"Are you sure about this, Michael?" Nyla sat beside my bedside, worry gracing her face as she contemplated my words within her mind. "You’re still a child, your body won’t hold up against… My husband’s training methods."

"I am sure, mother." I nodded, determined to make the most of my time while I was still under the protection of my parents. As we get older, I and Michelle will be exposed to the outside world, not to mention the mandatory noble school that our parents mentioned at my and Michelle's birthday party.

"Very well, I will not stop you, but please, don’t push yourself too hard." Nyla stood up and left the room after giving my forehead a kiss. She then continued to give another kiss to my twin sister, Michelle. Of course, still in the forehead.

Once that was all done, she left us to ourselves, closing the doors leading to the elegant room where I was stuck until the end of my recovery.

It appears that my head was given a good whack...

"Mike." Michelle pushed herself closer to me, crawling under the covers and hugging my body. I didn’t protest, nor deny the show of affection my twin sister was giving me. All things considered, she needed it more than I did.

I had the mentality to somewhat shrug off the kidnapping, but my sister was still a child.

She needed reassurance, MY reassurance. She needed to know that I wasn’t going to leave her behind and fly off into the heavens. In our entire family, everybody knew who Michelle was attached to the most.

Me.

We were practically glued to each other's hips.

I felt hot, wet liquid staining my shirt, the sounds of sniffling coming from under the blankets. I flipped the blanket over and was greeted by the sight of my twin sister clamping down on me with a force I never knew she had.

"You’re alive… You’re alive…" Her cracked sobs pierced through my heart. I held her closer, grasping her shaking limbs with gentle care.

"It’s okay, I’m here." I leaned my head against hers, the smell of sunflowers entering through my nose. I held her close like that for minutes until she calmed down and cried herself to sleep.

I lied back on my bed with my twin sister still clinging to my body. At that moment, the door opened, with two people behind it.

"I see you’ve comforted Michelle," Mariam approached us and sat on the chair available on the side of the bed. "She was worried, you know."

"Very," Maxim said, content with standing rather than sitting next to Mariam. "You were out for two days, little brother."

"That long…?" Both of them nodded in affirmation. I redirected my gaze back to the sleeping form of my twin sister, the tear streaks still visible on her soft face.

We descended into silence. The only sounds audible were me stroking Michelle’s soft hair, and the wind blowing into the room. A few moments later, both my older brother and sister approached us and snuggled into the bed. The four of us siblings had a group hug, their warmth and love spreading through my inner being.

We stayed like that for a few minutes. It wasn’t long until I noticed that my eyesight was getting blurry.

"H-huh…?" I brought my hand to my face and scratched my eyes. My fingers felt moist. At first, it was just a trickle.

"Mike…?" Mariam noticed my predicament, and not long after, so did Maxim too.

"Little brother?"

"I… I’m… Crying…?" I muttered aloud as I tried to get my tears to stop.

No, they’ll hate me… I’m not allowed to cry… Not allowed to cry… Please don’t hate… Don’t throw me away…

I tried my best to get my eyes to stop tearing, but they wouldn’t. It’s like my tear glands refused to follow the instructions from my brain.

Stop… Please… Stop… They won’t like it… They’ll call me useless… Stop… Please, just stop…

It wasn’t until I felt someone embracing my body that I stopped my thoughts from spiralling down into the abyss. My eyes scanned for the reason, and saw that my older brother, Maxim, had hugged me close to his chest.

"It’s okay, little brother," he rubbed my head while patting my back, "let the tears fall out."

"Everything will be fine, Mike," Mariam copied Maxim and held me close to her bosom. "We are here for you."

I tried really hard to keep it all in. All my experiences in my past life going through my mind as they played out in a kaleidoscope within seconds.

‘Stop crying!’

‘Useless child…’

'You understand that you are not permitted to cry?!!'

‘Useless human being…’

‘I SAID STOP CRYING, YOU HOPELESS KID!’

‘Waste of space…’

I wanted to cry, but my brain kept on saying no. My heart wants to let it all out, but I can’t…

"… Mike…?" A voice piped up from below, my mind reeling to a halt. My eyes moved downward, greeting the worried face of my twin sister.

‘… Heh. Useless older brother.’

No… Please… Don’t… Don’t abandon me… Please… Stop looking…

Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking… Stop looking…

I let out a gasp as a tackle impacted my body.

"Mike..." Her voice was angelic, a savior from my impending doom. "It's okay to cry."

The dam burst. My tears flew down my cheeks like a river as I cried like a baby. My siblings never let me go. Instead, they drew me closer to their bodies. I also felt their tears falling on my shoulders and chest, crying silently as they smothered me with their affection.

The bad memories, one by one, went away. Their voices, a distant memory, never to be brought up again.

My lips twitched into a loving smile as I cried, holding each of their bodies close to me.

‘I swear… I’ll do everything I can to protect all of you…’