Vaan stared at the mansion from the foot of the gates.
A quick glance at the towering clock tower at the city center told him that today was 15th January, 1679.
That day was the one-month anniversary of his marriage with Diana.
He had been sent back ten years into the past.
"Who did this?" He growled.
Time Magic was rare.
Vaan knew enough about it to know that sending someone back in time by ten years wasn't possible.
He had once experienced being trapped in a time loop. Vaan was forced to relive a single day for centuries.
After he got out of the time loop, the first thing he did was to learn everything about Time Magic. While he couldn't use magic, he could at least take precautions against it.
Even the Dragon of Time had confirmed that the maximum time reversal possible was thirty days.
So, how?
How did he reappear ten years in the past?
"This is an illusion," Vaan guessed.
It was easy to verify if he was inside an illusion.
"Status," he muttered.
Vaan Siegfried
Titles (Equipped): One Who Has Died
Titles (Unequipped): Celestial Renegade (New)
Enlightenment Stage: Untouched
Mana Points: 00
Mana Purity: 0%
Mana Density: 0.00
Primary Elementals: Fire(0), Wind(0), Water(0), Earth(0)
Secondary Elementals: None
Transcendent Elementals: None
Bloodline: ??? (Dormant)
The System Deity, Mother, was the Lord of Creation and Overseer of Infinite Planes. The Status was her gift to all mortals and transcendentals alike.
A mere illusion could never hope to recreate the Status.
This meant that Vaan was actually back in time.
Vaan could feel his anger rising at the sick joke.
Diana hadn't been just killed. Her soul had been erased.
Going back in time wouldn't bring her back—
"Vaan?" A girl called out from the other side of the mansion's gate.
Her strawberry pink flowed down her back.
Her small nose, clear eyes, and sweet smile was exactly as he remembered.
She had wrapped herself in a shawl to resist the freezing cold.
Vaan froze.
"Why are you standing there?" She smiled and stepped out.
With a side-eye, she stared at the cake in his hand and her smile deepened.
She took the cake from him, then pulled him inside.
But his feet refused to budge.
"Diana?" He called out.
She turned to look back at him.
"Diana? Are you really here?"
"Is this another one of your prank? Fine, I'll play along. Dear husband, your wife had been eagerly waiting for you. Why don't we go inside so that she doesn't feel lonely anymore?"
She spoke with a cheeky smile when suddenly Vaan pulled her in a tight hug.
His sudden actions took her by surprise.
When she realized what was happening, she blushed but didn't pull back.
"Diana."
"Yes, it's your lovely Diana."
"Diana."
"Yes, it's your lovely Diana."
"Diana."
"Yes, it's your lovely Diana."
He kept repeating her name, and she answered him with patience.
Diana didn't understand why Vaan was acting the way he was, but she didn't question him.
They entered the mansion after he let her go.
The place was completely empty save for a dining table with a single chair, a master bed on the third floor and a throne in the main hall, which wasn't taken away like everything else because it was fused with the floor.
Expensive furniture, lavish items, and dozens of servants had filled the mansion one month ago. But Vaan had given everything as a dowry to Diana's family.
"I've always wanted to eat from Simons." Diana said with evident excitement.
Vaan brought the chair from the dining table and placed it next to the throne in the main hall. The lack of furnishings made this arrangement necessary if they wanted to eat together.
Throughout the way, he kept silent.
What brought him out of his stupor was Diana's nudging.
"Say aaah."
She gently tried to feed Vaan the cake.
In the past, he would have refused her with a glare or an insult — sometimes, she would wonder if he liked her and if he didn't, why did he give away everything to marry her — but today something surprising occurred.
He took on her offer without any resistance.
She froze, unable to understand what had brought such a change. Was it related to how he behaved at the front gate?
However, her thoughts were soon drowned out by Vaan's smile,
His eyes were as if he was looking down on her and a corner of his lips rose in a condensing smirk.
Stunned, Diana wondered if she had done something wrong.
She opened her small mouth.
"Why are you smiling… like that?"
"Because I'm happy."
Diana blinked. She wondered about the possibility of his answer being a lie, but then she looked him in the eye and realized.
Vaan was serious.
He was trying to give a gentle smile — what he believed to be a gentle smile.
She burst into a fight of laughter.
"Hahahaha, you look like a thug."
She knew her choice of words wasn't the best. But that didn't stop her from laughing until her tears flowed.
Gods knew that Vaan's smile would give a heart attack to anyone if they saw him right now. Though she didn't tell him that.
On the other hand, Vaan returned to his usual expressionless face.
It didn't matter to him if his attempt failed, since it made Diana smile either way.
However, he secretly decided to look for a mirror later that night.
After the dessert, they retired for tonight.
He told Diana to sleep on the bed on the third floor, which earned him a worried look.
In the past, he had slept on the bed while he made her sleep on the floor or the throne, none of which was comfortable.
Saying it was okay to use the only fluffy bed in the mansion was bound to make her think that Vaan was being weirdly kind today.
The fact she was thankful for something as simple as this only made Vaan feel more guilty. He vowed to treat her to the best of his ability.
When she left, he returned to the throne room. Since he had to be relaxed for what he was about to do, he decided to use the massive throne.
He sat in a comfortable posture and closed his eyes.
In five years, Diana would awaken as the Witch Of Frost. Her powerful magic would be strong enough to plunge the Three Continents in an ice age.
While she could theoretically control her powers, the Magi Kings had killed her before any such future came to fruition.
Vaan needed strength if wanted to protect her.
Previously, it had taken him decades to even achieve the First Step and centuries to become a Martial Deity.
But he didn't have that luxury anymore.
Over the next five years, he must become stronger than he was in the past.
Vaan wasn't worried.
He still couldn't use magic and his hard earned martial strength had disappeared, however, he retained the insight and experience as a Martial Deity.
And this time, he wouldn't use only Martial Arts.
He would exploit the esoteric powers he had learned in his last life while searching for ways to improve his martial arts.
These esoteric powers were completely different from Martial Arts and Magic, and their potential was no less than them.
Vaan exhaled deeply.
He merged his consciousness with his sub-consciousness to awaken his Transcendental Martial Art.