Adrian took a deep breath, calming his confusion. He had to approach the situation with reason.

First, he checked his own body.

’Uh?’

When he understood that he was now on earth, he had assumed he would be in his original body. The body of his twenty-five-year-old self who lived on Earth. But to his surprise, his limbs were still small and delicate, his height still short.

It was clear that he was still in the body of his ten-year-old reincarnated self. But if he were on Earth with this body, then...

’Teleportation? I was teleported to Earth?’

He rubbed his forehead.

He couldn’t spot the horrible glowing blue cracks on his body either. As if they had never existed to begin with. Nothing was making any sense.

But he wasn’t in a situation to ponder the matter deeply, so he shoved the topic into a corner of his mind and moved on.

His eyes scanned the surroundings, carefully moving over the furnished wooden floor, the wide-open window to his right, and the white ceiling above his head. His gaze paused briefly on the flowerpot in the corner near the window.

The place where he stood looked like the corridor of someone’s house. There was a white door right in front of him, leading to a room. And...

’There’s no doubt about it.’

Even though it had been a long time, he instantly recognised the place. The memories of his time here were still vivid in his mind. This was the place where he lived for eighteen years, the place where he had spent his childhood before moving out.

He was all too familiar with the white door in front of him and knew well where it led.

Adrian reached out to open the door but paused midway. When he looked at his hand, it was trembling slightly.

He sighed.

...and opened the door.

But as the interior of the room revealed itself before him, he froze.

A woman sat weakly in a rocking chair, with a medical IV bag hung on a stand nearby, its pipe connected to her right wrist.

White hair flowed down her shoulders as her wrinkled face was twisted in pain. She wore a simple grey gown that looked somewhat worn out.

There was no way he wouldn’t be able to recognise the woman before him. After all, she was the only person he still respected, the only person he still considered family, and the only person... that he longed to see just one more time.

’Grandmother...’

Seeing her suddenly before him, his mind went blank. It was as if his mind refused to process the situation he was in. After all, his grandmother had passed away a long time ago.

’Have I... time-travelled?’

Just then, someone else came into his view. A boy sitting nearby on a sofa, quietly looking at his grandmother.

With his hair covering his forehead and big, round glasses resting on his nose, the boy looked quiet and reserved. Adrian recognised the boy instantly; there was no way he wouldn’t.

After all, that boy was none other than his past self; it was the seventeen-year-old Daniel.

Before Adrian could even organise his thoughts, the boy stood up and approached his grandmother, crouching in front of her as he gently held her hands.

She opened her eyes weekly and looked at him.

"Grandmother, why?" The boy spoke softly. "Why are you making that face? Like, you have some sort of regret? You’ve fallen ill so many times–which is understandable considering your age–but I’ve never seen you make that expression before, so why now? Why this time?"

Hearing the boy’s words, he felt a strong sense of déjà vu; the scene before him felt familiar.

His grandmother gave him her weak smile, a smile that looked miserable on her face. He knew the meaning behind that smile all too well; the boy crouching in front of her must’ve realised it, too.

"Everyone has regrets when they die; there are no exceptions. I... am no exception."

Her voice was filled with melancholy.

Only now did he realise the reason he felt that sense of déjà vu—the scene before him was the same as one in his memory. The memory of his last conversation with her.

...Because four days later, his grandmother had passed away.

Suddenly, his vision shifted once again as both his seventeen-year-old self and his grandmother disappeared. An agonising pain assaulted him as his vision grew darker with each passing moment.

He could see the blurry silhouette of towering bookshelves, and he could feel the smooth, marble-like surface on which he lay weakly.

His consciousness was moments away from slipping entirely, and the agonising pain he felt all over his torn body was still just as unbearable.

But despite everything, his mind wasn’t chaotic like before. In fact, it felt clearer than ever.

Despite the sheer incomprehensibility of the situation, he knew exactly what he needed to do. It was something he should’ve done far earlier, but the pain assaulting him simply didn’t let him think straight.

He gathered every bit of focus he could muster and gave a mental command for the door connecting the dimension to his body to close.

The abnormal amount of mana surging within him suddenly stopped as the door shut itself.

The next moment, his vision went completely dark as his consciousness slipped away.

