(two weeks ago)

Mirrond: At least the beginning of this chapter is written with me being in a state of, how should I put it, depression? And this time - what a surprise - not caused by Truth revealing… mmm… truths. Painful dialogue:

Me - “Hmm, I’ve been thinking a bit about girls in ‘my’ harem…”

Resus - “Damn… and I said something about realism in our story.”

Me - “What is not realistic in my harem?”

Resus - “You in the middle.”

Aaargh, et tu, Resus. You can’t even trust your coauthor ;_; Nevermind, here is another chapter. Hope you like love it.

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Resus: That. Took. Way. Too. Long.

Mirrond:

Christmas +me playing Skyrim + Resus creating all this RPG tables and things… that… not… entirely… fit in this chapter… even though we thought they would = DELAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.

Resus: Hopefully it won’t happen again… at least for some time. But technically… we were ahead of schedule and this is the “right time” for this chapter to appear… But what do I know…

Mirrond: You know nothing, Joh… Resus.

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Chapter 5: Pillow of death and a game called life

After a few minutes of walking I’m alone in my room. I can hear Gavlan talking with another slave behind doors. He’s trying to speak quietly, but after sticking my ear against the door I can hear him quite well. Gavlan sends the person he speaks with to my father, to inform him - just in case he didn’t know - that Lenniel and Iverie are scheming together. But he doesn’t mention them talking about my brother.

I doubt if he, with his collar still on, could intentionally withheld such information, so he simply must’ve not hear it. Or didn’t connect the dots as I. I may be a little racist here, but if he’s a beastman and a former warrior I doubt he knows anything about scheming. He has quite a simple mind when it comes to things like that. He’s not an idiot - he found out that it was Lenniel speaking with Iverie - but I doubt that he can think about it in such a devious way as I, to understand what I did.

There’s only one explanation. My father actually cares about his new son even though he’s a bastard. How can they be sure that he won’t… legitimize him fully in the future? By now he only had one son, and until few months ago they were sure that the only child of Naharius was retarded. So all their plans were created without any future obstacles in that matter. And now, suddenly, there are two. And, as my parents hate each other’s guts, the chance of yet another child suddenly popping up is at best slim. Although, father never sold the slave he slept with - God knows why - I doubt he will impregnate her ever again.

I have a bodyguard and, in a way, I’m in the spotlight. But my new brother… he could be a much easier target to eliminate. If they disguise this as a natural death… this happens to infants of his age. Not often but enough to hide a murder.

And because of that I now face a problem. WHAT THE FUCK SHOULD I DO?!

I could - of course - try to warn Gavlan or my father but… it would be futile and suicidal because there is no way they would believe me. Nearly five-year-old kid going around telling people he overheard a terrible scheme of his uncle and aunt, who are planning to murder his sibling?! Not only nobody would believe me. I would also attract unnecessary and unwanted attention to myself. That would literally be my death wish… Iverie would prioritise my death above all else just to make sure I wouldn’t persuade anybody.

The finishing blow to the idea of warning anyone is the simple fact - Gavlan also overheard their conversation… but without that crucial part about them planning to murder my brother. Even if I miraculously managed to find a way to somehow persuade my father that I’m not just talking nonsense, he would simply call for my bodyguard and question him about the whole situation. And - quite unfortunately - he would hear that Gavlan don’t know about anything like that…Besides, Gavlan have already sent a messenger to him so the questioning wouldn’t even be necessary as persuading my father is simply impossible with the current situation.

So… what can I do? Is it hopeless? And just like that… I suddenly have an idea. There just might be a way… The rooms Lena was accommodated in are right next to my own. If, by any chance, my newly born brother would be assigned a room in a similar fashion…

I move towards a window and open it. Outside there’s a cornice. It’s a bit narrow but with my current, five-year-old, body I should be able to sneak on it to my brother's room. It would only require clear weather and open windows in his room but it’s the middle of the dry season so it won’t be a problem.

And my master plan? Use my father’s paranoia to make him believe that my brother is in danger. It should be enough to just leave some signs of unknown presence at night. Pretty much Cousin Torture 2.0, but this time without scaring anybody for life… Except maybe worsening father’s paranoia. Which might not be that bad, considering the fact that my ‘aunty’ IS out there to destroy everything he cares about.

I go to sleep for now…

* * *

The next morning I hear from Gavlan that my brother is going to live in the room close to my own - right next to Lena’s. It’s actually pretty clever of my father. After all my bodyguard spends all night in the corridor right in front of my quarters. Which means that he’s - indirectly - protecting my siblings just as well as me. Even though if I were him I would hire - or buy - additional guards for that purpose. Perhaps my grandfather said ‘No’. That would actually explain quite a bit.

