Episode 83 – Rhur, Rhur Rroda

Previously:

Elaru picks up Kiel’s ring and the two of them go to Black Pearl restaurant where she intends to give him the ring and explain its usage. Unfortunatelly, as they enter the lobby of the restaurant, they run into Rhur Rroda – Kiel’s older brother, and his date.

The first emotion a person would have upon meeting the two Rroda brothers would be surprise. Surprise that the features of the two were so similar that they could easily pa.s.s off as twins.

After the initial surprise faded, what would be left in its wake would be fascination. Fascination that two people with such similar features could leave fundamentally different impressions, making it so everyone can tell them apart with ease.

Both of the Rroda brothers wore black and blue clothes. Kiel’s were simpler while Rhur had intricate golden embroidery showcasing his status.

Kiel looked charismatic and mysterious, with a trace of unattainable vibe.

Although only a year older than Kiel, Rhur Rroda was several centimeters taller and exuded a stronger air of maturity. His robes were looser, but showed more of his flawless white skin, especially around the neck area, bringing his allure to its fullest. He was stylish, refined and seductive.

While Kiel had an untouchable vibe of virtue, Rhur was exactly the opposite – approachable, enticing, enchanting, as if trying to lure one into sin.

“Fancy meeting you here, older brother.” Kiel smiled a bright, heart-stopping smile that instantly lit up the room. Rhur also responded with a smile. However, his was mysterious and seductive. The darkness hidden underneath the smile was as if designed to stir hidden fleshly desires of everyone who saw it.

Although Kiel’s smile was as bright as the sun, internally he was incessantly cursing his bad luck. Out of all the times, Rhur could have come here… If either of them had arrived a few minutes later, they wouldn’t have crossed paths with each other.

Out of all people he could have run into, Rhur was on the top of his “do not want to meet” list.

Saying that the two brothers didn’t get along would be a major understatement. Kiel greatly disliked Rhur’s mother, which made him negatively biased towards Rhur even before the two met. However, Rhur’s prejudice of Kiel seemed to skip the bounds of prejudice and go straight for pure and simple “loathing”.

Yet, where Kiel opted for avoiding Rhur, the latter greatly enjoyed picking a fight with Kiel and often did his utmost to make his life miserable.

Which is why there was no doubt in Kiel’s mind of what was to follow. Rhur would certainly not let him go. Rroda family did their utmost to catch him and stop him from partic.i.p.ating in Muni exams, going even as far as to hire a Shadow. If he simply avoided all Rroda family members, later on, he could pretend to have been ignorant of their search. That way he could avoid responsibility and say that he wasn’t intentionally going against the family.

However, if Rhur Rroda insisted on bringing him back to the mainhouse, all his future plans would crumble into pieces. If he refused to go with him, a battle would surely erupt. Even if they managed to run away successfully, it would be disobeying the will of the Rroda family. It would be breaking all pretense of cordiality, an outright declaration of war. His grandfather would show him no mercy and even his father would be limited in what he could do to help out.

However, if he obediently went to the Rroda mainhouse, he could salvage the situation. In worst case scenario, he wouldn’t be able to partic.i.p.ate in the last two exams. However, he should already have enough points to pa.s.s them. And there was always a chance that his grandfather would allow him to partic.i.p.ate when he explained that he was no longer a non-mage.

Unfortunately, that explanation depended on the ring Elaru had designed for him.

A ring that he didn’t yet know how to use. In fact, Elaru and Kiel had come to Black Pearl exactly with the intention of her explaining the usage of the ring.

Rhur scanned Kiel and Elaru in a seemingly friendly way, his gaze lingering on Elaru longer than intended. Then he turned to face his date and spoke out in a deep, alluring voice: “Ayah, meet my little brother, Kiel.” Rhur chuckled softly and motioned towards Kiel.

Without waiting for Kiel to respond, he placed his hand on the back of his date like a proper gentleman and said. “Little brother, this is lady Ayah Ufabel.”

Kiel retained his bright smile and nodded politely. “It is a pleasure, Lady Ufabel.”

The blonde female’s face reddened, and she giggled. “The pleasure is all mine.” She curtsied politely. “And please, call me Ayah.”

Kiel nodded politely. “Ayah it is.”

While Kiel and Ayah were conversing, Rhur’s eyes were glued on Elaru instead. Kiel didn’t even finish his sentence before Rhur interrupted him. He stared right into Elaru’s light teal eyes and purred: “And who might this fine lady be?”

Most girls would shy away from his gaze, some would boldly look at him pa.s.sionately. And then there were those who would display hostility because of his reputation of a playboy. Either way, the number of ladies who could stare into his penetrating yet incomparably beautiful light blue eyes and show no reaction could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

This one gaze was often the preliminary means by which Rhur gauged the personality of the female and how to deal with her.

Elaru Wayvin didn’t shy away from his gaze, nor show hostility. She held his gaze, refusing to look away first. Those teal orbs were like calm lakes, without displaying any particular emotion.

That apathy made Rhur’s blood boil. What he loved the most was tearing away the calm façade and biting into the soft flesh underneath.

“Elaru Wayvin.” She responded neither politely nor impolitely, neither haughtily nor humbly. And then she smiled.

She smiled, and the whole world stood still.

Even Rhur, who was used to beautiful ladies, was startled for a moment before he recovered and chuckled huskily. Gently he extended his hand towards her. Elaru didn’t hesitate and offered her own hand in response, intending to shake Rhur’s hand.

However, a handshake wasn’t what Rhur had in mind.

As soon as her palm touched his, he grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips.

