A crackle of the mirrors shattering woke Lidien from his sleep; he lay still for a moment in the plush silence of his room, surprised that this time there was no dream of the old Lidien's past tragedies.
As his hands removed the soft, silky blanket covering his body, Lidien couldn't help but smile softly.
Ironically, his dream to have wealthy parents came true... but he needed to live in a body that supposedly belonged to a God who chose to disintegrate rather than occupy it.
Uncertain whether, like the old Lidien who got his fragmented memories still in his Dreamflow, he would also experience it; he didn't know if the Crimson Shard, which was truly his own combined with the Essence of the Death God, still had lingering memories that would someday fight for ownership of his new body.
As the last words of the Seraph couldn't be removed from his mind, Lidien could only smile helplessly, hoping that when the time was ripe, he would be strong enough to contend for ownership of the body.
And for that, Lidien needed to be on par with or much stronger than the Death God.
'Yet, I couldn't even contend with Mother's prowess...'
Looking beyond the open window, Lidien glanced at the Mirror hoping to see his future demise, yet it was only showing him his past and the old Lidien's death.
Though it was said that knowing it would make it happen sooner, at least he could find a way or prepare things to avoid it, cheating death.
'I died once... what's there to be afraid of?'
A soft knock caught Lidien's attention, then he stared at the door as it slowly opened, along with the entrance of a maid wearing revealing clothes pushing a cart with different sets of clothes.
"My Prince... It's time to prepare for breakfast..."
As the maid happily flaunted her voluptuous curves, it only made Lidien frown and call her to attention.
"Kneel..."
The maid immediately knelt in front of him, smiling as she thought of her future changing once the Prince fell for her, making her his lover or, if not, a concubine was enough for her.
Lifting her chin with a finger, Lidien smiled so sinisterly that the maid flinched from seeing her reflection in Lidien's eye.
She was holding her neck, stopping the blood that sprayed, drenching her clothes, while staring at the silhouette of a black-cloaked killer smiling with a fang sticking out, its maw full of blood.
"What did you see?"
The maid trembled; staring at her death to come made her wet and cry.
"Filthy... next time, don't enter my room without my permission... now, get out!"
The maid scrambled out of the room, leaving her smell and the cart behind.
Sighing, Lidien chose a set of clothes and changed on his own.
He wore simple clothes: black pants and a black tuxedo, like the clothes he wore when he was shot by a mugger.
'Last time I wore this kind of outfit was for my job interview... now it is only for eating breakfast... how absurd.'
Walking down the stairs, Lidien tried to search for memories regarding what his old self did during breakfast with Mother, but no matter how hard he thought, even using Incite of Blood, he couldn't find anything.
Staring at the large ancient door, Lidien took a deep breath and relaxed his nerves.
'Beyond this door is my Mother, and some of my siblings who stayed waiting for Mother's Orders...'
Steeling his resolve, Lidien pushed the door. He didn't expect it to be so heavy, forcing him to activate his Demonic Transformation as his veins bulged just from pushing it.
Unsure if it was his bone creaking or just the door's hinge, he still pushed through it.
This made all the people present clap and praise him just for opening it.
"I told you! Our youngest is strong now!" A woman with a pair of fox-like eyes said while tearing a leg of meat with her maws.
"Tsk! Of course he should be; if all the time I spent teaching him how to use a sword became meaningless, I'd kill him myself!" said the man wearing a Full Plate Armor, drinking tea.
Boom!
From the side of the room, where the smoke and splinters of a now-shattered chair flew, a man with a torn red cloak emerged. His body was full of blood, yet he was smiling while wiping his mouth.
"Kyer! I'll kill you!" shouted another man holding a large hammer, rushing towards the red-cloaked man.
Yet when Lidien stared at the center of the mess, Lady Rose was staring at him, smiling softly.
"Mother..."
Lidien sat, and a maid immediately placed a soup before him. He scooped it the way he remembered the meal etiquette he learned in his past life; though it could be considered forced and crude... it was still much better than the way his siblings ate their breakfast.
"How was your sleep?"
Even though it was chaotic and loud from the ongoing brawl of his two siblings, the words of Lady Rose still reached him, soft yet clear.
"Much better than sleeping inside the carriage..."
Lidien continued to eat and answer all the questions asked by Mother and his siblings briefly, and if he could answer with just yes or no, he didn't waste time explaining.
Until the fox-eyed woman asked Lidien about Lily.
His hand paused for a moment before continuing to move and feed himself again. After carefully wiping his mouth with a cloth, he stared at the fox-eyed woman.
Aria, a Greater Demon of Envy... though she was much more powerful compared to Lily, she couldn't accept that Lily was the Eldest while she was the younger, erupting every time someone called her the younger sister.
Licking his lips, Lidien faked a smile so genuine that it eased Aria's scrutinizing gaze.
"She's scouting the Dark Wolf Clan, Big Sis..."
Aria smiled, hugging Lidien like she would always do.
"Oh Lidien... you are so very cute... I don't know why Mother left you with that woman instead of me, where I can protect you much better than her?"
Pushing her aside, Lidien glanced at Lady Rose before looking back at Aria.
"Maybe because Mother knows that you will protect me more than Lily, and it will hinder my growth."
Sighing, Aria pulled her chair and sat beside him, staring intently at Lidien.
"You know I always get what I want, right, my baby brother..."