Prologue [2]

Should I wake him? What if he gets angry? Maybe I should just call the lady instead…

Her mind swirled with conflicting thoughts as she gazed at him, unsure of what to do.

"I should tell the lady first," she muttered to herself, turning to leave.

But another groan stopped her in her tracks.

"Ah, I don't know anymore."

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she stepped closer and leaned in slightly.

"Young lord," she called, her voice barely above a whisper.

When he didn't respond, her hesitation deepened.

Gathering her courage, she tried again, this time louder, her tone quivering.

"Young lord! Are you okay?"

At that, his eyes shot open, sharp and alert, instantly shifting toward her.

"Ah—!"

Her breath caught in her throat.

His purple eyes, so strikingly like the Duchess's, locked onto hers.

The resemblance was so uncanny that her thoughts went blank, leaving her rooted to the spot.

***

Was i still asleep?

Ardyn blinked as he woke to find the face of a young maid few inches away from his own.

Her blank expression and wide eyes stared back at him, unblinking.

He rubbed his eyes, but the image didn't vanish.

She was still there.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked sharply.

His voice snapped her out of her daze.

She blinked, confusion flashing across her face, before her eyes widened in shock.

She quickly stepped back, bowing deeply.

"The Duchess ordered me—" she started, her words rushing together as she tried to explain.

Ardyn's lips twitched in disbelief as he listened.

Mother did this?

Is she avoiding me?

They had an argument last night about his decision to go to the training camp.

It seemed she was avoiding him entirely because of it.

"I swear, I had no ill intentions!" the maid pleaded.

"Please forgive me!"

Ardyn's gaze shifted from her trembling form to the thread extending between them—dark gray and pale yellow, twisted together.

The maid didn't seem to notice it.

Only he could see it.

It was a passive ability of his eyes—a special skill that allowed him to perceive the emotions of others.

Fear. Worry.

The maid wasn't lying.

She was slightly afraid of him, yet at the same time, genuinely worried about his condition.

There was no trace of ill intent in her emotions.

"I understand," he said, slicking back his messy hair before throwing the blanket aside and standing up.

"You can go."

The maid bowed hastily and rushed out of the room, her footsteps fading into the corridor.

Grabbing a towel, he wiped the sweat from his face, then pulled off his shirt, preparing for a bath.

***

Ardyn walked into the marble-tiled bathroom and headed toward the large glass shower in the corner.

Turning on the shower, he let the hot water cascade over him, washing away the sweat and tension clinging to his body.

The water traced the lines of his lean yet well-defined frame, highlighting the contours of his muscles.

Afterward, he stepped out of the shower, steam rising from his skin, a towel loosely wrapped around his waist.

He approached the mirror, now fogged over with steam.

Raising a hand, he swiped his palm across the glass, revealing his reflection.

His intense eyes stared back at him, glinting with an unreadable emotion.

His thoughts drifted to the boy named Kael—the one in his dream.

The resemblance was uncanny, almost as if they were the same person.

The only differences were their eyes and their age.

Ardyn was still 14, while the boy in his dream was 21.

His body tensed, and his fists tightened as the dream resurfaced in his mind.

This wasn't the first time.

Since the age of five, after he had started feeling the resonance with the elements, he had been plagued by dreams like these.

But these dreams were strange.

It wasn't just Kael who resembled him; the boy's mother bore an uncanny resemblance to his own.

The dreams depicted the life of a boy and his mute mother, struggling to survive in a world called Earth.

He had seen how the boy's mother had worked tirelessly to raise him alone, despite her inability to speak.

After finishing high school, the boy had learned of his mother's heart condition and had desperately tried to gather money for her surgery by selling his software to the government.

But..

Ardyn's jaw clenched tightly, and a surge of heat rushed to his face as he thought about what happened next.

Kael had been forced into a shady organization called Eclipse because of his talent.

He would eventually lose his mother... and later his own life, controlled by the leader until his final breath.

"No, those weren't dreams," Ardyn muttered under his breath.

They felt far too real to be mere dreams.

"They were memories."

Memories of his past life.

Or so he believed.

And that belief made his anger boil over.

"What a pathetic life!"

He trembled with rage at how powerless Kael had been, unable to protect even his own mother.

"That's why," he growled, his fingers digging into his palms,

"I have to get stronger."

Stronger so he would never feel that kind of powerlessness again.

Stronger so he would never lose anyone he cared about.

For that...

"I have to go to the training camp."

***