Chapter Two – The Broken Family

I was laying back onto the hospital bed, looking up at the ceiling, with a dull expression on my face. Mae was still gone and I was growing bored of just waiting. I was going to try to get up from the bed when I heard footsteps coming towards my room.

 I looked at the door, expecting Mae to come through the door, but was proven wrong when I realized it was “my father” and “my older brother”. They didn’t have any expression on their face as they stared at me. I just gave them an empty stare back, not caring enough to speak to them.

“My older brother”, Erik Giliam, was a serious-looking, glasses-wearing boy. He was two years older than me. Even though he hasn't grown completely yet, he is still a pretty-looking boy. His light green eyes stood out on his tan skin. His brown hair was neatly combed and style adding onto his serious-looking nature.

 “My father”, Myles Giliam, was a close off looking man. He had light blue eyes, but they look rather gloomy and dark in all of Aurelia's memories. He had blonde hair that was neatly styled and parted slightly to the right of his face. He had a beauty mark near the bottom of his lip that was easy to spot on his rather pale looking skin.

  I was just staring at them, not bothering to act how Aurelia used to act whenever she saw them. It was just a silent staring contest, as we just stared at each other with an empty expression. It was like this until Mae came back with the doctor.

 Mae noticed how tense it was and quickly went to my side, putting her hands on my shoulder in a comforting way.  The doctor pretended not to notice how tense it was and just went to the check-up. After confirming I was okay, he nodded his head with a please look in their eyes.

 “You seem to be better now, but your body is slightly underweight so it may be hard to walk around. I am urging you to eat more so something like this won’t happen again. Also, I will need you to come again, just to make sure everything is okay with your head.”  The doctor looked nervous when he mentioned my head, making me wonder if something unusual was found about it. I couldn’t just ask them straight up what was wrong with it since technically I am a child at the moment.

 I just silently nod my head at the doctor and bury myself more into Mae, liking how warm she felt. I could feel that she was shaking and the grip on my shoulder was getting a bit painful. I look up at her, seeing that her expression was of her trying not to cry.

 After the doctor left, a nurse came in with a wheelchair. “My father” and “older brother” still haven’t spoken to me as the nurse lifted me and put me into the wheelchair. “My father” makes a move to push my wheelchair but Mae was quicker to my side. I didn’t bother to look at him or “my brother” as I was pushed out of the room I was in.

 It was quiet as we walked through the hospital, I could see from the corner of my eyes “my brother” and “my father” looking at me with emotions in their eyes I couldn’t understand and didn’t want to understand. ‘The relationship between us is nonexistent so why bother to care about them. If they don’t do anything to me then I won’t make their life a living hell.’

 Once we reached outside and I got to the car that was waiting for me, “my father” finally spoke to me. “Aurelia, we have decided that once a week we shall eat together. That should be satisfying enough for you, I assume.” 

 I looked at “my father” who spoke to me in an uncaring voice and stared at me with cold eyes. I wanted to refuse to eat with him once a week but I realize that this happened because Aurelia wanted to eat with her father. Not wanting to speak to him, I just nodded my head with an uninterested expression.

 “Mae, lift me into the car, please.” I didn’t want either one of my “family members” to touch me so I asked my caretaker to help me into the car. Mae quickly opened the car door and lift me from the wheelchair to the car. She then quickly folded the wheelchair and put it in the truck before she went in the car with me.

 I look out of the car window to see “my father” and “brother” going into a separate car. Even though I didn’t care about that, my heart clenched so painfully I dug my nails into my palm until the pain went away. ‘This must be Aurelia leftover feelings affecting me. Even if her family doesn’t care for her, she can’t but want them to love her.’

 “Mae, I want to eat curry when I get home, can I?” I decided to ignore what I was feeling at the moment and decided to fix my current problem, my hunger. Mae looked at me with tender eyes and nodded her head slowly at me with a smile on her face.

 The ride back to Aurelia's home was quiet and peaceful. Once we arrived home, Mae got out of the car quickly and got out of my wheelchair. She then lifted me and put me onto the said wheelchair. As she was pushing me toward my home, my heart grew uncomfortable as I looked at the huge house. It looked beautiful being surrounded by a garden but it gave off an empty feeling.

