The dream world shimmered with quiet magic—an ethereal calm cloaking the landscape like a veil spun from silver threads.

Trees glowed with soft bioluminescent hues, and the floating islands overhead moved slowly, their undersides glowing with pale blue runes.

The dream world has become more beautiful after the recent update. It was becoming clear now that the atmosphere had started to settle.

Lilia sat on a velvet cushion beside Alex beneath the large circular pavilion in the heart of the dream forest.

Wooden pillars entwined with ivy held up the crescent-shaped roof, and soft lanterns hovered midair, casting a warm amber glow over the small group seated around a stone table.

Zahara, Mira, Sophie, Lilia, and Alex.

For a moment, Lilia didn’t speak. Her violet eyes were wide, not with fear but with quiet wonder.

She had heard of Alex’s dream world, of course—he’d mentioned it along with other things about himself—but nothing had prepared her for this.

The air itself hummed with potential, and even now, she could feel her mental energies pulsing stronger. Her senses were clearer and sharper.

Her thoughts flowed like a stream untethered by the constraints of the physical world.

“I didn’t think…” she began, voice soft, “that something like this could even exist. It’s beautiful.”

Sophie smiled at her across the table. Her golden hair shimmered in the warm light, her royal blue eyes kind and calm. “It’s your first time here. Most people are stunned on their first visit.”

Lilia looked at her quietly—Sophie, the first woman in Alex’s life.

She didn’t speak the words out loud, but she could feel Sophie’s presence, a quiet confidence that came from being at the beginning of someone’s story.

She wasn’t jealous… just thoughtful.

She turned to Alex. “I came here by sleeping, huh?”

She still couldn’t believe it. At first, she thought she was teleported somewhere, but hearing Alex’s explanation, she understood what kind of place this was.

Alex nodded. “Yes. Now that you’re connected to me, your soul can sync with this space. And if you work hard in this world—clear dungeons, fight monsters—you can gather points and learn. Train. Grow.”

Lilia blinked. “Even my mind-based skills…?”

“Especially those,” Sophie interjected gently. “This world responds to thoughts and intentions. It’s the perfect place for someone like you. You will never get tired but retain the memories of your experience here.”

Lilia stared down at her hand, flexing her fingers. The energy in her was different here—vivid and controlled.

The realization hit her like a soft strike to the chest: Alex was far more mysterious than she’d ever given him credit for.

He wasn’t just strong. He was something else entirely.

“You’re full of surprises,” she murmured.

Alex gave a soft chuckle but said nothing, letting the silence settle before Zahara finally spoke, shifting the topic with a sigh.

“We need to talk about Simharia.”

The atmosphere changed.

Zahara sat up straighter, the regal bearing of someone raised in a royal household slipping into her tone. Her crimson braid slid over her shoulder as she leaned forward slightly.

“My father sent me a letter two days ago,” she said, eyes narrowing. “It seems my brothers have stepped down from the succession.”

Mira looked up slowly, and Sophie stopped tapping the table’s edge.

Zahara’s voice was composed, but the undercurrent of tension was unmistakable. “One’s taken the mantle of general. The other, minister. They’ve officially removed themselves from the throne’s consideration. And now the nobles are restless.”

“They wanted your brothers to rule?” Lilia asked, surprised.

“They always have,” Zahara said with a short, bitter laugh. “Even if my father favors me. Even if my brothers themselves support me. Some of them—especially those with ties to old families—never wanted a woman to sit on the throne.”

“So you left,” Mira said, her voice as quiet as falling leaves.

Zahara nodded. “I thought if I backed off, they’d stop pushing me and crown one of my brothers. But they didn’t. They tried and failed. And now, those nobles are… angry.”

Lilia frowned. “And desperate.”

Alex leaned back in his chair, arms folded, his eyes dark as they caught the flickering of the dream fire. “They’ll do more than complain,” he said. “They’ll reach out to the Empire.”

Zahara stiffened.

Sophie glanced sideways at Alex, lips pursed, but said nothing.

“They’ll make a deal,” Alex continued with a deadly calm voice. “Offer Simharian access in exchange for power. They’ll promise loyalty, but it’ll be a lie. And the Empire… they’ll take the opportunity. They’ll swallow the kingdom whole.”

Everyone fell silent.

Lilia looked at him sharply. “How do you know this?”

Alex’s eyes flickered to Zahara.

She met his gaze without flinching. “This is about my home. My family. You didn’t just guess all this. What are you not telling us, Alex?”

For a moment, there was only the hum of energy in the dream world and the rustle of leaves in a wind that didn’t exist.

Then Alex’s expression hardened—not cold, but resolute. “I have sources. Scattered across the world. Eyes in places most people don’t look. They told me what’s brewing beneath the surface.”

Lilia narrowed her gaze. Mira tilted her head slightly, clearly reading something between his words. Zahara didn’t blink.

“…And these sources,” Zahara said slowly, “told you this much detail?”

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Alex, but she wanted to know if Alex had no intention of revealing more information.

She wasn’t going to force it if he wasn’t.

So, for now, she tried to see if he would reveal more about how he knew.

After all, she, just like Mira, always felt like there was something they had yet to know. There was something that Sophie and Alex knew, but they didn’t.

For some reason, this topic felt related to that.

“They did,” Alex replied, voice firm. “Enough to know we need to act before it’s too late.”

Sophie leaned back and closed her eyes for a moment, but there was a flicker of understanding between her and Alex—silent and subtle.

He was lying.

But only for their sake.

He knew all of this information from the plot, but he couldn’t tell them that.

No one likes knowing that they were a part of some story.

So, instead of making them go through such uneasy feelings, Alex decided to lie for the first time.

