Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 4-6) ✓

194 | Let Go

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I WAS NEVER CLOSE with my brother, but I thought it was natural because I'm older, so we won't really have anything in common. But I didn't know our relationship was this bad. I didn't even know that he'd be here. I'm a terrible brother," Ervin says, guilt present on his face.

     "Hey, don't say that. Siblings have different ways of expressing their love for each other, but that doesn't mean you don't care," Keigo quickly defends. Even though he's an only child like Ari, he saw Max's and Felix's relationship with their siblings. They're all very different from each other, but that doesn't mean Felix doesn't love his siblings as much as Max loves his brother.

     "And besides, it's not too late to tighten your relationship with him. Who knows, this convention might help you two get closer," Keigo adds.

     "Maybe this is my karma for being such a bully in the past. I wasn't even aware my brother was—"

     "Ervin, relax. It's rare, but Keigo's right," Max quickly says, interrupting Ervin's unusually negative thoughts. "You obviously care about Edward, so let's use this as an opportunity to fix your brother bond. Let's just find him first, and then you guys could talk it out. Sounds good?"

     Ervin looked at Max and then at Ari, Keigo, and Felix, who were nodding their heads in encouragement. Ervin couldn't believe that he was able to have friends who cared this much. If it were his old friends, they wouldn't care less about helping him mend his relationship with his family. Just looking at them made Ervin feel a lot more hopeful. If he could fix his relationship with Max, then he could definitely fix his relationship with his brother.

     "It's settled then. Let's try looking for my brother," Ervin says with determination, and his four friends nod their heads and make their way to the Keep.

     "By the way," Ari then says as they're already walking their way out of the courtyard. "This is going to be a bit random, but...when on earth did you become the head of the Jacks?!"

     The question came out of nowhere, but Felix, Keigo, and Max immediately looked at Ervin and just realized that too. Ervin never really mentioned it, nor did anyone in Jokers, but when Felix looked at the brooch that Ervin was wearing, he immediately stopped and pointed at it in shock.

     "It's silver!" Felix shouts, making the others stop to look at it too.

     "Oh, now that you mention it, it is silver. The underling's brooches are usually bronze," Max calmly explains, and Ervin just laughs at his friends' reaction as he looks at his brooch as well.

     "I think it was around the time I became a gaffer. Master Joker called for me on the rooftop and told me that he was proud to have me as his underling. Soon after that, the jesters gave me this new brooch and called me the Master of Jacks, or simply the head of the Jacks," Ervin casually explains like it wasn't a big deal at all.

     "And why on earth did you not tell us anything about this?! We could have joined you in that ceremony. Or we could have at least celebrated together," Ari says, and Max and the others couldn't help but agree.

     Ervin awkwardly scratches the back of his head and just tries to laugh it off as he answers, "I didn't think it was that important. Besides, it's not like I'm—"

     "Ervin, every achievement you make, whether you consider it big or small, is an achievement that the four of us will definitely be proud of," Max cuts off. "You've always been there for us, so I hope you get to open up more about these things."

     Ervin didn't really know what to say. His friends always blew him away, so instead of telling them that it's not really a big deal and they shouldn't be so worried about it, Ervin smiles and nods his head instead. "Alright, let's celebrate this amazing achievement after the convention's over," Ervin tells them, and Ari and the others end up getting excited about it, especially Keigo since this will be the first time going out with them like normal teenagers because last time they had to kidnap Felix.