Adrian looked around.

The wide-open window to his left, the furnished wooden floor, and the white ceiling. He was once again standing in the familiar corridor.

He sighed.

’Seems like it’s going to stay this way forever.’

Since the moment he awakened his Origin ability, Immutable, he always found himself in this place whenever he went to sleep or fell unconscious in any way. It was as if he could no longer sleep normally.

It had been more than a week since his engagement, and things hadn’t changed much for him.

"Time to check the results of my experiment."

He opened the door in front of him and entered his grandmother’s room. He walked to the bed and pulled up the mattress.

There was a picture frame hidden under the mattress.

He stared at it briefly before picking it up and placing it on the small table beside the bed where the picture frame had originally been.

Then he pulled open a drawer in the table and took out a pen and a paper with several things already written on it.

He began writing on the paper.

==========

Day 14

Experiment Result: Success

Conclusion: In this mindscape, if an object’s position and location are changed and I leave this space due to waking up, the object will remain displaced when I enter this mental space once again.

This suggests that rather than recreating the same mental space over and over every time I fall unconscious, this place exists permanently within my mind. It remains even after I wake up.

==========

He put down the pen and began reading through the previous notes he had made.

By now, it was clear that this place was created by Immutable. It had been fourteen days since he began entering this mindscape after going to sleep, and he had figured out a lot of things about this place by conducting various experiments.

This mindscape worked just like the real world. He could change an object’s location, write on paper, and turn on the lights. The last part was especially strange since there was no source of electricity in sight.

Gravity and physics worked here the same way they did in the real world. The only issue was that time flowed strangely and irregularly in this place. Even though the time his body spent sleeping was the same, the time he spent here was different every time he entered.

Sometimes, his body would wake up after he had spent about an hour here, while sometimes he would remain in this space for more than even a day without his body waking up.

And it wasn’t that his sense of time was disrupted; it was the flow of time in this place. He knew that since he had kept track of time through the clock hanging on the wall.

There were several other things he had figured out as well.

’Let’s see what today’s objective is.’

He pulled another page out of the drawer and looked at what was written at the very bottom.

==========

Day 14 objective: exploration

==========

’So today’s the day I explore this place, huh?’

He put both pages and the pen back in the drawer as he exited the room. Standing in the corridor, he turned to the window. All he could see outside was a thick, dark fog. It was as if the dark fog was all that existed beyond the window, instead of it shrouding the outside scenery.

He moved closer and tried to put his hand into the fog outside. But he couldn’t. It was as if an invisible force was blocking his hand from passing through the window.

After a few more tries, he pulled his hand back.

’Looks like I can’t go out of the window. Let’s check the other side.’

He turned around, toward the corridor stretching beyond this point. He had never tried exploring in that direction before.

He took a step forward, moving toward the other end of the corridor slowly. There should be a stairway after he turns left. But as he reached the turning point, all he could see was the dark fog stretching beyond.

’...Let’s try it again.’

He once again decided to attempt passing through the fog, this time using his whole body instead of only his hand.

But once again, an invisible force blocked him. No matter how much strength he exerted and pushed forward, he was unable to move even an inch.

’It doesn’t work, it seems.’

His exploration would have to come to an end since there was nothing more for him to explore. He turned away and walked back to the white door, intending to record his findings on the paper.

But as he put his hand on the doorknob, his vision suddenly began turning dark, and his consciousness started to fade. Losing balance, he staggered and fell to the furnished wooden floor.

’Looks like... my body is waking up.’

Moments later, his consciousness darkened completely, and he opened his eyes to a tall ceiling with a chandelier hanging from it.

Pulling himself out of bed, Adrian rubbed his eyes as his vision adjusted to the bright morning sunlight illuminating his room as it passed through the window.

’Well, that ended rather quickly. I don’t think it had been even an hour in that place before my body woke up.’

After doing a few stretches to wash away the lingering drowsiness, he moved to the cupboard and pulled out a few clothes to change into.

Then he repeated his regular morning routine of cleaning up and taking a bath, and returned to his room.

But as he was drying his wet hair, he heard a knock on the door, as his personal maid’s voice came from beyond.

"Young Master Adrian, the Duchess is asking you to be present in the dining hall for breakfast. She says that you are to eat with everyone from now on instead of eating alone, like you usually do."

He sighed.

’What a hassle. Nothing I can do about it, though.’

"Inform them that I will be present there within a few moments."

He quickly dried his hair and left the room, moved through the hallway, and reached the dining hall. He paused in front of the door.

As he pushed open the door gently, the large dining hall came into view, illuminated by the warm sunlight streaming through the multiple large windows. There was a long table covered with a white tablecloth, in the centre, with cushioned chairs arranged neatly around it.

Three figures sat at the table. His older sister, who had now grown taller and looked far more mature, sat in the right corner. His younger brother, Elias, sat in the left corner, smiling brightly as he noticed Adrian enter.

At the head of the table sat his mother, smiling softly as she looked at him from the corner of her eye.

He pulled a chair beside his younger brother, which made the young boy’s smile even brighter, and sat down quietly.

Moments later, servants brought the food and served it neatly on the table.

As all four of them began eating, his mother turned to his sister.

"Aristeia, you will be graduating from the academy within a few years, and so far, your performance has been exemplary. Do you have any plans for your future after graduation? If not, I believe we will soon have an empty seat among the heads of Caelis Research Society."

His sister gave his mother a brief stare as she replied without much reaction.

"Thank you for your kind words, Mother, but I believe I can do better. As for the future, I haven’t quite decided yet, but the position of Knight Commander among our ranks looks rather tempting, so I am afraid you will have to look for some other replacement for that seat."

His mother frowned as she heard his sister’s reply. Even Elias’ innocent smile dimmed slightly. He continued eating his breakfast as tension rose within the dining hall.

’Her reaction is understandable.’

In this world, nobles were the ruling class, and they were rather proud of that fact. They believed that they must always be in a position of rule and authority, and thus favoured administrative tasks and looked down upon tasks where they were in a position to follow orders.

’Which is ironic since they will have to lead an army to war if the emperor orders it.’

His mother had offered a rather high administrative position to her, but his sister declined in favour of a position that was technically serving the family rather than managing it.

In the end, his mother simply sighed, dissipating the tension.

She then turned to him. Unlike before, she was no longer smiling softly but instead wore a bored expression.

"Adi, I prohibited you from using mana aside from certain circumstances, and it doesn’t seem like you have disobeyed me yet. Well, that’s to be expected. After all, you aren’t that foolish. Anyway, I will be preparing another test for you in a few days. I hope you don’t disappoint me—"

Just then, a knock on the door interrupted her, causing her to frown in irritation.

"You may enter."

The door opened once again, and a servant entered, giving his mother a deep bow as he spoke.

"My Lady, the young lady from the Florivelle County, Evangeline Florivelle, is visiting the mansion. She wishes to meet Young Master Adrian."

Adrian narrowed his eyes.