Rhur looked at her sensually, as if there was no one else present and planted a b.u.t.terfly kiss on the back of her hand.

The kiss was soft and tender, yet incomparably alluring. It wasn’t just a kiss, but rather, a promise of what would come if she gave in to the temptation.

“Rhur, Rhur Rroda.” He murmured, his voice vibrated deeply, the hot breath tickling the skin of Elaru’s hand.

As Kiel noticed the familiar heat hiding behind Rhur’s eyes, his heart sank, and his smile stiffened.

He recognized that look.

And as soon as he saw it, Kiel understood that the situation had just gone from bad to worse.

Rhur had found his next female target.

Typical Rhur. Only you can flirt with another female in front of your own date.

Kiel’s eyes unconsciously flashed with a deep chill, and he grabbed Elaru by her other hand, pulling her back gently, out of Rhur’s grasp.

Kiel glanced at Elaru from the corner of his eyes, gauging her reaction to Rhur’s obvious advances. He was surprised to find that Elaru, who was usually quite expressive, wearing her emotions on her sleeve, was currently completely unreadable.

It wasn’t just her face, even her aura was completely calm, without ripples. It was as though she had switched personalities, from a happy-go-lucky troublemaker to a calm and confident n.o.ble.

Even he, who could feel some of her emotions through the bond, was unable to see through what she was really feeling.

Her calmness also had a calming effect on his agitated mental state. His trepidation and anger calmed down. Being around this redhead caused him to feel a mysterious sense of security.

Rhur finally looked away from Elaru, seemingly with much difficulty, and met Kiel’s gaze instead. “Little brother, long time no see. I’ve missed you dearly.” His voice and expression contained an incomparable warmth and love. If Kiel didn’t know better, he would think him to truly be a perfect image of a caring older brother.

Long time? Not nearly long enough! Kiel growled internally, yet outwardly he still kept a polite smile and looked at Rhur with just as much fake affection. “Indeed, it has been too long, older brother. I kept hoping that grandfather would let you visit me, but alas, he is too strict in managing your time.” Kiel’s gaze that had been on Rhur moved to his blonde date.

Rhur, of course, caught the sarcasm in his words. How could he be able to go on a date if grandfather was strictly managing his time?

However, the sarcasm didn’t seem to bother Rhur, on the contrary, his eyes displayed pleasure and triumph. “Indeed. It’s so lucky that we managed to stumble into each other like this. Little brother, come, we must catch up! Let us dine together.”

Typically, even though Rhur highly enjoyed messing with Kiel, there would be a single situation in which he would choose not to a.s.sociate with him – when he intended to engage in certain activities with a female companion.

This was undoubtedly such a situation, which is why Rhur’s current behavior filled Kiel with dread. Since Rhur suggested such an idea, preferring to a.s.sociate with him instead of spending quality time with his female friend, it meant that what he wanted from Kiel took precedence.

He either wanted to bring Kiel to see Venric or he had lost interest in his own date upon seeing Kiel’s “date”.

Neither of the possibilities sounded pleasant.

Kiel’s guess was indeed correct. As soon as Rhur saw the “date” of his little brother, he lost all interest in his own date. How could he enjoy Ayah Ufabel, while knowing that at that right moment, his little brother might be enjoying a woman far superior to his? It would be like eating bread while his brother ate a full course dinner!

Rhur Rroda would be d.a.m.ned if he let that happen. He would be d.a.m.ned if he let Kiel Rroda beat him in any way.

Therefore, Rhur decided to thwart Kiel’s plans for a romantic evening and use catching up as a pretext of getting to familiarize himself with Kiel’s “date”.

“I am afraid we’ll have to catch up some other time.” Kiel politely declined, appearing quite apologetic. Although he declined, Kiel didn’t expect Rhur to let him go. Rhur was many things, unfortunately, persistent was one of them.

Rhur gave Kiel a knowing look and sighed. “I know what you are thinking, little brother…”

Kiel’s heart skipped a beat. What does he think I am thinking? That I am trying to ditch him as to avoid him apprehending me and bringing me to the mainhouse? Or that I am worried he would actually steal my perceived “date”?

Rhur continued: “…but you are worrying too much. The meal is on me. I know that those low-level delivery quests you’ve been doing would be hard pressed to cover the bill. But how could I possibly let my little brother pay?”

The silence descended on the lobby.

What? Kiel had blinked several times before he realized what just happened. That b.u.t.tcracker!! Kiel’s smile froze. Truly a n.o.ble down to the bone. Spouting venom with each word and pa.s.sing it off as concern.

You think I don’t know what you are doing? Trying to embarra.s.s me and show how much better you are so as to steal my “date”?! You think I’ll just let you do as you please?! Dream on! I can do the “embarra.s.sing” part just as well as you!

“My financial situation is fine, older brother. Thank you for your concern, but with how often you dine here with your female companions, I don’t think you can afford to pay for my own meals too.”

Author Note:

Just wanted to point out that while you are flipping your table, wondering what kind of face smacking shall happen in the following several episodes, Aethernea patrons are already reading it for as little as 2$ per month. ;)

Coming up in the next episode:

Kiel’s eyes narrowed slightly, and Rhur’s flashed with brief contempt. One could almost see sparks flying in the air.

And the ball was back at Rhur’s court, charging him for pinning his own indecent actions on others. Oooooo, smackdown! Elaru couldn’t help but let out a slight giggle.

“Of course we wouldn’t mind. But what about lady Ufabel? You two came here on a date. It wouldn’t be fair towards her if we dined together, don’t you think?”

Kiel stood there with a stiff smile, searching desperately for an escape route, however, he could no longer refuse.