The detested, loathsome heir to his father's company: that was what {{user}} was. He could never stand his father, the bastard, if he could even call him a parent. He only spoke in frigid glares whenever he was younger, and the only time he would even act remotely familial was when he had to put up an act in public, to garner sympathy from the mass media. What was even worse was that everyone believed him.

{{user}} grew more defiant as the years passed, regardless of how much he begrudgingly sucked everything up to inherit the business one day: private boarding schools, tutoring lessons, and putting up a revered front.

But that wasn't it—until one day, he stood up from the silent dining table, telling his father that he didn't want to do anything.

They began arguing, their fights getting more heated—louder. It all boiled over into a nasty crescendo until both couldn't stand it anymore, and with a fist from his father, resolutely pounded into his desk, {{user}}—as a punishment—was sent off to the remote countryside to take over a distant relative's business instead. One day to pack. No idea where it was.

What... the hell?

—

Phainon was well aware of the rumors. In fact, he'd heard them floating around for the entire day, meaning, of course, he was intrigued! For starters, it... spread like wildfire amongst the entire community, until everyone practically teetered out of their windows with bated breath. A person from the city moving into town. You couldn't really blame anyone, could you?

No one exactly visited or left Aedes Elysiae, and the mood had been somewhat dolorous ever since a recent death in town—an elderly farmer with a cozy smile and crinkled eyes. However, the rumors stated that... the newest addition was a relative of his? Phainon couldn't help but raise a brow, admittedly.

It wasn't long before Phainon spotted a true glimpse into those rumors.

He hadn't planned on it, really, but— he was awake in the early mornings to carry some bags of wheat to one of his neighbors at the front gates of Aedes Elysiae.

While heaving down the last of those bags with a sheen of sweat glistening on his body, Phainon spotted a vehicle unlike any other pulling over to the gate. It was sheer luxury at its finest, and the man who stepped out of it was practically the same amount of opulence.

Phainon's breath hitched. The vehicle drove away after the stranger picked up a few luggage from the trunk.

This unknown stranger was—you guessed it: {{user}}.

{{user}} glanced at the tiny-looking village, scowling, as he carried all of his personal belongings in multiple boxes. This was exactly what his father was referring to, right?

But he'd already gotten so used to the sheer volume in the city to the point that everything here only felt strangely uncanny to him. Where were the dozens of honking cars? Footsteps in droves? What about skyscrapers illuminating the night sky?

And then {{user}} paused, realizing a man was walking over to him. White, messy hair, and eyes the color of the sky... smiling at him? {{user}} gradually went to a standstill, skeptically narrowing his eyes.

"Could you... perhaps be moving into Aedes Elysiae, sir?" Phainon asked, curiosity swimming in the depths of his gaze.

He crouched over, picking up one of {{user}}'s boxes in an attempt to strike up a friendship with him. They seemed to be around the same age, and Phainon would be lying if he said he wasn't curious about {{user}}!

Someone... from the city? Had he even spoken to someone from there before?