Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Daniel was confident. He was more confident than he had ever been before.

’What happened in the previous exam will not happen in this one. No, it’ll never happen again.’

Just like during the previous time, Daniel and his parents were sitting together on the sofa in the living room, waiting for the results to come out.

But the atmosphere was different from the previous time. If this silence had felt light and calm before, now it felt somewhat tense.

Soon the results were out, and his father downloaded them quietly without any ‌comment.

But the result loaded and appeared on the screen.

...Daniel froze.

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Name: Daniel Montross

Rank: 3

Score: 797/800

==========

’This... this doesn’t make sense...’

It couldn’t be possible. This had to be a mistake. There was no way he had fallen even lower than before.

He turned to his parents.

"Mom, Dad, it looks like there is some—"

SLAP!

A loud sound resonated through the living room as his head turned sharply to the side. His hand unconsciously covered his cheek where he felt a sharp, stinging pain.

For a second, Daniel didn’t even understand what had occurred. But the realization came soon as he turned toward his parents once again.

His mother had her hand raised as she looked at him. But her eyes slowly widened, and her hand started trembling.

"Ah... no! Daniel, Mom didn’t intend to hit you like that. It, it was a mistake! Yes, a mistake. I’m really sorry."

She suddenly pulled him into a hug before he could understand anything.

His father’s voice came from the side.

"It could be that this really was a mistake; we should call his class teacher once again and check with her."

His mother shook her head.

"No, it wasn’t a mistake. There is no way such a prestigious school will make such mistakes. Besides, I understand the problem now. Our son needs tutoring."

She broke the hug and met his eyes. She was smiling softly, but her eyes didn’t reflect that smile.

"Daniel, you will forget about sports and arts and solely focus on academics from now on, okay? In the meantime, let Mom and Dad search for some good tutors for you."

Daniel slowly nodded.

Soon, he returned to his room and sat on the bed quietly.

There were no thoughts in his head.

His eyes were not focused on anything in particular.

He just... sat there.

But the silence was soon broken by the voice of a young boy.

"Your cheek, you are still pressing your hand against it. It must’ve hurt quite a bit."

The boy with grey eyes was standing a meter away, looking straight into his eyes.

Daniel’s eyes widened in realization as he noticed that detail himself. He opened his mouth and replied reflexively.

"It was just a mistake; she didn’t do it intentionally!"

His voice came out louder than he intended. But the boy with grey eyes didn’t react at all, still looking at him expressionlessly.

And after a long stretch of silence, his dull voice came again.

"A mistake, is it? Huh, she is going to be making quite a lot of mistakes in the future, then."

***

Things changed significantly from then on.

Daniel began spending most of his time attending lessons from various tutors assigned to him by his parents. And the time he had left, he spent it studying. His parents remained beside him whenever he was studying.

Daniel was working harder than ever, and he was being taught by the most renowned and well-known tutors available.

But despite all that...

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Name: Daniel Montross

Rank: 3

Score: 798/800

==========

Nothing changed.

Daniel remained in the third rank no matter how hard he worked.

And with every exam, his parents increased the number of tutors. The attitude of his parents grew harsher towards him, too. Now, it was normal for him to be slapped by his mother. His parents no longer showed him their warm attitude either.

Sitting in his room after a long tutoring session, Daniel’s appearance had changed significantly compared to before.

His hair fell messily over his forehead, as though he couldn’t be bothered to have it swept to the side. And there were glaring dark circles under his eyes.

He was looking into the empty space when a voice entered his ears, one that he had not heard for some time.

"Are you still going to deny it?"

This time, Daniel did not need to ask what the boy with grey eyes was talking about.

After remaining silent for a few moments, he replied weakly.

"Mom and Dad aren’t bad. They love me and want the best of me; this is why—"

"You are still trapped." The boy cut him off. "You are a prisoner of your own mind, not being able to look beyond your own bias. Tell me, would you say the same thing if you were to put yourself in your brother’s shoes?"

"..."

Daniel couldn’t reply, and the boy with grey eyes seemed to know the reason. In the end, he gritted his teeth and spoke in desperation.

"It will all go back to normal; I know it will. If I just climb back to Rank One, Mom and Dad will return to how they were ‌before. You, you can’t understand me; nobody can!"

He paused and clenched his teeth.

"I know that everyone wants me to become the chairman, I know! I also know that I am different from everyone, that I am talented. But those things have never motivated me."

Being good at athletics didn’t mean he liked sports, nor did being good at academics mean that he liked studying. He had known from a young age that little bits of his efforts could easily achieve what others couldn’t, even if they gave their all.

But that didn’t mean that he would simply put in that effort.

Still, he had... because of his parents.

"I like it when they smile at me. I like it when they shower me with their love and affection. If my hard work can make things stay this way, then I will continue working hard forever. So I must succeed and return to the top where I was before."

Daniel looked back into the boy’s grey eyes confidently.

The boy did not say anything for a while. But then, he suddenly walked closer, stopping only a step away as he spoke.

"You want to succeed, but you continue to fail. Have you questioned why? Maybe you are simply doing things wrong. You need to find the correct path that will lead you to success."

Those words echoed through the quiet room. And similarly, they echoed through Daniel’s mind.

’Path to success...’

It felt as though the boy was indeed correct. Maybe all his failures until now were simply the result of his ignorance and wrong ways.

’I... need to find it. I need to find the path to success as soon as I can!’