"You’d better reward me accordingly for this quest this time once I wake up. I survived the one-week quest, after all."

The system window finally stabilized and then asked,

> [Do you really want to go back there?]

"I’m not going to say it twice."

>[...]

It went silent for a second and asked,

> [Do you even know what you’ll be returning to?]

"I’ll be returning to Lucien’s side." Kim Jowoon said confidently.

> [You really have no idea what’s going to happen to you, do you?]

Kim Jowoon paused. What was that supposed to mean?

But the system did not explain properly and went on to say,

> [You’ll receive your reward soon. But let me warn you. He would’ve already made it so much harder for you to live without a stain in your name]

"He? Who is he?"

> [My creator. As well as the one who pulled your soul into this world]

But that didn’t answer the question Kim Jowoon was curious about.

"Who is your creator? Is he a god?"

> [Lesser] It said. [He is not a god, and he is less of a human as well. But his goal is the complete opposite of your goal, Kim Jowoon. Once he achieves his goal, there will be only chaos left. And you... will be caught in the crossfire.]

The answer felt so vague, but Kim Jowoon didn’t ask any further. If the System was going to tell him outright what the problem was, it wouldn’t speak in such a roundabout way.

> [I shall now return you to your body]

Now, that sounded even stranger, but there was something Julian wanted to know. And that was...

"Tell me what novel this is." He said. "I want to know what the plot is, anything. All the so-called specs that come with the system don’t help at all when I don’t know what’s going to happen next. You said this was a novel, right? Then, what novel is it?"

> [...]

Kim Jowoon couldn’t feel his heart hammering because this was a phantom space, but he could certainly feel the anxiety creeping in.

If he just knew the plot, he would know what to do and how to avoid a fatal ending.

He had already gotten caught up with the Emperor’s whims, but if he could see ahead, he might be able to save himself from any interaction with the Emperor and live peacefully in the North.

And as for he who he definitely didn’t know about, he would steer away from whatever ploy he was cooking up in the capital.

But the system did not tell him the plot outright. Instead, it said,

> [Look forward to your reward then]

Wait, did that mean a piece of the plot was the reward I was getting? He wondered, but before he could ask this, his consciousness was immediately ejected from the space, and he gasped into life in Julian’s body.

His head snapped up, and he heaved, his chest tightening.

Ugh, why did I forget to ask the system about the waking madness?

The waking madness was what plagued him more than anything else, but in that moment where he had the chance to ask all the questions he needed to ask, it didn’t cross his mind at all.

In any case, he felt the system wouldn’t have given him a satisfactory answer anyway.

He just had to endure until he found a way to overcome it. And he noticed the heaving and tightness of his chest wasn’t as bad as usual.

But... where was he? This wasn’t his room at the Jade Wing or the Duke’s manor.

The surroundings were dark, the air was damp and smelled of rot and rusted iron. He was sitting upright, but his body felt heavy, his muscles screaming with a stinging pain that had nothing to do with the waking madness.

He tried to lift his hands to rub his eyes, but they wouldn’t move. He looked down and barely saw in the darkness that his wrists were tied tight with thick, coarse rope to the arms of a heavy wooden chair. His ankles were bound similarly to the legs.

This... was a cellar.

The walls were weeping with moisture, and a single, flickering candle sat on a crate across from him, casting long, skeletal shadows. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Did the system play a trick on him and put him in another illusion? Julian wondered.

No, it wasn’t an illusion. It felt real.

The bite of the rope into his skin felt real. The cold of the stone floor beneath his bare feet felt real. But the transition had been too sharp, too precise. How did he get here? Who bound him?

Where was the Duke?

"Lucien?" he tried to call out, but his throat was parched, his voice coming out as a pathetic, dry croak.

He pulled against the restraints, the wood of the chair creaking under his weight.

Was this another of Aurelian’s mind games? Had the Emperor moved him while he was unconscious?

Just then, a shadow moved behind the candle. Julian peered, narrowing his eyes to see who it was. And though he could not get out of the face, he saw the affection level atop the head.

> [Target: Duke Alaric — Affection level: 97% — Status: Dismayed]

The Duke? But why didn’t he answer when he called just now? And why was he just standing in the shadows? Why did he let them bind him?

Julian had a lot of unanswered questions. His head was swirling with questions, and his heart was beginning to race with fear of the unknown.

It’s fine. He told himself. The Duke loves me and won’t let anything happen to me. So, I just have to call out to him. He’ll definitely explain everything to me. Yes, there’s definitely a good explanation for all of this.

Then, the Duke’s shadow moved, and he came in front of the flickering light.

"Lucien," Julian called. "What... What’s going on?"

Alaric didn’t move at first. He stood in the flickering candlelight, his eyes searching Julian’s with a desperate gaze. He was looking for that sharp, jagged edge—the ’wicked’ energy that had radiated from Julian’s body only an hour ago.

He was looking for the stranger who had looked at him with cold, calculating eyes and laughed like a maniac once his plan had failed.

But as Julian blinked, his mismatched eyes wide and brimming with a familiar, soft confusion, Alaric felt the air leave his lungs. The predatory stillness was gone. This... was his Julian.