"How cliché."

He muttered to himself as he looked at the scene unfolding before him.

"This engagement," the man with golden blond hair and bright blue eyes began, "is hereby annulled."

He usually wore a charismatic smile, but now, there was no warmth on his face. Only cold disgust, directed at the woman standing before him.

"I see," despite the way he looked at her, her voice remained perfectly calm, "may I inquire as to the justification, Your Highness?"

Rather than being calm, it was more accurate to say that her pride didn't allow her to show any reaction, especially in front of this many nobles and commoners.

It was the yearly royal ball, one which nobles and commoners from everywhere across Avera would attend. It was a night that was supposed to be full of celebration.

Yet tonight was different.

Tonight, all eyes in the grand ballroom were fixed upon the two figures standing at its center, Prince Lucian and the so-called Ice Princess, Lady Renelle Ardent.

"Should I stop it?" the man who had whispered earlier murmured again, tilting his head slightly before shaking it with a faint smile, "no… let's let the scenario play out. Maybe she'll finally wake up."

Although no one noticed it, he could clearly see that beneath Lady Renelle's calm demeanor was suppressed hurt and anger.

And it infuriated him.

Even so, he forced himself to remain still.

She needed this.

If he interfered too soon, she would continue clinging to that foolish infatuation with the prince, and that simply would not do.

After all…

He would rather not have to kill the kingdom's only male heir to the throne.

Lucian, unaware of the man's thoughts, clenched his fist in anger as he continued looking at Renelle.

"Your conduct," he declared, his voice ringing through the hushed ballroom, "has repeatedly brought disgrace upon the royal family."

Renelle's icy blue eyes glanced briefly behind the prince where a girl with chestnut brown hair and amber eyes stood hidden.

She flinched a bit as her eyes locked with Renelle's and the prince subtly moved to the side, putting himself between the two.

"So this," Renelle said softly, "concerns Lady Noelle?"

A wave of murmurs rose in the ballroom, after all, this drama started with the prince asking Lady Noelle for a dance instead of his fiancée.

"Your harassment of Lady Noelle has gone too far," the prince answered, "false accusations, humiliation and even social exclusion, your actions are unfitting for one who was to become queen."

"Lady Noelle," Renelle turned to Noelle, addressing her directly, her voice carrying clearly despite its gentleness, "have I ever spoken to you in private?"

Noelle was a bit startled at being addressed, but she still shook her head.

"N–No…"

"Have I issued threats? Or demanded your withdrawal from any event?"

"No," she whispered.

The prince stepped forward, cutting in before more could be said.

"You need not intimidate her further!"

A faint crease appeared between Renelle's brows.

"Intimidate?" she repeated quietly, "I simply —"

"Your reputation speaks for itself," again, he cut her off, "who among the nobility does not know of your coldness? Your jealousy? Your contempt toward those of lesser standing?"

Ah, so that's the narrative they were going with.

And it seemed to be working, according to the murmurs of the crowd, especially given the reputation that Renelle had built up in her obsession with the Prince.

"Lucian I —" Noelle seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

"It's fine," the prince turned to her with a gentle smile on his face, "I'm here, so you don't need to be scared of her anymore."

Renelle let out a self mocking chuckle as she witnessed the look Lucian was giving to Noelle, not once had he looked at her the same.

"Very well," She spoke up again, her voice a lot colder now, "if Your Highness wishes to annul our engagement on such grounds, then I shall not contest it."

With that, she turned around, unwilling to go through anymore humiliation.

"Lady Renelle," Noelle suddenly reached out, grabbed Renelle's hand without thinking and that....did not end well.

Renelle suddenly forced her hand out of Noelle's grasp.

The motion was far stronger than she had intended.

Noelle, unprepared for the sudden rejection, lost her balance.

"Ah—!"

Before she could fall completely, Lucian caught her by the waist, pulling her securely against him.

Renelle froze.

For a brief moment, genuine surprise could be seen on her face, she had not meant to push her, she had merely wanted distance.

But the sight before the crowd told a different story.

Lucian's expression darkened instantly.

"How dare you!" he snapped, anger was evident on his face as he helped Noelle stand upright, "even now, you resort to violence?"

"I did no such—"

"Enough!"

"You humiliate her publicly and now you lay hands on her?" His eyes burned with righteous anger, "have you truly fallen so low, Renelle?"

"You will apologize. Now."

Renelle slowly turned back toward him, regaining her previous icy demeanor.

"I will not apologize," she said quietly, "for something I did not do."

That was the final straw and the prince's restraint finally snapped.

The crowd gasped as Lucian raised his hand and swung it towards Renelle.

But just before his palm could reach her, a heavy pressure fell in the room, causing everyone to freeze.

The entire room was suddenly covered in shadows and no one, not even high ranking knights dared let out a breath, as their instincts warned that they'd lose their lives if they did.

They felt as if they were preys being looked at by a predator.

"Forgive my discourtesy," a voice suddenly spoke up as the lights returned.... Or rather, the ballroom being covered in shadows was only an illusion created by their fear.

The crowd focused on the three again, only to notice there was a fourth person between the Prince and Lady Renelle.

He had a neatly combed raven black hair, transparent round glasses and a formal black suit.

His gloved hand was effortlessly holding onto the prince's wrist.

"But as Lady Ardent's assigned retainer," he started, with a polite smile on his face, "I cannot permit physical discipline without formal adjudication by her family."

Lucian stared at him, trembling a bit, but it wasn't from anger, it was from something far less dignified.

Fear.

The suffocating pressure that had swallowed the ballroom only seconds earlier had vanished as if it had never existed.

At least, for everyone else, but Lucian still felt the danger from the man before him.

"And who," the prince said forcing himself to calm down, "do you believe you are?"

The man released the prince's wrist and stepped back calmly, bowing a bit deeper.

"I am The Lady's Butler."

...

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The alarm rung for the nth time today and just like the past few times, a hand moved from under the covers and tapped the phone's screen, snoozing the alarm.

Silence returned to the apartment room again as it failed to do it's job once more.

Well, it was not that he had been asleep in the first place.

The room was illuminated by the screen of a laptop which was laying on his chest, his tired eyes reading through the pages of the manhwa before him.

"How cliché," he muttered.

And yet, he had reread this chapter more times than he could count.

He had read it so much that he knew every line of dialogue, he also knew the exact panel where the prince would raise his hand to strike and the moment the crowd would turn against her.

He knew that in three chapters, the author would begin her social downfall, building her as the villain she was supposed to become.

And in forty-seven chapters,

Her death.

