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Anne had a look at her wrist, but found out she wasn't wearing a watch. She turned around to fetch the pocket watch from her desk's drawer.

Right as she turned, her vibrant green hair swirled with her movement, giving Leo a look at the shiny serpent-shaped silver hairpin nestled in her bun. 

The family heirloom. Leo thought to himself. After his family's death, this thing fell on his hands, and he had eventually given it to Lanlan since he could not make use of it and didn't have any descendants either.

Memories of the past surfaced his mind again, of the time when his mother die—

"There's nine hours left," Anne said and interrupted Leo's thoughts. 

…I should stop thinking about the past all the time. 

Leo sighed internally, then nodded his head at her in understanding. "I should get going then."

"Do you remember the things I said?" 

"Yes," said Leo flatly. 

Anne once again found this confident attitude of her son odd. But, she chose to trust him for now and wait until he spoke about it himself. If later she couldn't keep her curiosity anymore, she'll force him to spill the beans. This was the last resort.

Leo said goodbye to his mother and left her study. 

Walking out, he found himself in a familiar hallway. Adorned with fine art pieces, magic lamps, a red carpet, and brown luxurious yet cozy interiors. This was the grand manor of the Tryst Estate — Leo's home.

This brings back a lot of memories. Leo was suffering through a wave of nostalgia as he walked through the hallway of the manor. When he was a kid, he used to run around this place, playing 'Go', hide & seek with his mother and two elder sisters.

He couldn't win against them and it frustrated him somewhat back then, but those were some of the golden memories he cherished even till this day. 

Walking out of the manor, Leo went inside a horse carriage waiting for him. 

The carriage glided through the estate's sprawling gardens, and the rhythmic clopping of the horses' hooves on the cobblestone pavement rang in his ears. 

Leo looked outside through the window of the carriage. A scenic view of the Mossberg River by a cliff side could be seen. 

The Tryst Estate was located in the financial capital of the Ignis Empire, Silver City. All major cities in the empire were named after colors and were distinct entities directly under the Ignis Family's rule.

The Ignis Family…

Leo thought to himself and chuckled coldly. 

In this life, I'll pay back everything this family has given me a thousandfold times, with due interest. 

It'll all start with the Awakening Ceremony. 

Having regressed and not in his old, dying body anymore, Leo was feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and energetic. His body was brimming with energy and he felt like running around multiple laps.

Naturally, his thoughts were affected too due to his body's healthy condition. 

However… there's problems in my body… major problems! I forgot to remind mom about it!

Leo was already ten miles away from home, and going back and telling her would take up quite some time, which was something he couldn't afford. He had to be at the Tryst Harbor within an hour or things would be problematic. 

He had a six hour ship journey to the Ignis Archipelago located near the Eastern Continent in the Red Sea.

For comparison, Leo was literally at the other side of the world, in the Western Continent. 

The ship was enchanted with magic, so it was bound to move faster than a normal ship. The journey which would take days to complete would be finished within a few hours. 

Honestly, I still can't help but wonder why I was in Silver City during this time? The Awakening Ceremony is crucial, and I should already be in the archipelago instead of making an express journey to the other side of the world. 

I need to keep this thing in mind and check on it later. 

The horse-driven carriage was moving at abnormal speeds. It was natural because these weren't any normal horses, but potion-fed enchanted horses that could run five times as fast, comfortably galloping at a hundred miles an hour pace.

The carriage moved through the outskirts of the city, through the wilderness. This was to not catch attention of the common people in this abnormally fast carriage.

Silver City was his mother's domain and a highly sought after place by various nobles and even the Ignis Family members. There were people waiting to cause a ruckus and shake his mother's authority, so that was another reason to avoid traveling through the main city.

It took an hour and a half to reach the harbor, which was roughly a hundred and fifty miles from home. 

Leo put on his black top hat and got down from the carriage, suddenly shivering. He was in such a rush that he had forgotten to bring a coat. 

It was cold out here during the Umbrus month. Every year had twelve months, and they were named after Gods and Demons.

Umbrus was the Demon of Shadows, and this was the tenth month of the year. It would properly start to get colder from the next month onwards and this was sort of like a reminder month, stating winter was coming.

Leo held a briefcase in his hand and pressing on his hat, quickly made his way towards the dockside where the ship was anchored.

Along the way, many people in suits and conservative as well as non-conservative dresses could be seen roaming around. Apart from them, there were workers in grease-stained uniforms and disheveled hair, running around with different types of wooden boxes filled with tools.

It was a busy area and filled with many types of people from different classes of society.

The salty scent in the air could be felt from the sea, but it was quickly replaced by a fragrant aroma of salted boiled corn. 

A man was pushing a cart containing corn and various spices around. He was the cause of this aroma, but too bad, Leo was really running late and couldn't stop to get a cup full of corn.

All of these delicious goodies had to wait until he awakened. 

No distractions. No distractions. Full focus. Full focus. 

Leo chanted in his mind and quickly found the ship he had to board.

A sleek and nimble ship with a streamlined hull made of reinforced wood and plastered with intricate brass,  copper decorations was anchored and waiting for the youngsters of the Ignis Family.

It was a small-sized ship meant for faster transport and could usually house only ten people.

Leo pressed down on his hat and walked towards it. As he reached the gangway, he was stopped by a few uniformed guards. 

"Token," they said flatly. 

Leo was about to hand it out when a group of red-haired youngsters pushed him aside and walked proudly towards the gangway stairs.

Due to this, Leo's hat fell down and his green hair was out in the open for everyone to see.

"Huh? A non Ignis? Young master, do you recognize him?" A girl's voice was suddenly heard. 

Leo internally sighed. This wasn't the first time he was hearing this. 

Ignoring the group, he fetched out the token from his pocket and showed it to the guards. 

The guards checked it and approved Leo's entry.

Not even a step later, a voice thunderously said, "Halt. Where do you think you're going?"