Chapter 2: The Catalyst Part 1

Clayton L. Klein.

He stood tall with an impressive height at the age of 17.

His sparkling blond hair framed blue eyes that harbored a faint hesitation.

The reason was his older brother, Shane.

After the break at the academy, Shane had shown no inclination to leave his room.

It was likely due to the news that he had suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of a classmate before the semester was over.

For almost a month since then, Klein had repeatedly visited Shane only to be met with cold indifference.

Their father, Clayton J. Lowell simply told Klein to leave Shane alone and had since removed himself from the matter.

Their father had shown little interest in his children since they were young.

Klein understood why.

Throughout various incidents and troubles, Lowell had refrained from investing emotionally in anyone, including his children.

At least Klein had a mother who was the family head’s second wife, but Shane did not have his own mother who had been Lowell’s first wife.

Shane was in a position where he could only become more estranged from the family.

Even his own mother was wary of Shane at this point.

Shane was in a position where he could trust no one in this mansion.

Perhaps that was why he always disliked it when anyone, including Klein, approached him.

But if I also ignore him, then he will have no one left.

Therefore, Klein never gave up and continuously tried to get closer to his brother.

“Haaah, alright.”

Standing in front of Shane’s room after a long while, Klein took a shallow breath before speaking.

“Brother, it’s Klein. May I come in?”

He asked in his usual tone of voice, and surprisingly, a response came quickly.

“Come in.”

Klein tilted his head slightly at the voice.

It was as gruff as usual, but the emotion behind it was subtly different.

With a mix of curiosity and concern, he opened the door and entered to find Shane standing by the window, holding a teacup and looking at him.

“What is it?”

“I came because father called for you.”

“Not bothering to use a servant.”

“Yes…”

Why did he sound like he was scolding him for coming unnecessarily?

While he was thinking this,

“You’ve come at a good time. There’s actually something I wanted to say.”

“Yes?”

Something he wanted to say?

His brother, who usually avoided even a single word with him, seemed to have something on his mind.

A slight tension filled the air.

And then Shane’s lips slowly parted.

“I’m sorry.”

“……?”

“I’ve been so cold to you without any reason.”

“……!”

Startled by his brother’s unexpected words, Klein felt as if he had been struck by lightning and couldn’t control his body.

“Big brother…?”

“I just wanted to say that.”

With a somewhat embarrassed look on his face,

Shane slightly lowered his head, and for the first time, Klein saw a faint but certain smile on his brother’s face.

***

An embarrassingly straightforward apology.

The reason behind his action was nothing significant.

It was merely an act to reaffirm his own intentions.

“It’s not too late to change now.”

It wasn’t too late.

This moment was five years before the organization had reached out to him. It wasn’t yet the worst-case scenario.

Of course, now that Shane had apologized to his younger brother, it wouldn’t much improve his situation.

There would still be many people outside this room who looked down on Shane just like before.

Before his regression, Shane had been slowly but surely crumbling under the pressure of such people.

And at that time, he believed his family felt the same way.

He was always compared to Klein. And alongside him was his stepmother Rachel, who helped Klein and was always guarded against Shane.

And Shane’s father who only considered people’s abilities…

Lowell.

A strict meritocrat.

That was precisely who Lowell was, and around him remained only those whose characters might vary but whose skills stood out.

It was inevitable that Shane and Klein would be compared to each other.

The fact that Shane, despite being the eldest son of the Count, was overshadowed by his younger brother, would have made him the butt of jokes at the academy he attended.

Therefore, wherever he went, Shane lived a life constantly compared to others and so he broke down.

The organization had been watching him closely and succeeded in corrupting him in the end.

When Shane saw his younger brother’s face, the face that had led him to death and corruption,

For the first time, Shane could face his brother with a genuine attitude that was freed from the judgment of those around him.

Despite the fact that the villainous executive who had killed countless people was his own brother, his face was filled with guilt for having killed him.

Such people existed in the world.

That was what family was.

Those precious emotions had shaped the Shane of today.

“It’s a feeling I realized at the brink of death, a feeling that should never be forgotten.”

Though his actions had been driven by the power of corruption, Shane had been involved in the deaths of too many people.

Now, even if those actions were undone, Shane still felt a weight on his shoulders that was perhaps heavier than the one Klein had carried before his regression.

