Ren’s gaze lingered on the girl’s horns, unable to look away.
They were sleek, spiraling upward like the horns of some mythic creature.
His thoughts scrambled for an explanation, but he couldn’t focus.
There was something undeniably… otherworldly about her.
The longer he stared, the more it gnawed at him, that strange pull of curiosity.
“You know, I understand that you are disoriented but-” the girl’s voice broke through his thoughts, cold and pointed.
“It’s rude to stare at someone for so long.”
Ren blinked, startled.
His face flushed with embarrassment, and he quickly looked away, his cheeks burning.
“I wasn’t— I mean, sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
He spoke.
It didn’t hurt like it did before.
Surprised, Ren tried to move his jaw around.
It felt strangely foreign.
There was a heaviness to his joints that he couldn’t really pinpoint the cause of.
The girl tilted her head slightly, the faintest curve of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“It’s fine.”
She paused, her eyes locking with his for a moment.
Ren’s face flushed deeper at the unexpected remark.
He could feel the heat spreading from his neck all the way to his ears.
Her gaze became more serious.
“Your body is weak right now. It’s going to take time for it to fully function again. You’ve been through… a lot, and it’s not something that fixes overnight.”
Ren frowned, still trying to wrap his head around everything that had happened.
“How long…?”
She averted her gaze at that question.
Looking away she answered in an unsure tone.
“According to the notes left behind by the demon king, your soul has to acclimate itself to this vessel. How long that will take varies from vessel to vessel and soul to soul. Judging from how you gained consciousness and are able to talk- I would estimate that you should be able to walk in the span of a day or two.”
‘I was not expecting such a detailed answer. What does she mean by vessel-? Soul acclimation-?’
Ren thought to himself.
His memories were coming back to him but they were still hazy like being covered by a thick sheet of fog.
Ren groaned, sinking further into the pillow behind him.
“Where am I-?”
He asked, hoping the girl would answer this question as well.
“You are in the Obsidian Bastion. The safest place in this nation. You need not worry about your safety. I am here to protect you with my life.”
Ren gave her a confused look.
“Why?”
The girl continued without hesitation.
“Because my king commanded me to do so.”
‘She is strange.’
“Rest. I’ll be back soon.”
Ren wanted to ask her more questions but she left the room before he could continue.
In her haste she forgot to help him back into a lying position and had left him in the sitting up state.
While it wasn’t uncomfortable, it did however make the reality of him unable to move any of his body parts other than his jaw and eyes freely that much more jarring.
He wanted to argue, wanted to push against the weakness coursing through his limbs, but the truth settled heavy in his chest.
With a reluctant sigh, Ren shifted, his muscles protesting even the smallest movements.
At Least by trying he could move his neck a little.
Though the pain of that was stingily unbearable.
He stopped trying to survey his surroundings and instead steadied his neck to look at the dark wooden door that the girl had exited from.
That looked like the only point of entry and exit.
While the door did exude an aura of strength, the lack of any visible design other than the brass handle made it a bit unsettling.
As the silence deepened, Ren let out a long, slow breath.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d be stuck here.
***
Ren turned his neck, the stiff motion sending a pang of discomfort through him.
It felt like the only part of his body he still had control over.
His eyes scanned the room—empty, lifeless, just like the silence.
There was a door, plain and dark, standing against one wall.
It wasn’t even inviting, just there.
No markings, no hint of warmth or welcome.
It was the only way in or out, but he didn’t know what was worse—being trapped here or wondering if leaving was even possible.
To his left, the bed pressed against the wall, almost as if it were trying to shrink into it.
The sheets were white, too white, almost clinical, and the pillows looked as though no one had ever bothered to rest their head there.
The window’s curtains were drawn, but light slipped through anyway, pale and weak, as if the room refused to let anything shine too brightly.
It only made everything feel… dull.
There was a wardrobe near the door, dark wood like the door, sleek and minimalist, almost as if it were trying to blend into the background.
And right next to the bed, a study table sat so meticulously bare that it looked like it had never been touched.
No books, no papers, nothing that suggested someone actually lived here—or ever had.
It was high quality, sure, but it was so… sterile.
So bland.
Something was off.
He felt it pressing against him, suffocating him, despite how quiet it all was.
There was no warmth in here, no sense of familiarity, no sense of belonging.
And yet, he was.
He didn’t even know how or why, but he was.
And the longer he stayed, the more he was convinced this place was holding him in place—not because he had to be there, but because he couldn’t remember why he shouldn’t be.
***
Ren lay there, trapped in his own body, every inch of it unfamiliar, strange.
