Reborn Regress Return: I Am the Heir of Shadows!-Chapter 46: Who Is she?

Julian leaned against the door while observing ’Maria’ from the corner of his narrowed eye. He focused on her like a hawk while hunting.

He held a conviction that he couldn’t trust her.

"Julian, are you sure?"

"Yeah, spending time with friends is important."

Sena’s eyes shimmered with curiosity as she gazed at Julian with a soft smile. Her nose twitched when her eyes flicked towards Maria, who shrugged.

"But I wanted to go shopping with you…"

’Sena… How are you so adorable and fearsome at the same time?’

Julian’s lips curled into a smile, and his focus on Maria faded. However, his doubts about her didn’t fade; they could never fade.

Because the Maria Sinclair he knew, was a young woman with curly brown hair and freckles… this woman was too beautiful and seductive.

"Julian, maybe we can go shopping first and then play?" Maria’s husky, nasal voice caught him off guard, while Sena’s face glowed like a Christmas tree on December 24th.

This woman reminded him of someone.

He tried his best to put the thought from his mind.

A throbbing ache assaulted his mind, like a dagger gouging his grey matter mercilessly each time he tried to put the pieces together.

’Fuck!’

His body lurched, and he staggered back against the doorway and gritted his teeth. He leaned against the wall, trying to maintain a semblance of a normal expression.

"T-Then, that sounds alright, should we leave just after breakfast, so you have time to get ready?"

"Yes!" Sena’s eyes glimmered with excitement as she grabbed Maria’s hand. "Let’s go!"

She rushed past Julian while dragging her friend along with her.

What made his lips twitch most, how she seemed to have forgotten her threats to Maria a few moments beforehand. The next moment, he stepped away from the door and flopped his body onto the sofa.

Poof!

Julian pressed both palms against his eyes, the sensation of pain like there were blades behind his eyes.

It hurt…

And he didn’t know what it meant… or why.

Only that whenever he gazed at Maria Sinclair for more than a few seconds, the pain would start, and the memories of his previous life would flicker through his mind like a kaleidoscope.

But they were fractured, incomplete and nonsensical, but also somehow real.

They were memories of another world and a different reality.

A place where everything was similar, yet entirely alien.

He found himself in the place of that young prince, being escorted by knights and imperial soldiers, while enjoying a day out with his fiancée, Eleanor Beaumont, a young duchess who supported their kingdom.

In the images, the duchess with beautiful emerald eyes and rose-red hair enthusiastically followed him, but the Prince version of Julian was rude and never engaged with her.

Even though he could sense how much she loved him.

However, his cold behaviour and actions were nothing but a defence mechanism to protect himself. The truth was revealed when she vanished, leaving behind only a hat.

After he found it, his eyes became bloodshot, and he rushed to the imperial guards, begging his older brother and even his father to help find her.

A simple plot to earn some money by thugs in the slums ended up with a massacre because for the first time, the youngest prince showed emotions.

Julian’s hands trembled as he remembered these things.

The royal family believed his mental instability made him broken and worthless goods because of his poor emotional development and mental issues.

Pushed to the back of succession and treated like a nuisance.

Yet, in this memory, he would murder anyone who impeded his search for his Eleanor.

His love.

The person who he had been searching for ever since he was reborn…

’Wait?’

His hands clenched together, digging his short nails into the flesh to draw blood because not only memories flooded into his mind, but the emotions… things that Julian refused to accept.

Things which had nothing to do with him!

Eleanor was dead, and so was the original Julian, who died at twenty years old, murdered in the first wave of monsters because he never learned how to fight, or to protect himself like a fool.

Instead, Eleanor fought, using a special style of swordsmanship—the Beaumont style, which was a deadly dance of assassination techniques.

At first, it seemed harmless, but in a ballroom full of people, they could kill their target with no one knowing who committed the crime.

Their engagement because of Eleanor’s age being too young for the older princes.

"Haa… these memories are ridiculous."

Julian gazed out the window, observing the city below.