 ‘At least my home was warmer than this place is. . .’ I was planning on figuring out how to make my home feel more warm, just to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling in my chest. As I was pushed into the house I was greeted by many servants who all bowed when they saw me.

 I could see that all the servants in this house were pleased to see that I was okay and back home. Compared to the Giliam family, the servant felt warmer toward her. She could feel her heart be filled with countless warm emotions making me realize that Aurelia loved all the people who worked for her.

 I was pushed into the living room where I was waiting for the curry I requested to be made. My hair was being combed by a servant. From Aurelia's memories, I learned that different servants brush her hair every day and style it differently. This was something Aurelia enjoyed her servants doing. 

  After a while of combing and styling her hair into pigtails, the curry was finally done. I was pushed into the dining room and on the table, there was a single plate of curry for me waiting. I was lifted from the wheelchair and pulled into the chair so I could eat. I ate the curry slowly, feeling my body slowly grow warm all over the place.

 As I was eating, I realized the curry was starting to taste a bit salty for some reason. I felt confused at the gasp of concern as I continued to eat. I stopped eating once my eyes started to get blurry. Rubbing my eyes I realized I was crying. The more I rub at my eyes the more tears appear. I could feel the original feelings of Aurelia and I forced myself to continue eating the curry.

 After I finished the curry, the crying stopped instantly. I was picked up from the chair and moved back to my wheelchair. I was pushed to the stairs and picked up by a servant, who carried me to my room. I was carried into the bathroom connected to my room and I reluctantly allowed them to help me wash. 

 After cleaning myself, I was changed into my sleeping clothes, which was a black nightgown. I was placed into my bed and the servant who was taking care of me left. After a while, Mae came in and sat onto my bed. Mae then started to sing a lullaby to me and from Aurelia's memories, this was something that usually happened every night before she went to sleep.  

 I slowly closed my eyes and even my breathing. After Mae stopped singing and kissed my forehead before she turned off the lights then left the room. After listening to make sure she was gone, I quickly sat up in the bed.

 After listening to make sure no one was coming I went to get out of the bed. I was a bit shaky as my leg touched the ground, still not feeling at my full strength at the moment.  After making sure I wouldn’t fall I went to the desk I remember seeing as I was carried into the room.

 Going through the draw attached to the desk I found an empty notebook to use. Sitting in the chair that was in front of the desk I started to write down what I remember from the game. I know that the game will start once I turn sixteen and start highschool so my time limit is six years.

 Now I have to write down all the love interests. I know four out of the five love interests, seeing as I was currently on the hidden character route. In all of the routes, Aurelia appears, causing trouble for the protagonist and the people she is currently pursuing. All the love interests are princes of some important countries.

  The first love interest is Isaias Donnell, the crowned prince of Goldcrest. He is an independent, generous, and well-mannered person on the surface but his true personality is a vulgar, rebellious, and manipulative person. The heroine found this out by mistake so he decided to force her to keep her mouth shut by forcing her to run errands for him. Over the time they spent together the heroine slowly opened his heart to her and let her in. 

 I rub my head as I unfortunately remember both the endings for Aurelia in the happy and bad ending. In the happy ending Aurelia tries to help the enemies of Isaias out by telling them where they could kidnap the heroine. He found out about this and captured both his enemies and Aurelia. He then publicly killed both of the parties by cutting off their heads. Aurelia's family just watch as this happens, nothing trying to help her out in any way. In the bad ending, the heroine is kidnapped and killed causing Isaias to go mad with grief and capture Aurelia. He then tortures her until she dies.

 I understand why the prince was so upset but why the hell does the punishment for her crimes have to be so horrible. . . My eyes narrowed as I put a skull next to his name, reminding myself to never trust the piece of shit.

 The second love interest is Colton Lynn, the third prince of Aquarine. He is an analytical, responsible, and rude person. He acts like this due to the fact he is the youngest compared to his other siblings and he doesn’t want to be taken advantage of. He and the heroine got into an argument after she was falsely accused of stealing a test paper which was set up by Aurelia followers. After realizing she was innocent he decided to make it up to her. Due to many events, they end up getting closer to each other. 

