I Reincarnated to An Chapter 14: The First Ally

Chapter 14: The First Ally

Julian and Theo are walking in the back garden of the house. It was Julian who offered to take Theo there. "To help with digestion," he said.

They walked among the flowers. Julian explained that these flowers were their mother’s hobby—a hobby she had abandoned while Thea was in the hospital.

Theo looks around. He enjoys the fresh air with a subtle hint of flowers’ fragrance and the sll of the fresh grass. In his world, grass slled like blood and carcasses—and it wasn’t green.

The back garden is illuminated by garden lights. There is enough light for Theo to clearly see the colors of the garden. It’s beautiful.

"Do you like it?" Julian asks him.

Theo nods. "I do. It slls nothing like the hospital."

"Fair enough," Julian replies.

"I know it’s only your first day, Thea, but how are you?" Julian asks again.

Theo looks at Julian. "I’m good."

Julian chuckles lightly. "Yeah. You are."

Theo observes Julian. He’s not like Arthur, who is quiet but notices everything. Julian is more of a talker. He doesn’t hide his emotions. Theo can feel that Thea had loved him very much.

But Theo is not Thea. He had promised Thea to live to the fullest in her body. And Theo doesn’t want to do that as Thea. He has gained back his magic. He is certain that he is Theo.

And he likes Julian. Even though it’s only his first day back ho, like Julian had pointed out, Theo can feel that each Montrose genuinely loves Thea. They had done nothing but give Thea unconditional love.

However, sothing happened before the accident. Theo is sure of it. The Montroses have been very careful with him, as if they were treating a very fragile but priceless artifact.

Theo needs to find out what happened. Thea’s mories cannot help him. It’s as if Thea doesn’t want him to find out.

And Julian is his next best option.

"Julian," Theo starts.

"Hmm?"

"I never said this before, and I know you’ve heard Dr. Montgory’s explanation. But I want to make it clearer," Theo continues.

Julian looks at him seriously. "What is it?"

"My mories. They are... all jumbled. Sotis I’ll get clear images, and they co with the correct information. But most of the ti, it’s only images with no information, or just information without the images. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?"

Julian nods. "Yeah. It’s like the images and the information are not syncing properly."

Theo chuckles. "Things like that—’syncing.’ I know I’ve heard it before, but I’ve forgotten what it ans."

Julian is taken aback. "Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t an—"

"I know you didn’t. It’s just the way you speak. And it’s not fair of

to require you to know which things I rember and which things I don’t." Theo calms him down.

"I’ll try to be more careful next ti," Julian says.

"But how? Like I said, you cannot possibly know which ones I rember and which ones I don’t," Theo asks.

"Well, what do you want

to do, Thea?" Julian exasperates.

"I don’t want you to be overly worried and tiptoe around . I already feel like a failure, failing to rember anything important. And when I see my family tiptoeing... I..." Theo starts to explain.

Julian intercedes imdiately. "Say no more. You don’t need to explain further. It’s us who forget that we’re not the only ones who feel out of place when interacting with you. Of all people, it should be you who feels the most out of place. I’m sorry we’re not more sensitive about this."

Theo sighs, but he continues. "What I’m trying to say is—wouldn’t it be much easier for all of us if you just treated

like I don’t know anything?"

Julian looks confused. "Like you don’t know anything?"

Theo nods. "Yes. Like dinner. All of you were eager to explain each dish on the table. I rembered so of them, but most of them I didn’t. I couldn’t even tell if I used to like them or not. But you didn’t worry about that—you just left it up to

to discover which ones I liked and which ones I didn’t."

Julian looks thoughtful.

Seeing this, Theo continues. "And it was very enjoyable for . Your explanations made the dishes more delicious and made

want to try them even more."

Julian keeps staring at him, clearly thinking.

Theo knows he has to strike while the iron is hot. "Like ice cream! I’m sure I acted like I’d never seen ice cream before, let alone tasted it. In a sense, it was true. I can’t rember anything about ice cream—or that box you call a fridge."

"Oh my gosh! That’s it!" Julian exclaims.

He grabs Theo’s upper arms and shakes him. "That’s exactly it! I thought I was the only one thinking that!"

He keeps shaking Theo, then suddenly realizes what he’s doing. He lets go and looks at Theo sheepishly.

"Sorry. I was too excited. But you’re right! Everything you said is correct!"

"And you weren’t offended by that?" Julian asks.

"By what?" Theo looks confused.

"By us treating you like a child. Explaining everything."

"No! That’s perfect for !" Theo almost jumps. Yes! I finally have one ally. With this, he’ll tell the other three and the problem of

not knowing what I should know is over!

Both Theo and Julian look very relieved. And Julian notices it. He feels imnsely relieved. His family had been talking about how careful they should be around Thea, afraid they might overwhelm her.

But what she just said makes sense. And if he were in Thea’s shoes, he wouldn’t want people tiptoeing around him either. It would only make it harder to give genuine responses.

"Okay. That’s great, Thea! This is great! You should keep telling us what you’re thinking!" Julian says happily.

Theo sees another opening. "Yeah, I heard Mother say that too. Was I not always telling you lot what I was thinking?"

Before Julian has the chance to respond, they hear a rustle behind them.

Both turn around and see Arthur standing there, hands in his pockets.