The day Luke was discharged, he went to Leona's hospital room. He intended to see her before leaving. Upon entering, he realized she was still unconscious. Following him was Amos Astron, his grandfather, who wanted to accompany him home on his last day because he had something to tell him.
After carefully looking at Leona, Luke turned to Amos and request him on his knees:
"Please, give her a job in our mansion."
The Astrons lived in the largest mansion in the entire kingdom. It occupied so much space that it almost seemed like its own city within the city. Inside lived only members of the Astron family and those who worked for them, who usually had exorbitantly high salaries. For this reason, it was said that whoever managed to enter the mansion had their life secured.
"Are you sure...?" Amos replied, confused by Luke's request.
"Yes, I am. I'm sorry, but I feel sorry for her past. Having to be so alone that she was forced to make a deal with monsters to survive must have been horrible."
Amos snapped his fingers. Immediately, a man dressed completely in black appeared out of nowhere.
"Nayu, take her from here and make her work with the mansion's servants."
"As you wish, sir."
"And make sure she accepts, no matter how much she refuses the job."
Nayu nodded and took Leona from the hospital, with the same speed with which he appeared. That is, they practically disappeared.
"That show of compassion toward someone who tried to kill you is typical of what I've heard about you. Although I suppose this is what I came to ask you about." Suddenly, Amos changed his voice tone to a much more serious one. "I've heard that you suddenly changed your attitude, that you even changed your way of fighting, but it seems you've gone back to being the same."
"That's right, it was a small period of confusion. I got angry with my parents and acted a bit rebellious, but I promise not to do something like that again."
Amos examined Luke carefully, looking him up and down. He seemed able to see every lie through his skin. After a few moments, he sighed.
"Well, if it was nothing, then I have nothing to do here."
After saying that, he left. He walked slowly out of the room until he was lost in the hallway.
That was the first time I lied to Grandfather Amos. But I couldn't tell him about Aaron. Not only do I not know very well what happened, but I wouldn't feel right revealing his existence without discussing it with him first. Unfortunately, since the day of the tournament, he hasn't appeared again. It seems he's disappeared forever...
Don't go killing me off. I'm still here.
Oh...
Are you disappointed?
Of course I am! No one would like having someone else inside of your body.
You don't have to be so distant. We share memories, don't we? I've already seen all those embarrassing moments that you wouldn't want anyone else to see.
Luke's heart raced. Cold sweat ran down his back after that revelation from Aaron.
Please forget that! It was just a moment of weakness...
Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. We share a body; if I destroy your reputation, it affects me too. Besides, you should have embarrassing memories of mine as well.
Well, I would have felt bad seeing your memories, so I avoided looking at them...
I can't believe you're stronger than me, despite having such a passive attitude... anyway, I've already decided what we'll do with this body.
Luke focused, and heard expectantly what Aaron was going to say.
Don't worry, you can use it all you want. I'll let everything happen just as it happened in the video game. Since you are the character in it, I trust you will act exactly as you should, without making changes to the timeline. Therefore, once you save the world from the Vestals, I'll take back control of your body. But that's still several years away, so you shouldn't worry.
Luke didn't understand much of what Aaron was talking about; words like timelines and video games sounded like an alien language. Nevertheless, he responded with absolute sincerity.
I don't know what those things you're talking about are. But thank you for letting me keep my body.
Luke didn't know that Aaron had been trying to forcibly regain control of the body since the day of the tournament, but something prevented him from taking control. Understanding that it would be impossible, he settled for letting Luke have control. This served his plan of not affecting the video game's timeline in any way, but it made him a bit uncomfortable to see what he felt was his body moving without him giving it commands. Anyway, he simply had to get used to it.
Luke walked through the streets of Astros now that he had left the hospital. He looked at all his surroundings. Most of the ground was pavement, with some trees planted in specific areas that gave a touch of green to the city.
In the middle of his walk, he was stopped by two twins. He recognized them immediately. They were the twins who passed themselves off as a single adventurer named Grania.
"We've been looking for you all over the city," said one of them, making excessive jumps and movements as she spoke. "My name is Grania," she said, pointing to herself. "This is Tania." She pointed to her twin.
Tania hid behind her after being introduced, like an embarrassed child hiding behind her mother's back.
"But Tania! Say what you wanted to say. I'm sorry about this; she's a complete antisocial, never talks to anyone but me. Anyway, she wanted to thank you for defeating Leona." Tania nodded behind her. "She also wanted to tell you that she's hopelessly in love with you."
