CHAPTER 44: TWISTED LOYALTY.

[Cedric’s POV]

Some distance away from where Rael and Viola had walked off, Cedric Korric’s ever-cheerful smile twisted slightly.

His plan had been perfect. As soon as he arrived on the cruise he met up with Young Miss Viola...

She trusted him.

No.

He had made sure she did during the Empire’s many networking galas.

She believed he was dependable and even asked him to protect Princess Seraphina during the entrance exam.

Cedric had smiled, bowed his head and played the perfect little knight.

But that wasn’t enough.

He wanted Rael Von Ashborn in the group too.

Not to protect him but to kill.

Rael was a disgrace to nobility. Arrogant. Shameless.

A nobody born with the name of a duke.

Most importantly he had disrespected their savior, Duke Astravore.

And yet... Lord Astravore still gave him mercy and even signed a contract, binding himself from raising a hand against that bastard.

That contract may have tied the Duke’s hands...

But it didn’t tie Cedric’s.

He would do what needed to be done. Not because his saviour had asked him but because of loyalty.

If this little act of killing some weak noble heir in the depth of Noxvalen could even repay the slightest bit of debt he had towards his saviour... he would do that without hesitation.

Because the Duke was the one who extended his hands and saved their crumbling barony when no one else looked their way.

It was he who invested in Cedric’s future.

And now, all because of that help, Cedric stood tall at E+ Rank...

The second strongest candidate the Empire was sending to Noxvalen.

He didn’t need orders.

Loyalty was enough.

Still, he wasn’t sure how to approach Rael and ask him to join the group.

But then Young Miss Viola asked him.

She asked him, Cedric, to let Rael join their group.

Cedric nearly teared up at her compassion and benevolence as vast as her father’s, even toward someone who once dared defile her mother.

All because she was Rael’s childhood friend.

All because she wanted to protect him.

She didn’t see the disgrace.

She didn’t see the parasite who only wanted to use her.

But Cedric saw.

And it was his duty... his responsibility to save her from that shame.

To protect her from the greedy bastard who dared to leech off her.

He couldn’t allow his Young Miss Viola to be dragged down by someone like him.

So, he made a silent promise.

That bastard would not make it out of the forest alive.

If the monster didn’t kill him...

... I’ll complete the job.

—

[Rael’s POV]

It had been just a few minutes since my talk with Viola and currently I was in the gym area of the sky cruiser, and no, I wasn’t working out.

I was sitting on the back of Bearlo like an emperor while he did push-ups, completely unaffected by my weight.

Some fools stared at me weirdly but screw them.

I mean, you couldn’t really blame me, there was still some time left before arrival at Noxvalen and my mind was already full with what had happened a few minutes ago...

So, I just decided to help Bearlo with his training even if he didn’t really ask for it.

Viola’s sincerity felt nice on the surface, sure... but it gave me a full-blown existential crisis.

First it was Ru, then my father, then Lyra and now Viola.

With each encounter something which I shrugged off just as a possibility started becoming real.

What if I was never a transmigrator?

What if I was Rael Ashborn all along and just because of something that happened within my awakening trial, I awakened my previous life memories?

Or worse... What if I was a rubber duck in my past life and reincarnated with two competing memories, one of a spoiled noble brat and the other of a capitalist orphan CEO?

Okay, okay, this one’s a bit overkill but the other two are very much possible.

I mean, I had considered them from the beginning but I didn’t want to accept it for one important reason.

I didn’t want to accept that I would have been so pathetic without my memories as an orphan...

...I didn’t want to accept that I could have been so naive just because of a loving family.

I mean this guy fell for that disgustingly fake Seles, that fact alone made me allergic to the idea of this guy being my reincarnation.

His personality was the same as mine, the only difference was upbringing. Just the fact that he was raised in a more loving and wealthy environment.

Still, I couldn’t accept it.

And that’s why I always thought of myself as a proud transmigrator with future knowledge.

But now?

Now, it didn’t matter anymore.

Who cares if I was him or not?

The line between the two had blurred a long time ago. I have already accepted my identity as Rael Von Ashborn... with the mind of CEO Rael Astralis.

Whether I was a reincarnator or transmigrator, I wasn’t either of my past selves.

I was something new... hopefully the best parts of both.

And whatever the truth behind this whole mess is... the answer lies in my Nexus Awakening Trial.

Maybe someday, when I ascend to godhood or something, I’ll finally figure out who I was meant to be... and what the hell am I doing in a world which is supposed to be just a novel.

Now, I’m not usually the type to overthink life or spiral into identity crisis, but Viola’s sincerity mixed with the sheer boredom of this skycruise somehow awakened my inner conspiracy theorist

But for now? As a painfully normal and questionably weak guy? I’ll settle for just surviving the next few days.

Just then, a wave of mana pulsed through my body.

What the—?

What the hell was that?

Even Bearlo paused mid-push-up, his ears twitching.

Before I could say anything, a calm and almost bored voice echoed across the sky cruiser.

[We have officially entered the Noxvalen Academy Border.]

[All students are advised to gather in Lobby and prepare for descent]

...Well, I guess that’s enough introspective bullshit for one sky cruise.

With that thought, I got up from Bearlo’s back and made my way toward the edge of the gym area, where a massive window giving an outside view stood.

I looked through it.

And there it was, beyond the sea of clouds, floating in the air like it was meant to be there was the Academic City of Noxav.

Apparently, the demons were too lazy to come up with a separate name for the city.

... Or maybe demons just suck at naming things.

As the sky cruise began its descent, the massive structure in the city’s centre came into full view.

Noxvalen Academy.

A grand demon academy spread across enough land to rival a small city...

... and also the place where I will be spending the next few years of my chaotic and not-so-voluntary academic journey.

—

Author’s Note:

A question for you all:

First: Is Cedric really the villain... or just a loyal fool fighting for his ideals (even if they’re twisted beyond repair)? 🤔

Second: What is Rael, really?

1)Transmigrator

2)Reincarnator

3)Rubber Duck

4)All of the above

5)Something completely different he’s too dumb to guess

6)A banana living his last seven seconds before a gorilla snacks on him

7) Or... something else entirely? Drop your theory below and I’ll post the funniest ones on the Discord server!

And last but not least, please consider leaving your feedback, dropping Power Stones and Golden Tickets, so poor Rael can continue to suffer—I mean, prosper. 😌