Ch.126World Tree, Truth, and Possession (5)

“You look confused. What part surprised you so much?”

“…To be honest, every part you mentioned.”

“I thought as much. It would be more shocking if you remained calm after hearing we’ve waited a thousand years for someone who can’t even define their own existence.”

“Waiting a thousand years… you mean you’ve been waiting for me since this empire was founded? Why a thousand years- no, more importantly, why me?”

The queen quietly smiled at him. There wasn’t much time left. She wanted to tell him everything she knew, but Evan would likely need to define his own existence himself. Opening her mouth slowly while looking at Evan, the queen recalled events from a thousand years ago to reveal what she could in this moment.

“Do you know about the war from a thousand years ago? The story of how Alarr wielded the Ascalon you’re holding now and used that sword to cut down Mabeth, sealing him in another dimension.”

“I know it.”

“Then this will be a bit easier to explain. Back then, we couldn’t kill Mabeth. Even with Alarr, myself, and Frid combining our powers, sealing Mabeth was all we could manage. Our powers had already reached their peak, but Mabeth was far stronger than we anticipated. So naturally, that seal couldn’t last forever.”

Evan nodded slightly at the queen’s words.

Wasn’t that why the Extinction was moving so frantically—to wait for that seal to break, to hasten its timing?

If it operated on a thousand-year cycle, it made sense that preparations would be made for that moment.

However, why him? No matter how much he thought about it, nothing came to mind, so Evan finally turned his gaze toward the queen.

“Could it be that my becoming a Master was also part of those preparations?”

“To say it wasn’t… well, it had some influence, but that level was achieved through your own efforts. You know that better than anyone, don’t you? Having lived two lives, you must have directly seen what became of Evan Frid in that other life.”

“…Are you saying these two lives I’ve experienced were part of those preparations? Then one of them must be an illusion.”

“Both lives are real. It depends on how you look at it, but aren’t they both lives you experienced while feeling the passage of time? Asking me won’t give you answers. In the end, it’s your time—I’m merely an observer and cannot give you definitive answers.”

A real life. Yet as their conversation continued, his mind was filled with unresolved questions.

What about the 25 years he lived as a pianist? And the 20 years he lived as Evan Frid? What was real?

Both memories were vivid. Nothing felt false, making the claim that he had lived two lives seem true.

If so.

‘…What about the novel I read?’

There was a novel called “You of the Rose Thorns.”

It was a romance fantasy novel that gained explosive popularity and was loved by many.

Scarlet Terazein, the protagonist of that novel, and Aileen Yuris, the villain.

And Kaisel, who appeared as the male lead. Wasn’t it true that he, who had been saddened while reading that novel, had entered the world of the novel and become Evan Frid?

It felt like something he had firmly believed in was shattering.

Not possession, but that he had been living in this world from the beginning.

The queen seemed to be saying exactly that, making Evan sigh deeply as he pressed his throbbing head.

“…So then- no, that means the dragon blood in my body was part of those preparations.”

“Precisely. Frid married a human not only because he loved humans deeply, but also to increase the chances of victory, however slightly, when fighting Mabeth.”

“And I was the one who inherited the strongest dragon blood… and that’s why I lived two lives?”

He was still confused. Nothing was easy to believe, and there was no evidence to confirm all the queen’s words as truth.

But this vague sense of trust rising from within his chest was making him try to understand these words somehow. The preparations of Frid, Alarr, and the queen.

“Dragon blood often brings about miracles. We didn’t prepare the arrangement of two lives for you. So I ask you, Evan… what did you see and feel in your two lives?”

The words that naturally seeped into his ears made Evan recall his past memories.

Memories he had tried to completely forget, but simply couldn’t.

Memories that still remained coiled in a corner of his mind.

Evan’s eyes slowly closed as he looked back on his memories of living as Kim Soo-hyun the pianist, not Evan Frid.

