Elurian checked the surveillance placed after Finnian's departure and he was left alone in his room. He opened his wardrobe again and took out a compact mirror that he had hidden near the box.
[What do you want to do with the mirror?]
Elurian did not reply; he turned to the window, to the view outside where the sky was bright under the shade of the dawn star.
The corners of his mouth curled up as he gauged the direction in which the light from outside came into his room. He walked back and forth between the sofa chair near the window to the wardrobe on the opposite side.
Then, as if he had found the right location, he placed the open compact mirror in the left corner of the wardrobe. The light from outside was reflected by the mirror towards him, dazzling.
"Just a little experiment," he answered while rummaging through the box again.
Elurian didn't know why the item box was there, but he did need the items inside. He thought they were just things that Rex Violet had purposely placed in his room for him to play with.
Elurian took a small wooden stick, a small wooden sword, and some children's toys such as wooden dolls.
"...." Elurian was speechless. He was finally sure that the one who placed these items was his Master.
Even though I couldn't completely rely on my knowledge of the novel anymore, some things were still important.
It is mentioned in the novel about wooden toys that were distributed to other disciples. All the toys come from Master Rex. There was no reason to share wooden toys, so they could only accept.
If this is indeed the second timeline... then, Master should know what will happen soon... He knows about the Mutation Disaster, but he pretends not to know.
Elurian shook his head slowly, pushing aside his thoughts of doubt for now. He suddenly thought of a big problem that he had almost forgotten.
He no longer had the ability to read and write the language of this world! Precisely the common language of the continent used in conversation.
Elurian froze as he lost that ability, as if that knowledge had been taken from him. No, that ability didn't belong to him in the first place. It belonged to the original owner who had been separated from him due to the curse, it was clear that the related abilities were separated as well.
I understand what other people say and I can reply, but when it comes to letterforms and understanding the language itself, I'm practically illiterate!
Elurian saw that there was no paper or pen in this room, he needed to go to his Master's reading room to get writing tools.
Oh right!
"Hey, can you give me the instant ability to understand languages?" he whispered while playing with the wooden doll in his hands.
[No, that violates causality. I can't give you that ability, you need to learn it yourself.]
Elurian's expression twisted in confusion. How could he possibly learn a language that easily? It would definitely take a long time, especially since he probably didn't have much time to stay here.
"You can't steal the abilities from the original owner? You can even steal his body for me. Can't you do the same?"
[That's different. Stealing a body that was intended for another soul does not violate causality, but if I steal something that has been determined to belong to the original soul, I will violate causality.]
"Okay," said Elurian as he looked out the window.
Then, he put down the toys in his hands and returned to his bed to lie down.
"I just need to wait then," he whispered as he closed his eyes.
***
At night, dinner was prepared in his room and he was accompanied by Finnian. Elurian only ate a little and it made Finnian worry that something was wrong.
"Don't you like the dishes?" asked Finnian while trying to taste one of them, namely grilled chicken. He felt that the taste was quite good and was confident in the chef's good skills as well as his supervision that did not detect any poison.
Elurian smiled faintly. He thought about what if he became a monster, would the people around him kill him? Will Master Rex kill him? Even though he had a high tolerance limit for pain, he wasn't sure he could resist turning into a monster.
His plan was risky, but it wasn't that there was no other way, it was just that accepting the curse to find out how strong it was on him was the easiest way.
"I'm full, I ate too much at lunch."
Elurian only took a few bites and then asked something, "Can I borrow a book from the reading room?"
Finnian was surprised for a moment before agreeing and instructing the servants to clear the dining table. He kept feeling like something was wrong, especially after Alya said her prediction.
"I will bring books that you can read. If there was something you can't understand, you can ask me."
Finnian actually brought him a stack of books and some stationery. He left after that as if there was something urgent he had to do.
"Alya will be on guard outside, I know you prefer to study without being disturbed, so I asked her to be outside and will only come in if something happens." Finnian patted his head gently then turned.
Alya? If I remember correctly, he was a fortune teller. He has unique eyes that can see destiny. But, Master Rex also has the same eye, no, it's one of his eyes.
Elurian suddenly thought about the information he knew from the novel. He wondered if all the information was true? If that was true, then his Master should be able to tell that he wasn't a real Elurian, he was taking over someone's body.
For unknown reasons, if there wasn't something that triggered it, Elurian couldn't remember the information he should have known from the novel. As if only if he was allowed to know, then he could know. Just like the jolt of memory earlier when holding the wooden toy.
I seem to forget a lot of important things. This is not good, the entity often says something like causality, was it the result of the causality of this world not allowing me to have full knowledge?
So it was a big problem if he wanted to start his plan due to lack of information.
"Ugh!" Elurian frowned when his head suddenly throbbed with pain, as if something was digging into his brain and breaking through. His body was shaking.
[It had already started, the curse was starting to work.]
The entity, which had been silent since dinner time, finally spoke.
Elurian barely understood the words due to the excruciating pain.
It's not even midnight yet! There were still three hours left before midnight, so why?
Elurian endured the pain which lasted for several minutes before finally subsiding. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to calm himself.
After a long time, I miss my own body that wasn't affected by pain... It's a little troublesome...
When he opened his eyes, the violet color in his eyes darkened and lost its light. He curled up while staring at the pile of books in front of him.
After pondering for a long time, he finally took out one of the sheets of paper and a pen. He wrote in the language of his previous world.
(I'm Ahn Seohyun, my goal is to bring my older brother back to life.)
His hands were shaking slightly, making his writing even more messy.
He continued to stare at the sentence he had written. He had to make his goals clear so that he would not give up and choose to destroy himself.
In his previous life, after his older brother's death, he frequently visited a psychiatrist to get treatment for his self-destructive tendencies. Especially with his abnormality of not being able to feel pain, he was getting out of control.
If not for the remaining power his older brother had left behind, which still carried the remnants of his aura, he might have already chosen to die. His older brother had the possibility of coming back to life. Just as he knew, his older brother was very strong and always protected him.
Only his older brother cares for him the most. He was also the one who took care of him since he was little, since their parents were gone.
He reiterated his goals over and over again, making them as his coping medicine.
Hyung... Is this the right way?
Without realizing it, tears came out and flowed. He grabbed the paper, then tore it into small pieces. His hands, still shaking, took one of the books and opened it. He knew he can't read it, but he had a certain way of remembering its contents, just remembering the shape of the intertwined letters.
His suppressed emotions eased a little because of that small cry. He remembered his psychiatrist's advice not to suppress his emotions and let them out, that was so he could continue to focus on his goals and not break down
The entity strangely said nothing about his condition.
Elurian didn't mind it, he wiped away the remaining tears from his eyes then glanced at the place where he put the compact mirror. It's hidden in the right corner.
The blue moonlight from outside came through the window and illuminated his room. However, the light was scattered. The power contained in the light was uneven, unless Elurian looked directly at the blue moon in the sky.
He moved his position near the window, sat on the floor and copied letters that he didn't understand onto sheets of paper.
Time passed until midnight arrived.
***