Zephyr, standing in the forest, read another poem aloud—his voice calm, practiced. Then, without hesitation, he drew his blood and sketched a small, strange structure on the ground with it. A moment later, a light shimmered around him—and just like that, he vanished, returning to reality.
The scene shifted abruptly.
Now, Zephyr was lounging in a chair within the garden of that strange, dreamlike realm—the same special place. He looked bored, almost annoyed by the silence. With an idle expression, he once again drew blood from his finger and let it drip to the ground.
He didn't draw anything this time. He simply thought:
"This place should change."
The moment that thought finished, the garden melted away—and he found himself sitting on the surface of a vast, serene lake, its waters reflecting a pale twilight sky.
Then the dream ended.
As everything faded into white, a single line appeared before Soren, glowing in soft silver letters:
"Your question required a long answer but I can't provide it to you. So this is how you go back and how you can change its appearance — it all depends on your imagination."
"That's it? It's kinda easy," Soren said, rising from the chair with a light stretch.
"But what's the purpose of this place?" he muttered, his brows furrowing slightly in thought.
The question hung in the air like a dust mote in sunlight—unanswered, persistent. He stared at the vast spiral of the library around him, the shelves winding downward like the ribs of some ancient beast. The weight of the unknown pressed at him, but only for a moment.
"Eh… whatever," he shrugged, brushing the thought away like a cobweb. "No point wasting my time on something I can't solve. I'm not some genius detective or master scholar."
He turned his gaze to the rows upon rows of books, all humming faintly with magic and mystery.
"Well… might as well explore a little. This place is full of books." His eyes lit up with the first flicker of curiosity. "Hmm, should I check them out?"
With that, Soren stepped toward the nearest shelf—its spine lined with titles in strange, ancient languages—and reached for a book that almost seemed to call to him.
He walked toward the nearest bookshelf and picked up a book. When he opened it and began reading, he realized the book was about him—specifically, when he was five years old, during the month of July. It was like a daily record of that entire month, with not a single detail left out.
"What the heck?" he muttered.
Then he grabbed another book, and then another. They were all about his life as Soren.
"I can't believe this... What am I supposed to think now? This was unexpected, and now I have even more to figure out. This is giving me chills — feels like I'm stuck in some horror stalker type of thing."
Since the entire first floor was filled with books about him, he tried to go to the second floor, but no matter how many times he tried, he couldn't get there. There was an invisible barrier. He tried jumping, hitting it with a chair, and other things, but nothing worked.
After getting tired, he just sat on the chair, picked a book about his early years—age two—and decided to read what he was like.
What?! Mom was planning to give me away to my aunt because she didn't have kids? Was I really that unwanted? Sad, sad... well, whatever, he muttered and kept reading.
I was chewing on my dirty diaper. Seriously, no wonder I almost puked!
Wait, what?! I attacked Eren with an iron rod? Damn, I was one savage little troublemaker as a kid!
Should I go back now? I'll read the book about when I was three years old tomorrow, Soren said, and performed the ritual to return.
He opened his eyes and found himself on his bed. He looked at the clock and realized that the time spent there was different—if he stayed two hours there, only ten minutes would pass here.
He rang the servant bell, and Sophie arrived.
"When are Mother and Father returning?" he asked.
"They'll be back tomorrow," Sophie replied.
"I see. I want to prepare a surprise for them—would you mind helping me with it?"
"Of course not, my lord," Sophie said. She was surprised, as Zephyr had never shown any interest in his parents before—not even responding to their requests to talk.
"Also, I wanted to ask—can you call my doctor? The one who knows about me being a Vieler," Soren added.
"Him? Are you in pain again, or is something wrong?" Sophie asked, concerned.
"No, nothing like that. I just want to ask him a few questions. And please... don't tell Father or Mother about this."
"Alright, my lord," Sophie said with a slight nod and left the room
At first, I thought she wouldn't know I was a Vieler, but it seems that being the son of the two most powerful official Vielers in the state means even the servants are aware of the truth. I mean, we have Vielers as guards protecting the mansion and host gatherings and balls filled with them, Soren thought.
This world really is scary. I mean, there's an entire power system, and gaining power is less about fun and more about suffering. Just look at what it's done to this body. I became a Vieler because of my parents, and I'm still in awe of those who choose this path willingly—like Mother… well, Zephyr's mother. I'm still in the middle of accepting that I'm Zephyr now, not Soren. Even the awakening process that grants eligibility to choose a Depth is torturous, Soren thought, hugging the teddy bear he had asked Sophie to bring him three days ago.
The teddy bear was half his size, light brown in color, with a red bow and black eyes. It was soft and comfy to hug, enough to ease his exhaustion after the nightmares that haunted him each night. But this time, he wasn't hugging it because of a nightmare—he was simply preparing himself for what he had decided to do in the future.