Aefia laid down on her bed with a phone at her hand. It was a miracle finally to get something like this at a remote planet. Let's see... I managed to occupy about two hundred gigabytes for just games and still have more left...
Then her finger went towards the racing game she had gotten herself. It had a cost... But being part of the Imperial family, it wasn't a matter anymore. Just then, Henry climbed in beside her with a plate of chocolate cake that had the brown syrup running down the edges with a captivating look to it. It made her mouth savour for a while as she watched the loading screen blink to full bar in seconds. Sixteen gigabytes RAM. Cool!
She smiled to herself as Henry looked over to her screen as she turned it sideways. "Ooh! I like the red car!" He pointed his fork at the Ferrari in one part of the game screen. "Nice choice! Well I like this one..." Her own finger pointed at the black, carbon-fiber Koenigsegg Jesko. "Just imagine getting to race in them for once!" The kid spoke with an excitement while watching her pull it her garage screen.
"Well my father had the Lamborghini back where I lived. I still miss being able to drive around for a short moment when my parents weren't home." She smiled while clicking the 'start' button on screen as the sound of engine revving was heard and a race-like interface bloomed out. "Wait... So your father was also an Emperor?" The kid looked at her with curiosity.
"Well not really... I am not from around here you know? I am not from this empire." She added while gritting her teeth as she slammed the side of the car onto a rival's, watching as it flew off the screen, making her feel a hint of satisfaction with it. The kid glued his eyes at the screen as she pushed more cars out of the interface and came to first place. "You did it in first try?!" He stared with shock while stuffing a large bite into his mouth.
Then, he held out his fork with a piece of cake at its center towards Aefia's mouth as she bit onto it. Then, with a muffled voice, she jolted up while sitting cross-legged on her bed. "It's good! Are there anymore?" She asked while placing her phone in front of her in the bed.
"Then you will have to catch it before Lewis does. Although he hasn't come out of his room since morning." He added with confusion while getting out of her bed to place the empty plate on her coffee table at the sofa area. "Then... I would have him eat the remaining pieces of cake just to lower his suffering." She added with a mocking tone as she leaned against her bunch of pillows and pulling out a new interface. "Honestly... Why do all game starts have the most easy wins?"
"To help you feel more accomplished?" Henry spoke while climbing back onto the bed beside her he hugged her and rested his head against her arm. "Makes sense then." She answered while pulling out the summoning system then breathing in heavily. "Place your bets... Unique or legendary? The car?" She spoke while glancing towards the kid beside her.
"Unique. They will give your a supercar for it, and if it's legendary, they will give you a mustang, that's a must for this game." He spoke while she rustled his hair. "What about yours?" He asked while lifting his gaze towards his sister. "Then I want a mustang." With her finger clicking onto the summoning feature, they both held their breathes as the first few low ranking cars came up. Then, as soon as the more higher ranking popped up, the door jolted open with an abrupt thud.
"Aefia!" Lewis shouted from outside the doors as he came in leaping onto the bed and right over the both of them, launching himself as they both rolled out of the bed with widened eyes. Her phone slipped from her grasp and fell to the bed, right at the edge. The gold hue was unmistakable as both the siblings jumped back to the bed and glanced with anticipation at the screen.
"Legendary! We have gotten a white Mustang Shelby!" Henry shouted with happiness at his face as she held her phone into the air. Just when, their middle brother reached his hands out to rattle their sister like a mannequin. "How do you handle wearing these!" He shouted with almost teary eyes, not even giving her a second to get the grasp of what was going on. Her ponytail smacked the back of her neck violently.
"Why are you wearing a d*mn gown?!" She shouted while looking down at the sleeveless yellow dress he was wearing, then both the kid and the sister laughed out. "Well isn't that what girls wear?!" Lewis replied while folding his arms and bending forward. Seeing this, Henry looked at Aefia then back at their brother, while breaking back into a laugh. "I have never seen our sister wear a gown honestly."
"I mean that is true! If I could handle it, I would have worn it." She smiled mockingly while throwing the blanket at their brothers face as they both got off and went across the room towards her wardrobe. "I wasn't expecting you to take it that seriously. You could have asked me to lend a set the last night." Then pausing shortly, the two siblings discussed for a long, agonising moment, then settling for one of her purplish coat.
"Change into this. It will save you a long day worth of trauma and embarrassment. Plus... It will leave space for breathing too... Seeing how you went out of your way to wear a corset." Flinging the hanger at his face, she took her phone and walked towards the room door. "Oh... The coat and vest has fastenings at the back, do loosen it if you want."
Taking one look at his sister's retreating back, he found the need to ask one more intriguing question. "By the way... Whose tailcoat are you wearing? For instance... I borrowed this gown from mom's collection of her younger age."
Turning around, she stared at the black overcoat she was wearing. "I borrowed mine from George. Only the coat... And the rest I just mismatched from my own wardrobe." She shrugged as if mocking his intelligence. "The fact is... We wear clothes that look like the theme, and it can be from any type of style. However, I really respect your bravery for going that far." With one last mocking laugh, she took Henry's hand and ran out of her room.
"I will catch you later!" He shouted while getting off the bed. Outside, both siblings were walking towards the door while trying to summon more cars, especially fast and high performance ones... Given that it would help with the harder races if they leveled up quickly. "Yes! It's a unique this time!" She spoke with excitement in her voice as she bent down to allow her little brother to read the screen too.