He now knew this manhwa by heart and yet, for some reason, he kept reading it over and over again.

Well, he knew exactly why he was stuck on it, and it was all due to a single name, Renelle Ardent.

She was the final villainess of the manhwa: The Saintess and the Silver Crown.

It was a story as cliché as any, one told many times over, and yet, he had read it over and over for a single reason only,

The villainess.

It wasn't because he thought she was misunderstood or anything, after all, after this chapter, her spiral would begin, and she would become a proper villainess.

Rather it was just an unexplainable infatuation ever since she first appeared way back in chapter 20.

He was someone who felt no emotions.

He understood them, of course, and he could very much recognize, grief, joy, anger, love, fear.

He could instantly identify them on the faces of others, but only because he had spent years studying human reactions back when he was concerned with seeming normal.

Yet all this was changed by a single panel from a manhwa, and thus, his obsession was born.

Of course this was abnormal, but so was he.

And he was self-aware enough to admit that much, after all, normal people didn't fall for a bunch of inks and pixels.

.....

Slowly, he placed the laptop on the bed and got off the bed. A wave of dizziness hit him but he managed to catch himself before he could fall.

He walked towards his bathroom, coming to face with his reflection that seemed to stare right back at him.

He had messy black hair, dark grey eyes with unusually heavy bags beneath them, but that wasn't surprising, after all, he hadn't slept in, what, thirty hours?

If he had a choice, he'd stay copped up inside reading, but as an adult that belonged to a society, he had responsibilities.

"You're pathetic," he muttered as he stared at his reflection.

As a twenty three year old, he had no reason to be wasting most of his day obsessing over a fictional character, and yet, here he was.

Splashing cold water on his face seemed to help wake him up a bit more, the cold shower doing the rest of the work.

Stepping out, he underwent his routine, dressing up in whatever was both comfortable and fit for a work environment, crossing his work bag and stepping out the door.

But not before glancing once more towards the laptop, the screen was dim, but he could clearly see Renelle's cold face that seemed to be looking directly at him.

"Wish me luck," he muttered before finally closing the door and stepping into the apartment's hallway.

***

The thing about not getting enough sleep was that, everything suddenly became a lot louder and irritating.

But he was used to it....kind of.

He stepped out the apartment building, the sound of the city hitting him fully, but there wasn't a single change in his expression.

He calmly walked towards the nearest bus station, with a couple of people bumping into him and apologizing, to which he paid no mind.

"It's late," he muttered as he glanced at the clock on his phone while waiting for the bus to arrive.

Usually, it'd have arrived by now, but it was running late for some reason.

Slowly, he lifted his head from the screen and suddenly, all sound seemed to disappear.

It felt as if everything had gone completely still, and before he had the chance to understand what was going on, he spotted something strange.

"A doll?"

It stood in the middle of the street, unnervingly still, and utterly out of place among the bustling city crowd.

Its body was perfectly proportioned, but its face was featureless, save for the tightly stitched line where a mouth should have been.

One second, he was on the sidewalk, staring at the doll.

The next, he was standing in its place, with the doll now exactly where he had been.

They had somehow swapped places?

"Huh?"

Was the only thing he could let out before,

BANG!

Something heavy slammed into him, crushing every bit of bone in his body, and sending him ragdolling.

Everywhere hurt and he couldn't even breathe as his brain struggled to understand the sequence of events.

Slowly, the sounds that had returned seemed a lot distant, almost as if people were screaming and calling for help from afar.

He had been hit by a truck, hadn't he?

The last thing he saw before the blackness swallowed him completely was the doll, its stitched mouth was somehow… smiling?

And that's when darkness took him.

***

Cold.

That was the first thing he felt when his senses returned.

«How peculiar?»He heard someone say as his eyes slowly opened.

Once his eyes were fully opened, he realized that he was floating in absolute darkness. It was darkness so potent that he couldn't even see his own hands....

If he had any.

"Is this....death?" He muttered, looking around.

If it was, then it definitely wasn't what he expected.

Now, he really wasn't religious, but he had at least expected death to be a lot more than him floating endlessly in the void.

«Fascinating, » the voice spoke up again, pulling his attention towards it, «not only can your soul handle my power, it seems you're becoming one with it.»

The voice seemed to come from all around at once. Before he could say or ask anything, the being spoke again.

«Very well then,» it paused for a short while before adding, «entertain me mortal.»

With that, he heard what sounded like a snap, with it, a sudden pressure fell on him as he felt the darkness latch unto him.

It was a painful experience, one that felt as if his very soul was being ripped apart. He was sure that if his face could be seen right now, his expression would definitely be ugly.

But even through all that, he didn't let out a single scream, and again, slowly, darkness took him.

The moment his consciousness faded, the darkness moved, creating an outline of a robed man with white glowing eyes.

The being stared at the unconscious soul before it and muttered,

«This should be entertaining.»

...

A wooden ceiling was the first thing that came to view as his eyes slowly opened.

This was definitely not the hospital, nor was it his apartment as evident by the old wood that made up the ceiling.

He then noticed that he was laying on something that was both cold and hard, probably the floor as no bed he had ever lay on felt this hard and rough.

Slowly, he took a sitting position, letting out a wince. It felt as if he had been laying unmoving for a long while.

He then, finally, had the chance to look around and he noticed that he was in a small room with walls made of the same wood as the ceiling.

A wooden desk with a couple of books on it, a trunk tucked away at the corner, a wooden bed just a few steps away from him and a mirror were the only furnishing this room had.

"A pre-death dream?"

That was the only explanation he could come up with, after all, he remembered very clearly being hit by a truck.

So maybe this was a case of the brain trying to comfort itself as it had noticed the impending death.

But then again, wasn't it supposed to be replaying seven minutes of his happiest memories?

Not that he remembered having any, but still.

He was sure he had never been to, or seen a place such as this, so why was his brain replaying it?

Besides, why did every sensation feel so real if this was supposed to be a dream.

Unless, this wasn't a dream and he had somehow been kidnapped after the truck accident and brought here.

"No, that doesn't make sense either," he muttered, placing a hand on his chin, "I'm not important enough to be kidnapped for no reason."

He paused, noticing another strange detail, his voice.

Although it was still his, it sounded a lot younger than he remembered.

He stood up only to be hit by a wave of dizziness, but he managed to catch himself before slowly walking towards the mirror.

It was just a gut feeling, one that would or would not be confirmed by his reflection.

He soon reached the mirror, only to freeze at what he saw.

Yes, the reflection staring back was undeniably his, with the same black hair, grey eyes and dark circles that told of countless sleepless nights.

