Oliver remained motionless while staring across the enormous stone hall surrounding him.

His smaller body felt unfamiliar and restrictive as warm golden light reflected softly across the polished white floor beneath his feet. The strange tightness lingering within his chest refused to dissipate, and although his mind remained clear, the body he occupied no longer responded entirely according to his will.

Tiny fingers remained wrapped around the hand of the woman standing beside him.

Or rather, the woman whose face he could not see.

No matter how intently he focused, darkness completely swallowed every trace of her features, as though the memory itself deliberately refused to reveal them. The shadows veiling her face shifted unnaturally beneath the golden light surrounding them.

Yet despite that, her presence alone felt warm, safe, and familiar.

That alone unsettled Oliver more than anything else, because he did not know this person, and such an incident had never existed within his character’s journey.

’Could this woman be his mother, or part of his lost memories?’

The woman slowly guided the child forward while her layered garments swayed gently around her figure with each step she took across the vast chamber. The clothing wrapped neatly around her slender body in overlapping layers of soft fabric tied securely at the waist beneath a fitted outer black robe.

Dark protective material covered parts of her forearms while long sleeves extended loosely around her wrists. Several thin straps secured small pouches and ornaments near her waist, while the lower half of the attire flowed naturally around her legs whenever she walked.

She carried herself with quiet grace.

While walking toward the far end of the hall, she said softly,

"You became distracted again. At this rate, you truly might disappear from my sight one day."

The young body reacted before Oliver could stop it.

"But I only wanted to see the birds outside," the child replied innocently while looking up toward her. "They were glowing..."

A quiet laugh escaped the woman afterward.

"But birds don’t glow. The light might make it seem so. However, everything glowing catches your attention lately. Last week, you nearly followed fireflies into the eastern garden."

The child laughed happily in response.

"It’s beautiful!"

Oliver silently observed everything unfolding around him while remaining trapped helplessly behind the boy’s eyes. Every emotion flowing through the child reached him clearly, pure and unrefined feelings untouched by fear, exhaustion, or suspicion.

...It felt alien.

The further they walked, the clearer the enormous structure ahead became beneath the sunlight pouring through towering transparent walls. Oliver slowly raised his gaze toward it while the woman continued guiding the child forward.

A gigantic glass house stood connected directly to the massive hall.

The structure itself looked breathtaking beneath the golden radiance surrounding it. Towering transparent walls stretched high into the air beneath a curved ceiling crafted entirely from enormous crystal panels supported by elegant white pillars rising from the polished floor below.

Warm sunlight flooded the entire structure naturally.

Inside the glass house rested a gigantic tree growing from the center of a raised circular platform carved from smooth pale stone. Thick roots spread outward across the platform while the massive trunk rose high toward the transparent ceiling like an ancient pillar supporting the entire structure itself.

Countless branches extended gracefully throughout the enormous space while healthy green leaves shimmered beneath the sunlight drifting through the glass walls around them. Soft wind occasionally flowed through the structure, causing the leaves above to sway gently and fill the atmosphere with faint rustling sounds.

Flowers of different colors bloomed throughout the area surrounding the platform while narrow streams of clear water flowed through carved channels across the floor. Small white birds occasionally fluttered between the branches above before disappearing deeper into the tree itself.

It all looked peaceful.

Oliver’s chest tightened slightly again because he understood something impossible.

None of this had ever existed within the novel.

The original Oliver’s mother had never even been mentioned throughout the entire story, yet here she stood before him as though she had always existed quietly beyond the narrative itself.

The woman slowly released the child’s hand once they reached the platform surrounding the enormous tree.

"You may sit there for now. I still need to prepare something first," she said while pointing at the edge of the platform.

The child immediately nodded excitedly before sitting obediently near the edge.

Eagerly, he asked:

"Are you finally going to teach me? You promised before."

’Huh? Teach what?’

The woman remained silent briefly before saying:

"You remembered that promise surprisingly well. I thought you would forget after several days."

"I didn’t forget," the child answered quickly. "Of course, I kept waiting."

’...Waiting? I’ve heard that exact line somewhere before.’

The woman slowly stepped onto the circular platform afterward before turning toward the massive tree standing behind her. Warm sunlight illuminated her figure beautifully while faint wind caused parts of her clothing to sway lightly around her body.

Then she raised one hand calmly.

The air beside her suddenly distorted slightly.

A sword slowly emerged from empty space itself before settling naturally into her grasp.

It was the Imperial Sword.

The exact blade currently resting beside his sleeping body atop the mountain appeared within her hand beneath the golden sunlight surrounding the glass house. The silver surface reflected faint light beautifully.

Even the aura surrounding it felt identical.

The child immediately leaned forward excitedly.

"Mother, that’s the Imperial Sword!" he exclaimed happily. "Can I touch it today?"

The woman tilted her head slightly toward him.

"You asked the same thing yesterday too. And the answer remains no because you are still too small to handle it safely."

The child puffed his cheeks slightly in disappointment.

"But I can already lift wooden swords properly now. Father even said I improved."

The woman became quiet for several moments after hearing that.

Then she spoke gently once more.

"Your father praises you too easily sometimes... However, you truly have improved faster than expected."

The child’s excitement immediately returned again.

"Then teach me properly. I want to become strong enough to protect everybody."

The woman slowly turned toward him fully afterward.

"And who exactly are you planning to protect?" she asked quietly.

The child answered immediately without hesitation.

"You."

For a brief moment, silence filled the enormous glass house.

The wind drifting through the structure seemed to weaken slightly.

Then the woman laughed softly again.

"That sounds unfair toward your father."

The child simply smiled happily in response.

Oliver remained trapped helplessly behind the boy’s eyes while watching the interaction unfold before him.

Then suddenly, a thin black fracture split across Oliver’s vision.

His entire soul stiffened instantly.

The crack stretched diagonally through the air itself like shattered glass breaking apart inside the memory. Sharp darkness slowly spread outward from the fracture while faint distortions rippled across the beautiful scene surrounding them.

However, nobody reacted.

The woman continued standing calmly beneath the tree while holding the Imperial Sword naturally at her side. The child remained completely cheerful without noticing anything strange.

Only Oliver himself could see the crack spreading further.

Another fracture appeared nearby moments later.

Then another.

The black distortions slowly expanded throughout the glass house like rot consuming a perfect painting from within. Sections of sunlight flickered unnaturally while parts of the surrounding scenery warped faintly beneath the spreading fractures.

Oliver desperately attempted to move, or force a reaction, but nothing happened.

’Shit. I’m a spectator in this damned body!’

He remained trapped completely inside the child while the cracks continued spreading wider across the memory. Even the enormous tree standing proudly behind the woman slowly became distorted beneath the growing fractures.

Only Oliver understood something was terribly wrong.

Then the woman slowly raised the Imperial Sword toward the massive tree.

The moment the blade pointed upward, the fractures violently expanded across his entire vision at once.

...And everything shattered instantly into darkness.