Chapter 38
Arthur woke with a sharp pain behind his eyes.
For several seconds, he could not remember where he was. The darkness around him felt deep and endless, filled with distant whispers that seemed to come from every direction at once.
Then he remembered.
He was Arthur Renolds Jr., the second prince of a kingdom he barely understood, the son of King Arthur Renolds Sr. and Queen Fleur, the younger brother of Reginald, and the owner of three Crest Keys that weakened his power.
He was also not supposed to be Arthur.
That thought made his head hurt even more.
Arthur opened his eyes.
He was back in his bedroom, lying beneath thick blankets while pale morning light spilled through the curtains. His body felt heavy, but the worst of the sickness had passed. The red Crest on his hand glowed faintly, the three kite-shaped Keys surrounding it like tiny blades.
For a moment, he simply stared at them.
He still did not fully understand the world’s power system. Mana, spiritrons, Crests, Keys, Skills, titles, and strange rules filled his mind in fragments. His Holder of Knowledge Skill had given him information, but information was not the same as understanding.
He knew what a Crest was.
He knew what a Key did.
He knew that his three Keys made his power weaker.
What he did not know was why he had been given them.
Or why Holder of Knowledge had shown him memories of Yuuno.
Arthur pushed himself upright.
The movement made his chest tighten, and he coughed into one hand. When he pulled it away, there was no blood this time.
“That’s good,” he muttered.
The door opened immediately.
Lily stepped inside with a tray balanced carefully in both hands. She wore her usual maid uniform, though her hair was slightly untidy, and dark circles had formed beneath her eyes.
“Master Arthur!” she exclaimed. “You’re awake!”
“I have been awake before,” Arthur replied.
Lily stopped in the middle of the room.
Arthur realized he had probably sounded much colder than he intended.
“I mean, yes, I’m awake,” he corrected quickly. “Thank you for checking.”
Lily’s shoulders relaxed.
She placed the tray on a small table beside his bed and hurried over. “You frightened everyone. His Majesty ordered the royal physician to remain nearby all night, and Her Majesty refused to leave until the physician promised you were stable.”
Arthur looked toward the door. “My parents were here?”
“Yes. They only left a short while ago. Prince Reginald stayed longer.”
Arthur frowned.
The name stirred something in his mind. Reginald was his older brother. The crown prince. The person who possessed the Observation Skill and could supposedly see the fates of others.
Arthur wondered whether Reginald had looked at his fate.
Then he remembered the restriction.
Reginald could not reveal another person’s fate.
He also could not see his own.
That sounded incredibly inconvenient.
“Did my brother say anything?” Arthur asked.
Lily hesitated.
“What is it?”
“He told me to inform him the moment you woke up,” she said. “He also told me not to let you leave the room.”
Arthur looked at her.
Lily looked back.
“Are you going to obey him?” he asked.
She blushed. “I am your maid, master Arthur. I am supposed to obey you.”
“That did not answer my question.” Arthur said, very calm.
“It answered it very clearly.”
Arthur smiled despite himself.
Lily handed him a cup of warm tea. The smell was familiar, though he could not remember whether it belonged to this life or his previous one. He took a careful sip.
The door opened again.
This time, Reginald stepped inside.
He was sixteen years old, tall, and lean, with blonde hair and green eyes. His skin was lightly tanned, and his posture carried the effortless confidence of someone raised to become king. He looked far healthier than Arthur, but there was a tension around his eyes that had not been there before.
He glanced at Lily.
“Thank you. You may leave us.”
Lily bowed, though she looked at Arthur first.
Arthur nodded.
She left and closed the door behind her.
Reginald waited until her footsteps faded.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked.
“A little.” Arthur replied.
“Do you remember what happened?”
Arthur hesitated.
He remembered activating Holder of Knowledge.
He remembered Atlas looking at him.
He remembered the sudden pain in his head.
Then he remembered the dream.
A classroom.
A boy sitting at the back of the room.
Yuuno.
Arthur looked down at his tea.
“I had a dream.”
Reginald’s expression changed slightly. “About what?”
“A person.”
“Who?”
Arthur hesitated again.
He did not know how much he could reveal. Holder of Knowledge was dangerous enough. If he told people that Yuuno was connected to his dreams, they might consider Yuuno a threat.
Or they might consider Arthur one.
