Chapter 1: Prologue
"Tsk tsk… Acting like he’s not some filthy illegitimate brat, without even a hint of shame…"
"Truly shameless beyond belief."
"Just ignore it and pretend you didn’t see. Getting involved with someone like that will only hurt us."
At the end of the whispering students’ gazes was, as always, a male student slumped over his desk.
Whether he could even graduate properly was questionable, and he had long been the laughingstock of the academy.
People claimed that Count Amiel, who still took care of such a child, was indeed responsible and compassionate—yet in the same breath, they whispered that being Count Amiel’s illegitimate son meant he was no different from the other nobles.
"……."
But I simply stayed silent.
Because I knew he wasn’t sleeping right now, but rather fighting for his life in his inner world against countless versions of himself.
Because I knew that before long, there wouldn’t be a single person here capable of matching swords with him and winning.
And because I knew he would lead the heroes—praised as the reincarnation of legends—from the very front.
"Lady of Count Raidche, I enjoyed yesterday’s match! Truly amazing!"
The noisy voice naturally drew my gaze in that direction.
There stood a female student surrounded by others, wearing a casual expression yet unable to hide her pride.
"Well, it was nothing special."
The girl who had taken first place in yesterday’s match swept back her hair and cast a sideways glance toward the window.
There, another female student sat alone at her seat.
"Unlike someone else, I’m skilled at handling horses. Unlike someone else… kick!"
"……."
Even at the mocking aimed at her, she still didn’t react at all.
Perhaps irritated by her calm demeanor, a few more sneering remarks slipped out.
"By the way, everyone, did you know? I heard there’s a descendant of dragon knights who can’t even ride a single horse properly."
At her words, the students nearby began adding their own comments as if it were routine.
"What? No way, such a useless… ah, excuse me. Anyway, are you saying there’s someone that incompetent?"
"Unbelievable."
"If it were me, I’d be too ashamed to even step outside."
At the blatant ridicule, the girl finally rose quietly and slipped out of the classroom, almost as if fleeing.
From her timid retreat, it was hard to imagine she was the daughter of a prestigious family that had produced outstanding knights and warriors for generations.
The halfwit unlike her talented siblings.
An idiot who couldn’t even ride a horse, let alone a wyvern.
A dropout who, even at her age, couldn’t handle even a single spell properly.
As always, she couldn’t stand up to those who mocked her and instead retreated.
Like a loser—her appearance made some students smirk behind their hands.
But I couldn’t laugh like they did.
Not simply because she belonged to one of the Three Great Houses.
Nor because my own family served hers.
"……."
It was simply because I knew.
That she had talent—not in swordsmanship or magic—but in spirit arts.
That her current state was the result of constant interference and obsession from spirits since childhood.
And that in the near future…
She would, with a human body, form contracts with none other than three Spirit Kings—not just one—and command them as if they were her own limbs.
And they were not the only two.
"……."
I walked through the academy, silently observing my surroundings.
Here, there… and even right next to me.
Everywhere I looked, there was no one who was truly ordinary beneath the surface.
They deliberately hid their strength, making themselves appear clumsy, inadequate… in other words, downright pathetic.
Yes, if I were to use the shortened term popular around campus these days, they were “hidden-power losers.”
…And I was the only one who knew they were hiding their strength.
---
I died.
To elaborate, I was beheaded.
No—more accurately, “I had been beheaded.”
Even saying it aloud, it sounded absurd.
But it was the truth.
I was certainly beheaded, yet here I was, perfectly fine.
And I had returned to a point several years in the past.
And in front of me stood the very person who had caused my death.
"And so, here we stand today. Just as in the past, when the noble Great Emperor and the loyal Wolpen Knights saved the continent from crisis, transcending the walls of nation, race, species, and status…"
Hair of brilliant silver, glittering proof of belonging to the imperial family.
Eyes of violet so dazzling that I stared without realizing it.
Known to society as the imperial treasure and the flower of the social scene.
The Second Princess of the Solberique Empire—
Velita Levymne Bestrang.
"……."
She was also the woman who would one day incite a rebellion, seize the imperial throne, and become the culprit behind the deaths of myself and my entire family.
"At Arpentia Academy, there are five named paths.
Crowns, of tradition and nobility.
