Mushoku Tensei: A Life Not Meant for Me.

Rudeus suddenly felt a chill of unease. He glanced at his father, who was chuckling foolishly, then looked at his mother, who sat quietly and calmly.

He really wanted to say, "Your child looks like he's out to get me."

But before he could react, Paul seemed to remember something and impatiently dragged Roya over, plopping him down right in front of Rudeus. With a big grin, Paul said, "You two should get along, okay?"

Their eyes met, and in that moment, Rudeus immediately looked away. Roya's sharp golden-red eyes were icy and cold, and just that brief gaze made Rudeus instinctively avert his own.

To be honest, he was scared.

Paul noticed the strange tension between the two and tapped Roya lightly on the forehead. With a stern expression, he said, "You two need to get along. Especially you, Roya. As the big brother, you should be more patient with your little brother."

Roya sighed and nodded with reluctant acceptance.

Seeing his son's reaction, Paul chuckled. Whether or not Rudeus could understand, he still said kindly, "Don't be fooled by how your big brother looks, he's actually a gentle soul."

Then, trying to cheer Rudeus up, Paul made a funny face.

But Rudeus just couldn't bring himself to smile.

After playing with the baby for a while, Paul noticed that Rudeus had calmed down. He let out a sigh of relief, gently laid him back in the crib, then went off to cozy up with Zenith, leaving Roya and Lilia behind to watch over the baby.

Rudeus half-closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. In truth, he was secretly watching the child nearby.

Roya was undoubtedly beautiful, even as a child, but his face was expressionless.

Those cold, emotionless eyes reminded Rudeus of something from his past. In an instant, he thought of the classmates who used to bully him.

Because of what he'd gone through in his previous life, Rudeus was terribly afraid of strangers. In his eyes, Roya's innocent young face started to blur and distort, gradually overlapping with the faces of those who tormented him before.

Didn't they all look at me with the same cold gaze?

His heart started to race. He felt both fear and panic. Would this so-called brother end up treating him the same way those people did in his past life?

He didn't know. But the fear swelled like a wave, washing over him, until his little body instinctively curled up, just like it had so many times before.

While Rudeus was lost in his spiraling thoughts, the two-year-old Roya walked over to his crib. He dragged a chair to the side and stood up on it.

The moment Rudeus noticed, his face went ghostly pale. His already fragile expression lost all color, and his body began to tremble. He kept whispering to himself over and over again, Things are different now… Everything has restarted… but the fear in his mind blurred the line between past and present.

Roya saw it all.

He looked at this little baby, clearly trying to stay composed, but his shaking body betrayed him. Curled up in the crib like he was hiding from something terrifying.

Roya let out a soft sigh. Although he didn't have much admiration for the Rudeus of the past, he couldn't deny the boy had lived a miserable life.

He reached out and gently touched that chubby, pale little face.

When Rudeus saw the hand coming closer, a jolt of fear ran through him. His past, those memories of abuse and humiliation, came rushing back all at once. It was as if a dark, suffocating hand had gripped his throat. He could barely breathe.

Tears welled up in his eyes, despite himself.

But then, soft fingers pinched his cheek.

The pain and fear he braced for never came. Instead, what he felt was a smooth, cool touch… warm in its own quiet way.

The unfamiliar gentleness stunned him.

His eyes flew open, and before he realized it, tears had already begun to stream down his cheeks.

Roya, too, noticed something wasn't quite right. He almost found it amusing. If Paul had been here, even someone as dense as him would have noticed this, Roya thought. Lucky it was me instead.

He sighed again. Why make life harder for another transmigrator?

Pretending not to see anything unusual, Roya brushed Rudeus' forehead with his fingertips. Then, in a soft, childlike voice, the words came:

"From now on, you're my little brother. I'll protect you."

That's what Roya said.

His voice felt familiar, distant, yet near. He hadn't spoken loudly, but somehow those words sounded as clear as a promise etched in stone.

Of course, Rudeus couldn't understand the meaning of those words, he had only just arrived in this world.

And yet, for some reason, they struck a chord deep in his heart.

His eyes grew wet again, and tears silently streamed down. At this moment, his soul was so fragile, so pitifully delicate.

He hurriedly tried to raise a hand to wipe away his tears, only to suddenly remember, he was a baby now. Flustered, he began to mask his emotions the only way he could: he opened his mouth and cried out loudly, trying to bury the tears behind his wails.

Earlier, he had only been pretending.

Now, the tears were real.

Roya was speechless. From outside, Paul's footsteps quickly approached. He glanced at Roya still standing on the chair, and then at Rudeus, wailing his heart out in the crib.

Paul came over and asked, "What happened?"

Wearing his usual cold expression, Roya replied in his flat tone, "I think I might've woken him up. I'm sorry, Father."

Paul was already used to Roya's demeanor. He looked at his expressionless face and sighed helplessly.

"You really need to learn how to smile more," Paul said.

Roya paused, then forced an awkward, stiff smile.

Paul facepalmed. "Actually, maybe just… stick to how you are. That was painful to watch."

——

It had been two years since that incident.

Rudeus now clearly understood that the cold, porcelain-cheeked little boy was indeed his older brother.

Only, there was something… off about this big brother.

Every time Rudeus tried to use the excuse of being "just a kid" to do something pervy, he'd feel that icy gaze drilling into him.

And then Roya would coolly say,"Rudeus, boys who do things like that are considered perverts."

At that, Rudeus's little hand, just about to reach for something he shouldn't, would freeze awkwardly in place.

He'd try to fake innocence with a baby-like smile, hoping to bluff his way through.

Too bad for him, his brother was immune to such tricks. Roya would simply grab him by the back of his shirt and flick his forehead, not too hard but definitely not gently.

Then, hoisting him up like a misbehaving cat, he'd throw Rudeus onto the bed without ceremony.

With a stern tone, he'd say, "Don't go staring at someone's private things with such a lecherous face. Do you want to end up like Paul?"

Rudeus wanted to say, "Honestly… yes, I kinda do."

But staring into that serious little face, he could only hang his head in shame.

Noticing Rudeus sulking, Roya added, "If we're going to be lewd, we do it openly and righteously."

Rudeus's head snapped up.

He was full of question marks.

Staring at his big brother's overly serious expression, he wanted to ask, Do you even hear yourself right now?

"In short, taking other people's things without permission is not okay, understand? Rudeus." said making serious face.

...

Chapter 6 Ended.....