The only strange part was.....he looked younger than he remembered, maybe five years younger.

With a view of his reflection came a sudden, unexpected headache, one that seemed to want to force him to his knees.

Which it did.

And with the headache carried set of memories, none that belonged to him.

***

He didn't know how long the headache lasted, maybe it was a few minutes, maybe an hour.

But when it finally faded, he was left laying on the stone floor in a pool of his own sweat, despite the cold.

He lay there for a couple of seconds, staring at the ceiling as he regained his focus, and the moment he did?

"Hahaha."

It started out as a chuckle before it transformed into a full blown laughter, one that filled the small room.

If someone saw him right now, they'd be convinced that he had lost his mind, but it wasn't as if he would care.

It took him a couple of minutes, but he finally calmed himself and sat up straight again, staring at his reflected self in the mirror.

According to the memories he just received, his name was Adrian and this world was known as Avera.

Why was that important?

Well, one, it confirmed his thoughts, he had definitely reincarnated or was it transmigration?

Now, he wasn't a stranger to the reincarnation trope and the legendary cause of it, Truck-kun, but had he expected it to happen to him?

Not in the least bit.

But the best part was, he hadn't been reincarnated into just any world.

As if the goddess of fate herself had taken notice of his obsession, he had been reborn into the world of his favorite manhwa….

The Saintess And The Silver Crown.

The very same manhwa where his favorite character, Renelle Ardent, existed.

He calmed himself down as he slowly rearranged the memories dumped in his head to better understand his situation.

Adrian was an orphan, picked up from the streets at the very young age by the Ardent family, more specifically, by Renelle Ardent herself.

It was a memory that stood out the most among the rest.

A blizzard had swallowed the northern streets that day, snow had piled high against storefronts, and the wind was as chilly as ever, blowing unforgiving against those with nowhere to warm themselves.

He—no, Adrian—had been small, starving, and half-buried beneath the snow when a carriage bearing the Ardent crest passed by.

Guided by pure desperation, he jumped before it, forcing the horses to a halt and inviting a lecture session from the coachman.

The man had shouted, furious at the audacity of a street rat throwing himself in front of a noble carriage, but the reprimand never went far.

The carriage door had opened before the coachman could drag the boy away.

Out stepped a beauty that only belonged to one of noble lineage, she had hair as white as the snow and eyes as blue as crystals.

She looked only a bit older than the boy, and yet, was a lot more refined..... But that was what being born in a noble family did to you.

She looked at the young Adrian for a short while before asking, "what do you want?"

His lips had been blue from the cold, his body shaking violently, but he had still forced the words out.

"I can work."

He could've begged for warm food, for clothing or anything, but even he knew that those wouldn't last him long, if at all.

The girl looked at him for a while longer before turning to the coachman.

"Pick him up," she ordered calmly.

And from that day onward, Adrian had belonged to the Ardent household. He had not been adopted as family, nor treated as a cherished ward.

He had been fed, clothed, and trained, in exchange, he would be a loyal dog to the lady, one that should bark when told to and die when told to.

According to the memories, Adrian was still undergoing training to be the perfect servant to the lady and he was currently taking the final test, the one which led to his death.

Spirit Contract.

...

The Saintess And The Silver Crown.

Keeping with its cliché streak, had a power system that had been done a few too many times.

Spirit contracts.

Humans in this world, although capable of absorbing and storing mana, they couldn't use it freely, thus making that mana useless.

And that's where spirits come in, they're entities born from a specific type of mana in the air, whether that be ice, fire or even light mana.

Like humans, while the spirits can freely shape the mana of their element to their liking, they can only use a fixed amount of mana they're born from, without replacement.

This meant that once their mana ran out, they'd disappear forever....which was the equivalent of them dying.

So, the two parties would come together and form a mutually beneficial contract, hence, a Spirit Contract.

This contract granted humans the ability to use mana based on their contracted spirits and it granted spirits replenishment through the human's natural mana regeneration.

The only problem to this was that... The Spirits were extremely picky.

Even for little bastard's that were running on time limits, they were extremely choosy of who they formed a contract with.

And unfortunately for the former Adrian, not a single spirit wanted to become contracted with him.....not even lesser spirits.

His final test, which would ensure his placement by Lady Renelle's side, was to contract a spirit that was at least at advanced rank.

A task which he had failed at, spectacularly.

Not a single Lesser Spirit had acknowledged him, common Spirits ignored him outright.

Even the temperamental ones that normally latched onto anyone with decent mana reserves had rejected him without hesitation.

It was as if something about him repelled them.

But the former Adrian was unwilling to give up, he had been desperate.

Desperate to justify the years of training the Ardent family had invested in him, desperate to prove that the life she had spared in that blizzard had not been wasted.

And desperation breeds recklessness.

He turned towards the desk, on which lay a book most candidates were forbidden from touching.

It was a dusty one with what seemed to be leather as its cover, it was so old that even the title had been nearly erased by time,but you could still see a bit of what was written:

On Unclassified Entities and Pre-Recorded Contract Failures.

Unknown Spirits.

They were Spirits that did not fall into the standard hierarchy of Lesser, Common, Advanced, Superior, Prime, or Ancient.

They had no elemental classification, nor had they ever been properly documented

Even so, the former Adrian saw this as his only hope.

According to the memories, he had followed every instruction in the book, down to the letter, a summoning circle made from his blood.... One that had already dried up on the floor behind him.

And enough mana to leave him almost empty, which wasn't a small amount, after all.

Even the trainers here had been surprised by just how much mana his body could hold and he had almost poured all that into the circle.

What happened after that was blurry, but the last thing the previous Adrian remembered was pain and that's where the memories ended, which meant one thing.

"He died before my soul occupied his body," He said, "which is probably why he never appeared in the manhwa."

The manhwa had never mentioned Adrian at all, which made sense now, he had died before the story even began.

Well....he wasn't too sure if the story had already begun, but still, Adrian died too soon to be relevant.

"Though this seems a bit too convenient," he muttered as he stood up again, "I guess I'll be Adrian from this moment on."

Adrian slowly walked towards the dried blood before placing a finger on it, wondering if the summoning had succeeded or not.

«Don't tell me you already forgot about our contract.»

A voice suddenly came from behind him, forcing him to turn around, and that's when he spotted it on the bed.

A black cat.

Its eyes seemed a bit too intelligent for a household cat, and although he couldn't explain it, the creature gave of this terrifying aura.

Adrian stared at the creature on the bed, his expression slowly flattening.

"A cat?"

The black feline sat upright on the wooden bed as if it owned the place.

