Edited by: bafflinghaze
Two boys found themselves lying on the ground with eyes glazed over and unseeing.
They were obviously incapacitated, though they couldn’t remember how they got there.
Neo stared at the bodies of Lester and Serian with a wooden face. Though he hadn’t concussed either of them, they still needed to go to the school nurse for a check-up.
Thankfully, he still had the modified pepper spray powder he previously stole from the thief who tried to rob Royce’s store on him. He turned it into a stunning powder with some numbing agent and low-tier sedatives.
Neo was supposed to test the powder after school, but the two brats staring at the sky listlessly had ended up testing his patience.
They were so distracted with their fighting that they couldn’t react in time when Neo threw a fistful of the powder at both of them.
Their… initial screaming might have been warranted. As much as Lester trusted him or Serian liked him, he didn’t think anyone had forgotten his rather abysmal reputation for poisoning people.
The boys might be a little… stoned, for the time being, but it should be fine.
They should be grateful he didn’t knock them out with the sleeping draught.
There was nothing poisonous in the powder and neither of them looked like they had any severe allergies.
Well, it was too late to regret his actions, now.
Neo was more worried about the bruises he had accidentally landed on their torsos when he tried to get them to stop.
Their fighting had triggered some of the innate volatile instincts he still had…
It took ten minutes for the boys to “wake up.”
Lester was the first to recover from the powder’s effect, while seconds later, Serian also sat up.
Not a moment later, they seemingly realized what had happened and both refused to look at one another, scowling petulantly like two guilty delinquents as they nursed the injuries they inflicted on each other—and the ones Neo inflicted on them by accident.
“Coward.”
“Brute.”
Neo was deeply unamused.
He was the adult, he reminded himself.
Serian and Lester were both injured, and although there were only scrapes and bruises, they still needed to get cleaned up.
Neo also needed to make sure neither of them had a bad reaction to the powder.
“We’re going to the infirmary,” he said. “Don’t fight.”
Neo stared at them intensely, his vermillion eyes looking positively livid.
“…”
Foreseeing violence in their future if they didn’t shut the hell up, Lester and Serian quickly nodded their heads and followed the older boy into the school like obedient little ducklings.
The infirmary was empty when they arrived.
For some reason, the nurse was always disappearing to who knows where. He sometimes doubted the school even had a nurse.
Neo had Serian and Lester by the infirmary bed and went to look for some gauze.
“Behave,” he ordered, before disappearing into the supply closet.
—
The silence was tense and uncomfortable. When it didn’t look like Nazareth was coming out of the supply closet anytime soon, Lester took this opportunity to assess the enemy.
“Who the hell are you?” he demanded, crossing his arms and glaring at the white-haired bowl-cut boy.
The boy narrowed his eyes, obviously determined to not lose this battle. His lips twitch into a punchable expression.
“If you can’t even recognize who I am, then I won’t even bother telling you,” he said haughtily.
Lester scoffed, “You could be the Crown Prince and I still wouldn’t care. Stay away from Brother Naza,” he hissed.
The boy stared at him for a long moment, mouth parted and eyes narrowed disbelievingly.
What? Did he think he was stupid?
“What?”
“I just can’t figure out if it’s you or the education system in this school that failed you.”
Lester saw red.
“How dare you—”
“Anyway,” the boy grinned at him smugly, “Brother Nazareth said I was cute, cuter than Lione, his own little brother…”
“You…!”
“Your Highness, Lester,” Nazareth suddenly appeared in front of them like a ghost.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice like ice.
The two of them straightened their spines and put on their most innocent face.
—
Neo had felt bad for incapacitating them, but not enough to sympathize with their wounds. If they thought he was oblivious to whatever personal conflict they had with each other then they were sorely wrong. Neo knew what a rivalry in the making looked like, though the reason for it was rather disturbing.
“Don’t fight,” he warned them.
With an armful of ingredients from the supply closet, he went over to the counter to make some basic tinctures.
