The sky was painted with drifting rose-tinted petals beneath the morning sun, while diamond-like light danced across the surface of a calm, glassy lake. Sparrows sang from the branches overhead, their cheerful chirping blending with the rustle of leaves as a crisp morning breeze carried the sweet fragrance of clematis flowers climbing the walls of a humble cabin.
"Such a beautiful morning."
I greeted the day with a sip of hot black tea, savoring the rare moment of peace. Colorful tulips bloomed across the garden, while orchids clung to neatly trimmed fruit trees. Rows of vegetables and herbs flourished nearby, their leaves swaying gently in the wind. Small white bunnies hopped through the grass, butterflies drifted from flower to flower collecting nectar, and everything beneath the morning sunlight seemed to sparkle. It almost felt like stepping into an enchanted sanctuary.
"It really is the perfect place for a humble vacation—achoo!"
I rubbed my nose and glanced around the empty garden. Was someone talking behind my back? Someone was definitely cursing my name right now.
"Ahem. Anyway, this whole place…" My gaze wandered across the garden once more. "I can feel how much effort and care was poured into it. Everything is maintained so well that even the air feels warm."
Leaning back in my chair, I quietly observed the place where Eane and I had been teleported. It had already been nearly a week since our arrival, and most of that time had been spent taking care of Eane and cleaning the house. Only now did I finally have a chance to sit down and appreciate our surroundings.
To my surprise, the inside and outside of the cabin could not have been more different. While the garden looked as though someone still tended it every day, the interior had evidently been untouched for years before we arrived. It had taken days to clear away the thick layers of dust covering the furniture and evict the cobwebs occupying the corners like rightful owners, though a faint, musty scent still lingered throughout the rooms. The cabin appeared small from the outside, blending naturally into the forest as if it wanted to remain hidden, yet once inside, it revealed a surprisingly spacious interior.
There were two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom connected to a small hot spring, an underground laboratory for potion-making, a modest library, a living room, and even a balcony overlooking the surrounding forest. The walls were decorated with portraits, but one painting in particular caught my attention.
A handsome man with pointed ears sat beside a beautiful woman. His long blond hair reached his waist, and his emerald eyes resembled polished gemstones. Though his expression remained stoic and noble, the happiness hidden within those eyes was impossible to miss. Beside him sat a gorgeous woman with chestnut hair and warm amber eyes. She looked gentle and kind, the sort of person who could make others feel at ease simply by being present. Between them stood a young teenager with blond hair, deep brown eyes, and slightly pointed ears.
'This must be the old woman's family.'
My gaze lingered on the portrait longer than necessary.
For some reason, I felt as though she wanted this place to remain exactly as it was. Every object seemed frozen in time, preserving a moment when her family was still together, a memory she never wanted to lose. I could almost picture them sitting around the dining table. Three empty teacups still rested there, alongside a plate of long-dried pastries that remained untouched beside them. Books had been left open on a study desk, while bundles of dried herbs continued hanging from the ceiling of the small laboratory.
The house felt less like an abandoned home and more like someone had simply stepped outside and never returned.
I lowered my gaze to the teacup resting across from me. Earlier, without realizing it, I had prepared tea for the owner of this house, a host I would probably never meet again.
"Thank you for letting us stay here."
The breeze brushed gently against my skin as I whispered my gratitude. "May your soul be carried by gentle light and guide you toward eternal peace."
For a long moment, only silence answered me. My fingers tightened slightly around the warm cup.
"I wasn't tasked with saving everyone," I murmured, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. "Only those whose names weren't meant to appear so early in the Book of Death."
After setting the cup aside, I carried a bowl of freshly made arroz caldo toward Eane's room. The soup was supposed to be a creamy white, but instead, it had somehow become black. Maybe the cauldron was just old. Probably. Hopefully.
I placed the bowl beside the bed and carefully helped Eane sit upright. Several days had already passed, yet his fever remained stubbornly high, worrying me more than I wanted to admit. His wounds had completely healed, his HP had returned to full, and nothing unusual appeared in his status window. By all accounts, Eane should have recovered already, yet every time I looked at him, his pale complexion and weakened state told a completely different story.
Even worse, the quest timer continued counting down.
[ 12:03:23 Time Remaining ]
"Something is definitely wrong." I frowned while studying his face. "Is this more psychological than physical?"
From time to time, Eane groaned softly as though trapped in a nightmare. Sweat soaked his clothes, and whenever I tried waking him, he remained lost in that strange half-conscious state. Even when his eyes occasionally opened, there was rarely any awareness behind them. It was as though his body had recovered while his mind remained trapped somewhere far away. All I could do was continue caring for him and hope he regained consciousness before the countdown reached zero.
I tested the soup with a spoon. The temperature was perfect, but as for the taste... was it bland or too salty? I honestly could not tell. As long as it was cooked, it was cooked.
"Eane."
At the sound of his name, his eyelids fluttered weakly before slowly opening. Just like the previous days, his gaze remained unfocused, drifting past me as though he were looking at something far beyond the room.
Feeding him was not difficult. In this dazed state, he obediently swallowed every spoonful I offered, but each time he did, a familiar system window appeared before me.
[ Poison +1 ]
[ Passive Skill Activated: Poison Nullified. ]
His health points would decrease for a split second before immediately returning to full. The first time I saw it, I felt mildly offended, but now I was used to it. At least he always finished everything I gave him.
"What a sweet kid."
As long as his stomach was full, I could easily overlook the repeated insults to my cooking skills.
