At the moment Han Seo-jun stepped through the Gate of Reincarnation, all memories of his past life vanished.
Scene Shift
The Royal Empire, the strongest empire on the continent.
On that day, the heir of the empire was born.
Emperor Luise held the infant carefully in his arms.
A boy.
Hair white and milky like fresh snow.
Eyes the deep red of velvet.
Luise smiled.
"Beautiful," he said softly. "My child."
He turned toward the empress.
"Thank you for giving birth to him," Luise said. "His name shall be Noir."
As if understanding his words, the infant suddenly began to cry.
Empress Mariana gently took Noir from Luise's arms.
The crying stopped at once.
She smiled faintly. "See? You scared him."
Luise blinked. "Did I?"
"Yes," she replied calmly.
Noir wrapped his tiny fingers around hers, holding on with surprising strength.
"So adorable," Mariana whispered.
Luise laughed quietly. "Noir, my son… he will grow strong. Just wait and see."
They placed the infant in his crib, exhaustion finally catching up to them.
That night, the palace fell silent.
But no one knew—
Something terrible was about to happen.
Under the cover of darkness, a shadow slipped into the imperial chambers.
The intruder's face was hidden beneath a deep hooded cape.
Without hesitation, the figure took Noir.
Before dawn, the child was gone.
That same night, deep within a forest of monsters, an infant lay alone.
Noir cried.
Again and again.
The cold was merciless.
Then—
A presence descended from the sky.
A Divine Beast of the Empire.
A Phoenix.
Its blazing eyes fell upon the crying human child.
For a brief moment, the phoenix hesitated.
Then, as if pressed by urgency, it plucked a single glowing feather from its body and placed it beside the infant.
Along with it—
An egg.
Warm.
Radiant.
The phoenix did not stay.
But the feather's gentle heat and the egg's warmth surrounded Noir, shielding him from the freezing night.
In that forest of death—
A forgotten child slept, wrapped in divine protection.
And fate quietly took its next step.
The infant didn't shiver in the cold.
The phoenix feather carried the scent of the phoenix, so other beasts were scared to go near it.
In the morning, a couple of adventurers passed by and saw the infant.
Rose said, "Oh my God… who left a child here?"
The knight beside her—maybe her husband—said,
"Wait, Rose. Look. That's a phoenix feather."
"You mean the divine beast of the Beast Kingdom?"
"Yes. And what about the egg?"
"It can't be a phoenix—"
"What? But this child doesn't look like a demi-human."
"Yes, you're right."
Rose said, "Arven… should we adopt him? Please."
"What? But what if his parents come looking for him?"
"Oh, you think they will come?" She looked at the child. "Look at him. He looks like he was here the whole night, shivering in the cold."
"…Okay. Fine. Take him."
"But you know we are going to the Leveran Kingdom."
"Yes, I know."
"It will be a long journey."
"So… what should we name the child?"
"How about Felix, since he has a phoenix feather?"
"Okay. Then it's settled. Felix Roswel."
"You gave him your surname?"
"Yes. I will tell my father."
"That his daughter has a child now?"
"You sure? He was pretty angry that day when he heard you wanted to marry a commoner like me."
"Oh, come on. I'm his favorite."
"He won't be angry when he hears about his grandson."
"Well, that's true.
Let's get going. The day is long, and the destination is farther than we know."
They traveled through two kingdoms, one empire, and finally reached the Leveran Kingdom.
This is the kingdom where all six races, excluding demons, devils, and vampires, live together.
Elves, dwarves, demi-humans, beast-kin, dragonoids, and dark elves are everywhere.
Rose is from a family of the strongest mages.
On the other hand, Arven is from a merchant family and a former Paladin Captain of the White Tiger Regiment of the Elenador Empire.
They arrived at their villa.
It was neither too big nor too small—just enough for living.
Arven does trading, since he is from a merchant family.
On the other hand, Rose maintains the villa in his absence. She recently retired from the Adventurer Guild.
Well, these two stories will be told another day.
For now, she maintains the villa and takes care of their newly adopted child, Felix Roswel.
At first, it was difficult for her to be a mother, but later she adapted.