He could feel his muscles, stiff and heavy, as if they no longer belonged to him.
The weight of his limbs seemed foreign, the heaviness of his joints like something out of a bad dream.
Each small movement sent jolts of discomfort through him—first a twitch of his fingers, then a careful flex of his legs.
The air around him felt too thin, too distant.
It was as if the very room he was in was pressing down on him, keeping him in place.
But he didn’t care.
He couldn’t stay here, confined to this strange, empty space.
With a grunt, Ren tried to push himself up, ignoring the harsh protests from his body.
His arms trembled as she propped herself up on the bed, the cool sheets slipping from his skin.
He leaned on his elbows, taking slow, shallow breaths as he focused on shifting his legs over the side of the bed.
The floor was close now, but his muscles burned with each small shift.
Slowly, he planted one foot down, then the other, though his legs quivered like they might give out any second.
He took a hesitant step.
Then another.
His feet slid awkwardly on the smooth wooden floor, his balance completely off.
Her legs weren’t his own.
They felt too long, too delicate.
He caught himself against the side of the bed, fingers curling into the edge of the mattress to steady himself.
A soft cry of frustration escaped his lips, but he forced himself onward, ignoring the ache that bloomed through his hips, his knees, his entire being.
One step.
Then two.
The wardrobe came into view.
Ren, his breath ragged and shallow, took another step.
His vision swayed, a dizziness creeping in as he reached the wardrobe’s dark wooden frame.
He gripped the handle, his fingers trembling as he turned it.
The door creaked open.
He blinked, confused.
‘What is that-?’
He could make out only a hazy silhouette, and for a moment, he wondered why there was a picture inside of the wardrobe.
But as he leaned closer, his mind began to shift, and it hit him all at once.
It wasn’t a picture.
It was a mirror.
Ren’s breath hitched in his throat as the truth slapped him across the face, hard and fast.
The reflection staring back at him was not the one he was familiar with.
It was the face of someone else—a girl’s face.
He froze.
The girl in the mirror had caramel skin that glowed softly in the muted light, a warm honey hue that contrasted with the cold, sterile surroundings of the room.
Her long, dark brown hair cascaded down her back in soft waves, framing her face, with two large,horns curving from her temples.
The horns were dark, almost black at the tips, and gleamed with a faint, iridescent sheen, as if they were crafted from the finest obsidian.
Ren’s hand shot up to his head, his fingers brushing against the horns.
The sensation was real, too real.
Cold, hard, but strangely smooth to the touch.
His fingers trembled as he traced the shape, feeling their unnatural presence.
His hair—her new hair—fell in soft waves around her shoulders, brushing the delicate curve of her collarbones.
He tried to focus, tried to remember how to breathe, but the sheer strangeness of it was suffocating.
His, no, her body.
He was in a girl’s body.
The gown she wore, a pale, almost see-through fabric that draped around her form like a ghost, did nothing to ease his growing panic.
It clung loosely to her frame, but despite its lightness, it felt heavy against his skin.
The transparency of the gown made the moment feel even more surreal, as if his new body was on display, exposed and vulnerable.
The light fabric clung to her curves, and he could feel the fabric brushing against the smoothness of his skin.
It was a constant reminder that this body… wasn’t his.
A sharp, strangled gasp escaped his lips.
He took a step back from the mirror, his chest tightening with a sense of panic he couldn’t control.
The dizziness in his head swirled again, and his knees buckled beneath him.
“No… no… no,” Ren muttered, his voice strained, high-pitched in a way that made him even more acutely aware of the body he was trapped in.
His chest tightened, and his heart began to race.
“Who… who am I?”
The words slipped from his mouth, weak and desperate.
The reflection, the unfamiliar eyes, the horns.
His—her body.
He fell to his knees, his hand clutching his chest, as a cold sweat broke out across his skin.
It felt like everything was spinning.
His body wasn’t his.
None of it was his.
A scream tore from his throat, a cry of frustration, fear, and confusion.
He squeezed his eyes shut, but the vision of the girl in the mirror stayed with him, etched into his mind.
In an instant, the door to the room slammed open, and the girl—the other girl—rushed inside.
Her boots clicked against the floor, and she was at Ren’s side in an instant, hands gentle as they rested on his shoulders, steadying him.
“Hey, hey. Breathe,” the girl said, her voice soft, but firm.
“It’s okay. You’re okay.”
Ren’s breath came in jagged gasps as he stared up at the girl, his vision still blurry with tears.
“Why? Why am I like this?”