"I don't know what you're talking about," Hiruko said, the words strained and tight as he struggled against the guards' grip. "I am your brother, Lukas. What is this?" His voice rose, a desperate plea that was more about his own terror than convincing her.
Clarissa's expression didn't waver. She just stared at him, her eyes pools of cold, hard emerald. The silence that followed was suffocating. She waited, her patience an agonizing weight on his chest. He tried to hold her gaze, to feign the innocent confusion of a boy who had no idea what was happening. But he couldn't. The truth was there, in her eyes, a reflection of his own terrifying secret.
A flicker of a memory passed through his mind: the real Lukas, drowning in despair, feeling like he wasn't good enough.
The lie died in his throat. The desperate, futile struggle left his body. His shoulders slumped, and he looked away, the fight draining out of him completely. He had lost. He had tried to be someone he wasn't, and he had failed.
"I don't know," he confessed, his voice a broken whisper. "I have no idea where your brother is." He looked back at her, his eyes filled with a raw, undeniable sincerity. "My name is Hiruko Nagasaka. I was… I was an office worker. In another world. I woke up here, in his body. I don't know how it happened. I don't know where he is."
His confession hung in the air, a shocking, unbelievable truth. Clarissa stared at him, her face a mixture of grief and disbelief. She didn't cry. She didn't scream. She just looked at him, her heart breaking in her eyes, as she processed the impossible reality. The boy she loved was gone. And in his place, was a man who had no idea how to bring him back.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Clarissa burst out, her voice rising in a fresh wave of frustration. "Another world? What are you talking about?" Her cold demeanor wavered, replaced by a desperate, pained look. She took a deep breath, her hands clenching into fists. "Even if I believed your ridiculous story," she said, her voice trembling slightly, "it's possible my brother swapped bodies with you."
"Or maybe he's no mor—" Hiruko began, but his words were cut short by Clarissa's sudden outburst.
"Shut up! Don't speak such nonsense!" she cried, her eyes welling up with tears. The raw pain on her face was heartbreaking. She took another shaky breath, regaining a fragile composure. "I… I believe he will return. And until he does, I'll make sure you don't hurt his body. So be careful what you do."
Just then, the door opened, and Mina stepped inside. "Did he confess yet?" she asked, her voice calm and even.
Hiruko's heart sank. A cold, dreadful realization washed over him. "Was… was everyone in on it?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"No, your friends... I mean, Lukas's friends... have only known him for a few months," Mina replied, her gaze softening slightly. "They were oblivious. Do you really think Kaelen would be smart enough to pull that off?"
Hiruko let out a defeated sigh. "I understand. So what will happen to me now?"
"We know you are really capable, Hiro," Clarissa said, her cold facade from earlier completely gone. A hopeful look had replaced it. "I'd like it if you could increase Lukas's reputation a bit in the family. I want him to get the best environment when he returns."
"That's not a very nice way to ask for a request," Hiruko retorted.
Clarissa, seeing his frustration, gestured for the guards to release their hold. As they stepped back, she continued, "It's not only for Lukas. You'll get benefits, too. We will work together to figure out a way for you to return to your world and for him to come back here."
Hiruko hesitated, a new, unsettling thought forming in his mind. "And what if I don't want to return?"
Clarissa's eyes immediately filled with tears. The guards stiffened, their hands instinctively moving toward Hiruko, but Mina stopped them with a look. "What gall you have," Mina said, her voice low and hurt. "I really thought you were my friend."
"I really appreciate you teaching me and all that," Hiruko said, his guilt warring with his honesty, "but I don't know you well enough to call you my friend."
Mina and Clarissa's gazes fell, their expressions filled with a mix of hurt and disappointment. Seeing their dejected faces, Hiruko's thoughts drifted back to the journal, to the struggling boy who had felt so alone. He looked at Clarissa's teary eyes, a deep sense of guilt washing over him.
"Fine," he said, the word a weary acceptance. "I'll do it."
Clarissa and Mina's faces immediately brightened. "I was going to agree anyway," Hiruko said, a hint of his old self-deprecation returning. "But seeing how you treated me ticked me off a little. I know, because I've lived for 28 years. I can see the love in your eyes for Lukas. And I also feel a little guilty about all this."
"Thank you," Mina said, her voice filled with a genuine relief that bordered on awe.
"And Clarissa," Hiruko said, a small, wry smile on his face, "my name is Hiruko, not Hiro."