As he ground the ingredients together, his mind wandered back to the matter regarding Lester.
Lester was the eldest child of the Dartmouth family, a third-generation noble house. From what Neo recalled, the Dartmouths commanded a portion of the knights of the royal family, known as the Silver Raven Division.
Nazareth sought out Lester for his connection with the Silver Ravens. A knight division specializing in espionage and other secret services dealt with a lot of information and Nazareth wanted to diversify his portfolio.
In return for the utilization of the Silver Ravens, he had assumed Lester wanted a connection with the Odum Family.
Nazareth assumed he could use the Odum name as repayment for anything, and now Neo was dealing with the consequences of that type of thinking.
Elliot was more devastated by the loss of a potential friendship, rather than the fame that came with associating with a Ducal Family.
Elliot… he would need to rectify their previous conversation at a later time.
Neo strained the plant juice and threw it into a pot with a boiling talisman. While the tincture was slowly brought to a boil, he left the brewing counter and went to check the two boys.
“Here.” He threw them some gauze and a simple salve.
Lester caught them with eyes sparkling with utter adoration.
Neo was slightly uncomfortable by the devotion he saw on the boy’s face and pursed his lips.
He quickly turned and went back to his brewing, feeling deep remorse bubbling in his chest.
He had thought Lester wouldn’t want to see him anymore, especially with how Elliot had told him how devastated the boy was.
Neo had sent the letter to Lester with little regard for his personal situation. Lester had gone back home to care for his grandfather, who had fallen ill. The timing wasn’t appropriate, Neo now realized.
Seeing that grey mop of hair and sharp, steel grey eyes, he forgot how young this boy was.
He should be the same age as Aurelion and Serian, maybe even a little younger.
It made him regret it a little. His actions had been uncalled for, and inappropriate. How did he assume that a simple letter can cleanly break off something so intimate and fragile? He should have spoken to those boys face to face.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Perhaps Elliot wouldn’t have been deeply hurt.
Sigh. Even now, he was still hurting people despite what he promised to himself.
What a joke.
These three boys were once his most trusted allies. It was not fair of him to toss them away to rot just because he suddenly came back with new memories.
They weren’t canon fodders in a story or obstacles to his happiness. They were living, breathing people—young boys who still had so much ahead of them.
If it weren’t for Nazareth, their lives wouldn’t have been ruined by him.
While Elliot was more sensitive towards abandonment, Lester had issues with loneliness.
By the time Nazareth approached him, Lester was already isolated from the rest of his peers. Just like him, he was a troubled boy with a lot of hatred for the aristocracy.
The boy had struggled, initially, to make friends and allies through their alliance due to his initial problem of blood status and lineage. He had feared backlash and judgment, but he eventually figured himself out.
Neo was aware that Lester was bitter. Hailing from a baron family with commoner’s blood running through his veins, he had a strong hatred for the nobility class.
He couldn’t fault the boy for this hatred.
Those part of the Aristocracy had treated Lester and his family with disdain, and so, what else was Lester supposed to do but sharpen his spikes?
Nazareth had taken pity on him and allowed the boy to stay by his side, tagging along like a second shadow. He had known what it was like to be hated, to be seen as a stain in this sea of pureblooded nobility, and so, he sheltered this boy under his wings and protected him within the safe and deadly circle of his own reputation.
He had been like a younger brother, someone to put his affections on and to dote on since Aurelion was the one he was going to kill.
To put it plainly, Lester was a substitute little brother… and Neo just realized he was scum.
Oh.
It seems he had once again figured out something about himself.
Wow.
Neo leaned against the counter and pressed the heel of his palm between his brow.
He couldn’t believe himself. Just because his relationship with Aurelion finally improved, did he seriously think it was okay to throw away Lester like that?
He took in a deep breath and carefully poured the tincture into two bowls.
“Drink,” Neo handed one bowl over to Serian and sat down next to Lester, and gave him his.
