"Kgh— Kgh—!"

I choked on the cake the moment I heard her words.

I quickly grabbed the water bottle and drank it in one gulp.

"Fwoooah...!"

I wiped the remaining water from my mouth with the edge of my hand, then raised my gaze toward Larshia once again.

Her expression had not changed.

Still cold... sharp... as if she were about to pounce on me at any moment.

Wait. Wait, wait, wait— what the hell is happening here?

No way... did she really discover my secret this quickly?

Well, her situation is somewhat similar to mine, so maybe she noticed something...

What if she is only guessing? What if she is not certain yet? I need to hold myself together.

Yeah, I need to put on a poker face.

Damn it... I said poker face!

Literally, if she was not sure before, then she definitely became sure after my catastrophic reaction.

But I can still deny it... right?

I let out a fake laugh.

"Hahaha... what a good joke. I did not expect you to have a side like this. You really surprised me."

"I am not joking."

"You too, of course."

"No."

I continued laughing for a few more seconds, but my smile gradually began to fade under her cold stare.

I am in real trouble.

Sorry, ancestors... I have brought shame to your name.

I will become the disgrace in the record of transmigrators.

"Pff."

"...Oh?"

My eyes widened slightly as I saw Larshia trying hard to suppress her laughter... before bursting into loud laughter.

"Hahahahahaha! I cannot hold it in anymore! Look at your face! It is so funny!"

Even her laughter drew the attention of some students in the cafeteria, causing them to turn toward us with clear annoyance.

Some of them looked as if they were about to ask her to lower her voice... but the moment they recognized her— they immediately fell silent.

"..."

Did... did I just survive?

Or is she still testing me? Did she really discover my secret already? Or was she joking from the start?

After a moment of thought, I decided to go along with her for now.

I will act as if nothing happened.

In the end... she might have really discovered it.

And she might not have. But the only thing I am certain of—

is that I do not want to know the answer right now.

"Heha... you really got me there."

I said that while continuing to eat what remained of the cake in front of me.

Larshia continued laughing for some time before finally calming down.

She wiped the tears of laughter from the corner of her eyes and said:

"It was worth all that effort... but that is not the reason I came."

The atmosphere around her suddenly changed, and that expression devoid of humor returned to her face as she lowered her voice slightly:

"Do you know where your father is?" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

I was slightly surprised by the question, but I answered quickly:

"The Archivist told me he is on the southern front... for a month, if I remember correctly."

"I see... so you still do not know anything."

"What are you trying to imply?"

Of course... I already knew the answer.

But I had to ask. I did not want her to become more suspicious than she already was.

She fell silent for a moment before speaking in a faint voice tinged with sorrow:

"He died."

"...Huh?" I paused for a moment. "Oh..."

I knew that.

But despite that... I suddenly felt something tightly squeezing my chest.

My breathing became more unstable, as though the air had become heavier than I could swallow.

The same thing had happened as the previous time.

I could not control my emotions.

Yes... I know he is not my real father. But even so... the sadness was painfully ridiculous.

I even stood up quickly and said in a low voice:

"I apologize... but I have to leave."

Larshia nodded. "It is fine... I understand." Then she added after a moment: "But we will continue our conversation later."

I nodded silently and quickly left the cafeteria.

I could even feel tears gathering in my eyes.

My emotions were disturbingly turbulent.

Larshia remained sitting alone, staring into space in silence.

A strange expression appeared on her face for a few moments before she finally sighed and stood up, leaving the cafeteria.

...

...

...

"And finally, I found you... you damned thing." I muttered that while standing in front of my room’s door.

I spent a long time searching for it, and I even wasted a lot of time because of it.

Even my break period was almost over, and I still had another class I had to attend.

I really hate studying.

Damn it... just thinking about it makes me feel dizzy.

Let us just forget about it.

I mean... I was only trying to distract myself a little from thinking about what happened.

But that was harder than I expected.

Neron’s emotions were extremely difficult to control.

...But I tried. It is really difficult.

Clink—

I slowly opened the door. Then I immediately frowned.

And how could I not?

What the hell is this miserable room?

Well... maybe it does not deserve all this hatred. But how am I supposed to accept this... after living for days in the room of my dreams?

Well... I returned to my roots quickly.

Thud—

I threw myself onto the bed and stared at the ceiling for some time while replaying the conversation that had taken place with Larshia a little while ago.

What does she want from me?

She would not approach me like that unless there was something she was trying to get.

But... the thing that made me bite my tongue so much was one question.

Did she discover my secret?

I am not stupid enough to ignore it. Who knows?

She may have really learned that I am not Neron...

And she may not have.

Both possibilities felt disturbingly close.

What am I supposed to do?

Wait... what exactly do I remember about Larshia?

Hmmmm... she was one of the main characters.

A character with a major influence on the course of events, and she was almost like a guide to the protagonist in many stages.

Before she later died during the War of Succession...

When her brother killed her during the struggle for the throne.

...Wait. Is that really what happened? Or did I just forget the details? Why do I feel as if my memories about her are hazy?

As though something is preventing me from remembering clearly.

"Oh."

I slipped my hand into my pocket and took out my glasses.

Why am I exhausting myself trying to remember in the first place? All I have to do is search for her.

While I was about to put on the glasses, my eyes fell on the clothes placed beside the bed.

I reached out and grabbed them.

A slightly decorated black shirt, with an unexpectedly soft texture.

And with it, a pair of jeans of the same color. It must be the academy’s uniform.

I tossed it aside. I had more important things to check.

Tap—Tap—

My fingers moved quickly across the keyboard,

and my eyes moved at the same speed over the black screen.

Until my fingers finally stopped.

The profile picture displayed in front of me... was none other than Larshia. I did not know why I was so nervous.

But despite that... I pressed it, expecting her information to appear.

But— suddenly.

Darkness swallowed my vision, not ordinary darkness... but pitch-black darkness, deeper than the darkness of night itself.

And in the next moment— the world trembled.

No... it felt as though the space around me was cracking.

As if reality itself were being torn apart before my eyes, I suddenly felt as though time was devouring me, as though I were aging at a terrifying speed.

At the same time— sharp pain exploded inside my eyes.

As though someone had driven heated needles into my pupils, or as though I had been forced to stare directly into the sun.

Bzzzt—!

I crashed violently onto the ground.

My body began twisting uncontrollably. A sharp scream escaped my mouth... I felt overwhelming weakness flooding through my body. I was no longer even able to move.

The pain was devouring me.

Slowly tearing through my nerves.

Zrrr—

Everything stopped.

Suddenly.

"Haaah... haaah... haaah..."

I breathed with difficulty and slowly opened my eyes.

I was still sitting in my place.

Exactly as I had been before all of that happened, as though nothing had happened in the first place.

And despite that, the faint pain in my eyes was still there.

My breathing had quickened, and sweat poured down my body.

While my eyes remained fixed on Larshia’s picture.

And only one thought echoed inside my head over and over—

...What the hell just happened?