“His name was Yuuno,” Arthur said finally.
Reginald went very still.
Arthur noticed.
“You know him?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Arthur studied his brother.
Reginald looked away first.
“You’re lying,” Arthur said.
Reginald’s eyes snapped back toward him. “What?”
“You said no too quickly.”
For a moment, Reginald looked genuinely startled.
Then he laughed quietly.
“You’ve become more observant.”
“I have a Skill called Deception.”
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“That is not the same as Observation.”
“No, but it helps me notice when people are hiding things.”
Reginald walked toward the window. Sunlight caught the red Crest on his neck. Arthur had seen it before, but this time he focused on it carefully.
A new message appeared in his head.
[[Individual: Reginald Renolds]]
[[Crest Type: Magic]]
[[Keys: 1]]
[[Skills: Observation]]
Arthur blinked.
The information vanished.
Reginald turned toward him.
“You used a Skill.”
Arthur’s stomach tightened. “How do you know?”
“I saw it happen.”
“With Observation?”
“Yes.”
Arthur looked at his own hand.
The three Keys around his Crest glowed brighter for a moment.
“Can you see everything about me?”
“No.”
“What can you see?”
Reginald’s expression became guarded. “Not enough to explain.”
“That sounds like a convenient answer.” Arthur grumbled.
“It is the truth.”
Arthur leaned back against the pillows. “You can see my fate, can’t you?”
Reginald did not answer.
The silence was enough.
Arthur’s heart began to beat faster.
“What did you see?”
“I cannot tell you.” sighed Reginald.
“Why?”
“Because I can’t.” he repeated.
“That’s not an explanation.” Mumbled Arthur, seething.
“It is the only one I have.”
Arthur stared at him, frustration building in his chest. “Did you see me dying?”
Reginald’s face went pale.
Arthur immediately knew the answer was important.
“You did,” he whispered.
Reginald looked down.
“I saw several possible outcomes,” he said. “They were not clear. Some showed you alive. Some did not. Some showed the kingdom burning. Some showed you standing beside a creature made of darkness.”
Arthur’s mind went to Yuuno’s dream.
A dungeon. A crystal core. A vast labyrinth.
He had not seen enough to understand the connection, but the feeling remained. Yuuno was somewhere in this world. Arthur knew it as surely as he knew his own name.
“Did you see a dungeon?” Arthur asked.
Reginald’s expression tightened.
“Yes.”
Arthur’s fingers curled around the cup.
“Did you see its name?”
Reginald closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he looked older.
“The Labyrinth of Yuuno.”
The room seemed to shrink around them.
Arthur’s breathing slowed.
The name was familiar.
Not because he had heard it before, but because the dream had carried the same certainty. Yuuno was alive. He was somewhere in this world. He was connected to something enormous.
Arthur leaned forward.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You must have seen something!”
“I saw a black labyrinth beneath a red sky. I saw monsters kneeling before a crystal. I saw a boy with blue and pink hair standing in a ruined city.”
Arthur’s heart stopped.
Blue and pink hair.
A human form.
The image matched the person he had seen in his dream, even though he had never seen Yuuno clearly before in this world.
“Was it Yuuno?” Arthur asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You do…” accusation oozed from his voice.
Reginald’s hands tightened at his sides.
“I saw a fate,” he said quietly. “Not a person. The skill does not give me explanations. It gives me fragments. Paths. Possibilities. I cannot tell which are certain.”
Arthur lowered his voice.
“But you think he is alive?”
Reginald looked at him.
“Yes.”
The answer filled Arthur with relief so powerful that his eyes stung.
He turned toward the window.
Outside, the palace gardens were bright with morning sunlight. Servants moved along the paths. Guards stood beside the gates. Everything looked peaceful.
Arthur knew better now.
He was in a world of magic, Skills, Crests, and monsters. His brother could see dangerous futures. His own Skill gave him information no one else seemed to possess. Somewhere, Yuuno was building a labyrinth powerful enough to appear in the fate of a crown prince.
Arthur had to find him.
Reginald noticed his expression. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” said Arthur, too quickly.
“You are a terrible liar.”
“I have Deception,” he said hopefully.
“That does not mean you are good at it.”
Arthur dismissed the notification.
The system immediately produced another one.
[[Skill evolution conditions identified]]
[[Deception II: Complete three successful acts of misdirection against individuals of higher authority]]
Arthur felt a headache beginning.