Grey eyes widened. Lester eagerly took the bowl and started to take small sips. He screwed his face together when he no doubt tasted the bitter brew, but continued to obediently drink the medicine without complaint.
Neo chuckled quietly.
The first one to call him brother had been Lester.
He had forgotten that.
Back in their last life, he never found out how the boy died.
Was Lester executed? Banished? Imprisoned?
Neo wouldn’t be surprised if any of these things befell the boy, despite the terrible twist in his gut.
The Dartmouth became associated with the Castas Family when Elliot opened the door to the criminal underworld for Lester.
Baron Dartmouth had taken advantage of this connection and unknowingly made an illegal deal with the mysterious group known as the Syndicate due to his strong desire to defeat the Golden Lion Division.
In the end, the Dartmouth name was tarnished.
Lester was later scapegoated by his enemies. The crimes of his father piled onto the crimes he committed with Nazareth and their group.
It weighed down on his thin shoulders by the time Nazareth’s own downfall drew near and he was soon arrested and taken from the Academy.
Nazareth wasn’t there to witness his trial.
By then, graduation day was already nearing and he had died, never learning of Lester’s fate.
“Brother Nazareth, what do I do with this?”
Serian’s voice drew Neo from his thoughts.
“Hm?”
Neo saw the gauze and salve in the Prince’s hands and tilted his head.
“You don’t know how to dress a wound?”
The white-haired boy turned into a tomato with eyes.
“Um, no.”
Kid, you disgrace your mother.
“Give it to me.”
Neo opened the salve and took a look.
The mixture had a strong medicinal scent that hinted at its quality. Neo could make out the burning odor of ginger and the soft fragrance of primrose.
He scooped out some of the mixture and carefully applied it to the bruise on Serian’s forehead. He then pressed the gauze against the wound and taped it on, mindful of Serian’s eyebrows.
“Does it hurt?” Neo asked.
“N-no…”
Hm?
Neo peered down and saw Serian flushed bright red as if he had a fever.
Was he having a delayed allergic reaction? Nausea from the stunning powder? Wait, didn’t he drink his medicine?
Neo looked at the bowl on Serian’s lap and saw that it was full.
“You have to drink it.”
The boy instantly paled.
“It’s… it’s bitter.”
Neo stared at him.
“Your Highness.”
Gold amber eyes gazed back at him brightly and in a wronged voice, Serian stubbornly refused.
“No!”
Neo raised his hand.
Serian flinched back and tried to shrink into his uniform. However, the blow he had expected never came. Rather, Nazareth had placed his hand on his head and carefully stroked his hair.
“Be good. Drink the medicine. It is good for you.”
Nazareth handed him the bowl of medicine.
Serian’s resistance crumbled into dust.
He cried bitterly inside his heart while he gulped down the bowl of the bitter tincture.
—
Lester glared at his bowl hatefully.
He had thought Brother Naza liked people who diligently drank their medicine, but he was actually wrong?!
How unfair!
He had never seen such a spoiled and prissy guy.
Why did Brother Naza have to pet his head?
Lester glowered at the kid.
Shameless!
“Lester, do you need help as well?”
Lester widened his eyes and tugged on Brother Naza’s sleeve.
“Can you…?”
Wait, that made him sound desperate.
He fixed his expression and forced a blush onto his cheeks.
“I… I mean…”
Lester stared at the salve in his hand as if he was embarrassed.
“Of course.”
Yes!
Brother Naza took the salve and smeared it over his bruised forehead before applying the gauze.
This was when Lester realized why the bowl-cut kid was currently staring at him with a smug expression.
Bowl-cut kid had the bangs to hide the gauze, but Lester didn’t.
Also, Brother Naza sucked at bandaging forehead injuries, apparently.
Lester eyed his reflection from a window across the room.
He… looked like a cultist.
That’s a lot of gauze for a bruise…
Lester must have made a weird face because Brother Naza was now staring at him with a strange expression.
“Does it hurt?”
Lester quickly shook his head, “No. Not at all. Thank you. It’s perfect.”
