"Umm.. You won't fit.."
Ian spoke with a troubled voice.
"I'll manage.."
Albert insisted with a scary smile.
"I'm telling you, it's too small for both of you.."
Ian was practically on the verge of tears.
"Young master won't have to worry about that.. We can adjust.."
"No why are you even here in the first place?!"
Ian shouted back in frustration. He wanted to take a nice little nap with the kids when these two fully grown adults barged into his bedroom and decided that they'll spend the night there.
"My bed wasn't made to accommodate knights and princes!"
"The Duke gave his permission though.."
"And I'm not a knight anymore.."
They both had a weirdly persuasive tone in their voice as they rejected Ian's rejectio
"ugh... can't.. breathe.." Ian's peaceful sleep came to an end at the suffocating pressure he was getting from all sides. As he slowly opened his eyes, he finally knew why. 'I told them it'd be uncomfortable...' Ian removed Canis from his chest, then untangled Eli from his leg and finally Jet, she wasn't on top of him like the other's, thankfully. 'Come back.' He summoned them in and let them sleep a bit longer right next to his heart. "These four..." On his left, Ash, then right next to him, Arthur, on his right, Damon and then next to him Albert, all four of them were stuck closely to each other and clinging to Ian. 'I'll let them sleep a bit longer.' Ian quietly got off the bath and went to the washroom to take a shower. He was pr
"Umm.. What do you mean by 'acted normal'...?"Albert, who had no idea about Ian's memory loss excuse, couldn't get the hang of it, the conversation between Ian and his parents, and asked back in curiosity.He wondered what they meant, why Ian would need to act normal and what was going on with the whole situation overall."Hmm...""Ahem.."The hesitant expression on Ian's parents made Albert even more confused. They kept staring at Ian as if they were waiting for him to guide them or give them permission of some sort. They looked fairly uncomfortable and at the same time eager to say something."You can tell him. I don't mind."Ian focused on the steak in front of him and spoke in a casual manner. He didn't want to lie so he passed the ball onto his parents who looked like they were eager to share some big secret with t
Ian wanted to draw lots and select a specific date when he can celebrate all of their birthdays together. As he proposed the idea of a joint birthday celebration, all of the kids looked at him with excitement in their eyes. They all had vague ideas about birthdays and party's but had no practical experience. 'Whats even worse, many of them probably don't even know their own birthdays..' Ian knew what life was like for orphans. Since him and his brother had to live that life for decades. And he also knew how precious these little things were to someone like that. "So what numbers shall we pick for the draw?" "That's up to you. Here. I'll give you the papers. Art. Help me sort these out, will ya?" "......." "Hm?" As Ian turned around after receiving no immediate reply, he could see that Arthur was actually nowhere to be seen. He hadn't brought Arthur with him in the first place. "I'll help." Louis, Ash and a few other beast and people, including Lucas and Henry, came forwar
'A Phoenix??? For real?!'Ian couldn't help but ask the voice inside his head in shock. Even the wings on his back fluttered strongly in response to his emotions.There were many fictional beings and creatures in fantasy novels, dragons, mermaid, fairy, werewolf, vampires etc. But if someone asked Noah what was his favorite, his answer would undeniably be"A Phoenix of course! They are the coolest."That was the reason Ian had such a huge reaction when he realized the possibility of a phoenix existing inside the novel.'Took you long enough.'Is all that voice said before going quiet. But he sounded a little happy, or so Ian sensed from the tone.'What?! Seriously? Is this true?'Ian was acting like a fan who had a chance meeting with his celebrity idol in a shopping mart. The only thing left was to ask for an autograph. And even though his previous reply confirmed his doubts, Ian still wanted to double, tripl
"Young master. Can I come in?"Someone knocked on the door. Ian flicked his finger and opened the door."What is it?"Ian asked without even moving his gaze from the book in his lap. He already knew who it was by their voice."The prisoners are awake.""Alright. Bring those two and the previous one in a different cell.""As you wish, young master. But umm.. will you go down there by yourself?"Ian planned on giving some special people a visit today so the preparation was going on. Ian closed the book in his hand and looked up to Corner from him comfortable seat."Yes. I need to see them for myself.""But it'll be dangerous by yourself. At least let me be by your side."Corner looked determined about something as he requested.'Hmm.. I gue
Ian was standing in front of a prison cell. As he grabbed the keys to the cell, he told Corner that he'd be going inside."Y-young master!"Corner hurriedly came and squeezed himself in between Ian and the Cell door."What's wrong?"Ian took a step back and asked."That's too dangerous! Please let me go in first."Corner pleaded. Seeing his earnest expression, Ian wondered what was wrong. Something about Corner was definitely off and Ian could feel it.The only problem was he couldn't exactly put his finger on what exactly had gone wrong. So he let things continue for now and handed the keys over to Corner."Go on.."Corner looked relived as he took the keys from Ian's hand. He then carefully unlocked the door and opened the door for Ian, after checking for himself th
In a hallway filled with silence, Ian munched on what seemed like his seventh piece of chocolate.And by chocolate, yes, they were actually chocolates made with cocoa beans. Ian had instructed the chefs to find fruits that looked similar to cocoa and tasted bitter.After he gave them a short example on how it should be made, the talented chefs in the mansion managed to easily figure out the rest."I should put these items in our menu, right?"Ian asked Corner, who also had a bar of chocolate in his hand. He was reluctant to eat it in the beginning, but once he got a taste of it, Corner's worldview changed.He swore to never reject a food offered by Ian again."Menu?"Corner looked puzzled on what Ian was talking about."The restaurants I'm opening in the capital."
