"I may have found the cure to my empty physique."
One second
Two seconds
Three seconds
A whole fucking minute.
And yet, Ma refused to open her mouth.
If not for her pink hair swaying along the morning air because of my open window, I doubt I would have recognised if she was even alive or not.
"She's not gonna kill me… is she?"
Her lips parted as if to speak, but no sound came out. She stared at me like I'd just declared I'd found a way to turn lead into gold.
"What did you just say?" She finally managed to utter a word, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I said I might've found a way," I repeated, trying to keep my tone steady despite the turmoil inside me. "To fix myself. To get rid of this… curse."
Sylvie's expression hardened, her earlier panic replaced by something sharper—something protective.
"Noah, you're not cursed," she said firmly, though her voice wavered slightly. "You're just… different."
"Different?" I chuckled bitterly, gesturing at myself. "Different doesn't cut it in this world, Ma. You always say this yourself—that if you're weak, it's your own fault."
Grandma flinched at my words, her shoulders stiffening. "That's not—" she began, but I cut her off.
"Do you know what it's like to live like this?" I said, finally trying to express my bottled thoughts. "To know that no matter how hard you try, you'll never be enough? That you will never be able to become a mage?
To watch everyone else grow stronger while you're stuck in the same place?"
Ma opened her mouth to argue, but I wasn't done.
"That book…" I said, my voice softening. "It might be the answer… I just need to find it."
Sylvie Grandma's eyes narrowed, her suspicion returning. "Noah, what did you do?"
I hesitated, the memory of the book's glow and the blood it had drawn from me flashing through my mind.
"Nothing. Yet," I said carefully.
Her gaze bore into me, deep and unyielding. "Don't lie to me, boy. You're playing with fire, and you know it."
"Maybe," I admitted, meeting her gaze head-on. "But sometimes, fire is the only way to survive."
Sylvie let out a frustrated sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You're going to be the death of me, you know that?"
Despite the tension, a small, grim smile tugged at my lips. "Not if I can help it."
As we stared each other down, the air in the room seemed to grow heavier, charged with unspoken words and lingering doubts.
Ughhh
"It doesn't matter," I said, more to myself than to her.
"Even if the book just somehow vanished into thin air… I remember everything—"
Sylvie raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"
She was practically begging me to spill the beans, but I stopped her.
"Ma…I'll tell you everything that happens to me, just please, never again ask how it happened.
I don't think I can explain it to you even if I wanted to—"
There was a long silence between us as Grandma closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. Then, she patiently tied her hair into a bun while quietly staring at me, as if to start speaking.
"The book," I said, my voice steadier now. "Even if it's gone, I already know how to fix this."
She stared at me for a long moment, her usual demeanor softening into something more vulnerable. "Are you sure?" she asked quietly. "Do you need my help?"
For a split second, I considered accepting her offer. The process that had been described in the book wasn't exactly… pleasant.
Having someone there, someone who cared, might make it easier.
But then I remembered the details—the pain, and most importantly, the risk.
No.
This wasn't something she needed to see.
"I'll be fine," I said, shaking my head. "Just… wait outside in the living room, okay?"
Ma didn't look convinced, but she nodded anyway. "Alright," she said, turning towards the door.
"But if you pass out, I'm not letting you do your little experiment again, whether you like it or not."
I managed a weak smile, realising that the reason she had come up so strong to wake me in the first place was because she had known that I wasn't just sleeping.
I had passed out.
"Noted."
With my final word of reassurance, she reached the doorway, her hand resting on the frame as she turned back to look at me.
Her expression had shifted again, her eyes filled with a seriousness that made my chest tighten.
"Noah," she said, her voice low. "Whatever you're planning, I hope it works. Because…" She hesitated, glancing over her shoulder as if someone might overhear.
"I just received a cryptic message from our clan. The Patriarch summons us… or should I say that your Grandpa summons us?"
Her words sent a chill down my spine.
Shit.
Not him.
Anyone but him—
I groaned out loud, wanting to complain when another detail from my memories shook me.
The Romero Patriarch.
That name had been in the book.
This—this had happened before.
In the book of sin…
I froze, my mind racing as I tried to piece together the fragments of information I'd read.
The pages had been cryptic and hazy, but now it all felt too real.
Sylvie must have noticed the change in my expression because she frowned. "What's wrong?"
I couldn't hide the truth—not from her, right?
I was about to meet her gaze, but right before I could.
