The Poet's System Chapter 18: You Must Carry Him

Astara and Daylan had sealed their deal, but Daylan wasn't satisfied with the scraps of information she'd given him—he needed more.

"Why didn't you just tell your parents about this? I an, you are the princess."

Astara rose from her seat. "I would have trusted the real Daylan with it, but I'm sorry, I can't trust you."

Daylan smirked as he watched Astara pull a book from the shelf. "If you don't trust , why ask for my help? You already know I barely rember anything about Daylan."

"I always planned on using you as bait to draw them out," Astara admitted, her voice steady. "But now I'm having second thoughts. I still don't think I'm strong enough to face them. And since you've got so of his mories, I might have to force you to rember everything. But if it cos down to it, using you as bait is still an option if nothing else works."

Daylan took a deep breath, getting up from his seat. He strode to the entrance. "By the way, thank you for saving Mother."

Astara nodded, but by the ti she did, Daylan had already left.

He had no issue with Astara's decisions, but a thought lingered in his mind—how would his parents and dora react if they learned he wasn't the real Daylan? He knew they'd be hurt, devastated even, to find out that the person they loved and cared for had been dead for weeks, and that the person standing before them was nothing but an imposter.

Amid the flood of thoughts, one thing remained clear—he had to tell them before it was too late.

He headed to his room and threw himself onto the bed. His mind raced, jumping from one thought to the next—when should he tell them, and how much should he reveal?

Before he could settle on an answer, exhaustion overtook him, and he drifted off to sleep.

Just as he was slipping into a deeper sleep, a knock echoed through the door. He tried to ignore it, but the person on the other side persisted, knocking louder and more insistently.

This feels just like my relationship with my previous boss all over again.

He pushed himself up and opened the door. Standing there was dora, dressed in the Honor Chivalry uniform. His mind went blank.

Should he congratulate her? Or just blurt out everything he'd been aning to say? He was still tangled in thoughts of how to tell them the truth—and now, here she was.

dora yanked him off the way, inviting herself into his room. "You don't seem that happy to see . What's going on?" She dropped on Daylan's bed.

Daylan took a deep breath and closed the door.

"I know this is supposed to be your mont, and I'm sorry." He turned to her. dora raised her eyebrow.

"Congratulations, by the way." He gave her an awkward smile, eting her lazy expression.

"Talk, Day."

He sighed. "Before I say anything else... I'm sorry." He sat beside her, eyes lowered. "I've been lying to you, to Mother, and to Zira—for a while now. I'm not Daylan."

He turned to dora, but she remained calm, silently staring at him.

"My na is Dexter, and I'm not from this world. Sohow, after Daylan died, I ended up in his body—and now I'm stuck here. No matter what I've tried, I haven't been able to go back. That's why I think I must've died in my world too... even though, deep down, I still don't believe what happened to was enough to kill ."

dora remained calm, her expression unreadable. "So... what is it exactly that you want to tell ?"

Daylan's expression darkened. "Uhm... I already told you—I am not Daylan."

"Do you love everyone in his life as if they were your own?"

"Yes... you guys are everything I ever prayed for in my past life."

dora shifted slightly on the bed. "Then what's the problem? You can't say you don't rember parts of Daylan's life—you've done enough to show he's still a part of you. I think you've got it wrong. You and Daylan... you're one now. If he's gone, you carry him. If you were to vanish, he would be gone with you. So don't beat yourself up over it."

Daylan smiled.

"By the way, Zira and I already suspected sothing like that. And she still loved you, regardless... Now quit being dramatic and get sothing to eat."

Daylan deepened his grin. "Okay, ma'am." Without a mont's hesitation, he rushed outside, heading to the cafeteria.

dora smiled, watching him walk away.

Daylan soon returned with her al, and the two began to chat. dora shared stories of things Daylan had done in the past, while he opened up about his own life, bridging the gap between who he was and who he had beco.

dora's words gave Daylan everything he needed. Deep down, he already knew what she said was true—but hearing it from her, knowing she truly felt that way, made him realize there was far less to worry about than he thought.

Before they knew it, day had turned to night. dora had fallen asleep on Daylan's bed, so he made his way to the library to do so research on the mystery they were facing.

When he reached the library, he found Astara lounging in her seat with the poise of a queen, absorbed in a small, brownish booklet. Daylan cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"How honorable," he said with a smirk. "All it takes is a simple throat clear to get a princess' attention."

Astara stood, pointing to sothing in the book. "I've seen sothing similar here."

Daylan walked over to take a look.

"According to this book, about three centuries ago, a secret organization rose up against the Divine Church. They called themselves the Anti-Diviners. They believed the church was corrupt and sought to destroy it—but their thods were brutal. They slaughtered anyone who followed the church or refused to join their cause. The odd part is, they wore red cloaks... not black."

Daylan folded his arms over his chest, his fingers repeatedly tapping his chin.

"This definitely feels like a clue. It's possible they tried to recruit Daylan, but knowing him, he probably refused—and that wasn't the kind of answer they were willing to accept, was it?"

Astara's expression darkened as she sank back into her seat. "Let's assu the ones who killed Daylan were lower-ranking mbers of the Anti-Diviners—or maybe they've changed their colors entirely."

She propped her elbows on the armrest.

"Their motives don't align with the ones I've been investigating."

No, dear. You started this—so we're not stopping until I find the ones who killed Daylan. They might be connected to my reincarnation.

Daylan reached for the book she'd been reading and flipped to the first page. "How sure are you? If these people gave you even the slightest impression they knew sothing, why not see it through? They might be more involved than you think."

He glanced up at her. "What made you think they knew anything in the first place, anyway?"

"I can't share too many details," she said quietly, "but they had sothing in common with sothing I saw when I was a child."

Daylan gave her a firm nod before settling into a seat and diving into the book himself.

He finished it in no ti, but by then, Astara had drifted off to sleep, her silver hair fanned across the desk. A soft smile tugged at Daylan's lips as he watched her.

The book offered little beyond what Astara had already ntioned. Sleep was still far from his mind. He scanned the shelves, reading through anything that might help—until finally, he found sothing that felt just right, The Century Lantern.

He giggled.

He imrsed himself in the book, absorbing every detail, dissecting each page with focused intensity.

The book was rich with details about the Anti-Diviners and their brutal campaign for conquest. It listed the key individuals involved and described how many of them t their end. Much of the information was fragnted and confusing, but Daylan pieced it together through careful assumptions, connecting the dots with what he had read in the earlier pages.

Daylan had lost all sense of ti. The next thing he knew, the door creaked open—and there stood dora.

"I knew I'd find you here," she said, closing the door behind her. She walked over and sat beside him. "What are you reading? Your eyes—don't tell you haven't slept."

"Yeah, I haven't."

He finally closed the book with a satisfied thud, letting out a loud groan as he stretched his stiff body. His voice echoed through the quiet room, bouncing off the walls—and jolting Astara awake.

Daylan turned to her with a grin. "You woke up at the perfect ti." He stood and handed her the book. "This one goes deep into the Anti-Diviners' conquest."

dora cleared her throat to grab their attention. "Looks like a lot is going on here. Are you two going to fill in, or am I just supposed to guess?"