-Frey starlight POV-
That day, I walked through the corridors of the old Frey Starlight estate. The servants bowed, one after another, as I passed them.
I spent a long time reviewing the new system .. its changes, its updates…
And the additions I had been granted.
There was so much to process, but perhaps the most jarring of it all… was the truth. That I had been reincarnated into this body from the very beginning .. not just two years ago.
It was a shocking revelation, one I struggled to fully comprehend.
I kept wondering what I truly meant to the Engineer… and those strange creatures around him. And those who called themselves the Nameless Order.
A group without a name .. about whom I knew absolutely nothing.
For now, I chose to focus on uncovering the truth and surviving this world drowned in chaos and destruction.
To find a new purpose. A new reason to exist.
But before that… there was one thing I had to do.
There was still a part of my father's message .. one he hadn't left for me.
It was for someone else.
"Ada…"
I had already listened to that part before.
My father had distanced himself from Ada because she reminded him of the family he lost. While she, on the other hand, believed he hated her… because of everything he had taken from her, everything he had left for me.
My father had felt guilt toward her .. until the very end. That's why he left part of his final message for her. For both of us to hear.
It didn't take long before I found myself standing before Ada's room .. the one she had used in the estate.
I knocked.
And she told me to go away.
Maybe she thought I was a servant. Or someone else entirely.
So I opened the door and walked in anyway.
As I stepped inside, I found my sister seated at her desk. She looked more exhausted than usual.
"Frey?"
She sounded worried .. especially after my recent breakdown and what might've looked like a death wish.
So I tried to stay calm, as much as I could.
"Hey, Ada."
I saw her eyes widen slightly as she got a good look at me.
"What happened? Are you feeling better now? Ah! You cut your hair!"
She examined me quickly, her hands flitting about in concern. She really did look just like her mother…
"I'm fine. I just… wanted to apologize for all the trouble I've caused so far. I'm sorry for being the worst brother ever."
Honestly… she had gone through a lot because of me recently.
"No, it's okay. You don't have to apologize. I wasn't exactly the best sister either… I couldn't do much for you."
Maybe she was blaming herself. Thinking she would've failed if not for Iris' intervention, never even knowing what that old man was truly after.
But I was still grateful for her.
She looked relieved to see me ..more stable, at least for now.
So I seized the moment… and activated the message.
"Ada… there's something you need to hear."
As soon as I said that, my father's voice echoed throughout the room, his words manifesting once more like magic.
"Hello, Ada. It's been a long time…"
The instant she heard that voice, Ada trembled as she clung tightly to my sleeve.
In a soft, stunned whisper, she said:
"Frey… that voice!"
I nodded to her.
And my father continued speaking…
I heard him apologizing to her .. telling her he had always loved her as his daughter, and that he had never once hated her.
To be honest, I didn't want to hear his voice again. Every time I did, I felt the void inside me deepen… and those suicidal thoughts return.
But this was something Ada needed.
My father spoke to her at length, though he never revealed any of our secrets. Just a few simple words ...like how much he loved her ...were enough to bring Ada Starlight to tears in my arms, as I knelt beside her, holding her close.
For someone like her, who had spent her entire life trying to earn her father's recognition, hearing those words after all this time was the culmination of everything she had endured.
She had finally heard what she had longed to hear most.
Ada wept in my arms, and I looked at her in silence for a while.
She clung to me tightly, her warmth seeping into my skin.
Ada Starlight .. the girl who did everything she could to be acknowledged by her father, who honored her mother's memory, and who supported her brother with everything she had…
Even when that brother was nothing more than worthless trash.
But more importantly ..
Ada was my father's daughter.
My real father's daughter.
Which meant she wasn't just my sister by name .. she was real. Truly real.
I returned her embrace, holding her tightly as I buried my face against her right shoulder.
We sat there like that for some time…
I'm not sure what exactly changed that day ... but something did.
Ada's place in my heart had shifted. She became the first real person I had in this world.
…
…
…
Time passed quickly after that. I had to explain to Ada that I had somehow found that message from our father within me, stored in the form of a power he'd left behind.
It might've been hard to believe .. but she didn't doubt me. Not after I revealed the Dark Sister.
That sword had now fused with my right arm in the form of a large tattoo .. an intricate flower.
A flower on the right, and a serpent on the left.
My body was slowly being covered in tattoos. And I could feel it .. my strength had grown more than ever before.
I was now heading north, inside a carriage bound for the coldest region of the empire… to serve my sentence in Alkatraz Prison.
And the one accompanying me on this journey… was Phoenix Sunlight.
He had been watching me for a while.
"Looks like you've finally come back to your senses."
"More or less."
At the very least, I wasn't the suicidal wreck I'd been before.
"Do you hate me, Frey? For what I did back at the tribunal?"
I shook my head.
"Not at all. I understand it had to be done."
After all, it was the only way to pull me out of the mess I'd dragged them into.
Phoenix nodded, satisfied, as he turned his gaze to the snowy landscape outside.
We were heading into one of the coldest regions in the empire…
The location of its worst prison ..Alkatraz.
"To be honest with you, Frey… right now, the Empire views you much like they did the former Temple Director, Bloodmader. They're trying to use you."
The previous director, Raphael Bloodmader, was also serving his time there, awaiting the next great war.
"They've already crafted a plan around you, Frey .. because of your… inexplicable talent. And me? I'm just the one assigned to keep watch over you. If I ever determine you're a threat .. they want me to kill you immediately."
Phoenix was honest with me. And I appreciated that.
"I understand."
He nodded, then smiled faintly.
"If you want to escape the future others have written for you, Frey… then you need to become like him. Like your father."
Like Abraham Starlight.
Strong enough to shatter every obstacle.
I let out a long sigh, thinking about everything happening around me.
You don't know, Phoenix…
There are greater things at work .. forces planning my future from above.
"I wonder… just how much power would I need to break those chains?"
To free myself from the fate that others had decided for me… I would need so much more.
I continued speaking with Phoenix throughout our journey toward the prison.
He never once felt like a warden assigned to monitor me.
No… he was completely friendly.
As we neared our destination, I received some information about my sentence.
"You'll be staying here for three months. But for you, it'll feel like three years."
Inside, powerful magic is applied to distort human perception .. making time feel much slower.
Aura suppressors would also be enforced, rendering me completely powerless to resist… especially during the torture.
"You'll suffer inside, Frey. But you'll have to endure it."
This was the lightest punishment I could get away with for now.
The duration was set to three months so I could return just in time for the start of the temple's second year.
I understood that clearly.
Alkatraz was considered hell for many…
But physical pain didn't mean much to me anymore.
In fact, it might be just what I needed ... because my mind was overwhelmed with too many things.
Three months that would feel like three years.
It would be more than enough time to clear my head… and reorganize every one of my plans for the future.
After a long, silent ride, that massive fortress finally came into view ..its tall, black walls towering in the distance.
It looked less like a prison, and more like a dark military city.
This was to be my new home.
I closed my eyes as the guards began dragging me through its gates.
"Let's start over…"
It was time to write a new chapter… in this wretched life.
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A.N : More chapters are coming today for the recent gifts ... thank you all for your support!
This chapter marks the conclusion of Volume One — Between Two Worlds — and serves as the final installment of the long-awaited Victoriad Arc.
With it, we turn the page on one of the arcs closest to my heart and step into a new journey of struggle in Volume Two, titled Convergence.
A restorative volume begins today ... and there will be no breaks. We press on!