“Keith, look at that butterfly!”
A five-year old Keith watched his twin brother chasing a butterfly with peculiar color in the garden. He held back his sigh seeing a scene from an animation movie unfolded right in front of his eeys.
Ignoring it, he lay down on the grass and closed his eyes.
It has been exactly five years since Kim Rok Soo had live as Keith Henituse in this world. He was getting used to it.
Being a child he is, he had nothing much to do other than sleeping, reading, and eating.
Well, it would be perfect if not for the hyperactive and eccentric behavior of Cale who always dragged Keith everywhere to the point Keith’s energy was completely drained from his body.
Keith was wondering whether a child should be as energetic as his brother or not.
“Young master Keith.”
Keith almost flinched at that call. He opened his eyes and turned his head. He could see an old servant with a benign smile on his face standing beside him. And of course, he could see a cup of tea in the old servant's hands.
“Would you like some chamomile tea?”
“Yeah.”
The old servant named Ron smiled even more at that reply. He skillfully handed a cup of chamomile tea to the young master who already straightened his back.
Keith took a sip of the tea, but then he furrowed his brows.
“Is there a problem, young master Keith?”
Ron asked while smiling benignly when he saw a frown on Keith’s face.
“… Ron.”
“Yes, young master Keith.”
Ron’s voice sounded so soft. He looked exactly like a perfect example of a kind grandfather talking patiently to his grandson. However, the same benevolent gesture seemed extremely vicious to the so-called grandson.
Keith stared at the yellowish color of the tea. The color looked the same, but he could smell sourness of a citrus scent. Instead of tasting a mellow, honey-like and sweetness of the tea that should be soothing, he tasted sourness.
“…This is not a chamomile tea but a lemon tea.”
The floral herbal tea turned out to be a lemon tea.
Ron looked surprised with his widened eyes. Keith was absolutely sure that the old man was acting.
“Oh, I apologized, young master Keith. It seemed that I made a mistake.”
‘Mistake, my ass.’
The expert assassin talented in being a butler who always did a great job made a sloppy and unbelievable mistake like preparing a sour lemon tea instead of a sweet chamomile tea? Keith, for once, refused to believe in such nonsense.
“But, I hope the young master-nim will finished the tea that I worked hard to prepare.”
‘I can’t say no, can I? Who knows when you will stab me?’
He suppressed the chilling feeling he had as he opened his mouth.
“… Alright.”
Keith glanced at the smiling Ron while drinking the tea stoically, trying to not show any expression about the taste that he detested so much.
‘Scary old man.’
He is definitely vicious. Which person would give a lemon tea to a five-year-old? A child should drink milk or something sweet, but instead, the old servant seemed to be enjoying himself, preparing a lemon tea for Keith while acting like he made a mistake.
It was Keith’s fault too for not refusing the tea at the start of the nightmare. It was not like he had the ability to refuse the tea prepared by a vicious assassin in the first place though.
In any case, the vicious assassin clearly found Keith’s reaction to be some sort of entertainment or amusement.
Ron Molan.
A character of [The Birth of a Hero] who became Choi Han's ally. He might be seen as a benign and kind old man, but his true nature is vicious and merciless.
He is an assassin who crossed over from Eastern continent to Western continent by sea with his son.
But now, he worked as a servant in Henituse household. And his son, Beacrox Molan worked as an apprentice chef.
And of course, his son who inherited the same cold nature is actually a torture expert.
Keith held the cup with his eyes closed.
Although he wondered why the father-son duo crossed the continent and ended up as servants in this peaceful territory, he didn’t bother to ask as he would not get the answer anyway. To get the answer, one must be brave enough to ask either the father or the son—something that Keith would never do because he cherished his new life.
He was curious but he didn’t bother to find the answer.
Ignorance is a bliss, after all.
Everything was alright.
“Keith, come here!!”
If only not for his noisy brother.
“Come and look at these flowers!!”
Cale was shouting so loudly with a wide smile and twinkling eyes.
Keith frowned at that pure expression on his twin brother's face as he seemed to be amazed at the flowers.
‘What's so amazing about flowers that you can see everyday?’
He seriously could not comprehend the thoughts of a child nor did he have the energy to.
“Young master Keith.”
Keith held back himself from flinching when being called by Ron.
“...What?”
“Young master Cale is calling for you.”
Ron was smiling benignly. Keith held back his sigh as he lazily stood up and walked toward Cale.
“Where is the flower, brother?”