 The happy ending for them involves Colton getting out of an arranged marriage that was forced by his parents. Aurelia tried to help out the person who Colton was going to marry by poisoning the heroine. Colton found out and forced Aurelia to swallow the poison herself. The bad ending involved Aurelia succeeding in killing her but in the end, Colton used all his influence to kill all the people who were involved in the heroine's death.

 I put a skull near his name too but made it two skulls. I remember how hard it was to even get through his route and how much time I had to start over. He wasn’t my favorite person at all.

 The third love interest is Merrill Parrish, the illegitimate prince of Moonbright. He is a fun-loving, cheerful, and laid-back person. He is famous for always dating different girls every month. He and the heroine met when he tried to pick her up but she reacted negatively to it and she slapped him. He ended up growing interested in her fierce personality and decided to pursue her. While he was pursuing her the heroine ended up learning why he acted the way he did. He is not a child who is looked at positively due to the fact he is proof of an affair. 

 In the good ending, Merrill saved the heroine from being taken into human trafficking due to the planning of Aurelia follower who was in love with Merrill. The follower and Aurelia were both imprisoned by Merrill and treated horribly during the time in prison until they died. The bad ending the heroine is captured by the human traffickers and when the heroine tries to escape she ends up dying in the process. The follower and Aurelia were both taken into human trafficking which was planned by Merrill as revenge for what they did.

 I put a line and skulls near his name while biting my lip roughly. What happened to the heroine during the route near the end wasn’t even planned by her. It was her follower yet she was still punished! Even though she did bully the heroine during the route doesn’t mean she was the one who planned for that to happen to.

 The fourth love interest is Eli Madrigal, the only prince of Greenflower. He is a touchy-feely, nurturing, and sincere person. He has a habit of dressing like a female due to the fact he enjoyed looking cute. At first, I thought he was a good person since he was childhood friends with Aurelia but he turned out to be the yandere type of love interest. He ends up falling in love with the heroine at first sight after she helps him out when he trips on the first day of school. He then started to seek her out so they could grow closer to her. Even though he was a yandere type he didn’t do anything that would result in her being left by herself in school. He just took care of the people who caused trouble for her. Aurelia was persistent in this route due to the fact she was in love with Eli.

 The happy ending for Eli was when Aurelia tried to push the heroine down the steps after telling her to stop hanging around with Eli. Eli stopped Aurelia from pushing the heroine down the steps and told her that no matter what he would never fall in love with someone like her and she could die for all he cares. In the end, Eli and the heroine got together while Aurelia took her life in her room by hanging herself. The bad ending is where Aurelia succeeds in pushing the heroine to drop down the steps and end up causing her to lose her memories about Eli. This cause Eli to break down and he took his anger out at Aurelia by pushing her down the steps too but unlike the heroine, she died the moment she reached the bottom of the steps.

 My heart was clenching tight as I thought about Eli and it took all my strength not to cry out from the pain. I crossed out his name fiercely and put many skulls near his name also. He was the only person Aurelia felt like could love her but in the end, he became like her family. Even if he was mad at her, why did he have to go and say that? I hate him more than anything and want nothing to do with this asshole.

 I look at the four love interests that I wrote in my notebook and look at the blank space for the fifth love interest. I didn’t manage to finish the route and all information on them was hidden until you met them. So the hidden character was someone I had to look out for, unfortunately. 

 ‘This is the way I will survive in this world. I won’t interact with any of the love interests. I don’t care about them at all. They stay out of my way and I will stay out of their way. Be with the heroine all you want. I don’t care.’ I closed the notebook and put it away in the drawer and made sure to hide it well. I end up yawning, realizing how tired I was at the moment. Getting up from the desk I went back to my bed.

 I closed my eyes and went to sleep rather quickly, feeling satisfied with what I had planned to survive this world. Just avoid all the love interests and if they start any trouble with me then I will make them experience something worse than death. ‘This seems like a really smart plan that will work out well for me.’

 I thought this as I fell asleep with a small smile on my face feeling pleased but the moment I woke up the pleased feeling disappeared instantly. My “childhood friend” was here at the moment with tears in his eyes, looking at me like a kicked puppy.

 ‘Why the hell is this bitch here?’ I could feel my eyes grow cold the more I looked at Eli who was standing by my bed, his face covered in tears and snot. The perfect plan I came up with was instantly destroyed by this unexpected appearance.