He still couldn't shake off the pressure this cat released, especially now that he had noticed something, all the light that reached its fur was quickly absorbed.

Its eyes, however, were the most unsettling part.

They glowed faintly, pale and almost silver, and they carried a level of awareness no normal animal should possess.

The cat tilted its head slightly.

«How rude,» the voice spoke again, yet the creature's mouth never moved, «but I guess you truly did forget, maybe a side effect of the contract?»

Adrian looked at the cat, then back at the summoning circle as he came to the conclusion.

"So it worked," he muttered.

The cat's tail flicked lazily behind it.

«Of course it worked.»

Adrian crossed his arms as he stared at the creature.

"So you're the unknown spirit?"

The cat didn't answer immediately. Instead, it slowly lifted a paw and slowly began licking it.

For some reason, the action seemed as elegant as can be, which was ridiculous.

«Spirit?» it finally said, seemingly sounding amused as if he had said some funny joke, «you may call me whatever helps your tiny human mind understand the situation.»

That answer didn't help at all and it caused Arian to frown slightly, if he was going help the lady, he had to account for every single anomaly that would shift the story off course.

And right now, he and this 'cat' were the biggest ones.

Well, not that he cared for a change in the storyline anyway, after all, if things play out as they did in the manhwa, then Renelle would end up dying, and he wouldn't allow that.

Anyway, he still needed to know what type of spirit this was.

Spirits in this world usually had some kind of elemental signature. Fire spirits radiated heat, Ice spirits chilled the air around them, Light spirits were said to glow faintly.

So given its fur, "a darkness spirit?"

Neither he nor the former Adrian knew of spirits known as darkness or dark spirits, but given that he didn't follow conventional methods, he shouldn't expect conventional results either.

«I guess you can call me that for now,» the cat said as it stretched, «but I could just show you, if you truly are curious.»

For some reason, that sounded like an extremely bad idea, so he just shook his head.

"I'll pass," Adrian said before adding, "though I still need to know what element you're aligned with so I can plan properly."

«I see,» the cat muttered before the shadow it cast suddenly expanded and enveloped the cats entire body in what seemed to be a cocoon.

When it dispersed, the cat was gone and the next second Adrian felt a weight on his head as the cat spoke again.

«For now, we're only limited to shadow manipulation,» it explained.

"I see," he muttered, "then that should be useful enough."

"So....how do I—" before his words could be completed, a knock interrupted.

Knock. Knock.

...

Knock. Knock.

A knock was heard on his door before it went silent, and according to Adrian's memories, only one person knocks like that.

Letting out a sigh, he walked towards the door, with the cat still on his head.

Extending his hand towards the wooden door, Adrian pulled it open and came to face with exactly who he expected.

Standing on the other side of the door was a man who seemed to be in his late fifties. He had a head full of neatly combed white hair, a beard to match and a pair of green eyes.

He also had on a monocle, and a formal black tailcoat that looked as though it had never once known a wrinkle.

Beneath it was a white shirt and a silver waistcoat. A pair of white gloves covered his hands, one of which rested calmly behind his back while the other held a slender cane.

Everything about him was immaculate.

Not a speck of dust...or rather, snow, touched his shoes, and his posture was the definition of perfection.

Adrian immediately recognized him.

The head butler of the Ardent estate, the man responsible for overseeing the training of every candidate selected to serve the Ardent family.

A man whose discipline bordered on tyranny.

Sebastian Wells.

He was quite an important character in the manhwa, especially to the Ardent family.

Even through Renelle's villainy arc which led to the family's downfall, he was the only servant that had stuck with them till the very end.

He had been executed just after Renelle's death, as he had refused to abandon the family even when their fate had already been sealed.

A loyal man to a fault.

Which meant he was an important ally to keep, and the only way to get a man such as him by your side, was to be useful to the Ardent family.

Adrian's eyes calmly scanned the man, meanwhile, the cat on his head also curiously looked at the stranger.

Sebastian also noticed the cat, and his monocle gleamed as his eyes passed over the cat.

But if he found the creature strange, he showed absolutely no sign of it.

His expression remained as composed and unreadable as it always was, as he instructed,

"Follow me."

With that, he turned away without waiting for a reply, expecting Adrian to follow, which he did.

Fortunately for him, his shirt was close to the door, so he didn't have to walk out the cold bare skinned, as he had woken up.

Buttoning the shirt up, Adrian fell in line behind the older man, as they walked through the corridor.

Aligned on the walls of said corridor were portraits of the Ardent family heads, both current and past.

The figures within them stared forward with expressions that ranged from proud to coldly indifferent, their gazes seemingly following anyone who walked past.

However, Adrian barely spared the paintings a glance, his attention was instead focused on the environment itself.

The corridor was elegant, yes, but not grand.

The ceiling was lower than what one would expect from the residence of a great noble house.

The chandeliers, while expensive, were modest compared to what Adrian remembered from the manhwa.

Even the carpets beneath their feet, though thick and well maintained, lacked the extravagant embroidery the Ardent family's true estate was famous for.

All these told of one thing, this wasn't the main estate. Now, Adrian wasn't sure where they were since the manhwa never mentioned a place in the North that wasn't the main estate.

But judging from his memories, this place should be some kind of training facility for the Ardent family servants....or more specifically, personal servants.

The two continued forward until they were out of the mansion.

The moment the doors opened, a sharp gust of cold wind swept in, carrying with it the faint sting of falling snow.

The temperature outside was far harsher than inside the building, the world beyond covered in an endless blanket of white.

Snow made way beneath their feet as they descended the short stone steps.

Before them stretched a wide training ground, it was a vast open field surrounded by tall iron fences and thick stone pillars etched with faint magical inscriptions.

Snow had accumulated across the ground, though several large areas had clearly been cleared recently, revealing hardened earth beneath.

A number of figures were already gathered around the edges of the field, all dressed in the same uniform as Adrian.

They stood in small clusters, watching the center of the arena with varying expressions of anticipation and nervousness.

Candidates.

Adrian recognized the situation immediately, this was the final test...well, the graduation test, the final test would come later.

Each trainee selected to serve the Ardent family was given several days beforehand to form a contract with a spirit and familiarize themselves with it.

Only after that preparation period were they brought here.

According to the memories, the task they had was simple.

Defeat a beast.

If they succeeded, they would officially become a personal servant of the Ardent family.

If they failed...

Well, he'd rather not find out.

Sebastian stopped just a small distance from the iron fence before finally turning back to Adrian.

"Step inside," was the only thing he said as he stepped to the side.

Without question, Adrian walked into the arena.

