Kael opened his eyes, but everything was a blur. He rubbed his eyes. Then he tried to stand, his body felt sluggish and unresponsive. He stopped and took a breath, but a sharp pain pounded in his skull. He didn't recognize the bed or the walls around him.
Where... where am I?
Kael pushed himself up, grasping the bed to steady his trembling legs. He was barely holding himself up when looking around deepened his confusion.
He stood in a room he didn't recognize. The room was spacious, with tall ceilings and elegant furniture. Something about it felt familiar, but he didn't know why.
He noticed a mirror on the wall, its surface faintly reflecting the light. He started walking towards the mirror as if being pulled by it.
His eyes were wrong.
They should have been brown, and warm with orange tones. Instead, they stared back at him—bright shiny eyes, that reflected the light, grey threaded with silver.
His hair was silky jet-black, not the chestnut brown he remembered.
He leaned closer, breath fogging the mirror.
When did that happen?
Worse was his face.
The scar next to his nose—the one he got from the time he was out camping, an accident with an axe gone wrong—was gone. All of his imperfections were gone. His skin was pale and smoother and he looked quite younger.
A deep sense of confusion washed over him.
Who is this?
His hand moved slowly, as if drawn to the mirror, reaching to touch the glass. Was this really him?
A creak echoed from outside the room, followed by faint voices. Kael stood still, struggling to understand their words. The words seemed familiar as if he should understand them, but the meaning slipped away.
His memories of this world, of his life as Kael Veldris, rushed to the surface. As he focused on the muffled voices outside, one of the voices caught his attention.
"Master Kael should be awake by now," the voice said
Aldric. The head butler. He had been a constant presence in his childhood—his voice a firm yet guiding presence in the estate.
But he still couldn't recognize the other voices.
His heart raced, pounding in his chest and echoing in his ears. This place, these people—they should have felt familiar. But something was off, like an important detail just out of reach. He took a breath, but the air was thick, pressing in on him. The world outside felt nothing like the one he remembered.
He sat on the bed, his hands shaking, cold sweat running down his face. His mind felt tangled, full of confusion. Two sets of memories—from Lucas and Kael—both fought for clarity, each feeling just a little out of reach.
The last thing he remembered or rather, what Lucas remembered was taking a walk with his dog and his sister, Mira. But when he thought of her, another memory surfaced: Kael's sister, or at least, the sister he now recognized as his own. Aurelia. He tried to recall her, dark hair and sharp eyes that mirrored his own. She was a few years younger than him.
Kael ran his fingers through his hair, trying to steady his thoughts, each memory fighting for dominance, each new thought more confusing than the last. Everything was off. He could feel his heart banging in his chest. What the hell was happening to him?
Who am I?
The question echoed in his mind repeatedly, like a persistent whisper. He had been Lucas, right? The logistics manager who worked in a mid-sized corporation. The boy with small dreams, but dreams that were his own. Now, those memories were slipping away, like they belonged to someone else, just out of reach.
And then there was Kael. His name. A name that felt both familiar and foreign, as though it belonged to someone else, someone far removed from the boy he remembered. Kael Veldris. The son of nobility. But how could that be his life? He didn't belong here.
Did he?
What if it wasn't just his memories that had changed? What if he had been changed too? He wanted to scream, to ask questions, but he couldn't even find the words.
What should I do now?
He shut his eyes, trying to focus and steady his breathing, but the silence only grew louder, suffocating him. His chest tightened, his heart racing as if it couldn't keep up with everything around him.
I should be Kael. I should be the son of Lord Alvian Veldris. But... I'm not.
I'm... who am I really?
For a moment, he thought he heard her—Lady Elysia, his mother. Her steady voice always grounded him. But the memory slipped away as soon as he reached for it.
And Aurelia... his sister.
Her grin still haunted him, that crooked, teasing smile she'd wear after he lost yet another sparring match to their older brothers. Her laughter, too loud and too proud, used to fill the halls. But now, the memories were fading. Like ink spreading on damp parchment, the more he tried to clutch them tight, the faster they slipped away.
He squeezed his eyes shut, chasing the ghost of her presence. For one suspended breath, he swore he caught the citrus-and-iron scent she'd carried after training sessions, and heard the phantom echo of her voice: "You're overthinking again, Kael."
Then the past swallowed him whole.
Five years earlier
In the Veldris estate garden, the air smelled of fresh grass and herbs. The leaves rustled softly in the quiet.
Aurelia jumped over a fence, her hair flowing behind her. She shot him a mischievous grin. "Bet you can't catch me before Alric finds us!" Aurelia grinned, already darting off.
Kael pushed off the ground with a laugh, his feet thudding against the soft earth as he chased after her. He was always a few steps behind, but never close enough to catch her.
It wasn't that he couldn't catch her, he could easily. But the spark in her eyes and the grin on her face as she ran ahead made it worth letting her win.
Even if it meant he'd be left trailing behind, laughing just as hard as she was.
The memory of his childhood blurred, making Kael feel lightheaded. He gripped the edge of the bed, trying to steady himself.
Focus. Focus. You are Kael. Kael Veldris.
The name "Kael" echoed in his mind, like a distant sound he couldn't fully grasp. It felt like a part he was meant to play, but something inside him wasn't certain he wanted to. He couldn't tell if he should accept this new life, this new name, or if he should just let it go and return to who he was—Lucas, in the world that used to make sense.
The silence in the room felt overwhelming as Kael sat there, head in his hands, trying to understand who he was. Every time he thought he had an answer, it slipped away. His heart raced, the panic building inside him.
What if he was both, and neither? What if there was no returning to who he was before? What if this new life was the only one he would ever know, but he didn't have the strength to live it?
Kael, Lucas...
A faint sound from the door brought him back to reality, and he looked up sharply. The voices outside were louder now, but still muffled. His body tensed, not from fear of what was outside, but from the growing realization that he wasn't sure where he belonged anymore.
He stood up abruptly as if the physical movement could shake him out of the whirlpool of thoughts. The voices continued outside the door, and his heart skipped. He wasn't ready to face them, but could he even avoid them?
He closed his eyes, letting the quiet wash over him. For now, all he could do was wait.
He had to wait for the answers to come. Wait until he understood who he was supposed to be in this strange, new world. For now, he could only hold on to the memory of Lucas and the life that awaited Kael.
Kael closed his eyes, trying to calm the storm in his mind. Then, like a door creaking open, a thought broke through the chaos—wasn't he supposed to be training?
Slowly, more memories surfaced.
Training?
Yes, he had spent the last year training with his instructor, trying to awaken the mana in his body.
Magic?
The thought didn't feel like Kael's