That night, Reis had a nightmare about being hanged at a banquet with people cheering. He couldn't sleep for most of the night after that.
On the bright side, this made it easier for him to show up to the said practice session on time. This, unsurprisingly, also seemed to be an issue.
The look on everyone's faces annoyed him a lot.
|There is no reason for you to be irked.|
'Do I even need a reason? Just look at them! Who wouldn't be annoyed?'
The thick book fell out of Lunive's hands with a thud while Adonis's mouth hung open as if trying to touch the ground. Lorcan didn't show much of a reaction, but he, too, had stopped writing.
Overreaction may as well have been discovered by these three. Or two.
All Reis had done to warrant this was arriving on time. He had only entered the room casually, didn't cause a fuss, and didn't bother anyone. He simply walked into the room the attendants had pointed to like a well behaved person.
"Is the end of the world nearby?" Lunive asked, turning to the younger two. "Or am I seeing things?"
And this was what he got in return. It wasn't even her being dramatic; she seemed genuinely shocked.
His newly acquired younger siblings were ten times more dramatic than normal people, and their ideas, all of them in general, were much more troublesome. Scary even.
For one, they were unanimously in favor of putting him in house arrest, in the freaking royal residence, for a banquet because their brother 'Ann' had a long streak of avoiding events.
They'd even tie him to a pillar at the banquet hall this time if they had to. Or so they said.
Was this them threatening him? Oh no. That could have been dealt with somehow.
Reis heard them conspiring like little villains before he stepped inside. They were making a kidnapping plan, loud enough for him to hear from outside.
If anything, he should be the one with the stupefied expression. But they beat him to it.
"Good morning to you, too," Reis said through gritted teeth. "Must you treat me like this?"
|Synchronization: 70%|
"Don't get me wrong, Brother, but it is you, right?" Reis almost flinched as Lunive gave him a once-over. "Or is the clock in your room broken?"
"...Is it that wrong of me to be on time?"
"Yes! I mean, no! It's just..." Adonis scrambled for words but anything he said made Reis even more confused.
"I bet even the servants were shocked. They probably just didn't show it on their face," the princess spoke defensively.
Thinking back, his attendants were acting a bit weird when he called for them at seven in the morning. Some were even repeatedly asking if he was feeling unwell.
It wasn't that Reis himself was a morning person. He just happened to be awake, and he hated the idea of being confined, which seemed to be the next option, not including the tying to a pillar idea.
"It doesn't matter since you're here!" Perhaps noticing his annoyance, Adonis stepped in. "Sit down, Brother Ann," he guided Reis to the couch beside the desk instead of the one Lunive was sitting on. "The instructors aren't here yet, so you can rest. Do you need a blanket?"
'Does this kid think I'm also one?'
|He's being nice.|
Reis was more than sure that this brother of his was treating him like a child. Well, he was having a hard time adjusting to the temperature here.
Autumn here felt much colder than in his country. There was a constant chill down his spine along with the wind that continued to make him shiver since the moment he woke up. Even with the magic temperature control in this fancy place.
Rather than suffering from the cold wind, it was better to be treated like a kid. "Sure."
Where Adonis had found the blanket in the study was a question Reis decided to ignore as he lay down flat, covering up to his head.
Minutes passed. The blanket was comfy, and soon enough, he began to feel sleepy.
The door opened with a loud thud, shooing away the drowsiness.
"I told you he won't be here," Avena, the second eldest, spoke as though she'd won a bet.
"I guess so…" Ceron muttered. "I'll go bring him then. Should I take more guards—"
While the older two were busy validating their findings, the younger three were desperately gesturing for them to quiet down, but the deed was already done.
"Am I some kind of criminal?" Reis asked, more to himself than the others, as he blankly stared at the ceiling.
Avena shrieked, as if she'd seen a ghost. Reis threw the blanket to the other corner of the couch.
How the hell did this guy build this criminal image?
|It's not a criminal image. We did not match you with a criminal.|
'I will be after I strangle you!'
"You're actually on time?" Ceron's dumbfounded expression made Reis's frown deeper.
"Well, I'm sorry for being on time then!" Reis was exasperated, throwing his hands upward for dramatic effect, which didn't really work.
*knock*
'Now what?!'
They turned their attention to the door. "I see you are all here," a middle-aged woman was standing with a man who seemed to be in his fifties.
"Good morning, Instructor Clara, Sir Xander." The younger two princes and Princess Lunive greeted them simultaneously, while the elder two nodded their heads.
Reis did nothing, cause it felt like the original wouldn't either. And he was frustrated on top of that.
|Synchronization: 71%|
'But at least I should stand with them.'
As soon as he moved, Clara's eyes widened. Reis wasn't even surprised anymore.
Thankfully, she didn't say anything like the rest and instead turned to Ceron and Avena. "I'll start the lessons. Are you two going to stay?"
"Yes. Father told us to keep an eye on Ann."
"I see."
Yeah, just go on and agree with it.