The wagons belonging to the mercenary caravan, which had set off some time ago, were filled with carefully sectioned carcasses of various beasts. These were likely valuable parts—rare ingredients used for alchemy or medicine. Instead of the expected stench of rot, a sharp medicinal fragrance hung in the air, a sign that the corpses had been well-preserved.
Inside one of the wagons, hidden beneath canvas and crates, a little girl slept in a deep slumber. Xhaelyn's body had been pushed far beyond its limits during their escape. Though her body rested, her mind drifted into a lucid dream—one pulled from her past lives.
She found herself seated at a familiar café, a cold glass of iced coffee sweating on the table in front of her. This was her second life. The warm afternoon sun filtered through the windows, casting a glow on the book in her hands.
Aren't I in the wagon? she thought, glancing around. But her gaze stopped on the book, and her breath caught.
This...
She recognized it immediately.
It was the same novel without a clear author pseudonym—one she'd picked up because it had the same title as the one she always read in her previous life. Unexpectedly, it was the same novel...
Eryndral is a world full of unique energy. Every individual had a distinct one from the moment they are born. Eventually, it develops into a unique ability. In recent years, the strongest dominions in Eryndral have been embroiled in political struggle.
Meanwhile, a religious dominion that referred to the Unique Ability as a Divine Blessing—the Verenholm Theocracy—had been in decline, but suddenly produced a very young talent: an individual who possessed a holy divine blessing. Her Unique Ability was Divine Warmth. At the tender age of six, she was bestowed the title of Divine Immaculate—an honor reserved for those believed to possess profound spiritual purity, having demonstrably received the highest form of divine blessing or a "Holy Divine Blessing," and inspiring exceptional reverence within the Theocracy due to the perceived closeness of their divine gift to divinity.
Her parents hailed from the Verenholm Theocracy but died early. She was adopted by a Count and Countess from the Velmoria Empire at the age of five. When she was recognized as Divine Immaculate, she chose to remain in the empire. Her foster parents were promoted to high nobility as Marquess and Marchioness. She became close to the imperial prince—a crown candidate. Eventually, their family reached the title of Duchy. With their support, the title of Crown Prince was bestowed upon that same imperial prince at the age of nine. The Crown Prince, who was nine, and the Divine Immaculate, who was eight, stirred the empire's political landscape. By the time the prince turned sixteen, things had stabilized. During those nine years, the Divine Immaculate's roots grew deep. Her influence expanded. In other words, she became the heroine of the Velmoria Empire.
The empire enjoyed a period of peace, but turmoil struck two years later. A year after the chaos began, its cause became known: Vaene Lucian. No one knew who he truly was, but strong evidence suggested he possessed imperial blood. He was eventually claimed as the emperor's illegitimate son. He harbored a deep-seated hatred toward the Emperor—particularly the Empress. The Crown Prince stepped forward to confront him. But then, for unknown reasons, Vaene began to show the same level of hatred toward the Divine Immaculate that he had toward the Empress.
Vaene Lucian. The villain of the novel. A merciless, charming, capricious force who shook the balance of power in the Velmoria Empire.
The man who wore masks of elegance, charm, and cruelty—until he shed them all and became a blade that carved through Eryndral, forcing surrounding dominions to stand wary, on edge, more than ever before.
In the novel's conclusion, a collaboration of the Velmoria Empire, Verenholm Theocracy, and the Kingdom of Aldrath finally defeated and banished him—Zeritheus Vaene Lucian. His men received no mercy. They were all annihilated.
"It's horrible... to think the whole world seemed to want you gone..." Xhaelyn's hands clenched tightly around the book. "Although half of the twelve dominions stood neutral, some supported him in secret—others supported the collaboration while claiming neutrality..."
However, after re-reading it again, the vague recollections about the version of the novel she had read in her first life became vivid—detailed. It was a darker version that revealed all the plot holes in the one she'd read in her second life. No. It wasn't just darker. It was the raw version of the novel. The book she read in her second life had been modified—to fit the standards of the world she lived in. The normal version of Earth. Unlike the Earth of her first life—where empathy was almost non-existent. Cruelty, violence, ruthlessness, heartlessness, and volatile viciousness were normalized.
"That raw version of the novel was the catalyst of my realization of what empathy is. It made me feel... humane."
"Zeritheus Vaene Lucian, you were the first person I ever felt empathy for—though just a fictional character, back then."
In that version, no one was good, no one was evil. It gave the full view of events.
