Episode 72 - Bound Reality 4 “ Money= Power!"

Upon returning to their bedroom, Euria went from laughing to being completely silent. Her silence made Eugene who was walking behind Euria pause.

Did Euria bring her out of the dining room on purpose? To escape from the awkward atmosphere. Eugene couldn’t help but ponder over Euria’s current behavior.

However, this little thought of Eugene quickly died down when Euria poured water over this reasoning with the next series of exchanges with her. “Sister, do you dislike grandmother?” Euria asked with a serious voice. This seriousness from a 3-year-old child who never seems to understand anything made Eugene’s eyebrows raise.

But how is she supposed to answer this question? Eugene pondered. ‘The truth?’ Or should she answer with a lie?

Before Eugene could reply, Euria spoke out again, this time with her usual cheery self. “I don’t hate grandmother.” Swinging their arms back and forth she continued, “She is not bad to me. She gives us gifts when she visits.” She truthfully told Eugene with her innocent reasoning.

The next words however shocked Eugene. “Sister, I know you have nightmares when grandma visits. I also know that you dislike grandma because of these dreams.” Euria stopped swinging their arms back and forth.

“But sister, the grandma of the dream and the grandma of today is not the same. She is not a bad person I think. She was also never mean to us.” Euria turned around to look at Eugene. “Mom says grandma prays for our safety and happiness every single day. So don’t shout at grandma like today because the grandma of your dream and this grandma is not the same.” Euria lay facts by facts.

Considering what Euria said, Eugene should be angry but because Euria was serious for the first time, Eugene carefully took Euria’s words to heart.‘So this was how Euria sees things from her eyes’ Eugene thought, lowering her eyes to think deeply. From an outside perspective, what Euria said was right. About her getting nightmares and correlating those nightmares with reality.

This truth was not something Eugene would think of, simply because she knew this person in the other world. And this person was a terrible human being. But like Euria’s perspective, that person from her former life and this person from this life was not the same. And this was the reality right now. You can even consider that person from Eugene’s past life a dream.

Her chin was caught by two small fingers who brought her chin up so that their eyes could meet. Her next words once again deeply moved her. “But sister, if you hate grandma, I will never talk to her ever again! Even though I don’t… I don’t hate her! BUT! I won’t talk to her again!” Catching Eugene’s hands again, she shook them. “Because what sister loves I love, and what sister hates….. I should avoid! Although I don’t hate grandma, I will wait for grandma to do something bad so I can hate her too!” Euria said with all seriousness, intense resolution in her eyes made Eugene’s heart skip a beat.

Blinking at Euria’s conviction, Eugene thought. ‘Euria… Where did you learn such lines from..’ Towards such heartfelt yet childish lines, Eugene felt incredibly moved. This roommate of hers, this twit, this nosy child has some real wisdom! This was what she thought before her moved heart was distinguished before time hit the 5-second mark.

“BUT! Today! Because you said it is fine to go out! We have to go out! Even if you hate grandma, you said you will go out so you can not break this promise!” Euria’s eyes became cloudy from greed in an instant. Her body language showed how hungry she was for the outside world.

‘What wisdom. What roommate of ‘hers’!’ Eugene stared blankly at the child with enlarged nostrils dancing around. No longer feeling like talking to Euria, Eugene called for Aedelak and Aeselak to get rid of this pest!

A few moments later...

“AHHHH!!!!” Euria screamed! She was clutching her bedroom door for dear life. Her whole body was suspended mid-air from being lifted by Aedelak and Aedelak by her feet.

“NOOO!!” With Euria’s last struggle, Eugene firmly closed the door with great difficulty and slid down to the floor from pure tiredness. From here she could hear Euria’s screams and shouts echoing until her voice became inaudible.

Deeply exhaling in exhaustion over how strong and stubborn Euria could sometimes be, her lips slightly tugged up.

“I will wait for grandma to do something bad before I hate her!” This sentence felt like a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders.

With this reasoning, Eugene felt as if she could co-exist peacefully with this person for the rest of this week. ‘Like you, I will wait for a good enough reason before I hate her’ Eugene replied to Euria’s sentence in her mind.

____

Dressing up for the capital, the twins once again wore matching outfits from head to toe. Today the two were dressed in Taupe color. Their flowy dress was decorated in white spiral laces on their taupe colored dress. This color brought out Euria’s red hair and brought out Eugene’s maturity. For hats, they wore cute french hats big enough to cover their entire faces. This was done so that they could feel at ease in public.

