Kayle and I walk through the big dark forest.
The passage of the red moon has finally ended, and I carry Eden on my back while Kayle watches our backs with his sword still raised and ready to defend.
Kayle and I finally emerge from the forest after 45 minutes and head towards the horse-drawn carriage we used to get to the castle and we get into the carriage to go to my manor. I laid Eden next to me, he was still unconscious.
'How could this have happened?'
*****
[A few minutes ago]
"Why did you two save me when we don't even know each other? Besides, you're the nobles I met at the castle..."
Eden said suspiciously, and before I could open my mouth to speak, an attack of ice magic erupted out of nowhere and almost touched Eden.
At least I threw myself at him and we avoided the attack.
And then, Kayle killed the monster with his sword. Eden and I got up, but Eden was still a little paralyzed and slightly injured from the dragon's attack, which had grazed him. Eden then fainted from exhaustion.
Kayle and I watched Eden faint, and then Kayle asked to me.
"Should we take this person with us, Mr. Verlt?"
"Yes, we must take him."
"But why, sir? I'm a little suspicious of this person, and what if—"
I interrupt him. "Don't worry, Kayle. I need him for something."
"..."
Kayle did not answer but nodded his head while awaiting my order.
Luckily, Kayle was used to Dern's twisted plan before, even if this is a bit like a kidnapping...
Anyway, we'll take care of him, that's all. But it seems like he was surprised that I ordered him like that.
I picked up Eden who was on the ground and carried him on my back and Kayle asked if it wasn't too heavy for me but I replied that it was fine and that he had to protect our backs.
That's how we ended up taking Eden with us.
*****
[In the present]
We finally arrive at the manor, we get out of the carriage and this time, it is Kayle who carries Eden because according to him, I am tired from the journey.
"You need to rest, Mr. Verlt. Today has been a... strange day and you were in danger." He mentioned, taking Eden from me as if it were a cursed artifact.
We went back inside the mansion. Kayle placed Eden on the large sofa in the living room. And Kayle went straight to the bathroom and then he brought back a first aid kit with him.
It's a little too late to call a doctor, so Kayle will take care of Eden.
I then removed Eden's shirt, there were some injuries on his torso and on some other parts of his body as well. He was sweating a little because of the paralysis that was still affecting him.
I look at him with concern.
Then suddenly, I hear a voice behind me.
"Mr. Verlt, could you please step back for a moment? I need to treat him."
My spine shivered. I had almost forgotten Kayle was there when I was looking at Eden.
I get up abruptly. "Oh, sorry. Go ahead, take care of him."
Kayle frowned slightly. "You are strangely different today, Mr. Verlt."
He mumbled this as he sat down to tend to Eden.
'Ah... He already has suspicions. At this rate, I'll get noticed before I've even been here for two days...' I thought, sighing inwardly, and I didn't respond to what Kayle said.
Kayle begins to treat Eden with the supplies that are in the first aid kit. And after 45 minutes of healing Eden's body, Kayle then uses his healing magic to cure Eden of the paralysis.
Since Kayle doesn't really master healing magic, he didn't use it earlier, but the situation is different because Eden's paralysis is caused by a spell.
So Kayle must use his magic to counter it.
I watch Kayle healing Eden with his magic. There's green light coming out of his hands, and he still has plenty of mana so it might not be as difficult as I thought.
*****
[7 minutes later]
A heavy silence fell over the living room.
It's a bit awkward to watch someone treating a person without speaking and with such a heavy silence...
I'm sitting on a chair with a bedside table and I'm doing practically nothing, I'm just watching Kayle take care of Eden. Maybe I should talk to Kayle...
'No, nevermind.'
I should be thinking about my current situation, but since Kayle is right in front of me, I can't concentrate.
"F#ck." I mumbled.
Then, Kayle suddenly spoke to me.
"You don't have to stay here, Mr. Verlt. You need to rest." Kayle declared to me.
"I'll take care of that jerk and this spell lasts half an hour. You must go to bed, it is already midnight, and all the servants must be asleep." Kayle continued.
I'm a little surprised that Kayle told me that, he's not really the type to worry about Dern. Even though I've read the novel, Kayle is still a very complex character.
Perhaps he already knows that I'm not Dern...
Well, I must remain cautious nonetheless. But it's true that I should leave the living room, I need to think about this absurd situation and how I'm going to avoid being spotted.
I get up from my seat and leave the living room, but before I leave, I hear Kayle say something like "lie".
Is he this suspicious with me already?
I shake my head, telling myself it's nothing.
I get to my room and immediately collapse onto the bed.
"Those simple hours in this world were truly intense." I murmur to myself. I close my eyes and think.
So maybe I just changed half of this story and I'm really here now.
"..."
"Perhaps this is an opportunity."
Yes, it's one of those because even though I finished this novel, the ending disappointed me greatly, and we still don't know who this "antagonist" really was.
Although Dern is one of Eden's greatest enemies, he is only one of the secondary antagonists in the novel.
I should help Eden with this story. After all, I brought him here and I slightly changed the course of the story.
Especially since Eden died at the end of the novel, and all her companions too. And because of that...
[ "This world will soon be destroyed by their own story." ]
That was the last sentence at the end of the novel, and I still don't really know what could have happened, but one thing is for sure, I must at least survive or save the people in this story that I know.... Even though, in reality, I'm really incapable of doing that.
