"Sleep now, little star~"
A voice echoed with a warmth that felt like sunlight on a winter morning.
Through a haze of blurry vision, Seven could see a woman's face hovering above him. She was cradling him against her chest, her eyes were a soft pair of ashen blue and her hair the color of warm chocolate.
She looked at him with an expression of such pure and uncomplicated love that it made his soul feel the warmth he had since longed for.
"The night will pass you by~ by~! When morning comes, I'll be here, so don't you cry~!"
He tried to reach out.
'Uh…?'
To his shock, his hands were tiny pink and wrinkled, and he felt small enough to fit perfectly in the crook of her arm.
'Where… am I?'
Seeing his weak fumbling movement, the woman lowered her face and gently pressed her nose against his tiny palms.
"So cute!!" a high-pitched voice exclaimed beside him. "Take this! Tickle, tickle, tickle—!"
A girl, barely thirteen in age, leaned into his view. Her ocean-blue eyes sparkled like stars, and her platinum-white hair brushed against Seven's nose as she wiggled her fingers against his ribs.
'A kid… Eden? Am I experiencing Seven Hart's memories…?'
The description didn't fit at all.
In the novel, Eden Hart had formed her first zi ring at twelve and slain a hydra shortly after. She was supposed to be a statue of ice, but here, she was bright, innocent, and grinning wide enough to show off her teeth.
"Tickle, tickle~!"
"Uwaa— uwaaah!!"
Tears spilled from his tiny eyes, his own wailing rang loudly in his ears.
'Shut the fuck up, it's irritating.'
He tried to stop, but he couldn't control his body. It moved on instinct, as if his thoughts and actions earlier only happened to match by chance.
Still, he could feel everything.
"Stop teasing your younger brother, Eden," the woman said, pouting slightly as she rocked him.
"But Mom, I can't help it," Eden said, her face falling for a second before she beamed again. "Then… I've made up my mind! I've decided!"
"Decided what, dear?"
"This!"
Eden reached for the silver necklace around her neck, unfastened it, and placed it on Seven's chest. The moment she did, his crying stopped. He wrapped his tiny, clumsy arms around the pendant and let out a soft giggle.
Eden's smile was so wide it seemed to reach her ears.
"I'll become stronger and stronger, even stronger than Father! That way, I can protect this cuuute—" she pinched Seven's chubby cheeks, "—little brother of mine!"
"Oh, will you now?" their mother chuckled. "Your father is the strongest knight on the continent. That's a very big dream, Eden. Are you sure?"
"Yes! I can do it. I promise."
"Aigh, aight. But first, look at your little brother's eyes. I think he too is also ready for his dreams."
The baby's eyes were heavy now, wanting to fall asleep.
The baby's eyes were barely open now, heavy and unfocused that even Seven could feel them growing numb.
As Seojin, he had no memory of his mother holding him like this when he was born. But he had been told he was born in the middle of a photoshoot. He had a picture of his mother in his room pregnant with him, and another taken on the day of the photoshoot, the day he was born.
To feel this warmth, this genuine "Mother's Love," even in another world... he felt himself crying on the inside.
"La~ la~ la~ la~ la~ la~!
The woman held him close, swaying slowly as she hummed the lullaby again.
"Sleep now, little star~"
In that moment, his vision faded to white like he was being wrapped in a lingering warmth that felt like being embraced by an angel.
His infant body had finally fallen asleep!
However his mind could still think clearly. Having nothing else to do, he just repeated the lullaby in his thoughts— for some reason, the tempo brings a strange calmness.
'Sleep now, little star~ the night will pass you by~ by~!'
It continued for a few repetitions, until his vision gradually came back. Little did he know that he was murmuring those words aloud all this time!
"When morning comes, I'll…"
He finally woke up.
He found himself staring at the familiar canopy of his bed in his expensive room. Beside him stood Iria. Her hands were still glowing with a faint green light, her mouth slightly open.
"Mmm…" Iria hummed and turned toward the desk, clearing her throat. "I… I didn't hear a thing, my lord. Though tomorrow, I'll come prepared with earplugs just in case you decide to sing in your sleep again."
"...?!"
'Didn't hear a thing, yeah right! She definitely heard everything.'
For a man who had never touched a karaoke microphone in his past life to be caught humming a lullaby… he felt his cheeks heat up.
He sighed, trying to regain some dignity.
"Don't mind it. But… how long have I been out?"
"Two days, my lord. Today is the ninth day of Nocten."
"Two days…"
'Only two days?!'
He looked at the scars on his chest. The skin was healed, and the gaping hole from the hemlock branch was gone. For that kind of wound to heal in forty-eight hours... it was medically impossible.
"What about my older sister? Has she returned to the mountain?"
"That, I do not know, my lord," Iria answered. "Lady Eden only said that she'd be handling 'business' at the moment. But she left a message: if you woke up today, you are to meet her at the training camp this afternoon."
Iria picked up a bucket of water and a towel beside the desk, only then did he notice that he was still shirtless beneath the blanket.
Looking down, he at least had underwear on, thankfully(?).
He sighed again.
Step, step.
"I'll return with breakfast, my lord," Iria said as she headed for the door. "Please rest for a few more minutes."
Creak!
The door shut behind her.
Now alone in his room, he laid back down onto the mattress as a small smile tugged at his lips, turning into a smirk, into a wide grin, until he couldn't hold back a giggle, into a subtle laughter that made his shoulders trembled, until again he threw both his arms and legs up and shouted.
"Yay!"
The sound rang out too loud.
He covered his mouth and looked at the door, half-expecting Iria to burst back in but didn't.
Slowly, he laughed again although softer this time while pressing a hand over his mouth like a child trying not to get caught.
Staring at the ceiling, he realized this was the kind of moment readers talked about surviving death flags, and it felt good that he turned onto his side and buried his face into the pillow, laughing soundlessly.
But…
If he lived…
Then what would she become instead?
In the novel, his death was meant to be a stepping stone for Eden that pushed her forward and erased Seven Hart from the story entirely.
If that stepping stone was missing… then Eden's path would no longer slope the same way.
'Did that mean I changed one of the novel's core pillars?'
To put it simply, him surviving the death flag would definitely create a major butterfly effect, and Eden might never become the protagonist's companion at all.
Standing up, he took the list he had written and hid under the mattress. It was still folded in the same way, nothing had changed in the content written on it.
But there is a huge possibility that those also would no longer take place. In simple terms, the plot no longer had rails.
"Damn it…"
After all, this wasn't a heroic divergence, nor it was a power fantasy where the world conveniently adjusted around him, but a narrative inertia where every change rippled outward.
"If that's the case, I should make it work."
From this point onward, whether Eden walked beside the protagonist or never met him at all, would depend, in part, on what Seven chose to do next.
He still has about a year before the appearance of the protagonist, and so all his next choices might make up for this consequence.
Hiding the parchment back below the mattress, he walked towards the window.
For some reason, his body felt lighter and stronger, though the sensation didn't match his frail frame. Perhaps it was only his mind playing tricks on him after two days of unconsciousness.
Step, step.
He picked up the quill to circle the eighth and ninth day of Nocten.
But…
Crack!
The quill snapped between his fingers, his body definitely got stronger, and he had no idea why!