“I must change.”

This situation might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do so.

***

“You seem different.”

“…What do you mean?”

On the day he was to leave for the academy.

For some reason, Lowell called Shane and Klein to a family meal under the guise of spending time together.

It was unusual for Lowell who typically didn’t pay much attention to family matters.

“Your eyes, which once looked worse than dead, have changed. Especially when you look at your brother, I don’t sense any hostility in them.”

“……”

Following his words, Shane remained silent and Klein felt increasingly uncomfortable.

Since when had Lowell cared enough about the family to make such a remark?

Or had he noticed the look in his son’s eyes all along and yet never said a word about it?

Klein worried whether his big brother might be harboring such thoughts.

However, surprisingly, Shane responded calmly and without any apparent emotional change.

“I had a dream.”

“A dream?”

“Yes.”

“What was the dream about?”

“It was a dream where I was pierced through the heart by Klein’s sword.”

“Pfft!”

The first to react to this unexpected tale of a dream was naturally Klein.

Me?

To my big brother?

Big brother, just how do you see me…

“Huh.”

It seemed the family head Lowell was just as surprised and his face showed a rare change.

“What a strange dream.”

“Though it was just a dream, I wish to do better from now on to ensure that it never becomes reality.”

“…There’s nothing wrong with brothers getting along. I understand.”

With that, Lowell continued eating and no further conversation followed.

Rachel must have stepped away for a moment.

What would Rachel, Shane’s stepmother and current wife of the family head, have said if she had heard this?

Though it’s hard to know, she likely would have tried hard to understand the meaning behind Shane’s words.

In any case, the servants would end up hearing and spreading the same story.

As the meal was coming to an end, Lowell spoke up again.

“Have a good time at the academy.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Understood.”

Shane and Klein responded quickly to his farewell, and Lowell was the first to leave the dining room.

What had it been like in a past life?

I remember now.

In his previous life, Shane had had a major fight with Lowell on this day.

The reason was none other than his declaration that he intended to drop out of the academy.

At that time, he had been extremely worn out.

Compared by the mansion’s servants, compared at the academy.

Everywhere he went, he was met with comparing eyes.

Therefore, he had asked Lowell if he could leave it all behind and travel.

As expected, the response was a refusal.

Back then, I thought the head of the family was heartless.

Of course, there were social reasons involved too.

After all, graduating from the academy was a very natural thing for nobles.

But was that really the only reason?

Eventually, unable to withstand his father’s threats, Shane went to the academy but he failed to adapt and ran away in the end.

That was when he had set out on a journey to find freedom.

What had become of him then?

A noble of a noble family who had forsaken his duties.

It’s not that Shane had killed anyone like a true villain at the start.

However, to the people of the world, Shane carried the label of a noble who had abandoned his duties.

In the coalition where Shane now lived, the academy carried that kind of importance.

The head of the family must have foreseen such a future.

That’s why he might have tried to dissuade him from dropping out and even went so far as to use threats.

Shane decided to think that way.

Of course, he still didn’t particularly like Lowell, but he thought that a shift in perspective might help bridge the gap between them.

It was around that time that he realized he needed to have a serious conversation with Lowell someday.

“Big brother.”

“Hmm, what is it?”

Klein who had finished his meal initiated the conversation.

Klein began to speak with a resolute expression on his face.

“I will never draw my sword against you, brother.”

“…….”

“Never. That will never happen.”

“…Yes.”

If the you from my previous life had known my true identity, would you not have drawn your sword against me?

Shane remembered the expression his younger brother had worn at the end of his past life.

His face carried a deep sense of guilt and regret.

***

That afternoon.

Shane received a bag filled with necessary items from Maria, his personal maid, and then left the mansion together with Klein.

Today, Shane and Klein were ending their month-long break and returning to the academy.

But for Shane, it was his first time back at the academy in quite a while.

The academy…

The reasons for the downfall of Shane in his previous life were many, but the beginning of it all was indeed the academy.

The disdainful and comparing eyes of the students had been part of it.

But the first time Shane began to stray was during an incident on his way to the academy.

The incident that made me feel the greatest sense of inferiority. This time, I won’t be so easily defeated.

After he recalled that time, Shane climbed with Klein into a carriage escorted by knights.