A pitch-black space.
Dim… silent… cold…
The bone-chilling air kept assaulting his senses.
Where is this place?
Am I… dead?
Luoye slowly opened his eyes, and what greeted him was an indescribable darkness.
Suddenly, a beam of white light shone down on him, like a spotlight on a stage, illuminating a circle around him.
[You’re awake? The operation was a great success.]
The sudden mechanical voice made Luoye wary, but this inexplicable old trope left him unsure how to respond.
[You have died…]
[You should not have disappeared at this time…]
[Fate…]
It sounded like a voice from a great distance, crossing time and space to reach his ears, mixed with echoes.
Suddenly, a beam of light cut through the darkness, illuminating the space before his eyes. Like a projector, it displayed a certain scene.
It was the moment in Alicia’s room, when Anna stabbed him through the chest with a sword, blood splattering everywhere.
The image froze at that instant.
Then, the scene began to flow. Anna pulled out the sword from his chest, and the expression on his face shifted from pain to ferocity, then to disbelief. The blood that spurted out miraculously returned to his body, and the sunlight in the room faded like a sunset, growing dimmer and stretching farther away…
No, that’s not right!
It wasn’t stretching farther away!
The scene was playing in reverse!
The sun was rising, and the image of Anna, unclothed, stabbing him through the chest was running backward!
The sunlight gradually faded, dawn had ended, and moonlight appeared. In the scene, a letter returned to his hand out of thin air, and slowly, he snapped out of the state where he had thrown it down.
Time had rewound to the moment before he drank the coffee.
Luoye: “……”
What does this mean?
At this point, what was the point of showing him this scene?
[Time… Reversal]
[Survive.]
[Find a way to resurrect the Princess.]
Luoye’s eyes widened, his pupils contracting.
“Time… Reversal?”
“Find a way to resurrect Alicia?”
“Does that mean… Alicia can still be brought back?”
[Yes.]
The answer in his mind felt like the indescribable hand of fate, tightly clutching Luoye’s heart.
He could already foresee—if Alicia were resurrected, or rather, if Alicia had never died, how important and easy his position and situation would become.
At the very least, he wouldn’t be eyed by the nobles like prey.
Nor would he be targeted by his enemies.
…Yet, this should be impossible.
The fact of death and the loss of life cannot be reversed; the cause and effect of the world cannot be undone.
This was an absolute law of this world.
In other words, there was no such thing as Resurrection Magic.
Or rather, after all vital signs had ceased, even the so-called “Resurrection Magic”—hailed as a miracle—could not bring back the dead.
Because death is not a disease.
This was a piece of common sense that had filled Luoye’s mind ever since he arrived in this world.
But now, the voice in his mind was actually telling him Alicia could be resurrected?!
“What do I need to do to save Alicia? Can you give me any hints or clues?”
Luoye asked.
If he could change his fate, then resurrecting Alicia was absolutely necessary.
Otherwise, even with time rewound, he would still struggle to escape Anna—or even the other vengeful women—chasing after him. Luoye hadn’t forgotten the look Duke’s Daughter Hisina gave him.
[Rewind… the Past]
[Enter the Simulated Past World… find the Truth…]
Go back to the past…?
Luoye stood there in a daze for a long while, finally understanding what those two sentences meant.
In other words, he could enter a simulated Past World and, without affecting the real world’s timeline, investigate what happened in the past. He wouldn’t impact the present, and could boldly pursue the Truth without worry?
A perfect method.
It was far better than risking his life in the real world, facing the threat of vengeful women or the revenge of his enemies at any moment.
And if he started investigating from the past, the evidence might not have been destroyed yet, and Alicia might not have died—he could directly contact Alicia and find out about the suspicious people around her in advance.
Ha, interesting!
This kind of mystery-solving was truly amazing.
However, there was still one problem to solve.
“How do I enter the Simulated World?”
Luoye rested his chin on his hand, muttering to himself. Just as he was about to figure out how to speak to the voice in his mind, the space where the image had been suddenly began to twist, turning into a vortex. The suction was so strong that not even light could escape.
Naturally, he was sucked in as well.
Luoye felt his whole body begin to twist, his vision spinning and distorting wildly!
“Hey, at least give me a warning!”
“At the very least, say something before starting the simulation!”
After a bout of dizziness, a bright light enveloped Luoye’s entire body. He instinctively raised his hand to shield himself, closed his eyes, and felt his mind go blank.
“Hey kid, want to buy some apples?”
A hawker’s shout beside him gradually brought him back to his senses.
Luoye lowered his hand and looked up. In front of him stood a middle-aged man wearing an eye patch, chewing on a toothpick, looking at him expectantly.
He looked left and right, and all around was a bustling market, people coming and going, shopping for goods, the atmosphere peaceful and vibrant with life.
So, I’ve successfully entered the Simulated World?!
Luoye thought in surprise.
“Hey, are you going to buy or not?”
The man in front of him took the toothpick out of his mouth, glared at him a little impatiently, and said gruffly, “If you’re not buying, don’t just stand here. You’re affecting my business.”
“?!!”
Luoye was startled by the vendor’s booming voice, wondering if the man thought he was deaf.
But the vendor was right—standing in front of his stall without moving was indeed affecting his business.
“I’ll buy, I’ll buy.” Luoye tentatively patted his pocket and, sure enough, found some copper coins, which he handed to the vendor. “Boss, could you tell me what day it is today? What year, what month, what day?”
The one-eyed vendor took the coins, counted them, gave Luoye a curious look, but still packed the apples and answered, “Today is the twenty-fourth year of the Imperial Calendar, the second day of September.”
“I see. Thank you, boss.”
Luoye took the bag of apples, politely thanked the vendor, and waved goodbye.
He followed the path in his memory toward a certain building not far away, located on the outskirts—
The Imperial Magic Academy.
Today was the first day of the new academic year at the Academy. As usual, everyone had to attend, and he was no exception.
However, as the Academy’s highest-level professor and the Sage’s illegitimate son at this time, Luoye knew a shortcut back to the Academy.
He walked along the small path.
At the end of the path was the Academy’s back garden, filled with shrubs, blooming flowers, and the songs of a hundred birds.
The scenery looked quite nice.
Seeing such a beautiful view, Luoye’s mood naturally improved.
Just as he was about to step out of the bushes, the corner of his eye caught a blue figure—one that existed only in his memories, yet was so familiar.
Princess Alicia!