Not the cold numbness of death.
Warmth.
Air in his lungs. A sting on
his cheek.
"Wake up, you useless brat! You'll be late for the entrance exam!"
Riven's eyes snapped open. He gasped —
breathing hard — clutching his chest.
No wound.
No blood.
He turned toward the small cracked mirror hanging on the wall. And froze. The face
staring back at him was young — far too young. No scars. No hardened lines
carved by war. No exhaustion buried deep beneath the skin. His hair fell in soft, uneven strands around his face — silver, almost white, catching the morning light like frost. It shimmered faintly with movement, as if
reflecting something deeper than mere color.
His eyes matched it. Cold silver. Clear. Sharp. The kind of gaze that looked like it had seen far too much for someone so young. He slowly raised a hand, touching his face in disbelief… then his shoulders… his chest.
His body was lean, but defined — slim muscle shaped by natural balance rather than brute strength. Not the massive build of a battlefield veteran, but the precise, efficient physique of someone born for speed, control, and lethal movement. He turned his head. What he saw was not a battlefield. Just a
small, worn room… sunlight spilling through thin curtains… and a woman glaring
down at him with hands on her hips.
His mother. Alive.
"…What…?"
His voice was barely sound. "Where am I…?"
"You're home, idiot!" she snapped. "Now get up!"
Home.
He looked down at his hands.
Young. Smooth. Unscarred. His body felt… light.
Sixteen.
Impossible.
His heart began pounding harder than it ever had in battle. No battlefield. No ruins. No corpses. Just morning light… and the smell of cheap stew from the kitchen.
"…I'm alive."
Memory struck like lightning.
The war.
The king.
The betrayal.
Qiyana's scream.
His child's lifeless body.
The sword in his chest.
Riven's breath hitched.
He stumbled out of bed, staring at the woman in front of him — poor clothes, tired eyes,
gentle hands hidden beneath a harsh voice.
Viviene.
The woman who saved him when the world threw him away.
Emotion surged up so violently his knees nearly gave out.
She frowned.
"Why are you staring at me like that?"
Riven swallowed hard.
"…Nothing."
But inside,his thoughts roared.
Thirty years…
I've gone back thirty years.