As he walked further in, the cat leapt effortlessly from his head, landing on the edge of the iron fence.

«Good luck contractor,» it said as it got comfortable on the fence, «and make sure you don't die, I don't think I'd ever get someone this compatible with my abilities.»

"...."

Adrian blankly stared at the damn thing, wasn't it supposed to guide him on the usage of his abilities?

But that didn't matter right now as his grey eyes looked towards the far end of the arena where a wall with a gated opening was.

He then calmly took a glance all around him, most candidates either seemed worried for him or for when their turns would eventually come.

Adrian tuned all that out and waited for the beast to be released, after all, it was the only obstacle between him and Lady Renelle right now.

And every obstacle between them was going to be cleared.

But he was about to be reminded that he wasn't looking at the world through the pages anymore..

He was now, very much, a part of it.

...

Sebastian had one hand on his cane and the other behind his back as he calmly looked at Adrian, standing inside the arena.

He might not show it, but he had high hopes for the kid.

After all, save for his unusually large mana reserves, the kid had achieved everything else through hard work.

He was also the most promising among the candidates, as he seemed extremely willing to serve, so much so, it felt like some sort of obsession.

Though Sebastian couldn't place a finger on it, but for some reason, it seemed as if the kid's entire vibe had changed from what he previously remembered.

"Maybe this is just an effect of his contract?" He muttered.

Speaking of contracts, Sebastian's eyes moved to the cat laying comfortably on the fence.

It seems the kid had gotten himself quite the unique spirit, one that even his eyes couldn't descern.

Usually, his eyes failing to identify a spirit would raise his suspicion, but Sebastian had seen that look in the kid's eyes, it was the same look he had when he first met the Ardent family patriarch.

So he was sure that whatever this spirit was, it was going to be used in servitude of the Ardent family.

That is, if the kid survives this test, else every hope placed in him would be useless.

***

Adrian, unaware of Sebastian's hope being placed in him, kept his focus on the gate before him, waiting for it to open.

Was he nervous?

He wasn't quite sure, but was he prepared to face the beast, he wasn't sure of that either.

As a former earthling whose only encountered with a wild beast was with an angry stray cat, the normal reaction should've been fear or at the very least, anxiousness.

Right?

Well he felt none of that, instead, he felt some sort of excitement, almost as if he couldn't wait for the fight to begin.

Which was strange, even for someone like him.

He didn't believe himself to be a violent person nor had he particularly enjoyed violent media.

Though the same could be said for most other media, but still.

This excitement didn't belong to him, rather, it seemed that the previous Adrian was some sort of battle maniac and that imprint had been left behind on this body.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the rattling of chains that held the gate was heard.

Adrian noticed that the gates had been opened, and all he could see from beyond it was darkness.

That is, until a pair of red glowing eyes lit up within said darkness.

THUD

A loud thumping sound was heard from within the darkness as the glowing eyes got bigger by the second.

Rather than getting bigger, it was more accurate to say that whatever the eyes belong to, was getting closer.

THUD

The first thing that reached the light was a massive paw, which was then followed by the creature's snout and then its entire body.

Standing before Adrian was what seemed to be a massive white wolf.

Though its initial form was the only resemblance it had to Earth's wolves.

Even on its four limbs, the thing seemed to be at least seven feet, which was a whole feet taller than Adrian.

Growing out of its elbows and hocks were transparent crystal like structures.

They resembled jagged shards of ice, yet they were far too clear and polished to simply be frozen water.

Each movement of the creature caused faint blue light to appear within the crystals, as though mana was flowing inside them.

Growing out of its mouth were fangs of the same crystal like structure, and as fragile as they looked, Adrian knew otherwise.

The wolf's fur was thick and white, but unlike normal fur, there were faint streaks of pale blue ran through it like veins.

"A Crystal Frost Wolf," Adrian muttered as he readied himself.

According to the manhwa, these things only looked threatening but even a D rank spirit contractor, contracted to a common spirit, should be able to handle them[1].

But for someone like him, who hadn't the slightest idea how to use his abilities just yet, this was going to be a problem.

«You should be able to feel the contract within you,» the cat's voice suddenly rang in his head, «guide your mana towards it, and the rest should come naturally.»

"Alright," Adrian nodded as he tried following the instructions, unfortunately, the Frost Wolf wasn't going to just stand by and wait.

The creature suddenly leapt towards him with speeds that didn't match its size and then swiped its massive paw downwards, hoping to squash the bug.

BOOM!

The paw landed where Adrian stood, kicking up a cloud of snow but he was no longer there.

The moment the paw descended, his body had already moved on instinct.

He rolled to the side, narrowly getting to safety as the massive strike cratered the ground where he had previously been standing.

Snow and rocky earth were sent flying in every direction due to the Wolf's attack.

Adrian pushed himself up quickly, sliding back several steps while keeping his eyes locked on the wolf.

The Crystal Frost Wolf slowly lifted its paw from the ground, its red eyes narrowing slightly as it searched for him through the drifting snow.

It had expected a single strike to end things, instead, the prey had somehow slipped away.

A low growl of dissatisfaction came from its throat.

Adrian, on the other hand, steadied his breathing. The previous owner of this body had been trained in the art of fighting and this body seemed to have retained those instincts.

His heart was beating faster now, but not from panic, infact, he was currently fighting the urge to let out a grin.

Again, a bad habit of the previous Adrian.

Pulling his attention towards the battle again, he tried following the instructions of the cat.

Closing his eyes for even a second would be suicide, so he kept them open as he reached inward.

Again, the wolf wasn't having it.

It lunged at him again, this time with its maws, filled with dagger sized teeth, widely open.

Adrian didn't panic, instead, he waited until the last second before stepping unto the wolf's snout and pushing himself away from the attack.

Cold air rushed past his face as he slid across the snow, his boots leaving shallow lines in the frozen ground as he regained his balance.

The wolf skidded slightly before digging its claws into the earth and turning toward him again.

Its red eyes were now glowing brighter than previously, almost as if to show its growing irritation.

The prey was proving far more troublesome than expected.

The creature then lifted its paw, as the glowing veins on its fur glowed brighter, before slamming it back into the ground, and although the attack was nowhere near Adrian, he still jumped out of the way.

Which was a smart choice.

A second after he moved out the way, multiple transparent ice spikes broke out of the ground.

"It could do that too," he muttered as he recalled the Wolf's attack pattern from the manhwa.

If he had only relied on the previous Adrian's instincts, maybe he'd have been a shiskebab.

"Come on," he muttered to himself as he tried reaching within himself once more with his mana.