And the first thing he recalled was his unfortunate childhood. He had talent for the piano.

Perhaps he was the one who realized he had the talent to stand higher than anyone else,

but his parents wouldn’t let the piano remain merely a hobby.

At age 5, he began entering every possible competition, to the point where he couldn’t even properly attend kindergarten.

Evan’s expression gradually darkened as negative emotions slowly rose within him,

but he could find something quite interesting in those memories.

An unfortunate childhood—wasn’t this something he experienced not only as Kim Soo-hyun but also as Evan Frid?

Both had talent in something, and their parents tried to fulfill their own desires by exploiting their child’s talent.

Honor, power, wealth. At such a young age, he had no choice but to be swayed by those words—wasn’t all of this the same?

At the age of 10, he went abroad. At the age of 10, he went to Yuris.

The age when he won the Chopin Competition was the same as when he became an Expert.

Could that really be called a coincidence? And to add one more thing.

What came to Evan’s mind, quite naturally, was the sibling he had cherished.

He regretted losing them. Despite having the money and prestige to protect them,

he couldn’t save them simply because he didn’t know they were sick.

The experience of losing someone precious. Though he hadn’t lost anyone precious while living as Evan Frid,

that was because he had already experienced losing someone dear to him.

And because he already knew what would happen to Aileen Yuris.

So how did he know that fact?

Because when he lived as Kim Soo-hyun, he had read a romance fantasy novel called “You of the Rose Thorns.”

As if struck by something on the back of his head, he could almost hear a bell ringing in his mind.

Why had he only realized this now?

Why hadn’t he felt any strangeness despite spending so much time reading the novel and even reading comments diligently?

Perhaps these two lives weren’t a miracle created by dragon blood.

The miracle created by dragon blood might have been the novel he read while living as Kim Soo-hyun.

‘Why did I only realize this now?’

Despite the queen being in front of him, Evan grabbed his head and burst into laughter.

Laughing for a long time with his back arched as he looked up at the sky, Evan then quietly looked at the queen.

“I.”

His rough breath was mixed with various emotions.

It was unbelievable, but he had to accept the truth that had now become reality.

He had to acknowledge that what he had seen wasn’t simply a novel for entertainment, but that the novel was… an arrangement made for him.

“…I saw the future.”

“You of the Rose Thorns” was certainly popular among many people… a novel that many loved while leaving comments.

But the novel had several peculiarities. The publication schedule was irregular,

the character illustrations looked like medieval oil paintings, and finally.

‘Author unknown.’

The fact that the author’s existence was not known to people.

He should have found it strange that no one questioned this,

but now he felt foolish for only realizing the issue now.

Evan stared blankly into space with a hollow laugh.

Until now, he thought he knew everything because he had been possessed.

Because he was possessed, because he was a reader who had seen the novel. So he thought it was natural for everything to flow according to the novel’s content.

“Is the future you saw the same as the reality we’re experiencing now?”

“No… it’s different. Because I changed it.”

In the novel, Evan Frid didn’t exist.

Aileen Yuris died, and the Crown Prince and Scarlet probably got married.

He didn’t know what happened after that. Because he didn’t read any more of the novel.

But if Hatan and Roman were clearly alive… wasn’t what would happen next obvious?

“The future I saw was probably one where this world was destroyed.”

Parallel worlds—a term quite familiar to Evan who had lived in the modern era.

If he was being “warned” by being shown what would happen in a timeline where he didn’t exist,

couldn’t all of this be understood? It was a warning. Yes, a warning.

Rubbing his face with both hands, Evan felt as if something knotted in his chest was coming undone.

Because he knew the future and helped Aileen, because he became Aileen’s knight and fought against the Extinction, they were able to avoid following the content of the novel exactly.

Rofena and Chris didn’t die, and Aileen was still alive.

After eliminating Roman and Hatan who hadn’t appeared in the novel, and now knowing that Frid and Terazein were related to the Extinction.

