The perfect | TBATE X COTE

Chapter 02: Study room

When Alice was busy cooking on a regular day, Arthur crept to a specific door and sat on his behind, watching it. He looked around, as if preparing to commit a crime, and when he thought no one was looking, he pushed the door open and crawled in as quickly as he could.

I noticed our mother humming as she cooked and, after some thought, I decided to follow Arthur. I left behind a sort of toy carriage that I was watching curiously and, I crept over to where he was. I found him reaching for a book that was a little high on the shelf. It wasn't particularly high, but for a baby who can only crawl, the lower shelves are quite high. When he finally got there, he laughed like a child, fell on his buttocks, and then lay down on his stomach, curiously opening the book.

I crept up behind him, surprising him with my sudden appearance. Arthur looked perplexed as I made a spot for myself next to him. He made a couple of gestures and babbled, but I didn't understand what he meant. He finally shrugged and turned to the first page. It was an encyclopedia-style book that contained useful information about the world and its current state. This proved to me that Arthur was a reincarnate. No normal child would seek out that type of book, and besides, a child his age should not be able to read unless he was a prodigy among prodigies.

Arthur opened a book and began to read, or so I assumed based on the way his blue eyes scanned the strange but familiar letters. I did the same thing, reading and absorbing important information into my brain, where my subconscious quickly compiled and sorted it. According to what I was reading, this continent was known as Dicathen.

There were three kingdoms on this continent; that of the dwarves; Darv, which was in the south; the kingdom of the elves, which was basically an enchanted forest in the north of the continent called Elenoir; and finally, the kingdom of the humans, Sapin, in the west. There is also an unknown area known as the Beast Glades. If they hadn't yet explored their entire continent, I could only lament humanity's slow progress on this planet.

Arthur looked at me after he finished reading, as if he wanted to know if I understood what we was doing. I simply squinted my eyes and wrinkled my brows, as if I didn't understand anything and was simply trying to imitate my brother. He nodded and turned to the next page. When his attention was drawn away, I began to read at an almost inhuman pace, thanks to my training in the white room,were those who learned slower than the rest were punished.

Arthur finished the book with a satisfied sigh, as if gaining a better understanding of his situation had been removed a heavy burden on his shoulders. After a brief pause, he picked up the book I was most interested in reading, a kind of magic guide. The book was dusty and the rudimentary cover was cracked, but the letters, which I could understand for some reason, were still legible.

I concentrated this time. My blue eyes narrowed in anticipation of what was to come, as it would mean a shift in my perspective of the world and the natural laws with which I was so familiar.

(***)

Arthur Leywin's point of view:

I was a king, a supreme being capable of bringing an entire country to its knees. But now, I'm... gloating in front of a baby, proudly demonstrating my ability to crawl as if it were one of my greatest accomplishments.

'Heh!' I considered strutting in front of my twin brother. 'You are not the only child prodigy!' I told him by lifting my chin and looking at him.

My twin brother, on the other hand, just stared at me with his usual unamused expression; his bright blue eyes seemed to be an exotic contrast to his emotionless expression. His patch of dark brown hair gave him the appearance of a cute, if emotionless, baby.

Despite my smile, he did not respond. He appeared to be wearing a mask, similar to those council elders in my previous world, but instead of them ever-smiling face, he had an ever-stoic face. But what was I up to? Putting a child in the same category as those leeches is wrong. Anyway, he was my brother, Kiyotaka Leywin, a strange name for a boy, but they weren't expecting twins, so they only had one name planned.