Not only did the twins dressed in this color, Louis, Ramon, Aernest, and their grandmother were also dressed in this Taupe color. Aedelak and Aeselak dressed in a darker beige color. Together the 8 look like one big family ready to take over the capital of Xenperia.

The way they all matched would normally be a breathtaking sight to see, but because of what happened earlier on during breakfast, the atmosphere now was a bit tense. No one, except for Euria, Eugene, and Louis had a frown on their faces. From the head butler to the head maid everyone stayed quiet. The tenseness resulted from no one knowing what to do or what to say.

“......” Eugene blankly looked at the ceiling. With no other choice, because they had been standing at the same place for 10 minutes in silence, Eugene chose to break the first silence. “Shall we leave?”

Within a second Euria hurriedly nodded, agreeing to her dear sister she took a step forward, pulling Eugene with her she hurried toward the door. However, before she took a step outside she realized something and let go of Eugene’s hands. Running back towards Levis, Moniqua, the head butler and Sara the head maid.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The 4 standing there thought that this precious child was going to ask why they weren’t dressed to go out or was here to say her goodbyes, but before that thought could manifest, Euria pierced their 4 hearts with her next words. “MONEY!” Euria sheepishly smiles, her hand gesturing out for the money to be put on her palm.

Crack…

Everyone watching this scene unfolding in front of them could hear 4 hearts cracked.

As for how Euria came to learn and know of this forceful pose was naturally by your one and only Eugene. With Euria’s cuteness, they were bound to get more money than if Eugene herself were to ask for money. The reason why Eugene taught this pose to Euria was that she could save money, hence why for the past 2 and a half years, Eugene would use the innocent Euria as a scapegoat to collect as many coins as she could. After all, this was the only thing Eugene, a former A list actress whose career was currently useless in this world can do!

Money = POWER!

Nodding in acknowledgment of Euria’s perfect timing to ask for money, Eugene pat herself in the back. ‘I have taught well.’ For the future, one must save money!

Getting gold coins from Levis, the tense atmosphere was filled with one of awe. Heading to the carriage in two groups, they then started their journey to the capital. Levis, Ramon, and Moniqua’s mother on one carriage. Eugene, Euria, Aernest, Aeselak, and Aedelak on the other.

After about 20 minutes of heading down out of the Veria mountain, they soon reached the exit. The view of the capital roads coming into view after about another 10 minutes of exiting the main exit. Here carriages are seen heading in and out of the capital with no difficulties. Sometimes if the roads were too small to fit 2 carriages, their carriage would stop for other carriages to pass by. Pedestrians too also made way for carriages to pass by smoothly without kicking up a fuss.

Although there wasn’t any traffic control, the ride was peaceful with no accidents. And this was because, for horsemen to be qualified to drive a carriage, they had to at least do 3 years of training and then take an exam to qualify for a driving license! Knights and Soldiers are exempted from this rule.

The bustling street was cheery as usual. Commoners and aristocrats can be seen to be coexisting together peacefully and shopping around. Taking another road to head to a different street, the street they arrived at was mainly for food. Cafes of different themes and restaurants selling different food can be seen.

There are cafes available for only men or only ladies as well. From cute themes like pink stores to a full-on glass display with different varieties of sweets to luxurious sophisticated ones. This street was catered to anyone, the rich, the poor, anyone!

As soon as Euria saw bakeries or food on display, her stomach rumbled loudly. This made the people on Euria’s carriage laugh to the point that it got painful. The older carriage in the meantime paled in comparison. Although there was no laughter, Ramon took charge of explaining the new stores to his grandmother in Louis stead as per Moniqua’s instruction.

Arriving at their destination, everyone got out of two carriages with the Veria family logo. The store before them was a cafe the Veria family manages so eating here was more logical than heading to a different cafe.

The two carriages, and the 8 who got off naturally brought people’s attention. It was not every day that the people could see someone from the main Veria family, especially since they lived in a mountain. The attention the 8 got was equivalent to modern-day celebrities.

The bustling street was soon filled with gasps when they realized that all of the Veria children came to town today. Not only that, but 7 of the 9 Paladins of Xenperia were also in town today. With excitement, instead of lingering outside the cafe, they all rushed home to tell their spouses and children of this. Bragging about getting to see the famous twins of Xenperia.

