After the disaster, the Duchy was plunged into a deep silence.
The absence of the duchess weighed upon every street.
The citizens spoke in hushed voices.
And among the whispers, one word began to be repeated more and more:
Vengeance.
The demonic cult would pay.
And so would the Heralds.
Lusian stood before the coffin.
He didn't take his eyes off it.
He remembered the first day he had seen Sofia.
The fear he had felt at the possibility of her discovering the truth.
He wasn't really her son.
He was a soul inhabiting that body.
But over time...
That had stopped mattering.
Her company.
Her affection.
The way she had always been by his side.
Without realizing it, he had grown accustomed to her.
He had made her his mother.
And now she was dead.
Lusian lowered his gaze.
—How weak I am...
Beside him, Thunder stood motionless.
Small electrical discharges ran across his body, like tears he could never shed.
Umber lay on the ground, unable even to howl.
Emily held Lusian's arm.
Her eyes were red.
—Lusian...
Her voice broke.
—I'm sorry... I tried.
He didn't answer.
He couldn't hear her.
There was only one question in his mind.
Was this destined to happen?
Lusian knew this world.
He knew its story.
But not this one.
He closed his eyes.
He tried to remember.
Missions.
Dialogues.
Scenes.
Names.
Nothing.
His memory was filled with monsters.
Abilities.
Weaknesses.
Attack combinations.
Items.
Bosses.
But whenever he tried to remember Sofia's death...
Nothing.
Maybe the game had explained how she would die.
Maybe there had even been a quest to save her.
Maybe there had been a way to prevent it.
He never knew.
Because he had never bothered to find out.
As a player, why should he have cared?
Sofia wasn't the protagonist.
She wasn't a heroine.
She wasn't a boss.
She wasn't someone who could help him progress.
She was simply...
Sofia.
Just another character.
Lusian clenched his teeth.
Now he understood how foolish he had been.
He had tried to discover how to avoid his own fate.
And he had never stopped to look at the fate of the people around him.
—Forgive me, Mom...
A tear rolled down his face.
He quickly wiped it away.
He couldn't change the past.
But he could still change the future.
Lusian slowly raised his head.
His expression hardened.
—The demonic cult.
A pause.
—The demons.
His fingers curled into a fist.
—And the Heralds.
Emily watched him in silence.
—I will destroy them.
It wasn't a threat.
It was a promise.
A servant approached shortly afterward.
—My lord...
He lowered his head.
—Larriet's body has been prepared. Where would you like us to take him?
Lusian remained silent for several seconds.
Then he looked at the coffin.
—He served my mother his entire life.
His voice was firm.
—Let him rest beside her.
The servant bowed his head.
—Yes, my lord.
Lusian looked at Sofia again.
He couldn't afford to remain there forever.
The Duchy still needed a ruler.
The cities had to be rebuilt.
The dead had to be buried.
The survivors needed answers.
And he needed to prepare.
Because the Heralds weren't enemies he could attack head-on.
They were ancient heroes.
They had protection.
They had influence.
And killing them would mean starting an open war against the Kingdom.
Not yet.
First, he needed to become stronger.
And above all...
He needed information.
Everything he had ignored.
The events.
The characters.
The tragedies.
The small details he had once considered irrelevant.
He would never make the same mistake again.
Adela entered the room.
Her eyes were swollen.
She had lost her master.
And she hadn't been able to do anything.
Lusian watched her for several seconds.
He had never been good at comforting others.
So he did the only thing he knew how to do.
Give her a reason to keep moving forward.
—Prepare yourself.
Adela raised her gaze.
—From now on, you'll lead the magical beast riders.
She remained motionless.
Lusian added:
—I need you.
Adela's lips trembled.
A moment later, she stepped forward and hugged him.
She cried against his chest.
Lusian said nothing.
He simply held her.
Because he wanted to cry too.
That night, Lusian remained beside Sofia's coffin.
He didn't want to leave.
He didn't want to accept that this would be the last night he would spend with her.
But dawn came.
And life continued.
Without Sofia.
Lusian remained seated before the coffin as the first light of day entered through the window.
Then he remembered something.
Not Sofia.
Someone else.
Elizabeth.
The Demon Queen.
His favorite character.
Lusian slowly opened his eyes.
And suddenly, everything was there.
The kidnapping.
The place where she was taken.
The cult members.
The ritual.
The magical formation.
The words of the invocation.
The exact moment when the Demon Queen's soul was introduced into Elizabeth's body.
He remembered every detail.
Every scene.
Every event.
Because unlike Sofia...
He had paid attention to Elizabeth.
He had replayed that part of the story so many times that he could remember it even with his eyes closed.
Lusian remained motionless.
Then he understood.
He could still do something.
Elizabeth wasn't like Sofia.
Her fate hadn't happened yet.
And he knew every step that would lead her to that ritual.
The princess.
The future Demon Queen.
The girl whose story he had followed so many times through a screen.
But now she wasn't a character.
She was a person.
And he could protect her.
Lusian slowly clenched his fists.
—No.
His voice was barely a whisper.
—Not her.
He knew where it would happen.
He knew how.
He knew who would participate.
He knew what they needed.
He knew what had to be destroyed.
And he knew exactly who he had to protect.
Elizabeth would not be kidnapped.
The ritual would never begin.
The Demon Queen would never be summoned.
The demonic cult would discover that this time...
someone was waiting for them.
Lusian stood.
Before leaving, he looked at Sofia's coffin one last time.
—I couldn't save you, Mom.
His voice trembled.
—But I'll save the others.
He turned away.
There were no tears in his eyes anymore.
Only determination.
He had lost someone because he had never bothered to learn her story.
He would never let it happen again.
Sofia had died because he didn't know her story.
Elizabeth would live because he did know hers.
And if fate intended to repeat history...
It would have to get through him first.
This time, the story would be different.