As soon as Neilson left, I threw off the heavy blankets and stared at the ceiling.
That was way too close. The Duke annoyed me, sure, but I was being stupid. In this weak body, a single slap from that man would have killed me. I needed to understand this world, and I needed to do it fast.
I sat up. Before my feet even touched the cold floor, someone knocked and opened the door.
It was the maid from earlier, the one with red eyes and short black hair. She carried some tea and biscuits, but she looked more like a trained killer than a servant.
"How are you feeling, Master Elis?" she asked, her voice completely flat. "I brought you some tea."
"I'm surviving, I guess," I said.
She nodded and put the tray on a small table. But instead of leaving, she walked right up to the bed and just stared at me.
"..."
Her red eyes were intense, watching me like a hawk.
"..."
"What?" I finally asked. "Is there something on my face?"
"Neilson told us a weird story," she said. "Did you really lose your memory?"
I sighed, rubbing my head. "Why is that so hard to believe? Yes, I forgot everything."
"Forgive me, Master Elis. I am your personal maid, Luna," she said, sounding anything but apologetic.
"It's not that it's hard to believe," she said, looking like she didn't believe me at all. "But how you disappeared was... suspicious."
"Suspicious how?" I asked. I didn't care about this family drama, but I needed to know what kind of mess the old Elis left behind for me.
Luna crossed her arms. "After your sister, Lady Aurora, got sick, you shut yourself away. The bullying from your other siblings got worse. So, when you vanished, we thought you ran away. But the weird thing is, even when I tracked you, I couldn't find a single footprint. No trace at all. And now, you appear out of the woods, naked, with no memory. It's odd."
She wasn't wrong. The circumstances were incredibly suspicious. What exactly had happened to the original Elis? Had his lovely siblings simply murdered him and dumped the body, leaving a perfectly vacant vessel for me to inhabit?
"I see your point, Luna," I said smoothly. "But you mentioned my sister's sickness. Tell me more about that."
Luna's sharp eyes softened a little. "Lady Aurora was a prodigy. She possessed more talent in swordsmanship and magic than anyone in the Mortvain family. She was expected to be the next family head after your father. But out of nowhere, she was struck by an unknown disease. It began eating at her power and her sanity. Her mana flow thinned, her spells failed, and her body withered. She turned into a hollow doll, staring at the walls without a drop of awareness inside her. It broke your father's heart."
She looked back at me. "But a few days after you went missing, she suddenly woke up screaming for you. Then she went blank again. That's when the Duke sent everyone to find you."
Interesting. A sickness that devours mana, a sudden moment of clarity, and a hysterical connection to her missing brother. There was definitely something fishy going on here. Furthermore, since I arrived at this estate, I had sensed several massive waves of energy. One belonged to the terrifying Duke. But the other...
"Luna," I said, standing up. "Take me to see my sister."
"??!" Luna blinked, clearly caught off guard. "Master Elis, you are sick. I do not recommend going right now. We can see her tomorrow after you have rested."
"Thanks for the advice, Luna," I said, walking past her. "But I want to see her now. Lead the way."
She let out a frustrated sigh but nodded. We walked through the giant mansion. With every step, that second massive energy grew stronger and felt more rotten.
Finally, Luna opened a set of white doors.
To Luna and presumably to the rest of the world the sight was simply tragic. Sitting in a massive bed was a young woman with silky black hair and dead, golden eyes. She stared blankly at the empty space, a hole in her soul devoid of a single strand of awareness.
But through my eyes? The sight was entirely different.
I didn't see a sick girl. I saw a disgusting, rotting curse. A foul, sticky black sludge of power coated the room, anchored directly to her chest. It was actively devouring every drop of life and energy within her, turning her into a living corpse.
I stepped closer, studying the sludge. It felt incredibly familiar. It felt like Death. It was as if the world itself didn't want her to stay alive, stranding her in an agonizing state between life and death.
Whoever cast this was deeply nasty.
Luckily, so was I.
But since I was intimately familiar with this exact type of energy, I knew exactly what to do with it.
I walked to the edge of the bed and put my hand right into the thickest part of the black slime on her chest.
Devour.
I pulled. The rotten energy rushed up my arm, flooding into my core. The sludge in the room rapidly unspooled, ripping away from the girl and sinking into my skin. Within seconds, the oppressive, rotting pressure in the room vanished. Without the parasite constantly draining her, her natural mana would slowly restore her body. She would be fine in a couple of days.
I looked over my shoulder. Luna was standing by the door. She didn't notice a thing, though she was still glaring at me.
"Luna," I asked casually. "When did she get sick? Did anything weird happen back then?"
"Four months ago," Luna frowned. "Nothing weird that I remember. Why?"
"Just curious," I lied smoothly. "Let's go back to my room. I'm tired."
"Alright, Master Elis," Luna nodded, leading the way back to my room without hesitation. I dismissed her for the evening, and a short while later, Neilson arrived carrying a massive feast he had personally prepared for me, crying tears of joy before leaving me to rest.
I sat cross-legged on the floor to study my new body. I finally found out why everyone thought he was useless. The kid wasn't born weak. Someone had purposely destroyed his magic veins.
Mana is, simply put, the blood of the soul. Every living creature possesses mana veins, internal channels that contain and direct this overflowing energy, allowing them to bring their imagination to life through magic. Because this kid's veins were shattered, he couldn't contain a single drop of mana.
But to me? It was perfect.
After all, I can just create my own.
I closed my eyes and gathered the thick, deathly curse I had just swallowed from Aurora. Slowly and painfully, I used that dark energy to carve entirely new veins through my flesh. It felt as though my insides were being violently torn apart, but finally, the energy settled deep within my core.
I opened my eyes. For the first time since coming to this world, I could feel it. This was not my home, but the hum of dark power flowing through my veins felt incredibly familiar.
I was too busy looking at my new power to notice the shadows in the corner moving.
A tiny, pitch-black creature with little horns climbed out of my shadow. It looked like a cute, dark puppet made of ink. It tilted its head at me.
"(O-O)"
I blinked. "??!"
It stared harder.
"(O-O)"
"What the hell are you??!!"
The little shadow puppet suddenly raised a tiny black arm and pointed at the window.
"(D-D) =>"
I frowned, turning to look. "What are you pointing at....."
CRASH!
The window shattered into a thousand pieces. A figure in dark clothing came launching through the glass, rolling violently across the floor and smashing directly into the small table. Plates shattered, and every single ounce of the food Neilson had so lovingly prepared with his sweat and tears went flying across the carpet.
The person jumped up from the ruined food, cleaned her clothes and then looked at me
"So you finally decided to come back you pathetic crybaby" a girl's voice screamed.
I stood up, absolute fury radiating from my bones.
"Neilson prepared this for me, you Fucker!!!"
"??!!"