“Our promise from when we were kids? That…”
Julius showed a troubled expression.
He seemed to rack his brain but shook his head with a smile. “Sorry, it’s been too long—I might have forgotten…”
Abel glanced at Julius but didn’t dwell on it.
Indeed, as Julius said, it had been over ten years—forgetting was perfectly normal.
But Abel had never forgotten that day’s promise.
He stood up. Under the starlight and moonlight, his posture looked exceptionally tall and straight—perhaps due to years of training and battle, he stood about half a head taller than his brother.
“We said we’d become heroes sung about by the world!”
Though it was just two kids getting excited after hearing a bard’s epic tales, Abel had genuinely pursued that goal all these years.
As a wandering knight traveling the continent, he had accomplished plenty of heroic deeds worthy of songs.
In the kingdom’s northern borders, some even called him the ‘Hero of the North.’
Hearing this, Julius let out an “Eh?” sound, seeming quite surprised.
He furrowed his brow and began thinking, as if confirming whether he had really said that…
Seeing Julius ponder so seriously, Abel couldn’t help but laugh.
“Brother, you don’t have to be so serious all the time. Back then, you didn’t agree with me—”
Abel cleared his throat and mimicked his brother’s mature tone. “‘Abel, stop daydreaming. Work hard and inherit the family business—that’s what we should do!’ I even fought with you over it!”
With that, he looked at Julius in confusion. “You forgot all of that?”
“Your brother handles a million things a day, dealing with all the messy affairs in the territory. How could I remember little things like that when I’m not as carefree as you?”
Julius spread his hands.
The topic naturally fizzled out. Abel did feel a bit guilty—though he had no right to inherit the title, leaving his brother alone to wander and chase childhood dreams had been a bit selfish.
Thinking back, after their parents’ death, Julius—as the new marquis—was still a kid.
He had to fend off power-hungry relatives and manage vast territory affairs. It couldn’t have been easy.
There was a hint of resentment in Julius’s words.
“But now that you’re back, you won’t leave again, right? How about settling down and starting a family? Your brother can help you find a suitable girl.”
Those words immediately dredged up Abel’s painful memories as a player.
Recalling those heaven-defying heroines, he answered right away.
“No, no—I’m a rootless traveler; better not hold anyone back! Besides, compared to me…”
Abel shifted his gaze to his brother with a mischievous smile.
“You’re the one who should—when are you going to find me a sister-in-law?”
Julius looked away. “I have no interest in that.”
“Come on, Brother?”
Abel was a bit surprised.
“You’re the hottest golden bachelor in the kingdom!”
Yes—young, handsome, of high status, ruling over the kingdom’s most prosperous trade city in the heartlands.
Such a Julius was the dream lover of countless kingdom noble ladies!
Abel didn’t believe no one had approached for a marriage alliance with the marquis house.
But strangely, Julius was still single, maintaining an unbelievably chaste lifestyle.
He often attended noble banquets, dancing gracefully with various noble daughters, yet no scandals ever surfaced.
Could it be?!
A flash of insight hit Abel, followed by a chill down his spine.
His brother was past marriageable age yet unmarried because—
He liked men?!
He was gay?!
Yeah, Abel couldn’t think of any other explanation! As a traveler wandering everywhere, he knew full well how extravagant and debauched kingdom nobles’ lives could be!
Julius was clearly abnormal!
At that moment, he noticed Julius looking at him in a way that seemed a bit off.
In an instant, it all clicked! No wonder in the original game, only Julius cared for his good little brother—turns out he ‘liked’ Abel! The game’s writer was supposedly a little fairy, so it wasn’t strange; how could it be a Myanmar North 2D game without some gay BL?!
“…It won’t work, Brother—we’re siblings.”
Abel begged for mercy.
Julius just furrowed his brow, completely clueless about what his little brother was saying.
***
Night deepened.
A carriage emblazoned with the golden blade crest stopped in front of the marquis mansion in the royal capital.
The butler and servants had long been waiting after hearing the news.
The first to appear in their eyes was Sutis with her floor-length emerald hair, hopping down from the carriage.
“Miss Sutis, getting off like that is dangerous…”
Following her was Marquis Julius, stepping down slowly while offering advice!
At the sight of the marquis, the servants straightened up.
According to the servants who had returned early, another ‘master’ would be coming home tonight.
The last to step down was someone in a traveler’s cloak, looking like a disheveled wanderer.
But with one glance, the servants’ eyes reddened. How could they not recognize him?
This travel-worn wanderer was none other than the Noct family’s second young master, Abel! Perhaps due to years of drifting, his face held a resoluteness uncommon for his age.
Abel was also sizing up the servants—many familiar faces.
“Butler Sebas, your white hair has increased…”
“Aunt Anna, you seem to have gained weight?”
“And—”
Abel listed them like family treasures.
With their parents gone early, these servants who raised him and his brother were like family to him!
The servants swarmed forward, surrounding Abel with questions—mostly pleas to stay.
Abel knew this was likely Julius’s arrangement too! He had considered staying, but the thought of remaining in the marquis house meant unavoidable encounters with those heroines.
What if the royal family kept issuing orders for him to take that thankless knight commander role?
Only as a rootless drifter could he stay far from those Myanmar North 2D games!
So, despite the hard-to-refuse hospitality, Abel still planned to wander as a knight for a few more years.
As Abel busied himself with the enthusiastic servants, a rapid patter of footsteps sounded, a black high ponytail swaying in the wind.
The servants tactfully cleared a path. Abel saw a girl in maid attire, panting heavily, standing at the door and gazing at him from afar.
Her face looked somewhat familiar?
Who was it?
He hadn’t been home in ages; his impressions of most people were from years ago.
If someone had changed too much, Abel wouldn’t recognize them.
In his confusion, she threw herself into his arms, eyes brimming with hot tears.
“…Thank goodness, Young Master Abel—you’ve finally come back home! Are you here to fulfill our childhood promise and marry me?”