Night fell quietly over the Ashborne estate. Lanterns lit the corridors with soft golden light, and distant laughter echoed from the banquet hall where nobles gathered. Kaelen remained alone in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed with his eyes closed.
He was waiting.
In his previous life, this was the night everything shifted. The night his fate began moving toward destruction. At this hour, a silent change would occur inside his body, one so small that no one noticed until it was too late.
A dull pain suddenly bloomed in his chest.
Kaelen's breath hitched, but he did not panic. He remembered this sensation. Back then, he had collapsed in confusion, thinking it was illness or weakness. The elders later used it as proof that he was unstable.
Now he welcomed it.
The pain spread slowly, like fire crawling through his veins. His heartbeat grew heavier. His vision blurred as fragments of power stirred deep within him. Ancient memories pressed against his consciousness, trying to surface.
Kaelen clenched his fists and focused.
Calm.
Control.
In his past life, he had rejected this feeling out of fear. He had tried to suppress it, to remain normal. That mistake had cost him everything.
This power was not a curse.
It was the reason they feared him.
The room trembled faintly. The air thickened, pressing against the walls. The runes carved into the estate foundations flickered once, then faded.
Outside, no one noticed.
Kaelen opened his eyes.
For a brief moment, the world around him seemed unreal. Time itself felt thin, stretched, as if it could tear at any second. He sensed countless paths branching forward, futures that could exist and futures he would erase.
So this is what I sealed away before, he thought.
The pain slowly subsided, leaving behind a deep, steady warmth in his core. His body still appeared weak, his aura still dull. Nothing visible had changed.
But inside, something had awakened.
Kaelen stood and walked to the cracked mirror. He studied his reflection. A young noble with tired eyes and an unremarkable presence stared back at him.
Good, he whispered.
Let them keep seeing this version of me.
He lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, listening to the distant sounds of the estate. Somewhere beyond these walls, the academy awaited. Beyond that, the kingdom. Beyond that, a future soaked in blood and fire.
This time, he would not be dragged forward by fate.
He would walk ahead of it.
As sleep finally claimed him, Kaelen smiled faintly.
Time had already rewound.
And the world had no idea what it had just allowed to return.