The night passed in a blur. I didn’t sleep. I lay flat on the rough cave floor, staring at the dying fire while the darkness pressed in from every side.
Eventually, the sky above the massive boulder began to shift.
Gold.
Rose.
A new morning.
The second ti I’d felt grateful for sunlight since waking in this body. A reminder of how long I’d been trapped in the void. But I knew one thing: there wouldn’t be a third ti I relied on luck. I clenched my hands until my knuckles stung.
I wouldn’t let fate drag again.
A sharp scratching sound broke the quiet. Elijah was waking. He stretched like a man who’d slept better than he deserved, his chanical arm clicking as he scratched his chest under his armor.
I pushed myself up, ignoring the dull ache running through my ribs, and walked toward him. I didn’t say anything. My presence alone was the question.
Elijah didn’t bother looking up at first.
"You’re awake early for a kid," he muttered, voice rough with sleep but still carrying that signature irritation.
"Why?" I asked, cutting straight to the point. No room for hesitation. "Why did you save only , and nobody else?"
He spat the bit of hay from his mouth and rubbed his jaw.
"Fuck, you’re one persistent kid," he said, almost like a complint. "Thought you’d sleep it off. Guess I was wrong about that."
He finally t my eyes. Sothing flickered there. Sothing old. Sothing that hurt.
"It’s simple," he said quietly. "You t my gaze. And that look in your eyes... reminded of myself. A weak bastard that didn’t deserve to stand next to her."
Her.
A single word. Enough to tell more than he intended.
Love.
The air felt colder for a mont. I looked at the trees. A pair of tiny birds perched together on a branch, chirping at the sunrise.
Was that love?
Two lives close enough to share warmth.
Sothing gentle. Sothing simple.
I didn’t know. Everything I’d felt since arriving here was fear, confusion, pain. And now this man... this killer... acting on love?
Was love sacrifice?
Or an excuse for bloodshed?
Or sothing stronger than either?
Before I could ask, Elijah stood up in one smooth motion, towering over .
THUD!
"Stop thinking so loud. It’s irritating," he said. Then he tossed a leather pouch my way, as It hit the ground at my feet with a dull thud. "We move soon. Eat whatever’s left."
Behind , Seraphina’s footsteps were silent, controlled. She secured her sheath with a quick pull of the strap.
"Ready, Lijah," she said. "But we’ll need a distraction if we take the north road. Too many patrol markers went up at dawn."
Elijah walked past , brushing by like a gust of cold wind. He didn’t slow down. Didn’t soften.
"Then we go deeper into the forest," he said, rolling his shoulder like the idea was nothing more than an annoying chore.
Seraphina’s head snapped toward him.
"You can’t be serious," she said. "That region’s crawling with monsters. You know that."
I caught that one word and it stuck in my head like a hook.
Monsters.
Seriously?
There are monsters in this world?
The novel never ntioned them. At least not in the first thirty Chapters. But then again, since magic is present, monsters shouldn’t be a surprise. Still... hearing it out loud hits different.
I let out a slow breath.
Feels like this world is finally showing its real face.
Back in the palace, I was boxed in. A glorified servant drifting through polished halls, pretending I understood anything beyond the next chore. But out here, away from marble and etiquette, the world stretches wide. Wild. Alive. Dangerous.
And that reminder drags my thoughts right back to the one place I tried to avoid thinking about.
The palace.
I need answers.
I need t—
Her na stabbed through the haze.
Marcella Luminaries.
My fist tightened before I noticed.
Arthur’s last monts, his terror, his fury, they all pulsed inside like a bruise soone kept pressing.
She ended Arthur’s journey.
But she didn’t end mine.
Sothing cold settled in my chest, steady and sharp.
Revenge stirred further inside .
Kill.
The word was silent but strong. It felt like a promise with every heartbeat.
Then, Ejiah’s voice cut through the haze in my head and dragged back to the present.
"You space out a lot for a kid."
"..."
Before he could say anything further, Seraphina stepped in, her tone clipped but practical.
"We can’t ride the horses from here," she said, as she touched the hilt of her blade, her gaze sweeping the tree line. "The more we move through the forest it gets thicker, darker. This region is full of narrow paths and uneven ground. If we stay mounted, the horses won’t see what’s ahead until it’s too late. A bad foothold, a sudden drop, or a monster rushing from the underbrush... we lose the horse first."
Seraphina turned away without another word. Her face said everything. She didn’t trust the path Elijah chose, and honestly, I didn’t bla her. Choosing monsters over soldiers sounded insane to too.
But as I watched her disappear between the trees, guiding the horses with stiff, irritated movents, my head started spiraling again.
Why would he pick this route?
Why take the harder path when the other one was safer, predictable, controlled?
I tried to line up the logic, compare it to the stories I’d devoured in my old life, but the more I thought about Elijah, the less he fit into any pattern. Guys like him were usually simple to read: the gruff loner, the quietly loyal veteran, the reckless genius. But him? He felt carved from a different mold. Maybe that mystery was the exact reason soone like Seraphina stuck by him.
Or maybe I was just overthinking again.
NEIGH!
A sudden snort from one of the horses jolted out of my thoughts. Seraphina tugged its reins and pushed deeper into the forest.
And ?
What was I even supposed to do next?
Elijah didn’t seem interested in dragging along. He didn’t even pretend. His reason for saving was flimsy at best, almost random. Saved because I t his gaze?
Pathetic
Saved by Fate again.
That stupid bitch kept tossing around like a toy.
I glanced back toward the northern road. The Valorian soldiers who wiped out the Haldrins would be patrolling there, blades still warm from the slaughter. Walking into their path would be suicide.
So I exhaled, pushed down the frustration clawing up, and turned toward the forest.
Following Elijah might not be ideal.
I wasn’t even sure it was smart.
But compared to the alternative?
It was the only move I had.
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[A/N:] After writing 20 Chapters, I have to say, I’m enjoying the story progress.
So if you have any distain or any suggestion to make things implent better, I’m open to read them and go through it.
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