Clarissa chuckled, a light, melodic sound that broke the tension. "Alright, alright, Hiko." The situation felt lighter, more normal, than it had since he'd woken up in this world.
Then, a sudden wave of tension swept over Clarissa's face, her smile vanishing. "We still have a problem," she said, her voice a hushed whisper.
"What now? Is it my name?" Hiruko asked, the irony not lost on him.
"Tristan is returning tomorrow," Mina said, her voice grave, her eyes locked on Hiruko's.
"Tristan?" Hiruko's voice was barely a gasp, the name a cold weight in the air. "You mean Tristan Tross? The genius prodigy?" He had read about him in the secret journal, the rival who had cast such a long shadow over Lukas's life. He knew this was the ultimate test, far more dangerous than any duel with Mina.
"Don't worry," Clarissa said, though her voice lacked its usual cheer, the gravity of the situation settling on her face. "He won't be able to tell you apart. My brother… he was like a stranger in his own family. He only had me to care after him." A deep sadness clouded her eyes, a testament to the quiet, heartbreaking truth of Lukas's life.
"I have watched and played with Lukas since we were kids," Mina added, her voice now hard and sharp. "I know the discrimination he faces in that family. Tristan won't leave any chance to try to humiliate you and get up in Father's eyes."
"Then let him try," Hiruko said, a steely glint in his eyes. The weariness that had marked his face since the duel was gone, replaced by a quiet, burning fire. The mention of Tristan, the rival who had cast such a long shadow over Lukas's life, didn't intimidate him. It energized him.
He looked at Clarissa and Mina, their faces etched with worry. "I know you guys must be worried, but don't worry at all. I'll handle him just fine."
Mina's expression hardened. "Don't underestimate Tristan, Hiruko. It would be for your own good."
"You don't understand," Clarissa began, her voice a low, serious tone that Hiruko hadn't heard before. "Tristan is a genius. A true prodigy."
Mina nodded grimly in agreement. "He just became the youngest person in the last century to get a perfect score on the Imperial Academy's advanced mana theory exam. Lord Tross won't stop talking about it."
"He's the golden child," Clarissa continued, her eyes downcast. "He's perfect. He's charming, intelligent, and his mana control is flawless. Everything Lukas struggled with, Tristan excelled at. Father barely acknowledges Lukas's existence because he has Tristan."
Hiruko felt a flicker of the old Lukas's pain, the quiet despair of living in a shadow. He understood the family dynamic now—it was less about a rivalry and more about a complete dismissal.
Mina stepped closer, her voice dropping to a near whisper. "Tristan's not just a genius. He's arrogant. He's ruthless. He'll sense a change in you, Hiruko. He'll see your new courage as a threat to his position, to his perfect reputation."
"He's been known to use his magic... in subtle ways," Clarissa added, a shiver running through her. "He'll try to find your weakness. He'll bully you and try to humiliate you. You have to be careful."
Hiruko took it all in. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. He wasn't just facing a rival; he was facing a bully.
"You guys should calm down and take some rest," Hiruko said, a forced calm in his voice. "Don't worry about it. I'll handle him."
"You couldn't even handle Kevin," Mina retorted, her jab landing with pinpoint accuracy.
"Ou... ouch," Hiruko winced, the confident mask slipping for a moment. "Alright, I'll think about how to handle it, but I think you guys should rest now. It's not good for your health to get tense about these things."
Clarissa and Mina, still looking worried, agreed and returned to their chambers. The guards escorted Mina back to the Rosewalt mansion, leaving Hiruko alone in the silent, oppressive hallway. "I better get to sleep," he muttered to himself.
As soon as they were out of sight, the brave front he had put on completely collapsed. The tension he had been suppressing returned with full force, a cold wave of dread that washed over him. The confidence that had been in his eyes just moments before was gone, replaced by a raw, unadulterated fear. Lukas's body, which had suffered so much at the hands of his brother, understood this fear on a primal level. It was a deep, bone-chilling terror that Hiruko, despite his years of life experience, was only just beginning to grasp.
He walked to his room, the grandeur of the space feeling more like a cage than ever before. He slumped onto his bed, burying his face in his hands. "Who am I trying to impress?" he whispered to himself, the words a bitter confession. "Pretending to be cool." The duel with Kevin, the unwavering support of his friends—it all seemed like a distant dream now.