***

"Hey, I’m curious about something. Among the three children of this house, which one do you both think is the most gentle and kind?"

Rue turned to the speaker.

The three maids sitting at this table were all personal servants of the three Ravenshade children, so it was essentially a question of whose master treated them most kindly.

The maid beside her timidly asked. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"You don’t usually ask things like that. Did something happen with Young Lady Aristeia?"

The maid who had first spoken–Young Lady Aristeia’s maid–clenched her fist, irritation clear on her face.

"It’s really hard. The young lady had always been a bit hot-tempered, sure. But these days, her behaviour has become almost thorny. She acts unreasonably and doesn’t let me speak when I try to guide her."

The maid beside Rue replied.

"I see. But I feel it’s hard for me to understand your pain. Young Master Elias is the sweetest child I have ever seen. He listens to me well and has never acted rudely, as almost all other noble children do, so I’d say he is the most gentle one among the three children."

The maid sitting beside her–Young Master Elias’ maid–smiled widely as she leaned into her chair.

Rue hesitated.

"I think... Young Master Adrian is also rather kind."

But the moment those words left her mouth, the other two maids turned to her. Their expressions were filled with doubt.

"Yeah, no, there’s no way that’s true. I find it hard to associate the word ’kind’ with him, considering the way he speaks to the servants."

"She’s right. That expressionless face he always has; it’s so uncomfortable to look at."

Rue closed her mouth. It didn’t seem like they were going to believe her. And she could do nothing to make them believe her, so saying anything further was pointless.

Standing up, she headed toward the room’s door.

"Rue, where are you going? We’ve barely spent any time." One of them called out.

"It’s getting late," she replied without stopping. "I need to bring Young Master Adrian back to his room, or he may fall asleep in the library."

With that, she walked out and closed the door.

The hallway was quiet, as most servants had most likely gone to sleep. As she walked through the quiet hallway, the sound of her footsteps was muffled by the carpet beneath her feet.

She thought back to the conversation she had just had with the other maids.

’Young Master Adrian really isn’t how others perceive him.’

She had served him for ten years, and she had watched him closely during that time, so she knew the kind of person he was.

Sure, his behavior was unsettling for a child, and he treated everyone besides the Duchess as if they didn’t matter.

But he wasn’t a bad child.

In all the time she had been his personal maid, he had never refused to listen to her or argued back. More than that, he never asked her to do anything unless it was necessary.

In fact, he treated her as if she didn’t exist most of the time. He did most things by himself instead of asking her. Things like going to drink water, looking for clothes to wear, and looking for something to eat when he felt hungry.

He did all such things by himself, even though all those things were supposed to be done by personal servants; that was what personal servants were for.

And more than anything, despite his attitude, he had never spoken rudely to her.

So Rue was content with being his personal maid.

’Huh, but why does he have to spend all his time in the library? He could just ask the servants to bring him the books he needs.’

Maybe he had grown attached to that place? After all, he had spent almost his entire childhood in there.

She soon reached the library. Giving a nod of acknowledgement to the maid standing by the gate, she entered.

But as soon as she walked inside, her feet paused as a metallic scent assaulted her nose.

’...What’s this?’

Although she wasn’t very familiar with this smell, she recognised it instantly.

It was the smell of blood.

Chills ran down her spine as her heartbeat suddenly sped up. The smell of blood was quite strong, and it was coming from somewhere within the towering bookshelves. The room was dimly lit with only a single source of light.

’Young master...’

Something was wrong, something was very wrong. Her young master was supposed to be here, reading books, so why was the room so dark? And what was this strong smell of blood? Whose blood?

She ran forward as her imagination spiraled, getting more terrible the deeper she got into the maze of bookshelves.

The smell of blood was getting stronger the closer she got to where Young Master Adrian usually sat. As she made the final turn and reached the table where he would usually sit, she froze.

Horrific was the only way to describe the scene before her.

The young boy lay motionless on the ground, a pool of blood slowly forming around him. His entire body was filled with strange wounds that looked similar to cracks; a lingering bluish glow could be seen around the most terrible ones.

The scene before her made her question whether she might be dreaming.

And if this really was a dream, it must be a horrible nightmare.