Hilts, of loyalty and struggle.
Wands, of truth and inquiry.
Crooks, of humility and mercy.
Dots, of possibility and potential…
Even if everyone here walks different paths, I dare declare that the scenery we look upon will be the same."
I simply stared at her in silence.
A face I could never forget.
One notable detail—like me, she too appeared several years younger than before.
"Beloved new students.
The time you spend here at Arpentia Academy will be but a short while in your long lives, yet it will shine like gold.
In this sanctuary of sages, may you drink deeply from the wisdom of the ancients and radiate the passion of heroes.
Make the most of the time given to you.
Hone yourselves, refine your talents, and prepare for the future.
May you gain the courage and skill to overcome the countless trials ahead.
Cherish the dreams in your hearts and strive toward them without wavering."
The princess’s voice was clear, beautiful, and carried a force that stirred people’s hearts.
It wasn’t hard to spot students staring at the podium in a daze.
Some of them were even girls.
‘Come to think of it, they say the number of powerful suitors she had was beyond counting.’
A face as beautiful as a painting.
A voice that someone once said was like the songs of the heavens.
The noble status of a princess, with wisdom to rival any scholar.
And a kindness and thoughtfulness so renowned that it was spoken of across the continent.
She was, in every way, the living embodiment of every man’s ideal.
That was the Second Princess, Velita Levymne Bestrang.
…But knowing her true nature, I could only find that image utterly repulsive.
I knew all too well that she was the kind of woman who would do absolutely anything to become emperor.
Yes—literally anything.
"Once again, I sincerely welcome and congratulate you on your admission.
On this bright and clear day—this very day that you longed for yesterday, the day you take your first steps into the great journey honed by our ancestors and to become the guiding light for our descendants—I truly wish that your future will be filled with dreams and fulfillment. Thank you."
When she ended her congratulatory address with a gentle smile and a slow bow, applause like thunder erupted.
As she descended from the podium and waved her hand with elegant gestures, the clamor of applause rang out once more.
"……."
I clapped along just enough to blend in, glancing around discreetly.
The grand and splendid plaza was filled with countless new students standing in perfect lines like soldiers.
I was one of them.
Everything felt familiar—almost like déjà vu.
And I was certain it wasn’t just my imagination.
‘…It’s about time.’
The sky was clear and the weather could not have been better.
But soon, a sudden downpour would come with fierce force.
Yes, probably right about now—
Ssshhh!
"Huh?"
"Kyaaa!"
"Ugh, what’s with the sudden rain…?!"
The unexpected downpour made the gathered crowd stir with confusion.
Some, flustered, began muttering strange words and gesturing oddly toward the sky.
But despite their efforts, the rain only grew heavier, not lighter.
"What in the world…?"
"Where’s Professor Maddrone, where is he?"
‘Wasn’t the cause of this sudden shower supposed to be a territorial dispute between dragons?’
Recalling what would only be announced about three months later, I slowly turned my head.
Instead of staring at the sky like everyone else, I looked toward the statues at one side of the plaza.
There stood the statue of the Great Emperor, along with those of the legendary Wolpen Knights, who had saved the continent from destruction 300 years ago.
‘And now, about this time—’
Crackkk!
Boom!
"Th-that…!"
"Oh, heavens!"
"Almighty Ilionel! Why do you send us such trials?!"
With a tremendous crash, one of the statues collapsed.
While others around me were shocked and frightened, I only thought, as expected.
This was something I had already experienced.
Of all days, it happened during the academy entrance ceremony attended by royalty.
Of all places, in front of high-ranking clergy of the Holy Sun Church.
And of all things, the statue that collapsed was that of the saintess—an incident that was impossible to laugh off, even as a joke.
Yet I felt nothing but calm as I witnessed it again.
Only now did I feel a complete certainty.
"…So it was true."
Amid the murmuring crowd, I let out a small sigh.
Everything was just as I remembered.
And so, I could be sure once more—
Of the absurd truth that I had returned to the past.
---
Darkness was falling.
My body hit the ground as if thrown, and all I felt was cold.
Despite it being midsummer, my breath came out in pale white clouds.
Was what leaked from my slightly parted lips really just breath?
No sound reached me.
In the distance, I saw tiny fragments of light shattering and scattering.