Brother Naza’s face softened.
Worth it!
“I finished the medicine,” Lester showed him his empty bowl. “Can I have a reward?”
There was a moment of silence where no one in the room said anything.
Oh…
Lester’s eyes dimmed with disappointment.
But then, Brother Naza grabbed his hand and placed something in it.
Lester found himself holding a small blade with the word NEO etched into the handle.
This was… it was one of Brother Naza’s signature knives!
Gods!
Lester could feel the way his pupils dilated.
He carefully held it toward the light and saw the sheen of poison on the blade.
“But—you—I—Brother Naza!”
Decorums be damned, Lester threw himself into Nazareth’s arms and hugged him tightly.
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou…!”
“Hm,” Brother Naza hummed with amusement, the sound causing a vibration in his chest.
Lester pressed his ears against him and inhaled the scent of dandelions into his nostrils like his life depended on it.
He heard Brother Naza chuckle. “You are the most enthusiastic receiver of this gift. Do you like it that much?”
“Like!”
Lester didn’t even care about the other so-called receivers. Having one of these knives meant you were favored by Brother Naza. Who wouldn’t want such a precious gift?
With his attention focused solely on the older boy, he didn’t notice the strange look in Serian’s eyes.
—
“You should go home, Your Highness.”
When all the wounds were dressed and the medicine fell into their stomachs, Neo realized the time.
The Prince pouted but Neo didn’t budge.
All of a sudden, he felt like he knew the Crown Prince like the back of his hand.
“Her Majesty might be worried. Aurelion already left the Academy and you shouldn’t be here this late in the afternoon.”
Neo didn’t bother asking why Serian was still in the Academy.
The kid needed to stop oversharing.
With a little more coaxing, Serian finally relented.
“Then… I’ll see you around, Brother Neo.”
“Come visit the manor,” Neo said as he led Serian to the door. He gave the boy something small and round.
The Prince looked surprised as he was given a piece of hard candy. A bright smile appeared on his face.
“Yes! I’ll see you soon!”
As the Prince ran off, Neo blinked in confusion.
The boy looked so excited about getting a piece of candy. He didn’t have the heart to tell him that he had gotten it from the candy jar by the counter.
Snorting at this, he turned to Lester.
Now that they were alone, they could have a more serious conversation.
This was the real reason why Neo had sent Serian away.
But first—
Lester crossed his arms, “That’s the Crown Prince?”
“Yes.” Should Neo be worried for Lester? Did the boy not recognize the most important person in school?
“C ues klat j raeqlv ybki mea lr ublcu ab yf tflg bo atf Swqlgf.”
“Rba ublcu ab yf. Lf’r atf bcis mjcvlvjaf ifoa.”
—ktb kjr ueiilyif fcbeut ab jmmfqa atf qbrlalbc.
“Ct, rb kf’gf rmgfkfv.”
“Lf’r… agslcu.”
“Rba klat atja tjlg.”
Huh. Lester should meet Finneas.
Neo gathered the supplies and started cleaning. The pot he used for brewing and the bowls the boys drank from were quickly soaped and rinsed down.
Lester was sitting to the side watching him.
Neo was putting everything away when Lester spoke.
“Why did you want to break ties?”
The conversation began.
“You… you said that you didn’t care if I called you—” Lester couldn’t finish that sentence. There was a lump in his throat that was hard to swallow.
“Did I do something wrong? Is that why you didn’t want to be friends anymore?”
Neo inhaled sharply.
All of a sudden, he found himself gazing into tear-filled eyes, welled up with pain and pent-up frustration. It was no doubt Lester had been holding in his emotions for some time.
“Oh, Lest, no. It’s not like that at all.”
Neo sat down next to the boy and wrapped his arms around him again.
“It wasn’t my intention to cut ties like that. I just thought… I didn’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry.”
“I… I really thought…”
Neo sighed and pulled the other closer.
“I’m so sorry, Lest. You didn’t deserve that.”