Zeritheus Vaene Lucian—the only son of the fallen Archduke, the elder brother of the emperor. When his father mysteriously died of illness, the emperor took him in. The Empress, in the Emperor's presence, was kind to him—but behind his back, she was ruthless.
Only the imperial family and the highest-ranking nobles knew that the empire once had a Young Archduke. Officially, he died of illness, leaving behind a son—Zeritheus—who supposedly inherited that same illness and died young. The Emperor buried all records of his brother's existence and the Archduke's rightful place in the line of succession. Only the Grand Dukes knew the truth: that the Archduke had been the elder sibling.
Zeritheus suffered through the empire's political games in silence—until he disappeared at age nine. He returned to the palace at ten, claiming he had been abducted, held hostage, and waited for rescue that never came. He said he escaped on his own. No one knew what had truly happened to him during that time.
Afterward, he forbade the imperial family from speaking his first name. They thought it odd, but harmless. Still, whenever someone accidentally called him "Zeritheus," he would lash out—often cruelly punishing the offender. He had begun slipping from the emperor's control—especially the empress's, who redoubled her schemes against him. At thirteen, he disappeared again.
It turned out—the empress was the mastermind behind countless schemes. The emperor turned a blind eye, as her manipulations helped secure his reign. Zeritheus suspected they were also responsible for his father's mysterious death.
His hatred toward the Divine Immaculate stemmed from her true nature: a white lotus who inflicted harm upon herself to gain sympathy and frame others. He saw through her act immediately. He loathed how she weaponized self-harm for advantage—manipulating even the most prestigious mercenary group, Ironclad Fand, into her service. They played a key role in his eventual downfall.
Xhaelyn suddenly wondered if Zeritheus loathed her too—because she had used self-harm during their escape.
She quickly shook the thought away and continued pondering the novel's details. The collaboration that defeated him... He had been betrayed by those he believed were allies. That solidified his downfall.
It's too dark. Too complex...
Xhaelyn was unaware of the tears flowing endlessly down her cheeks. Even in the real world, her silent cries went unnoticed.
Recalling what had transpired during their escape, she murmured, muddled and half-asleep, "I... pushed him away. What have I done...?"
In that lucid dream, her tears made everything blurry. Then—
She jolted awake. At the same time, the wagon came to a halt.
She set aside all the emotions from the vivid dream and remained alert. She peered through a small hole in the wagon's wall. Her face felt damp.
I cried in person too? How long have I been asleep...?
Outside the wagon, she heard voices.
"You've arrived a day late."
"Not my fault, don't blame me. We slowed down during that sudden rain. We took great care of the items! You must still pay us according to the deal."
Peeking through the hole again, she noticed that the sun hadn't risen yet. The streets were clean and organized, with a modern touch to the architecture. Most importantly—there were barely any people around.
She smuggled herself out unnoticed.
I'm in the Ozyria Dominion. She sighed. Her eyes reflected a swirl of emotions.
It's impossible now... to go back and meet him again.
She thought of Zeritheus—he had been nine when they met. According to the novel, he was held hostage at that age.
No wonder he said he'd been there for too long...
He was abducted... but not for sale. He must have gone back to the palace, right? But he hadn't turned ten yet.
Did I change the course of the novel? Did I release him early? If so... I hope he suffers less now...
By the way... I was probably just an extra. A non-existent character in the novel. Just someone who happened to transmigrate here. But why...?
In her first life, she had been orphaned at eleven, and died at twenty-five. Then she reincarnated into a seven-year-old in a normal world and inherited the child's memories. Ironically, her parents there also died when she was eleven. As if fate had grown bored of her peaceful second life, it didn't even give her a proper death—she simply fell asleep in her perfectly healthy twenty-five-year-old body... and awoke again in another world as a seven-year-old.
Eventually, she realized this was the world of a novel.
Great.
But this time... I'll live the way I want. I won't follow the script of this story.
With regret weighing heavy in her heart, she decided to leave it up to fate whether or not she and Zeritheus would meet again.
Xhaelyn had no idea what lay ahead in her future. But she was resolute: to avoid trouble—to avoid the novel's main plot. And someday, to collect a debt in City K of the Duskar Dominion... and repay the kindness of the Crimsonclaw Mercenaries.
Two months later.
Zeritheus had just turned ten a few days ago.
He walked the main road of the Velmoria Empire, approaching the palace gates. The imperial guards recognized him instantly—as the boy the emperor had instructed them to admit, should he ever appear.
So they did.