Chapitre 24: Fun & Games

While Rio and Myra were standing outside talking , Amelia was currently sitting in her room waiting for her brother. She was holding her teddy bear tightly in her hands , trying to vent her annoyance. It's been an hour since breakfast and her brother still hasn't returned yet.

(Stupid brother , he might've forgotten that he promised me.)

(No, it's not brother's fault, it must be mama trying to tease me)

(I should complain about them to father when he comes back. Yeah this time I should even cry a little)

(Let's see how you guys dare to tease me then)

Amelia was lost in her thoughts when she heard something -

"Why are you wasting our time Amy. Come let's play again. Don't worry I'll go easy on you this time."

A girl's voice sounded in the room , it was heard from one of the screens like projection in the room.

PROJECTION DEVICES were just magical communication tools used to chat with each other in long distance while being face to face. These were made by magic tower , the cost of this type of tools was high for normal people , but both of the girls talking here weren't normal.

Amelia looked at the projection and on the other side sat a 10 year old girl wearing a sky blue and white colored gown , her golden hair fell to her shoulders , her blue eyes seemed like the ocean with no end , her beauty comparable to that of the setting sun.

The person in front of Amelia was the first princess of Schilla Empire , Rebecca Von Schott. Daughter of Emperor Maximus Von Schott and Queen Athena Von Schott Raven. Amelia's maternal cousin and her best friend.

Amelia had boasted to Rebecca about how she was going to take her revenge today and will beat her in the game but it's been an hour yet her brother hasn't come and she lost 2 more matches today.

Amelia was feeling annoyed as she saw the smug and laughing expression of Rebecca. And when she heard the words that she'll go easy on her - her anger went even more beyond.

(Liar, that's what you said the last 2 times)

(Brother if you don't come I will lose all my respect today.)

Amelia was contemplating this when the door opened and Rio walked in with Myra following behind him.

After entering Myra closed the door and without saying anything she silently strode forward and went to stand on one side. Where she could keep an eye on the kids but wouldn't disturb their play time.

Watching Rio, Amelia's expression brightened up and she ran up to him and dragged him in front of the projection. She pulled Rio's face close to her and said - "You took too much time brother ,let's start directly. You have to defeat her and take my revenge. Otherwise I won't talk to you."

Rio heard her 'threat' and looked at her for a few seconds and a barely noticeable smile appeared on his face. He ruffled Amelia's hair and said -"okay".

Rio looked at the projection and saw Rebecca staring at both of them. It wasn't the first time they were seeing each other. As both their mothers belonged to the Raven Family and were sisters. The relationship between the Blake Family and Royal Family was very good. The kids would often meet each other and play together.

**POV shift

Watching Rebecca for the first time outside of Rio's memories I was surprised at first - as being the book's one of the main heroines she had the aura and charm which was visible to everyone. But I wasn't looking at that, no I was going through all the future events that happened in the original book - about how Rebecca became Rio's fiancee , How she used Rio in the Zenith Academy and later stabbed him in the back and stole everything from him , just to hand it all over to the protagonist.

As I remembered all her actions , a feeling started rising in my heart that maybe I should get rid of her too. I myself was surprised about why that thought suddenly came in my brain as normally I wouldn't think like that but I pushed that aside and tried to control my emotions. It was only for a moment but the cold glint in my eyes couldn't go unnoticed by Myra, who was surprised to see what made me unhappy all of a sudden. But before she could ponder on it further I broke the silence with a smile and said -

"Good morning princess, I see that you're still as calm and clever as always."

Rebecca looked at me while pouting her face and said - "I told you to not call me the princess every time. Even Amy doesn't call me that now."

"How can I do that. It's common courtesy to call the Royal family by their title and not names." I replied in a straight tone.

"But we're cousins and Amy is my friend." - Rebecca said instantly.

" Amy is a child princess. She doesn't know anything about the world." I said while pointing my hand towards Amelia.

I was going to say something else but then I felt something on my fingers , I looked at the side and saw Amelia trying to bite hard on them.

" Aaa jou calling me gumb bruder"

" I oo everyiing. "

I pushed her head away and saw my fingers. 3 of them had bite marks on them now. I was looking at them when I heard Amelia's voice - " First you come late here and then you start your regular talking instead of playing. Do you know how badly she defeated me."

