Ray was still on the floor when the thought hit him.
He rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling, chest rising and falling heavily.
"…Wait."
Arthur paused near the doorway but didn't turn.
Ray pushed himself up onto his elbows, frowning. "How exactly am I supposed to enter the Academy?"
Arthur remained silent.
Ray continued, irritation bleeding through his exhaustion. "Only nobles, knight families, and a handful of specially recommended commoners get in. And those recommendations are nearly impossible."
He narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me you're planning to recommend me, old man?"
Arthur's shoulders stiffened slightly.
"Do not call me grandfather," he said flatly.
Ray blinked. "I didn't—"
"You implied it."
Ray sighed. "You're impossible."
Arthur finally turned, crimson gaze cool. "And no. Neither I nor anyone else will recommend you as a commoner."
Ray pushed himself fully upright now, suspicion creeping in. "Then how—"
"You will not enter as a commoner."
The words landed cleanly.
Ray froze.
"…What?"
Arthur's expression did not change.
"You will enroll," he said evenly, "as a member of a knight family."
Silence.
Ray stared at him.
Then stared harder.
"…I'm sorry," Ray said slowly. "A what?"
"A knight family," Arthur repeated.
Ray blinked again, as if perhaps his hearing had been crushed earlier along with his ribs.
"I am not from a knight family," he said carefully. "Last I checked."
Arthur folded his hands behind his back. "You are now."
The room went very, very quiet.
Ray's mind raced.
Knight families were not small matters. They carried land, titles, political weight. Generations of service. Bloodlines tied to royalty and powerful nobles.
"You can't just… assign me one," Ray said. "That's not how this works."
Arthur regarded him with faint impatience. "You overestimate the rigidity of noble structures."
Ray stared.
"Wait," he said slowly, dread creeping in. "What did you do?"
Arthur's lips curved faintly.
"There is a knight family," he explained, "whose sole purpose is to serve my command. They will do anything I say."
Ray's stomach dropped.
"You didn't."
"I did."
Ray stood fully now. "You just placed me into that family, didn't you?"
Arthur tilted his head slightly. "Legally recognized. Documented. Verified."
"That's fraud."
"It is politics."
Ray ran a hand through his hair. "Whose family?"
Arthur watched him for a long moment.
"The Luminhart family," he said at last.
Ray searched his memory.
Luminhart.
His eyes widened as the pieces locked into place.
Luminhart. As in Ray Luminhart. The background character from the novel.
The full picture formed—and it was absurd.
So the author actually took that joke seriously? Made my entire life a punchline?
What kind of backstory is this for a background character?
Then another thought hit him harder.
Wait. This isn't the novel anymore.
This is my story now.
Ray dragged a hand down his face.
Oh god. Just kill me now.
Arthur's voice cut through his spiraling thoughts. "What exactly are you thinking?"
Ray dropped his hand. "That this isn't simple," he said. "They're respected, right? Wouldn't the other family members—or literally anyone—notice a completely new stranger appearing out of nowhere?"
"Yes."
Ray blinked. "Yes?"
"But there are no true family members," Arthur clarified. "Only individuals operating under the Luminhart name as a knight house. They function as a unit, not as blood relatives. They will not object."
Ray's unease deepened. "So no problem at all?"
"There is one."
Arthur's gaze cooled slightly.
"Your sister, Luna Luminhart."
Ray stilled.
"She is the only one who believes they are a true family," Arthur continued. "She was adopted at a very young age for her exceptional alchemical talent."
Ray stared at him.
"…You're terrifying."
Arthur accepted the statement without reaction.
"You will enter as Ray Luminhart," he continued. "First son of the main branch. An illegitimate child. Recently returned from a rural upbringing."
Ray's head spun.
"So I just—what? Walk in with a new last name?"
"You will walk in," Arthur corrected, "with status appropriate to your ability."
Ray let out a hollow laugh.
"I didn't want attention," he muttered.
"You will receive less suspicion this way," Arthur replied. "A talented knight's son is less alarming than an anomalous commoner."
That… unfortunately made sense.
Ray exhaled slowly.
"So no recommendation. No commoner quota."
"No."
"Just political identity reconstruction."
"Yes."
Ray stared at him for a long moment.
"…And you're not even slightly concerned about the consequences?"
Arthur's crimson eyes sharpened.
"I am the consequence."
Silence followed.
Ray looked away, heart pounding—not from mana pressure this time, but from realization.
This wasn't just Academy entry.
This was insertion into the core plot of the novel.
And it meant something else too.
Arthur turned toward the door again.
"Prepare yourself," he said calmly. "You have one month before your formal introduction."
Knight family.
Protagonist batch.
Political standing.
Ray rubbed his face slowly.
"…You've officially made this worse," he muttered.
Arthur paused only briefly.
"On the contrary," he said evenly,
"I have made you someone."