* * *
‘It’s kind of… like a derivative of my name.’
Whether intentional or not, all the names on the list of candidates had initials similar to mine.
“We tried to avoid naming you something too similar to your original name to prevent suspicion, but we couldn’t let go of the desire to call you Sei.”
“So we researched and found that there are more names resembling yours than we thought, which gave us some relief in choosing one.”
Somehow, I felt like I understood their reasoning. Sean and Raizen.
Nicknames: Sei and Rai.
It was probably a promise between Sean’s parents—to name their children with similar names.
Apparently, the Ducal House of Pantheon and the Marquis of Kreveta had been close for generations.
The Marquis had long fought against the Homer Tribe, who frequently eyed the borders, while the Duchy was situated nearby.
Naturally, their cooperation in dealing with the Homer Tribe’s incursions brought the two houses closer.
However, both families had prominent knight orders and private soldiers, making them the subject of wary eyes.
This, in turn, limited how often they could interact openly.
From the Emperor’s perspective, their camaraderie must have been a thorn in his side.
If the two houses ever decided to act together, they might not overthrow the Empire, but they could certainly make the Duchy independent as its own principality.
The fathers of both houses had been friends since childhood, and by coincidence, they married around the same time, leading the mothers to also grow close.
In an almost fateful twist, both families experienced miscarriages around the same time before finally having heirs about a year apart.
How destined they must have felt.
‘Well, such a setup is only possible in fiction.’
Even so, Raizen and Sean had never met after being born.
Their parents were likely too busy raising them, and even though the two territories were nearby, it would have taken days by carriage—a journey too difficult with young children.
After over a decade, the families planned to meet at a resort.
The Marquis family set out earlier than the Duchy and had a carriage accident along the way.
This was what I had pieced together from my conversations with the Duchess and my persistent questioning of Mila.
“Sean?”
A low voice called out to me, snapping me out of my thoughts as I stood there silently holding the piece of paper.
“Ah… uh, I like Shane!”
The Duchess smiled warmly, perhaps thinking my silence was due to deep contemplation.
“Do you?”
“Yes…!”
“Then Shane it is.”
Wait, that easily?
‘Raizen didn’t even say anything!’
I glanced at Raizen without realizing it.
He was already looking at me, and our gazes met.
This time, instead of avoiding my eyes, he silently mouthed, “Why?”
The way he moved his lips gave me an odd certainty.
I was sure now that when the Duchess had said “we,” she’d meant Raizen too.
“Um… what name did you prefer, big brother?”
The moment I asked, Raizen’s gaze turned frosty, but I wasn’t deterred.
Instead, I smiled even more brightly, looking between him and the Duchess.
The Duchess covered her mouth, laughing as if genuinely entertained, then turned to look at Raizen.
Sensing her gaze, Raizen finally spoke.
“Hmm, hasn’t it already been decided?”
Though his tone was kind for his parents’ sake, the underlying message was clear: ‘Why are you asking now?’
‘So that’s how you want to play it, huh?’
I smirked inwardly, already understanding the situation.
Raizen’s frosty stare, the Duchess’s amused gaze—wasn’t the answer obvious?
I slid the paper with the three names over to Raizen.
“Then you pick one for me, big brother!”
Raizen looked at me like I was an annoying chair and sighed.
“It’s already decided. I think you should choose the name you like.”
Nope, not buying it.
“But… we’re the only two left now, so I want to hear your opinion!”
“Oh my, ‘only two left’?”
Of course, the Duchess wouldn’t miss that phrase, her eyes widening as she pressed for clarification.
Raizen let out a sigh, finally looking his age.
“Mother, you’re misunderstanding.”
“Oh, really~? Now I’m even more curious~.”
“We’re family now!! I read that siblings are the only pair in the world like that!”
“Well… that’s true, isn’t it?”
“Mother…!”
It seemed even Raizen reverted to being a child in front of his parents.
He eventually pointed to the second name on the list.
“I vote for Shane, too.”
