Chapter 2 | Years Later

I had been growing well and it had been a full 7 years since my, I guess you could call it...reincarnation. I was almost 8 now, along with Alice, my twin sister. In Kormere, 8 was the socially-acceptable age for nobles to show off their children in a Dance of Legitimacy, where the shown-off host a party, are formally introduced by their titles and accepted as legitimate heirs to their family's fortune. Since it was for both Alice and me, it was going to be a big deal.

One fateful morning, while Alice and I were eating breakfast and discussing whether strawberry or chocolate cake was better (we decided that chocolate won by a longshot), our mother rushed in and began yelling. "You worthless, children! Why are you still eating when there is work in my room to be done?" Us twins turned to each other and quickly stuffed our faces with tasteless porridge, our breakfast. Mother was gone by the time Alice finished and she whispered to me, "You keep eating, okay, baby brother? I'll start cleaning Mom-...Mother's room." I nodded and speed ate.

With both of us working as fast as we could, we finished in no time and Mother came back, face all red, to a spotless room. "You brats missed a spot," she concluded then left.

It took us forever but we finally finished just before lunch. "Alice-Chalice, are we done now?" said Alice. She nodded and wiped her brow, and that's when I noticed her hands had horrid cuts on them, probably from scrubbing the floors hard to make sure it was clean.

"Okey-dokey, Charlie-Barley! I'm gonna go get bandages, yeah? You can go without me this time, but not far, alright?" warned my sister and best friend.

See, Alice and I did this thing where we would borrow the stableboy's old clothes and go into the town of Kormere since life at Grindstone Manor was so very dull. We only did it twice and both times we went together. We also never went too far as to not get lost. The last part was pretty useless because you just couldn't miss Grindstone Manor. It was huge!

I left Alice at the door of Mother's room and skidded into Alice and I's bedroom. It was more like a closet and pulled out the "commoner" clothes, which really weren't much different from the rags we wore, just more tattered and instead of our colorful pieces of cloth, these were brown and dirty.

After that, I went out through the servants' door and into town.

As soon as I got to the streets, I walked to an orchard. It was really pretty, full of flowers and trees, and it was the only reason Alice and I hadn't lost the taste of the fruit. Then, it hit me like I truck and I realized Oh, shoot. I look too clean to be a commoner! Even though our mother hated us, she cared a lot about what people thought about her and made us take baths every day. It would be bad for her reputation if her children were running around like pigs.

Once I realized it, I grabbed a handful of dirt and smeared it on my face.

"Why are you smearing dirt on your face, kid?" I looked up and was greeted by a light blue, almost white, haired boy maybe a little older than me, lying on a branch. "Why are you sleeping on a tree. That's not good," I replied almost immediately.

The boy sat up straight and narrowed his eyes at me. "None of your business," he told me. "Exactly," I said as I crossed my arms.

The boy, obviously annoyed by me, jumped off the tree and I winced when he landed. He held out his dirty hand and said, "I'm Evain." I shook his hand and replied, "Charlie."

'What the hell are you doing?! This kid could be a murderer!' Ace, you still there? 'No shit, you dunce. You are way too nice for your own good.'

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