Chapter 1:- Prologue – Ashes of Will
I'm going to die.
The cold night breeze brushed past me. The half-moon hung silently in the sky, its dim light painting the garden in shades of blue and black.
Everything—the air, the silence, my instincts honed over a lifetime of killing—whispered the same truth.
I'm not making it out alive.
I stood at the center of a vast garden. The pathways between the neatly trimmed hedges looked soft and serene, like wool under moonlight.
But there was no path leading to salvation. Only one steeped in blood and lined with death.
"Leon."
A voice like a frozen blade cut through the silence. I turned my head slowly.
A tall man with silver hair, sharp as ice, stepped forward. His presence warped the air itself.
Even a single breath from him seemed to choke the stars.
Gareth Vernhild.
The current patriarch of House Vernhild. My guardian. My owner. My executioner.
"You've exceeded expectations," Gareth said. His voice was calm, but it always carried weight—like stones pressing on the chest.
"The family's enemies fall before we even name them. All thanks to your efforts behind the curtain."
"I simply followed orders."
My response came cold, mechanical. Just like he trained me.
"No pride?" Gareth tilted his head slightly. "No fear either. Of course. That's how I raised you."
He took another step forward. His shadow stretched unnaturally long, like it had a will of its own.
"But tell me something, Leon… do you think someone like you deserves choice?"
He raised his hand slowly. His fingers, pale and unassuming, held more weight than chains.
"You were born from ash and ruin. Taken from a slum where even rats didn't bother scavenging. I gave you purpose."
"Yes," I said, not denying it.
"Then why did you hesitate?"
His voice, which had always been frigid, turned sharp. His tone, more cutting than any blade.
"I don't understand what you mean."
"Don't play dumb. You thought of running away."
My heart thudded. That wasn't a guess. He knew.
"And you disobeyed me last winter. Remember the mission in Varun Port?"
I grit my teeth silently. I hadn't made a mistake. I had just… chosen differently. I saved a child instead of killing the target.
Just once.
"I broke no oath," I said, a bit of defiance slipping through.
"But you broke something far more important," Gareth whispered. "Your will. The leash. You loosened it."
He raised his hand.
And that's when the pain started.
"Argh—!"
It wasn't just pain. It was as if my ribs were being twisted, my lungs torn from the inside.
I fell to one knee, coughing violently.
"Do you know what lives inside you?" Gareth crouched, eye level now. "A Remnant Seed."
"W-what…?"
"A curse from the old era. Tied to your nerves. The more you resist me, the more it eats away at your soul."
I gasped. This… this wasn't magic. This was something darker, ancient, forbidden.
"I fed it into you years ago. Slowly. Silently. You never even noticed."
"You bastard…"
"I prefer the term 'visionary.'"
Gareth smiled. The same fake smile he showed the nobles at parties. The one that made them believe he was some benevolent statesman.
"There is no such thing as free will for someone like you. You are a weapon. A tool forged by my hand."
The pain intensified.
But I refused to collapse.
I'd lived like a ghost. No childhood. No warmth. Trained in silence, raised in fear.
And just when I dared to dream of a world beyond these invisible chains—just one moment of hope—it was all dragged back into darkness.
'Why was I even born?'
I clenched my fists.
If I must die, then I won't die empty-handed.
I grabbed the blade at my hip. It trembled with the remnants of my will.
Even if I couldn't kill him… I'd scar him. Just once.
"AAAAHHH!"
I roared and struck.
A burst of aura—faint, red, desperate—burst from the edge of my sword.
Clang!
But it shattered on impact. My blade, my hope, my final strike broke like glass.
And then—
Slice.
The world spun. I heard the dull clang of metal… and the soft thud of something hitting the grass.
I couldn't feel my body anymore.
Ah… my head. It had been cut off.
Even so—
A hidden blade inside the shattered sword whirled forward—one final, desperate attack.
It grazed Gareth's hand.
"Tch."
He flicked his wrist. My last strike vanished like dust.
But he frowned.
Blood trickled from the back of his hand.
"…Interesting."
He wiped it calmly, but I saw it. His pride was wounded.
It wasn't much. But to me—it was everything.
'You're not invincible.'
My thoughts faded. The pain was gone. My mind drifted away, crimson and bitter.
I'm sorry… I couldn't finish the Ignition Path.
I couldn't escape. I couldn't live.
But if there's anything beyond this…
Give me another chance.
Let me burn down that mask.
Let me see him fall.
---
Gareth stood in silence.
He looked down at his wounded hand, then at my fallen body.
"You scratched me," he murmured. "How unfortunate."
He turned away.
"Clean this up."
Shadows moved through the garden, collecting the corpse that once was Raon.
None noticed the faint light glowing from the shattered necklace drenched in blood.
[You have been chosen by
[Vessel: Detected.]
[Core Condition: Dead.]
[Reformatting soul… Initiating rebirth.]
******
Reincarnation.
A laughable myth to some. A fantasy to others.
To me? It had been nonsense.
I was too busy surviving to even consider it.
But…
"Come on now! Little dumpling, look this way!"
A cheerful voice called out.
A woman with bright auburn hair and violet eyes shook a pair of rattles in front of me.
My vision was blurred. My arms—tiny. My legs—useless. My body was warm and light.
'No way.'
The woman cooed again. "Oh, you're trying to crawl again? What a strong baby!"
I reached for the red rattle, wobbling unsteadily.
And tipped over.
"Ah! Careful!" she gasped and swooped me into her arms.
She held me close and rocked me gently, patting my back like I was made of porcelain.
"I'm here, I've got you."
'Her name… is Elira.'
She called me "dumpling." Just a nickname—for now.
My real name had yet to be given. The head of the house hadn't appeared yet.
But none of that mattered right now.
Because I knew this much:
I had been reborn.
And this time…
I'll live by my own will.