Mira’s crying was what finally snapped Elias out of his blackout.
She gave him some water, and once he’d had a sip and settled down a little, he sank back into his chair, elbows braced against the table.
“Big brother…”
Mira looked at him, worry still written all over her face.
Elias could tell she was one wrong word away from crying again, so he just gave her a gentle smile, the kind meant to say he was fine.
It hadn’t even been a week yet, and he’d already passed out twice, the first time being when his soul first crashed into Elias’s body.
‘That one didn’t even count as fainting.’
Transmigrating into Eternal Arcana had already been bad enough on its own, but now he had to play Caretaker to a brand new Villainess too?!
Just thinking about it made his stomach churn.
He hadn’t even finished this patch before he ended up here!
At least if he’d cleared the story first, he’d have had some idea what was coming, some clue how to dodge whatever disaster was headed their way.
“Um… can I just say no?”
His face pale and sweat dripping down his temples, Elias looked over at the village chief, who only sighed and shook his head in response.
“I’m afraid that won’t be easy.”
Elias already knew that much.
If he refused, there was a real chance the Marquis would fly into a rage, seeing as the man happened to be the twin Villainesses’ own father.
If that rage stayed pointed at Elias alone, fine, he could live with that.
But what if it spread further?
To the village chief, to the old guards, to Potato Auntie, even to Mira?
There was no way in hell Elias was letting that happen.
But say yes, and wasn’t that basically the same as volunteering to raise two tigers by hand?
One wrong move as their Caretaker, and his head could end up rolling clean off his shoulders.
Elias didn’t want that either, obviously.
He’d just been handed a second life, along with a cute little sister who stuck by him through everything, and honestly, that alone was reason enough for him to want to keep breathing.
Still caught up in his own head, brow furrowed and eyes fixed blankly on the table, Elias barely registered Mira speaking up beside him, her voice thick with worry.
“Village chief, we’re so grateful for everything you’ve done for us, raising us since we were tiny, with so much patience and hard work. We know we could never really pay you back for it, not in this lifetime. But look at my brother right now. You’ve always treated him like your own grandson, and here he is, looking like that. Don’t you think—”
“That’s enough, Mira.”
“…”
The flatness in his voice cut her off cold, and she froze, her eyes going wide as she stared at him, before finally dropping her gaze to the floor.
Elias almost never spoke to her like that.
And with that serious expression still fixed on his face, her eyes started welling up before she could stop them.
Realizing he’d probably just scared her, Elias got up from his seat and crossed over to where she still stood, head bowed.
Seeing him standing right in front of her, Mira flinched, and without even realizing it, her whole body started to tremble.
“I-I’m sorry, I… I just—” Her voice came out shaky, barely above a whisper.
Before she could get the rest of it out, Elias had already reached over and patted her head, and she looked up to find him smiling down at her.
Watching Mira try to stand up for him, the only family he had left in this world, Elias felt something he’d never really felt before, not like this.
Back in his old life, when he was still Minjae, just getting a scrap of attention from his parents had felt like winning the lottery.
A simple word of praise for something he’d done?
That had basically never happened.
No matter how well he did, it never seemed to matter to anyone.
Digging up those old memories only got a small, humorless laugh out of him.
Whatever, the past was the past, and all that mattered now was the present, and whatever came after it.
Besides, dwelling on old baggage would only age him faster.
“Village chief, do me a favor and look after this crybaby of mine. Even all grown up like this, she still bursts into tears at the drop of a hat.”
“Who are you calling a crybaby!?”
“Hohoho… Of course, I’ll take real good care of our little crybaby.”
“I said, who are you two calling a crybaby!?”
The heavy mood that had settled over the room slowly eased into something lighter, easier to breathe in, the worry that had filled the air fading a little the moment Mira started grumbling about being called a crybaby.
Which, of course, only made it that much harder for Elias and the village chief to keep straight faces.
In the end, Elias agreed to become Caretaker of the Nocturne twins.
His chest still felt heavy about it, but he had to go through with it anyway, for his own sake, for his sister, and for the whole village.
* * *
A few days flew by, and today was the day, the day Elias would finally set off for the Nocturne estate.
The whole village had already gathered outside his house by the time he was ready, and right in the middle of the crowd sat a carriage fancy enough to draw every eye.
A moment later, Elias stepped outside with Mira trailing right behind him.
The villagers, even the chief himself, could only stare at him with their mouths hanging open, like they were looking at a total stranger.
“Is that really our troublemaker Elias?”
“That’s clearly not Elias. And yet, somehow, it’s still Elias.”
“I think I might actually cry…”
Compliments kept pouring out of them, but what really got everyone was how much of a stranger Elias suddenly looked like to them.
In reality, though, he’d just thrown on different clothes, or at least that was how Elias saw it.
He wore black formal wear, far sharper than the plain stuff he usually had on around the village, a long coat cut with real elegance draped over him, silver trim running along the collar and sleeves.
A strip of silvery-gray fabric crossed over his shoulder and hung down one side of his body, giving the whole outfit an extra edge of luxury.
A pair of black boots finished off the look.
Elias hadn’t actually turned into some other guy.