“What?” Reginald asked.
“I need to practise lying.”
His brother stared at him.
Arthur smiled awkwardly.
Before Reginald could respond, the door opened again. This time, King Arthur Renolds Sr. entered with Queen Fleur and Atlas behind him.
Fleur rushed toward Arthur.
“My darling!”
Arthur barely had time to set down the cup before she hugged him.
His ribs hurt.
“Mother,” he gasped.
She immediately released him. “I’m sorry! Are you in pain?”
“A little.”
Fleur turned toward the king. “You see? He is still too weak.”
“I am standing,” Arthur said.
“You are sitting,” Atlas pointed out, drawling.
Arthur looked at him.
The giant smiled.
Arthur still found his laugh intimidating.
King Arthur approached the bed and placed one hand on his son’s shoulder. His expression was warm, but concern remained in his eyes.
“You nearly frightened us to death,” he said.
“I’m sorry.”
“You do not need to apologise for being ill.”
Arthur looked away.
The king studied him.
“Reginald,” he said, “what were you discussing?”
Reginald glanced at Arthur.
Arthur gave him a tiny shake of the head.
Reginald turned back toward their father.
“Arthur was telling me about a dream.”
Fleur sat beside the bed. “A dream?”
Arthur nodded.
“About Yuuno.”
The room went silent.
Atlas’s expression changed first.
The giant’s amber eyes sharpened.
King Arthur’s hand tightened slightly on Arthur’s shoulder.
“You know that name?” Arthur asked.
No one answered.
The silence told him enough.
Then the king sighed.
King Arthur exchanged a glance with Reginald.
Fleur looked frightened.
Atlas stepped closer.
“There are rumours,” the giant said. “A new dungeon appeared in the southern territories. It grew rapidly, defeated several powerful parties, and began producing monsters unlike anything recorded before.”
Arthur’s Crest burned.
“What is it called?”
The king looked directly at him.
“The Labyrinth of Yuuno.”
Arthur felt the room tilt.
He had expected a clue.
He had not expected confirmation.
“Where is it?” he asked.
“Far from here,” King Arthur replied. “And dangerous enough that even veteran adventurers avoid its deepest floors.”
Arthur looked at his three Keys.
Then at Reginald.
Then at Atlas.
He was sickly. Thirteen years old. Weak. Confused. Completely surrounded by people who knew more than he did.
But Yuuno was alive.
That was enough.
“I’m going to find him,” Arthur said.
Fleur’s expression tightened. “You cannot travel anywhere in your current condition.”
“I will get stronger.”
“You have only just recovered.”
“I will still get stronger, I have to.” he insisted.
King Arthur looked at him carefully.
For the first time, Arthur wondered whether his new father could see the difference between the old Arthur and the person occupying his body.
Perhaps not.
Perhaps that was what Deception was for.
Atlas stepped forward.
“If you intend to leave the palace one day, you will need protection.”
Arthur glanced at him.
The giant lowered himself until they were closer to eye level.
“Your father asked me to become your bodyguard,” Atlas said. “I have not yet accepted.”
“Why not?”
“I wanted to meet you first.”
Arthur studied the giant’s amber eyes.
“And?” he said, uncertain once again
Atlas smiled.
“You are strange.”
Arthur’s heart sank.
“But,” Atlas continued, “you are not weak in the way your body suggests.”
Arthur blinked.
Atlas leaned closer and tapped one thick finger against Arthur’s forehead.
“There is a storm in here.”
Arthur did not know what to say.
Atlas straightened.
“I will become your bodyguard.”
King Arthur smiled with relief, not sure what to feel.
Fleur looked happier.
Reginald remained quiet.
Arthur felt the notification before it appeared.
He looked down at his Crest.
Three Keys.
Holder of Knowledge.
Deception.
Deceptive One.
A dream of Yuuno.
A quest he could not refuse.
Arthur closed his hand over the glowing mark.
He did not know what awaited him beyond the palace. He did not know what Yuuno had become, or why their fates seemed connected.
But he knew one thing.
He would find his friend.
Even if he had to deceive kings, challenge monsters, and walk into the most dangerous labyrinth in the world to do it.
Arthur Renolds Jr. had awakened in a new life.
Now he needed to decide what kind of person he would become.