[Ruvian’s POV]

The moment Ruvian finally woke up from his bedridden state, he immediately sprang into action. And, yes, naturally, the first thing he did was change out of the recovery robe and put his academy uniform back on.

"Hey... are you seriously okay?" Silvena asked while walking beside him, the concern on her face still obvious.

"It’s completely fine if we stay another day and rest, you know? Why are you in such a hurry? Do you not understand the concept of resting? Do I need to spell it out for you?"

Meanwhile, Irene quietly followed behind the two of them, casually munching on a piece of honey-glazed bread as they walked across the corridor.

Truthfully, the moment he woke up, Ruvian still could not fully distinguish reality from the dream he had been trapped in. No, calling it a dream would be inaccurate. It felt more like fragments of memories from his previous life.

But the moment the voice of Runes interrupted his thoughts—

[’The Hidden Arc’ has reached its conclusion.]

[You have received 3,000 Plot Points!]

—his mind finally cleared, and he remembered exactly how he had ended up unconscious in the first place.

Yes.

The Ashway Bazaar.

He, Silvena, and Irene had somehow managed to crawl out alive from the Ashway Bazaar. Not only did they survive, but they had even succeeded in obtaining the scroll in the end.

However, right now, his mind was an even bigger mess than his body.

Silvena had already explained everything that happened after he lost consciousness, including how they were rescued by the two mysterious Wellencrest Scholars.

Though, calling them mysterious no longer really fit anymore. One of them had already revealed her identity herself.

Lovia Von Saintinac.

The third princess of the Averenthia Kingdom.

A member of the royal family that had governed the continent for centuries.

Back during the Second Demon War, when humanity stood on the brink of collapse, countless nations had been scattered across the continent, each fighting desperately for its own survival. But as the demonic tide continued to consume kingdom after kingdom, those fractured nations were eventually forced to set aside their differences and unite beneath a single banner.

That alliance had later evolved into what was now known as the Averenthia Kingdom — the only kingdom left in the world.

While old regional identities and noble territories still existed, they all ultimately answered to the royal family seated upon the Saintinac Throne. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

And among that royal family, Lovia Von Saintinac was one of the most beloved figures within the kingdom.

And the moment Ruvian heard that name from Silvena, alarm bells practically exploded inside his head.

Because unlike everyone else, Ruvian knew far more about that princess than he should. And because of that, he instantly realized something was horribly wrong.

No matter how he thought about it, the events he remembered and the reality simply did not match anymore.

For starters...

’How the hell did she already recover from her disease?’

In the novel, Lovia had actually been afflicted with a disease that weakened her body and prevented her from using magic properly.

And the cause behind it all was none other than the demon itself after discovering that she possessed an absurdly powerful affinity toward Light Magic — a power dangerous enough to threaten even demons.

Light Magic had always been regarded as one of the greatest banes of demonkind.

After all, demons constantly infused their bodies with Dark Mana to strengthen themselves, turning that dark energy into the very foundation of their existence. And because of that, they were naturally vulnerable against the affinity.

Still, that did not mean demons could only be defeated with Light Magic.

Any attribute could still kill them if the user was strong enough. It was just that Light Magic worked much better against demons compared to most other magic.

The only unfortunate thing was that Light Affinity was incredibly rare. Very few people were born with it, and those without the affinity could barely even learn light-related magic at all.

Because of that, every light mage that appeared back in those days was treated as someone truly precious. Of course, that was during the era when demons were still roaming around openly and humanity was painfully aware that those creatures actually existed.

Unlike nowadays, now that most people believed demons had long gone extinct, the value of Light Affinity had slowly diminished over the years. After all, in the eyes of modern people, Light Magic had become nothing more than an outdated relic.

People only value a weapon when the enemy is standing right in front of them. Once the demons disappeared from sight, humanity slowly convinced itself that they had disappeared from the world as well. And with that foolish belief, the value of Light Magic faded together with their fear.

"Anyway, just show me the room where the device is so that I can speak with her. She specifically sent the device to us and told me to contact her as soon as possible, didn’t she?"

"Haaa... about that..."

Silvena immediately tried to refute him, hurriedly explaining that Princess Lovia had indeed said that — but only after he had fully recovered first. But unfortunately for her, Ruvian was being so unbelievably stubborn and adamant about it.

In the end, she was the one forced to give up instead.

*****

A moment later, Silvena brought them to the room where the communication device was installed.

She stood beside Ruvian with her arms crossed tightly across her chest, her expression still filled with dissatisfaction even now.

"Seriously, what is so urgent that you absolutely need to talk with her right now?" she complained again while staring at him.

"You literally just woke up not long ago. Have some breakfast first or something."

"After this."

Ruvian stood quietly between her and Irene while watching the servants prepare the communication device Princess Lovia had sent earlier that morning.

Ruvian’s gaze remained fixed on the communication device.

"There’s something I want to confirm with her," he answered calmly.

Silvena frowned immediately after hearing that vague response.

"Confirm what exactly?"

"...Whether my next vision is real or not."

At those words, Silvena finally fell silent, no longer pressing him with endless questions.

Truthfully, even he was still not fully certain about it himself. An uncomfortable thought had been lingering at the back of his mind without stopping.

The more he thought about it, the more impossible it sounded. And yet at the same time, it was not completely impossible either!

Lovia recovering from her illness ahead of time was already one thing.

But her appearing at the Ashway Bazaar personally was also another!

It was as though the story itself had quietly drifted away from the original path without much from his interference.

Or perhaps...

Ruvian slowly narrowed his eyes while staring at the glowing communication device on the table.

A ridiculous thought suddenly surfaced inside his mind.

What if he was never alone to begin with?

What if the reason the story had already begun changing so drastically — from his very first day in this world — was because someone else had already been transmigrated here alongside him?

And of course, that person, he knew for sure, was also a....

──────── ✦ ────────

[Chapter 179: Proofreader]