I’m sure - well, almost - that Iverie won’t do anything as long as there’s plenty of people around my brother. Whatever her plan might be she’ll try to do it discreetly, as the last thing she would like to happen is strengthening my father position. And that’s precisely what would happen if someone murdered his second son. Naharius would most likely force grandfather to run a serious investigation, and if they would find any traces leading to Iverie…

That’s why I patiently wait for things to get calmer.

* * *

Four days later the commotion around my brother’s birth is finally fading and only two nannies are assigned to take care of him throughout the day. At night he’s more or less alone but I’m sure that if he’d wake up and start crying there would be someone to nurture him back to sleep. And that’s because the nannies spend nights in the room opposite to my own, as they are pretty much shared between my two siblings.

All of that means that Iverie could only attempt to sneak into my brother’s room some time at night… if not for Gavlan taking a nap with his back on the door to my room. It seems like, as a beastman, he doesn’t need much sleep and he’s a very light sleeper - probably because of his wolf ears. So, as long as I’ll spend every night in my room, Iverie can’t do a thing to hurt my brother.

Of course if she’ll ever decide to go all out and send an assassin, or poison his food… then I can do absolutely nothing about it. All my reasoning is based on me hoping that all this: ‘And of course neither one of you... ...you really call yourself men?’ I heard while eavesdropping means more or less that she has no other choice than to do it personally…

For now I discard those negative thoughts, there’s no time for them. Currently I need to somehow ‘persuade’ my father to put more funds into security personnel - without saying even a word to him. Not an easy thing to do.

During the day I made sure to look into my brother’s room a few times, just to make sure that window in there is open. And it was. No one likes when it’s too hot and humid so naturally most windows in the mansion are open all the time, but you can’t be too careful. Staying awake in the middle of the night was always so easy - I mean, in my previous life - but now it seems like it’s the hardest task so far. Maybe it’s this new body, the atmosphere here, or just the humongous change of my lifestyle, but I have to fight against every minute not to fall asleep.

Finally, I think I’ve waited long enough. Big clock on the temple tower in the city shows one hour after midnight. Nights here are surprisingly not as dark as I would think. That’s probably thanks to three moons… well two that can reflect light since the third one is completely black. Moreover I think that the lack of any street lights makes it so the moonslight seems much brighter in comparison. And if that’s not enough the clock’s face is illuminated from the inside and semitransparent. Anyway, I get up from my bed and approach the window. It’s open, I made sure of it so it won’t make any noise. Carefully, sitting on the windowsill, I lower myself on the cornice right outside. Thankfully there’s no strong wind - only slight breeze. Otherwise it would be challenging to keep my balance.

On all fours I slowly crawl my way to the left side of the building - my brother’s room is the third window to the left counting from mine. It would be way harder if I was afraid of heights or something. I’m not saying that crawling on this suddenly-not-so-wide-ledge was pleasant experience… but I guess it could’ve been way worse.

Shortly, I reach the right window and let myself in. The inside of the room was rather barren, but what is actually needed in a room of a yet nameless infant… Right in the middle, on the big fluffy carpet, is - of course - a crib. In one corner is a table with a single, unlit, candle on it. On one wall are two cupboards, presumably for diapers and such, and on the other door to the bathroom. It seems like every other room has one…

So, what can I do to convince everyone that there’s something bad happening in this room at night… For now let’s just make a mess. If that’s not gonna be enough then next time I’ll think of something else. Diapers everywhere, candle lying in pieces, table upside down… It’s actually quite challenging to run havoc in someone's room without waking him up. Especially if that someone is an infant. If not for that I would move the crib and then spread the carpet against the wall or something like that.

One more glance at the room and this mess I created, and I evacuate.

* * *

The next day I woke up to noises and commotion somewhere in the corridor. For a second there I was actually afraid that Iverie might’ve visited my brother right after me - it was REALLY noisy - but thankfully that wasn’t the case. It was, in fact, my father expressing his paranoia driven anger and unloading it on anyone at hand. Apparently his first reaction was assumption that slave nannies have done something… but that idea died quick natural death as the collars prevent them from lying and even in his current state he couldn’t argue with their version.

The rest of that day went rather uneventful. I stayed in my room and only went out to eat dinner so I missed most of my father’s investigation, but it looks like he couldn’t find anyone to put a blame on. Grandfather didn’t believe in father’s ‘there was someone in my son’s room!’ talk, so he refused father’s demand to hire additional bodyguards. Stupid old man. However, in the evening, I managed to hear my father ordering Gavlan to keep an eye - or ear in his case - for any abnormalities in my brother’s room. That night I once again sneak in there while making sure to be extra silent and stealthy.

