"What? An Estellia?"
The young man holding the sword across Eren's—or rather, Eliot's—neck muttered the words in disbelief, his eyes locked on the seal pressed into Eliot's palm. The emblem glowed faintly in the dim light, unmistakable in its authenticity.
"I believe this is enough?" Eliot asked with a slight tilt of his head, his tone calm, almost casual.
The man trembled. Fear replaced aggression in an instant as the reality of what he'd almost done crashed down on him. He had nearly harmed someone from the Estellia household. That wasn't just a mistake—that was a death sentence for his entire noble lineage. The kind of mistake that didn't just ruin you, it erased your family name from history.
"I am sorry for that… I thought…" He scrambled for words, trying to salvage the situation before it could escalate any further. Nobles were unpredictable creatures, and the last thing he needed was for this to turn into a formal complaint. However, before he could finish his excuse, a raised palm stopped him mid-sentence.
"Take me there," Eliot said simply, not bothering to add details.
The young man understood immediately. There was only one place someone of Eliot's supposed standing would want to go—the grandest, most luxurious establishment in the whole of Karendel. The very place where all the nobles had gathered, waiting for the mystical world to fully make its appearance.
"At once." The young man straightened, his entire demeanor shifting to one of utmost reverence. "This way, sir." He gestured forward and began cutting through the crowd, clearing a path for Eliot without hesitation, shoving aside anyone who didn't move fast enough.
This was absolutely a normal reaction when you considered how much weight noble hierarchy carried in this world. It didn't matter where you stood in the pecking order—everyone knew what it meant to offend someone of higher standing. That knowledge was drilled into you from birth. Cross the wrong person, and your entire family pays the price.
This was the first thing Eliot had in mind from the very moment he made Anna a slave. He knew that given he was already presumed dead, he couldn't use his identity as a Nevana to travel around the kingdom. That would only bring him trouble, draw attention he couldn't afford, and he'd be tracked down and caught in no time.
So he decided on the second-best option. Fake an identity, but one with REAL backing.
As of right now, the name Eliot Aden Estellia was being forced into existence. Anna was at this very moment pulling every string she had control over to make sure of it, weaving documents, forging records, planting seeds of legitimacy wherever they were needed. With time, the name Eren Nevana would be forgotten, just as it was supposed to be according to his fragmented memories of the future.
But in Eren's place would stand Eliot.
A slow poison.
That's what he would be to Jason, as well as all the other children of destiny. An ally he would appear as on the surface, but their doom he would be in reality. He would smile, offer help, gain their trust, and then destroy them from within.
Eren, just like it was meant to be, no longer existed in the story. That only meant that right now, he was an anomaly to the narrative itself—a character without a destiny, a character free to do as they pleased.
Well... that's what he would have thought if he was stupid.
He knew the goddess must have already known about him surviving from the very start. Possibly even about his enslaving Anna. Why she hadn't yet attempted to stop him, that he still didn't know. However, if he was to guess, it would probably be due to some cosmic restrictions he didn't fully understand. And if that was the case, there was a chance—no, it was highly within the realms of possibility—that she would use whatever means she had at her disposal to do away with him. And that included "situations." Convenient accidents. Unlucky encounters. Perfectly timed disasters.
That was why he made Anna get him this seal while she worked on creating his new identity. This seal would be the one thing that would save him from most uncalled-for "situations" that could otherwise be his death. A shield forged from reputation and fear.
"I… I heard that… the second young master of the Estellia household would be making his way here… Perhaps could that be…"
"No," Eliot interjected flatly, throwing all the man's efforts to ease the tension between them straight into the gutter.
'Wait...'
Eliot suddenly stopped in place. The man noticed this and also stopped, confused by the abrupt halt.
'Wait.'
A sinister grin so devious claimed his face that if not for the mask he had on, the military officer before him would have been frightened to death by the sheer malice radiating from it.
'How could I forget this… Natasha… She should be here. That's the reason that bastard would be coming to Karendel in the first place.'
His mind raced as the pieces clicked together.
'But wherever Natasha is, there you find Diana.'
The thought sent his body trembling with excitement, adrenaline surging through his veins. His sole purpose for coming here was to take something that could become an immense aid to him in the future—a relic, a weapon, something powerful. The second most important reason was Nora, Jason's little sister. But who said he couldn't kill four birds with one stone?
Jason's sister. His fiancée. And the girl who loved one of Jason's lackeys.
He would start with them. One by one, he would dismantle everything Jason held dear.
'It seems I have to adjust so much of my plans.'
Unbeknownst to him, his mana core was trembling deep within his chest. For some reason he couldn't quite explain, his power kept growing, expanding, pushing against the limits of what his body should have been capable of containing.