Insect Tamer's Ascension

Theo looked at his brother with conflicted emotions.

'Huh... He has accepted that there will be a punishment already… And here I thought he will keep his defense' he thought.

"I only came here today to talk to you about this like family, elder brother." Theo spoke, and continued, "I don't want anything to stop us from conveying our thoughts. If you say it was not intentional… it's all that matters. As long as we all are safe." Theo stated, making Lucien lose his smile and look at him with surprise.

"I, as the victim, would not like to put any charges toward my own brother, old man Alfred." Theo stated.

Everyone in the room looked at Theo with surprise. Even Alfred, who was very skilled in not showing his facial expression, showed how dumbfounded he was.

"… Even if you think that, young master Theo, I can do nothing about this situation. Master Lucien will have to stay in his room as long as I don't hear back from the Baron or he comes back… my apologies."

Theo wanted it to be over. "Can I have some alone time with my brother right now?"

Alfred was hesitant at first, but when he saw Theo's expression, he nodded and went out of the room.

"I would like you to go for a moment too, Clara. I will be back soon." Theo said to Clara with a warm smile.

Clara wanted to protest, yet it was no time to do so. She was not alone with Theo right now, and not listening to their heir was like not doing their job as an attendant.

"Please call me when you need me, young master…" She stated and went outside the room, closing it from behind.

Theo moved his face toward Lucien, who was smiling at him, yet he could tell that he was confused.

He made his way to the other side of the table Lucien was sitting at and took a cup from the crockery in the middle.

Theo poured himself some tea from the kettle and sat right opposite Lucien.

"… Is there more than what you are telling me, big brother?" He asked bluntly.

Lucien looked at him and took a sip of tea before he spoke, "What do you mean?"

Theo did not know where he was getting at, but his heart told him to give this opportunity to Lucien once.

"I have a feeling there is more to the story from your side that you're letting on, big brother. So, I sent everyone away." Theo stated and tapped the glass with his fingers, making clinking sounds, "Now that everyone's away, you can tell me what you didn't before, elder brother. From one brother to another."

Lucien's eyes widened in surprise again, and soon, he started laughing lightly as if he found it amusing.

"From the get-go, I always knew you were interesting, little brother." He stated with a mild smile before he took a deep sigh, "... Alright, I will tell you the whole thing. Seeing how you forgave me this easily, I was going to tell father about it either way." He continued with a chuckle.

Theo nodded with seriousness, yet deep down, he was dying to know. There were conflicting feelings in his heart for a reason, and Theo wanted to explore it.

"That ape was the only thing that was able to run from me. I killed about 10, but this one just slipped off for some reason. Me and my attendant followed its tracks for as long as we could… until we finally found it." He said and gave a stop.

"You and your attendant were already engaging it in a fight. I was panicked at first, and my attendant kept saying that we should quickly go and save you, but… I uh decided not to for the moment." Lucien spoke bluntly, yet the light smile told Theo that there was more to the story.

"I was very close to where you were fighting, and I guess if I helped you, the ape wouldn't have lasted more than a minute. I mean, that was the plan from the get-go. But when I saw your attendant fighting it with her all… I decided to test her limit. And to be honest, nobody was going to die because of that ape; I had made sure about that."

"My attendant's tamed beast was already up on the tall trees, and at one signal, it was going to jump and kill off the ape within seconds. Heh… but your attendant gave no opportunity. It was a close call, but she was able to pull it off." Lucien stated and finally stopped speaking.

Theo was already looking at him with mixed emotions.

"Even though there was only a danger to you in 'theory,' nothing was going to happen. But that doesn't change the fact that I didn't help, Theo. And I don't mind owning up to it."

There was silence for a minute before Theo finally decided to speak.

"If… I hadn't asked you what really had happened yesterday… would you have told anyone?" he asked with curiosity.

Lucien hmmed and looked up in thought before he chuckled again. "Probably only father and mother. I am already surprised that I told you this. And I don't even expect you to believe me, Theo. You do what your heart thinks, just like any of us Merrick will always do."

Theo smiled from the heart for the first time too now, and the mood in the room became a bit lighter, if not more.

"But I hadn't expected that you would be level 3 in this small time, Theo." Lucien spoke again.

"That was all because of the ape, elder brother. My mantis helped a little and got a good chunk of the experience too."

There was an abrupt silence for a few seconds and Lucien was stuck as if he froze.

"Wait, your insect did something in that fight too? How much experience points did you need to reach level 3?" Lucien asked, there was shock on his face now, his voice became louder.

"Now that I think about it, there were still about 35 points left before the level up." Theo said thoughtfully, yet that made Lucien even more shocked.

"That… You were level 2 before... The experience... That means the insect's contribution was very high… but how is this possible?"

The mantis rocked yet another person's world, and Theo couldn't have been more satisfied.