"Consequences of Deception"

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"System, can you help me?"

I asked the system, contemplating its assistance.

[Do you want me to seal some memories for your plan?]

"Yes, can you?"

[I cannot seal or alter your memories, but I can assist in another way.]

Upon hearing the last part of its response, my eyes gleamed, as my plan now had a greater chance of success with the system's help.

"If you can't seal my memories, then how can you help me?"

My plan was to pretend I had lost some of my memories, so I would have a reason for my personality change without raising too much suspicion.

[Do not worry, Host. The method I will use will make your plan more effective and more believable.]

I raised an eyebrow upon hearing the system's response, my curiosity growing about what it intended to do.

"What exactly will you do?"

I asked again, but my question was met with silence.

"Tsk... Whatever."

Seeing no response, I clicked my tongue in annoyance and began preparing for my plan. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long before I heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching the room.

With each echoing step, my heart pounded violently, and fear of being discovered crept into my mind again.

'Calm down… Stay calm. Come on, Michael, you've been in situations far worse than this.'

I told myself in an attempt to steady my nerves.

"Valerian..."

My body shuddered upon hearing my name. I turned toward the source and was slightly surprised by the person standing at the door.

She was a woman with an imposing presence, radiating an aura of majesty. Her long, dark hair cascaded down her back in silky waves that reflected the light with a lustrous sheen, enhancing her beauty. Her deep violet eyes held a piercing gaze.

She wore a dark black dress, which further emphasized her pale, almost ethereal skin. Unlike the calm expression that Valerian remembered, her face was now filled with worry as she gazed at him.

"Valerian, my son... You're finally awake. Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?"

Celine rushed toward Valerian, cupping his face in her hands as she spoke in a trembling voice, as if she were holding back tears.

'Although Valerian was ignored by the family's higher-ups—his uncles and others—that didn't change the fact that his parents still cared for him. Valerian just couldn't see their concern.'

I looked at the woman holding my face. Celine loved her son, Valerian, deeply. Even after his failure to awaken, her love for him never wavered. However, she couldn't openly show her affection because she knew that if she did, he would become a target for his brother, Silas.

When Valerian died in the original story, she lost her mind and attacked the protagonist, who barely escaped with his life, limping away after being rescued by his family and the allied noble houses. That battle left Celine with half of her mana core damaged, significantly weakening her power.

I stared at her in confusion before speaking in a hesitant voice.

"Where am I...? What am I doing in this room?"

Upon hearing my questions, everyone in the room froze, and silence filled the air before Celine's trembling voice broke it.

"D-Do you not remember what happened to you?"

I shook my head in response.

"Then… Do you remember who you are? And how old you are?"

She asked again.

"Valerian Ravensberg. As for my age, I am..."

I paused before finishing my answer, narrowing my eyes slightly as if I were lost in deep thought.

"I'm sixteen years old, aren't I?"

I answered with slight hesitation, which was necessary for my next step.

"Then… do you remember who she is?"

She pointed at the maid who had informed her of my awakening.

I looked at the maid for a moment, as if searching for her in my memory, before turning back to Celine and saying:

"I-I… I don't. I can't remember."

Hearing my response, Celine's face paled before she gestured toward the other servants in the room.

I pretended to remember some while failing to recall others.

Silence filled the room before Celine finally pointed at herself.

"Then… Do you remember who I am?"

I stared at her for a long time, increasing the tension in the room.

"You are Celine... my mother."

I felt a strange sensation and slight tension when I uttered the last word—perhaps because I hadn't called anyone 'mother' in my past life since my parents had died when I was young.

Hearing my answer, Celine's face brightened, and all traces of sorrow vanished. Although she noticed the hesitation in my voice, she was still overjoyed that I remembered her.

She continued asking me about various people. When she asked about my father, I told her that I only knew his name but couldn't clearly remember his face.

She studied me deeply before speaking, a bitter expression on her face.

"It seems your memory was affected by the accident during your awakening. But don't worry, take this potion."

She waved her hand, summoning a small bottle filled with a glowing blue liquid, and handed it to me while continuing to speak.

"This is an advanced-tier potion—Superior Health Potion. It will help heal your body and memory."

