He had felt it when gripping it earlier, but the golden pocket watch was now cracked and crumpled, as if it had been crushed by a great force.
The glass had turned into a web of cracks, the hands of the clock were askew and poking out, and due to the distortion, a secret cavity behind the watch face had cracked open.
Inside it was a teardrop-shaped black gem.
It was like a droplet of the darkest ink or shadows condensed, resting in the now open cavity.
And inscribed on it was 6 words that brought a chill to Caellum's heart.
Colui che ha vinto la morte
He who has conquered death.
"What the…?"
This wasn't the language that was written in this world; it was the language from his old world, but it had appeared once again.
And the phrase itself was jarring.
The only time he had seen or heard it spoken was when he had to attend catholic services to keep up appearances as a mafia boss.
How?
And why?
What was this pocket watch?
And what was this gem?
The moment Caellum touched the black gem that seemed to suck in the light, it disappeared, and a sharp pain jolted through his finger, as it began bleeding from a newly created hole.
And then-
Sticky web-like strands that were darker than the darkest shadow shot up from the cracked pocket watch and began to whip around and wrap around his body.
Thwack!
One.
Thwack!
By one.
"Get off me!"
By one.
Thwack!
The more Caellum struggled to pull the strange strands away, the more they stretched and grew, wrapping around every single inch of his body like a mummy until even his vision went black.
Caellum couldn't move.
He couldn't breathe.
He felt as if something was weighing him down and squeezing him to death.
Then suddenly, the feeling disappeared, and he was free.
He found himself standing in a murky pool of water that gently lapped at his ankles.
The space around him was dim, and there was nothing as far as his eyes could see.
After waiting for several seconds, Caellum began to walk forward.
Step by step, he waded through the water and darkness in a random direction until he finally spotted a bit of light.
"Is that the exit? Or is this some type of test? Or have I finally died and entered the underworld?"
There was no response.
Of course.
So he kept marching forward until he finally saw a lone building sitting in the murky water.
It looked suspiciously like the palace he had just entered.
After a moment's hesitation, Caellum decided to move forward cautiously.
Still wading through the water, he entered through the open door and froze.
Instead of the entrance he expected, he was standing in what looked suspiciously like Caellum's bedroom.
The only difference was that there was a shoddy wooden crib instead of the bed.
And in the center of the dimly lit room was a woman.
The woman, dressed from head to toe in black, wore a long, flowy black dress with the bottom sunk into the water and a black lacey veil that covered her eyes, leaving only her red lips visible.
Her visible skin was paper white, and in her arms, she rocked a bundle of black cloth while singing words in a discordant tune that Caellum couldn't understand.
The moment he laid eyes on her, his heart began to pound, his palms began to sweat, his mind wavered, and that suffocating feeling began to fill his lungs once more.
Fear.
Caellum was afraid.
He felt like something strange was wrapping around him, constricting him, and trying to snuff the life out of him.
He didn't understand why, since she looked non-threatening, but with each step he tried to take, he felt like screaming.
His body creaked, and all his instincts were telling him run.
Turn away.
That death lay at the end of this path.
The feeling was worse than the aura the king tried to push on him.
He truly felt that if he took another step forward, he would die.
The foot he had lifted refused to come down.
Despite his aching muscles, it stayed in the air as Caellum hyperventilated.
Pant.
Pant.
Pant.
He needed to run!
He needed to go back!
He was-
SLAP!
With no hesitation, Caellum slapped himself with all of his strength.
SLAP!
As his head whipped to the side, he used his other hand to slap himself again, this time tasting blood in his mouth.
The shock of pain snapped his brain out of panic mode.
Him?
Afraid?
Never.
Not in his last life and certainly not in this one.
He refused to be afraid of others, but they should certainly be afraid of him.
And even if he was afraid, he could never let it show, and could never stop him from doing what had to be done.
Gritting his teeth and taking a deep breath, Caellum focused on the bundle in her hands and, with all of his strength, slammed his raised foot into the murky water.
SPLASH!
First one step.
SPLASH!
Then the next.
A journey began with a single step.
SPLASH!
His heart could pound.
SPLASH!
His breath could catch.
SPLASH!
But he would get his answers.
SPLASH!
One way or another.
And as he marched forward, the dark water rose from his ankles to his knees, and the waves began forming, trying to pull him back.
SPLASH!
As he slipped and almost fell, Caellum made sure to plant his foot carefully as he continued forward.
The pressure in his chest was immense.
He was gasping for air, but he felt as if he had to do this.
He NEEDED to do this.
As he got closer to the woman, Caellum called out to her.
"Excuse me. Who are you?"
As if she had heard his voice, her head snapped upward, and suddenly, two streams of red began falling down her pale face and dripping down her sharp chin.
She was crying, her humming stopping as she sobbed, her tears falling directly into the water and causing the level to rise significantly.
SPLASH!
"Who. Are. You?"
As if to answer him, her red lips parted, and Caellum heard an inexplicable voice echoing in his head.
SPLASH!
"Where is this?"
SPLASH!
The red stream of tears grew larger as the woman hunched over the bundle, then stood up straight, her tears still falling.
SPLASH!
"Did you bring me here? Why? Answer Me!" Caellum demanded.
The water kept getting higher and higher, rising past his knees to his thighs, as Caellum struggled to keep his balance, much less move forward.
Yet he persisted, shuffling forward when he could no longer lift his legs above the water.
"Signora, who are you? Where did you bring me? Where is this?"
The woman was silent, her tears falling more and more as the water rose to Caellum's chest.
