad.”

His mother chuckles, “Yes.”

“You said it’s okay to cry when you are sad or in pain, you don’t have to hide it!” Eric looks up at her, “I- I don’t want you to be in pain! You- you always said it hurts more to bottle up and- and-” Eric didn’t want her to be in any more pain.

“Eric, my sweet boy,” His mother wiped away the tears he didn’t know he had fallen. “I am sad but I want to smile.”

“Huh…?”
“I cried so I could smile!” His mother smiles at him, it wasn’t as bright as the ones he is used to but a smile no less. “Crying is like sending all these overwhelming feelings out in order to make space for more smiles.”

“...Mother…”

“Explain it differently?”

“Yes please.”

“It’s like… smiling because you have to move forward. I am sad, but cried until there were no more tears left for me to shed. So now I would like to invite joy back in and to do that, I smile.”

“Mhm…” Eric nodded against her, “So you… aren’t pretending but… trying to show joy that it is okay to come back?”

“Hehe, my son is so smart!” Eric found himself wrapped back into a tighter hug now, which he was quick to return.

Eric invited Cale over as soon as he was allowed. With the letter written and sent, he found himself pacing, back and forth, over and over. Cale probably wasn’t doing well,  but maybe he could be doing… okay? Cale was… probably okay! 

“Cale is going to be just fine…” Eric mumbled to himself.

“Cale will be alright.” His father rubbed Eric’s head, Eric hadn’t even noticed he had come in! “Count Deruth and Cale are going through this together. Cale isn’t alone so you can worry a little less.”

“Ah! You are right- Cale is probably fine...” Just as Eric’s parents helped him understand what happened to Jour and how to navigate his feelings, Count Deruth was doing the same for Cale! “Yeah, yeah.”

Even with father comforting him, he still found himself pacing back and forth on the rug. His father was helping, the words were soothing but nothing short of seeing Cale would put his worries fully to rest.

“Hah… we need to buy another rug.” Clement murmured to himself, his son’s pacing habit was destructive. They brought a rug specifically for pacing in order to keep their son from wearing down their floors, now they have a new chore of trying to buy the toughest rug the market can offer. None have survived so far.

Eric was already leaving the house the second he saw the Henituse carriage. Cale was here! Eric was excited, nervous, a mix of too many feelings to name. He’s been waiting for Cale to arrive but now that he is here, it felt like everything was happening too quickly!

Eric ran out in order to be able to meet Cale as soon as he stepped out, but upon seeing Cale… Eric felt his heart drop.

Eric could see Cale from the carriage window, looking at the estate with empty eyes. Cale’s expression was what Eric could only describe as blank. It was nothing even akin to the bright smiles that Eric thought could burn or the pouts Cale would pull when he didn’t get his way.

When Cale stepped out Eric was quick to pull him into a hug. Eric really did want to hug him but he had another reason. He didn’t want Cale to see his expression. Eric felt… sad? Scared? He didn’t expect Cale to feel so different. He wasn’t prepared. How could… How could a sun dim? Every emotion Cale showed burned with the intensity of the sun, always an extreme. This was… too different.

“Was the trip okay? If you are tired then we can wait to play, if you don’t want to play at all then that is fine too. Nothing bad happened, right? Dongsaeng?” Eric couldn’t help the words from spilling out too fast. It was a stupid question, of course something bad happened! Eric shouldn’t draw attention to it- he needed to pivot.

He pulled back, “Sorry, it’s just um, I haven’t seen you in a while! So come inside, I have those cakes you like too. We will probably be able to eat them during snack time.” Focus on the good things. Eric can do that for both of them. 

Eric held Cale’s hand and led him inside, Eric desperately hoped Cale wouldn’t notice him avoiding the other’s gaze.

It was hard to look at Cale. At his expression. There was no cheeky smile, no frown just… nothing. Even his eyes, the reddish brown eyes that always shone so brightly were blank. It felt like Cale was an outside force recording life. 

Eric wanted to be a good Hyung, he wanted to see Cale happy. Eric didn’t know exactly how… but he knew what he had to do! Eric had to take a page from his mother’s book and show Cale that it was okay to invite the joy back in!

“Tomorrow can we go to Puzzle city?”

Eric sat up, “What? Why? Are you bored here already?” he couldn’t help the question, the dread of failing already starting to grab a hold of him. Then Eric calmed at the new thought that popped into his head, “Do you have a wish you need to make?”

Cale shook his head, “No, I’m not bored and I don’t do wishes. I just want to build a tower or two.”

Eric couldn’t help but stare. Cale, who always had so many grand plans and dreams- was acting as if those wishes never existed. Eric wondered if they did disappear or if they had been replaced with something new. 

Eric wondered if Cale would wish for his mom to come back while knowing it was impossible. Eric didn’t care what Cale wished for, he wanted him to be happy. “Okay, I’ll ask. I hope you’ll be able to destroy your ‘not wish’ towers some time in the future.”

Eric could really only hope. 

