I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 169: I Am Theo of Caelthorn

"Who are you?"

Maeve is looking at Theo’s image in the hologram video call. She can’t help admiring Julian’s work. This kind of technology is nothing new and is fairly common. The Custodians use it as well.

But Julian’s version is far more sophisticated.

Theo’s hologram is so clear it feels as though he is truly sitting in the room with her. So lifelike.

And when Maeve asks that question, she sees it. The beautiful face on the projection tightens. The eyes tense, just for a moment.

She feels it.

Fear.

It is subtle, but unmistakably there.

Is it because I’m Light that I can see it?

Maeve watches as Theo frowns, his gaze fixed on her. He looks like someone carefully choosing his next words.

Like someone searching for the safest way to answer.

Theo takes a deep breath before answering.

"That question isn’t an easy one to answer."

He pauses.

"I ask myself that question almost every day. When I wake up in the morning. When I go to sleep at night. Every time I look at myself in the mirror. I keep asking myself that."

Suddenly, Theo feels overwhelmed. His chest tightens. His heart pounds harder. His hands shake slightly.

It has only been a few months living as Thea, but for him, it feels like a lifetime since he was last himself. Since he was last seen.

He never expected to face an identity crisis at this point in his life.

Forty-one years old.

A midlife crisis.

Theo lets out a bitter laugh, the sound hollow even to his own ears.

Maeve keeps watching him. And when she hears that laugh, something clicks.

This isn’t fear.

It’s loss.

She sees it now, with painful clarity.

He’s not afraid of being found out.

He’s afraid he’s already disappearing.

He’s drowning.

Maeve gasps. Without realizing it, she whispers, "Theo... I’m so sorry."

Theo mildly stunned. Then he smiles, sad smile.

"The fact that you can see it, it’s both annoying and releasing."

He pauses again. "And... I need to answer it."

He closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths. When he opens them again, they are filled with determination. His voice steady.

"I am Theo of Caelthorn."

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Lightning flashes in the distance. Outside his window, Theo can see the brief bursts of light.

Thunder follows, low and heavy.

"I am Theo of Caelthorn," he repeats.

A heavy weight lifts from his chest. His vision blurs, his eyes sting, and Theo lets the tears fall.

Maeve doesn’t say anything. She understands what this moment is. Theo is declaring himself. He is trying to save himself from completely disappearing.

She waits in silence. She wishes she were really beside him, so she could hug him, or at least touch him, to ground him. She knows that is what he needs right now.

Theo cries quietly.

"The Theo you met in the dungeon is my real appearance," he continues. "I died in Caelthorn, and I was transmigrated here, into Thea’s body."

He says it slowly, but with absolute clarity.

"Thea Montrose fell into a coma a few months ago and never woke up. Instead, I woke up in her body. And I’ve been living as her ever since."

He lets out a small, bitter smile.

"I was a forty-one-year-old man," Theo says quietly, "and now I’m living as a sixteen-year-old girl."

Theo stops speaking. He looks at Maeve, waiting.

Waiting for her reaction.

It takes several seconds for Maeve to process everything Theo has just said. At first, she doesn’t truly hear the information. She only feels his emotions.

She feels like crying with him.

Then her brain catches up.

"What?!"

She jerks to her feet, staggers backward, and nearly falls when she bumps into her bedside table.

Maeve steadies herself and looks back at Theo.

Blink.

She sees a beautiful, white-haired young woman.

Not a man in his early forties.

"How... how... how...?" Maeve cuts herself off. The words refuse to come together. She feels as though she has lost the ability to speak, or even think.

Her mind goes completely blank.

"What...?" she whispers.

"Are... are you... a ghost?" Maeve asks, completely dumbfounded.

"What?"

Theo laughs.

"No. I hope not," he says, wiping his tears while still laughing softly.

"But... but you’re Thea. You’re not a man."

"Yes, that’s true," Theo replies. "Unfortunately, I’m not a woman either. This is just my appearance."

"I don’t... I can’t..." Maeve stops again. Her mind has clearly stopped functioning.

Theo smiles gently. "Take your time. Thank you for listening."

"But I’m not crazy," he continues. "And I don’t think I’m a ghost. I can’t leave this body and possess another."

He sighs.

"It’s just... when I look at myself in the mirror, it feels wrong. And this world," he adds quietly, "it’s not my world."

"What...?" Maeve can manage nothing else.

"Wait. Just wait. I need a minute to process this. Or two. Just give me time. Wait," Maeve says as she starts pacing around her room.

"Take all the time you need, Maeve," Theo replies calmly.

She paces for a few more minutes before stopping and looking at him.

"Did you say you’re not from this world?" Maeve asks as she sits down on her bed. "You’re from another world?"

"Yes," Theo nods. "I’m from a world called Caelthorn."

"And that world is gone?" Maeve asks.

Theo nods again. A sad expression clouds his face.

"Gone. Destroyed. There’s nothing left."

Maeve’s breath hitches.

"I can’t even imagine that," she says quietly. "Do you know what caused it?"

Theo looks at her and nods lightly.

"Arrogance," he answers. "We forced magic."

He takes a breath before continuing. "Remember when I said magic is actually a form of communication with nature? That we must ask nature’s permission to wield it?"

Maeve shakes her head slowly. "I think you told the other three. So magic is a form of communication?"

Theo nods. "Humans don’t have the ability to perform magic on their own. What we have is the ability to communicate with nature. To ask for its permission."

He pauses, choosing his words carefully.

"Think of it like this," Theo continues. "If you want to summon fire, your incantation is basically you saying, ’Nature, I need fire about this big, about this strong, for this purpose. May I?’"

"For that to happen, you need the right language," he adds. "That’s why, when you switched your fire incantation to the correct language, your fire became much stronger. Nature understood you better."

It feels like something clicks inside Maeve’s mind.

"Ah. That’s why?"

Theo nods. "In Caelthorn, we made a mistake. We stopped asking. We forced nature to yield and bend to our will. Nature fought back. In the end, we lost."

Silence falls between them.

"That’s terrifying," Maeve says softly. "But how did you force nature?"

Theo exhales slowly. "Nature doesn’t have consciousness. It isn’t a being. So we didn’t force it the way one would enslave someone. We forced it through our actions."

"If you wield magic to destroy the planet, to reverse aging, to stall death, to raise the dead... anything that goes against the natural order, and you use magic to achieve it, it will eventually backfire."

Silence falls again.

Maeve’s mind works hard to process everything she has just heard. She hasn’t fully absorbed it all, and yet, somehow, she understands it.

Is it because I’m Light?

She looks at Theo again.

"What about resonance?" she asks quietly. "Where does it fit?"

Theo answers almost immediately.

"The best way I can explain magic resonance is like having friends," he says.

"You usually have regular friends, good friends, and best friends. Magic resonance is like your best friend."

"The higher your resonance is, the better your relationship is."