It looked much like any modern European city, but the architecture was slightly off. It was as if the designers knew what they wanted to create but lacked the skills to make it perfect.

Different from the ancient and medieval city he was born, and spent his first life in.

"How much easier did these people have it, and they still failed to protect it… foolish."

He leaned forward, resting his chin on his fist.

The memories were fading, but not the knowledge that came with them—the idea of what the ’original Julian’ knew, the concept of fighting monsters, and surviving against things that could destroy worlds.

If the knowledge from Julian’s previous life before regression taught him about combat, survival and the future events. Then the memory of Julian, the Prince of Avalon, taught him about Magic, Mana, and the usage of such things… because of Eleanor’s kidnapping.

Prince Julian did his best to learn, and improve.

’A love no different to me and Sena.’

"Is my fate nothing but a curse upon my love life? Stupid. I won’t allow it to go wrong now."

Creak!

The girls started coming back.

He could hear the slight bounce of Sena, and the gentle, masterful tap of Maria’s calculated steps, always prepared to counter, to enter combat and defend herself.

’I need to know more about her, is she really, Eleanor.’

’No… why? These damn poisonous thoughts!’

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

"Julian, what do you think, hehe?"

Sena stormed through the door, her face almost glowing with delight, though she limped a few steps after rushing over.

Julian raised an eyebrow, gazing at the elegant, yet casual pink dress. It clung to her curvaceous frame, making her look like a doll while her long black hair trailed behind her.

But seeing her struggling because of his actions a few hours before, his lips curled into a smug grin.

"You look beautiful," he said, stepping forward and wrapping an arm around her waist. "I’m sure we’ll get some jealous stares today."

Julian turned his head to gaze at Maria, who was leaning against the doorway.

"Oh, such a Prince charming. I am almost jealous, but how do I look?"

Maria’s classical shirt and trousers made her look mature, yet elegant.

She gazed at him with half-lidded eyes, a teasing smirk on her lips, as she placed a hand on her hip and struck a pose.

’Gorgeous…’

The thoughts and feelings toward Eleanor echoed in Julian’s mind, causing his gaze to linger on her for a few moments, before a pain shot down his side, but when he turned to find out the source.

Sena’s lips pushed out, pouting while she pinched his waist. "Hmph!"

"I don’t like her flirting with you."

The fierce yet lovely tone of Sena’s voice made him unable to take it seriously.

Then he remembered the sense of danger her gaze gave him, making his hair stand on its ends when she smashed the vase with her wooden sword earlier.

’She can be scary… But I love it.’

Julian grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close, pressing his lips against her ear.

"You are my only princess."

He gently blew on her neck, ran a finger along it, and kissed the tip of her reddening ear.

"Ah~"

Sena jolted, letting out a soft moan.

Julian noticed out of the corner of his eye that Maria’s face scrunched up. Her eyes narrowed, and she knitted her brows and sank her teeth into her lower lip.

Then, she seemed to notice Julian’s gaze before she chuckled and showed a more calm and gentle expression.

Her eyes became watery and soft, while her lips curled into a warm smile.

’I don’t think this woman Maria Sinclair, but can I be so sure that she is the same Maria Sinclair?’

Suddenly, he could feel his phone buzzing, causing his brows to furrow. The only people who spoke or contacted him would be work colleagues or Sena.

However, he took two weeks off work and never planned to return.

"What’s wrong?" Sena looked up at him, noticing his strange eyes.

"Nothing, just a message." He quickly checked his phone to see the number—however, it wasn’t one he recognised, which meant it was likely a prank or scam message.

"Hmm, seems it was a mistaken call."

However, the next line… made his chest tighten and the pain in his head returned, throbbing and gouging at him like a merciless enemy.

[You have encountered a Member of Fate!]

Maria Sinclair resembles the former duchess uncannily. Learn more about her to discover what she’s hiding!

• Maria Sinclair can now join you in the Nightmare World

• The experience gained in the Nightmare World increased by 100% while partying with Fran and Maria.