Route 1: Indifference

**Scarlet Aubrielle**

I am already right in front of the living room door - the same door that I saw in the memory of the original Scarlet Aubrielle. And honestly, even if I am not really the original Scarlet Aubrielle, looking at the door of the living room and knowing the fact that my brother and the crown prince, Helios are behind the door is quite nostalgic.

But the thing is, nine years had already gone by and of course, a lot has already changed. Scarlet Aubrielle is no longer that child that always looks for her brother because she is now independent and Helios is no longer the reckless child he was in the past. I heave a sigh and I knocked on the door and automatically the door opened and I saw my brother and the man with red hair and green eyes seated on the sofa opposite of each other.

Theo, the personal knight of my brother is the one who opened the door the moment that I knocked. And since there is someone from the royal family here, I immediately grabbed the hem of dress and bowed as a sign of respect then I greeted him.

“Greetings to the future sun of the empire, your highness the crown prince” that is what I said and I saw him raise his hand and made a gesture that I can already raise my head, that is the only time that I did raise my head.

I made my way towards the sofa where my brother is seated and I immediately sat down. The moment that I am already near my brother I already felt that my brother’s mood is quite foul, well I guess that he doesn’t want me to be here or that he doesn’t want me to meet the crown prince maybe because he can still remember what happened in the past.

Well, he can’t do anything about it, I am quite persistent and of course, he needs to make up for ditching me in the first place. But at the same time I know that of course, he cannot easily ditch the crown prince of the imperial - that will be considered as a grave insult to the imperial family however at the same time, the Elvoi family is already considered as a family that can be on par with the imperial family so what is it to be afraid of? But I also understand all too well that of course, my parents doesn’t want chaos to happen and that they are already contented with what we have right now.

“So, what are you doing here again Scarlet Aubrielle?” Calyx asked and I grabbed the teacup that is placed right in front of me and I took a sip before answering his question.

“Well what’s wrong with being here in the first place? Since there is a visitor it is natural for me to also greet him, don’t you think so brother?” that is what I said and I heard him heave a sigh and the reason for that is because I know he realized my point. I am also a child of this house and of course it is natural for me to greet whoever the visitor is and since he is the crown prince of the empire it is natural that I will pay respects to him.

“You two can just talk and not mind me here, I am just going to simply enjoy the sweets prepared for us” that is what I said and once again Calyx heave a sigh but of course, he can’t do anything about it anymore and they can talk freely even if I am here anyways, just like what I have said I won’t disturb them.

“Since the lady is already here then there is really nothing in particular that we can do about it” that is what Helios said which made me frown. Is that an insult or what? Well, from the way I understood or rather to translate what he said basically he is telling me that I am actually not really needed here in the first place or that my presence in this place is not welcomed but since I am already here then there is nothing more that they can do about it and that it is as if he is saying that my brother does not really have the heart to make me leave or deny any request that I make because he cares for me.

I let out a sigh on my mind and I secretly looked at my brother and with all honesty, I am quite surprised with what I saw because right now, Calyx’s eyes are deadly - it is as if he is pissed with what he just heard. I guess, he too understood what the crown prince said the way I understood it.

In fact, this is the first time that I have seen Calyx with that expression on his eyes and if he is not my brother and I am just some stranger who saw him with that expression, I would immediately be scared and run with my tail between my legs. I really never thought that my brother would be able to make such a scary expression.

*

“So are you saying your highness that our knights are the ones to also subjugate the dungeon that had just appeared at the west side of the imperial palace?” that is what my brother repeated after hearing everything that the crown prince has to say and obviously that is the main reason why he is visited our duchy.

I can see in my peripheral vision that my brother is frowning and based from his expression he doesn’t like what he just heard from the crown prince. Well, even I who is just listening on the sidelines I don’t also like what I heard from him because it is obvious, he is giving to us a task that we will not entirely benefit from even if it can possibly cause the death of some of our knights.

A dungeon - it is a place that appears suddenly once in a while in any place in this world. A dungeon is technically a habitat of monsters that people are familiar of however it can also have monsters that are rare or that people have yet to encounter and have information about. So, naturally it is an unknown place and an unknown place is dangerous for any human being to explore because who knows what that dungeon has in store for us.

However, this crown prince - Helios is basically telling us that we should grab the responsibility of actually checking that place for the glory of the imperial family and basically whatever we found there will automatically be reported to him which also means that if there is treasure there, the imperial family will be the ones who will be monopolizing it.

I don’t know if it the idea of the emperor or if it is only Helios’ idea because that is clearly both an abuse of authority and also running away from their responsibilities. In the first place even if our family have sworn allegiance and loyalty to them, they should also consider the fact that we also have a territory to protect and the center of the empire is their territory? Second, our knights will technically risk their lives in that subjugation so in short they could have also given the knights some compensation or something.

“The Elvois are well-known in this field so don’t be offended if I am literally giving you the entire responsibility regarding the appearance of a new dungeon. It will be of honor to your family if you actually be able to find out what lies in that place and clear it as well” that is what the crown prince said which made me tighten the grip on my teacup because I am quite annoyed of what I just heard from his mouth. He is obviously treating us as his tools just like how he is described to treat people in the game.

Even if I am not the original Scarlet Aubrielle, I don’t think that it is right for him to actually treat us like his tools in order to get what he want. However, the thing is I didn’t expect him to have this kind of trashy attitude and at some point I thought that he and my brother remained as friends and are very close that is why he is here - that he is going to visit my brother as his friend however obviously, that seems to be not the case. I am not stupid not to realize that there is this aura of indifference between the two and it gives off the energy that they have long severed their relationship with each other.

But why? What actually happened? And if that is the case then it will also be hard for me to get close to Helios, so what the heck should I do now?

***to be continued***