Solomon made small talk with Marvin until he felt much better.
His desire was to genuinely get to know the young man, not scare him off.
He liked Marvin.
He had a nice personality and was completely weird for having one-track-minded interests, but once more Solomon found it hard to blame Marvin since he holed himself up as Ethan in his room.
“What food do you like?”
Solomon decided to ask after watching Marvin admire his food and savor every bite like it was his last meal and he wanted to memorize it completely.
The servants’ dining area was lively despite the hour.
Wooden tables occupied most of the room, while the scent of freshly baked bread, roasted meat, and warm soup drifted lazily through the air.
A few servants chatted quietly among themselves, though their voices remained low enough not to disturb one another.
His question was meant to be completely simple and harmless, but it triggered something he didn’t expect.
Marvin’s face suddenly lit up.
It actually glowed like a lamp in the dark.
For the first time since meeting him, genuine excitement appeared.
Not that “I’m gonna help with chores” excitement.
Pure, unfiltered joy.
“How could I not, young master?”
Marvin held his cheek with his palm as he bit into his bread.
His amber-brown eyes sparkled beneath the afternoon light pouring in through the nearby windows.
“Food is just so marvelous.
Did you know how much precision it takes to achieve this level of cooking?
The head chef must be superb….” He paused.
“No, a genius.”
Solomon simply stared as Marvin began to go on and on about different dishes and foods like some top-class chef.
“Why don’t you try cooking then?” Solomon joked while chuckling lightly.
Marvin suddenly froze.
His eyes glazed over for a few seconds, startling Solomon.
The smile on his face remained, but it no longer reached his eyes.
It looked as though someone had forcibly paused him in the middle of his excitement.
Before he could react, Marvin was back to normal.
His previous enthusiasm died along with whatever had just happened.
“Something feels strange.”
“What…
does?” Solomon asked cautiously.
“I don’t know.”
Ding.
Desire Suppression Detected.
Solomon stared at the interface and back at Marvin repeatedly, just like he had done the day before.
“It’s probably not.”
After having the meal, Solomon decided to leave the young man lest he ask more unnecessary questions.
He carried out the rest of the day’s activities.
Avoided Silvia.
He wasn’t ready to walk on eggshells, and he threw finally meeting Solomon’s father out of the question.
“Guess it’s my room again,” he muttered.
He walked with his head lowered and his shoulders slumped slightly.
The afternoon sun streamed through the mansion’s tall windows, casting long beams of golden light across the polished hallways.
Servants moved about carrying trays, stacks of linens, and documents, occasionally bowing as he passed.
He met Jessica on his way to his room.
“Oh, hello, Young Master.” Jessica curtsied, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“It’s nice to see you too, Jessica,” he said with a smile.
“What are you up to?”
Jessica immediately launched into an explanation of all the work she still had to do before the day ended.
Solomon had come to like Jessica; she was funny, exciting, and didn’t treat him like a young master except when necessary.
She complained to him like he was a friend and not an employer’s son who could have her unemployed at the drop of a hat if he wanted to.
“First, the laundry.
Then helping prepare dinner.
Then organizing Lady Silvia’s room because apparently she owns enough dresses to clothe a small village,” Jessica complained dramatically while counting on her fingers.
“Sounds rough.”
“You have no idea.”
“Is something bothering you, Young Master?” Jessica asked at some point, tilting her head slightly.
“Why does she have to be so attentive?”
Solomon rubbed his temples and considered telling her about it.
“No, no.
What if she thinks I’m crazy?”
He looked up.
Jessica’s patient eyes still looked down at him gently, though the hint of mischief hadn’t completely died within her emerald-green eyes.
“It’s nothing,” he said after a brief internal struggle.
“See you later.
After all, you have work to do.” He smirked.
“Noooooooo!
Why must you remind me?”
Jessica squeezed her face in exaggerated despair before bidding him goodbye and dragging herself dramatically down the hallway.
This left Solomon laughing long after she had left.
For a moment, the weight pressing against his chest felt just a little lighter.
He stared at the ceiling.
He thought about everything he had experienced over the past three weeks.
“Can I really do this?” he asked himself.
He pulled up his status page to examine it once more.
Host: Solomon Ashbourne
Title: Transmigrator
Desire Energy: 74
World Restoration: 5%
System Shop: Locked
The words stared back at him just as they always did.
In that moment, he forgot all about becoming stronger or the wonders of living in a fantasy world.
None of those could save Marvin or Silvia.
He needed something deeper, something that only came with understanding another person.
He wanted to be a rock and a pillar, an unwavering tower of support.
He kicked his foot lightly against the bed as he ran his hands through his silver hair.
“Like I could ever be that for anybody,” he sighed.
The system called Marvin a Special Target and Silvia a Heroine.
He wondered whether there were more heroines just as there were numerous Special Targets.
He glanced at the World Restoration bar once more.
The 5% was a blaring reminder that he still had a long way to go.
He was beginning to question the system and the entire world.
He knew he had decided to save Silvia, but he wasn’t sure he could make the same commitment for Marvin and the rest of the world.
It would require him to leave behind the peace he had decided to enjoy when he first transmigrated.
Slowly, he turned his head toward the window.
Outside, the evening sun had begun its descent beyond the distant mountains.
The countryside stretched endlessly before him, dotted with farmlands and the occasional trail of smoke rising from village chimneys.
The towering city walls stood proudly in the distance, separating the safety of civilization from the unknown world beyond.
For the first time, Elaria felt impossibly vast.
“Why me?”
He wasn’t the hero.
He was a total side character.
One that didn’t even occupy three pages of a novel, and yet…
He was being thrown into the spotlight.
And not just that.
He was being chosen to save lives.
And that was something he wasn’t fully sure about committing to.
The room fell silent save for the faint rustling of the curtains as the evening breeze drifted through the open window.
Then…