I chuckled nervously at that and looked towards the projection and saw Rebecca who was rolling on her bed now holding her stomach - though she muted the sound function so we couldn't hear anything but one look at her and you could tell she was laughing hard.

Amelia looked at me with pleading eyes then shook her head and wiped her fake tears. It felt like she was saying - ' look at how she's laughing at your sister. And you're not even taking revenge.' She then pouted and turned her face away.

I was going to coax her a little but we heard Rebecca's voice - " Ahemhmm Sorry about that Amy, Rio let's start playing. I won't lose to you today. It's my lucky day."

I too decided to play and get revenge for Amelia but soon I came across a problem , a very normal and easy to understand problem , that I ignored till now.

The control console was like a VR kind of game from the modern world but here instead of technology and the internet they used a little bit of illusion and projection magic - it starts after 2 players join and stand on their platform while some potions/creatures/tools/mana crystals would start coming towards them. They have to avoid all the obstacles and gather the required stuff and not fall from the platform.

The problem I was facing now was that I knew all the rules , I've seen Rio playing this game several times and many times he had even defeated Rebecca too. But I just had theoretical or visual knowledge - I knew what to do but the coordination between my body and my mind was useless to say the least. Soon I was overwhelmed by the increasing speed of stuff coming towards me and I was thrown off the platform.

"Game over"

" Player Becca_01 wins"

The result was announced and I removed my hand from the console and sighed.

(Looks like my mind still hasn't completely adjusted to this body yet )

( I need to fix it fast)

**3rd POV

" Hannnnn × 2 "

Seeing the message both Amelia and Rebecca were dumbfounded cause it's barely been 1 minute and Rio lost. It was the first time Rio got thrown out this sooner. Even when he played this game for the first time he was much better than this.

Amelia looked towards her brother and said - "Brother please tell me that it was by mistake. And you didn't just lose willingly to tease me."

Rio scratched his neck not knowing how to answer that question.

Rebecca too was surprised to win so easily, she liked playing with Rio as he was a better player and though sometimes she would lose but she enjoyed that competition. But winning so easily left a sour taste in her mouth as she thought that he pitied her and let her win.

Amelia bugged Rio to play one more match and defeat Rebecca but Rio just said that he's not feeling well and can't play this game.

It was only after hearing him say this , that Rebecca remembered that her mother did say that Rio was sick and not feeling well. So not to trouble him much. Rebecca thought that Rio's body was already weak and she had him play a game which includes illusion magic which can still put a little strain on your body if you're not careful.

So as an apology she decided to stop playing this game and with a wave of her hand the VR screen disappeared and she took out a chess board from the nearby table. Though she wasn't good at it and knew she will lose to Rio but she thought that since she hurt him just now so she should just let him have a win.

(Maybe I'll tease him a little about it the next time I meet him hehehe) thought Rebecca.

Seeing the chess board Amelia too smiled and ran and took out one similar board from her Cupboard.

These two boards were bought in a pair and are magically connected to each other. With it people could play chess from long distance.

when one side makes a move the same move would be played on the other side too. It was just like playing chess on the mobile screens with your friend via the internet , except here it uses magic.

After Amelia and Rebecca arranged the pieces , we started playing. And this time just as Rebecca knew she lost. Even more badly than she usually does.

That was because for chess I had my own memories and experience from earth too. As a nobody who lived his life simple and didn't like to interact much with others much I had pretty much played almost all kinds of online games and chess just had to be one of them.

Finally seeing the dejected look on Rebecca's face Amelia stood up and started giggling like an idiot kid with her hands on her waist.

Though still shocked by her defeat Rebecca found solace in the fact that at least she had also won one match today.

And just like that all 3 of us continued playing and trying different games. And the sound of laughter continued till we played for hours.

Finally when everyone started getting tired Rebecca said her goodbyes and cut the connection. Amelia too lay down on her bed and was smiling heartily. She couldn't stop smiling as she had too much fun. I was just lost in my thoughts as I stared at her smiling face and a fleeting thought came to my head.

(It would've been perfect if she was here with us too, right Ria)

It was only one moment but that thought had soured all my mood and brought me back to reality.

A/N - If you're wondering why MC's feelings and thoughts are out of his own control - I would just say that the reason for that is already hinted in ch14 merging souls .