Marriage Contract

[22]

"If you go to Ai'Oon's bookcase, to second drawer on the leftmost side, you'll
find a small box there; and inside it, is the answer to what you want to know."

Kongpob  stood before the bookcase, the words Prem spoke earlier replaying in his mind. That bookshelf of Arthit's was rather high, so he used a step ladder to climb up : going for the second drawer on the far left, to the box Prem had spoke of.

It was an antique looking wooden box, covered in many intricate designs
which were exquisite and beautiful.
Taking the case into his hands made Kongpob  feel quite nervous, to the
extent where his hands actually began to tremble as the constant feeling of it
being like he was peeking at some mysterious object over took him.

He did not try to open the box at first, he only stared at the thing intently, while the two opposing thoughts: "Open" and "Don't open'", bounced against one another, as if they were the multiple choice answers on a sheet of paper
laid out before him.

His mind warned him doing something like this was wrong, and that spying
on Arthit's private things without his consent was very bad.

But, his heart told him this thing should be something regarding him, otherwise Prem would have been unlikely to tell him about it to begin with.
Besides, he wanted to know the answer to those things Prem had said,
and ultimately, why Arthit wanted to make such a contract with him.

Without a doubt, his emotions prevailed over his rationality in the end. So
with the intake of a deep breath, Kongpob slowly opened the box. The box's latch made a soft "click" echo within his hand when it unlocked, and in that split second, Kongpob  heard the sound of his own heart pounding.

Surprisingly, there was nothing particularly special inside the box. So far, just an old piece of newspaper looking a bit yellowed-resting atop its other contents.

-This newspaper was from five years ago.

Upon seeing the newspaper, Kongpob  was a little stunned; not understanding what Prem's intent could have been in making him see it. He then took out the newspaper and read the date on its cover: July 25th, 20XX.

Why would p'Arthit treasure and preserve an old newspaper like this?

Kongpob  did not understand.

Now putting back the box, Kongpob  opened the newspaper and read the
capitalised front page headline of the leading news story-Sun st. Group's
Next Heir, Arthit, Receives Secret Invite to Attend the XXth Youth Standalone Webgame Competition: So could this mean the Sun st. Group is possibly stepping foot into the online gaming industry?!

Below this headline, one-third of all the titles were all about Arthit.

Kongpob , "..."

Is narcissism Lord Arthit's that reason for wanting to hoard popular newspaper headlines of himself and keep them in that box? Could that he actually turn out to be more of a narcissist than a tsundere?

Knowing fully well such a thing was out of the question, Kongpob still could
not help but laugh after he thought about it, as he took a careful look at the
Arthit from back then. Comparatively speaking, there was not that much difference between the Arthit in that picture to his current appearance. His features were still quite handsome, and his expression was still rather indifferent; but now it seemed like those features, along with his temperament, became even more refined, more mature--more..composed.

That photo, suddenly made Kongpob  become more curious as to what
Arthit was like those years back, especially whether or not he was such
a sharp-tongued tsundere as he is...
Yep, he must've still been like that. He was probably born that way, Kongpob
thought, before he returned his gaze to the newspaper's contents.