The bundle in her hands began to float, and yet still she wept.
Due to the water level, Caellum had to begin swimming, fighting against the waves that shoved him back.
With a final surge of strength, Caellum dove under the water, kicking with all of his strength until he bumped into something.
Surfacing once more, he snagged the woman's arms, interrupting her sobbing words.
As she looked at him in shock, Caellum glanced down at the bundle floating in the woman's arms.
What he saw was...his original face and head.
His adult face stared blankly into the air.
Meeting his own brown eyes, he couldn't help but flinch.
Why-? How-? What-?
And as he reached out to touch it-
A slender hand, covered in black, latched onto his head and shoved him backward into the water.
glub glub glub
As he accidentally breathed in water and began struggling to free himself, the hand that had more strength than expected continued holding him down until his lungs began burning.
No matter how much he kicked and struggled, it was effortless.
Just as the final bit of hair in his lungs escaped and he began losing consciousness, Caellum felt something soft touch his lips.
And then a cold mist entered his body, cooling the pain and numbing him entirely.
His consciousness went dark, and when he woke up, he saw the darkness that had wrapped around his body begin to sink beneath his skin.
Like worms digging through the earth, the energy wormed through his body before settling in his chest.
The suffocating feeling disappeared; instead, he felt a strange sensation in his head.
As if something strange had settled in there.
Most likely by that woman.
It was a different sensation, and the only thing Caellum knew was that it was a type of ability.
He didn't know how he had that knowledge; he simply knew what it was and how to use it.
If he had to put a name to it, maybe an aura that emanated from within his body?
Like a breath?
That was what it felt like.
Like an adjustable, intangible aura that he could embed with his will, similar to what the king had used against him, or what it felt like to walk towards the woman.
But instead of that bone-chilling fear of death that the woman gave off, this one was quite different.
To him, it felt like a mischievous puppy; warm, charismatic, and gentle that could turn into a violent and stubborn wolf at the flip of a switch.
The aura wasn't as abrasive and tangible as what the king had used to suppress his body, but Caellum instinctively knew that this was what was resisting the king's aura.
Each time he crushed the pocketwatch, a little bit of the aura had leaked out and surrounded him.
Although he had questions as to how and why he gained it, as an ability, he quite liked it because it fit how he liked to operate.
"This would be useful for speaking with annoying people like the king, who like to posture. Gentleness is always better, but let's see, if I want to seem dangerous and prove a point, I use it like this?"
As if he were messing with a slider, Caellum coaxed the ability to the farthest end, where it felt more dangerous and expanded the aura as much as he could.
The distance extended…maybe from here to the bedroom?
It felt a bit difficult to push it past that.
His body began pulsing, and it felt like something was weighing heavily on his chest, but even this was enough to use to threaten people as needed.
But-
"Can I make it more oppressive? When she used it, it felt like death was near."
That was what he wanted to achieve.
If needed, he wanted to make people believe that I would kill them and their entire bloodline the moment they try to cross me.
In his past life, he had the power to do it.
In this life, he had no power yet.
But if he could bluff, that was a useful card.
Focusing on the sensation in his heart, Caellum began coaxing it.
More. Add more anger, more violence, more depression, more rage, more.
More.
More!
As Caellum was playing around, testing the limits-
Thump!
A chunk from the ceiling fell to the ground and shattered.
His head snapped upwards.
"Is somebody there?"
Silence.
Seeing that the ceiling was cracked and missing many other chunks, Caellum laughed before turning the aura off.
It seemed that he was a bit too paranoid, but it was better to stop here.
Besides, it was a waste since he had nobody to test it on.
Glancing at the young face in the mirror, attempting to look fierce but failing, Caellum laughed again.
With such a baby face that looked like he was about, he just felt silly trying to be fierce.
He needed to add a bit more weight, grow taller, and build a solid power base if he was going to intimidate anyone.
But at least the aura would help.
Especially tomorrow.
"I'll use it well, but now I have more questions than answers."
'Who was that woman?'
'Why was she here?'
'What was that vision?'
'Why did I gain this ability?'
'And what is this pocket watch?
The questions continued to pile up, but for now, like other things, they could wait until later.
Caellum carefully packed the pocketwatch pieces and scrubbed himself clean before making his way into Caellum's bedroom.
The interior was small with minimal furniture, and it was dusty, a far cry from the luxurious bedroom he had in his past life.
But more importantly, it looked exactly like the room the woman had been standing in.
Minus the crib.
Shaking his head, Caellum went and lay down.
Dusty or dirty.
It didn't matter because starting tomorrow, the place would be cleaned up one way or another.
And he wasn't just speaking about the dust.
Those disrespectful servants who let a prince live in such a place would be dealt with one by one.
With the broken pocket watch carefully placed next to him, Caellum peacefully went to sleep.
And when he woke up, it was to see a well-dressed old man giving him a creepy smile as he sat on a chair while sipping tea.
"Good morning, 13th prince. I heard you requested my presence?"
"...."
Caellum sleepily sat up and stared blankly for several minutes before his brain came online. "Good morning, sir chamberlain,"
While his sleep had been quite good, he was extremely tired waking up this early.
But it was by his own request, so he couldn't complain.
Besides, he had been like this in his own body, so it seemed something carried over.
After rubbing the crust out of his eyes and slapping his cheeks to wake up, Caellum gave the chamberlain a tired smile, "Thank you for coming so early. Would you like to eat some breakfast?"
Or rather…would you like some poison?
It was time to fulfill his portion of the deal with the king.