Naru Henituse

Part 3

The nursery was quiet. Much more quiet than anyone would expect of a newborn baby. For just a second, the wretched fear wracked his chest that he was too late. That somehow, someway, Naru wouldn't live past infancy in this life and he would walk up to a quiet cradle and a still baby.

It wouldn't be the first time he'd witnessed such a nauseating sight.

The nursemaid was dozing lightly at Naru's cribside and Cale approached with the trepidation of the worst.

It struck Cale for the first time in a while when he saw the sleeping child.

Baby's were really ugly.

Especially newborn infants. Cale stood on his tippy-toes to watch over the babe and thought that his overly big head and big brown eyes looked a bit creepy.

"...you woke up." Cale muttered to himself, staring into those identical brown eyes and hating them just a little bit.

Naru was weak.

He'd always had a frail body but it was so much worse in infancy. Even a child with Cale's insignificant strength could easily kill Naru.

Cale hated it because it terrified him.

All that it would take was one person inside of the Henituse estate with a twisted mind and Naru's life would be snuffed out.

Cale would lose his brother all over again.

Cale clenched the cradle and glared down at the baby as though his mere existence was somehow unpleasant.

Naru glared right back.

It was definitely Cale's imagination, but he was certain that he caught the faintest hint of resentment in the glare.

Cale's lips quirked upwards.

Well, Naru might be weak and feeble but at least he wasn't a pushover.

"...you need to stay healthy." Cale lectured, reaching down to touch one of Naru's tiny hands and hesitating before retracting his hand. "Don't get hurt, Naru."

The infant fixed him with a look that seemed to just scream "easier said than done, asshole" and Cale found his smile widening. He was only imagining it but the idea that perhaps Naru was a sassy little shit filled him with fondness.

And then agonizing regret.

...how little did he know about his baby brother...?

Cale avoided Naru as much as possible while he was alive, petty and foolish and angry over a sin that Naru had no control over. It was twisted and moronic. Just as so many of Cale's mistakes were.

"...I'll protect you this time. I promise." Cale snuck a glance at the sleeping nursemaid and his scowl returned. Cale was making an effort to stay quiet but still, she should have at least stirred with this much noise right next to her.

Right, before I commit any murders, I'll need to fix this.

The master of the household neglected Naru and so the staff had naturally followed suit. It wasn't an act of cruelty or hatred. It simply wasn't their job to care for a baby that no one else loved. Cale's heart ached for Naru's original childhood. The doubtless amount that Naru had suffered due to this foolishness.

Father is probably still trying to revive mother... How stupid. How completely stupid. Stealing all of the staff away for such a meaningless task and only leaving one maid behind to tend to the newborn infant. Cale wasn't left with even that much but he preferred it this way.

He was able to move freely throughout the estate for as long as he was being neglected. It would be best to take advantage of the time spent outside of observation to achieve one or two of his goals.

"You look like a smart kid." Cale sighed. The weight of their situation, or more specifically all the tragedy that awaited in the future, drained away any enthusiasm that Naru's intelligent eyes filled him with. "I wonder if you were smart...?"

It was confusing and painful. Cale didn't really want to look away though. He was glad that Naru didn't look sick though. Just weak, small, and ugly. As all babies did.

Cale sank to the ground beside the crib, staring at the door while he tried to make a usable plan.

The tragedy of the Henituse family happened in waves. The first wave was the untimely death of the Countess. Then it would be the Count neglecting his territory, which would leave them wide open to the third wave.

"...the vassals..."

Most were distant relatives of Deruth's. Henituse branch family members who had aspirations to be something more and achieve something greater. Deruth's fall to despair was just the opening that they hoped for and many were quick to wrap their greedy fingers around the throat.

Deruth would struggle under their pressure, Cale would be tormented at their leisure, and Naru...

Cale gripped his knees and glared at the door with a feeling of misery and guilt.

Naru would be taken away.

As a child, Cale had welcomed the relief that the harbinger of death would no longer reside under the same roof and wallowed in his own misery pathetically. He could make the excuse that he was a child but that reasoning rang hollow inside of him.

He might have been just a child but he was still Naru's older brother.

He should have protected him. By any means necessary. He shouldn't have been so stupid and selfish.

Self pity and guilt isn't going to solve anything, idiot.

Cale grit his teeth.

What if he just killed his uncle? The one that was due to take Naru away? After he learned all the things that happened to Naru in that damn house, he knew the bastard more than deserved death. Although killing him wouldn't necessarily protect Naru.

It would be really cathartic though.

Well, murder would have to wait. At least until Cale solved the problems directly in front of him. The first thing he would need to do was break into his fathers office and attend to matters of state. All the things that Deruth let slip while mad with grief. No, before that, he'd need to assign more servants to attend to Naru. Ah, perhaps he could do it at the same time? Forge his fathers handwriting and leave the order for the butler to find? Ah, before he did that, he'd just find Ron and order him to attend to Naru in the meantime. Ron could be trusted not to neglect his duties.

It was going to be a complicated few weeks. But before the vassal families descended like vultures, he would need to stabilize the estate.

Cale stretched his arms over his head and stood up, sneaking one last glance at Naru's bright brown eyes before he left.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you this time."

No matter what it might cost.