Reincarnated as the Villain's Butler

Chapter 6

Altair smiled warmly at him, using his long fingers to gently wipe away the remaining moisture from his cheeks. "I'm alright now... don't cry."

The gesture only made the surge of emotions return, his mind clouded with shame and frustration.

"I- I-" Orion hiccuped, "I should have done something. I should have. How could they do that? To you, to that lady, I—"

"Hey, hey, hey, I told you I'm fine," Altair soothed, "Look not a scratch on me."

"No! No, you're lying! You got hurt!" Sure, the beastkin's warm, tanned skin remained without any discoloration or other signs of the incident, but the sickening sounds of their feet meeting the other's back or the small, almost unnoticeable whimpers escaping through the older boy's gritted teeth had been unmistakable. The tears kept pouring without Orion's consent, his chest tightening and twisting up into an ugly knot from the inside. "But I just stood here doing nothing when—"

Altair silenced him with an embrace, and Orion clung to the other boy like a lifeline.

"Why did they do that?" Orion asked, his voice cracking mid sentence. "What reason would they have to treat you in such a way?"

Orion heard the older boy sigh softly, as if he was trying to find his words.

"Sometimes," Altair said, and Orion heard the other's voice hum through his body as his ear pressed against Altair's chest. "People in power do bad and hurtful things to those that are weak, even for their own amusement."

Orion tightened his grip on Altair's shirt, grabbing so painfully tight that his knuckles turned white at the pressure. But Altair continued, his voice steady and gentle, and Orion found it grounding him as his tears wet the other's shoulder.

"And sometimes, in order to survive, we have no choice but to endure. Still, as powerless as we can be, we still hold all of the power of acting on our own wills, don't we?"

Altair rose to his feet, and reached his hand out towards him. Still shaken and his legs threatening to collapse right from under himself, Orion clasped the hand with trembling arms.

"And really, that's all you need in order to help someone, even just a little bit— and when you do have power, it makes helping others all the more easier."

The power that enabled people to take action of their own accord. Altair had used it to help others... even at the cost of his own well being... to help those who were oppressed. While himself... he was simply a powerless, weak little thing too afraid to use the power that his imperial blood had granted him.

Orion gritted his teeth, his hand scrubbing his eyes furiously with shame and rage— for his incompetence, as well as his anger towards those servants— their true selves when their superiors weren't around. Truly, there were monsters hiding in plain sight... hiding their true faces and their wicked natures.

I need to get stronger... much stronger.

Orion clung to Altair again, burying himself deeper into his embrace.

As the boy sought comfort from him, Altair's face was curved into a gentle smile, hiding his own true face unbeknownst to Orion.

This series of events was unsurprisingly very effective in terms of gaining trust. Altair could confidently confirm that his weeks of planning and setup have paid off splendidly now that there was no doubt that the prince will both rely on him for support and view Altair as someone to have shaped his core values. It most certainly wasn't an easy task to get everyone at the right place, the right time, with the right mood in order to achieve a 'scene' similar to the one between Orion and Ren, which may or may not happen now that Altair has so spectacularly changed the present. Still, now that this has happened, Orion wouldn't be forgetting him anytime soon— even if Altair spends years away from him for his mandatory full day apprenticeship, which is an inevitable outcome.