Two years later
The midwife hurried into the room. Her face flushed with excitement and disbelief. She rushed straight to Hiroshi, who was standing in the grand hall with clan members around him.
"Lord Hiroshi, it's... it's happened," she said, almost out of breath, bowing deeply as her hands shook.
Hiroshi's brow furrowed as he stepped toward her, his voice was calm but it was also heavy with tension. "What happened?"
"The child… he's been born," the midwife replied.
"It's a boy, Lord Hiroshi. And… he was born on the Festival of the Dragons, just like the Seer said. The Guardian of the Dragons has blessed your family."
The voices sounded distant, yet painfully clear. Ren's tiny body trembled as he took his first breath in this new world, but his mind was anything but newborn. He wasn't just a baby, he was Ren.
The same Ren who had died in a hospital bed, the same Ren who had stood before Akane in that misty realm.
Ren's eyes, though small and new, widened in realization. His memory flashed back to that moment with Akane, to her golden eyes burning with certainty as she spoke of the Dragon Lord.
The fresh Dragon lord wills it.
It hit him like a tidal wave. This is it. This is the new life she spoke of. I ... I'm really here.
But what did that mean for him now?
Hiroshi's eyes turned hard and a cold fire sparked inside him. The Seer's prophecy had come true. This child, his son, was the key to his family's power.
The heavy doors to the room his wife had delivered creaked open, and Hiroshi stepped inside with the Seer. The air was thick with anticipation.
Hiroshi's gaze immediately locked onto the baby in the midwife's arms, and his chest tightened. There was something about this child that made his heart skip.
The baby was small, fragile, but there was no mistaking it, he looked exactly like Ren. The same dark hair, the same delicate frame.
For a brief moment, an old, buried feeling tried to resurface. But he crushed it instantly. No. He refused to think about Ren. That boy was a stain on his past, a mistake best forgotten.
Ren had brought nothing but misfortune. His birth had stolen his wife, and his life had been nothing but a disgrace. No powers. No legacy. No purpose. And in the end, he had died in the most useless way possible. No dragon had ever died so pathetically.
The memories alone pissed him off. He exhaled sharply, forcing himself to push them away.
This child is different. He had to believe that. Ren was the past, and the past needed to stay buried. He straightened his shoulders and forced optimism into his mind.
Moreover, the Seer had declared that this child was the next Dragon Lord. That alone was enough reason to hope. For once, there was something to cling to, something that could finally cleanse the shame Ren had left behind.
This was a new beginning. And he would not let the ghost of a failure taint it.
The Seer stepped forward with awe as he gazed at the baby. He bowed low and his voice filled with reverence.
"This child has been chosen. He is the next Dragon Lord. He carries within him the power needed to protect the city."
Ren's tiny fingers twitched as he processed the words. So Akane wasn't bluffing after all.
Her words came back to him. You're going back because the Fresh Dragon Lord wills it.
At the time, he thought she was just saying things to push him forward. But now, hearing these people, his new family confirm it, he realized she had meant every word. This was real. This was always meant to happen.
He wasn't just reborn. He wasn't just Ren anymore.
He was the next Dragon Lord.
Before he could finish, a faint, weak cry interrupted the moment. Another midwife emerged from the inner room, her face was pale and solemn.
"My lord," she said hesitantly, lowering her head. "The mistress… she… she did not make it."
Ren, cradled in the midwife's arms, felt his heart skip a beat. The words struck him like a wave of déjà vu.
This… this was exactly what he had read in the novel.
The pieces were falling into place. The Festival of the Dragons, the whispers of the Dragon Lord, and now… his mother's death.
Akane's words echoed in his mind. You are Ren now.
It was no longer just a story he had read in his hospital bed.
He was living it.
A heavy silence filled the room.
Hiroshi's body stiffened. His fingers curled into fists as the words sank in, each syllable cutting into him like a blade.
"Again?!" Hiroshi barked.
It was happening again.
His second wife, dead. Just like the first.
The midwife continued in a hushed, cautious voice, explaining the cause of death. As Hiroshi listened, his blood ran cold. It was almost identical to what had happened the first time, the unbearable energy, the overwhelming strain, and then… death.
He turned sharply to the Seer, who had been present the entire time. "Explain this," he demanded, his voice low but seething. "Why did this happen again?"
The Seer bowed her head slightly. "The child's essence is powerful," she said evenly. "It overwhelmed the mother's body, just as it did before. It is the will of the gods."
Hiroshi's jaw clenched. His heart pounded, every muscle in his body tense. "The will of the gods?"
The Seer took a deep breath before continuing. "The gods have decreed that this child shall be named Ren."
Silence.
Hiroshi's eyes narrowed, confusion flickering before it twisted into sheer frustration.
"What?" His voice was sharp, almost laughing in disbelief. "You want me to name him Ren?"
He let out a bitter chuckle, but it quickly turned into something harsher. His hands shook with barely contained rage.
"Is this a joke?" His voice rose, sharp and cutting. "Some kind of cruel prank? You want me to name this child after him? After that failure?"
His anger exploded.
