The Protagonist's Father

Chapter 2

He stumbled out the car, almost tripping as his head was spinning.

"Sir! Allow me to help you." The driver frantically hopped out his car.

"No, it's fine. Go back." He pushed his long bangs, that had become disheveled, back.

"But sir, you seem quite drunk, it would be best if-"

"Do I have to repeat myself?" He narrowed his eyes, daring the other to disobey him. His drunk demeanor had disappeared; his face reverting back to its usual arrogant indifference.

"N-no. My apologies, sir. Have a good night." The driver immediately bowed his head and scurred back to the safety of the car and drove off.

"Ha..." He sighed, tugging at his tie to loosen the tight constraint it had on his neck.

He walked towards his family's mansion in unsteady strides. The standing guards bowed and remained in position when he had raised a hand to stop them from coming over to help him. The front door creaked as he pushed it open. He tried to keep quiet as he went up stairs. Passing his younger sisters room, he noticed the lights still on.

He paused and decided to knock on her door. He then pushed open the door and walked in. His eyes instantly went the huddled blob of blankets on the large bed. Snacks were littered all around and on the bed. It was messy to say the least.

"Do you not need sleep Ella? Or to breath for that matter, being buried under so many blankets." He tugged off the blanket to reveal the head of a young adolescent girl.

"Bro! Welcome back, but please step back, you stink of alcohol. How much did you drink?" Ella furrowed her eyebrows as she covered her nose.

"Not that much... I think. Anyway, don't try to distract me. It's already three in the morning, why aren't you sleeping yet, young lady?" He gazed at her in a disapproving stare.

"But I already slept!" Ella whined.

"Then why are you already up?"

"I... couldn't fall asleep after dreaming that..." Ella mumbled with her head downcast. She fiddled with her fingers as anxiety filled her whenever she thought of that day. She was there, with them. The day their parents died. Sitting right next to them in the car.

"It's okay, El. I'm not mad at you." He ruffled her hair to comfort her. He then quickly brought up a question to distract her from her thoughts, "So what are you reading that's exciting enough to keep you up?"

"Oh! It's a novel I recently found! It's so awesome! The female lead is so badass and cool! And beautiful-!" Ella continued to excitedly gush about her recent find.

"Uh-huh, I see, she seems awesome." He nodded, agreeing with Ella as she finally finished her compliments of the protagonist. "But it, uh, seems a bit darker than the usual novels you read."

Much darker than her usual rom-coms. The corner of his lips twitched in worry even thinking about it. The novel was full of betrayals, killing, gore and showcasing the dark side of humans in general.

"I've been reading a ton of 'transmigrating into the villain' themed novels!" Ella grinned.

"So you're reading a novel about someone that goes into a book they read, what a loop. Sounds interesting." He mused.

"It is! It's really fun to imagine what I would do if like them I was pulled into another world. What I actions I would take to overcome my obstacles and, oh, I would have so much fun traveling around a whole new world."

"Hmm, that makes me a bit sad. You want to go somewhere your family isn't?" His eyes drooped as playful sadness appeared on his face.

"Eh?! No, I didn't meant that, it's just my imagination running wild." Ella sheepishly smiled.

"Then let your dreams stay as dreams. You need to stay in reality, somewhere I can reach to protect you, okay?"

"Okay, okay. It's just some hypothetical scenarios." She reassured him.

"Hn. Tell me more, El, about that badass female lead you like."

"She was a normal high school girl that suddenly got pushed into the novel she read that night. She woke up as kid, it was so funny when she-"

Ella continued tell her brother about the dear story that had captured her heart with sparkles in her eyes.

An hour later, Ella's eyes started drooping.

"Brother, don't be sad, but if I do ever get pulled into another world and if I like it there I... will want to stay there. Same to you brother, I hope you choose a future best for you and your wants. No matter how far from each other, our bonds as family will never disappear... so do what you want without me and older sis holding you back..."

Ella mumbled the last half of her words as sleep took over, but he heard her loud and clear as he left her room.