Leonis Von Vain
The velvet curtains rustled faintly in the morning breeze, casting dancing shadows along the marble floor. I sat at the edge of the bed, fingers tangled in my hair, trying to process the deluge of memories not my own. They came in flashes, names, customs, faces that stirred no feelings in me but belonged to this body. To him. To Leonis Von Vain.
No. To me, now.
It had been hours since I awoke in this world, and still, I felt like a stranger sitting in someone else's skin.
The room was extravagant, absurdly so. Hand-carved furniture lined the walls, and gold leaf patterns decorated the arching ceiling. Even the slippers beside the bed were probably worth more than my entire wardrobe.
So this was the life of nobility?
I expected to feel happy, excited, and proud to receive something better than what I had back on Earth, but all I got from this house was lavish coldness, emptyness, and unwelcomingness.
A soft knock broke the silence.
Three polite taps. Light. Hesitant.
I turned toward the large oak door, and my breath caught halfway through my throat. My heart, no, Leonis's heart, stuttered as if the soul of this body remembered something before I did.
"...Enter," I said, my voice still not used to its new youthful voice.
The door creaks open, and in steps a small girl with blonde hair and wide, pale blue eyes. She wore a pristine white dress embroidered with lilac patterns. Her posture was stiff, guarded, but her eyes flicked around the room with curiosity.
She couldn't have been older than five.
Selene Von Vain.
My little sister.
One of the sub-heroines of Chronicles of the Arcane Blade, and in the novel, the only one in the Von Vain family to inherit a rare affinity for Spirit Magic. And also the girl whose emotional arc was kickstarted by my character's off-screen death.
The same girl who would one day become a key ally to the protagonist.
And here she was. Alive. Not like a character in the novel. She was here standing awkwardly in my doorway, fingers tightening in the fabric of her dress as though bracing herself for disappointment.
The silence between us stretched.
She didn't speak. She didn't move. Just stared, like waiting for something, someone, she wasn't sure she would ever get.
The silence between us stretched uncomfortably long. She stood there, clutching the folds of her dress, her lips pressing into a thin line like she was preparing for rejection.
That's when it hit me.
Not from Leonis's memories. No, from me. Aleister.
This girl had grown up in a house full of cold and silence. Raised by maids and never loved by her family. I saw it in her eyes.
"Selene," I said her name softly, and something flickered in her expression. Surprise. Hesitation. Confusion.
"You remembered my name." Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if she was surprised and sounded happy that I said it.
I blinked. "Of course I did."
She looked down. "You don't usually."
My breath caught in my throat.
Right. The memories hinted at it, but hearing it from her mouth hit differently. Leonis had barely interacted with her. Cold. Distant. Dismissive. Just like the rest of their esteemed, rotten family.
The Von Vain family was a name etched in gold and blood. Proud. Arrogant. Revered. But all that power had been poisoned by tragedy. When Selene was born, her mother, our mother, died in childbirth. And Leonis, the original one, had never forgiven her.
He was just a child then. But children remember. And children blame.
Lord Gilbert Vain, their father, was once a brilliant mage and strategist. However, he fell into grief and despair, becoming cold and distant. He ruled his house like a specter, devoid of warmth or love, imposing only his expectations. He also saw his wife in Selene, which made him reject Selene even more.
So Leonis followed suit.
He rejected his sister, the last living remnant of the woman who once brought joy into the household. And Selene... she grew up thinking she was the reason everything broke.
I clenched my jaw.
The real Leonis had died before the novel began. He got the easy way out. But I, Aleister, was here now. And I'd be damned if I let this story follow the same script.
"I was… tired before," I said carefully, voice low, watching her expression. "I wasn't being a very good big brother, was I."
Selene blinked.
Then her small hand gripped her dress tighter. "Are you feeling sick?"
I chuckled. It came out softer than I expected. "No. I just feel…Like I haven't been fair to you."
She tilted her head. I could see the gears turning in her head, the suspicion of a child used to disappointment warring with the fragile hope blooming behind her eyes.
"…Can I stay here with you for a bit?" she asked finally.
I nodded. "Of course."
She stepped inside, small feet making barely a sound on the marble floor. She stood at the edge of the bed like she wasn't sure if she was allowed to get closer, so I scooted back and patted the space beside me.
Her eyes lit up just a little before she climbed up, careful not to wrinkle her dress.
The bed was too big for the both of us, but somehow, her presence made the vast, cold room feel… less hollow.
She sat there beside me in silence. Our shoulders didn't touch. She didn't speak. And yet, something had shifted.
I watched her out of the corner of my eye, her gaze flicking to the mirror, the distant window. Anywhere but me. But the tension in her body slowly unraveled.
The first embers of trust.
That's when I made a quiet vow to myself.
In this life, I wouldn't be like the others. I wouldn't ignore her. I wouldn't let her grow up believing she was unloved. That she was to blame for anything.
As a child, she should not be blamed for her mother's death; after all, she cannot control that, and she also did not ask to be born in the first place.
Let the nobles gossip. Let the world fear my magic when it is announced that I have black magic.
Let them call me cursed.
But I would not abandon this little girl.
"Selene," I said gently.
She looked up at me.
"You can come here anytime you want. Okay?" I said softly while smiling at her.