Although he was mentally older than Cale, he needs to call Cale ‘brother’. If not, this twin brother of his will sulked and say about being born earlier than him or whatnot.
Cale grinned. He looked so innocent and pure that Keith frowned at that sight.
“Sit down, Keith!”
Keith was grumbling but he just did as what Cale asked. Things would end easier and faster like this.
Then, he noticed there were many flowers, wooden branches and leaves on the grass that were picked up by Cale.
“Keith, let’s make a flower crown for mother!”
Keith wanted to reject the idea of creating something so useless because he was so sleepy and wanted to do nothing other than lying somewhere and closing both of his eyes. However, he did not want to see Cale’s sad face. It’s not fun at all seeing a child’s sad face.
When he did not give a reply, Cale’s pupil was shaking and his mouth was pouting. He looked so dejected when Keith did not answer.
Inwardly sighing, Keith said.
“…You make a flower crown and I will make a flower ring.”
Flower crown sounded hard and tiring to create, so a simple and tiny flower ring will do. Well, as long as both mother and Cale are happy, it should be fine.
A bright smile appeared on Cale’s face. He widened his reddish-brown eyes, curving it into a crescent shape.
“Great, let’s do it together!”
Cale knew that his younger brother would not be able to say no to him! After all, Keith always agreed to him even though he always grumbled. Just like when Cale wanted to play together, Keith often said ‘I don’t want to do this’ or ‘Let me sleep’ and yet Keith always let himself being dragged by Cale.
Although he sometimes questioned why his brother kept napping almost everywhere and every time—like a lazy cat that don’t want to be bothered, his mother said.
It does not matter.
Because Cale loved his brother so much.
It was his duty as an older brother to make sure Keith move around and spend time together.
***
“Mother!!”
Drew who was reading a book in her study lifted her head when she heard that voice. She lifted her head and she smiled when her eyes caught two little redheads coming into the study—one was running with a bright expression while dragging the other who was frowning.
“Did my sons miss me?”
Drew putted the book on a table before raising a corner of her mouth.
“Yes, we missed you!”
The bright and energetic Cale answered with a vigorous nod. He then proceeded to nudge the stoic and quiet Keith.
“Isn’t that right, Keith?”
“Yes…”
Keith hesitated for a moment before replied expressionlessly. He seemed indifferent but Drew and Cale could see how Keith’s ears turned red.
Drew chuckled joyfully. She found Keith’s reaction to be so adorable. Indeed, both of her sons are incredibly lovable and endearing.
“Mother, we have something for you!”
Drew’s eyebrows twitched at that.
“Something for me? What is it?”
Cale turned to his brother with an excited look and whispered something while Keith looked like he did not care. Drew finally noticed how both of them was hiding something behind their backs.
“One, two…”
Cale was counting in a low voice.
“Tadaaa!!”
Then, Cale and Keith moved their hands from the backs to the fronts.
Drew was astonished.
She could see a crown made with fresh petals, wooden branch and leaves on Cale’s hands and a small yet appealing ring made with the same items with a tiny red flower on Keith’s hands.
There were so beautiful and lovely.
“Did you guys make it for me?”
“Yes, I made the flower crown and Keith made the flower ring!”
“I only made this because Cale kept forcing me.”
“Liar! I didn’t force you at all! Creating a flower ring was your idea!”
Drew could not help but grinned when she saw her sons were bickering. She felt very touched by her sons’ sweet gestures.
“Cale, why don’t you put the crown on my head? And Keith, why don’t you put the ring into my finger?”
Then, Cale placed the flower crown on Drew’s head while Keith put the flower ring into Drew’s finger. After that, Cale exclaimed.
“Mother, you looked like a forest fairy!”
Drew laughed. The compliment of her looking like a forest fairy tickled her heart.
“What do you think, Keith?”
Drew with a mischievous grin on her face asked in a teasing tone.
Keith stared at Drew before turning his head away.
“… Yeah.”
They all could see the flushed red of Keith’s ears.
Drew broke into a wide smile filled of delight. Her eyes contained love and affections for her sons. She pulled them both into a hug.
“Thank you for creating these. I appreciated it so much, Cale, Keith.”
Cale could not help but giggled joyfully and Keith just remained stoic with a tinged heart inside Drew’s warm embrace.
Drew who was hugging her sons could not help but think with uneasiness.
‘I don’t have much time anymore.’
.
.
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If you guys have read TCF chapter 600+, you will know what Drew meant by that👀