...A dream?
Or was it merely an illusion?
He could not believe it. He simply could not.
Someone’s figure shimmered before his eyes.
It was a face he had believed he would never see again.
“...Ian?”
“Brother! Are you awake?”
Ron Ian Repent.
The younger brother who had willingly offered himself as bait for Glen’s sake, whom he had never seen again afterward.
The brother to whom he felt both grateful and deeply indebted.
“Ian!”
“B-Brother?”
Without even realizing what he was doing, Glen pulled his younger brother into an embrace.
He still could not believe it.
Was this truly reality?
Or had he died and reunited with Ian in heaven?
BOOM—!
“Glen! Glen, are you all right?!”
The door flew open with a deafening crash, and someone hurried toward him.
His eyes widened.
Longing surged over him like a wave, saturating his heart with emotion.
He stared at the approaching figure as though entranced.
“...Mother?”
Ariane Marie Repent.
Even when he had been a hopeless good-for-nothing, she had always believed in him.
She was also one of his greatest regrets—the person he had failed to protect.
Glen barely managed to move his trembling legs and wrapped his arms around her.
For some reason, he could hardly muster any strength, but what did that matter?
It no longer mattered whether this was a dream.
He bit down on his lip, trying to stop something from escaping.
“M-Mom...”
But he could not hold it back for long.
Like a dam bursting, the emotions he had suppressed for so long erupted from within him.
Tears filled his eyes and blurred his vision.
“...Yes. Your mother is here.”
Marie was slightly startled by this side of her son, which she had never seen before.
Yet she asked him nothing, and Glen wept in her arms like a small child.
“H-Hngh...”
O Goddess, if this is a dream, please do not let me awaken.
Please.
I beg You.
***
“...That person crying over there is Glen?”
“...Yes, Your Grace.”
Ron Grance Repent.
The eyes of the Duke of Repent, Glen’s father, widened.
It was an exceedingly rare reaction from a man who was normally so stoic.
He had been surprised to hear that his eldest son, who had remained unconscious for nearly a month, had awakened.
He was equally baffled by the sight of Glen clutching his mother in the middle of the corridor and sobbing like a child.
That prideful, good-for-nothing brat?
“Tsk. What is a fully grown man doing clinging to his mother and crying in broad daylight...?”
“This is also the first time I have seen the Young Master behave in such a manner.”
The Head Butler beside him looked equally surprised.
His young master always wore an irritated expression and possessed an extraordinarily arrogant disposition.
He would never have deliberately shown anyone such an embarrassing sight.
“How unusual. Is it because he nearly died?”
The Duke soon returned to his usual expression and turned away without hesitation.
“Your Grace, he is still your eldest son. Why not at least let him see your face?”
“Ha. You know better than anyone how much trouble that eldest son of mine has caused me. Hmph. Besides, judging by how loudly he is bawling, there cannot be anything wrong with his health. So much for Firstborn’s Disease. Let us return.”
“...Understood.”
The Head Butler nodded once and followed him.
He saw no need to mention that the Duke’s voice had carried more emotion than usual.
***
One day later.
Glen could finally accept it as reality.
‘I came back.’
He did not know why.
Naturally, he did not know the cause either.
But one thing was certain.
He had returned to the past.
More than twenty years earlier, to when he was eighteen years old.
According to what he had been told, he had remained unconscious for nearly a month.
He had suffered from the same illness, Firstborn’s Disease, in his previous life.
The only difference seemed to be how long it had lasted.
‘Before... I remember it lasting only three or four days.’
After crying so much that even he had been astonished by it, Glen had exhausted himself and fallen asleep without realizing it.
For the first time in ages, he had enjoyed a deep sleep without nightmares.
When he opened his eyes again, he felt relieved to discover that he was not Riklang.
He was grateful that everything had not ended as nothing more than a vivid dream.
‘I cannot... let it happen again.’
Sitting on the bed, he looked down at arms that were thinner than he remembered.
He slowly raised one and clenched his fist.
His house, burned to ashes.
His family, slaughtered.
His homeland, destroyed.
This time, he would protect them.
He would never repeat the same mistakes.
‘Two years remain.’
If his memories of his previous life were correct, the orcs’ great invasion would begin in the year he turned twenty.
Of course, stopping the orcs alone would not solve everything.
