Another Cinderella

CHAPTER 1 - THE LIGHT

"Finally, Cinderella and Prince Charming live happily ever after... The End." Archen closed the storybook as soon as the tale concluded.

"Cinderella must be so happy, right?" Icha, still not asleep, piped up.

Haahhhh... Archen sighed.

"Of course, she's found her Prince Charming, now it's time for bed," Archen adjusted the blanket and fluffed the pillow for his sister.

"Prince Charming must be sooooo handsome, right, Phi?"

Natachai's face flashed in Archen's mind. The fair skin and tall, slender figure truly fit the title of a prince. Archen smiled to himself.

"I want one." His sister's words interrupted his thoughts.

Slowly, Archen shook his head, trying to erase Natachai's image from his mind.

"What?"

"Prince Charming... I want one."

"He's not here, it's bedtime," Archen insisted.

"I want him... Find him for me, pleaseeee..."

"Think you can buy him on Shopee or something? It's not that easy," Archen joked.

"Oh, come on, I want him, I want Prince Charming," his sister persisted.

Archen sighed heavily. "You need to be Cinderella first; Prince Charming is for Cinderella."

"How to be Cinderella?"

'Ah...not again, please stop,' Archen groaned inside.

Archen hoped his sister would stop asking and go to sleep.

Seriously, his brain was too tired to think. Not anymore.

"Yeah, you can't... Cinderella has evil stepsisters, you don't, she has Jaq and Gus, but you're afraid of mice, so obviously, you can't," Archen tried one last trick to stop his sister from hoping for the impossible.

"But Jaq and Gus must be cute, I can handle that, maybe?"

Nope, she doesn't. She can't.

Archen sighed heavily, his eyelids felt as though they were being pulled down.

"Really, okay, let's search for your mice friends tomorrow, so we know if you can or not. I think the ones running behind our house in the drain will be suitable."

"No, that is rat, it's not cute..."

"Nope, can't be helped, that's the only one available. Oh, how about I go catch it now? It's in the middle of the night, it's their playtime, it'll be perfect, hurry up and become Cinderella, Icha," Archen pretended to get up briskly from the bed.

"No... I don't want that one," Icha protested, covering her face, about to cry, provoked by her brother.

"Okay, go to sleep."

"Phiiiiii," the little one's protest, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"Or Phi will catch it now," he threatened teasingly.

"Okay, okay, I'll sleep now," she said, her voice still muffled by the pillow covering her face.

Archen chuckled softly.

He started turning off the lights in his sister's bedroom and stepped out.

"If you don't tease your siblings, you can't live, huh?" His mother's voice came from behind.

She appeared to have prepared some ingredients for tomorrow.

"Hehe, like you don't know me," Archen teased back.

His mother gently stroked his hair, and Archen lowered his head slightly so her touch could reach every part of his head.

"Go shower and sleep now, Chen. You look so tired today," his mother instructed.

"Yes, Mae," Archen said as he walked into his room.

Urgh...so tired.

Archen was taking off his jacket when he realized he had brought the Cinderella storybook into his room.

He stared at the book for a long moment.

"Cinderella huh... How lucky of you. Now, please live happily," he muttered.

Well, not everyone can have the fortune of being like Cinderella. Finding joy and happiness after enduring some episodes of hardship and injustice. Not everyone can. Some people just indulge in hardship till they die.

Prince Charming... hmm...

He chuckled softly. Well, not everyone can have the luck to be with him.

Besides, in Archen's case, he's the one who needs to be a prince charming to someone. Not the other way around. But the ordinary him is so far from that.

"Well, is there any Cinderella who wants me? Hahaha... nonsense... I'd better shower," he said, placing the book on the table beside his bed.

He continued undressing, leaving only the green lime hoodie he had worn since morning. He sank onto the bed, intended to relax for a moment before heading to the bathroom outside.

With the pillow propped against the bed, he began unlocking his phone screen. Intending to check his neglected social media accounts for the day.

As he was engrossed in scrolling through his X app timeline, he noticed a light emitting from the gaps between the pages of the book.

"What's this?" He instinctively opened the book to check if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

And indeed, a stream of light poured out from the book, dazzling his eyes.

And after that, Archen didn't remember anything else.