As Vel, Neil and Venom looked at Ian with horror in their face, Ian raised an eyebrow in confusion.He hadn't done anything but scare them for a second so he couldn't understand why they were making such horrified expressions while looking at him."Are you guys okay?"He actually felt concerned after noticing how pale the trio looked. As he began to check their overall health status, he soon realised that they had many wounds and blood spots all over their body.Since Neil had gone through many interrogation, and Vel and Venom got beaten up personally by Ian and Rianne, all three of them were in a pretty bad state."Hey.. "He signalled for Corner to come close."Are their mana being restricted right now?"Ian asked a question that had been bothering him for a while now.
Ian returned. After wondering the continent for half a year, he came back with a 'Bang!'. Right when the nobles all around the country gathered to 'show the hero his place', Ian returned. Crazy hypothesises such that Ian being a Devil worshipper, betraying the country and being on the run or that he's actually a demon etc etc all came to an end as he openly took Arthur's side and threatened the other nobles.Of course, most of those rumours weren't too far off the mark. Ian did prefer villains over heroes, demons over angels, he had no love for their country and lastly, he was a darkness ability user with a twisted moral sense. And! To top it all off, he also preferred these rumours over ones that would hail him as a hero. he'd rather be on the run after being called a demon rather than be called a hero and worshipped. Again, twisted morality. But he couldn't do that this time. There were too many people using his name so he couldn't just let it be as those people got treated bad
"It's been a week since young master lost consciousness."Rob wrote in his diary as he sighed. There was a heavy atmosphere surrounding the duchy ever since the day Adrian fell down from the roof and went into a coma. How or why it happened was still a mystery around the duchy but speculations about an attempted suicide was slowly spreading around. Rob didn't believe them though. The Adrian he knew was too selfish and arrogant to do something like that. Yet, even when he was so sure, a small part of his mind kept lingering over that quiet and motionless room where Adrian was."Ah.. It's been a while."With that, Rob went to take another look at the sleeping Adrian for the 36th time that day. Although he was telling himself that Adrian's situation wasn't that serious, that he'd wake up soon, as he tried to remember all the bad things Ian did in his short lifetime just to mask his worry, he didn't even realise that he was unconsciously heading towards Ian's room again. After worryin
Things Ian did(Unintentionally or intentionally) that influenced the future of Arthur's world: First of all, although the effect wasn't that eye-catching at the moment, Ian was going to be known as the figure that erased racial discrimination. Due to him giving shelter to people of all age and race, and the humans around him having constant changes in their views and perspective, it was going to be the seed that erased all future discrimination and racial profiling. Secondly, he was going to be known as the bridge between Humans and the Demons. The Queen of the Demons, Ash's mother who had gone back to the demon world to deal with some 'internal affairs' would soon return with an actual offer of friendship between the demons and the humans. It was Bela's way of showing gratitude to the people who had taken care of her son in his times of need. Ian's love for Ash was plain as day and the care and gentleness he showed when dealing with him was no different from what a parent woul
"What..?""That's absurd!""Is that sorcery? Does he think he can fool us so easily?!"There were looks of disbelief, shock and confusion on everyone's faces as they looked at Ash. But no matter how tough they acted or how oblivious they tried to be, the bone chilling aura coming from Ash that slowly filled the room was undeniable. It was an aura that was impossible for any human to manifest, dark and scary."It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not.""I'm not the one behind bars looking at lifetime imprisonment and possible death sentence."Ian shrugged his shoulders in a casual manner as he signaled for Ash to stop. He was only here to give these people a chance. A chance at repentance. If they refuse to grab it, he didn't care less whether they died or lived inside a cage forever. 'Human resources are valuable after all.'That was one of the other reasons why Ian was here. He wanted to bind all these people under contract and have them serve the country. It didn't sit right
