11 - Lets go back

"Alright, big brother!"

"But..." The two siblings being bullied looked at Baron. 

A sinister grin appeared on his face. 

"Isn't this amusing? Having two disabled kids as competitors for the Rombergh family. I don't understand why Father told me to be nice to this family."

Baron exhaled smoke deliberately in the direction of the unfortunate siblings until they coughed. "Don't play for too long with them; come back inside," Baron said.

The younger sibling of Baron just smiled, nodded, and then turned to the two kids in front of them with a smirk. 

"Kala, Kala! If you can refrain from screaming when I hit you later, I won't bother your little brother at school tomorrow!"

This wasn't an ordinary children's game. 

Whoever that kid was, the way the people around him taught him was very wrong. Kala's younger sibling shook, restraining Kala from leaving. Kala just smiled faintly, ruffled the hair of his crying sibling, and stood up. It made the sibling of Baon laugh happily.

"Hehe, I'll try using a stone this time! You must handle it!"

The younger sibling hesitated, wanting to say something but no sound came out of their lips. "Ready?"

They must endure all of this; they must. They had to protect their sibling no matter what.

"One..." 

Kala had been hit several times before. So, getting hurt from being thrown wouldn't be a problem for him.

"Two..." 

He mustn't cause trouble for his grandfather. He mustn't make trouble. Kala closed his eyes.

"Three! Huh?"

Kala opened his eyes. In front of him stood a man with blue eyes covered by round glasses.

The man took the stone from the evil person's hand who always bullied him and threw it towards Baron, hitting the ground beside him. Now, Baron lowered his cigarette, staring at the stone near his feet.

What was this person doing?! Kala screamed in fear within his heart.

"Isn't this the right time to let your sibling know their place? Regardless of your family's and this kid's family's status, you should know your limits and avoid trouble, shouldn't you?" 

Baron just looked back and exhaled a lazy breath. "Hey, let's go now."

"But!" The evil child looked at his sibling and nodded.

"Fine, big brother."

Leon bowed and looked at the two unfortunate kids and assessed their condition.

Meanwhile, Baron chose to leave because he didn't want to deal with annoying people.

"Big brother, why didn't you leave me be?"

"Be quiet for a moment. We're not in a suitable place to argue. I don't want trouble in this place."

The younger sibling lowered their head. If he remembered correctly, wasn't he the child of that eccentric teacher? Maybe he was as crazy as his parents, so it's better for Baron to leave and avoid trouble.

But, something was strange. Somehow, his voice sounded familiar to him.

"Are you kid okay?"

Kala turned away, just looking at his sibling and taking them away.

"Wait."

The little sibling stayed silent as Leon held their hand.

"Don't!" Kala, thinking his sibling would be bullied again, quickly pushed the man's hand away. His eyes were vigilant.

The stranger didn't say anything, nor was he angry that Kala had pushed him. Instead, he took out a handkerchief from his pocket. 

"Stay here."

The man then went to the nearby fountain and washed the handkerchief. He came back and reached for the face of the frightened child.

"Your bodies and clothes are dirty. Let me clean them a bit."

With care, the blue-eyed man wiped the face of the frightened child, then turned his gaze to Kala.

"I-I don't need it."

The man's voice was deep and heavy. "Be quiet."

Kala remained silent as his face was being cleaned.

The man then took off his glasses and looked at the two kids.

"Anyone hurt?” 

Neither of them answered

“Sick?"

They both looked at each other, then turned to Leon, shaking their heads.

"Good."

Leon stood up.

I had no intention of causing trouble, but Baron's arrival made me angry. I have to go in and meet Gera or Randoff.

Kala, who was left alone, opened his mouth. "I-I won't believe you. You're just like everyone else who wants to use my grandfather and my sibling."

Leon stopped, then turned around and looked at Kala.

"Why would you say that?"

Kala tightly gripped his hand. "B-because... you're all cruel to my grandfather and my sibling!"

Leon exhaled. "From earlier, you kept talking about your sibling and grandfather. Why not speak up for yourself, Kala?"

Kala was surprised. "Because... I'm not worthy of being defended."

"Because you're an adopted child? Or because you feel guilty for your adopted sibling who always gets bullied, so you always take all the hits given to him?"

Leon's eyes shifted to the silent sibling who hadn't spoken at all.

"Until when will you stay silent and let a brother who has no blood relation with you suffer? You can't keep acting like this forever. Don't you have pity for someone who has no blood relation to you?"

The younger sibling immediately lowered their head.

"Don't say that to Ramuna!"

Leon watched the two of them. Kala looked angry. "You don't know anything..."

"... fine. But, if you don't want to keep being blamed, stop belittling yourself. Whether you're a biological child or not. Can you speak or not... if you keep belittling yourself, you'll never be able to move forward. 

Do you want to live forever being treated like this? Just because you're not a biological child. Or just because you cant speak?"

Kala lowered his head. "You... will never understand."

"... is that so?" Leon said.

Enough; after all, I have no intention of delving deeper into their problems. I've warned and advised enough. I think that's sufficient.

Wiping his forehead, he put on his glasses again and went back into the party.

I got carried away earlier; I forgot to change my voice. Luckily, Baron won't be too aware. Because... he must think it's impossible.

But why is that damn man here?

Is he a guest of one of the people or...

"Son, where have you been?"

Gera came towards me quickly and stood next to me. He whispered, "Young master, your uncle will appear shortly."

Leon followed everyone's gaze. The host of the party and someone who turned out to be his blood relative.

I observed the old man, the same age as Gera, advancing and giving a small speech. Beside him, there were several people accompanying him, including Baron.

Ah, so Baron and his family are related to the person who is now my uncle?

No wonder he's here.

Our eyes met briefly, but Baron ignored it and refocused on the event.

He must think my presence is nothing compared to his right now.