The glimmer of light roused me from my sleep. Slowly opening my eyes, I could vaguely see a woman with brown hair drawing back the curtains.
"Good morning, Master Raul," she said with a smile. "Did you sleep well?"
I remembered her as the servant assigned specifically to Raul during his time at the Grunbelt Academy. Nobles of Raul's rank were allowed to bring a personal attendant of roughly the same age with them to the Academy.
These servants attended regular classes and were given special passes to enter the noble dormitory.
"What time is it, Sephira?" I asked, rising from the bed.
Sephira pulled a pocket watch from her coat. If I wasn't mistaken, Raul had given her that watch when she was selected to serve him at the Academy.
"It's 6:30 a.m., Master Raul. Your class begins in an hour," she replied as she approached the bed to tidy it. "I've prepared a warm bath if you'd like to freshen up now."
I walked toward the bathroom, stripped off my clothes, and sank into the warm water Sephira had prepared. Closing my eyes, I replayed the events of the previous day in my mind.
Suddenly finding myself in the body of Raul de Garcia, I had sparred with Brian—marking the game's first event in Path of Destiny.
One thing I realized about this body was that Raul's original emotions were still present. This meant that my actions could be influenced by Raul's feelings, whether they were good or bad.
Raul de Garcia was the main antagonist of Chapter Three, which would unfold at the end of the third academic year. If I could survive past that, the story would take a drastically different turn from its intended course.
Let's see… how can I avoid dying before then? Most of Raul's death flags are triggered by his interactions with Brian and Ariel. Should I keep my distance from the two of them until graduation?
Yes, I'll start doing that now.
"The next step is to increase my influence in the Empire."
By strengthening my position in this realm, I could prepare for the demon invasion that would come later. I needed to start planning so that my chances of survival were higher when the disaster struck.
Besides gaining influence, I also needed to increase my own strength in case I found myself cornered. After all, relying on oneself in life-and-death situations is more reliable than trusting others.
In that case, I should make the most of the blessing I possessed—Villain Destiny. However, this blessing would only be effective if enough people hated me. This presented a problem because widespread hatred could trigger a new death flag, one I might not be able to anticipate.
"I guess I should make sure the hatred directed at me comes only from people who aren't a threat."
After several minutes of soaking in the hot water and cleaning myself, I stepped out of the bath and put on my academy uniform.
Shortly after, Sephira returned with a tray of food for my breakfast, ensuring I'd have enough energy to start the day.
"Breakfast is as usual, Egg Benedict, jasmine tea, and some assorted fruits," Sephira said as she placed the tray on the table. "Please enjoy your meal, Master Raul."
She bowed and started to leave the room.
"Stay and have breakfast with me, Sephira," I said, stopping her.
There were a few things I wanted to ask her about the current state of this world. Even though I created this game, I hadn't memorized every detail about it—especially those concerning Raul, who wasn't as thoroughly explored in the game since the focus was more on the protagonist and heroines.
"With pleasure, Master Raul," she said with a smile.
While I ate, I asked her various questions about Raul's life and habits. In the game, players only saw Raul during key events.
For instance, Raul often associated with nobles from Prince Felix's faction—the eldest son of Emperor Philip de Aragon. The Empire's succession system was elective, meaning the nobles from across the Empire would vote to determine which member of the imperial family would become the next ruler.
"I just remembered, Master Raul, a mysterious person gave me this letter to deliver to you," Sephira said, handing me an envelope.
I opened the letter and read its contents.
Master Raul, I have hired the assassins and ordered them to kill the target during the upcoming survival exam, as you requested.
Wait a minute… assassins? Did Raul hire a group of assassins before the main story even began? Thinking back, Brian's group was indeed attacked by unknown assailants during the survival exam.
Could it have been Raul who hired them to kill Brian? That event resulted in several injured students, with two fatalities.
But which assassin group did Raul hire?
"Sephira, do you remember what the person who gave you this letter looked like?" I asked, trying to gather more information.
"I'm sorry, Master Raul. The person wore a mask, so I couldn't identify them," Sephira replied, looking regretful.
"Don't worry about it," I reassured her, hoping to ease her guilt.
Seeing her downcast expression reminded me of something. If I remembered correctly, there was an event today where Brian saved Sephira from a monster that escaped onto academy grounds.
That monster had broken free from the academy's research facility and would soon attack Sephira. Fortunately, Brian would hear her screams and rush to her rescue.
After that, Sephira would grow closer to Brian and, if I wasn't mistaken, eventually become his personal servant as Raul's behavior became more erratic.
"Sephira, how is your brother doing at the Academy?" I asked.
Sephira had a younger brother who had been accepted as a first-year student at Grunbelt Academy. Unlike Sephira, whose education was funded by the Garcia family, her brother had to rely on Sephira's wages to cover his tuition.
"Roland seems very enthusiastic these days," Sephira said, smiling brightly at the mention of her brother. "He says he's learning how to use 'Temper'."
Sephira was a good person—disciplined, serious about her duties, and never complained about Raul's mistreatment. I thought it would be safer for her to grow closer to Brian, especially with the dangers looming over the Academy.
After finishing breakfast, Sephira and I made our way to the Academy for our classes.
---
At precisely 8 a.m., I sat in the elite classroom attending Intermediate Magic, taught by Master Ignacia de Rubicon.
Magic in this world was the manipulation of mana, with each person having a different mana capacity. Students with a high mana reserve usually became mages, while those with lower reserves tended to become knights.
Those with low mana capacity would often compensate by combining magic with martial arts, ensuring they didn't lag too far behind those with greater mana.
Well… except for Brian, whose infinite mana was due to one of his blessings—Fated Hero.
"Can anyone explain why not everyone with mana can use healing magic?" Master Ignacia, a priestess from the Temple of the Goddess Diana, asked the class.
In this world, the teachings of the Goddess Diana were the most widely followed. Her temple was a powerful organization that could even threaten nations if heresy was discovered within their borders.
A young woman with green hair and a pointed witch's hat raised her hand.
"That's because only those have divine mana can perform healing spells," she said.
This was Valeria de Artagnan—one of the five main heroines Brian could romance in Path of Destiny.
By the end of the game, she would have the highest intelligence stat, and I had designed it so that players would struggle to match her in that regard, making the game more challenging.
"Exactly! Ten points for you, Valeria," Master Ignacia said, pleased with her answer.
Grunbelt Academy had a points system that determined the rankings of all students. At the moment, Raul was ranked ninth among the second-year students and fortieth overall.
The top ten knights upon graduation were automatically recruited into the Calvatra Order, the Empire's strongest Knight Order. The top ten mages were placed in the Castille Magic Tower, one of the grandest magical institutions in the world.
After class, I headed to the library to plan how I could survive in Raul's body until graduation.
I started recalling important events and writing them down in a notebook.
The next big event coming up was the survival exam. This was one of the four key events in Chapter One of Path of Destiny.
"All students are to return to their dorms immediately!"
A sudden announcement from the library guard startled the students.
"There's been a murder on academy grounds! Everyone, please head back to your dormitories!"
A murder? What's going on? Did the monster attack someone else besides Sephira?
With that thought, I hurried out of the library. I could see students running away from the garden area.
Ignoring the danger, I rushed to the garden to see what had happened.
When I arrived, I saw a woman lying on the ground near a gazebo. I approached the body.
Her lifeless eyes stared into nothing, her auburn hair matted with blood. Two large puncture wounds marred her neck. It seemed these were the cause of death.
How… could this be…?
I froze in place, staring at the body of the woman I had just spoken to this morning.
Yes… the murder victim was Sephira—Raul de Garcia's personal servant.