I was still watching Asher cling to Aldric, the two of them laughing like reunited puppies, when Aunt Anaya's warm voice drifted toward me and snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Arthur, why are you standing there? Don't you want to hug your dear aunt?"
Her tone held that familiar teasing—half playful, half genuine affection.
I stepped forward and hugged her gently.Even though Mother never openly admitted it because of their long-standing rivalry, the truth was simple and clear in Arthur's memories…
Aunt Anaya and Mother were very close.
To me and Asher, she had always been like a second mother—someone who scolded us, spoiled us, and protected us all the same.
"How are you, Aunt?" I asked with a soft smile.
She clicked her tongue dramatically and turned to Aldric.
"Look, Aldric! Your cousin is acting all gentle even though he broke his promise to visit every two months!"
Aldric—who was still playfully bickering with Asher—didn't even bother responding. He simply ignored her, clearly accustomed to her dramatic flair.
Instead, he turned to me with that unmistakable smug grin plastered across his face.
"Arthur, man, what the heck were you doing? You really took your time visiting this time."
That cocky smile…
I sighed.
It was almost funny. This was the same boy who, in the future, would become a monstrous force capable of burning the world if left unchecked. A walking calamity wrapped inside a talented prodigy.
And yet, seeing him now—smirking like an idiot, provoking me for fun—
A tiny idea popped into my head.
"Haa… at least I wasn't playing around with a certain pri—"
Before I could finish the sentence, Aldric slapped his hand over my mouth so fast it almost knocked the air out of me.
"Pjhff—!"
Aunt and Asher stared at us, eyes wide with a mix of confusion and amusement.
And in their minds, a single shared thought was practically written on their faces:
We know exactly who Arthur was talking about.
Aldric coughed violently, then forced an awkward laugh.
"A-Anyway! Arthur, my dear brother, you must be hungry, right? Let's eat something! Right, Mom?!"
He looked at Aunt Anaya with pleading eyes, practically begging for rescue.
She just stared back at him with unhidden pity, looking highly entertained. She definitely knew what was going on.
It was an open secret throughout the noble circles that Aldric and the princess of the Human Domain had been in a relationship for almost three years. A sweet, dramatic, and ridiculous relationship where the girl was fiercely protective and the boy was… well, Aldric.
He had once bragged to me about how he proposed to her—proudly, shamelessly, and with way too much confidence.
And if I wasn't mistaken…
'If I'm not wrong… this bastard actually had a quest from the system to propose to her.'
Yes.
Aldric Crestban had many secrets.
But the greatest one… was the system itself.
That cheat-like existence was the foundation of the protagonist's unstoppable growth in the novel. And now, seeing him in person, remembering what would come later… it felt surreal.
And that wasn't even the only secret.
Aldric wasn't originally from this world.
He was a reincarnator.
Just like me.
Although he didn't understand it clearly at first, the truth had always been woven into his soul.
In his previous life, he'd been an ordinary nobody—living a normal life, doing normal things, and having a future that amounted to nothing special.
Then, one day, he was struck by a mysterious lightning bolt—an event that should have killed him instantly.
Instead, it reincarnated him into this world as the heir of the Crestban family.
His system awakened on his fifth birthday.
And with that awakening came half of his memories from Earth—fragmented, incomplete, blurry, but undeniably real.
The rest of those memories remained locked away, sealed by his weak spiritual pressure.
But soon—
Those memories would awaken completely.
And the protagonist… would finally become the unstoppable force the world feared