And that's when he suddenly felt a click, as if the final piece of a puzzle was in place and the contract had finally been completely established.

"Fina—" he started, only to freeze.

Unfortunately for him, that click had caused him enough distraction for the wolf to take advantage of.

It slammed its paw into the floor again just as it previously had, and exactly where Adrian stood, rose the same icy spikes.

Now, he could've avoided the attack as he had before, but he noticed it too late, and by the time he could react.....

SHHK!

The spike cleanly went through his torso and for a brief moment, Adrian didn't even understand what had happened.

His body was then slightly lifted from the ground as the jagged crystal impaled him, the frozen spike protruding out from his back.

Silence fell across the arena.

From the outside of the arena, several of the observing candidates gasped.

"Did he just—"

"He's dead!"

Even Sebastian's calm expression stiffened slightly as his grip around his cane tightened.

«…Ah,» the cat let out as it looked at Adrian's impaled body, «you idiot.»

[1] Rankings will be discussed later, for now, let's focus on the fight.

...

Sebastian had a bit of frown on his face before his expression reverted to his normal cold self.

He turned around with his cane in hand, uninterested in witnessing the rest of the candidates take their tests.

But he suddenly paused.

Something seemed off, so he slowly turned towards the fence, and sure enough, the black cat was still comfortably laying on it.

Before Sebastian could say anything, a voice came from within the arena.

"That was too close for comfort," with wide eyes, everyone turned towards the direction of the sound only to witness the strangest scene most of them ever had.

Still impaled on the ice spike was Adrian, but a second later, his body seemed to be melting into a pool of shadow.... literally.

The shadow then started traveling through the snowy ground as if searching for something, before finally reconnecting with its source.

Adrian's feet.

Or more accurately, his shadow that had disconnected from him, reconnected again

He was now standing a few meters away from where he had been 'impaled' with a small grin on his face.

«I see you figured it out,» he heard the cat's voice inside his head again.

"Hmm," Adrian nodded as he felt himself complete again when his shadow reconnected.

The frost wolf, the other candidates, and even Sebastian was confused at what just happened, after all, they had all seen Adrian being impaled.

So how was he on the complete opposite side of the attack, and what was that inky shadow thing?

The answer to both those questions was pretty simple.

Shadow manipulation.

Well, maybe not as simple as that, but that was exactly how he had avoided being turned to swiss cheese.

Moments before the ice spikes reached him was exactly when understanding of how to use his abilities flooded him.

Multiple options for his safety immediately flashed through Adrian's mind, but none could be activated quickly enough for him to escape the spikes whose freezing cold he could already feel closing in.

But there was still one viable option.

Allowing his mana to flow through him, Adrian willed for it, and his shadow suddenly disconnected from him, moving as farther away as possible.

The moment it was far enough, Adrian immediately used another skill and the world around him seem to blur.

When his surroundings cleared up, he found himself standing exactly where his shadow previous was, and it had taken his place.

An ability he named, [Shadow Swap]

The next second, a perfect copy of Adrian solidified right where he had previously been.

And just as the transformation completed,

SHHK!

The ice spike erupted from the ground and pierced straight through the decoy.

To every observer in the arena, it looked exactly as if Adrian had been impaled.

The shadow-copy even twitched slightly as the spike burst through its torso before going completely still.

***

And thus, he avoided being impaled.

There was only one problem though, using two advanced skills in a row wasn't ideal for his first time trying it.

And right now, even with his unusually large mana reserves, they were already close to running dry. If he didn't end this now, he'd be in serious trouble.

Fortunately, he had enough to end the fight.

"Alright then," he turned to the frost wolf that had recovered from its confusion, "let's end this shall we?"

As if agreeing to his words, the crystal frost wolf let out a growl before pouncing towards him.

But unlike previously, Adrian was in no hurry to move out of the way, instead, the moment the creature was close enough, its very own shadow transformed into a spike.

But unlike the wolf's jagged ice, this spike was pure black, writhing and fluid-like, almost as if it were alive.

It shot out from the shadow beneath the beast, and though it managed to avoid a fatal injury by dodging to the side, the shadow spike still managed to leave a large cut by its side.

The wolf a pained howl as it tried distancing itself from Adrian, but he wasn't about to allow it to.

Extending his hand forward, he folded it into a fist and as if responding to his actions, the shadow spike suddenly expanded, completely enveloping the wolf.

It tried struggling, but it was all for naught, as the shadow had already firmly wrapped around it, creating some sort of cocoon.

The next second, a loud squelching sound was heard as bloodied shadow spikes pierced through the opposite ends of the cocoon.

The candidates watched the scene unfold with horrified fascination.

A few of them instinctively took a step back from the fence, their faces pale as the bloodied shadow spikes slowly retracted back into the cocoon.

Some swallowed nervously, others simply stared with their mouths wide open, unable to process what they had just witnessed.

The Crystal Frost Wolf, although relatively weak, wasn't a creature one could handle with the same ease as Adrian had.

Unless you were multiple ranks above it.

Inside the arena, the cocoon slowly unraveled, revealing the wolf's dead body which collapsed onto the snow with a heavy thud, its crimson blood staining the white arena floor.

Adrian stood there quietly for a moment, his chest rising and falling as he tried to steady his breathing.

The fight had ended faster than he expected, but that final move had drained the last bit of strength he had left.

His legs suddenly felt a little weak.

"So that's what using mana feels like…" he muttered under his breath.

The feeling, although described multiple times in the manhwa, was on a different level when one experienced it themselves.

Even with the exhaustion, he couldn't deny that this felt exhilarating, though, spending this much mana was pretty painful.

Well, it wasn't pain exactly, but more like extreme exhaustion, as if he had just sprinted for miles without stopping.

On the fence surrounding the arena, the black cat lazily looked at him, seemingly pleased by the outcome.

«Not bad for your first fight,» the cat's voice echoed inside his mind, sounding mildly impressed.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Adrian replied with a chuckle as he turned towards a certain observer.

Sebastian remained silent for a few seconds as he stared at the dead wolf.

Then his eyes slowly moved toward Adrian.

He was definitely pleased that a servant with such talent hadn't perished, but he wasn't going to allow himself to show that.

Maintaining his cold expression, he calmly announced, "the test is over."

"You pass."

...

A day had passed since Adrian's battle with the crystal frost wolf, and his mana had been fully recovered.

Well, almost.

The downside of having a large mana pool was the fact that recovering it fully was a pain.

The only reason he had recovered a bit more than eighty percent of his mana, was because he had the cat helping.