____

The smell of cookies wafted through the entrance as soon as they entered. Heading to a private room, the 8 soon sat down. “Is this your first time in this capital grandma?” Euria curiously asked as this was her first time going outside with her grandmother.

To this Moniqua’s mother replied, “No it’s not. Before your parents got married, I lived in the capital for many years.”

“Father and Mother married here?” Euria's eyes sparkled, recalling many picture books speaking of true love and marriages. “Yes. Their marriage ceremony started in church and paraded through the capital. It was a grand marriage.” The grandmother softly smiled remembering Moniqua and Levis’ marriage she secretly attended.

“Woww” Euria's eyes sparkled with stars.

Before long, drinks and bakeries were served. The smell of many sweet bakeries made Eugene and Louis a bit nauseous. It wasn’t that Eugene disliked sweets or loved them but because she was an actress, she had to constantly keep watch on her weight. She rarely ate sweets and also considered it bad, health-wise. But who would have known she would die an early death at the age of 25! If she knew beforehand she might have not been as strict with food intakes as she did then.

The waft of almond chocolate wafted through her nostrils, bringing her attention to the plate in front of her. From macarons to scones, to cakes, everything was served, filling up their table. Although this sight would normally make one happy, Eugene couldn’t help but frown. She had a bad feeling that the person besides her would not be able to stop eating.

“Grandmother, what do you plan for the week here?” Ramon asked, silently sipping on his milk tea. “Hmm…” Sipping on her lemon iced tea, the grandmother thought for a moment before replying. “I have no plans per se.”

Because Euria was consciously thinking about the relationship between Eugene and her grandmother, she stayed silent after making a slip on the first question. With nowhere to take out her frustration from being in the middle person, Euria, like what Eugene had predicted, started wolfing down many of the bakeries that were placed on the table.

Towards Euria constantly stuffing her mouth Eugene frowned. “Eat with moderation Euria, these are bad for you.” Eugene said. 7 plates were cleared in an instant after she finished her sentence.

Pausing her mealtime, she took a glance at Eugene with her eyebrows slightly frowning. “Why is it bad for you.” Euria confusingly asked.“When it's so yummy.” She smiled.

To this even Aernest was confused. Not knowing how to explain, Eugene just said. “You will be fat.”

With this sentence, Moniqua’s mother couldn’t help but frown. In her mind, children should be able to eat anything they wanted without worrying about such things. Not wanting to offend Eugene she said, “Euria can eat some more, she is already very thin. ”

“......” Eugene blinked not knowing how to counter.

To this, Euria happily glanced over to her grandmother and then back to Eugene, grinning. Frowning, Eugene tried to be as informative as possible. “Too much sugar is bad for children so it is better to eat in moderation. If Euria is too thin, she can eat more fatty meat and tons of vegetables”

“But sweets are yummy, and vegetables taste bad.” Euria defended her sweets from Eugene’s wisdom.

“Things that don’t taste good are good for you, and things that taste good are normally bad for you.” Louis calmly intervened.

Because Louis and Ramon have been training since the age of 3 and are older than Euria and Aernest, they understood Eugene’s point of not overindulging. The truth is, too many sweets are bad for you, especially for the Veria family members whose swordsmanship style was dependent on their weight loss or gains.

“Awe…” Euria sadly pouted.

“It’s alright Euria, eat some more. You are still too young to be worrying about such things.” Seeing Euria a bit sad, their grandmother urged Euria to not mind Louis and Eugene’s words. With her words, Euria started indulging in her sweets, smiling from the yumminess.

Eugene sighed at the bad judgment of this old lady. She took a glance at Aernest to see if he too was overindulging, only to see Aernest sipping on his milk instead. Raising her eyebrows at him, he only cheekily smiled back. In his head, he was thinking ‘I should listen to Neia.’

Aernest was one who also loved sweets, so it was surprising to see him stopping himself. Eugene shook her head, her eyes meeting Moniqua’s mother instead.

“Eugene..neia. You too should eat more. You are still growing.” She said, nervously looking at Eugene in the eye. With a polite smile, Eugene replied.“It’s alright, I am not too fond of sweets.”

“.... oh.” The lady nodded. “That’s possible.” Looking at Eugene’s choice of drink, she could tell Eugene wasn’t lying.

After Euria completely wolfed down all the deserts they got, they headed out to the streets, giving their grandmother a tour because she hasn’t come to the capital of Xenperia in over 10 years. They walked here and there for 2 hours and by the time they were done, it was 12pm.