There was a saying: if the orcs were the North’s ancient foes, then the Empire was its mortal enemy.
Before the orcs invaded, he first had to escape the Empire’s shadow.
To accomplish that, he would also have to clean out the human filth infesting the duchy.
Now that he considered it, the task seemed almost impossibly distant.
But he could not give up.
Never.
In this life, he would protect them.
Even if he had to sell his soul to a demon.
‘I will.’
Glen’s mind began racing.
At the same time, he picked up the pen and paper lying beside his bed.
If he wished to protect everything, he needed a meticulous plan.
His previous life had taught him painfully well that blind vengeance and determination alone could accomplish nothing.
As he retraced the memories of his previous life and wrote them down, the sheet of paper gradually filled from edge to edge.
***
Four days later, before even the dawn mist had fully cleared.
The early spring morning was still quite chilly.
Yet waves of heat rose from one corner of the Lion Knights’ training ground.
“Haah... Haah...”
Glen wiped the beads of sweat from his hair and briefly surveyed his surroundings.
The familiar training clothes.
The dearly missed training ground.
In truth, it was nothing more than an ordinary knights’ training ground: a dirt field sparsely covered with short grass, with trees growing here and there.
Yet he had missed this unremarkable sight terribly.
“Haa...”
After his brief rest, he gripped his sword again.
His body continued swinging the sword at a training dummy while his mind organized his thoughts.
‘My body is unquestionably in good condition.’
In his previous life, his body had been ravaged by drugs and alcohol and was rapidly approaching its limits.
Compared with that body, his current condition was incomparably better.
He truly felt as though he had been born anew.
More importantly, there was one fact that pleased him above all else.
‘My mana is accumulating normally.’
In his previous life, he had suffered a severe injury while fleeing the North.
As a result, his body had been unable to accumulate mana beyond a certain amount.
That was why, during his years as Riklang, he had spent an enormous fortune learning Blood Magic to compensate for the deficiency.
‘It would be difficult to learn Blood Magic immediately...’
Even though he could now accumulate mana normally, he still intended to learn Blood Magic eventually.
It was the surest way for him to become stronger.
Blood Magic was a branch of magic that granted control over blood and the authority contained within it.
It had been developed to combat vampires—the Nobles of the Night who appeared in the southern reaches of the continent.
The problem was that one needed a vampire’s heart to begin learning Blood Magic.
‘How am I supposed to obtain a vampire’s heart in the North?’
How could he possibly find creatures that appeared only in certain regions of the South while he was in the North?
In truth, there was another method that did not require a vampire’s heart.
One could regularly consume a special elixir instead.
He remembered the recipe perfectly, but its ingredients were just as difficult to obtain.
More importantly, he was uncertain whether his current body could endure it.
It was not an ordinary, properly formulated elixir, and consuming it inflicted a severe physical backlash.
In summary, learning Blood Magic remained a distant prospect.
‘For now, I need to focus on recovering my body, practicing swordsmanship, and cultivating mana.’
Glen had not yet fully recovered.
That was only natural after spending an entire month lying unconscious.
The Court Physician had made that very clear, but Glen knew his own body better than anyone else.
Swinging a sword like this was far better than simply lying in bed.
Naturally, his mother would scold him severely if she found out, but that could not be helped.
“Good morning, Brother.”
“...Ian.”
Glen turned at the sound of the slightly youthful voice.
Ian was looking at him with an awkward expression.
Judging by his training clothes and the wooden sword in his hand, he had come to practice.
Unlike Glen, his younger brother had always been diligent.
“Were you planning to train this early in the morning?”
For some reason, Glen felt proud of him.
“...Yes, I was, but I will return later.”
“Hm? Why the sudden change?”
“Well... You previously told me not to come to the training ground at the same time as you...”
“What? I said something like that?”
Glen’s voice naturally rose at the unexpected answer.
“N-No! I-I apologize! You never said anything of the sort, Brother. I-I simply changed my mind! I’m sorry!”
Ian hurriedly bowed his head, his expression filled with fear.
Glen stared blankly at his younger brother.
Ah, right.
I used to be a good-for-nothing.
‘I cannot believe I was this terrible.’
Covering his face with one hand, he recalled an old memory.
***
“Ian, are you saying that someone like you intends to use the training ground alongside me?”
