"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Kyle said, checking on the woman beside him.
The woman shook her head excessively.
"No, no! I'm fine. Are you okay? It looked like you took a strong hit earlier, you were bleeding! You need to go to a healer."
Kyle shook his head. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. You should head back now, it's not safe here."
Kyle didn't ask the woman what she was doing in the forest or probe for details. He simply reassured her and urged her to get to safety, his natural heroic instincts on full display.
She nodded quickly. "Yes, thank you so much for saving me. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't arrived."
"Just be more careful next time," Kyle replied, his tone gentle but firm. "These woods are dangerous, especially for someone traveling alone."
I watched the exchange with growing concern. My position was decently far from them, but luckily my vampire senses allowed me to observe from a distance where even Kyle couldn't detect my presence. Still, I couldn't help but wonder about this scene.
Did I forget this insignificant encounter from the novel, or had I really changed the plotline so drastically?
The woman gathered herself and began walking back toward the city, occasionally glancing over her shoulder at Kyle with obvious gratitude. Kyle remained in place, watching to ensure she made it safely away from the immediate area before he would move.
This was classic protagonist behaviour.
Selfless, protective, always putting others' safety before his own concerns. But the timing and location didn't match anything I remembered from the original story.
In the novel, Kyle's early encounters had been carefully documented because they established his character and reputation. A scene where he saved a woman from an Elite-ranked bear should have been memorable, especially since it demonstrated his combat capabilities before entering the academy.
Yet I had no recollection of it whatsoever.
My actions were creating ripple effects throughout the timeline, changing minor encounters. The serpent I'd killed, the ecosystem disruption, Kyle's earlier arrival in the city, all of it was cascading into unexpected consequences.
This woman's presence in the forest, the bear's location, Kyle's decision to venture this deep into the woods, none of it aligned with my knowledge of the original timeline.
I needed to retreat before Kyle finished his heroic duties and potentially sensed my presence. Getting involved in this altered scene would only create more unpredictable changes.
As I began to carefully back away through the underbrush, I couldn't shake the unsettling realization that my careful plans to preserve the timeline were failing. Every action I took, no matter how small, seemed to generate new variables I couldn't account for.
The question was: how many more changes could the story absorb before it became completely unrecognizable?
...
Back in the mansion, Adrian found a familiar figure sitting in the living room with his parents.
Seraphina Rosewood and her family had come to visit.
Looking at the family seated together, it reminded me of their power dynamics from the novel. House Rosewood currently held equal status with the other ducal families, but Seraphina's awakening of a Legendary Valkyrie bloodline would fundamentally alter that balance.
Once her abilities became publicly known, their house would be elevated above the others in terms of pure potential. Each duke family possessed Rare-rank bloodlines that had remained stable for generations, but a Legendary bloodline was on an entirely different level.
This elevation would create massive political ripples. Later in the novel, House Stormwind would begin secretly targeting the Rosewoods, orchestrating daily assassination attempts against Seraphina to prevent her from reaching her full potential and disrupting the established power structure.
Of course, Kyle would eventually save her from these attempts, uncover Stormwind's involvement, and systematically destroy their house in retaliation. But that was still months away from happening.
But after witnessing what had happened in the forest, I began to doubt the way I was structuring things, or maybe I was too paranoid.
My father's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Adrian, sit down."
I nodded and greeted the Rosewood family politely but with reserve, unlike the bootlicker, old Adrian. My demeanour was neither overly warm nor cold, exactly what would be expected from someone who had recently ended an engagement with their daughter.
Duke Edmund Rosewood was an imposing man with dark brown hair and green eyes that seemed to assess everything around him. Duchess Lyanna Rosewood possessed an elegant beauty that Seraphina had clearly inherited, along with the same demeanour that marked true nobility.
And then there was Seraphina herself, sitting with perfect posture and that familiar mask of indifference she wore in formal settings.
The tension in the room was visible as both families navigated the delicate social situation created by our broken engagement.
The conversation began with the typical pleasantries expected in such formal meetings, but everyone present knew the real purpose of this visit.
Duke Edmund cleared his throat, his expression serious but not unkind. "Marcus, I believe we need to address the matter that brought us here today."
My father nodded. "Indeed. The engagement between our children."
"Both Seraphina and Adrian have expressed their desire to dissolve the arrangement," Duke Edmund continued, glancing between his daughter and me. "While this wasn't the outcome we had hoped for, we must respect their wishes."
Duchess Lyanna spoke up, her voice gentle. "We believe that forcing an unwanted marriage would only breed resentment and unhappiness for both families."
My mother, Elena, nodded in agreement. "A marriage is built on mutual respect and affection."
Seraphina maintained her composed expression throughout the discussion, though I caught her shooting me a brief, curious glance. She was probably still puzzled by my complete change in attitude from our last conversation.
"Very well," my father said with a heavy sigh. "Let it be officially recorded that the engagement between Adrian Blackwood and Seraphina Rosewood is hereby dissolved by mutual consent of both parties and their families."
Duke Edmund echoed the sentiment with his own weary sigh. "Though I must say, Marcus, I had hoped this alliance would bring our houses closer together through the rope of kinship. The promise we made to each other all those years ago..."
"When we thought we might not survive the war," my father finished, understanding in his voice. "We swore that if we both lived, our children would unite our families."
Both men looked older in that moment, remembering their shared history and the dreams they'd held for their children's future.
"Perhaps it's for the best," Duke Edmund said finally. "Arranged marriages based on old promises don't always lead to happiness, no matter how well-intentioned. Either way, we are still a family, and I will always have your back, just like the old times."
Marcus nodded. "Like wise, Edmund....Likewise."