I nodded at her, then looked at the health potion in my hands and fell into thought. There was also a system used to classify potions based on their effectiveness, which was as follows:

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Basic Health Potions, which include:

Simple Health Potion: Heals superficial wounds and minor injuries and restores a small amount of energy.

Regular Health Potion: Heals moderate injuries such as bruises and muscle tears.

Advanced Health Potions, which include:

Major Health Potion: Heals serious injuries such as broken bones and internal wounds.

Superior Health Potion: Heals all the previous injuries and restores energy.

Ultimate Health Potion: Heals all injuries, even those that are fatal.

Regeneration Potion: Heals all injuries and regenerates lost limbs.

Legendary Health Potions, which include:

Elixir of Life: Can heal any injury and save a person on the verge of death.

Elixir of Revival: The rarest of all potions, said to be able to bring back someone who has recently died.

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For a family like the Ravensberg family, there was no shortage of advanced and basic potions. As for the legendary potions, our family had the largest stock, with nearly twenty in our possession.

This was also one of the reasons, alongside the original Valerian, that led to our family's downfall when several families, including the hero's family, allied together and brought us down.

'Since I am here this time instead of Valerian, I will never allow this to happen.'

Because once the Ravensberg family fell, the entire family would be exterminated to prevent any survivors from seeking revenge. And I did not want to die again. Just thinking about returning to that dark place made my body tremble.

I opened the potion and poured it into my mouth in one go. It tasted bitter, like wormwood. I fought the urge to spit it out and swallowed it.

A warm current spread throughout my body. I felt a tingling sensation in all my limbs before it moved up my spine and finally reached my head. This feeling lasted for two minutes. After it ended, my body felt lighter, and my thoughts became clearer than before.

"Tok... Tok... Tok."

The sound of footsteps and murmurs of several people approaching my room caught my attention. The noises grew louder until the group arrived and stood at my door. The group consisted of six people.

At the front stood a man who appeared to be in his thirties, with a strong and imposing presence. His carefully groomed gray hair was neatly styled, reflecting his high social status. His gray eyes carried a deep look—a mixture of caution and wisdom.

Those eyes had the ability to pierce deep, making anyone who dealt with him feel the weight of his aura. His stern and serious features commanded respect from everyone.

Despite his harsh exterior, there was a hint of sorrow in his eyes, perhaps due to family pressures or the feeling of betrayal from his disappointment in his son.

This man was Cassian, Valerian's father. His eyes swept over his bandaged son, and for a fleeting moment, a trace of worry crossed his face—something no one noticed except Valerian himself and Selene, who was sitting nearby.

Surrounding him were five individuals—three men in their thirties and two women who appeared to be in their twenties. They were Valerian's uncles and aunts.

They all looked at him with some concern etched on their faces.

Seeing their worried expressions, I sighed internally and thought:

'Valerian was truly foolish to believe that his family didn't care about him. All the contempt and bullying he endured came from his cousins and his brother, Silas.'

His uncles had tried to stop them from bullying him, but Valerian's grandfather had ordered them to ignore it and not interfere. His grandfather had hoped that all the harassment would push him into agreeing to undergo the awakening process.

But what he didn't realize was that because of his actions, Valerian had developed deep hatred toward his family. In the end, his grandfather's plan worked, and Valerian decided to awaken, but who could have known that he would lose control over his mana circulation and end up injured?

"Are... are you okay? How do you feel?"

Cassian, Valerian's father, spoke in a steady voice, but Michael could detect the worry in it.

Michael didn't know what to say, so he simply looked at him and nodded.

Seeing her son's condition, Selene sighed and spoke to Cassian in a helpless tone.

"His memory was affected a little by the accident. I gave him a superior health potion, but it seems like it's not working."

Hearing Selene's words, Cassian's expression darkened. He looked at me, then gestured toward himself and to my uncles, who had the same grim expression, before asking:

"Valerian, do you recognize any of the people standing here?"

I looked at them for a moment, fell into deep thought, and then shook my head, indicating that I didn't recognize any of them.

Seeing this, Selene quickly spoke up:

"Guess what?"

"!What? Is there something else wrong?"

Cassian's voice rose as he spoke, his worry clear this time. Even I was surprised that there was something more.

'What? Do I have a hidden injury? No, I just took the potion, which should have healed all my wounds! … Could it be that she has discovered I'm not the real Valerian?!'

