Sleeping in an unconscious dream, forgetting the existence of "self".
As if floating in a tunnel of time and space, the broken images close at hand seem to be projected through a transparent water curtain.
"This is...my child?"
The strange yet familiar young man's voice seemed to be a bit at a loss.
"Your Highness, congratulations on having an heir! This way we will have no worries in the future. Please start implementing the plan as soon as possible." Beside him, another person said excitedly.
But compared to the unabashed impatience in the man's tone, the man hesitated.
"Is it really okay to involve the children..."
"Your Highness! Now that things have come to this, are you still showing that sense of unnecessary mercy?!" The person who seemed to be a subordinate immediately raised his voice.
"Have you forgotten the blood feud that our country bears? My brothers and sisters who have sacrificed their lives to protect the Grand Duke and you, how sad it would be to see you in this cowardly state - "
"No, I will never forget!" The man tightly grasped the corner of the quilt of the sleeping child in his arms.
"I understand, this...is the fate of our Laird family."
He slowly stretched out his palm and placed it against the child's forehead.
In an instant, the endless darkness broke through the screen and drowned everything——
Nothing can be seen, nothing can be heard, and even if you want to reach out, you can only touch an empty nothingness.
In this darkness that was deeper than night, Wayne suddenly felt something.
Probably, this is the original memory left by this body.
Why did it suddenly emerge at this time?
Is it because of something he "contacted" when he was with the O'Neal family during the day? Thinking about it carefully, at that time, I did have some kind of strange discomfort with the existence of [Light] for a very brief moment.
Maybe a long, long time has passed, or maybe only a short moment has passed, and a new picture is unfolding before your eyes.
"—I'm sorry, Thelma."
The man who should be regarded as the biological father was holding a young child and standing in front of a simple tombstone.
"You have brought me the most unforgettable happy time... Even if you leave me now, you have chosen the most appropriate time." He murmured to himself softly. "Thank you for keeping me from having to struggle."
The young child was confused and did not understand what the scene in front of him meant.
After standing in the cold wind for a while, the toddler seemed to realize something and asked in a panic: "Dad...where is mommy? We haven't seen her for several days."
Hearing his voice, the man turned around.
There was only indifference and scrutiny in his hazel eyes.
"She suffered a medical emergency and left us forever."
Yes.
This man is Norman Laird.
When I realized this, my perspective had changed at some point, and I was looking at the person in front of me with the eyes of a young child.
"As for you." He looked at Wayne and paused for a moment before continuing: "Just stay here and live an ignoble existence. If one day I die and you have no other brothers and sisters, it will naturally be your turn. Come and bear this fate.”
The words that came to my ears were indifferent and heartless.
"Pray... pray that we will never see each other again."
The world froze at the moment when he reached over and patted his head.
Then, it violently collapsed inward around itself until all the scenes in front of it shrank into a single point.
So he naturally understood - this was the so-called "seed" of dark magic.
The pure and colorless ground beneath my feet was gradually stained by pitch black, and countless tiny sounds and memory fragments poured into my mind from all directions, like sharp blades constantly piercing and stirring.
"You monster! You're a bastard who doesn't belong to our family's bloodline at all!" The children let out piercing cheers.
"Get away! Bastard, get out of here!"
A mud-like shadow crawled out from the dark ground, like an evil ghost from hell.
Strong resentment, pain, and...the desire for warmth, all kinds of distracting thoughts came up together, trying to occupy Wayne's thoughts.
The shadows wrapped around his legs, seeming to drag him into the mire.
However, Wayne's expression remained calm, and he kicked away the clinging shadow one after another.
Maybe I just saw a pitiful story and met a pitiful person.
But what does that have to do with myself?
Stories are just stories.
What I wanted to gain when I came to this world has never changed at all.
And...I've got them all.
He silently recited the strange mantra in his heart and walked towards the source of all malice and desire - that small and almost insignificant "seed".
Those seemingly vicious shadows with endless power were simply vulnerable to his trampling.
I don't know if they realized the crisis of the current situation, but the strange shadows suddenly gathered forward at an extremely fast speed, and finally transformed into a shadow exactly the same size as himself in front of Wayne.
Standing in front of his own shadow, Wayne finally stopped.
He looked at this being that had no facial features and was just a shell.
According to the information learned from previous secret investigations, dark magic seems to be able to infinitely amplify the evil thoughts in a person's heart until it completely distorts the caster's thinking. However, the [malice] I am currently experiencing is more like being directed against my former self.
how to say……
There is a sense of deja vu that the damage dealt by the opponent cannot keep up with the version.
"Why aren't you angry?" Shadow breathed heavily. Behind this question, there seemed to be endless suppressed anger.
"What are you angry about?" Wayne did not detect the node connecting this space to the outside world.
"Your envious father abandoned you, and the playmates you longed to be close to rejected you -"
"But that's not all there is in my life, isn't it?" Wayne calmly interrupted the negative implications imposed by the shadow.
Perhaps these were the most painful memories of the past Wayne, but in his eyes now, they are obviously not the same.
So, this seed was not actually synchronized with my later experiences?
Wayne seemed to understand.
"By the way, are you an existence with independent consciousness?" He was somewhat concerned about this.
"Haha...hehehe...I am you." Shadow laughed strangely, "What is hidden in your heart is the real you."
"——Otherwise, how could I know those secret pasts?"
Tsk.
But you haven’t shown even a single bit of my memories of my previous life in the modern world.