Payoff wasn’t in any way spectacular but father seemed to be more agitated and I think that even grandfather began to develop some doubts. And that’s exactly why, the third night, I decided to add a tiny little bit more… impact. During the day I managed to get my hands on a small knife from the kitchen. Nothing impressive - blade was even shorter than it’s hande - but I guarantee it was razor-sharp. And so, when I got to my baby brother’s room, except for the ‘regular mess’ I also made few easily noticeable cuts on the crib…

But I didn’t think it would be enough. I guess it was kinda reckless… but at a time I thought about it as a last step in my master plan. First, I made sure that I had a clear evacuation path and then… with my heart in my mouth… I pressed the edge of the knife’s blade onto my baby brother’s cheek. I don’t remember too clearly what happened next - it’s more like a blur of too much movement. I think I ran to the window and in one stupidly dangerous jump I made it to the ledge outside. Not even taking time to crawl I ran to my room throwing the knife away accompanied by my brother’s crying and screaming. If, right after that, anyone bothered to check if everything was ok with me, they would find me in my bed covered in sweat and on the edge of hyperventilation. Fortunately no one seemed to care, probably because they were much too busy.

No more than ten minutes after I left the room, the entire building is full of… activity. My visit in my brother’s room certainly have been noticed and soon I can hear my father very loudly speaking with nannies. It’s pretty much the repetition of what happened after my first nightly visit there - he ask them questions, they answer, my father is getting even angrier at everyone.

In the meantime Gavlan enters my room, checking if there’s everything okay with me and then informs me of what happened. Not like I need it, but I can’t exactly say that, so I just act like I am shocked. He tells me to stay in my room and leaves right after my consent. When the door close behind him I can hear my father interrogating him, but my bodyguard has nothing interesting to say, beside the fact that he was the first to find my brother and that he saw no one in his room.

Then… my grandfather arrives, asking what happened. Unlucky for him. at this point my father has too much problems to deal with, so instead of even trying to stay calm, and give a polite answer, he simply snaps.

“What happened? WHAT HAPPENED?! Exactly the thing I warned you about! Someone broke into my son’s room and hurt him! Not only that - we also have NO FUCKING IDEA how the assailant got in, or who was he… And why’s that?! Because particular someone forbid me from hiring one or two additional guardsman out of fear that I would tell them to go and rape or kill his lovely little niece!“

“What?! This wasn’t…”

“I! DON’T! FUCKING! CARE! I’m going to hire as many bodyguards as I see fit. Disinherit me for that if you want. I wonder how other members of our family will react to the fact that you forbid them from protecting themselves. For the rest of the night Gavlan is going to protect them both. And, as I suddenly feel like spending the whole night in my younger son’s bedroom, me and my bodyguard are going to help him.

“But…”

“No buts. This whole situation is your fault. I know you have this delusional idea that you can make me, Lenniel and Iverie to be one, big, loving family… Face the truth already!”

I can hear my grandfather saying something, but it’s utterly incomprehensible. Then there’s a short moment of silence, after which my grandfather leaves. Then my father continue.

“Gavlan, you heard the orders. Be so kind and do not take a nap till morning. Tomorrow night you are going to get some… underlings.“

“With all due respect, can’t we just move them into one room?” Gavlan speaks up.

“No. Children, before gaining name, must be in separate rooms.” A moment of silence. “ It’s a tradition based on temple’s teachings so I can’t really act against it. Iverie would find out, she always does, and then that woman would make me look like a goddamn heretic. It’s just a one night, tomorrow I am going to go look for some slaves with bodyguard experience.”

It’s not hard to imagine what sort of face Gavlan’s making to that answer. He comes into my room, but before he have a chance to say anything I simply inform him that I heard the whole conversation. He nods, and leaves to his new post in the corridor.

I must admit that in long term my hastily put together plan may… and almost certainly will… backfire. Everything I’ve done to indirectly protect my brother is actually quite… stupid. At least from my grandfather’s point of view. I mean - what use is in sneaking into his room three nights in a row and… do nothing? Except for leaving a small gash on his face? Worst case scenario, Iverie may use my actions and my father’s responses to persuade grandfather that it was all done by Naharius in the first place, just to gain an excuse to hire armed men… Well, at least she won’t do anything tonight… And it seems like starting tomorrow my little brother will gain actual protection.

* * *

Did I really believe that something as trivial as two heavily armed guards would be enough to stop Iverie from doing something nefarious? Am I an idiot? Technically I was right that she wouldn’t try anything yesterday… but now is a completely different story.

It was all so pointlessly useless. Everything I’ve done in those recent days was useless. I feel so powerless as I sit in my brother’s bathroom and through a small crack between the door and a wall I can see Iverie strangling my brother to death with a pillow. Even if I’d scream it wouldn’t change anything. The guards assigned to protect my dying sibling are just two sets of doors away from me… but they could as well be on a moon right now. All my desperate attempts to save his life - for nothing, as Iverie simply came in… Through the wall!

If not for a stroke of luck I would be there, with my brother. But when she entered I was in the bathroom. I only heard a silent crackle and when I jumped towards door I could see her entering the room, through what looked like a disassembled part of a stone brick wall, together with… something.