He answered gently but gave me a look that clearly said, ‘Happy now?’
I hugged the paper to my chest and smiled brightly.
“Okay!”
∗ ∗ ∗
There was a bit of commotion afterward, but we finally decided on the external changes.
I left that decision to the Duchess and Duke since I didn’t really care.
After all, altering my appearance meant Sean couldn’t walk around looking like himself.
It was safer to let the adults decide.
In the end, they chose darker ocean-colored eyes and black hair.
Black hair wasn’t common in this world, so they’d likely use it as a cover story, claiming I was a distant relative of the Pantheon family.
“I think blond would’ve been nice.”
“But black hair suits him well.”
“That’s true.”
Or maybe it didn’t mean anything.
‘The Duke and Duchess use formal language with each other.’
Despite his icy demeanor, the Duke treated his wife with utmost respect, suggesting how much he loved her.
But Raizen… why are you like this?
I quickly turned my gaze from him to the mirror.
In it was Sean, now with black hair and ocean-colored eyes.
He still looked like my younger self, but…
‘Changing hair and eye color really does alter your impression.’
It was fascinating how magical tools could do this.
Though I bet it cost an absurd amount of money.
The tool they used on me inscribed a mark onto my body to make the changes semi-permanent.
Thirty years, they said.
Practically a lifetime.
‘They said this was one of a kind, too.’
I almost looked toward the magical tool on the table but stopped myself.
Better not to pry.
In any case, there was now an inscription near my heart, which I’d have to check out later.
“Sei, how do you feel?”
The Duchess approached me with a gentle question.
It seemed she was already planning to call me Sei from now on.
“It’s… fascinating.”
I replied with a small smile, and she mirrored it.
“The adoption process will be completed within a few days. Then, how about we celebrate with an outing?”
“Wow, sounds great!”
Raizen probably wasn’t thrilled, but he stayed quiet, which meant he’d already been informed and agreed to it.
I avoided his gaze to prevent earning his ire and looked back at the mirror instead.
At the reflection of myself, still somewhat cute for now, I silently vowed:
‘Survive.’
No matter the name or appearance.
Not long after, my official adoption was finalized.
I was now formally Shane Pantheon, the younger brother of Raizen.
[Sudden Adoption by the Duke’s Family: What’s the Truth Behind It?
On October 14th, Year 302 of the Empire, news broke that the Duke’s family of Pantheon had adopted a child. According to our sources, the adopted child is a 12-year-old boy with black hair and blue eyes. The sudden move by the Duke’s family, which had been focused on finding the heir of the Kreveta Marquis who went missing after a carriage accident, has left many citizens puzzled.
Some speculate that the Duke and Duchess, unable to locate the missing heir of the Kreveta family, adopted a child of a similar age and eye color as a substitute.
Others argue that this was not a coincidental adoption but rather a calculated move to take in a distant relative of the Pantheon family, raising questions about whether something may have happened to Raizen Pantheon, the family’s only son and heir.
While the sudden adoption by the Duke’s family has sparked widespread curiosity, the family has yet to release any official statement.]
As expected, the adoption news made it into the papers, along with exactly the kind of speculative gossip I had anticipated.
‘Knew it. They’d eat this up.’
The story was perfect fodder for the curious masses.
Flipping through the rest of the paper, I found nothing but articles buzzing with idle chatter about the adoption.
Not a single mention suggested that the real Shane had been found and adopted with his appearance altered to protect him.
‘Still, something feels off.’
I hadn’t been reading the newspapers Mila discarded for long, but occasionally, there would be pieces referencing the carriage accident that had wiped out the Marquis of Kreveta.
They typically covered mundane topics like carriage safety measures and accident prevention—not exactly the kind of articles one would expect in a case like this.
The papers seemed like a strange hybrid of a serious newspaper and a weekly tabloid, filled with conspiracy theories.
Yet, none of the conspiracy theorists entertained the notion that the Kreveta accident wasn’t an accident at all.
* * *