“B-Brother, that is not what I meant...”
“Why can’t a talentless fool like you abandon this pointless obsession already?!”
“But I also—”
“I do not want to hear it. Get out of my sight at once!”
***
...Yes.
When he was young, he had despised his younger brother.
There had been one reason for it.
He had hated the fact that Ian received more attention than he did.
Why did someone less talented than me receive more affection?
Why did everyone pay more attention to that incompetent fool than to me?
It had been childish and contemptible jealousy.
Petty envy.
And beneath it all had lurked his hideous inferiority complex.
Consumed by those emotions, he had hated his younger brother.
He had openly humiliated Ian to his face and provoked him over matters of no consequence.
In truth, the reason Ian had received more attention than Glen was simple.
Ian had worked hard enough to overcome the difference in their natural talent.
Glen, meanwhile, had trusted in his talent and never made any genuine effort.
It was a deeply shameful past.
‘Yes. I should deal with this first.’
After calming his burning face, Glen spoke to his younger brother, who was still bowing his head.
“Ian, raise your head.”
“W-Will you forgive me?”
Haa.
After letting out a brief sigh, Glen bit his lip.
“...Well, that is... Come and walk with me for a moment.”
“...Pardon? Ah, yes...”
The two of them began walking aimlessly along the outskirts of the training ground.
Glen, who walked in front, repeatedly bit his lip or released a sigh.
Ian followed behind him with a worried expression.
By the time the sweat on Glen’s body had cooled, he finally stopped.
“...Brother?”
“...”
He wanted to apologize.
He wanted to speak honestly and ask for forgiveness.
But the words refused to leave his mouth as easily as he had expected.
Had apologizing always been this difficult?
What if Ian refused to accept it?
Come to think of it, even during his years as Riklang, he had never sincerely apologized to anyone.
As he continued hesitating, he suddenly turned and looked at his younger brother.
Blue eyes.
Short brown hair.
A round face that had not yet completely lost its childhood softness.
Glen had tormented him for such a worthless reason.
Yet in their previous life, Ian had willingly offered himself as bait to save Glen.
Why did I hate this small child so much?
Why did I commit so many wrongs against someone so innocent and kind?
Glen slowly bent at the waist.
“...I am sorry for everything I have done to you, Ian.”
“B-Brother?!”
“I am a truly pathetic man. I was jealous because you received more attention than I did. I did not want to admit that my younger brother was better than me, so I took my anger out on you. What I did was vile and despicable. I hated you merely to conceal my own inferiority.”
“What are you saying...?”
“I will not ask you to forgive me for everything merely because I have apologized once. But I wanted to make this clear. I am truly sorry, Ian, and I sincerely wish to apologize. Even if it takes the rest of my life, I want to earn your forgiveness.”
“P-Please raise your head, Brother.”
Ian looked up at him, his eyes brimming with tears.
“You have always been an elder brother I could be proud of.”
Normally, Ian would have left the moment he saw Glen from a distance.
However, Glen’s behavior toward him after awakening from his sickbed had given him a faint sense of hope.
That was why he had gathered the courage to greet him today.
I am so glad.
That was what Ian thought.
“...You are saying you forgive me?”
“Of course. No, if anything, I should be the one asking for forgiveness.”
“You? What could you possibly have done wrong to me?”
“Well... I do not know exactly what I did, but I believed you were always angry because I had displeased you somehow...”
“...You truly never change.”
For some reason, Glen felt as though a burden had been lifted from his heart.
What a kindhearted fool.
After they spent some time clearing up the misunderstandings between them, the brothers returned to the training ground.
“How is your swordsmanship training progressing? Shall we spar sometime?”
“I would be delighted!”
Waiting for them was the Head Butler, who wore a complicated expression.
“Good morning, Young Masters.”
“Ah, Head Butler. What brings you to the training ground?”
Viscount Ramialnez, the Head Butler of House Repent.
He was an elderly nobleman who had served the family since the previous Duke’s reign and was Glen’s father’s left hand.
He was certainly not someone who belonged in a place like this.
“I came in search of you, Young Master Glen. The two of you seem to be getting along remarkably well.”
“We are brothers. In any case, you were looking for me?”
The Head Butler, still wearing an awkward expression, nodded.
...Since when had those two brothers been so close?
“His Grace wishes to see you.”