After she said that, Tania blushed from head to toe and ran away from the place.
"Wait, Tania. Don't go."
Grania went after her, leaving Luke alone with his thoughts.
Normally, having someone reveal that a woman likes you would have a tremendous effect on a person, especially if it's a beautiful woman like Tania, even more so for someone who didn't even have friends a few days ago. But he couldn't help feeling strange knowing that the one she was referring to was Aaron and not him.
Luke had conflicting thoughts about Aaron. He didn't like that he had made him break the ancestral rules, but he couldn't help feeling a bit of admiration for managing to do things that he would never have dared to do. Such as attacking his bullies, and even make a woman fall in love with him.
He continued his walk through the city. This time he was interrupted by Alejandrinos, who upon seeing him, he knelt before him.
"At last I find you, master." He stood up to continue talking. "Please, teach me how to be as strong as you."
Luke had no problem teaching him. In fact, he could probably do a better job in that aspect than Aaron could have done. But he wasn't sure he had enough skills to be a master, especially knowing that the other members of his family were much stronger. Still, the idea of having someone to talk to made him accept Alejandrinos's proposal.
"All right," he replied. "But you'll have to accompany me to my mansion."
He was already meeting someone at his mansion that day, so bringing another person meant he could have his first house party.
"If that's what you want, master. I'll do exactly as you ask, as long as I can become stronger."
Luke didn't know what to think of Alejandrinos, but he wasn't going to reject him, especially because his lack of friends prevented him from rejecting someone with whom he could spend the day. He wasn't too happy with that master-student relationship, but not enough to reject him.
Both continued on their way, this time in the direction of the Astron mansion. The walk ended a few meters near the mansion. Kelly was waiting there, sitting under a tree, using the shade to protect her from the sun. The moment she saw him, she stood up and walked toward him. She wore a floral dress that showed quite a bit of her body, and that made her look very different from how she looked in her school uniform.
A few days ago, Kelly visited Luke while he was recovering in the hospital. There she was invited by Luke to spend the day at his mansion. She accepted with some nervousness. Luke didn't quite understand the reason for that reaction, as he found nothing strange about inviting her to his house.
When she saw him accompanied by Alejandrinos, Kelly reacted with a fury he had never seen in her. Luke didn't understand what made her angry. He just greeted her. Once she calmed down, the three went together toward the Astron mansion. This was the first time in years that someone was going to enter the mansion without being part of the family or working there.
"Luke, I have to be honest with you," Kelly said halfway there. "I'm going to trust you, but if I find out that you're using me..."
Her statement seemed somewhat strange to him. Why would he be using her? But he didn't give it much importance; he wasn't taking advantage of her, after all. Little did he know that Aaron's had no qualms about using her to achieve his objectives.
Luke was happier than ever. He went from having no friends to having two people going with him to his house.
In a completely dark room, Alexa Astron, the daughter of Maximus Astron, woke up with a severe headache. She immediately remembered what had happened.
She was in her room at the mansion watching television, a report about an Astron's participation in the Tournament. A reporter was theorizing that it was rigged or something like that. Alexa ignored it, turned off the TV, and prepared to do her morning training. The moment she got out of bed, she felt a strong blow to the back of her neck, and then everything went black.
Now that she had regained consciousness, she realized what had happened to her: she had been kidnapped. There were many reasons to kidnap someone from the most important family in the kingdom, but no one could approach within kilometers of the house without the knowledge of the many maids who worked in the surroundings.
Therefore, someone angry about the Astron in the tournament or with other such intentions was almost impossible. Unless, of course, it was someone incredibly good at hiding their presence, or had connections with people inside the mansion, such that they would let them in. That would explain how they could attack her without her sensing their presence.
Suddenly a door opened. This caused a strong light to illuminate the room, momentarily blinding Alexa. A man wearing a jacket and sweatpants entered through the door; his hair was untidy, and his feet were barefoot.
"Finally awake?"
Alexa immediately recognized who it was.
"What are you trying to accomplish by doing this?"
"Nothing personal. I just want you to know that you won't get out of here alive. If you have a request or something you want to do before you die, I'm willing to fulfill it, if it's within my capabilities, of course."
Alexa simply jumped toward him, trying to land a blow.
"Kill you!" she said as she lunged at him.
The man simply dodged the blow and hit her in the face. Alexa went flying until her head hit the wall. Then she fell unconscious again.
"A pity. I have no intention of dying yet."
With those words, the man left, closing the door behind him, leaving Alexa unconscious in absolute darkness.