- Sartre, Being And Nothingness

━━━━━━━━┓ ✠ ┏━━━━━━━━

Continuing the game of chess, with its pieces made and fabricated from fragile and expensive-looking gla.s.ses, and in this nostalgic greenhouse-sized castle with all corners ullaged with nothing but books that a kid this age should have had hated, I found my mind, drifting to someplace else.

"King to H8..." I exclaimed as the conclusion draws near, not minding the game"s development that much, since the thought of this visage being temporary begins to somehow boggle me. Not that if I focused, I could win though. The moment I agreed to play such a game, I lost by default... I am in her territory after all...

Actually, that"s just a plain insecure excuse of an older brother who can"t seem to beat either of his siblings... Well, for starters, Jean in the game of strategy is just way above me even in my current caliber.

The heir, himself, won against her... but just once. If I recalled, it was their first standoff, where Jean has this logical flowchart to focus on observing the reaction of the enemy first, hence making her lose the starting match, and yet, a.s.suring victory coming in consecutive, and none was able to beat her ever since.

"Eh? Jaiden... Is it just me or you"re becoming r.e.t.a.r.ded?" Seeing my move to be somewhat irrational and highly stupid, Jean backlashed, all while reading another book emblazoned as "Being and Time" by Martin Heidegger, a skill that she specializes in well... mult.i.tasking. And yet, to me, it just looks like a serious case of overconfidence.

"What do you mean? That"s the most logical move there is." Yeah... the best move indeed to stave a checkmate prompt, just by a single move more.

"Well, yeah you"re right. I still can see your persistence which is a healthy sign, choosing to be cornered rather than to give up voluntarily. Whatever, we both know too well, that there"s no turning back time, not in reality, and certainly not in board games such as this, says the author of this book I"m reading... Rook to H1...Checkmate! I win, again." In her usual playful manner and with a satisfied look, she added, declaring her win which is apparently devoid of spoils.

"No turning back time huh", I thought, knowing too well that the statement is both valid and credible, with or without philosophical standpoints and any statistical or qualitative data to back the claim up. And as Azazel expressed, accessing this Akashic records or not, the past is the past... an austere common sense that everyone is painstakingly h.e.l.l-bent to understand.

The game of chess ultimately came to an end, with me not winning a single match. It"s now dusk, with sunset tainting the whole place, making the vast personalized garden outside look even more outstanding...

How long has it been, ever since I saw this view? My mother"s favorite garden full of white and unblemished orchids, planted in much-cultivated soils while dazzling in all of its unrivaled ambiances.

"Mom and dad..." Jean suddenly spoke, as I stared stunned looking at the visage outside,

"What about them?"

"You know they"re coming in two days" time for older brother"s birthday, right?"

"Ah, yes... That would be the case."

"I hope older brother would be able to bare all of the stress. Being the primal scion of a renowned family sure is tough. You have to be top at school. You have to excel in merely anything that you have to do, even if it"s out of your pa.s.sion. It sure makes me glad that I was born a cute little sister. Well, you better prepare for it Jaiden. Once he"ll seize the throne as the family"s top echelon, it"s going to be even more difficult for you." She added, slowly leaning unto one of the bookshelves looking all sleepy. Well, we did play a lot, with each round taking as much as 20 minutes, and while it may look boring to outsiders, we enjoyed it.

The Primal Scion... In other words, the Heir of this Aristocracy. That man... the threshold of all of the 180 degree turns in my life. And likely, the cause of this all.

Don"t worry Jean... I never did give him a chance to at least taste the transition of him becoming the center-figure. Although, everything was his fault.

"Ah, so you both were in here...Jaiden, Jean, it"s time to go back inside."

Speaking of the devil... He suddenly appeared, together with Xerxes, blocking my view of the picturesque image, and replacing it with a live painting of a demon together with a butler.

"Let"s go, young master... A bath has been made ready for you and Miss Jean." Xerxes spoke, bowing his head as per the customs that he"s trained to strictly follow.

"Yes..." I replied, which is almost like I"m ignoring the heir.

"Seriously, just what is wrong with you today? Whatever. Let me carry Jean" The heir suddenly suggested.

Looking from this perspective, he really is the perfect candidate to take care of the family"s global affairs. The day of his birthday is fast-approaching, and there"s no manifestation of derangement yet, no sign of sudden personality changes with as much as a minuscule spark of insanity that I was hoping to see as early as now. No doubt he was able to make us believe that he truly can bring our family to the pinnacle while hiding all of that malevolence inside of him, compressed in for too long. ... and I am not buying it...

"Don"t touch her." Just as he was about to get the drowsy Jean off from her seat, I intervened.

It"s a natural instinct, maybe? Seeing the hands of the future killer, in his soon-to-be victim... What would someone else do in this situation? And it"s not even like I"m trying to achieve any ulterior motives around here. There"s none that can be proven of merit...

"Eh? What do you mean I can"t touch her?"

"Xerxes would do all of the carryings, it"s not your job... "

"Eh?"

"Very well then... come here, Miss Jean." Xerxes then carried her, while the three of us begin to go back to the mansion, silently and with an eerie atmosphere, which is mainly because of me acting really weird and defiant. Not my typical self in front of the head servant, not in front of the members of this household, and certainly not in front of the Primal Scion, who"s showing this worried and confused look for quite some time now... He better not be bothered as to why I"m acting like this. it would be futile.

(...)

And then we got back inside. Xerxes placed Jean on her bed, and would just wake her up later for her night-time bath, and with five household maids are busy preparing dinner on the background, I found myself in an illusory hot bath, which somehow sounds... asinine. Taking a bath in an illusion where violence is soon to erupt.

"Jaiden, I"m coming in." That voice is suddenly heard, which sounded really persistent, banging the door open... It"s the heir himself.

And no, this is not an incest BL.