Zahara, hearing his words, exhaled through her nose, her shoulders tense. “If what you say is true, we don’t have much time.”

“We don’t,” Alex agreed.

Lilia frowned but said nothing more. A small part of her didn’t quite buy it, but she also knew Alex.

Not just her; even Zahara and Mira knew it.

If he wasn’t sharing something, there was a reason.

“…So we’re going to Simharia?” Mira asked.

Alex nodded. “In a few days. We’ll gather supplies, finish preparations, and head out. This time, we don’t fight for survival. We fight for stability.”

“And for a future where Zahara can take her rightful place,” Sophie added quietly.

Zahara didn’t respond at first. But then she nodded, slowly. “Thank you.”

Lilia looked around the table—the strange new world she was suddenly a part of, the people she’d once thought of as rivals or strangers, now sitting together like something closer to a family.

She reached for Alex’s hand beneath the table. He looked at her in surprise but didn’t pull away.

“I’m with you,” she said simply.

Sophie smiled. Mira gave a small nod.

Zahara, after a beat, let a smirk tug at her lips. “Then we’d better be ready.”

What they didn’t know was that their plans were soon going to be delayed by a small matter.

The matter wasn’t small, but with Alex’s power, it could be treated as a small matter.

………………………..

In Originveil Academy.

Margaret hummed as she walked through the academy’s corridor, her orange ponytail swaying with every step, her skirt brushing just above her knees.

Her arms were full of books—bright, colorful textbooks filled with hopeful diagrams and optimistic theories about a world that, in her mind, was full of kind people and second chances.

The sun shone warmly through the stained-glass windows, casting cheerful rays over the hallways as students chattered around her.

Classes had just ended for the day, and Margaret was heading toward the greenhouse for her daily volunteer work with the academy’s healing herbs.

She stopped to wave at a teacher, smiled at a group of younger students, and helped a boy who had dropped his notes.

Her presence was a little too sunny for the otherwise somber campus. People said she was too naïve, too trusting. But Margaret didn’t see the world that way.

She believed that deep down, everyone was good.

Even him.

“Margaret.”

A smooth, calm voice slipped through the hallway. Margaret blinked and turned.

Damien Dickensor.

He stood near the corridor’s corner, a tall and lean figure draped in the academy’s uniform, but with a few subtle changes—a darker trim, a crest on his shoulder that marked him as royalty.

His pale grey hair fell neatly over his forehead, framing his angular face and sharp eyes. Eyes that gleamed like cold steel. Eyes that lingered.

And yet, Margaret smiled. A little awkwardly, but genuinely.

“Oh, hi Damien!” She chirped, walking over. “Are you looking for me again? I told you already—I’m not good with all that love stuff…”

He smiled.

Margaret couldn’t tell, but his smile wasn’t warm.

“No proposals today,” he said, his voice like velvet over a knife’s edge. “Just a walk.”

She tilted her head.

“A walk?”

“Yes. No tricks. Just you and me. You said you liked the forest behind the academy, right? The Quiet Place?”

She blinked. Then nodded slowly. “I… I do. It’s peaceful.”

He extended his hand.

And Margaret, with that same trusting heart that had never failed her—until now—nodded and followed him.

‘Maybe he just wanted a friend,’ she thought, oblivious to his real thoughts.

………………………..

The forest on the academy’s fifth peak was peaceful, as always.

The leaves rustled with a faint breeze, and the distant sound of birds echoed through the thick canopy above.

Damien didn’t speak much as they walked. His gaze remained ahead, his stride confident.

Margaret glanced up at him a few times, hesitant.

“Hey,” she finally said, “you’re… really quiet today.”

Silence.

She slowed her steps. Something prickled at the back of her neck.

“Damien?” She asked softly.

He turned, slowly, his grey eyes glowing faintly now. A low, satisfied smile played on his lips.

“Margaret,” he said, his voice nearly a whisper, “did you know… I’ve always admired how untouched your soul is?”

Her heart skipped.

“I—wha—?”

Before she could finish the sentence, something struck her.

Pain exploded in the back of her head as she gasped, her vision whiting out instantly. Damien caught her before she could hit the ground, gently, like a lover catching a fainting bride.

“Shhh,” he whispered as he cradled her unconscious form, brushing her hair back. “Let’s not ruin that smile too quickly.”

He stood there for a moment, holding her still body in his arms as the leaves around them rustled.

Then, without turning his head, he spoke.

“A little rat’s been sneaking around, huh?”

The air trembled.

Thirty meters behind him, on a branch, Alex’s subordinate—dressed in grey robes with a hood, his aura concealed—gritted his teeth. He had failed. He knew it.

He jumped down silently, ready to run away since his only job was to observe, but he was already too late.

From the shadows behind him, a flicker moved.

A vampire in pitch-black armor stepped into the world in smoke-given form. His eyes were crimson voids, his smile thin and cruel.

The subordinate barely had time to widen his eyes.

Shhhk—

A clean slice.

Blood sprayed into the dirt like a crimson fan, the man’s head hitting the ground silently a moment after his body collapsed.

Damien, still holding Margaret, didn’t even flinch.

He looked at the fresh corpse with bored eyes and muttered to the shadows, “Clean that up.”

The other vampire gave a curt nod and vanished once more.

Damien leaned his head back and looked at the trees, smiling to himself.

“I’ve waited so long for this… for you, Margaret. The things I’ll do… You’ll learn the truth of this world.”

He looked down at her sleeping face—so serene and unguarded.

“So let’s begin,” he whispered.

Today, he finally laid his hands on something he couldn’t forget, no matter how much he tried, not knowing that this action might turn out to be one of the worst decisions of his life.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep