Claimed by the deranged Archduke of the North

Brother Trap

Xion slumped down, his stiff back relaxing against the floor. Taking a few deep breaths, he pushed his body up from the dusty ground.

He could only use the wall as a support to stand up. He slowly moved toward the single bed which did not even have a blanket on it.

With each step he took, he felt his legs falling apart. It took him almost four minutes to drag his body from one corner to the other where the small bed frame was.

The room was not even that big!

Xion fell on the bed. A big mistake. The wooden frame could never offer the comfort of the soft mattress he was used to.

He groaned in pain, his hands moving to rub his aching back. As he lay there, his eyes fell on the spider webs all over the ceiling.

Just a few days ago, Xion was living comfortably in his new home. He thought that he could finally live his life at his own leisure.

He went out to buy the bear to celebrate his freedom from his toxic family and then...he died.

He stupidly went to catch the hanging cat from the tree and fell into the pit, never to see the day of light again, or... so he thought.

It had almost been a month since he opened his eyes to this world. At first, he thought that he might be hallucinating due to his overworking. Yet, much to his dismay, he actually transmigrated into this weird magical aristocratic world.

His eyes darted around the room. Other than the bed and the broken table at the corner there was not even a simple chair in the room. A sigh escaped his pale lips dissolving into the air.

It was a world where magic prevailed over technology. There were dungeons, hunters, adventurers and guilds.

He, Xion Aijawa, had transmigrated into this world. His name and face were more or less similar to the owner of the body he had possessed.

Other than the shiny blue eyes, the familiar facial features somehow managed to put his agitation at bay.

As for the place he was staying at the moment... it was not his room.

The Marquis had very 'kindly' provided him with a well-furnished room right next to Soren. Xion would have enjoyed the comfy bed, if not for that bastard of a brother of his.

It had been a month since he had accepted the original owner's last wish.

Xion was on the verge of death when a pale semi-transparent figure asked him to take his place in exchange for a chance to live a brand new life. Xion, being an activist, accepted it.

He recalled the fear when he fell into the pit that day. It was too dark to even see his own hands let alone the slippery mud beneath his feet.

Newton's law of motion followed the principle, his feet slipped. Without anyone to break his fall he banged the back of his head onto the concrete pipe before rolling into the dark pit.

Before he could even register the pain, he saw a vague glimpse of the boy huddling in front of him.

Xion was so disoriented from his earlier fall that he did not even notice the darkness receding around him at a rapid pace.

The white tiles covered everywhere his eyes could reach. However, Xion's gaze was solely fixed on the boy who looked like a younger version of himself, albeit a prettier one.

"Hi," While rubbing his head, Xion crouched in front of the smaller shivering body while draping his coat onto the thin shoulders of the little boy.

Xion felt his breath getting stuck in his throat when he saw those shimmering blue eyes. The boy did have a resemblance to him but the gap in their beauty was too much.

Xion wondered if he was looking at an angel.

"C-Can you help me, brother?"

The little angel grabbed the corner of his clothes while looking at him with pleading eyes.

Xion was the youngest child in his household of four kids. He was a mistake and he knew it well enough to never expect anything from his family other than a few beatings.

Where had anyone ever called him brother?

So, the silly Xion beamed with a smile, "Of Course! Tell me what you want and this brother will help you!"

Perhaps his smile was so bright that it stunned the shivering kid into blankly looking at him.

Those long, dark eyelashes fluttered surrounding the dazed oceanic eyes, and Xion was ready to give his life to this pretty doll.

"I-I want to leave. Can you take my place? You will be able to live a new life. I will even leave a gift for you. P-Please Brother,"

Xion blinked and before he knew he was nodding along with the words he could not even understand, "Sure,"

That was the last time Xion saw the real owner of this body. He wanted to go back in time and slap the shit out of his old self.

What the fuck was 'Sure'?

Now, Xion was stuck in the body of another little 'Xion' whose life experience was not any different from his own.

Well, I did not have a lecherous pervert of a step-brother to hide from.

However, the beatings and the curses were still more or less the same. Their mothers never loved them and there were those siblings, making their life a living hell. The useless fathers were nothing to be proud of.

Xion pushed his body off the wooden bed. This was a broken shed far away from the real mansion and Xion had been using this as his secret base until today.

Now, that the banquet was about to begin in the evening, Xion could rest in his real room.

After all, the Vaelis family had invited many royals of this world to this lavish banquet. Where would they have the time to take care of the illegitimate fool?