After eating, he quickly drifted back to sleep. I cleaned the dishes, fetched fresh water from the well, and replaced the damp cloth on his forehead before settling into the chair beside his bed.
"Please get better already, kid."
The room fell silent. As I watched him sleep, my thoughts drifted toward the plot of Syntellizyor's Way to Become Monarch: Kaiser's Era.
If I remembered correctly, after leaving Annonno-o's Forest, Kaiser was supposed to bury both Eane and Grandma Martha near their old home—a house built atop a massive acacia tree beside the riverbank. He would place their graves beneath the giant roots and swear he would never return until he became the Emperor. If he died before then, he wished to be buried beside them. Yet eventually, he forgot. He forgot the promise, forgot the graves, and forgot Eane entirely.
The day after Eane's death, Kaiser slaughtered every bandit responsible. The village where Eane lived had suffered constant raids for years, yet they had always managed to defend themselves and drive the bandits away. But this time was different.
The attackers were stronger, far more organized, and far more ruthless. They broke through the village defenses and managed to steal the food stock for all seasons, loot valuables, kidnap children, and prey on anyone too weak to resist. When the village finally reached the point of collapse, Eane unconsciously unleashed his innate power to protect everyone. The villagers survived, but the village did not.
"Huh?" I blinked. A strange feeling suddenly crept into my chest. "Wait a minute…"
What was Eane's power again?
I frowned and searched deep through my memories, but there was absolutely nothing. No matter how hard I tried, I could not remember.
That should not have been possible. I had edited and reviewed Syntellizyor's Way to Become Monarch: Kaiser's Era countless times. While Eane was not a major character, his role was not insignificant either. His death had been one of the primary reasons Kaiser began walking the path that eventually turned him into a monster feared across the continent. Yet, the moment I tried recalling Eane's ability, my memory became strangely blurry, as if something were deliberately covering that piece of information.
"…That's weird." I rubbed my temple.
After the village was destroyed, the resentment that had always existed toward Eane only grew stronger. People feared what they could not understand, and Eane was different.
Even his own brother betrayed him.
Claiming he was sending Eane to seek help from a neighboring town, he had secretly handed Eane over to the bandits in exchange for a promise that their village would never be attacked again. The bandits later sold Eane to slave merchants for an even greater profit.
A bitter smile formed on my lips. What a wonderful family.
Kaiser originally intended to kill every single villager. After all, they had stood by and watched; some had mocked Eane, some had ignored his suffering, and some had directly contributed to it. Yet, Kaiser stopped himself at the last moment. It was not because they deserved mercy, but because Eane had saved them. Even after being treated worse than dirt, Eane had still chosen to protect them, and Kaiser ultimately decided he would not waste Eane's final sacrifice.
After wiping out the bandits, Kaiser traveled to the Nexus Arcane Academy. His goal was to deliver the news of Eane's death to his younger sister and fulfill Grandma Martha's final request by informing Professor Lewen, one of her oldest friends. It was also where he was destined to meet his first subordinate: Sean Li.
The academy's top-ranked magic student was a genius with an ego almost as impressive as his talent. If I remembered correctly, Sean and Kaiser had nearly killed each other during their first meeting. Friendship truly worked in mysterious ways.
"Kaiser should arrive there about a month from now." I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "And I think that'll be my next destination."
The academy contained several important story events, but more importantly, it was one of the few places where I might find information capable of helping me survive future disasters. But before that, I glanced at Eane sleeping peacefully on the bed. I needed to save him first. Nothing else mattered.
A sudden beep interrupted my thoughts.
[ Hidden Quest Achieved: Cooking Poison Is My Forte ]
I stared at the notification. "…Excuse me?"
The system completely ignored my complaint and continued.
[ You have assisted the Target in developing Poison Resistance. ]
[ Reward: Pages from the Target's forgotten past. ]
[ Viewing the past may help solve the current quest. ]
[ Reminder: Time may flow differently within the memory space. Real-world time will continue to be displayed. ]
[ You may leave at any time, however, once you exit, this memory cannot be viewed again. ]
I slowly looked toward the blackened bowl sitting on the nearby table, then back at the notification. After glancing at the bowl once more, I could not help but sigh.
"…So my cooking really was poisonous."
A moment of silence passed. "…That's fair."
Honestly, I had suspected it.
The system chimed again.
[ Would you like to view the memory? ]
[ YES ] / [ NO ]
My gaze returned to Eane. His health points were stable and his physical injuries had fully healed, yet his pale complexion continued to worsen.
The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became that I knew almost nothing about him. He was an extra, a side character who existed only long enough to die and motivate the protagonist. Now that I was here, however, things felt different. This was not a story anymore. Eane was not just a name written on a page. He was a boy who had endured betrayal from his own family, a boy who had saved people who hated him, and a boy who was now lying unconscious while I desperately searched for a way to save him.
If understanding his past could reveal even the smallest clue, then there was no reason to hesitate. I reached toward the floating window.
"Let's see what you've been hiding."
Without hesitation, I pressed [ YES ].
The moment my finger touched the screen, the world around me trembled. The room distorted, and the walls cracked apart like shattered glass as countless fragments of light spread through the air. Reality itself seemed to collapse. The bed, the furniture, and the windows broke into countless pieces before my eyes.
A powerful force pulled at my body, dragging me into a whirlpool of light before I could react. The familiar room disappeared, along with the scent of herbs and medicine, and even the warmth of the morning sun faded away. For a brief moment, only darkness remained.
Then, a child's crying echoed somewhere in the distance. My eyes widened as the darkness cracked apart, and everything changed.