Speaking of the cat, it seemed its new favorite spot was Adrian's head, as that was exactly where it sat while he followed behind Sebastian.

Not that Adrian minded either way, after all, he barely felt its weight.

Anyway, he had suddenly been summoned by Sebastian this early for a reason unknown.

The old man hadn't said anything when Adrian answered the door, he just turned around and started walking.

Well, not that his actions were surprising, this was basically the interaction he always had with any servant in training.

That is, until right now.

"Tell me Adrian," Sebastian continued walking forward as he spoke, "why do you think some servants of the Ardent family undergo this training and most don't?"

Adrian's steps slowed down a bit before he resumed his pace again, an action whicch Sebastian noticed but said nothing.

The reason for Adrian's action was because this was the most the old man had spoken to both past Adrian and the current him.

Which meant he was probably in a good mood.

Though, that mood could change depending on the answer he gave, but there was no way he would ruin this.

After all, Sebastian had answered a similar question in the manhwa during one of the mini arcs which revealed his backstory.

"Because unlike normal servants of the Ardent House, we are the family's loyal dogs," Adrian paused before continuing, "and as loyal dogs, we must be trained to bite whatever hand points a dagger towards our Masters."

Yeah, young Sebastian was a far cry from a normal child, as he had uttered these same words with the same cold expression Adrian currently had.

The only difference was, Adrian very much wanted to replace 'Masters' with Lady Renelle, after all, she was the only one that truly mattered to him, the rest were secondary.

Still, it seemed his answer satisfied the old man, as he could very clearly see a smile on his face, which was quickly hidden.

"That's right," Sebastian nodded, "we, as personal butlers, are also our master's shadow and protector."

He then paused before turning towards Adrian with an icy look on his face, his green eyes also seemed to be emitting a glow.

A heavy pressure fell on Adrian's shoulders as he locked eyes with the old man, one that seemed to want to force him on his knees.

But he resisted.

"If anything happens to Lady Renelle when you're assigned to her," Sebastian continued, "you'll be immediately executed."

There was a bit of silence as the pressure got heavier on Adrian's shoulders, enough to make his knees buckle slightly, but he still responded.

"I understand," despite the weight on his shoulders, his voice was steady and completely devoid of hesitation.

For a brief moment, the two simply stared at each other in silence.

And the next second, the pressure suddenly vanished.

Just like that.

Sebastian turned around and continued walking as if nothing had happened.

"Good."

Adrian quietly followed behind him again.

On top of his head, the black cat lazily stretched before curling back into a comfortable position.

«That old man,» it paused, looking at Sebastian walking ahead, «he's pretty strong, isn't he?»

Adrian didn't respond verbally, but his thoughts answered instead.

I know.

After all, he had been at the receiving end of the old man's aura, and even though it was restrained, it was more than enough to force most to their knees.

Truthfully, the pressure had been far stronger than he expected.

If this were the him from yesterday, he probably would have collapsed.

But after the battle with the frost wolf, and awakening his abilities, his mana had grown a bit more responsive.

Responsive enough to unconsciously reinforce his body, even so, his back was slightly damp beneath his uniform.

Sebastian suddenly spoke again.

"Do you know where we are going?"

"No."

He expected the old man to add something else, but he just nodded and continued forward.

They soon approached what seemed to be a more private part of the estate.

The stone pathways became narrower, and the number of servants moving around decreased significantly.

The few that were present immediately stepped aside the moment they noticed Sebastian.

Some of them even bowed slightly, but not a single one dared to speak.

Adrian quickly noticed something else as well.

Guards.

Unlike the normal patrols scattered around this estate, these ones stood completely still beside iron doors and archways.

Their armor carried the crest of the Ardent family, and the pressure emanating from them made it clear they weren't ordinary soldiers.

So this is, most probably, a restricted area, Adrian thought.

Eventually, Sebastian stopped in front of a massive door made of black metal.

Two guards stood beside it like statues.

The moment they saw Sebastian, they bowed their heads.

"Head Butler."

Sebastian gave a short nod before ordering, "open it."

Without hesitation, one of the guards stepped forward and pulled a key from his belt. The metal lock clicked loudly before the enormous door slowly creaked open.

Cold air hit them as soon as the gates

The chamber was enormous.

Rows of glass cases, stone pedestals, and locked cabinets filled the room. Weapons, rings, necklaces, scrolls, and strange artifacts rested within them, each faintly glowing with traces of mana.

Adrian immediately understood where they were.

The Ardent Treasury or rather, An Ardent Treasury.

Places like these appeared briefly in the manhwa, but it was rarely shown in detail, mostly because the author was too lazy to do proper world building.

According to the memories he received,only those trusted by the family were ever allowed inside one of these.

Sebastian slowly walked deeper into the chamber.

"This is the Ardent family's secondary treasury," he said calmly.

Adrian followed behind him, his eyes scanning the artifacts, some of them were clearly powerful, others were… strange, to say the least.

But he was hella sure that each would cost a fortune.

Sebastian eventually stopped near the center of the room.

Then he turned toward Adrian.

"Most servant trainees never step foot in here."

Adrian remained silent as Sebastian continued speaking.

"But you proved talented," he took a small pause before adding, "and the patriarch deemed you worthy enough to be here."

His green eyes narrowed slightly.

"Which means you have earned the right to choose a tool."

Adrian suddenly nodded in understanding, so this was the reason he had been brought here.

Sebastian gestured toward the surrounding artifacts.

"Every personal butler of the Ardent family carries at least one specialized tool," he tapped his cane lightly, indicating that it was his tool.

"Choose wisely."

Adrian slowly began walking between the displays.

The black cat on his head lifted its head slightly, its silver eyes scanning the room with interest.

«Ooooh… shiny things.»

Adrian ignored the comment and instead, he carefully observed the items around him.

There were a couple of standouts, namely,

A ring that enhanced mana control, a dagger designed to pierce any form of magical defense, a cloak that completely suppressed one's presence.

All of them were useful.

But none of them caught his attention, so he just kept walking.

Eventually, his steps slowed down near the far corner of the treasury where a very simple glass case sat.

Inside it was a pair of round glasses.

They were plain with thin metal frame and not the least bit flashy.

Compared to the other artifacts in the room, it looked almost… ordinary.

Adrian stopped in front of it.

The black cat leaned forward slightly.

«Glasses?»

Sebastian, who had been silently observing from a distance, frowned slightly.

Of all the artifacts in the treasury…

This was one of the few he expected Adrian to ignore, yet the boy had stopped directly in front of it...seemed the kid was just going to keep surprising him.

Adrian stared at the glasses quietly.