"A Bugatti! A Bugatti Veyron!" He shouted while jumping up and down. And just then, Lewis burst out of the room like a horror game character and ran towards both of the siblings with Aefia's coat flattering behind him. Just when Henry tried to drag their sister with him, she held out her index finger and pointed at their middle brother with a mocking smile. "You might want to watch this."
Just when he was about to reach his hand towards her face in the form of a fist, George grabbed his brother by the collar and pulled him back. "Heels... You have forgotten the heels." He spoke while laughing. "You had gotten the coat alright... But you forgot the real woman accessory." Dropping him back on the ground, he pointed at their sister wearing a pair of loafers, which were comfortable unlike the two inches tall shoes she used to wear on a regular basis.
"Are you sure she wears heels?" He asked while folding his arms against the purplish coat. "Well... Her footsteps do click when she walks past. And mom did put her into a restriction of being 'woman-like' with the shoes." The youngest brother shrugged while glancing at their sister as if to force her to say it was true. "Not gonna lie... She did tell me that. And honestly... It was about five inches, pencil heels at first. But then, I was still amateur so I got the que to get myself trained in wearing one and half inches first." A simple nod ended her sentence.
Finally, he sighed and went back into Aefia's room to pull out a pair of shorter two inches heel which was glossy black. He stumbled a few times, then reached out to her shoulders to get support. "You forced me into this, I will have to use you as a walking stick for the entire of the day." He spoke with satisfaction.
"Yeah nah..." Shaking off his hand, she stepped back. "If I were to be a 'gentleman' today, then I rather take it a different approach." Adding this, with the snap of her fingers, she got herself a fake mustache and pressed it against her face. Then holding out her right hand, and placing the left behind. "May I... Lady?" Managing only to keep her serious face in the first few seconds then bursting into a laughter with the rest of them, while Lewis's face flushed a deep red with embarrassment.
"What is this kind of punishment?! And you are enjoying it?!" He shouted while watching her step back up and remove the false mustache. "None of you can be serious?! But honestly... I think I really like this purple coat." He spoke while placing his hands into the pockets. Just when the laughter died down, George placed his two hands onto both of their hands, turning the game real with a simple touch of magic.
"So even with that... I still have one sister and two brothers." Henry spoke while pointing at the middle two siblings who were coughing with the sudden outburst of sprinkles and dust. "But honestly... Aefia suits being a boy." He added while hugging her leg, not really knowing whether she was still considered a she with the new, short haircut. Realizing this, she looked at George with a questioned face. "What was the necessasity for that?!" She shouted while looking sideways to Lewis with long silver hair. "Well it was necessary for him!"
"But it's not like you didn't get into this game yourself! You practically invented it!" He shouted back while he struggled with the long flattering hair. They both turned their heads towards their eldest brother who stood with his hands surrendered. "Turn it back..." Their voice left in unison as they threatened him.
"I only changed your hair length. If anything... You both just looked like that. But consider it a punishment for fighting like dogs and cats." While shrugging he walked away and dissapeared without letting them speak another word. Henry fell into a state of confusion as he looked back and forth between his siblings. "You know... The both of you still have a way of punishing him by complaining to mom. She is in fact still his mother even if he is already in his twenties."
"Well that's a great idea." Lewis added while looking at Aefia. "Do you agree?" He asked while folding his arms. "Nah... I prefer this hair length." She answered back while looking at the nearest mirror in front of her. "But... I am a little furious he didn't say for how long it will stay. I am alright with an hour." Turning back, her face turned stern and angered.
The three siblings turned to walk towards their mother's room, ensuring not much people were walking as they had stopped to get the two siblings a cloak to cover their heads. Just as their mother was about to rest, their sister bursted in and folded her arms. "Mom... I prefer receiving punishments from you." Her voice was calm, as she bowed her head with a slight irritation that she was still in a level, that didn't allow her to make the woman seem like a mother to her.
"What is it this time?" Placing her hand against her chin, she turned serious as her eyes caught the sight of Lewis walking in with teary eyes. "It's George! Look what he did to my hair!" Tears left his eyes as he raced over to their mother's side and collapsed into a hug like a little kid. The duchess tried to keep her serious face for a short while, looking at the girl at the end of the bed who still had her head covered with the cloak and smiling a little.
Just when, Henry jumped over and pulled her hood down too. "I prefer my newly found brother... But not my weak cry-baby new sister." He laughed while crawling over to their mother's side. Finally, she burst into laughter while wrapping both her hands around her own biological children. Then opening her mouth to say a few words. "Then what about punishing him? You two get to choose what he has to suffer."
"Sounds good to me!" Lewis spoke while wiping his face with the back of his hands, then looking sideways to ask for a confirmation from Aefia. "What do you want me to do? You choose what you want to do to punish him. I am alright with whatever you do as long as... I have the time for my games..." She spoke while pulling out her phone and tapping on her screen. Ooh! Yes! I have gotten the Pagani Zonda!
In that moment, George bursted in with panic at his face. "Wait don't tell mom!" He shouted, but a long time too late as the duchess got out of her bed and pulled out a walking stick. "I told you to take care of them... And you punish them like this?" She shouted while using the end to poke at his arm as he jolted back not an inch afraid. Seeing this, their mother picked up her sandal and flung it in the air at his face. "Wait! I am sorry! Lewis was the trouble first!" He shouted with panic at his voice.