'...Why did I even end up here?' I asked myself, sighing wearily. But this question is really stupid, I've already read enough novels to see transmigrations and reincarnations happen out of nowhere.
I straighten up and go towards the desk area of the room. The office is very clean and tidy, especially considering it's in a nobleman's bedroom, compared to the old, crappy one I used to read, this is a masterpiece.
I take a seat on the chair and take a pencil and a pen and two notebooks that were in one of the desks.
I need to write down everything I remember about THFABW because if I forget a detail of the story, I could very well die.
I am starting to write everything the THFABW plot has. Like the arc where Rhun discovers that the emperor and Dern are behind the kidnapping of humans that began in the kingdom of Terenos.
It was especially the arc with the most character and plot development, and personally, it was the most emotionally satisfying arc in my opinion.
I wrote down the most important things from this arc in the notebook. Even though I remember the exact dialogue and narration, it's better to write down what's vital in this story.
"Oh... There is also the moment when Dern finally dies." I muttered to myself, thinking.
I wrote the scene of Dern's death in detail in the notebook. And also, I still remember the whole novel, but that's just as a precaution, of course, in case I lose my memory.
After a few minutes of writing in this notebook like a shrimp in my chair, I randomly remembered something.
It is the night.
It is midnight.
I write in a notebook instead of sleeping.
...
I put on a slightly relaxed (which is fake) look by shrugging my shoulders.
It's not like I didn't have insomnia before, and besides, I already slept before landing here. And now that I remember, when I woke up in Dern's bed, he was lying on his bed, all posed like a prince when I transmigrated. So... does that mean Dern was asleep?
But what was this Dern doing sleeping when he was getting ready to go to that New Year's party?!
A moment of reflection.
'Or maybe it's my fault too...' I thought.
I transmigrated into his body, so he may have fainted, and his soul should be somewhere else now.
Okay, now back to this notebook!
'I think my brain should be focusing on something far more important than the embarrassing guilt of having transmigrated into Dern's body.' I thought of myself and sighed.
I continue to write in the notebook, also including some information about Xin Rhun.
As in THFABW, he is a transmigrator too but He no longer remembers his life before being transmigrated into this world. Which is a bit strange, but well, never mind.
[2 hours later.]
I have finally finished writing down everything I know about THFABW in the notebook. I think at least half of this notebook has been filled.
"My fingers hurt now... sniff..." I muttered dramatically, holding my hand with my other hand as if it's going to burn.
And then, after a few moments, I close the notebook and put it away in a drawer. In the second notebook, in which I haven't yet written anything, I write a title on the first page, "Personal observation of Xin Rhun."
'And I swear, this isn't what anyone would think this notebook is about... It's just... personal... Yeah...' I denied myself, coughing slightly out of shame.
After a few minutes, I tidied everything that was on the desk and I went towards the bed. I look at the clock, it's already 2 a.m.
I turn off the light and lie down on the bed and finally begin to sleep.
*****
The sun's rays shone brightly in the morning. I'm still asleep on Dern's big bed as if I didn't have any problems.
And as if deliberately trying to stop my lie-in, someone knocks on the door. I slowly wake up from my sleep and remember that I am in THFABW.
'I had almost forgotten where I was...'
I instinctively look at the clock and it's 7 a.m. "Damn, I only slept for 5 hours..." I mumbled, yawning.
Someone knocks on the door again, more times but more heavily, and I wake up from my half-sleep. I get out of bed and rush to open the door like a lamb.
When I opened the door, the person who knocked was obviously Kayle.
"May I come in, Mr. Verlt?" Kayle asked me in a neutral tone.
I looked at him with a slightly surprised expression for a moment, but I quickly regained my composure and pretended to react like Dern. I then replied in a cold tone and with a neutral expression :
"Yes, of course. You can come in."
I let Kayle come into the room and I gently closed the door.
After entering, Kayle sat on the large bed and I sat awkwardly next to him.
"Dern, I saw that you were still awake at 1:30 in the morning when I went to the bathroom." Kayle admitted it to me in a serious voice.
"Why were you still awake, Dern?" Kayle asked me.
"You've been acting strangely since yesterday." Kayle added.
At that moment, my brain short-circuited. Kayle came to wake me up just to ask me that? Is Kayle the kind of person who wakes people up to ask them stupid questions or what?
I could almost get angry at that point. This situation is a bit ridiculous.
But what shocks me is that Kayle is addressing Dern informally. Is he testing me? Or perhaps, in reality, Kayle and Dern have a platonic relationship?
'... Maybe they are. I read a lot of books after all, a nobleman and a servant can be friends or even more...' I thought.
But for sure, I'm cooked.
I remained silent for a moment, not responding to Kayle. And before I could speak to answer Kayle, he suddenly stood up.
I'm slightly surprised, but before I can react, Kayle draws his sword from his uniform scabbard and points it at my neck. I spoke instinctively.
"Kayle... uhh.. what are you doing? You know I don't like when you act like that—!"
Kayle's cold stare made me freeze instantly. And in an icy, suspicious voice, Kayle said:
"You're not Dern, aren't you?"
And then, I realized like a background character that he knows the truth now. Sh#t!
'...Oh no, I'm really cooked.'