Her eyes widened slightly. And then so quick, that I almost missed it, a tiny, fragile smile bloomed on her face.
"…Okay," Selene said softly, but I could tell her tone was full of happiness.
She leaned slightly against me—not enough to touch, not really, but close. Like a bird inching toward a hand, it wasn't sure it could trust. I didn't move. Didn't speak. Just let the silence settle, warm and still.
For the first time since I woke up here, the air wasn't suffocating.
Selene kicked her legs softly off the edge of the bed, humming a quiet tune under her breath. It was off-key and messy, but there was something innocent about it. Untouched. She wasn't a heroine here. She wasn't a wielder of rare magic. She was just a girl, just my little sister.
And I was supposed to die for her character development.
Not anymore.
I would much rather not die again. Dying to Truck-kun was horrible, and dying here without gaining anything or accomplishing anything would just be a waste of the second chance I've been given. I refuse to waste it.
I stared out the window, where the rising sun painted long shadows across the snow-dusted garden. This world… Chronicles of the Arcane Blade… it wasn't real when I read it. Just a half-decent fantasy novel, a distraction from the dull monotony of my life. But now?
Now I was in it. And I had five years until the Selection Ceremony.
Five years until the moment Leonis Von Vain would be labeled a monster, cast out by his own blood, and killed by the church for possessing the one thing this world feared above all: Black Magic.
It didn't matter that he hadn't used it. It didn't matter that he never hurt anyone with it. Just the presence of it in his body was enough to warrant execution.
In the novel, it is stated that Black Magic traces back to the first witch who ever wielded that power. She was said to have nearly brought the world to its knees if it hadn't been for the hero who slayed her, restoring peace and hope to the world. Even today, the church fears Black Magic; any hint of it can result in an execution sentence.
That was the fate the story had written.
But I didn't come here to follow a script.
Selene's humming stopped. She looked up at me again, tilting her head."Brother?"
"Hm?" I turned slightly.
"Do you… like snow?"
I blinked. That was not the question I expected. "…I guess I do. It's quiet. Peaceful." I hesitated. "Do you?"
She nodded a little. "I watch it from my window sometimes. I like it when the garden turns all white. It's like the world gets quiet."
If I remember correctly, Selene hated snow in the original novel. Any hint of it would prompt her to use her spirits to burn away the entire area around her that was covered in snow. However, after the protagonist helps her and she finds her path, she can enjoy the snow once more, with a smile on her face.
I smiled faintly. "Yeah. Quiet can be nice."
She looked at me for a few more seconds, then turned back to the window. For a while, we just sat there, letting the silence stretch again. But it was different now. Comfortable. Not hollow.
Then I heard the sound of heavy boots echoing down the hall. It was not hurried but heavy. I tensed instinctively; my body felt scared.
Selene did, too.
"Father," she whispered, shrinking back instinctively. "He doesn't like it when I come near to your room."
My jaw was clenched. Leonis's memories crawled back in like an unwelcome draft. Gilbert Von Vain. Head of House Von Vain. A man known in the kingdom of Emproza but feared within the magic society. Since his wife's death, he had become more of a shell of his past, aloof, calculating, and cold. To him, his children were tools to be sharpened or discarded.
The door didn't open, but the footsteps paused just outside.
I got off the edge of my bed and stepped toward the door, but before I could walk forward any further, I felt a tug on my sleeve.
"Don't," she whispered. "You'll just make him angry."
I turned gently and placed a hand on her head. "He'll have to get used to it."
I walked to the door and opened it myself.
And there he was.
Tall and imposing, he was dressed in a black suit and a long black fur coat, every inch of him exuding nobility and quiet menace. His pale, sharp red eyes scanned me with indifference. If anything, It was like I was looking at an older Leonis, but he had lost all meaning of life in his eyes.
We stared at each other in silence.
"Leonis," he said, voice deep and level. "Why is Selene in your room?"
Not your sister. Not your family. Just Selene. He didn't see her as his daughter; I bet he didn't see me as his son at all.
I took a breath and said, "Because I invited her."
His expression didn't change. Not even a flicker. "You've never done so before."
"Well," I said calmly, "I've changed."
A pause.
His gaze narrowed, just slightly. "We'll see how long that lasts."
He didn't step in. Didn't raise his voice. But there was a weight behind his presence, like a guillotine that hadn't yet dropped.
"Your tutor will arrive within the hour. Prepare yourself."
And with that, he turned and walked away.
I closed the door gently behind him and leaned against it, releasing a slow breath.
"Are you okay?" Selene asked from the bed, her voice small.
I turned to her and smiled. "Yeah. I just realized something."
She tilted her head. "What?"
I crossed the room and ruffled her hair gently.
"I think I really hate this family."
She giggled, and it was the first time I'd heard her laugh.
God, it was soft. Uncertain. But it was real.
I knelt beside the bed, looking up at her.
"But I like you. That makes it better."
Her smile froze for a heartbeat, like she was trying to believe it was real. Then, slowly, she nodded.
"…I like you too, big brother."
And just like that, a spark lit in the cold.
It was small. Fragile.
But it was a start. It was a start that maybe I could change the novel a bit just for Selene to have a better life in the coming years.