Bang!
The echo of gunfire rang through the hollow classroom.
He stood still, breathing ragged. A cold grip wrapped around his lungs as the scent of gunpowder mixed with the acrid stench of blood.
Before him, a room full of his past life's classmates sobbed—curled under desks, hugging their knees, some crawling backward, away from him.
"Don't kill me…"
"I'm sorry…"
"Please forgive me…"
They wept. They begged. But he stared at them in silence, unmoved. His face was blank. Emotionless. Empty.
"...Me too, alive back then," he said quietly, his voice dull. "But all of you… killed me."
He raised the gun.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Each shot met flesh. Cries turned to silence. Blood stained the white floor. Some tried to crawl away, others froze in place, shaking. One by one, they fell, until not a single sob remained.
Just silence.
Then—
A shadow stepped into view behind him.
He turned.
Kael.
His eyes widened. The man from the other world, new body—his new life. He stood there, quiet… understanding.
Kael walked to him slowly, then knelt down, and without a word, wrapped him in a warm, tight embrace.
His arms trembled.
The gun fell from his hand with a cold clatter.
Kael whispered, holding him closer—
"We are alone in our own world."
And the weight broke him.
-----------------------------------------
He gasped.
Eyes fluttered open. Cold sweat clung to his forehead. A tear slipped down his cheek.
He was in bed. The vase of wilting flowers beside him. Pale light spilled from the crack in the curtains.
A dream.
No—
A memory.
"Young Master… are you okay?" Robert's voice pulled him back to the present.
Kael couldn't speak. His throat burned. His body still wouldn't move. But his eyes blinked slowly.
It was enough.
Robert let out a long breath of relief and wiped away the tear that lingered. "It's okay. We'll help you recover."
-----------------------------------------
Time moves differently now.
He could hear their voices—Robert, Elric, the servants. Sometimes soft. Sometimes pleading. But back then, during the days after his fall, it all sounded so far away. Like a world underwater. Blurred. Distant.
After seeing his old self on the tower, everything had turned cloudy. He kept dreaming—no, reliving—his past life.
His mother's cruelty.
The fists and kicks of classmates.
And the moment he… ended it all.
It haunted him. Buried deep like rot. And now, he believed that pain—his trauma—was the real reason his mind had remained unconscious for so long.
But he never told anyone.
He feared the truth would drive them away. That they would reject him.
Because he wasn't really their Kael.
He turned his gaze to the flowers on the bedside table.
They were wilting.
The mysterious man who once made them bloom was no longer appearing. Not anymore.
-----------------------------------------
At night, Elric and Robert took turns sharing their mana with him. The leakage had stopped, but Kael was still too weak.
"Let me help this time," Elric had insisted.
"But you just came back from the capital—" Robert frowned. "You're exhausted. And he's my responsibility."
Jaesper had warned them. Robert's mana reserves were dangerously low. Yet Robert refused to rest. Not until Kael was better.
But that night… Kael had gripped Robert's hand when Elric spoke. Just faintly. Weak, but deliberate.
Robert froze.
Then sighed. "Fine… I get it." He smiled gently, voice touched with resignation. "I'll leave you with Lady Elric then. Good night, Young Master."
He bowed and left the room.
Now, only Elric remained.
She sat beside Kael, her hand glowing faintly as mana flowed gently from her palm into his.
"Please don't push yourself too much, Kael," she said softly. "You know… Robert nearly collapsed before. He was so panicked. He really thought he was going to lose you."
Kael blinked slowly. His eyes rested on her face.
"Robert has had a weak heart since he was a child," she continued, her voice tender. "But… he's always had a strong will. A big heart. Especially for you."
She smiled faintly, eyes warm. "He never left your side when you were hurting back then. Even when you yelled at him, told him to go… he always stayed."
Kael's fingers shifted slightly. Elric noticed.
"You want to hear about your past with him?" she asked.
His grip around her hand gently tightened.
She smiled wider.
Her voice turned almost nostalgic. "He used to follow you around everywhere. Honestly, it was like… admiration. You were the one who got him out of his cage—out of that suffocating mansion. You showed him the world."
"You and Reinhardt," she added, her eyes gleaming with memory. "Always dragging him into trouble, into festivals, even sword training grounds. He hated fighting, but he'd go anyway. Because you were there."
Then, Kael's lips parted. A sound—rough and dry—escaped.
"Rein…hart?"
The name rolled off his tongue like a whisper of wind.
As he said it, pain flickered in his expression. An ache buried somewhere in his chest. Familiar but forgotten.
Elric watched him, her smile turning bittersweet.
"Yes. Reinhardt… was your best friend," she answered gently. "And Robert is his little brother."
A tear rolled down Kael's cheek.
Elric reached forward and wiped it away with her thumb. "I hope one day… you'll remember all of us," she whispered.
Her hand remained wrapped around his as she stayed by his side in silence, letting the warmth of her mana and memories guide him through the fog.