-Geneve-

I knew something was going through Vaelen’s head. His face said it all. I didn’t assume he behaved so sedately just because his younger brother would be undergoing further preparation.

The two of them, despite being brothers sharing the same blood, seemed like an eccentric child often being scolded and frowned upon by his sulky parental figure, which often brought a lot of… problems, and dynamics between the two. In other words, their wholesome “fights” with each other was nothing new to Declan, Lunar and me. We’ve grown quite used to it.

However, there were be moments when one of them would display odd behavior. Different than the “norm”. Odd behavior that stemmed from the seemingly usual, unserious fight they had, such as now.

I didn’t assume they had a brawl with each other whilst being outside. Something was bothering Vaelen despite faking a smile, or pretend as if everything was fine.

Because of this, I came to the conclusion that he was still bothered by Caelum’s circumstances. So I slowly made my way up the stairs, and traversed the hallway, passing by everyone’s rooms until I got to the last door, and gave it a few gentle knocks.

“Who’s there?” he asked, his muffled voice breaking through the closed door.

“It’s me, Geneve. Mind if I open the door?”

“…I don’t. Come in.”

As I slowly pushed the door open, a fresh breeze of the outside wind pressed against my face, tinged by the smell of fresh flowers that came from a pot of roses standing in the corner of the room. The atmosphere evidently felt more “lighter” than downstairs that was filled by foody aromas from Kasey’s cooking.

He sat on the edge of his bed, hunged over, his back facing me. As I stepped inside, I let out a sigh, closing the door as I spoke to him.

“Declan’s started to get too noisy with the cook. Thought why not settle here for a little while?”

“Well, there’s unfortunately not much I can do to entertain you, Geneve” he responded, standing up as he turned towards me. “I’m not feeling so energetic today.”

“And yet you’re still awake,” I chuckled, crossing my arms. “I can only safely assume that something is on your mind.”

Not considering what he would think, I calmly took a seat on the edge of his bed, facing him with a closed smile.

“I’m able to lend an ear. What is it?”

He let out a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“You’re just like Lunar. It only takes a glance for you to realize that there are things on my mind.”

“I wouldn’t dare to say that,” I chuckled, hanging my head. “Lunar is his very own category. In a sense, you could say that some of his genius has rubbed on me.”

He wordlessly turned around, gazing out the nearby window in silence as if it were his response, prompting me to continue, resting my head on the bed’s support.

“…He told me that he tried to have a talk with you, but you weren’t feeling so cooperative.”

With his back now faced towards me, I turned my head towards his figure, finally breaking the ice.

“Still worrying about Caelum?”

I could notice his right hand slowly bawling into a fist. He responded with a composed, but serious tone.

“…If I told you I’ve grown suspicious, what would you do?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Be more specific,” I responded. “What do you mean by ‘suspicious’? As in the current situation revolving Caelum, or Caelum himself?”

He relaxed his eyebrows, remaining silent. I continued.

“…Are you really telling me that you’re suspicious of your own brother?”

“No, I’m… not…”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I just…” he muttered, lowering his head. He then dramatically turned towards me, his long black hair flowing along the motion. “What would you do if you stood in my shoes?”

“That’s a rather ambiguous question, Vaelen,” I sighed, standing up. “You seem like someone who knows what he is supposed to do, aren’t you?”

He let out a sigh through his nose, and slowly regained composure.

“…Lunar said something similar to me that evening. That my brother needed me… I understood what he said, but…”

“You feel responsible for this?”

“Yes, well… kind of.”

“Listen, Vaelen, I totally understand how you’re feeling,” I began, stepping towards him. “It’s only a natural reaction of an older brother when, out of nowhere, something like this happens to their younger sibling. You being such a religious person makes it much worse, too.”

He lowered his head, his eyes aimlessly staring into the distance.

“I studied the Golden Book for many years, Geneve. There are just way too many similarities with Caelum and the prophecy. It is equal to telling a math teacher that one plus one equals three. It doesn’t make sense for the teacher, because he knows it equals two.”

“…While it may not be as bold as that example, I still find it reasonable,” I sighed, crossing my arms. “His skin turning pale may really be a side-effect of the summoning of two different Grimoires.”

“And how would you explain the two Grimoires, then?” he asked, frowning. “Is that not enough reason to assume he has two different souls residing within him?”

I remained silent in response.

“Exactly,” he said aggressively. “You can’t come up with an excuse because there can’t possibly exist one. You can’t have two separate Grimoires while housing a single soul. That is impossible.”

“Well, did you notice anything peculiar about him throughout the years?” I asked, raising my head to meet his eyes. “If he truly housed a second soul, wouldn’t that cause him to grow dual-personality like behaviors? Or any mental condition that contrasts with his body housing two souls?”

“…That doesn’t matter,” he shook his head. “This could easily be explained by assuming that his ‘second’ soul was awakened as soon as his second Grimoire materialized into being.”

“You never know, Vaelen. The world of Livayae is large and fantastical enough to make it safe to assume that there could be another reason for this cause. At las, this conversation is purely based on the hypothesis of the Ritual Master. We never saw his second Grimoire. He would have undoubtedly summoned it by now after his training.”

This finally seemed to get him. But it was true.

We never saw Caelum’s supposed ‘second’ Grimoire. Despite not being well versed in how everything goes in the Gaian temple, it wouldn’t be bold to bet that, for some strange reason, the Ritual Master lied about the situation. It is much akin to Schrodinger’s cat box; Because we never personally confirmed the Ritual Master truly saw Caelum summon two separate Grimoires, we are forced to assume the latter. We can’t either confirm nor deny this possibility of him owning two Grimoires until we ‘open the box’; In this case, personally finding out through Caelum whether or not it is true that he houses two souls within his body.

As he remained silent, I continued, adding on to this belief.

“It would be disingenuous to say that you’d trust the words of the Ritual Master over your own brother’s. In Lunar words: Your brother needs you. Locking yourself up in your room and waiting until the next training procedure begins isn’t going to make things better.”

He took several moments before responding. In a way, I could truly imagine how conflicting it must’ve been for him. The Gaian Administration was of course a pre-established, ancient and holy place. For one of its Ritual Master to accuse Caelum of something like this would of course sound convincing in opposition to the words of his brother.

But, in the end, Caelum is his brother.

“…You’re right,” he slowly nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Vaelen,” I said chuckingly, patting his shoulder. “Why don’t you accompany me downstairs? I think some distraction may help you well.”

“I’ll be there in a moment.”

“…Are you sure?”

“I promise,” he responded, a closed bittersweet smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Our lunch should be ready anytime soon anyway.”

“Alright then,” I said smilingly, turning back towards the door. “I’ll see you downstairs.”