He’d just put on clothes fit for someone about to walk into a Marquis’s estate, nothing more than that.
But to the people of Valebrook, that small change alone was more than enough to make him look like some random young noble who’d wandered in out of nowhere.
‘Have they seriously never seen me in decent clothes before?’
He scratched the back of his neck, glancing down at the outfit on his own body.
‘And it’s not even like I picked this out myself.’
While he was still looking himself over, the village chief walked up, a man in crisp formal attire falling into step beside him.
“Elias, this is the one who’ll be seeing you through the trip.”
“Master Elias. Alistair Graves, head servant of the Nocturne estate.”
The sheer professionalism radiating off the older man made Elias’s stomach do a small, nervous flip.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Head Servant Alistair. I’m Elias Veyron.”
“Hoho… well, aren’t you a lot more polite than you look.”
“Haha…” was all Elias managed, laughing it off awkwardly.
Thank god those etiquette lessons from his old life had actually paid off, or he’d have blown his first impression right then and there.
“Elias,” the village chief said, and Elias turned to face him, “be careful out there.”
“I will.”
“Hahaha! Our Elias’s all grown up now! Here, take this, and this too! This is a fine sword I picked up back in my prime, and this book’s got every bit of swordsmanship I know packed into it. You spot an enemy, you just cut ’em down!”
“Elias, grab this spell formula book too, and these potions, and a few of these magic talismans while you’re at it.”
“Elias, here’s some potatoes, sweet potatoes for when you get hungry, some bread, and a bit of veg too.”
“Elias, here’s a bear pelt, and some tiger meat we just caught—”
“Elias—”
“T-this is way too much! Okay, seriously, stop!”
Elias finally threw both hands up, smiling through the strain of it all.
The pile of gifts stacked beside the carriage kept growing, a sword, a swordsmanship manual, a spellbook, potions, talismans, and enough food to feed a small army, all of it somehow deemed essential for the ride to the Nocturne estate.
He wiped the sweat gathering on his cheeks and looked the crowd over, one face at a time.
‘I’m literally just going to a Marquis’s house.’
Not off to war, not going to live alone in some forest somewhere.
If anything, the Nocturnes were one of the biggest noble houses around, so Elias wasn’t even going to have to worry about food or a roof over his head once he got there.
But watching the villagers keep piling more onto him, all Elias could do was sigh quietly to himself.
‘Keep accepting all of this and this carriage is gonna end up carrying more junk than people.’
Still, turning down their gifts wasn’t really an option either.
Elias figured most of them probably already knew he didn’t actually need any of it.
After living among these people for as long as he had, he understood something: they didn’t just see him as some ordinary village kid.
They’d raised him and Mira since they were little, watched the two of them grow up right in front of them, and now here he was, about to leave and go live with a noble family.
“Thank you, everyone. I’ll take it all.”
Hearing that, a few of the villagers broke into satisfied grins.
Elias was still trying to work out how any of this was going to fit inside the carriage when he felt someone step up behind him.
He started to turn, but before he could even catch a glimpse of who it was, a pair of small hands had already gathered up his hair.
Mira stood right behind him, smoothing out his slightly overgrown hair, gathering it up carefully before tying it back short with a strip of black cloth.
Once she’d finished, she stepped back and studied her handiwork, dead serious.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
At the question, Mira just shook her head.
“Nothing. You just look better like this.”
“Oh yeah? Haha, Mira, Mira. Your big brother’s been good-looking since day one, you know.”
Listening to her brother’s nonsense got a quiet huff out of Mira, though she couldn’t quite wipe the smile off her face either.
After a good laugh, the two of them acting like a couple of lunatics, Elias turned back to his sister and pulled out a star-shaped crystal brooch.
“If you believe in lucky charms, treat this one as yours. Whatever you’re doing, wherever you are, just picture me right there beside you.”
Mira stared at the brooch in her hand, then looked up at him with eyes already shining.
A second later she’d thrown her arms around him and was holding on tight.
Realizing his sister was crying again, Elias said nothing, just hugged her back and ran a hand over her hair, letting her get it out of her system.
It didn’t take long before she pulled back and wiped at her tears.
“Why am I even crying on a day like this? So embarrassing.”
“New record. Fastest waterworks yet.”
Mira’s face went red, her voice climbing sharply.
“W-why are you keeping count!”
Before Elias could really savor his sister’s embarrassment, Alistair called out that it was time to go.
He turned and started saying his goodbyes to the village chief and the rest of the villagers.
“Mira, be good with everyone, alright? Don’t cause trouble. Just, you know, be a good kid.”
“I-I’m not a little kid anymore!.. Big brother, just, take care of yourself out there, and don’t forget to write.”
Watching his sister force a smile through what was clearly a rough moment nearly got Elias’s own eyes welling up too.
He turned and walked away from the villagers, toward the carriage.
Right before stepping in, he turned back one more time to face them.
With a wide grin, he called out.
“I’m off.”
Then he climbed inside, and the carriage began to roll forward.
The cheers from the villagers followed him all the way out of the village, fading slower than he’d expected.
It weighed on him, sure, but this was something he had to do, for himself, for his sister, and for every single person he was leaving behind.
And so, the journey to the Nocturne estate had begun.