Ethereal Paradigm: Arcadia of Darkness - 110 A Counterfeit of the Former

― Michael Bassey Johnson

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With the guards on their watch, randomly scouting the entire vicinities whilst making sure that they’re not that plain in sight, and as the gates, were made to open, everyone begins showcasing their aristocratic lineage, and it’s not just them…

I, Jean, the Heir, together with the head servant, and accompanied by the well-prepared maidens and henchmen displaying themselves in an array. found ourselves at the aristocratic front door to meet the nobles and greet them with the warmest of hails…

“Welcome to the Cendrillon Household!” loudly greeted the maids synchronically as they positioned themselves along the pathways as the noble guests gracefully got out from their individual carriages, whilst the henchmen also took their initiative to escort the visitors through the laid red carpet in the pathways, towards the house’s main door, towards us…

The guests, they were all, in their finest elite stature… There were young ones and as well as advanced ones at their individually valuable-looking apparel. Well, it’s not like we’re all different at all…And yet, looking at this site, the richest ones all gathered in one place… it is really the typical scenario on which someone would soon exploit.

“Here they come, young masters and young lady….” Signaled Xerxes, seeing the first myriad wave of the visitors making their way towards us.

“Good evening Mada’am Baskerville…” Greeted the heir to an old lady with a hairdo which is alike to that of Louis XIV of France, while I and Xerxes followed respect in-suite, bowing as per the customs. Jean, however, is ecstatic to soon see our parents which could be one of the masses approaching, and is rather unattentive of the guest… the Baskerville however, paid her no extravagant heed.

“Ah, Mister Raiden! I’m so happy to see you grew up to be the fine young men your parents always wanted you to be! Happy Birthday young heir!” Responded, the old lady. And beside her were three well-presented young girls, all looking shy, with one about the age of him, and are standing in awe of seeing the heir personally. Well, our aristocracy was revered as hell, but I never realized it up until now… the glory of which our last names indulged in, for generations.

“Well, of course, Madame. ” He answered looking very calm, acting in the way that he is expected to act…. but this, character, however, will fade, likely hours from now… What would I expect nonetheless? It’s fake!

“Oh, by the way, these three here are my daughters. This here is Aria, about the same age as you… I wouldn’t mind if you two get acquainted with each other. ” Added the Lady, while this Aria begins to fluster.

Talk about the cliched way of daughter presentation on some fairy tales. Well, it’s not like I don’t understand that this is in fact, a very effective way of enforcing diplomatic relations, but “Hey… Do you know you’re introducing your daughter to a deranged killer?” So, I wanted to say, but have kept the statement clandestine. Silence is sometimes a virtue after all, especially if the case is meritless.

Hmmm… Now that I think of it. This is quite a significant amount of time that I wasted inside this illusion. Then again, it’s about to end anyway, and spoilers, which are ‘not-so’, everything ended up in disaster, with everything spiraling out from the mundane.

“Good evening young miss’ of the Baskervilles. It’s a pleasure to have all of you in here.” Greeted the heir to the three daughters instead of only the one being brazenly featured. The response, however, is apparently an implication that he’s rather not the romantic type.

Hmm. We do have some blatant pointers of similarities after all…

The Baskervilles, moving on, and the three girls looking ecstatic having received a greeting from the primal scion and all, were then escorted by a maid as they made it through us, towards the grand hall.

And then, followed… that malevolent perverted pianist, and in her hand, the same bag… which made it past the guards again… It’s not like we have invitations and all, but she should have been considered as an uninvited, especially that the head servant himself sense that something is quite unsettling with her…

“Good evening Miss Selene. I’m glad you could make it.”

“Happy birthday my precious student… Well, I came here to witness your performance, of course, nothing less, and way more….”

Way more indeed… This right here has a clear role of the derangement that is soon to emerge, and I was blind having her uncared for on my radars back in those nonchalant days.

“You better not fail the master and the mistress’ expectations okay?”

