At Earth,
A soft, beautiful voice broke the silence behind him.
"Hey… you're still not joining classes anymore?"
Aeren turned slightly, smiling faintly.
"It's not that I don't want to go," he replied. "I just can't find a reason to sit in class."
The young woman tilted her head, a playful glimmer in her eyes.
"Am I not enough of a reason for you to come?" She smiled at her own teasing.
Aeren looked at her smile—warm, disarming—and for a brief moment, something inside him stirred. He knew deep down this wasn't truly his choice. This was the pull of something he had always avoided: love.
Still, he smiled.
"You're right. But if I did attend, you'd never let me focus in class."
She blushed.
"What are you saying, Aeren? I never thought you were like that…"
Her flushed face made him chuckle. Somehow, in those moments, he forgot the weight of his obsession. The endless hunt for answers faded, replaced by a strange warmth he had never allowed himself to feel. Slowly, he began to accept it—this feeling called love.
For the first time in years, Aeren imagined a different future. A peaceful life, a family, a home—dreams he had once dismissed as meaningless.
They talked for a while before she left the library. Aeren stayed, staring at the doorway she'd walked through. His smile faded.
The truth was, his obsession with death hadn't vanished completely—it had only been buried. He still searched, but without the same madness as before. For the next two years, from eighteen to twenty, he spent more and more time with her, pushing thoughts of his old research further away.
Then came the day he decided to propose.
He searched for the right moment, but before he could act, he stumbled upon a crowd gathered in the courtyard. People were cheering and clapping, surrounding two figures.
At the center… she was there. And another man was on one knee, holding out a ring.
Aeren's heart thudded in his chest, but he felt no panic—he was certain she would reject him.
Instead, she smiled and accepted.
The world seemed to tilt. Aeren stood frozen, staring at the ground, feeling weightless—as if falling and flying at the same time. He said nothing. Did nothing. He simply turned and walked away, his steps heavy yet strangely calm.
He had always known, somewhere deep inside, that this day would come. That didn't make it hurt any less.
Back in his room, the calm shattered. He tore the place apart—papers, books, furniture, everything. And then, beneath the mess, he found a single old book.
Opening it, his eyes fell on a page with a message that made his blood run cold:
"You will regret forgetting our reason to seek the cure for death. And you will return to it.
—Aeren
Aeren stared at the words, then began to laugh. It was not the laughter of joy, but the unhinged sound of a man whose mind had finally snapped.
He didn't forget his love instantly—but he now had a way to destroy it completely.
If he truly wanted to erase it…
He simply needed to die again and again.
The dark forest stretched endlessly as Aeren trudged forward, his footsteps light but unrelenting. For two days he walked without pause, weaving through the thick canopy until the trees finally parted to reveal a dusty road — one that countless carriages took toward the capital.
He began following it.
Hours passed before a hulking figure blocked his way. The monster was as tall as a tree, its bulky frame covered in thick, purple skin. It stood still, staring directly at Aeren. Aeren, in turn, met its gaze, both unmoving.
Their silent standoff was broken by the sound of wheels and hooves. A carriage approached from behind, and the moment the knights guarding it spotted the beast, they rushed to protect Aeren, weapons flashing.
The monster deflected their blows with sheer brute strength, countering viciously. The knights' formation broke — it was seconds away from slaughtering them all.
Then, the carriage door opened.
A woman stepped out, her presence almost divine. Without hesitation, she stepped forward and swung her sword. In one clean motion, the monster was sliced neatly in half.
She glanced at the knights with cold eyes.
"Useless," she said flatly, and without sparing Aeren a single glance, she turned and re-entered the carriage.
A knight patted Aeren's shoulder. "Be brave, man."
Aeren looked at him with the excitement of a child.
"Thank you, sir knight!"
The knight smiled faintly and nodded before returning to his post. The carriage rolled away, and Aeren waved enthusiastically as it disappeared into the distance.
Once alone again, he continued walking.
Two more days later, Aeren reached a small village. Exhaustion pushed him to simply sit at the roadside and beg for coins. He watched children run past him, their laughter filling the air — one boy even handed him a small stone before running off.
After a few hours, he left the village and continued his journey.
He reached another village, larger than the last. This time, he searched for work instead of begging. Spotting a small inn, he walked inside and approached the receptionist.
"I heard there's a job available for a waiter," he said.
She looked at him without much interest.
"Yes. You can meet the boss on the first floor — ask him yourself."
Following her directions, Aeren found a closed door.
"Wait, I'll call you," a voice from inside said after he knocked.
Nearly an hour passed before the voice called out again. "Come in."
Aeren entered, bowed slightly. "Sir, I'm Aeren, and I'm looking for work."
The inn's owner studied him — average looks, no striking features, no air of nobility. He can't attract a single guest with that face, the owner thought. Deciding to discourage him, the man said,
"You'll work 24/7. You'll attend to any guest without question. If you agree to these conditions, you can join. If not, leave."
But Aeren didn't hesitate.
"Okay. I'll do it."
The owner raised a brow at his resolve. "Fine. Your first job is to prepare food for all guests. If there's a single complaint, you're fired."
"Yes, sir. Leave everything to me."
And so, Aeren began.
To the owner's surprise, he excelled at every task — cooking, cleaning, greeting guests, even handling the inn's accounts. He taught the owner's children about reading, writing, and etiquette, both common and noble.
A month passed in this way. When Aeren finally collected his pay and announced his resignation, the inn owner begged him to stay.