Michael saw a man and a woman looking at him with bright smiles on their faces. No… it wasn't only him. Beside him was another small baby, just like him, lying quietly and staring at the same two figures.
The man had black hair that reached his forehead and black eyes that looked as bright and sharp as that of an eagle. His cheekbones were sharp, almost too sharp, making his face look dry and slightly malnourished. The clothes he wore looked ancient and worn out, like something that had survived too many seasons.
The woman had long brown hair that nearly reached her waist. Her grey eyes were gentle, soft like mist in the early morning. She would have been a very beautiful woman if it wasn't for her thin, malnourished skin. Yet somehow, even in that state, her presence felt warm. Her faint smile alone made the dull room feel brighter.
Michael kept looking around. The air felt different. Heavy, but not suffocating. The walls were made of wood. The scent of earth and dried herbs lingered in the room.
He understood what had just happened.
After all, it was a concept he understood very well.
He had reincarnated! And he had a twin as well!
His reincarnation was successful. But something felt wrong. The atmosphere felt… tense. Especially the way his new parents looked, happy, yes, but there was something underneath that happiness.
Something tired and resigned.
But all those thoughts were thrown away.
He was elated because he had reincarnated in another world that promised him a life free from boredom. And in this life… he had parents and a sibling.
He wasn't an orphan.
Because of how elated Michael was, he began laughing, but it came out as babyish giggles.
"Gyaaa… haha…!"
The parents froze for a second.
Then relief washed over their faces.
They laughed too, their laughter trembling slightly, like something heavy had just been lifted from their shoulders.
It had been a week since the mother gave birth to her twins, one boy and one girl. But the baby boy looked like a stillborn. Pale, motionless and silent.
If it wasn't for his tiny heart that was beating faintly beneath his chest, they would have already considered him dead.
But now he was awake, healthy and alive.
They began speaking to each other in a language Michael couldn't understand yet. Their words flowed quickly, emotional, filled with joy. The father wiped his eyes quickly before pretending he wasn't crying.
The man stepped forward and picked Michael up, holding him carefully at first.
Then his happiness overflowed.
He began swinging him gently in the air, laughing loudly.
"My son! My son!"
Michael, who was initially happy, began to feel disoriented from the swinging. The room spun around him. The wooden ceiling blurred.
"Gaaah…!"
The mother shouted at her husband sharply.
He froze immediately and stopped swinging, laughing nervously at his wife who was clearly angry.
The mother took Michael from him and held him against her chest. She gently patted his back in a slow rhythm.
Thump… thump… thump…
Her heartbeat was steady and warm.
Michael slowly felt his eyelids grow heavy and he fell asleep.
Three years passed by.
Michael was now named Ariel.
He was a toddler now, together with his twin sister, Uriel.
Because of his adult intelligence from his past life, Ariel was able to learn a little of the new world's language. At first it was just sounds, then words and now some meaning.
Soon, he began walking properly.
(Changing his name to Ariel from here on.)
But there was something that bothered him the most.
Whenever he tried to wander too far from the house, his parents would gently stop him. Not forcefully or angrily. Just firm enough to redirect him.
They didn't know about his intelligence.
They simply didn't want their child to see something beyond his age.
And that made Ariel even more curious.
There were nights he would wake up and hear whispers outside, heavy footsteps and the sound of something dragging outside.
Once, he peeked through a small crack in the wooden wall, he saw nothing but darkness.
Since he was powerless to find out what was going on, he let it go for now.
But one thing made Ariel feel disappointed.
Truck-kun must have scammed him.
He had never seen a trace of magic.
Not even a spark.
Neither his father nor his mother displayed any magical abilities. No floating objects. No strange chants. No glowing symbols.
Just Nothing.
It looked like an ancient world but poorer than Earth, harder than Earth.
Earth at least had electricity, phones, convenience stores.
This place had dirt floors and wooden bowls.
'Damn! If I ever meet Truck-kun again, I'm going to have war with him. How is this the fantasy isekai world that I wished?!' Ariel thought angrily.
His small eyebrows furrowed deeply.
But the anger just made him look cute due to his baby chubby face.
Ariel took after his mother in the same grey eyes. But his hair was light brown, slightly different from his mother's deeper brown.
He sat in the backyard of their small wooden house, deep in thought.
The backyard was quiet. A wooden fence that leaned slightly. But beyond it was a field stretching into a distant forest.
Uriel sat beside him, playing with small stones and bits of wood. She took after their father, black hair and grey eyes.
The two of them had been playing for a while.
Although Ariel was an adult inside, he still had to act like a child to avoid suspicion. So he crawled, laughed, stumbled, and pretended not to understand certain things.
But eventually, he got bored.
He picked up a thin dried vine and twisted it carefully, shaping it into something like a rope butterfly. His fingers moved skillfully, far beyond what a normal four-year-old could manage.
He handed it to Uriel, her eyes sparkled.
She giggled and began waving it around.
Ariel leaned back against the wooden wall and sighed inwardly.
'Hass… I wish to grow up faster so that I can explore this world. If it is a fantasy world… show me something.'
CREAAACK.
An old door sounded as it opened behind them.
Both Ariel and Uriel turned around.
Their mother walked toward them with a smile.
"Ariel. Uriel. The both of you have been playing for a long while now. It's time to eat and rest your tiny selves," their mother, Eyla, said gently.
When Uriel saw her mother, her face lit up.
She stood up clumsily and ran with her shaking, short chubby legs toward her.
Eyla crouched down and opened her arms wide.
Uriel crashed into her embrace.
Eyla kissed her cheek softly and picked her up.
She then turned toward Ariel.
"Come on, Ariel. Food is ready."
Ariel didn't know how he was able to learn the language of this world so quickly. Maybe because he was an adult before or maybe because he focused.
He didn't question it anymore.
"Yes mama!" Ariel said as he stood up from the floor.
His voice came out rough and cute at the same time, he never knew how he should act around parents since he never had one.
So he decided to show a little intelligence. Not too much. Just enough so that when he grows, it won't shock them.
Eyla smiled softly.
She was happy that the gods blessed her with an intelligent and obedient son.
But beneath that happiness, there was fear.
If Ariel's brilliance was known… the result would not be good.
She bent down and lifted him into her other arm.
Inside the house, a small table was prepared with simple food, boiled roots, thin soup, and small pieces of dried meat.
The twins needed to eat regularly to gain strength, because the world was unpredictable.
Just as Eyla was about to sit down…
BANG!
The front door flung open violently and warm air rushed in.
Huston stood at the doorway, his breathing was heavy and his clothes were dirtier than usual.
And his face…
His face wasn't just tired, there were bruises on his cheek. A cut near his eyebrow.
His knuckles were red and swollen.
When Eyla saw him like that, she didn't scream or ask questions. She gently placed the twins on the floor.
Then she walked quickly to him and supported him silently.
Huston didn't say anything either as he allowed her to help him inside.
The door closed and the room felt smaller.
Uriel just watched curiously as her intelligence weren't mature enough for her to understand what was going on or even remember about it. But…
This wasn't the first time Ariel had seen this.
But what surprised him the most was that his father and mother never fought about it.
Never protested or never questioned it.
Just silent acceptance.
Huston sat down heavily while Eyla brought water and began cleaning his wounds quietly.
The only sound in the room was the soft dabbing of cloth against skin.
Ariel watched.
His small hands clenched slightly.
Something was wrong in this world.
And whatever it was…
It was bigger than their house.