“Yes, Miss Selene.” She then proceeded but stopped along the way to pay heed to me as well.

“Oh, Jaiden, are you feeling well?”

“Yes…”

“Good to know.” She then entered the hall… And likely, here it was, the biggest mistake ever… letting her in, still with that malevolent charisma that I alone can see in these mundane crowd… And oh, it’s not just her. With her appearance, she seemed to have awakened up a demon from within in someone else’… The heir also begins to display this fair share of the malevolent aura (which certainly is a natural reaction of an accomplice), while still maintaining his fake noble statures, meeting and greeting the visitors and being greeted back.

(…)

As almost everyone got inside the hall, and while Jean, herself can hardly maintain her excitedness to see mom and dad, someone from the fewer crowd stepped up… and he looks very familiar, while I know myself, that this is the first time I got in a crossroad with such a persona.

” An ambient evening to you, heir of the Cendrillons. Happy birthday. I’m looking forward to more ties with your household’s companies.” Greeted the man with an enlightened and smiling demeanor. He is in a black suit that stands out from the crowd, all because of a lotus symbol embroidered perfectly in the shoulder part. He has deep sharp blue-green eyes that say his role in the busy economy, tall in height, and is very flinty in his stance,

“Oh, Mr. Reignsworth! Thank you for your attendance. We, too, hope for unsevered future ties with you.”

Reignsworth? Wait… What’s this man’s connection with Celes?

He then entered the halls with a very chill facade which is in opposition to his poses. And while I am introspecting on his possible identity, not to mention that he greatly has similarities with that famed classmate of mine, now in that another world, something took my senses back, almost suddenly…

“Mom! Dad!” Shouted Jean…

And in there, last to make their appearance… is the households’ Master and the Mistress herself… Mom and dad…

Jean then ran as fast as she could and is then met by an embrace from both of them without delays… A typical reaction of the youngest offspring finally reuniting with her parents, although it was not the typical ‘decades-long-since-we-last-met’ types of Otome game-scenarios.

“Yow! My young bois!” Shouted dad, informally…

“Hey, watch your mouth!” reacted mother, who acts as an informality filter to the master himself.

“Oops… sorry. Hehehehe ”

The two of them, receiving special and kind regards from the excited maidservants and henchmen, especially Xerxes himself, then faced the both of us, the heir, and me, being the secondary scion.

‘Welcome back… Mom and Dad!” Greeted the heir with a very cheerful demeanor, and yet, I can see too clearly that he’s nothing but fake ever since the appearance of that pianist, showcasing a counterfeit persona of his former self before he and that accomplice of his began to plan this mystique cultist movement… that commences tonight.

“Oh, our heir finally growing up! Happy birthday Raiden!” Greeted mother.

“Yes finally… Now I can somehow relax even for a bit. Happy birthday, son! And long time no see to all of you!” Dad, undaunted of his informality hugged us all… “Hey, you’re hugging a counterfeit version of the son, that you always wanted!” So, I wanted to say but kept it to myself.

“Oh, Jaiden! How are you!?!?!” He then patted me on the head, enough to somehow deform my well-groomed hair.

“Did you know that after you were killed by your beloved son, I was taken by a Grandma whose existence you hid from me, had connections with a Goddess, and is now on another world and that all of this, including you, is an illusion?” So, I wanted to say, but have kept the words unsung, for saliva conservational purposes.

“Fine.” I replied, with a smile that I would like to deem as ‘warm’ and somehow the type to not make them worry at all.

“Good boy… Ok, shall we now commence this birthday party? We have a lot to talk about after this you know?”

“Well of course!” Added father, while Jean continues to happily cling to both of them.

“Then, please follow me, my Masters and Mistresses. Everyone is waiting inside… right this way… ” Xerxes guided… and we followed in suit, acting as the family, an aristocracy, that everyone so reveres…

And so, commences the atypical birthday party soon to be added a mixture of madness and a little spice of utter derangement.