If I Could Live Again

CHAPTER 26

Nero only agreed to go with the King because he wanted to know the capabilities of the other royal members of the family and why the King was so confident when it comes to his wife.

... And the King was right in being confident. What was infront of him were more like the harbingers of hell especially when the couples are together. They give off such pressure with just one look. One rude mistake and someone's head will definitely be severed from his body.

Nero made the right decision not to mess with the royal family. They were capable enough to defend any assassins hired to kill them. It was more like the assassins where unfortunate to deal with such target. The only people who would dare assassinate the royal family are those who are blinded by greed.

"What are you doing just standing there, Nero? Want to look at my precious daughter?", Nera gave him permission. The boy slowly approached the side of the Queen and took a peek at the sleeping baby.

'So I have to protect this baby from now on. If I ran away, my family will be chasing me and I have to deal with them. While not having enough to eat, I still need to hunt or maybe look for a job thus I will end up killing people instead. Wait! If I protect them, I still need to kill people. Oh well, atleast my expenses are guaranteed', Nero thought to himself.

"What are you doing, child? Stop thinking too much. Can't you see the cuteness of my daughter. Look at her. Looook at herrr", Callahan wiggled in excitement.

"I think little Nero wants to experience the warmth of a family", Nera chuckled while teasing Nero.

"Ohoooo. Is that why you accepted the job, boy? You are already family. Want to give you a hug?", Callahan teased him as well.

"Uggghh. Shut up, old man!", Nero cringed. The couple laughed at the sight of an embarrassed child. Callahan kissed Nera goodbye while Nero stayed for awhile.

"Why are you not wary of me, Your Highness?", Nero asked the Queen.

"Araaa. Are you perhaps worried, Nero? To answer your question, dear always had a good ability to discern who to trust or not. And I think, you're a good boy", Nera smiled.

"Even if I killed people?", the boy asked again.

"Well, I also killed people. Don't you think I'm evil?", Nera asked back.

"You killed people because it was your job. But you never wanted to do so, didn't you? People will say that you had a choice to kill or not but we also have a choice to change ourselves, isn't that right? So I think it's never too late to alter our fate", Nera spoke slowly until she fell asleep. The boy was surprised of how the family thinks about his bizarre immediate acceptance of the job. They didn't even try to ask further questions.

When people knew that Nero was an assassin, they treated him as a cold-blooded killer. Not that Nero cared about their thoughts, he was annoyed of how flies keep buzzing around him so that they will not be on the list of targets or how people will always treat him as someone who would go berserk and look for someone to kill for fun.

Nero was more of a level-headed child. Too level-headed for someone his age. No one knew what's going on in his head. He rarely shows any emotion but the thing is, Nero only thinks of everything as a bother. He was more like a lazy person and not your usual assassin. He quickly made the decision to leave the heir's position to his younger brother who seemed to want it so much.

Months past and Nero lived a care-free life with the royal family while protecting them by killing rats that kept lurking in the castle.

****

War has begun and Callahan, with his eldest son Lucian, was busy with executing their strategies to cripple the opposing army. On the other hand, Redmond and the rest tried to infiltrate the castle to seize the throne.

Nera assigned her two children to stay with the baby while she handles the remaining works at the castle.

Nero usually lodged near the room to keep an eye on them while monitoring the nearby premises of anyone who dares to infiltrate the castle. Until a familiar entity was present in the room where the prince and the princesses reside. Nero immediately transported to the room's door and opened it.

"Ohhhh. You have come, Nero", a boy with a similar stature as Nero was standing beside the crib while holding the baby. Both Fynn and Ailana was unconscious on the floor.

"Or should I say 'Brother'", the boy eerily smiled at him.

"What do you think you are doing, Cain", Nero asked his brother.

"Well, I actually wanted to thank you for giving me the position as the heir buuuuuut you know, you still haven't fulfilled your job", Cain smiled wickedly while looking at the baby. Nero immediately attacked him but was parried instead. The one who defended Cain was Prince Fynn whose eyes seemed to be empty.

Cain was known as the puppet master but he was also capable of defending himself when someone attacks him. All he needed was to cripple his enemies and brainwash them into working with him.

Nero couldn't stop Fynn with just knocking him off. As long as the puppet master was present, the puppets will immediately get up even if you break their bones. Nero would dodge Fynn's attack but was attacked by Ailana's magic instead.

"They're very convenient, wouldn't you agree, brother?", Cain opened the window for a way to leave.

"I wish they told be to massacre the whole family instead, but I guess that's no fun. Besides I'm not that crazy to face head-on with those two monsters of a ruler. So I have to postpone such excitement for a while. Well, atleast this job had an added bonus. Seeing my brother struggle this much. The Oh-so-great prodigy of an assassin is struggling.Why don't you just kill them both? We were born to kill, brother", Cain laughed maniacally. While Nero tried to parry both attack from Fynn and Ailana, he also tried to attack Cain but his brother would raise the child infront of him as a shield. Nero would stop midway as to prevent the baby from getting hurt.

"It was fun seeing you again, brother. But I need to go now because the big bad monster is here. Oooohh! Scary", Cain chuckled as he escaped through the window. Bloodlust began to leak towards the door and Nera eventually arrived. She immediately bound the two and head towards the window.

"F*cking nimble rat. You better prepare yourself, boy. If I ever find you, I will be the one to discipline you instead", Nera's pressure filled the entire room. She was filled with anger to those who dared kidnap her baby.

"Forgive me, Your Highness, for being incompetent", Nero approached the Queen and bowed.

"No, since you abandoned your job as an assassin, we had it coming. Sooner or later, they will hire another one to attack us.

But those f*cking bastards tried to~~~ Urrrkkkk. I need them killed, Nero. I. Want. My. Baby. Back", Nera tried to suppress her anger.