I held her.
Her skin was ice-cold. Her heartbeat—weak, scattered, like it didn't belong to this world.
Just like me.
Aika wasn't just seeing my realm.
She was connected to it.
And if what she said before fainting was true…
"Why does it feel like I've died before?"
…then maybe she had.
I laid her gently on the bed. Covered her with a blanket. The shadow's blood message still dripped behind me:
"The realm remembers."
I burned it. Not with fire, but with a whisper of the ancient tongue—the royal magic in my blood.
The wall hissed as the letters vanished in smoke.
But the message stayed with me.
When Aika finally opened her eyes, it was already morning.
Her voice came out soft, shaken.
"Was that… real?"
I nodded.
"I wasn't dreaming again?"
"No. And that thing... it came for you."
She sat up slowly. "Then… who am I, Kelvin?"
Silence.
She deserved answers.
But even I didn't know what to tell her.
"I think," I finally said, "you're more than you've been told. More than even you know."
Aika looked at me, and for the first time…
not with fear.
But with curiosity.
Maybe even trust.
That was dangerous.
The next day, I skipped school.
Instead, I walked to the abandoned church outside the city. It was old. Cracked. Forgotten by time. But it held memories.
It was where I first woke up in this world.
Where I first screamed as
my power was sealed away.
Now, I returned to remember.
I sat in the center of the altar and closed my eyes.
And I called out.
"Mother… Father… anyone still loyal to the Crown—can you hear me?"
There was no answer at first.
But then… a voice.
Ragged. Distant. But real.
"Kelvin… my prince…"
A cold breeze rushed through the church.
The candles around me flickered to life—though I never lit them.
"The Gate is bleeding. The world is cracking. And the girl… she bears the soul of the past queen."
I froze.
Aika…?
No.
That's impossible.
Right?
The voice was gone. But the truth hung heavy in the air.
Aika wasn't just someone caught in my fate.
She might have once been part of it.
Maybe in another life… she ruled beside me.
And if that's true…
Then her life is in far greater danger than I thought.
Because if she remembers who she was—
So will the monsters.
And they'll want her dead.