There was a sniffle, and something very snotty being rubbed against his shirt. Neo made no comment about it and continued holding Lester.
“Okay…” Lester replied meekly.
“Can we still be friends? Even without the ties?”
“Of course. Let’s stop hurting ourselves, and other people, okay?”
Neo let his words sink in. He awaited Lester’s response.
“Okay.”
What an easy acceptance.
Neo remembered the secret Lester had shared.
“I don’t want to be alone anymore. The aristocracy is so cruel… My blood will never satisfy them, and whatever I do won’t ever be enough, and everyone will just leave you once they get what they want. I feel so alone, and I hate it…”
He had been so honest, standing there without fully knowing who everyone was. He had been brave enough to go first when they had to let down their walls and reveal their deepest secrets.
Neo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so he opted for a sigh.
Elliot had already called him a traitor, and no doubt that Julius was going to be furious with him, but Lester’s reaction was unexpected.
Neo always assumed he had the most walls.
Lester was used to loneliness, but as sad as it was to say, he had also grown accustomed to betrayal.
He built up illustrious mountains and separated imaginary seas with every betrayal he faced from his peers.
Neo had thought he would have lost Lester first.
But Lester… Lester had forgiven him and still intended for their friendship to remain.
Aish, this kid.
“… Thank you.”
Lester felt the pair of slim, yet strong, arms wrapped firmly around him tighten a little more. A chin was then nestled on his shoulder.
“Br-Brother Naza?!”
Sad tears all but forgotten, Lester once again flushed an interesting shade of red.
Neo smiled softly as he hid his face behind grey locks of hair.
After a while, he pulled back and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the remnant of tear treks off the boy’s face.
“What is it?” he asked.
Lester grew quiet as he stared back, allowing the unexpected pampering to happen. Instead, his attention was on something else.
Brother Naza was smiling?
“… Nothing.”
He’s happy. Has he been happy lately?
Lester wished Brother Naza was always happy.
Neo languidly stood up.
“Let’s go. I’ll walk you to the dorms.”
He held out a hand.
Lester looked at the pale, smooth hand, without any flaws except for the calluses between the middle and index finger from the pen is held.
“En!”
Lester took the offered hand and dragged his Brother Naza out. He couldn’t wait to show him his dorm room.
Meanwhile, Neo knew he was in deep shit.
He was two hours late for rehearsal.
—
Step 30. Bring people to the Infirmary, because violence was necessary. This goes for everyone, but please use this time to wallow and think about sad things. It’s time to get your shit together.
The author has something to say:
More little brothers. Aurelion has got some competition. As for Guinivere, you guys will see her soon.
Thank you, Purple_Gravity, don’t refer to me, and roseyposies for the beautiful fanarts!
By Purple_Gravity
By don’t refer to me
By roseyposies
That was cute!
Neo is putting up a harem of little brothers…
Thanks for the chapter!!! I miss this a lot ❤️❤️❤️❤️
The fan arts looks pretty
Thank you for this another wonderful chapter🤧❤️
Thank you for the chapter!!
This is the healing cuteness I badly needed today 🤗😖☺
Thanks for the chapter!! <3333
Thanks for the chapter! And the brother competition is continuing.
Thank you soooo much for the chapter! Your write is beautiful as always <3
I was so confused rn, I read your comment as: “your wife is beautiful as always”
Well, if Naza is the wife, then indeed is beautiful as always lol
I was just thinking of you today 😭😭
Thank you for updating ^^
Anyways…. I lowkey miss Sutton now 👁👁
Aurelion has…..some competition going on haha, he won’t lose to them, probably.
Mmmm, don’t take long to update please ☺️👏👏good work
Thank you for the chapter 🥰
The fan art this time is surprisingly acceptable.
Thank you for the chapter <3
Yiiiii Lest is cute and innocent. Protect this child, thank you Neo for analyzing it more ╥﹏╥
The crown prince 😂 welp more brothers to come for Neo i hope