I woke up to the sound of soft birdsong, a melody that seemed to carry through the morning mist outside. The air smelled fresh, crisp, as if the world itself had just stretched and was preparing for the day. My eyes slowly cracked open, adjusting to the pale light filtering in through the curtains. For a moment, I just lay there, not moving, my small body nestled in the soft sheets of my bed. I didn't want to get up. Not yet.
The world felt so familiar now. The simple rhythms of daily life. The light streams of conversation around me. The warmth of my family. Yet, every day, I was reminded that this place wasn't my world. I wasn't supposed to be here. I had died. I was Ryo Kakashi, a man who had lived in the year 2042. Now, I was Leo Heisel, a child of barely two years in this strange new world.
I sighed and stretched my arms above my head. The soft woolen blanket wrapped around me was warm, but it wasn't home. Not my home.
Yet, it was beginning to feel more and more like it.
I swung my legs off the side of the bed, my small feet meeting the cold floor. The floorboards creaked beneath my weight, a reminder of the quiet, lived-in charm of this house. The house that had become my new reality.
Today was no different than any other day. More lessons. More learning. More understanding of this world that I now called home.
I had learned a lot in the last two years—far more than I could've expected. When I first arrived, I couldn't even comprehend the language. The sounds people made were garbled, incomprehensible. And yet, day by day, thanks to Lenora and Fiona, I began to piece it all together. Lenora had been the first to teach me, speaking softly and slowly at first. She was patient, explaining every word, every phrase as if I were a child—because, in this world, I was.
It wasn't just the language.
I had learned the basics of the magic system. That everyone in this world was born with a Unique Skill—a gift that allowed them to use magic. Some skills were as simple as creating small flames or gusts of wind. Others were more complex, allowing the wielder to manipulate the elements, heal others, or even warp time itself. Some were weak, some were strong, and some... well, some remained a mystery for a lifetime.
I had also learned about my family. I wasn't just anyone. I was Leo Heisel, the third-born child of the Heisel family. My father, Victor Heisel, had been a well-known nobleman, and my mother, Celia Heisel, had been every bit as dignified as the matron of a noble house should be.
Unlike my previous life, where I had lost my parents early, my new parents were still alive. They were well and thriving in this world, even if I couldn't remember them the same way I had once remembered my old family. Their faces weren't clear to me, but their presence... their warmth... I could still feel that. Victor was a strong man, kind and fair, a noble by all standards. Celia, on the other hand, had this calming grace to her, like she could handle anything.
I wasn't sure how to feel about that. Was this some cosmic gift? Or had fate simply decided I would be stuck in some bizarre family dynamic?
I couldn't remember my real parents. The ones I should have grown up with. The ones who should have been there. But that was the way of life here, I guess. People came, people went. And here I was, trying to fit into a world that wasn't mine.
The day began as it always did. I went downstairs to the kitchen, where Lenora was busy preparing breakfast. The smell of fresh bread and porridge filled the room, and as I entered, I could hear the rhythmic sound of her stirring the pot. She glanced up at me and smiled, though there was a trace of something deeper in her eyes. Maybe it was the weight of responsibility—she was the eldest, after all.
"Good morning, Leo. Sleep well?" she asked, her voice warm as always.
I nodded, though the truth was I hadn't really slept all that well. My nights were often filled with strange, vivid dreams—memories, perhaps, of a life I had lived before. Sometimes I could almost feel the remnants of my past self, Ryo Kakashi, trying to break through. But it was always distant, fleeting. Gone before I could make sense of it.
"I'm fine," I muttered, my voice still small and childlike, but not nearly as broken as it once was. My language skills had come a long way in two years.
Lenora set the spoon down and handed me a bowl of porridge. "You're getting better at this, Leo. I almost forget how young you are."
I didn't respond immediately, my thoughts wandering. "I've been reading more... I'm learning."
"You've been doing a lot more than learning," she said with a knowing smile. "You've been soaking everything up faster than I ever imagined."
I couldn't help but smile back, even though there was a part of me that knew I wasn't really normal. At least, not for a two-year-old. My mind... it was different. Sharper, quicker than the others. It had always been that way. Even before I had been reborn here.
"I'm almost done with the history books," I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. "I've read the basics. The rise and fall of kingdoms, the wars, the alliances. But... it's hard to understand."
Lenora raised an eyebrow. "Hard to understand?"
I shifted in my seat, unsure how to explain it. "It's not like the history I knew... It's... different. There are no computers, no machines. Magic seems to be the core of everything here. It doesn't make sense."
She sat down next to me and looked me in the eye. "You'll get it. In time."
"I just don't get how magic works," I muttered, pushing the porridge around in my bowl. "I mean... it's there, right? Everyone has it. But... how do I get mine?"
Lenora sighed and took a moment before responding. "You're still too young, Leo. Everyone gets a Unique Skill when they reach the right age. But you're not there yet."
I frowned. That answer was always the same. But I couldn't help but feel something—potential—inside me. I could feel it in my mind. Something... waiting.
The rest of the morning passed in a haze of lessons and books. Lenora and I continued going over the basics of this world. I read about the history of its people, the rise of powerful families, the birth of guilds and merchants, the way cities had grown around magical innovations. The world was old, far older than anything I had known. Its culture was steeped in mysticism, power, and strange traditions.
But none of that was as confusing as people.
The way they acted, the way they saw each other. Nobles and commoners, all moving through their lives as if following an invisible thread. There were rules to everything. Etiquette. Protocol. Every action had meaning, every word was a calculated step. And I was still learning the dance.
I was Leo Heisel, the son of the nobility. But I felt more like an outsider than ever before.
After lunch, Fiona returned home. She was loud and boisterous, as usual, but there was always a warmth to her that made her easy to be around. Fiona was only three years older than me, but in many ways, she seemed so much older. Maybe it was the carefree way she lived. Maybe it was the fact that she had always been the one to pull me out of my shell. She ruffled my hair as she sat down across from me.
"You're still studying, huh?" she asked, looking over my shoulder at the book I was reading.
I nodded, flipping to the next page. "I have to learn everything."
Fiona gave a noncommittal hum before changing the subject. "Hey, Leo... how do you feel about all this? About being here?"
I blinked, taken aback. "What do you mean?"
"Being here, being part of the Heisel family. Do you ever feel like... like you're not supposed to be here?"
I hesitated. "Sometimes."
She smiled, but it wasn't her usual carefree grin. "Yeah, me too. But that's okay, Leo. You don't have to figure it all out right now."
I stared at her for a moment, then nodded. Maybe I didn't. But that didn't mean I couldn't try.
The rest of the day passed quickly. I continued my studies, feeling the weight of both my past life and this new one. I still wasn't sure where I fit in. But for now, I had family. And I had time.
Time to figure out who I really was. And where my place in this new world was.