Panic rose inside me at the last thought.

"He really doesn't remember many things. But I am one of the few people he can recall, yet he doesn't remember you. Do you know what that means?"

We all looked at her in confusion, wondering where she was going with this.

"It means that I hold great value to him. To the extent that he may forget everything, but he will never forget his mother. Whereas you, his father, were the first thing erased from his memory."

Selene let out a light laugh at the end, looking at her husband with disdain and arrogance.

We were all left speechless as she bragged about how much her son valued her in front of everyone.

Cassian's face darkened at her words. He scoffed loudly before looking at me, his eyes filled with sorrow and helplessness after hearing Selene's statement.

"...Since the superior potion didn't help you recover your memories."

He paused while pulling out a glowing blue potion before continuing as he handed it to Valerian.

"This is an ultimate health potion, stronger than the previous one. It will definitely heal you this time."

As Valerian reached out to take the potion, his hand suddenly froze in the air. His expression twisted, and his body trembled. Seeing his state, everyone looked at him in confusion.

A slight frown appeared on Cassian's face as he lightly shook Valerian's shoulder.

"Valerian, what's w—"

"Aaaah~ Aaah!!"

His words were cut off by a pained scream as Valerian writhed like a worm on the bed.

"Ahhh~ I-It hurts... Painful... Stop... Please make it stop."

Valerian spoke in a muffled voice as tears streamed down his cheeks uncontrollably.

"My son... Cassian, what is happening to my son?"

Selene screamed as she tried to reach for Valerian.

"Selene! Do not go near him! Step back immediately..."

Cassian shouted at the top of his voice.

Selene quickly retreated from Valerian and stood near Cassian, her face filled with worry and panic. Despite her concern for her son, she trusted her husband's judgment greatly and knew he would not do anything to harm Valerian.

The moment she stepped away from Valerian, an abyssal darkness burst forth from him, devouring the entire room.

Everyone in the room felt their breathing become difficult, as if the air itself had turned heavy. Their hearts pounded violently with the fear that overtook them as they stared at the darkness that threatened to consume everything around it. They felt their senses gradually fading away.

After about four minutes, the darkness began to recede from the room slowly until it completely withdrew into Valerian's body, which lay on the bed.

The backs of everyone in the room were drenched in cold sweat, their hands trembling with fear. Despite the Ravensberg family's natural affinity with dark elements, the experience they had just gone through was entirely different and would remain a shadow that haunted them.

Everyone cautiously looked at Valerian, who was lying on the bed.

His eyes appeared completely pale, devoid of any sparkle or focus, as if life had been drained from them. His eyelids trembled slightly, but his pupils were absent, revealing only the whites of his eyes as if his consciousness had drifted far away to an unreachable world.

Seeing his condition, everyone knew that he had lost consciousness.

Without a second thought, Selene rushed to him and held him tightly.

"Shh... No... No... My dear son."

She spoke softly while embracing Valerian, tears falling from her eyes.

Everyone sighed in sorrow at the sight of the woman who was once a terrifying presence on the battlefield—feared by both enemies and allies. The woman who was called the "Blood Witch" was now holding her son and weeping.

"Go and find the best doctor you can."

Cassian spoke as he looked at his brother, Adrian.

"Tell Felix to come as well, in my name."

Adrian hesitated slightly upon hearing Felix's name and wanted to speak, but Cassian's next words silenced him.

"I order you as the head of the Ravensberg family."

"As you command."

Hearing his confirmation, Cassian shifted his gaze to his son, Valerian, and then to the others who were still in the room.

"Inform my father of what has happened... As for the rest of you, you may leave the room."

Upon hearing this, his siblings nodded while the servants quickly fled from the room as if escaping for their lives.

After everyone had left, Cassian approached the bed and placed his hands on the shoulders of his wife, who was still holding onto Valerian.

"Everything will be fine..."

"...."

Seeing her remain unresponsive, he sighed in sorrow before looking at his son.

"Just hold on a little longer..."

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[A/N]

* Hey guys, what do you think about the MC's relationship with his family?

*This chapter was really exhausting to write, as it consists of 2,566 words. So, please encourage me and help me share it by leaving a comment and sharing your thoughts!

*Thank you for reading! :-)