I realised something.
I was still naked.
Almost…butt naked.
***
The awkwardness from before was unbearable.
I stood frozen, replaying how I had been in nothing but boxers the whole time.
My cheeks were flushed red, and I could still feel shivers down my spine when Grandma gave me 'that' Knowing look-
Nooooo! It's not what she thinks~
Grandma Sylvie, bless her soul, had maintained a straight face.
But the faint twitch of her eyes betrayed her inner struggle not to burst into laughter—or perhaps give me a more questioning look.
"Clean yourself up first, Noah," she had said, her voice unusually calm as she turned on her heel and walked out.
"And eat something. You look like death warmed over. Whatever you're planning can wait until you're not... disgusting."
Disgusting?
Ouch, that stung more than I let on.
And so, here I was, standing under the lukewarm water that sprayed out of the shower head.
Watching the water swirl down the drain, my face burned, not just from the heat but from the sheer humiliation of the earlier scene.
Smooth, Noah. Real smooth.
Running fingers through my wet, black hair, I lathered the soap on them as I scrubbed away the dried sweat and faint traces of blood from earlier.
My mind wandered back to her expression when she mentioned Grandpa Venus...The current Patriarch of Romero House-
'That was quite a save, though,' I thought.
Me being almost naked actually worked in my favour since Grandma ran away and forgot about the fact that I still had some beans yet to spill.
Huff
I sighed, deciding that anything more about the book or the fact that I somehow knew the future should be kept a secret.
I let out a deep breath, leaning against the shower wall.
The Book of Sin had mentioned something about what the patriarch wanted; I was sure of it.
But my memories of it were starting to get jumbled up because of all the stress.
It was not like I could not recall and write everything I read in the book to another copy, but gaining strength was more important right now.
I scrubbed harder, trying to shake off the unease clinging to me like the grime on my skin.
If this really was connected to what I'd read… I needed to be prepared.
Once I was done, I stepped out, drying myself with a towel quickly. The cool air of my room greeted me as I changed into fresh clothes. Simple, practical—nothing fancy. I didn't exactly have a wardrobe full of options.
Most of them were a set of white and black coloured T-shirts and a few track pants.
I know, I know,
I am supposed to be a noble and that I had a status...A standard to maintain.
Right?
Then, please give this poor noble some gifts and money, for I am penniless.
The fact that my so-called noble inheritance was nothing but a creepy old book that disappeared into thin air should tell you enough-
I am a poor noble-
Yes!
I need money.
Give me Money!!
Pheww
"Noah! You better eat something before you start any more of your shenanigans!" Grandma's voice rang from the living room, loud and clear.
I groaned inwardly. She was persistent, I'd give her that. But she had a point.
Whatever I was about to do next wasn't going to be a walk in the park.
Awakening my empty physique was going to be a fucking drag, if I went according to the book of Sin, I had learnt of this method a few years into the future.
I still could not come to terms with whether I should trust what was written in the book, but if I was being honest, there was no harm in trying to awaken my physique.
I couldn't shake the urgency. The more time I spent delaying, the more restless I felt.
"Fine, I'll eat," I muttered to myself, stepping out into the hallway as I shouted. "But only after I'm done."
Grandma Sylvie was waiting in the living room, sipping from her cup like she hadn't just ordered me to clean up my act.
Her eyes flicked to me as I approached, a faint smirk tugging at her lips.
"Feeling human again?" she teased.
"Depends on your definition of human," I shot back, plopping down on the worn-out couch.
She raised an eyebrow but didn't press further. "At least you don't smell like a sewer anymore. That's progress."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
Her smirk widened as she set her cup down. "So? What now? Are you finally going to listen to me and eat?"
I shook my head. "Not yet. There's something I need to do first."
Her expression darkened slightly, but she didn't argue.
"Just don't push yourself too hard," she said quietly.
"I won't," I replied, though we both knew it wasn't a promise I could keep.
As I stood and made my way back to my room, her voice stopped me.
"Noah," she said, her tone softer than before.
I turned to look at her.
"I'm serious about what I said earlier," she continued. "I hope you succeed. Because… things are about to get a lot more complicated."
Her words lingered in the air, heavy with unspoken meaning. I nodded once, not trusting myself to speak.
After all, although she was right... The trouble Ma was speaking about wasn't meeting the Patriarch.
No.
It was the fact that an assassin was going to come after me tonight.
That and...
Grandma Sylvie was going to die.
***