Evan, who now understood what the “thousand years” they spoke of was for, looked at the queen with a calmer expression.

The dragon blood flowing in his body possessed purifying power effective only against black mages.

The power of black mages originated from the darkness harbored by the ancient dragon Mabeth. Alarr’s Ascalon was given to him,

and now he had met the queen of the elves and realized the truth that connected everything.

Was he Kim Soo-hyun, or was he Evan Frid? Though not everything was sorted out yet, if there was one thing absolutely clear:

“What you’ve been waiting for… was someone who could seal Mabeth again.”

“That’s right. Someone who could wield Alarr’s sword, use Frid’s power, and at the same time understand and embrace the truth that has flowed through these thousand years. But this arrangement would have been useless if no action was taken. It’s all… because you acted to fight against the Extinction that we’ve been able to come this far.”

From his now perfectly returned memories, he clearly remembered trying to take his own life after reading the letter that came to his father.

He was confused and didn’t want to betray Chris who had taught him.

The faint remaining dragon blood blocked his mind, allowing him to perform that final act.

Evan quietly stroked his neck with his finger.

The knife had certainly pierced his throat and made him bleed. But he wasn’t injured.

The 25 years that emerged in between was enough time to stop Evan Frid’s time and change everything.

When he opened his eyes, there was only Kim Soo-hyun who had lost Evan Frid’s memories and simply believed he had been possessed into a novel.

His sibling, and Aileen.

The one he couldn’t protect, and the one he protected by sacrificing his life.

“All this truth must be a burden to you. You’ve shouldered a heavier responsibility, all that has accumulated over a thousand years. I sympathize with you. As an ancient being, I pity you and feel sorry for you. However, everything you’ve done so far has been done according to your own will, regardless of our arrangements.”

After biting her lip briefly, the queen looked at Evan and slowly bowed her head.

“What happens next is also your choice. We can no longer interfere with this fate. We chose to be bystanders from that moment a thousand years ago, so now everything is just your choice. No one will blame you.”

“…I’m not a fool. I know that saying such things is actually urging me to make a choice.”

Evan laughed bitterly. Honestly, he didn’t like their so-called arrangement.

Why him of all people? He was an ordinary person.

He had fears, and he didn’t have the heart to be brave about everything like a hero from a novel, trying to embrace everyone in the world.

He was just struggling to protect one person he cherished, so why had this fate come to him?

The choice they spoke of—he could refuse it.

He could run away somewhere, abandon everything, and tremble alone in fear.

After all, the ancient dragon Mabeth was already an existence beyond everything else.

But. Evan quietly smiled.

How would Aileen look at him if he ran away now?

He never had any intention of running away in the first place.

Rather, he was grateful for the arrangement that had given him this power.

He no longer thought of this world as simply being inside a novel.

Aileen, Rofena, Chris. They were already too precious to him, and like a greedy person, he wanted to embrace and protect them all.

“It’s too late to abandon everything and run away. I have too much left.”

He was already going to be the father of two children. He was going to be a woman’s lover and husband. In this fight against the Extinction, he had long since become, embarrassingly, the most important person.

“I will fight. Not because you want it, but because I want it.”

Recalling the memories from long ago, when he first mistakenly thought he had been possessed as Evan Frid, Evan smiled slightly.

The light of Ascalon sparkled in the air.

White flames, and vertically slit pupils were once again emitting a golden light.

If there was an undeniable fact, it was that he was Aileen’s… more precisely.

He was the knight of the villainess from a romance novel.

Shouldn’t he protect her? The woman he couldn’t call a villainess anymore, the woman he loved dearly.

Whoosh. Flames rose from Evan’s back, beginning to burn the vines of the World Tree surrounding this space.

And as those vines disappeared from view.

Seeing the face of a woman waiting for him at the entrance of the World Tree, Evan felt his shoulders grow a little heavier.