A world silent, yet echoing with a heavy, muffled weight.
Finally, I caught them.
A voice came, and footsteps approached.
Only then did I move my hand in a desperate realization, fumbling over my own body.
Along with scattered arrows, the spearhead piercing my chest forced a ragged breath from me.
Yes… today was just the time.
That was all this was.
Just that kind of story.
Regardless of my own opinion.
Knights clad in golden armor.
"He’s still alive?"
"And the woman? Where’s the witch?"
Even when my body was kicked roughly, I couldn’t muster a scream.
"Cut off his head."
It was over in an instant—so fast I had no time, no strength to react.
"Take the head."
Darkness fell.
And then—
"…Damn it."
That was the first thing I said when I barely woke from the nightmare.
"Ugh."
I instinctively reached for my neck and chest.
Despite my trembling hands, my body was perfectly fine—without a single wound.
Only after confirming it several times could I finally breathe out in relief.
"Huuh…"
It had been days now, yet I suffered the same nightmare almost every night.
What on earth had happened to me?
"I definitely…"
…had been stabbed through the heart and beheaded.
That much was certain.
And yet here I was, alive.
It wasn’t a dream.
It wasn’t some afterlife, either.
‘After what happened yesterday, how could I think otherwise?’
The memory made me laugh bitterly without meaning to.
Yes.
Yesterday’s events at the academy entrance ceremony…
After experiencing something like that, there was no denying it anymore.
All the time I’d spent rejecting the idea that I’d either come back to life or returned to the past now seemed laughable.
I hadn’t been devout, but I had walked the path of both priest and theologian.
I knew just how impossible it was to defy death or turn back time.
Even the greatest magician I knew had called such feats the realm of gods.
‘And yet…’
Here I was, alive.
Returned to the past.
Yes—this was no dream, no afterlife, no vision, no magic, no curse.
This was simply reality.
That was the conclusion I had reached after much thought.
"Huuh…"
I rose from my bed, dressed quickly, and faced the mirror.
There was the me from my youth—the me who had not yet lost everything.
My reflection’s face was stiff, tense.
I forced a smile toward the mirror and spoke like I was making a joke.
"Kid, you actually don’t look half bad like this."
A clean face without the ugly scars and wounds.
Familiar, yet strangely unfamiliar—looking at it made me laugh again.
Even though I’d been staring at it for days now, it still felt awkward beyond belief.
"Then… what should I do now?"
It was a question I didn’t even need to say out loud.
Because what I had to do from this point forward was already decided.
‘Princess Velita.’
The one who had not only branded me a wanted criminal, but had also issued an imperial kill-on-sight order to the imperial knights, chasing me for years.
And the reason for it all was nothing short of absurd.
Treason.
That was the crime I was accused of.
"…That damn hypocrite."
Just thinking of it again made my teeth clench with a grinding sound.
Of course, neither I nor my family had ever plotted treason.
How could a powerless count’s family possibly start a rebellion?
She knew that as well as anyone.
And yet, fully aware of the truth, she had deliberately branded me a traitor and had me killed.
Why?
That was the one question that had haunted me as I ran for my life, falsely accused.
And when I learned by chance why she had been so obsessed with me…
Back then, I had felt my entire body break out in chills.
Because she had been angry—furious—that I had taken possession of something she had set her sights on.
That alone had been the reason my family and I were executed.
"Huuh…"
Only after taking several deep breaths did I finally regain my composure enough to lift my head and face the mirror again.
There, staring back at me, was me—Lian Gwendil—before I had been wrongfully accused and executed.
And not just me.
There had been my father, my brothers, and the servants who had given their lives for me… all of them.
‘Yes.’
I didn’t know why I had been sent back to the past, or how I had been brought back to life.
But I did know exactly what I had to do now.
‘I can do this.’
For a moment, doubt whispered—could I really pull it off?—but then the events of yesterday came back to me, and I felt my drained confidence slowly return.
Because I, who had returned to the past, held the greatest weapon possible—one no one else could match.
Yes.
The weapon of knowledge of the future.
And because of that, I could do it.
No— I had to do it.
"…Alright."
Straightening my clothes, I let out a slow breath and fixed my posture.
It was time to step out of this place and set foot outside.