They were scheduled to sightsee and make rock towers the next day, so Eric and Cale were playing in the garden of the Wheelsman Puzzle City residence. Eric was proud himself because he’s been coming up with new games to play for hours so Cale wouldn’t get bored.

However, Eric was getting tired and he was running out of ideas but he couldn’t stop. Because every time he stopped, Cale would get that distant look in his eyes again. When Cale looked like that Eric didn’t have a clue how Cale was feeling, was he upset? Hurt? 

Eric didn’t want Cale to get stuck in those feelings, so Eric would distract him. Try to distract him from all the bad things.

“Cale!” Cale’s eyes drifted over to him, there was no energy in his movements even when he smiled.

“Yes, Hyung?”

“Do you want to play tag again?”

“Sure-”

“Eric! Come here for a moment!” Eric’s mother called, Eric wished she hadn’t. Eric was trying to cheer up Cale! 

“Oh… I will be right back, okay? Don’t be sad, Dongsaeng!”

Eric ran over to his mother in the hopes of making this conversation as short as possible.

“Eric, sweetie, you are a very kind boy.” His mother smiles at him, “You’re worried, aren’t you?”

“Ah! Could you tell?” Eric felt his face- as if he could find what gave him away, “Do you think Cale could tell?”

“Hmm, well, I knew because I am your mother- you could never hide a thing from me!”

“Oh,” Eric let out a breath of relief, “I guess I am worried.”

“Is that why you keep seeking out Cale?”

“I want to cheer him up! I’m his Hyung- I should be able to help him but he-” Eric pushed his glasses out of the way in order to try to keep his tears at bay. “He, he looks so, so-” It wouldn’t truly be right to say empty, it felt more stoic. Cale was feeling, like everyone else but it was as if he was keeping those emotions out of reach.

His mother crouched down and held him tight, “He’s grieving Eric… it’s a type of pain that can really change a person. He… he won’t ever be the same, do you understand that?”

Eric shakes his head, his face felt hot and he could feel the tears he was trying to hold back finally pouring out. “No! I don’t- I don’t I want to help him- I want my Dongsaeng back- I- I want Cale back to normal- I want to help him- I- I-” 

“Shh… shh… You are helping Eric. You are. He’s healing, okay? But he’ll heal differently, he won’t be the Cale you remember but he’ll still be your Dongsaeng, and that’s all that matters, right?”

“Mhm…”

“You are helping him just by being with him. I know you want him to be happy but try to go slow, healing takes a lot of energy! All of Cale’s energy is going towards healing so he’s tired, he can’t keep up with all the games you guys used to play.”

“Like you?”

His mother blinks before nodding her head, “yes, just like Mother. After Jour… you remember how I didn’t feel like playing or anything? It’s just like that.”

“Does that mean he wants hugs?”

“Hmm… maybe? You have to ask first. I know I wanted a lot of hugs but Cale might not feel the same.” His mother pulled away just enough to dab her handkerchief against his tears, “This type of healing shows and works in different ways. Sometimes hugs help, sometimes they don’t, sometimes talking helps, sometimes it doesn't, so on and so forth. But the most important thing is to ask. You can’t go wrong with asking!”

“Thank you, mom.” Eric chuckled a bit, his mother always seemed to know how to help him. How to break things down and explain how to go forward. “I feel better.”

“Hehe, of course!” His mother tapped his nose, “I am the best at making my cute little son feel better.”

Eric covered his face, “Stop…”

“Alright, alright. You can head back- where is Cale?”

“What?!” Eric shot up and looked around, his heart pounding once he noticed he cannot see Cale anywhere.

A deeper voice that did not belong to the two of them spoke up, “He went on a walk with his butler.”

“Honey!” His mother spun on her heel to glare at his father who appeared out of nowhere. “Gah- How long were you standing there?? I felt the God of Death graze my soul!”

“I couldn’t find the right time to join in, you were doing such a good job.” His father smiled at her, “Can you blame me for keeping quiet?”

“No, I suppose not.” His mother replied and Eric decided this should mark when he exits the conversation. Eric gathered what he learned from his mother and knew what he had to do, he had to make a plan! A ‘Cheer Cale up without tiring him out and become the best Hyung ever’ plan!

Eric perked up at the sight of Cale walking back to their residence, “Cale!” He waved his hand back and forth until Cale was in front of him. “Welcome back!”

“I am back.”

Eric wanted, no, he had to do this right, “Do you want to do something?”

Cale shakes his head, “I want to sleep but I can play if you want to play.” 

“Ah, it’s not bedtime yet but maybe we could lay down and read…?” 

Cale perked up at that and a relieved smile graced his face, “Yes, that sounds fun.”

Eric felt like he could celebrate, Cale didn’t say sure! Cale said yes! That it sounded like fun! “I’m glad! Come, I don't know what books we have here but I know where they are!” Eric had to keep himself from dragging Cale in his excitement. 

He reminded himself to focus, to just be there. To not do what he thinks is best but to ask Cale and to help Cale heal. 

Eric couldn’t keep his lips from twitching up, he’s going to be the best Hyung ever!