Chapter 77 - 77: Edward Gates (2)
Paris continued to care for Edward, treating him as a normal child even though he was clearly not. And true, for a while, everything was going fine. But when he started to grow older, he became uncontrollable. The only reason that they could contain him was that Charlotte was here.
But when Victoria was born, the family decided that it would be dangerous to let Edward stay within the mansion and they had to give him his own space to stay. And so, without any choice, they gave him a home in the forest.
For years, they kept this a secret from Victoria. But since she was bound to find out sooner or later, they decided to tell her about her brother.
And ever since then, Victoria would always come and visit the forest. They wanted to ban her from going, but Victoria… was an odd child. She rarely speaks and expresses her emotions, even to Paris, who is her mother.
Victoria always comes back with a smile on her face after going back from the forest… and they couldn't just take that away from her. And so, they continued to allow Victoria to visit her brother, but only under the supervision of Albert, and only outside the gates.
Paris once again let out a sigh after she was done reminiscing. If only Edward would revert back to being human. She was sure…
She was sure that he would be the most normal one in the family.
***
"W… what do we do!?"
Beatrice started to sweat as she stared at the monster in front of them. She initially thought that Edward's transformation was that of a centaur, half horse half man. But when she saw her head, it was that of a minotaur.
But that wasn't even the most noticeable part. He was a giant. Edward almost stood 7 meters tall.
"W… what kind of creature is this?", Beatrice could not help but let out a word.
"Don't move!", Albert shouted, an obvious panic accompanying his tone. "Just don't move and young master Edward won't attack us!"
"Are… are you sure!?", Beatrice slightly fixed her glasses as she looked at Albert, "Because he sure looks like he wants to eat us!", she said as she returned her gazes to Edward's face, his nose almost releasing fumes as they looked at them as if they were food.
"B… brother, it's me", Victoria slowly stepped forward as she gestured to her face, "It's me, Victoria", she repeated.
Edward, however, only shook his snout.
"Are you sure… your brother understands you?", Beatrice raised an eyebrow.
"Y… yes! Of course, he can!", Victoria quickly said. This was the first time that they were seeing her flustered, with her eyes slightly moist.
"Brother, it's me…", Victoria once again gestured, "And these are my friends"
Van could not help but furrow his eyebrows as he looked at Victoria's sorrowful expression. She was longing for a brother, but sadly…
His brother wasn't really listening to her right now. Van sighed as he turned his eyes towards Edward. The only thing that his brother wanted was--
"Dodge!"
Before he could finish his thoughts, Beatrice screamed as Edward started to rush towards them, threatening to stomp on them with his large hooves.
Van quickly pulled Victoria and Albert away, while Beatrice quickly summoned a ball of wind beside her, throwing her to the side as it exploded.
"Harvey!"
Harvey, however, was unable to dodge as Edward was already only a few feet away from him.
"N… no!"
Van was about to rush towards him to push him away, but before he could do so, he saw Harvey hugging one of Edward's feet.
"!!!"
Van could not help but blink his eyes a couple of times as he saw Harvey smiling. Blood was coming out of his nose, but even still, he was smiling.
Edward started wiggling his body, but it would that he struggled to get away from Harvey's grip. Harvey's feet were embedded into the ground, allowing him to use them to hold Edward's body in place.
Beatrice could not help but adjust her glasses, checking to see if she was really seeing what she was seeing.
Harvey then suddenly let out a burst of laughter as he tightened the grip on Edward's leg. "You dare attack your own sister!?", he shouted, spewing a large amount of blood from his mouth, "You need to be punished for that, man!"
Harvey then slowly lifted up Edward's leg.
"!!!", Beatrice could not help but blink her eyes a couple of times as she once again adjusted her glasses.
"Omega Planet Throw!", Harvey roared as he lifted himself up from the ground and rotated his body, and along with it, Edward's gigantic frame. He then let go, throwing Edward and slamming him to a nearby tree, causing it to break into two.
"Haha!", Harvey once again let out a burst of laughter as he flexed his muscles. Edward, however, seemed unaffected.
He looked confused, but since he had the head of a cow, it was truly hard to tell. He slowly started to lift himself up with his four legs, with not a hint of struggle or tremble. And as soon as he was up, he started thumping his chest with his fists and roared.
Hearing this deafening roar, the group could not help but cover their ears… except for Van. Van could not help but blink his eyes numerous times and slightly shake his head as he heard what Edward just shouted.
"Come on!", Harvey also stomped his chest as he beckoned for Edward to attack.
"Harvey, don't provoke him!", Van then shouted.
"What!?", Harvey looked at Van with confusion. What do you mean not provoke him? If Edward wasn't the definition of 'provoked' yet, then he doesn't know what is. "Can't you see I am bonding with Victoria's brother!?"
"He's not trying to fight", Van quickly shook his head.
"W… what?"
As soon as Van's words entered Victoria's ears, she quickly ran towards Van, grabbing his shoulders with a desperate look on her face, "What… what is my brother saying!?"
"That…", Van could not help but bite his lip as he looked to the side. He doesn't really know how to say it to Victoria or if he should even say it.
"W… what!?", Victoria shook Van in frustration.
"Well…"
"What is it!?", Victoria screamed as tears started to trail from her face.
"He…", Van cleared his throat as the volume of his voice became quieter, "...he wants to..."
"What was that?", Victoria tilted her head in confusion as she couldn't hear Van's whispers clearly.
"Your brother wants to have a good time!", Van then shouted as he looked Victoria straight in the eyes.
"Have a good time?", Victoria's confusion grew, "What does that even mean!?"
"!!!", Albert, who realized what Van meant by his words, quickly pulled Victoria away to the side.
"M… Miss Victoria, I am afraid this is no longer your place to intervene!", he stuttered as he shook his head.
"What!? Not my place!?", Victoria screamed, "But he's my brother!"
"This...", Albert could not help but gulp as he looked at Victoria. He was happy that Victoria was showing emotions that he has never seen before.
But even he doesn't know how to explain this situation to Victoria.