"You're gonna let them go?" Arthur asked, conflicted, as he looked at Ian. They were currently in an underground prison, the biggest prison that was made on Ian's request under the Duchy. The war criminals, the cult members, were being held here. Seven days had already passed since Ian's soul returned to his body. He was forced to have complete bedrest this whole time by his parents and the kids. They finally let him go after he managed to manipulate them emotionally with everything he had. It was a difficult job indeed. But nothing was impossible for Ian. "Let them go? NO?" Ian asked back in utter shock instead. But it wasn't Arthur's fault that he misunderstood. Ian did indeed say something that could be easily misinterpreted. "But you just said 'It's time to go out.'..?" That's what he said. To the criminals. Not that he meant it literally. "To the hall. TO.THE.HALL." Ian repeated himself twice, once for the criminals and once for Arthur. Everyone captured already had
Ian's time with the kids were cut short as the Dicarious couple arrived in a haste. A part of Ian was happy to see them again after so long. But a part of him was also wondering if they really were there for Ian. What if they were expecting their son to come back? What if the person they expected to see coming to his senses was Adrian and not him? How disappointed they would be. With a mixture of these various emotions coursing through his mind, he failed to make any type of expression when faced with those two people. Neither could he smile wholeheartedly nor apologize and cry. The kids were guided outside by Arthur and Albert, giving Ian and his parents the room to themselves. Ash was reluctant to leave seeing Ian's expression, but the atmosphere was too heavy for him to interfere. So while everyone else went to another room, he stayed, waiting while standing outside Ian's room. The others also didn't force him to leave since they didn't know which was better. "Are you
"YOU!"Smack!"THOUGHTLESS!"SMACK!"BAS-! JER-!! PERSON!"Ian had to wake up from his peaceful sleep with the sound of someone's shout along with the obnoxiously loud yet not so painful smacking of the pillows."Ow ow ow.. what the hell...?""Huh?""I'm back?"Ian woke up rubbing the back of his head that was the victim of continuous battering and looked around. The changed bedroom and the familiar faces made him aware of the fact that he had indeed come back. "What?""What are you talking about, young master? You didn't go anywhere."Both Albert and Arthur looked concerned as they checked Ian's status for any abnormalities. Only after multiple checking did they finally sigh in relief. "Ah no.. ""Hey guys.. Long time no see?"Ian greeted the kids and the Prince and the Knight all together while leaning back on his bed. The one responsible for the ruthless battering from before still had a massive pout on their face as they silently glared at Ian. "Are you angry? I'm sorry. How lo
Ian enjoyed the tea from hell while having a long and informative conversation with death, or at least that's who he assumed the other person was. He learned about the past that he had locked away and the people he had forgotten. But it all felt distant, like he was viewing the life of somebody else. "Why did I do that? Lock my memories?"Ian was curious. Just by watching the memories of Noah's future, he could tell that he lived a pretty okay life. The daughter he adopted also turned out to be great. She became his family. These were precious memories. So he couldn't understand why he'd lock them up like this. "After I presented you with my request, this is what you told me."Death continued showing Ian another set of completely different memories. An old man, wrinkly hand, white hair, hazy eyes. The room looked similar to the one he was in right now, and so was the person in front of them. "The me right now cannot save a world.""The blade has already lost it's edge.""I've grow
"What do you mean by welcome back?"Ian asked, confused. As far as he could remember, never before in his life did he see this man or these scenes. And these weren't circumstances that he'd forget 'by chance' either. "After your first death, you came here.""First death.. Ah.. When I jumped down the bridge?"Ian remembered his last moments as Noah. The music that played, the scenery he watched on top of that bridge, they were all very memorable. Yet, he had no memory of coming to this place.But unlike Ian's thoughts, the guy in front of him shook his head in denial. Not understanding exactly which part he was denying, Ian tilted his head to the side slightly."What death are you talking about then?""You didn't die back then."The guy sat down on the bed, facing Ian and the endless hell behind him as he spoke. "When you were at the verge of losing consciousness, you heard a childs cry.""A child?""Yes. It was the final monster outbreak." Ian wondered what this guy was talking abo