"I knew it! The moment I saw this child, I thought something was wrong! He looks like Ren! And now you expect me to believe this isn't some kind of reincarnation?!"
Ren's tiny body tensed at the outburst, but his mind, his real mind was racing.
So this was how it began. A life he had barely started, already drowning in hatred.
And from his father, no less. The one person who was supposed to love him the most.
Was this really his second chance? Or just another cruel twist of fate?
But then, he tried not to be surprised. Akane has warned him that he might meet an harsher life than what the previous Ren had met.
His grip tightened into fists as frustration burned through him. "Ren!" He spat the name like venom.
"A boy who didn't possess any form of magic and ended up putting my family in shame".
His breathing was heavy, chest heaving as all the memories of Ren clawed at him. "Useless in life, useless in death" He roared. "No dragon has ever died in such a pathetic way!"
He turned sharply to the Seer, his eyes wild with frustration. "And this is the child you want me to name Ren? This is the child you claim to be the next Dragon Lord?" His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper, filled with disbelief and fury. "You must be lying. You must be lying."
The Seer, however, did not waver. Her gaze was steady, unwavering. "You may refuse to accept it, but the gods have spoken. This child is Ren. And his fate is already set."
Hiroshi's chest heaved. Every fiber of his being rejected those words.
No.
He would not let history repeat itself.
He stood frozen, his body stiff, his mind struggled to process what had just happened. His heart raced in his chest, and his stomach twisted with fury.
His face twisted with rage as he pointed at the newborn.
"Kill him. Kill him now." His voice was ice-cold, final.
The room tensed. The midwife gasped, stepping back in fear.
Even Ren's body twitched as a baby. Was this how he would die?! Again?!
The Seer's voice cut through the silence urgently. "You cannot kill him, my lord. If you do, something terrible will happen. You must understand—"
Ren felt a huge relieve when the Seer stepped forward to defend him. This Seer was probably a godsent.
Hiroshi spun around with blazing eyes. "What could be worse than this?" His breath came fast and heavy. "Another useless child? Another burden? Another failure like Ren?"
The Seer's eyes widened with fear. He took a step forward, his tone desperate.
"My lord, please listen! If you kill him, you're not just destroying a child. You're destroying the future! The city's hope rests on him. The gods have spoken, he is the next Dragon Lord."
Hiroshi's jaw tightened, his mind a whirlwind of frustration.
"And what if he's not? What if he's weak? Powerless? Just another disgrace? You want me to keep him? Raise him?" His voice cracked with bitterness. "I will not make that mistake again."
The Seer's expression turned grim. "And what will the people think when they find out? That you killed your own son? That you destroyed the Dragon Lord before he even had a chance?" His voice dropped to a whisper, heavy with warning. "If he truly is the one… what will that make you?"
Hiroshi's heart somersaulted violently. His vision blurred with anger and something else, something he refused to name.
'Ren's reincarnate… No. This can't be happening again.'
"He isn't particularly Ren's incarnate My Lord, it is just that…."
"Not another word from you!" Hitoshi snapped in anger.
His fists clenched. His throat burned. Then, with a sharp breath, he turned to the midwife, his voice hollow.
"Take him. Take him far away. I don't want to see him. I don't want to hear about him. He is nothing to me. Never bring him near me again."
Memories of Ren's birth crashed into him, the way his first wife had died, the emptiness that followed, the shame. Now, history was repeating itself. Another child born on the festival of the dragons. Another seer claiming he was the chosen one. Another burden.
And worst of all...
The same cursed name.
"Ren..." Hiroshi muttered under his breath, his voice dripping with bitterness, as if just saying the name left a bad taste in his mouth. "Why does this cursed name haunt me again? Is this what the gods want? Another failure?"
Ren's thought swarmed again and a sickening weight pressed down on him. Akane had warned him of this but he didn't realize a child would receive this much hate from his own father.
His father's furious voice echoed in the room, filled with rejection, with the same contempt he had always carried for him.
The Seer, sensing the growing tension, looked up, his expression hardening. Hiroshi's words had no warmth, no fatherly affection. There was only disgust. The Seer knew then that the child's fate was sealed. Hiroshi would never accept Ren. And if left to him, the child would die.
"I'll take him," the Seer said firmly with a voice steady but it was filled with urgency. "He will not die here, not like this."
Hiroshi's eyes blazed with fury as he stepped forward, cutting the Seer off with a sharp gesture.
"I don't care what you do with him," he spat. "But hear me now, you will tell everyone that the child died during birth. No one must know he was ever born. He's not mine. He's nothing."
He turned to the midwives and the others in the room. "Do you hear me?" He continued, his voice was cold and commanding.
"Make sure no one knows about the boy. No one must know his name. He never existed."
The midwives exchanged uneasy glances, but they were too frightened to argue. They all nodded quickly, acknowledging Hiroshi's command.
Turning his back to Hiroshi, the Seer carefully cradled Ren against his chest. He couldn't let this child die like this, not with the weight of Tatshuana's future hanging in the balance.
"I won't let him die," the Seer muttered quietly, almost to himself. "The fate of this city rests on his shoulders. I will protect him, no matter the cost."