In the manhwa, this item was barely mentioned, it only actually appeared once, which was when Renelle had gifted it to the prince, only to earn herself a look of disgust and her gift being dumped in the trash right before her eyes.

Due to this, most readers had assumed it was useless and completely forgot about it as the story progressed.

But Adrian knew better.

After all, he had been one of the few to read the Arti_facts page the author had posted and these pair had been one of the few amongst them.

A faint smile appeared on Adrian's face.

"I'll take this one."

...

«Why choose those glasses?»

The cat asked as it got comfortable on the bed and turned towards Adrian who was observing the tool in his hand.

He silently looked at the glasses as light from outside his window passed through them.

He smiled as he lowered them unto the desk and then turned towards the cat before answering, "because it's a tool my Lady thinks highly of."

The cat looked at him confused, as far as it knew, Adrian hadn't met the lady he was supposed to be serving just yet, so what's up with the obsession?

Unaware of the cat's thoughts, Adrian spoke again.

"By the way, what should I call you?" he asked as he leaned back slightly in his chair, "I can't just keep calling you cat forever."

The black feline let out a lazy yawn as it placed one paw over the other.

«Oh?» it said, its silver eyes filled with amusement, «and what makes you think I care what you call me?»

Instead of an answer, Adrian just kept looking at it without a change in his expression.

He then rested his elbow on the desk before asking, "well?"

The cat tilted its head slightly.

«What makes you think I have a name?»

"Because a spirit without a name is either newly born… or hiding something," he simply answered.

Its eyes narrowed as it studied him more carefully.

«You know…» it murmured slowly, «for someone who only bonded with a 'spirit' just yesterday, you talk like you've been dealing with them for years.»

Adrian didn't answer that.

Instead, he simply repeated his question.

"So?"

The cat stared at him for another moment.

Then it stretched lazily across the bed, extending its paws before relaxing again.

«Fine.»

It closed one eye as if debating whether this was worth the effort.

«You may call me… Noctis.»

Adrian nodded in satisfaction, "noctis."

The cat, Noctis, smirked faintly.

«Don't look so pleased. It's not my true name.»

"As long as I have something to address you by," Adrian said as he turned back to his desk, putting the glasses on.

Aside from the fact that this was a tool important enough for Renelle to gift to the prince, there was also another reason he chose it.

The moment the glasses completely rested on his face, the world around him suddenly changed.

It seemed a lot brighter.

Not in the sense that the sunlight had intensified, but as if something invisible had suddenly become visible to him.

Thin streams of faint light drifted through the air like slow moving currents.

Adrian immediately understood what that was.

Mana.

He could see it very clearly thanks to these glasses.

The ambient mana, made of multiple different colors, that filled the world flowed through the room in gentle waves, gathering near the corners of the walls and dispersing through the open window like mist carried by the wind.

If anyone else saw this, the only way they could describe it was, beautiful.

Adrian's gaze moved toward the desk.

The wooden surface, which had appeared completely ordinary just moments ago, now carried faint strands of mana embedded within it.

It truly was a fascinating sight.

But even more interesting was that, floating in these waves of mana were beings normally invisible, until they allowed themselves to be seen.

Spirits.

They were small, small enough to fit in one's palm, and they were also shaped like normal animals, some being rabbits, others were deers.

The only difference, apart from the fact that they were small and floating, was the fact that they looked translucent and glowed with the color of mana they swam in.

These seemed to be newly born Spirits, still hesitant to leave the wave of mana they were born in.

Adrian then glanced toward Noctis and the sight before him made him pause.

The cat's small body was surrounded by a dense cluster of black swirling mana, that in itself was not surprising.

What was surprising was the amount of mana that it seemed to be made up of. It was so much that the entire space it occupied was covered by dark mana.

And all mana and spirits in the room avoided moving towards it.

Noctis noticed his gaze and asked, «what are you staring at?»

"What rank spirit are you?" Instead of a reply, Adrian asked.

«.....»

"Forget it," he said, seeing the cat had no intention of replying.

He then withdrew a bit of his mana from the glasses, turning down the brightness of the world just a bit and only allowing a selected few things be visible.

Adrian then turned towards his desk again, picked up a journal that lay on it, before flipping to an empty page.

The previous Adrian hadn't noted down anything that would be useful to him save for his daily routine, so he didn't bother reading through it.

Picking up a pen, Adrian scribbled down something before underlining it.

Important Plot Points.

He was sure he wouldn't forget anything he had read of the manhwa, but just in case, he jotted down a few important things related to Lady Renelle.

The first was the engagement being cancelled.

According to the manhwa, it had been cancelled a few days before the Academy resumed, during the yearly royal ball, and from all the info gathered, there was exactly one week left before that happened.

Now, did he have any intention of changing that? Not in the least bit, but he had to ensure Renelle truly got over the prince.

Even if he had to replace her obsession with hate.

He scribbled down a couple of important details on the paper, including characters he was interested in bringing by his lady's side before reviewing it once more.

Satisfied with the notes, Adrian closed the journal and tapped the end of the pen lightly against the desk.

The soft tap… tap… tap echoed in the quiet room.

His eyes drifted back toward the window, though he wasn't really looking outside, rather, he was a bit lost in thoughts.

Adrian leaned back slightly in his chair.

"One week…" he murmured under his breath.

One week before the royal ball and before the engagement between the crown prince and Renelle Ardent collapsed in front of the entire aristocracy.

In the manhwa, it had been humiliating for her.

The prince had announced the cancellation as if he were discarding something inconvenient, while standing beside the saintess the academy had recently welcomed.

And Renelle had only stood there frozen, refusing to cry in front of everyone, only to completely break down after returning to the Ardent estate.

That moment had been the beginning of her end.

The young noble lady developed hatred towards Saintess and obsession towards getting his childhood sweetheart back, all of which had slowly twisted her into the villainess the story needed

Adrian placed the pen down.

"That won't do," he said quietly.

His gaze returned to the journal as he reopened it again. There were several names written beneath Renelle's.

Some had been crossed out, and others were circled.

These were potential allies.

Useful individuals who, in the original story, had either been neutral… or had eventually sided with the heroine simply because she was the main character.

Adrian had no intention of allowing that to happen again.

His eyes settled on a particular set of name.

"These two will be first," he said as he tapped on the page.

Those two also happened to be the most easiest to recruit, especially given their conditions during the early story.

«Who?» Noctis asked curiously, as its contractor had been muttering to himself all this while.

Adrian closed the journal.

"You'll see."

For now, he focused on getting ready to leave this training facility for the main estate, after all, he had recently completed his final test.