The Head Priest
Chapter 1
His eyes forcefully snapped open.
It was rare for him to be unconscious, either willingly or unwillingly. Either in the form of 'sleep' or 'sleeping pills' and the like.
He had his own reasons, but the most prominent of them was that something bad would always happen while he was unconscious. And in this case, getting turned into a one years old.
Actually, it was more of 'reincarnation' than whatnot, judging from his last moments before his slumber and the stories he had read.
Anyways, he was unaware of the situation regarding what happened after his death, his current situation, and who the little girl next to him was.
It should be the most rational and reasonable decision one would make had they been in his place.
First off, she was beautiful. Soft, silky blond hair that had not yet been given time to grow, gem-like blue eyes that were vibrant and full of life, and plump, edible cheeks that were tinted with a light healthy red.
Secondly, through direct physical contact, he could place a small tracking device on her.
The girl stirred and tried to squat his hand away. Unluckily for her, children's bodies, especially those of one years olds, weren't fully developed yet.
So if she weren't a fully trained doctor like he himself, her attempts were completely futile.
In fact, the nervous system should still be developing, even though it was not much better than the first few months when the basic bodily functions such as excretion or reactions such as crying, it w̲a̲s̲ much better.
At least he could control his body somewhat.
The girl began to cry, unfortunately for him.
He retracted his hand and rolled to the side. Even though he was quite mild tempered, he still disliked such noisy and chaotic sounds coming from a child's mouth.
Looking at her, she had clear marks on her cheeks. Which shouldn't be the case, considering how he didn't put much force in it in the first place.
Riel
'Perhaps I accidentally hurt her?'
He mused. Nevertheless, he couldn't care less about such matters.
Riel
'Disease? Skin condition? What about the immune system? Premature delivery? What was the reason? Would anything change as her body mature?'
As a doctor, it was only normal that he was curious.
But to accurately determine the reason, he would need to conduct a thorough check, and perhaps a little bit of research into this world would be necessary, since the surroundings were currently an old western room, with toys and golden and silver decorations laid out freely.
Besides, he still needed to enter the dreamscape for the equipments, and someone, probably a servant taking into account the fact that the mother won't directly tend to the baby if she was a noble, was approaching.
The result of his (not)impulsive actions was that he was scolded.
How they figured out it was him considering the fact that he was in the body of a one years old was something that he honestly didn't understand.
And why they thought it was a great idea to scold him, who was still unable to talk in their impression.
Anyways, after they had fussed over the girl, they carried her out of the room and left him there alone.
It was quite irresponsible for people to leave children alone in a room all by themselves, but he guessed he shouldn't complain, seeing that it was merely giving him a chance to enter the dreamscape.
First things first, whenever coming to a new environment, one must explore the terrain. Namely the routes, hideouts, and shortcuts.
Secondly, if he didn't have anything to distract himself with, such as pacing around or any of the likes, he would overthink things.
And he didn't like to overthink things.
And it made him do bad things and make bad decisions.
Riel
'Ah, wait. I haven't checked whether my dreamscape is here with me or not.'
A thought suddenly popped up in his head. But he chose not to think too far along that line.
Anyways, if it was there with him, then good. If not... then he would do better dead.
It wasn't as if he hadn't done that before, anyways.
Besides, considering the fact that the dreamscape was connected to his soul, it was quite unlikely that anything bad happen.
Carefully, he reached out and poked at the connection...
Riel
*sigh*
'Sure enough, still there. What was I worrying about, even?'
He quickly activated the dreamscape.
Then, a slide appeared, connecting the crib he was lying in with the ground, making it easier for his child body to land.
Normally, he opted for stairs, but since he was a child, using a slide would not affect his appearances. And that was that.
He stood up and slid down and landed softly on the floor, which was covered with thick carpets that were safe enough to be in a room for babies.
Riel
"Now, I should need to have another outfit."
He muttered to himself, which he did as a habit to himself.
Then, he was immediately dressed in a fitting black outfit, with only golden decorations at the edges. He thought that he should have no need for earrings, at the current time.
Then he walked out into the long hallway as the door swung open for him.
Regarding the former Head Priest's thoughts, he had only one:
Riel
'Who on earth would waste so much space to tire people out from walking?'
Chapter 2
After a while of exploring, he was able to make a clear picture of the whole place.
Long winding halls, rooms and other halls intersecting and connecting in a disorderly manner...
This mansion seemed more like a dream than his own dreamscape.
He complained as the surroundings faded away in place of the scene of his bedroom.
He sat down on the bed with his more grown up body and sighed tiredly.
Riel
"I'm tired, I'm lonely, I'm cold. Why isn't Al with here with me?"
He mumbled sadly and fell down on the bed.
Riel
"Why am I even alive again?"
Riel
"Everything was supposed to go as planned."
Riel
"Everything was supposed to end."
Riel
"I should've been able to go and see her."
Riel
"Am I qualified to be in the same area as her?"
Riel
"Or am I going to meet them?"
Riel
"What's their name again?"
Riel
"And do something useful."
Riel
"And be a waste of oxygen."
Riel
"Riel's lazy. If only Al is here."
Riel
"Al would do everything."
Nevertheless, with a snap of his hand, though it was quite unnecessary, the dreamscape was dispelled, he was returned to the room in the beginning in the form of a one year old.
Even more useless than in the dreamscape.
The following days, months, weeks passed by without anything notable. And other than his big response at the beginning, he just let everyone toss him around like a doll.
He had always been tossed around like a doll.
Oh, he and that girl, Daliah Aurum, also his twin sister, slept together.
And he was finally able to satisfy his curiosity regarding her state.
There was nothing wrong with her body in general, it was just ⍵ⅇ⍺k.
And easy to get hurt and all.
But he could still fix it.
A bit gene mutations was needed, that's all.
And as Daliah's twin brother (even though it was fraternal twins), he was confident that he could make his own genes get accepted in her body.
Now that all of that was over, as the age of five was quickly approaching and Daliah fainted again due to exhaustion and playing in the scorching sun for too long, the Aurum Dukedom got a guest from the Lacero Dukedom, who came to visit often.
Oh, right, he was the second son and third child in the Dukedom.
But anyways, originally, he didn't intend to care about the boy, since according to what he heard from the servants, the boy was called Allen Lacero, the heir of the Lacero Dukedom.
And even though Allen Lacero had Al's name, they weren't the same person.
And it made him feel upset whenever he got reminded that Al wasn't there.
So he tried to avoid the boy in general.
He felt that he had done well so far, because he knew Allen Lacero's whole schedule. Allen Lacero was Daliah's playmate, so it was only natural that the boy went to Daliah to play everytime.
Oh, and after Allen Lacero's first visit, he and Daliah slept in different rooms.
Today was a different thing though.
Because while he was wandering in the garden, he met a boy.
A noble, judging from that boy's clothes and overall demeanor.
Riel
"What's your name? Are you lost?"
The boy turned around and looked at him with those bright, predatory brown eyes, which were so familiar that they made his smile a little stiff.
Allen Lacero
"Yes, I'm lost. And I'm Allen, Allen Lacero. What about you?"
Riel
"You can call me Riel."
He unconsciously used the greeting that he gave to everyone. Not a first name, nor a full one, for all that matters. Just a nickname to address him with.
Riel
"You're Daliah's playmate, right?"
Riel
"I overheard the servants talk about you."
Allen smartly didn't interject and waited for him to finish.
Riel
"Then I can take you to her."
Allen Lacero
"That would help me a lot, thank you."
Riel
"No need for thanks."
Riel
"For me to lead you."
Allen Lacero
"Anyway, thank you."
He smiled back, even though he had been smiling the whole time.
Perhaps that smile was a little brighter?
Riel
'Allen Lacero. Polite and intelligent, yet that crazed light inside your eyes seem to suggest something.'
He tilted his head and looked at the boy from the corner of his eyes.
Riel
'Why do you look exactly like my Al? Why do you act exactly like my Al?'
Allen Lacero
"So... you're Duke Aurum's third child, Asriel Aurum, right?"
Allen Lacero
"Do you want to join us, that is to say, Daliah and I, in our playdate? You're Daliah's twin brother, right?"
Riel
"Interrupt you guys."
Riel
"I have other things to do."
Allen Lacero
"What a shame, but I guess it's unavoidable."
Riel
"Uh huh, we're here."
He stopped and pointed at Daliah's door.
Allen Lacero
"Goodbye... Asriel."
Riel
"Call me Riel. Sounds strange when you address me like that. Anyways, I really have to go. Have a nice time!"
Vivi
Riel is an unstable person. And even though he never explains, him explaining would cause even more misunderstandings than not, so he just keeps quiet most of the time.
Vivi
As you might notice, he likes to divide his sentences up into parts, which he then uses to speak individually as several sentences.
Vivi
Other characters don't do this kind of thing.
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