Her companion is more or less a humanoid black stain, similar to that black bastard who put me here… and yet so different. Whatever it is, it gives a similar oppressing feeling, but while my ‘abductor’ made me feel like being in a cage with a hungry tiger, Iverie’s friend is more like a rabid dog. A big and angry one, but the difference in power between them is obvious… and massive.

Also… I can’t really describe this feeling… my abductor seemed much more… attuned with darkness? More… natural within it? I don’t know why, but I felt like it’s important for some reason.

“Now look at that, magic sure can be very handy.” She said, looking around the room. “As expected from one of the sorcerers from the Council of Eight. The guards, they won’t hear anything, right?”

“That’s right.” Magician’s voice was… artificial, or at least somehow distorted. I finally understood the eerie feeling from earlier. This is just an illusion, made to cover his identity. With his body covered in darkness and changed voice, I can’t even tell if it’s a man or woman. I could see his ‘eyes’, but just as his ‘face’ they were fake, like… dots painted on darkness, to make people feel less uneasy when speaking to him. “No sound will leave the boy’s chambers. And even if his bodyguards, by some miracle, would come in, I doubt there is enough armed men in the whole mansion to stop me. But I presume you wouldn’t be too happy to have everyone know that he was murdered.”

Standing next to my brother’s crib, she nodded, and then took one of the pillows lying in it. I already knew what she was up to, even before she started strangling him with that pillow. My sibling doesn’t make a sound and after a few minutes the deed is done. She puts the pillow back as if nothing happened.

“We are finished here, shall we get going?” Iverie asks the magician in her usual cold manner. He nods and when she turned her back, he… looks my way. For a second our eyes meet and I’m sure that’s the end - I’m dead. But, surprisingly, he does nothing against me - he only touches his lips with his index finger in a ‘silence’ gesture, and then he follows Iverie. Shortly after that, hole in the wall closes itself.

It takes me good ten seconds to force myself to open the doors and move towards my brother’s crib. My legs feel strange. My head too. I’m barely conscious.

One look at my sibling tells me that it’s too late to do anything. Iverie was… thorough in her deed. I close his eyes and mutter a weak apology for failing him in such a horrible way. Then I escape through the window.

Three times I nearly fall to imminent death, but I barely notice that. Right after I manage to reach my bedroom I lose my last bits of control.

Fuck.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!!!

Iverie, you FUCKING BITCH! I will kill you, I swear I will. I can’t wait to see your FUCKING smile fading, with a dagger in your heart. No, that would be merciful. I’ll make sure you WILL FUCKING SUFFER!!! You, and your fucking magician. I don’t know how long it’ll take me but I swear that I WILL PISS ON YOUR GRAVES.

I don’t even notice that I’m throwing things - mainly toys - before Gavlan suddenly enters. He doesn’t find any assassins, only a boy throwing a tantrum. One look from me is enough to make him leave.

No more playing around. No more ‘well, this guys are such an idiots’. I’m going to spend God-knows-how-many years on doing everything that is necessary to see that ambitious and amoral bitch dying in pain. And I will enjoy every last bit of it. I’m going to…

*ding!*

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||=====Congratulations!=====||

||=======================||You managed to crawl your way through the first five years of your life… Finally! It took you forever… no, wait. Not really… five years is five years… hmph… D: Well, nevermind then. You are here after five years of being a creepy kid in a creepy family, I really hope you liked it :D By the way, what you have done with your uncle was just AWESOME! The pure evil of what you’ve done really made me proud! :) You still didn’t kill anything nice for me though. :/ I guess it’ll change sooner or later. I’m nearly sorry for your aunt… just kidding, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you killin’ her in a really amusing (and painful!) manner:D!

By the way - you just cannibalized (well, sort of) your host, so the RPG mechanics are now fully online! And after this message you’ll gain access to one-time tutorial also known as Tutorial Which Lacks All Really Important Informations Because I Didn’t Care To Write Them All Down - TWLARIIBIDCTWTAD for short, but I couldn’t remember it like AT ALL, so I had to change it. So now it’s simply a tutorial. I also had quite funny name for the entire RPG system but the voices in my head didn’t let me use it, so I also had to change it ;_; Well, have fun :D

Shadow, This World #1 Murderous Jester(automated massage… I mean message)

Real Life Game System by Shadow666 <3…

Current number of users… 1

Well… Fuck.

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Resus: FINALLY WE REACHED THAT POINT!

Mirrond: Yeah ;_; finally. This was awful, just awful.

Resus: I know…

Mirrond: But I am not talking about your f…. okay, that was a bad joke. Nevermind, it’s finished. Nothing else matters :v

EDIT: Fixed few minor mistakes. If you see any more, let us know so we can fix them as well.