First… I needed to sort through these memories.
They flooded my mind like a broken dam—images, sensations, emotions, entire years of a life that was not originally mine yet felt painfully familiar. Every detail, every moment, every scar Arthur had carried now pulsed inside my consciousness as if they had always belonged to me.
I was now Arthur Von Vormir—the first son of Countess Valeri Crestban Vormir.
That identity settled over me like a cloak I wasn't sure I had earned. The weight of the name alone felt heavy, noble, and suffocating at the same time.
My father, the late Count Vormir, had died two years ago fighting inside an Abyss Rift.
The memory was vivid—Arthur had been there. The screams, the distorted space, the overwhelming darkness of the rift. And then… Father's final stand. Even though it wasn't originally my memory, the emotion hit me so sharply that my throat tightened.
On that same day, Mother was infected with Abyss Corruption—a plague that erodes the soul itself.Even as an Immortal-rank awakener, she couldn't resist it. How could she? Their opponent had been a Star-level Abyss Beast, a creature of such scale and power that it could crush planets with a mere flick of its finger.
Against such a monstrosity, even "Immortal" meant nothing.
If Father hadn't sacrificed everything…
She wouldn't even be alive in a coma.
That truth sent a cold shiver through my bones. For Arthur, that moment had marked the end of childhood and the beginning of a burden no twelve-year-old should ever carry.
Since then, the entire county's responsibilities fell onto me.
I was twelve.
A perfect moment for opportunistic nobles—vultures dressed in silk and wearing shiny titles—to swoop in, tear apart the territory, and seize whatever power they could grasp.
But none dared.
Not with my uncle alive.
Duke Alistra Crestban—Mother's elder brother.
A man even the king hesitated to provoke.
His presence alone was enough to suppress ambitions across the region. The memories of his wrath still trembled in Arthur's heart—when he learned of Mother's condition, his rage tore through realms. The screams of the Abyss echoed for days as he slaughtered everything within the rift. That event was spoken of in whispers, even among the strongest awakeners.
Yet even that wasn't enough to stop the corruption.
He had even offered to adopt me and my younger brother—shielding us under his own crest and influence. A gesture born out of fear of losing the last remnants of his sister's family.
But I refused.Not out of pride…But out of duty to the Vormir lineage.
Still, he protected us from the shadows. Constant surveillance, hidden guards, political pressure—he ensured no one dared breathe wrong in our direction.
Ah, right… my little brother.
Asher von Vormir.One and a half years younger than me.
His memories surged next—Asher's laughter, his dependence, his naïve hopefulness. All of it hit me with a strange ache. In my previous life, I had never had a sibling. But now… I felt the warmth Arthur had always felt toward him.
I rose from the bed and walked toward the mirror.I already knew what face I would see, but I needed to confirm it myself, needed to see with my own eyes the truth of what I had become.
My reflection stared back.
Snow-white hair.Sharp features that looked sculpted rather than born.A naturally noble aura that felt completely foreign to me.
"How is this even possible…? The same face, the same personality…"
Yes.
Adam's face—my original face—was exactly the same as Arthur's.
Only the eyes were different.
A chill ran down my spine, goosebumps trailing down my arms.
And for the first time…I realized this wasn't just transmigration.
Something far stranger—far deeper—was at play.